Corn Refinery

Modeling and Evaluation with

SuperPro Designer

INTELLIGEN, INC.
Simulation, Design, and Scheduling Tools
For the Process Manufacturing Industries
www.intelligen.com

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Introduction
This example analyzes corn wet-milling integrated with the production of glucose and fructose syrups.
Cereal grains are the base of the human nutrition pyramid. As a result, they are frequently consumed as
cereals (such as bread, pasta, flour, rice, breakfast cereals, etc.) and/or cereal-based food ingredients
(such as starches, gluten, glucose-fructose syrups, cereal-based alcoholic beverages, etc.). Moreover,
cereals are the basic component of animal feed. Therefore cereals indirectly allow for the production and
consumption of meat products as well. Furthermore, in the last century the role of cereals has increased
in other (non-food) areas of society. For instance, advances in biotechnology have made it economically
viable to produce non-food products such as biofuels, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, etc.,
from cereals. In terms of cultivation and consumption, corn is the most-common cereal in America,
whereas wheat and rice are the most-common cereals in Europe and Asia, respectively. The current
global annual production of corn is more than 1 billion metric tons, while rice and wheat have an annual
production of around 700 million metric tons each (FAO, 2016).
Figure 1 shows the structure of a corn kernel. It consists of the endosperm, the pericarp (bran) and the
germ (including the tip cap and the embryo), which account for roughly 83%, 11% and 6% of the kernels
weight, respectively. Botanically speaking, the germ is the most important component of the kernel, as it
contains the embryo that eventually develops into a plant. The role of the starchy endosperm is to provide
the initial energy required for the germ to develop and grow above soil level, while the role of the pericarp
is to protect the kernel. Table 1 provides the chemical composition of corn grains on a dry basis (SernaSaldivar, 2010). The Protein category includes soluble proteins, which are located mainly in the germ
and the pericarp, and insoluble storage proteins called gluten, located mainly in the endosperm. All grain
areas contain all chemical components at varying concentrations. Nevertheless, starch and gluten
proteins can be found mostly in the endosperm, fiber can be found mostly in the pericarp, and fatty oil is
found mostly in germ (Serna-Saldivar S.O., 2010).
There are two different ways to mill corn: dry- and wet- milling. Dry milling grinds the dry kernels to form a
mixed meal of the grain areas. Dry milling is only used for limited applications, such as for the production
of fuel and/or industrial ethanol. For optimum utilization of the corn components, the grain areas need to
be fractionated and the different chemical components need to be separated and purified. In order for this
to happen, the grains must be wet milled (Johnson and May, 2003). Figure 2 provides a block diagram of
corn wet milling. After the grain cleaning and separation of damaged grains, the initial step of the wetmilling process is to steep the grains in water and allow time for the water to fully wet the grains. This
loosens the bonds between the different grain areas and extracts soluble components from the grains.
After steeping, the steep water (which contains the soluble material) is separated and concentrated in
evaporators. Meanwhile, the wet grains are sent for further processing. The germ, which contains most of
the oil in the grain, is separated first and the corn oil is extracted from it. The grains are then further milled
and passed through a series of screens that retain the large bran particles and allow starch and gluten to
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pass through. Gluten and starch are then separated with centrifuges. Finally, the starch is washed in a
number of hydrocyclones to reduce the soluble impurities (Guine and Correia, 2014).

Figure 1. Structure of a corn kernel.

Table 1. Chemical composition of the grain areas (in mass percentages).

Part

Starch

Fat

Protein

Fiber & Other

Sugars

Ash

Whole Kernel

73.4

4.4

9.1

9.8

1.9

1.4

Endosperm

87.6

0.8

8.0

2.7

0.6

0.3

Germ

8.3

33.2

18.4

18.8

10.8

10.5

Pericarp

7.3

1.0

3.7

86.9

0.3

0.8

Tip Cap

5.3

3.8

9.1

78.6

1.6

1.6

As shown in Table 1, starch is the main component of corn kernels. Starch is a polymer which consists of
glucose units linked together linearly with the a(14) glycosidic bonds and branched with the a(16)
glycosidic bonds. The linear polymer form of starch is called amylose and the branched form is called
amylopectin. When starch slurry is heated above a certain temperature, the starch granules absorb water
and swell, causing a rapid increase in the viscosity of the solution. This property of starch, called
gelatinization, makes it a popular and cheap thickener for many food products. Therefore native starch
from corn wet-milling is used directly for a number of applications in the food industry. However, starch is
also a key intermediate for many other products which serve diverse applications. This example focuses
on the most basic application of starch, which is the production of sweeteners such as glucose and/or

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fructose syrups. The corn wet-milling process was therefore integrated with glucose and fructose syrup
processes in this example (BeMiller and Whistler, 2009; Hull, 2010).

Figure 2. The corn wet milling process.

Starch can be easily hydrolyzed, making it a cheap source of carbohydrates. There are two basic
technologies to hydrolyze starch: acidic and enzymatic hydrolysis. Both technologies break up the
polymer chain and produce mixtures of carbohydrates consisting of single units of glucose (dextrose),
disaccharides (maltose), trisaccharides (maltotriose), and higher sugars. It should be noted at this point
that for simplicity the sugars are also named according to their degree of polymerization, such that
maltose is called DP2 since it contains two units of glucose, maltotriose is called DP3 since it contains
three units of glucose, etc. The two technologies for starch hydrolyzation yield different mixtures of sugars
and consequently have different applications. The enzymatic method can provide a higher extent of
hydrolyzation, yielding a syrup with about 95.5% glucose on a dry solids (DS) basis. The remaining
sugars are mainly maltose and maltrotriose with traces of higher sugars. This high extent of hydrolyzation
is desired for the production of fructose. For this reason the current study simulated enzymatic starch
hydrolyzation (Hull, 2010).
There are two basic steps for enzymatic starch hydrolyzation: liquefaction and saccharification. Starch
first needs to be gelatinized in order for the enzymes to be able to access it and hydrolyze it. However, if it
is gelatinized, the viscosity is increased to levels at which the solution cannot be pumped. For this reason
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the enzyme is added to the slurry before heating. Furthermore, since heating is involved, a thermostable
enzyme such as alpha-amylase must be used. In addition, since higher temperatures reduce the solution
viscosity, the liquefaction temperature must be much higher than the starch gelatinization temperature. To
ensure complete starch liquefaction, this step takes place in a jet cooker which mixes the starch slurry
directly with steam at a final temperature of around 106-108 C. Alpha-amylase randomly attacks the 14
bonds of the gelled starch to reduce the size of the chain and its molecular weight. The solution is then
sent to the saccharification unit where it is treated with glucoamylase (amyloglucosidase) and pullulanase.
Glucoamylase can hydrolyse both the a(14) and a(16) bonds, while pullulanase can hydrolyze the
a(16) bonds. Under optimum conditions, the two enzymatic treatments of liquefaction and
saccharification yield a syrup which contains more than 95% glucose, which is very close to complete
hydrolyzation. The syrup is then purified in the downstream section with a series of operating units
(including filtration, ion exchange and activated carbon adsorption), which remove impurities such as
traces of proteins and salts. Finally the solution is concentrated to about 71% solids (BeMiller and
Whistler, 2009; Hull, 2010).
The 95% glucose syrup is the starting raw material for the production of glucose-fructose syrups. These
are called High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) when the fructose content is high. The conversion from
glucose to fructose is also catalyzed by enzymatic. The enzyme used for this conversion is called
isomerase. Unlike the enzymes used for starch hydrolyzation, isomerase is a very expensive enzyme. For
this reason it is not added to the solution (and then removed downstream); instead it is immobilized in the
isomerization columns (Chaplin, 2014). The immobilized enzymes gradually lose their activity and their
ability to convert glucose to fructose. Depending on the operating temperatures and pH, the conversion
equilibrium can reach a maximum concentration of around 47% fructose on a DS basis. However, when
the temperature is increased the immobilized enzymes deactivate faster, making the operation more
expensive. Moreover, syrup with 42% fructose has a sweetness that is similar to sugar. For this reason,
HFCS 42% is commonly used as the commercial form of HFCS produced with this process, rather than
HFCS 47%. The converted HFCS 42% syrup is then purified in the downstream section, which includes a
series of ion exchangers and a carbon column. Finally it is concentrated in an evaporator to
approximately 71% DS. It should be noted at this point that the commercial form of HFCS which is used in
soft drinks contains 55% fructose. However, HFCS 55% has a different production process than the
process described in this example (BeMiller and Whistler, 2009; Hull, 2010; Chaplin, 2014).
The sections that follow describe and analyze the corn wet milling process integrated with 95% glucose
and HFCS 42% production processes modeled in SuperPro Designer. The development of the model was
based on data that is available in the patent and technical literature supported by our experience with
related processes and our engineering judgment.

