Sugar Refinery in Argentina Moves Forward with Three Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Compania Azucarera Los Balcanes SA (Tucuman, Argentina) is moving forward with three projects at the Cruz Alta Sugar Refinery. The first project involves the expansion of the ethanol distillery from 66,000 gallons per day to 130,000 gallons per day. The second project involves the construction of a 130,000-gallon-per-day ethanol dehydration plant, and the third project entails the expansion of the refinery's powerhouse to produce electricity to sell to the national grid.

In Argentina, sugarcane is harvested from late autumn (May) to early spring (October). This period is called zafra. During zafra, sugar refineries work nonstop and use the remaining months of the year for maintenance work or expansions. For this reason, the assembly of the equipment for the three projects will start this month.

The refinery's current ethanol production capacity is about 66,000 gallons per day. The expansion will be carried out by adding two distillation columns and by increasing the capacity of the two columns that are present in the plant. The project requires an investment of about $3 million, and the first stage of the expansion is expected to be complete in May 2009 in order for it to be operational for the 2009 zafra, when the production capacity is expected to reach 92,000 gallons per day. The second stage will be operational by May 2010 for the 2010 zafra with a capacity of 130,000 gallons per day. The assembly of the equipment will be done by plant employees.

The second project will cost approximately $9 million and will involve building an ethanol dehydration unit in the plant using the molecular sieves technology. The assembly of the equipment will be done by plant employees, as well, and is expected to be complete by November 2009. The dehydration capacity will be about 130,000 gallons per day.

The third project will expand the bagasse-fueled powerhouse. The current capacity of 8 megawatts (MW) is used to power the refinery. The objective of the project is to produce an additional 65 MW, which will be sold to the national grid. The addition will be carried out in two stages. First, a 440-pound-per-hour, 953-PSIG boiler and a 30-MW turbogenerator will be installed. These are to be completed by October 2009. Secondly, a 35-MW turbogenerator will be installed and is expected to be operational by mid-2011. The new power units will work all year long. During zafra, the fuel used will be sugarcane bagasse, and will shift to natural gas during the rest of the year.

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