Jamaica Biofuels Report - Ministry of Energy

Pilot Project: Duckenfield Estate - Ethanol from Cane JuiceIn contrast to the Frome example described previously and due to the smaller cane catchmentarea, the Duckenfield Estate seems more suited as an opportunity, to produce alcohol in placeof granular sugar and molasses. Under this scenario, the mill will grind the cane as it hastraditionally, but the cane juice will then pass directly to a fermentation tank, where yeast willconvert the sugars to alcohol, and from there to distillation columns to raise the ethanolconcentration to 95%. The hydrous ethanol produced in this way would most logically bedehydrated to fuel-grade concentrations at one of the Island’s two idle large facilities for thispurpose. As in the Frome example, the mill will produce and sell surplus electric power to theutility grid. Section 5.1 of the main report describes the technology, and the diagram belowillustrates the process and indicates the volumes of inputs and products corresponding to ninemonths of operation during the year. 15 As in the case of Frome, electric power generationwould continue year-round with supplemental fuel from cane trash, biogas or other sources.The return on investment is highly sensitive to the relative prices of sugar and ethanol butunder a plausible scenario could yield a blended (equity and debt) return of 16 percent peryear.SUGARCANE393,000 Tonnes per year (including leaves and tops)Juice ExtractionSUGARCANEJUICEBAGASSE131,000 Tonnes/yrBoilersGeneratorBIOGASFermentationAnaerobicDigestionSTILLAGEDistillationETHANOL33,750,000Liters peryearRENEWABLEELECTRICITY26,000 MWh/yrFERTILIZERFigure 1: Ethanol and Electricity Production from SugarcaneAt a glance, the key operating parameters of a reconfigured Duckenfield Estate are as follows:(1) Sugar MillCultivated land: 4,500 hectares (ha), including Jones and Golden Estates and small farmers“Clean” sugarcane consumption: 370,000 tonnes/yr (average yield: 82 tonnes/ha)15 Details of the project presented here are based on the San Carlos Bioethanol Project, a similar facility ofcomparable size constructed in the Philippines in 2007-2008.91