Process Description
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A conceptual process for corn wet milling integrated with glucose and fructose syrups was modeled and
economically evaluated in SuperPro Designer in an effort to capture the expected stream flowrates,
process equipment, consumption of utilities, and manufacturing costs.
For reporting and analysis purposes, the process has been divided into eight sections:

Corn Steeping

Germ Separation

Fiber Separation

Gluten Separation

Starch Separation

Glucose 95% Front End

Glucose 95% Downstream

HFCS 42%

Flowsheet sections in SuperPro are simply sets of related unit procedures (processing steps). For
information on how to specify flowsheet sections and edit their properties, please consult Chapter 8.1 of
the SuperPro manual. The contents of each of this examples flowsheet sections are described in greater
detail below. The process will be easier to follow if you open this example within SuperPro and view the
flowsheet while reading about the process.

Corn Steeping
The purpose of this section is to wet the corn grains in order to loosen the bonds between different grain
areas and increase the efficiency of the subsequent separations. The process begins with a silo (SL-101)
that stores dry corn, which is the key raw material. The grains are then transferred to the main process
using a belt conveyor (BCN-101). A custom mixer (MX-101) adds process water (the process water origin
will be extensively analyzed later in this document) to a total water concentration of around 60% w/w.
Note that corn grains typically contain 10-15% moisture, so the custom mixer (MX-101) targets an extragranular water concentration of 53.8%, which produces a total water concentration in the mixture of
around 60% w/w when the moisture contained in the corn grains is taken into account. Before adding the
water to the corn grains, sulfur dioxide is added (in MX-102) in order to prevent microorganism growth
during steeping. The mixture is then heated to 50 C (in HX-101) and sent to the steeping tanks (V-101).
The V-101 icon on this flowsheet represents eight identical steeping tanks operating in batch mode with
staggered start times. These tanks have three operations: Pull-In, React, and Transfer-Out, which last
five, thirty, and five hours respectively. This gives a cycle duration of forty hours which, when divided by
eight (since there are eight units), results in a cycle time of five hours. Since the vessels have staggered
start times, there is always one tank loading and one unloading, while the actual steeping takes place in
the remaining six tanks. During steeping the grains absorb water and swell. In parallel some soluble
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components are extracted from the grains, and there are also some limited losses of fiber, germ, gluten
and starch. This was simulated by the following mass stoichiometry in the reaction operation of V-101:
100 Corn Grains + 60 Water 0.3 Ash + 0.1 Fiber + 0.08 Germ + 0.06 Gluten + 2 Soluble Protein +
0.7 Solubles + 0.3 Starch + 156.46 Steeped Corn
Following steeping, the steep water is separated from the steeped grains in a screen (SCR-101). The
steep water is concentrated in a multi-effect evaporator (EV-101) and the corn steep liquor is sent to the
Fiber Separation section, which will be described later. The steeped grains enter the Germ Separation
section.

Germ Separation
This section separates the germ from the remaining grains. The first step of this section is to break the
grains in a grinder (GR-101). This coarse grinder breaks the grains into two pieces, exposing the germ.
As a result of this breakage some fiber, gluten, and starch are also produced. This breakage was
simulated by a reaction in a generic box (GBX-101) with the following stoichiometry:
100 Steeped Corn 0.05 Ash + 46.05 Broken Corn Grains + 0.6 Fiber + 4.05 Germ + 0.3 Gluten +
0.2 Soluble Protein + 0.05 Solubles + 1 Starch + 47.7 Water
The extent of the reaction was set at 90%. After the course grinding, the broken grains are mixed (in MX103) with several recycled streams which contain additional process water, broken corn grains, and a
small percentage of other components. The combined stream is passed through a hydrocyclone (BC102). Since germ is less dense than the other grain components, the overflow of the hydrocyclone
contains most of the corn germ, which is mixed with more process water (MX-106) and passes through
another hydrocyclone (BC-103). From there the germ is dewatered in a screw press (BF-101) and dried in
a dryer (RDR-101). The supernatant of the second hydrocyclone is recycled back into MX-103. The
underflow of the first hydrocyclone (BC-101) is grinded again (GR-102) in order to expose the germs of
the previously-unbroken grains. This breakage was simulated using another generic box (GBX-102) with
the same stoichiometry as the first box (GBX-101), and it was given a reaction extent of 100%. The slurry
is then mixed with more process water in MX-105 and sent to tank (V-102), which offers some buffer
capacity for the process. A third hydrocyclone (BC-103) separates the remaining germs and recycles
them back to MX-103, while the broken corn grains are sent to the Fiber Separation section.

