Middletown Biofuels LLC
The Middletown Biofuels Facility is installed within the Middletown East End Warehouse Complex
CQBP acquired its virtually new biodiesel production facility located in Middletown, Pennsylvania (Dauphin County) about 15 miles east of Harrisburg, in the fourth calendar quarter of 2006. The biodiesel process equipment and tanks are installed in an 11,000-ft2 building space contained within a large industrial warehouse complex (Figure 3).
CQBP brought the Middletown facility into commercial operation at its current design capacity of 2 million gallons per year (MGPY) of ASTM spec biodiesel. There are future plans to expand the facility’s production output in three ways in the very near future.
- By incorporating enhancements in to the process system that should increase output by approximately 40%, up to 2.8 MGPY.
- Adding to-be-acquired, proprietary production-related technology to increase total plant capacity by another 75%, up to 5.0 MGPY.
- Adding basic production capacity to the plant.
The facility is located in the heart of Pennsylvania’s agricultural industry, providing ready access to soybean and other vegetable oil feedstocks: there are at least three major suppliers of virgin soybean oil in the region, including an oil extraction facility. The facility is located in an industrial complex with a rail line passing through it and is in close proximity to major interstate highway systems, thus ensuring economic, efficient delivery of feedstock materials. A major chemical supplier is located in the same industrial complex, and is a supplier of chemical feedstocks for the biodiesel production process.
In addition, Middletown is well-situated relative to the large Northeastern transportation fuel markets. Of note, Independence Biofuels, Inc. has recently opened a state-of-the-art biodiesel injection/blending operation nearby, equipped with a 20,000-gallon biodiesel storage tank used to blend biodiesel with petrodiesel at various blends. Independence Biofuels has provided CQBP with a letter of interest to purchase Middletown’s biodiesel production.
Middletown Biodiesel Basic Production Process
The Middletown biodiesel production process consists of chemical reactions (“transesterification”), separations, and subsequent purification steps; the process equipment primarily consists of storage tanks, reactor vessels, distillation columns, piping, and pumps. There are no effluents from the process. The final products from the process are ASTM D6751 standard-conforming BioDiesel (B100) and 75% to 85% pure Glycerin, a byproduct which can be utilized for the production of soaps and cosmetics.
Process enhancements have been implemented across all of the steps displayed at the right. The enhancements range from simple to complex, but all arise from the ability to tap-into the expertise of CQ.
The plant is operating on a 12-hour, 24/7 schedule staffed with 10 employees. The facility receives administrative support from CQ’s home office, and the General Manager will have overall responsibility for the facility, including management, technical & administrative support, budget/cost controls, procurement, marketing, and client/supplier interaction.