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Fiber Separation
The purpose of this step is to remove bran (fiber) from the grains and recover as much starch and gluten
as possible from the bran. To accomplish this, the grains are first fine-grinded in GR-103, which releases
the remaining grain components (starch, fiber, and gluten, as well as the remaining soluble proteins and
other soluble material) to the slurry. This was simulated with a reaction operation in a generic box (GBX103) with the following mass stoichiometry:
100 Broken Corn Grains 0.2 Ash + 9.8 Fiber + 3.9 Gluten + 1.4 Soluble Protein + 0.7 Solubles +
84.2 Starch
The extent of this reaction was set to 100%. The slurry is then mixed with recycled fiber wash water in
MX-107. From there it passes through a screen (SV-101) which retains the bran particles, while most of
the starch and gluten pass through the sieve. Since the bran particles still contain a considerable amount
of starch and gluten, they are re-mixed with fiber wash water in MX-108 and pass through another screen
(SV-102). This process is repeated a third time with MX-109 and SV-103. In reality this procedure is done
in more than three steps. However, for the sake of simplicity, only three steps were included in this model.
These are adequate to show that water enters the fiber wash at the last step (MX-110) in order to recover
additional starch and gluten. Ultimately the starch and gluten slurry is sent to the Gluten Separation
section. Meanwhile, the washed fiber from the final screen is dewatered in a screw press (BF-102), mixed
with the concentrated steep water liquor (MX-111) and dried in the fiber dryer (RDR-102). The bran
particles inevitably contain some trapped starch and gluten which are lost in the low-value fiber stream. In
this example the content of starch in the fiber stream (the stream called Corn Gluten Feed) is about
18.5% on a DS basis.

Gluten Separation
The starch and gluten slurry is mixed with more recycled process water from the downstream in a buffer
tank (V-103). The dilute stream is then concentrated in a centrifuge, which sends the starch and gluten
(solids) to the underflow, and part of the liquid to the overflow. The overflow is redistributed (via V-104,
FSP-101, and FDIS-101) to all the units in the upstream process that utilize process water so far. The
underflow passes through another centrifuge (DS-102), which accomplishes the main separation of gluten
and starch. Starch, being denser than gluten, is recovered in the underflow and sent to the Starch
Separation section. Gluten, present in the overflow, is sent to another centrifuge (DS-103), which further
dewaters the gluten-rich stream. The overflow of DS-103 is recycled back to V-103, while the underflow is
further dewatered in BF-103 and dried in the gluten drier (RDR-103).

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Starch Separation
Although starch is the basic component left in the product stream, it is impure at this stage. Soluble
proteins, ash, free sugars and traces of other grain components are still present in the product stream.
For this reason the stream has to be washed in order to produce pure starch, and also in order to recycle
the other components back to the previous separation sections. Starch washing takes place in
hydrocyclones connected in series, which separate the denser starch in the underflow and the remaining
solution in the overflow. In order to achieve effective washing, the overflow of one hydrocyclone step is
sent to the feed of the previous hydrocyclone, while the underflow is sent to the next hydrocyclone.
Although in reality more than nine steps of hydrocyclones are used, in this model there are only two sets
for the sake of simplicity (CY-101, CY-102). Fresh water is heated in HX-103 and added to the second
hydrocyclone in MX-113. The overflow of the wash batteries ultimately is sent to V-103 for use within the
Gluten Separation section. The washed starch slurry, containing about 40% solids, is sent to tank V-105,
which provides buffer capacity for the process. From there the starch slurry is split (FSP-102) so that it
can be used for the production of native corn starch or for the production of glucose syrups. For the first
option, starch is dewatered to about 60% solids (BF-104) and dried in a starch dryer (RDR-104). For the
second option, the starch slurry is sent to the Glucose 95% Front End section.
This section concludes the corn wet-milling process. It can be seen in the flowsheet that the starch wash
water is the only fresh water that enters the corn wet-milling plant, and water is recycled back to previous
sections of the process in a countercurrent flow pattern. In other words, the water added to this section
supports the separation of gluten and starch in the centrifuges, and the overflow dilute stream is sent for
distribution to the other areas of the process which require additional water.

Glucose 95% Front End

As explained previously, part of the washed starch slurry is sent to the Glucose 95% Front End section
(using splitter FSP-102). Here it is mixed with water (MX-115) to achieve a concentration of starch of
about 32% w/w. Then a mixture preparation unit (MX-116) adds Calcium Chloride and Sulfur Dioxide to
adjust the pH to 6. Next the slurry is heated in a heat exchanger (HX-104) and alpha amylase is added to
the hot slurry in MX-117. The slurry is pumped to a higher pressure (P-61) and then mixed with 10 bar
steam (with a temperature of around 180 C) in the jet cooker (MX-118) for liquefaction. Here the slurry
temperature rapidly increases to around 108 C. The slurry stays at this high temperature for about 5
minutes in R-101. In the jet cooker the starch granules rapidly swell and gelatinize, causing the alphaamylase to begin its enzymatic activity. The viscosity of the solution is increased, but it quickly drops to
reasonable levels, as alpha-amylase hydrolyzes (breaks down) the large gelled starch granules to
dextrins (DPn). The reaction molar stoichiometry is the following:
1 starch + 9 water 10 DPn
Which corresponds to the following mass stoichiometry:
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100 starch + 0.5 water 100.5 DPn

Next, the slurry passes through an atmospheric flash cooler. The temperature drops to 100 C, and the
slurry is given some extra residence time in R-102. In this unit, all of the starch liquefies and is hydrolyzed
to higher sugars (DPn). In reality the slurry usually passes through two flash coolers in series: an
intermediate flash and a vacuum flash with pressures of around 0.5 and 0.2 bars respectively. The vapors
of the vacuum flash are used to preheat the starch slurry (in HX-104). In the flowsheet, these flash tanks
were replaced with a cooler (HX-105) that cools the stream down to 60 C. The slurry is then prepared for
saccharification by first adjusting the pH to 4.7 with hydrochloric acid in MX-119 and then adding
glucoamylase in MX-120. The slurry then enters the saccharification tanks (R-103). These tanks operate
in batch mode with three operations: Pull-In, React and Transfer-Out. The reaction residence time is 48
hours. The reaction molar stoichiometry is:
8 DPn + 148 Water 153 Glucose + 2 Maltose + 1 Maltotriose
Which corresponds to the following mass stoichiometry:
100 DPn + 10.22 Water 105.66 Glucose + 2.63 Maltose + 1.93 Maltotriose
As with the steeping step in the beginning of the flowsheet, the saccharification step has eight tanks
which operate in staggered mode. The reaction itself lasts 48 hours, while the loading and unloading each
last 8 hours. Consequently, the cycle duration is 64 hours and the effective cycle time of the step is 8
hours. As a result, there is always one tank loading, one tank unloading, and six tanks performing
reactions. The extent of reaction for the saccarification was set at 99.7%. Table 2 provides the resulting
sugar profile of the saccharification step. The enzymatic hydrolysis simulated in this model is more
complete than hydrolysis from acidification. This is shown by the high amount of glucose in the resulting
syrup. As a result of the high glucose yield from enzymatic hydrolysis, this method is typically used for the
co-production of glucose and fructose syrups.
Table 2. Sugar profile of the enzymatic hydrolysis for the production of 95% glucose.
Sugar
Glucose
Maltose
Maltotrios
e
DPn
Total

DS%
95.6
2.4
1.7
0.3
100

Next the glucose produced in this section is sent to the Glucose 95% Downstream section for
conversion to fructose.

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Glucose 95% Downstream

The purpose of this section is to purify the syrup by removing all the salts, solubles and proteins. The
impurities originate mainly from the starch slurry and the front end (pH adjustments, the enzymes added,
etc.). At the beginning of this section, the syrup is heated in HX-106. The first downstream purification
treatment is a rotary vacuum drum filter (RVF-101). Filter aid is added in MX-121 and is then removed in
the filter. The filtration procedure removes roughly 40% of the proteins from the syrup. The syrup is then
sent to a buffer tank (V-107). From there it is pre-cooled in a heat exchanger (HX-107) which exchanges
heat with the outlet stream of the ion exchangers (INX-101). Then the syrup is cooled to 52 C in HX-108
and sent into the ion exchangers, which operate in batch mode. Almost all salts bind to the resin within
these mixed bed ion exchangers. The ion exchangers contain the following operations:
-

Loading of the syrup.

Washing with water, in order to recover the syrup contained in the bed volume.

Regenerate the cation resin with Hydrochloric acid. The acid is prepared in MX-122.

Regenerate the anion resin with Sodium Hydroxide. The alkali is prepared in MX-123.

Wash the resin with water to remove salts. The water required by the ion exchangers is supplied
by FDIS-102.

After exiting the ion exchangers, the syrup is stored in a buffer tank (V-108), heated to around 70 C in
HX-109, and passed through a carbon column (GAC-101) in order to remove color, odors, and traces of
proteins. The purified syrup contains about 31-32% solids and it can either be concentrated and sold as
glucose syrup 95% or it can be used for the production of fructose. In this example, both options are
shown. This is accomplished by splitting the stream using FSP-103. The portion of syrup that must be
concentrated is preheated in HX-110, and then it enters a multie-effect evaporator (EV-102) where it
reaches a final solids concentration of around 71%. Since the enzymatic reaction that converts glucose to
fructose can handle high solids concentration, a portion of the concentrated syrup is diverted (using FSP104) and mixed with the remaining un-concentrated syrup (in MX-125). The final solids concentration for
the stream exiting this mixer is approximately 40%. The stream is then sent to the HFCS 42% section.
HFCS 42%
In this section, the syrup is first cooled down to 55 C in HX-113. Next it enters a feed buffer tank (V-111)
which has a residence time of 1 hour. The syrup is then prepared for isomerization with the addition of
Magnesium Sulfate, Sodium Carbonate and Sulfur Dioxide in MX-127. It then passes through the

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isomerization column (PFR-101), where the immobilized enzymes convert part of glucose to fructose with
the following molar stoichiometry:
1 Glucose 1 Fructose
Which corresponds to the following mass stoichiometry:
100 Glucose 100 Fructose
Table 3 provides the sugar profile after the enzymatic isomerization. The syrup is then cooled down to 52

C in HX-114 and passes through mixed bed ion-exchangers (INX-102). The ion exchangers bind most of

the ions added for the isomerization reaction, and some of the proteins (added as enzymes). Their
operations are similar to the ones described in the previous section (within INX-101), except that the
Hydrochloric Acid is prepared in MX-128, the Sodium Hydroxide is prepared in MX-129, and the water is
provided by FDIS-104. The syrup is then heated in HX-115 to 70 C and passes through a carbon column
(GAC-102) for the removal of colors, odors, etc. Finally, the syrup is concentrated in a multi-effect
evaporator (EV-103) to attain a dry solids content of 71%.
Table 3. Sugar profile of HFCS 42%.
Sugar
Fructose
Glucose
Maltose
Maltotriose
DPn
Total

DS%
42.1
53.6
2.4
1.8
0.2
100

All vapor condensates from the Glucose 95% and HFCS 42% evaporators are combined (MX-126) and
then redistributed to various units within the glucose and fructose syrup sections via FSP-105 and FDIS103.

Economic Evaluation
This plant processes 50 MT/h corn (1200 MT/day) with an assumed uptime of 8208 hours per year. This
corresponds to about 410,400 metric tons of corn per year. Table 4a summarizes the various products
produced by this process and their yields. As mentioned previously, a portion of the starch is used for
glucose and fructose syrup production and another portion is dried to produce native starch. The flowrate
of starch shown in Table 4a is shown before the split. Similarly the Corn Gluten Feed is a dried mixture of
the bran separated from the Fiber Separation section plus the Steep Liquor from the Corn Steeping
section. For this reason Table 4a shows the flowrates and yields of the product Corn Gluten Feed and
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also of the two streams it consists of, namely bran and steep liquor. The total losses associated with this
process are around 0.3%.
Table 4a. Flowrates, moisture contents, and yields of the corn wet-milling process.

Germ
Steep
liquor
Bran
Corn
Gluten
Feed
Corn
Gluten
Meal
Total
Starch
Total
Corn

kg/h
339
3
554
9
115
55

Moisture %

kg DS/h

Yield (%)

3223

7.49

50

2774

6.42

54.2

5291

12.30

896
1

10

8065

18.72

267
3

10

2406

5.60

729
15

60

29166

67.90

42856

99.7

500
00

14

Losses

43000
144

0.3

Various assumptions were made for the costs of raw materials, heat transfer agents, wastewater
treatment, equipment purchase costs, labor, etc. In addition to the mass and energy balances, SuperPro
Designer calculates the capital (CAPEX) and operating expenses (OPEX), the production cost, and the
profitability of the project. The results can be found in the Economic Evaluation (EER), Cash Flow
Analysis (CFR), Itemized Cost (ICR), and Excel Custom reports. Table 4b, which was extracted from the
EER, shows the assumed selling prices of the co-products.

Table 4b. Selling prices of the co-products.

Revenue/Savings Price
Filter Aid Solid Waste (Revenue)
Germ (Revenue)
Corn Gluten Feed (Revenue)
Corn Gluten Meal (Revenue)
Natural Starch (Revenue)
Glucose Syrup 95% (Revenue)
HFCS 42% (Main Revenue)

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0.05 $/kg
0.25 $/kg
0.10 $/kg
0.50 $/kg
0.20 $/kg
0.35 $/kg
0.45 $/kg

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Table 5, which was extracted from the EER and is shown below, provides information on equipment sizes
and purchase costs. SuperPros built-in cost models were used for estimating the purchase costs of most
equipment items. However, the costs of some equipment items were based on User-Defined cost models
which are extensively analyzed in the Miscellaneous Modeling Tips section later in this document.

5. MAJOR EQUIPMENT SPECIFICATION AND FOB COST (2016 prices)

(Table 2 in the EER)
Quantity/
Standby/
Staggered

Name

Description

1/0/0

PM-101

1/0/0

V-106

1/0/0

R-101

1/0/0

R-102

1/0/7

R-103

1/0/0

HX-107

1/0/0

HX-108

1/0/3

INX-101

1/0/0

EV-102

1/0/0

RVF-101

1/0/0

HX-110

4/0/0

SL-101

1/0/0

BC-101

1/0/0

BC-101a

1/0/0

GR-102

1/0/0

BC-103

1/0/0

BF-101

1/0/0

RDR-101

1/0/0

SV-101

Centrifugal Pump
Pump Power = 7.74 kW
Flash Drum
Vessel Volume = 4986.06 L
Stirred Reactor
Vessel Volume = 4.98 m3
Stirred Reactor
Vessel Volume = 88.24 m3
Stirred Reactor
Vessel Volume = 471.90 m3
Heat Exchanger
Heat Exchange Area = 57.16 m2
Heat Exchanger
Heat Exchange Area = 7.43 m2
INX Column
Column Volume = 4.43 m3
Evaporator
Mean Heat Transfer Area = 95.10 m2
Rotary Vacuum Filter
Filter Area = 210.66 m2
Heat Exchanger
Heat Exchange Area = 14.49 m2
Silo/Bin
Vessel Volume = 8235.29 m3
Belt Conveyor
Belt Length = 100.00 m
Bowl Centrifuge
Throughput = 148.41 m3/h
Grinder
Rated Throughput = 138014.33 kg/h
Bowl Centrifuge
Throughput = 136.10 m3/h
Belt Filter
Belt Width = 7.98 m
Rotary Dryer
Drying Area = 177.72 m2
Centrifugal Sieve
Rated Throughput = 120491.27 kg/h

Intelligen, Inc.

Unit Cost
($)

Cost ($)

46,000

46,000

16,000

16,000

100,000

100,000

287,000

287,000

552,000

4,416,000

86,000

86,000

25,000

25,000

162,000

648,000

1,009,000

1,009,000

391,000

391,000

38,000

38,000

510,000

2,040,000

264,000

264,000

768,000

768,000

631,000

631,000

723,000

723,000

268,000

268,000

995,000

995,000

327,000

327,000

Page 14

1/0/0

SV-102

1/0/0

SV-103

1/0/0

BF-102

1/0/0

RDR-102

1/0/0

DS-101

1/0/0

DS-102

1/0/0

CY-101

1/0/0

V-103

1/0/0

CY-102

1/0/0

DS-103

1/0/0

BF-103

1/0/0

RDR-103

1/0/0

V-104

1/0/0

EV-101

1/0/0

BC-102

1/0/0

HX-103

1/0/0

GR-101

1/0/0

PM-102

1/0/0

HX-101

1/0/0

V-102

1/0/0

PM-103

1/0/0

BF-104

1/0/0

V-105

1/0/0

SDR-101

1/0/0

V-110

1/0/0

HX-114

1/0/3

INX-102

Intelligen, Inc.

Centrifugal Sieve
Rated Throughput = 33630.90 kg/h
Centrifugal Sieve
Rated Throughput = 30705.32 kg/h
Belt Filter
Belt Width = 7.43 m
Rotary Dryer
Drying Area = 346.66 m2
Disk-Stack Centrifuge
Throughput = 241217.80 L/h
Disk-Stack Centrifuge
Throughput = 139123.75 L/h
Hydrocyclone
Rated Throughput = 212.17 m3/h
Blending Tank
Vessel Volume = 134.01 m3
Hydrocyclone
Rated Throughput = 135.07 m3/h
Disk-Stack Centrifuge
Throughput = 9594.51 L/h
Belt Filter
Belt Width = 7.90 m
Rotary Dryer
Drying Area = 161.72 m2
Receiver Tank
Vessel Volume = 132.70 m3
Evaporator
Mean Heat Transfer Area = 63.08 m2
Bowl Centrifuge
Throughput = 28.28 m3/h
Heat Exchanger
Heat Exchange Area = 4.37 m2
Grinder
Rated Throughput = 78230.00 kg/h
Centrifugal Pump
Pump Power = 33.68 kW
Heat Exchanger
Heat Exchange Area = 3.62 m2
Receiver Tank
Vessel Volume = 151.39 m3
Centrifugal Pump
Pump Power = 21.44 kW
Belt Filter
Belt Width = 16.60 m
Blending Tank
Vessel Volume = 69.58 m3
Spray Dryer
Dryer Volume = 60725.97 L
Blending Tank
Vessel Volume = 35263.47 L
Heat Exchanger
Heat Exchange Area = 5.00 m2
INX Column

62,000

62,000

55,000

55,000

277,000

277,000

1,837,000

1,837,000

1,079,000

1,079,000

734,000

734,000

676,000

676,000

95,000

95,000

493,000

493,000

113,000

113,000

264,000

264,000

912,000

912,000

95,000

95,000

1,027,000

1,027,000

241,000

241,000

18,000

18,000

389,000

389,000

83,000

83,000

16,000

16,000

103,000

103,000

69,000

69,000

291,000

291,000

64,000

64,000

251,000

251,000

43,000

43,000

20,000

20,000

124,000

496,000
Page 15

1/0/0

EV-103

1/0/0

HX-115

1/0/0

PFR-101

1/0/0

MX-104

1/0/0

HX-104

1/0/0

HX-109

1/0/0

HX-105

1/0/0

HX-113

1/0/0

HX-106

1/0/0

HX-112

1/0/0

HX-117

1/0/0

HX-111

1/0/0

HX-116

1/0/0

HX-102

1/0/7

V-101

1/0/0

SCR-101

1/0/0

GR-103

1/0/1

GAC-102

1/0/1

GAC-101

1/0/0

V-107

1/0/0

V-111

1/0/0

V-112

1/0/0

V-108

1/0/0

V-109

Intelligen, Inc.

Column Volume = 2.58 m3

Evaporator
Mean Heat Transfer Area = 77.66 m2
Heat Exchanger
Heat Exchange Area = 4.79 m2
Plug Flow Reactor
Vessel Volume = 17644.33 L
Mixer
Rated Throughput = 158910.74 kg/h
Heat Exchanger
Heat Exchange Area = 3.85 m2
Heat Exchanger
Heat Exchange Area = 5.45 m2
Heat Exchanger
Heat Exchange Area = 29.35 m2
Heat Exchanger
Heat Exchange Area = 8.70 m2
Heat Exchanger
Heat Exchange Area = 2.55 m2
Heat Exchanger
Heat Exchange Area = 22.09 m2
Condenser
Condensation Area = 224.35 m2
Condenser
Condensation Area = 246.21 m2
Heat Exchanger
Heat Exchange Area = 6.88 m2
Condenser
Condensation Area = 260.35 m2
Flat Bottom Tank
Vessel Volume = 553.57 m3
Stationary Screen
Rated Throughput = 110389.18 kg/h
Grinder
Rated Throughput = 102272.91 kg/h
GAC Column
Column Volume = 5.36 m3
GAC Column
Column Volume = 9.50 m3
Receiver Tank
Vessel Volume = 118.66 m3
Receiver Tank
Vessel Volume = 68.81 m3
Receiver Tank
Vessel Volume = 71.39 m3
Receiver Tank
Vessel Volume = 126.26 m3
Receiver Tank
Vessel Volume = 69.87 m3
Unlisted Equipment

879,000

879,000

19,000

19,000

68,000

68,000

2,000

2,000

17,000

17,000

21,000

21,000

58,000

58,000

28,000

28,000

13,000

13,000

49,000

49,000

54,000

54,000

57,000

57,000

24,000

24,000

58,000

58,000

365,000

2,920,000

4,000

4,000

486,000

486,000

178,000

356,000

237,000

474,000

89,000

89,000

64,000

64,000

65,000

65,000

92,000

92,000

65,000

65,000

TOTAL

3,205,000
32,047,000

Page 16

Table 6, which was also extracted from the EER, provides an estimate of the Fixed Capital cost, which is
around $180 million for a plant of this capacity.

6. FIXED CAPITAL ESTIMATE SUMMARY (2016 prices in $)

(Table 3 in the EER)
6A. Total Plant Direct Cost (TPDC) (physical cost)
1. Equipment Purchase Cost
2. Installation
3. Process Piping
4. Instrumentation
5. Insulation
6. Electrical
7. Buildings
8. Yard Improvement
9. Auxiliary Facilities
TPDC

32,047,000
13,361,000
11,217,000
12,819,000
961,000
3,205,000
6,409,000
4,807,000
12,819,000
97,645,000

6B. Total Plant Indirect Cost (TPIC)

10. Engineering
11. Construction
TPIC

24,411,000
34,176,000
58,587,000

6C. Total Plant Cost (TPC = TPDC+TPIC)

TPC

156,233,000

6D. Contractor's Fee & Contingency (CFC)

12. Contractor's Fee
13. Contingency
CFC = 12+13

7,812,000
15,623,000
23,435,000

6E. Direct Fixed Capital Cost (DFC = TPC+CFC)

DFC

179,667,000

Tables 7a, b, c, and d provide information on the assumed unit costs and the calculated annual amounts
and costs for a) raw materials, b) consumables, c) utilities, and d) labor. The unit cost of corn grains was
assumed to be $130/MT. The total annual cost of raw materials was calculated to be around $56.5 million,
with corn being the predominant cost. The cost of enzymes, alpha amylase and gluco-amylase, is around
$930,000 per year. Table 7b shows the consumables costs. The cost of isomerase is the predominant
cost in this category followed by the cost of activated carbon. Table 7c displays the cost for utilities. It can
be seen that the annual expense for utilities is expected to be around $22 million. The calculated steam
consumption rate is around 69 MT per hour. This corresponds to about 1.4 MT of steam per MT of corn
grains processed, and it reflects the requirements of operating the corn wet milling sections as well as the
Intelligen, Inc.

Page 17

glucose and fructose sections. The largest steam consumers are the dryers and the evaporators. The
total annual labor cost was estimated to be around $14 million.

7a. MATERIALS COST - PROCESS SUMMARY

(Table 5 in the EER)
Bulk Material

Unit Cost
($)

Annual
Amount

0.00
3.00
0.15
0.13
0.12
8.00
0.03
0.35
0.20
0.03
0.25
2.00

3,479,340,294
80,078
448,358
410,400,000
2,377,380
86,188
8,915,570
13,086
2,908
10,653,987
602,469
625,725

Air
Alpha Amylase
CaChloride
Corn Grains
Filter Aid
Gluco Amylase
HCl (20% w/w)
Magne Sulfate
Na2CO3
NaOH (20% w/w)
Sulfur Dioxide
Water
TOTAL

Annual Cost
($)

0
240,233
67,254
53,352,000
285,286
689,503
267,467
4,580
582
319,620
150,617
1,251,450
56,628,590

0.00
0.42
0.12
94.21
0.50
1.22
0.47
0.01
0.00
0.56
0.27
2.21
100.00

kg
kg
kg
kg
kg
kg
kg
kg
kg
kg
kg
MT

7b. VARIOUS CONSUMABLES COST (2016 prices) - PROCESS SUMMARY

(Table 6 in the EER)
Units Cost
($)

Consumable
Dft INX Resin for Water Trmt
Isomerase
Dft GAC Packing (L)
TOTAL

3.00
50.00
4.00

Annual
Amount
6,334 L
18,103 L
150,706 kg

Annual Cost
($)

19,002
905,154
602,822
1,526,978

1.24
59.28
39.48
100.00

7c. UTILITIES COST (2016 prices) - PROCESS SUMMARY

(Table 8 in the EER)
Utility

Unit Cost
($)

Annual
Amount

Ref.
Units

Annual Cost
($)

Std Power
0.10
33,075,160
kW-h
Steam
30.00
565,136
MT
Cooling Water
0.05
29,518,916
MT
TOTAL
Note: Savings (1383189 $/yr) exist in the process due to heat recovery.

3,307,516
16,954,067
1,475,946
21,737,529

%
15.22
77.99
6.79
100.00

7d. LABOR COST - PROCESS SUMMARY

(Table 4 in the EER)
Labor Type
Operator
TOTAL
Intelligen, Inc.

Unit Cost
($/h)

Annual Amount
(h)

Annual Cost
($)

38.00

377,327
377,327

14,338,442
14,338,442

100.00
100.00
Page 18

Figure 3 provides a breakdown of the total annual operating costs. Clearly, raw materials, facilitydependent costs (annualized fixed capital investment, maintenance, etc.), labor, and utilities have the
highest contribution to the total annual operating costs. The raw materials are the predominant operating
costs, followed by facility-dependent costs. Obviously, a depreciated plant would have improved
profitability.

Figure 3. Breakdown of the total annual operating costs

Finally, Table 8 provides an executive summary of the overall process. The total CAPEX required was
estimated to be about $197 million. The Net Unit Production Cost was estimated to be about $0.77/kg of
the Main Product (HFCS 42%). This results in a Gross Margin of 10.62% and a Payback Time of 8.48
years.

8. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (2016 prices)

(Table 1 in the EER)
Total Capital Investment
Capital Investment Charged to This Project
Operating Cost
Savings (due to Heat Recovery)
Main Revenue
Other Revenues
Total Revenues
Cost Basis Annual Rate
Unit Production Cost
Net Unit Production Cost
Unit Production Revenue
Gross Margin
Return On Investment
Payback Time
Intelligen, Inc.

196,841,000 $
196,841,000 $
127,319,000 $/yr
1,020,437 $/yr
73,526,000 $/yr
67,771,640 $/yr
141,297,000 $/yr
163,390,166 kg MP/yr
0.78 $/kg MP
0.77 $/kg MP
0.86 $/kg MP
10.62 %
11.80 %
8.48 years
Page 19

IRR (After Taxes)

NPV (at 7.0% Interest)
MP = Total Flow of Stream 'HFCS 42%'

7.89
56,702,000 $

Miscellaneous Modeling Tips

Batch (Cyclical) Unit Procedures in Continuous Processes
SuperPro Designer handles modeling of batch processes, continuous processes, and combinations of
batch and continuous. If a process involves several batch procedures that require inter-procedure
scheduling links, then the flowsheets Mode of Operation should be set to Batch (under Tasks Set
Mode of Operation). If a mostly continuous process includes a few batch (cyclical) procedures that do
not require inter-procedure scheduling, then the flowsheets Mode of Operation should be set to
Continuous. This approach was followed for this example.
In this example, most of the units in the flowsheet operate in continuous mode. However, the following
units operate in batch (cyclical) mode: the steeping tanks (P-6/ V-101), the saccharification tanks (P-69/
R-103), the ion exchangers (P-76/ INX-101 and P-101/ INX-102) and the activated carbon columns (P-82/
GAC-101 and P-107/ GAC-102). Since these procedures operate in batch mode, they are displayed in the
Equipment Occupancy Chart (EOC), which can be generated by selecting Charts \ Equipment
Occupancy \ Selected Time Horizon from the main menu of the application. Figure 4 provides a
snapshot of the EOC for this process.
All batch processing steps utilize multiple equipment items operating in stagger mode (out of phase).
Equipment associated with a procedure is set to stagger mode by right-clicking on its icon, selecting
Equipment Data, checking the On box of the Stagger Mode frame (lower-left corner of the dialog), and
specifying the number of extra equipment units. For the steeping tanks, the number of extra units is 7,
which is equivalent to a total of 8 tanks operating in stagger mode.
The steeping procedure includes three operations: Pull-In, React, and Transfer-Out, whose durations are
5, 30, and 5 hours respectively. This is equivalent to a cycle duration of 40 hours. Since the 8 tanks
operate in stagger mode, the effective cycle time of the step is 5 hours (40/8). The cycle time is specified
by right-clicking on the procedure icon, selecting Procedure Data, checking the Set by User box and
specifying the value. The top eight lines of the EOC (Figure 4) correspond to the steeping tanks. Since
the Pull-In and Transfer-Out operations have a duration (by design) equal to the effective cycle time of the
step, there is always one tank loading and one unloading, while the actual steeping takes place in the
remaining six tanks.
The multiple steeping tanks operating in stagger mode behave macroscopically as a single continuous
unit. They are able to process a continuous inlet flow and generate a continuous outlet flow. The
saccharification tanks operate in a similar manner. If either the receiving or generating operation of a

Intelligen, Inc.

Page 20

cyclical unit is not fully-aligned with the cycle time of the step, then, some storage capacity before and/or
after such a unit is necessary.
Cyclical units in continuous processes are by default displayed with the icon of a small clock on the lowerleft corner, which symbolizes the cyclical nature of the unit. Availability of multiple equipment units
operating in stagger mode is indicated by another symbol (three small blue lines). If you move the cursor
over that symbol, the program displays the names of the extra units in the form of a tooltip.

Figure 4. The Equipment Occupancy Chart (EOC)

User-Defined Equipment Cost Models

As shown earlier, SuperPro Designer can be used to estimate the Capital Expenditure of a process. This
calculation is based on the purchase costs of the required equipment units, which are sized according to
the mass and energy balance requirements of the process. The equipment purchase costs are multiplied
by various direct, indirect and other factors (such as piping, instrumentation, insulation etc.), to estimate
the Direct Fixed Capital requirement. SuperPro is equipped with correlations for estimating the purchase
cost of equipment. However, the built-in correlations for many types of equipment are more suitable for
fine chemical and pharmaceutical types of facilities than for commodity food and animal feed processes
such as corn wet-milling. For this reason, user-defined equipment cost models were specified and used
for several equipment types. A new cost model can be specified in the Purchase Cost tab, which is
accessed by right-clicking a unit, selecting Equipment Data, then switching to the Purchase Cost tab.

Intelligen, Inc.

Page 21

By selecting the User-Defined Cost Model option on this tab and clicking on the Parameters button, the
user can specify an equipment cost model in the form of a power-law equation:

Q a
Cost =Co( )
Qo
The user must specify the size range for which the costing model is valid (Low- and High- End), the base
capacity (Qo), the base cost (Co) and the exponent (a). If multiple capacity ranges are created, the above
data must be provided for each capacity interval. Table 9 displays the User-Defined Cost Models used in
this example. Single capacity ranges were assumed for all.
Table 9: User-Defined Cost Model parameters used in this example

Equipment

Sizing
Units

Capacity Range

Base

Base Cost

Capacity

($)

Exponent

Low End

High End

(Qo)

(Co)

(a)

Silos

m3

10,000

8,000

500,000

0.7

Steeping Tanks

m3

650

400

300,000

0.6

m3/h

300

130

700,000

0.7

m3

700

400

500,000

0.6

m3

300

100

80,000

0.6

m3/h

300

130

480,000

0.7

Centrifuges
Saccharificatio
n Tanks
Other Tanks
Hydrocyclones

Furthermore, users have the option to either define the cost model locally within the file or to retrieve it
from the equipment cost database associated with their particular installation. More information on how to
enter a cost model into the database and on how to use it locally can be found in the ReadMe file of the
Lysine example. In that example, the costs of fermentors and tanks used in the process were estimated
using equipment-cost models added to the User-DB of SuperPro.
Like the default cost models for individual equipment items, the default multipliers for estimating the fixed
capital investment correspond to fine chemical and pharmaceutical types of facilities. Therefore, it is
important to modify these multipliers for commodity biochemical processes, in order to avoid greatly

Intelligen, Inc.

Page 22

overestimating capital expenditures. Table 10 displays the default multipliers and the modified ones used
in this example (highlighted in red). The capital investment multipliers of a section can be edited by
selecting the appropriate section and clicking the Capital Cost Factors button ( ) on the Sections
toolbar.

Table 4: Fixed Capital Investment Multipliers

Factor
Unlisted Equip.
Purchase Cost
Piping
Instrumentation
Insulation
Electrical Facilities
Buildings
Yard Improvement
Auxiliary Facilities

Multipliers Used in
this Example File

Default
Multipliers

0.10
0.35
0.40
0.03
0.10
0.20
0.15
0.40

0.20
0.35
0.40
0.03
0.10
0.45
0.15
0.40

Material Storage Units

Material storage units in SuperPro Designer may be thought of as virtual tanks (in the sense that they are
not displayed in the flowsheet) which handle the supply or receiving of the materials of a process. A
receiving storage unit (Waste Water Receiving Tank) was added to this example in order to collect the
liquid waste streams generated throughout the process, such as the condensate of the steep water
evaporator, the wash and regeneration streams of the ion exchangers and activated carbon columns, etc.
An output stream can be assigned to a receiving storage unit by right-clicking on the stream, selecting
Assign Receiving Storage Unit and selecting the unit from the dropdown menu. More information on
how to add Material Storage Units can be found in the ReadMe file of the Lysine example in the
Examples folder of SuperPro Designer.

Recycling in Pull Mode

Corn wet-milling utilizes large amounts of water. Recycling and reuse of the water is important for the
economics and the environmental impact of the process. As mentioned earlier, corn and water flow in the
wet-milling process counter-currently: corn enters in the beginning of the process, while water enters near
the end of the process in the starch hydrocyclones. Water is used in many operations in the wet-milling
section. Ultimately, water exits the wet-milling process mainly in the form of condensate from the steep
water evaporator and, in this integrated process example, from the starch stream which is sent to the
glucose and fructose syrup production sections. Another major water loop exists in the glucose and
Intelligen, Inc.

Page 23

fructose production sections. Water enters the Glucose 95% Front End section in the slurry feed stream
(from the Starch Separation section) and leaves the process as water condensate from the final
evaporators in the subsequent sections. The water condensate of the evaporators is recycled and used in
the operations of the ion exchange and activated carbon columns. Consequently, the waste streams of
those columns constitute the ultimate wastewater that is sent to the Waste Water Receiving Tank
storage unit.
It is advisable to recycle water and other solvents in PULL MODE, which improves recycle loop
convergence and the stability of the model. As mentioned above, there are two major water loops in the
process, one in the wet milling part of the process and another in the Glucose 95% Downstream and
HFCS 42% sections. To recycle in pull mode, operations that utilize water calculate their requirements
and back-propagate that information. In the wet milling part of the process, this is accomplished primarily
by custom mixers that achieve a certain water concentration at various points in the process (e.g., MX101, MX-104, MX-105, MX-106, etc.). The adjustable (top) steams of all those mixers are attached to a
flow distributor (FDIS-101), which sums up the various demands and back-propagates the total demand
to a custom-flow splitter (FSP-101) operating in Pull-Out mode.
Figure 5 displays the settings of the flow distributor (FDIS-101). Note that the flowrates of the five streams
attached to that unit are not set by the user (i.e., the Is Flow Set By User checkboxes are un-checked).
Instead, the flowrates of those streams are calculated by the custom mixers that utilize them and the role
of the flow distributor is to sum up the demands and back-propagate the total demand to the custom flow
splitter (FSP-101).
Figure 6 displays the settings of the custom flow splitter (FSP-101). The selected option, Pull-Out from
Top Stream, allows the flow distributor to draw the amount that it requires (117,587 kg/h). The remainder
water is directed to the Water-Purge-1 stream. If the recycled water is not adequate for the needs of the
process, a water makeup stream should be added upstream of the flow splitter (e.g. as an input to P-42 /
V-104). Such a makeup stream has been added to the second major loop (attached to P-91 / MX-126).
Please note that it is possible to have cascaded flow distributors. You can see that in the second major
water loop. Distributors FDIS-102 and FDIS-104 back-propagate their demands to FDIS-103 (another
flow distributor).
We call such settings recycling in Pull Mode because the amount of recycled material is determined by
the consuming operations (in this case, the custom mixers, the operations of the ion exchange columns,
etc.) and not by the operations that generate the recyclable water. Recycling in Pull Mode reflects plant
operations more accurately and facilitates convergence of recycle loops because it reduces disturbance
propagations related to stream flowrates. The flow distributors connected to a custom splitter in pull-out
mode accommodate all the demands and eliminate disturbances stemming from the water generation
operations. Such disturbances impact the flowrate of the water purge steams which are outputs of the
process and do not affect convergence of loops.
Intelligen, Inc.

Page 24

Figure 5. Settings in the Flow Distributor (P-44 / FDIS-101)

Intelligen, Inc.

Page 25

Figure 6. Settings in the Custom Flow Splitter (P-43/ FSP-101)

Explicit and Virtual Energy Integration

In corn refinery processes, there are numerous opportunities for energy recovery and reuse. In addition,
the cost of utilities is typically a substantial portion of the overall operating cost. In this example, the cost
of energy is approximately 17% of the total production cost. If there is a stream that needs to be heated
and another stream that needs to be cooled, heat integration between the streams (if thermodynamically
possible) can save both steam and cooling water. However, improvements in energy efficiency typically
come with additional capital expenditures, such as the installation of additional heat exchangers.

Intelligen, Inc.

Page 26

In SuperPro Designer, heat recovery can be modeled either by adding heat exchangers to the flowsheet
and connecting the streams which can exchange heat, or by using the Virtual Energy Recovery feature
of the tool. The latter is particularly useful during preliminary process design studies and when the
required network of heat exchangers is very complicated.
In this model, both heat recovery modeling options were used. Figure 7 shows an example of heat
recovery using a heat exchanger. The hot stream exiting the drum filter (S-128) in the Glucose 95%
Downstream section has a temperature of around 65 C and needs to be cooled because the optimum
operating temperature of the ion exchangers is around 52 C. In parallel, stream S-130 (which exits the
ion exchangers) needs to be heated because the optimum operating temperature of the carbon column
downstream is around 70 C. This opportunity for heat recovery was modeled with a heat exchanger (P74/ HX-107). The unit exchanges approximately 450 kW of heat between the two streams.

Figure 7. Heat recovery with heat exchangers in the flowsheet

This example also includes two virtual heat recovery arrangements. Figure 8 shows the Energy
Recovery Opportunities dialog, which can be accessed by right clicking on an empty area of the
flowsheet and selecting the Energy Recovery menu option, and then expanding the dialog by clicking
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the Show Recipients of Energy Recovered button. By checking the Recovered box of an operation
(e.g., COOL-1 in P-66) that requires cooling (upper table of the dialog) and clicking on the View/Edit
Match button (with the three dots on it), the program brings up another dialog window (see Figure 9) that
displays operations that require heating and are potential candidates for matching (i.e. the temperature
differences are suitable). In this case, two operations that require heating in P-59 and P-80 can obtain
100% of their heat from P-66 (see Figure 9). In addition, the matching satisfies almost 60% of the cooling
requirements of P-66. Similarly, the cooling in P-95 was matched with the heating in P-105, satisfying fully
the needs of P-95 and almost 67% of the needs of P-105.
Please note that virtual integration in SuperPro involves matching between operations and not streams.
All of the above matches involve operations in heaters and coolers (please verify that by locating the
related procedures). Consequently, the capital expenditure for the matches is already accounted for by
the cost of the involved heaters and coolers.
The savings from virtual heat recovery are reported in the EER and other relevant reports. More
information about virtual heat recovery can be found in the Biodiesel example in the Biodiesel subfolder
of the Examples folder of SuperPro.

Figure 8. The Energy Recovery Opportunities dialog

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Figure 9. The energy match between P-66 and P-59 & P-80

Summary
In this example we modeled a corn wet-milling plant integrated with production of glucose and fructose
syrups. The products of such plants are bulk food ingredients and animal feed materials which are widely
consumed around the world.
The estimated capital investment for a plant of this capacity (processing 50 MT/hour of corn) is around
$200 million. The facility-dependent manufacturing cost, which mainly accounts for depreciation and
maintenance, is around 25% of total. Consequently, depreciated plants tend to be considerably more
profitable.
The primary objective of this example is to help users of SuperPro to create good models for such
processes. The Miscellaneous Modeling Tips sections provide information on several advanced
modeling techniques. The concept of Recycling in Pull Mode should be practiced in all models that
include extensive recycling of materials. As explained in the related section, it greatly improves
convergence of recycle loops and the stability of the overall model.
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References
BeMiller J. and Whistler R., 2009, Starch Chemistry and Technology, Elsevier, Oxford, UK
Johnson L.A. and May J.B, 2003, Wet milling: the basis for corn biorefineries, in Corn: chemistry and
technology, Edited by White P.J and Johnson L.A, AACC, St Paul, Minnesota
Raquel de Pinho Ferreira Guine and Paula Maria dos Reis Correia, 2014, Engineering Aspects of Cereals
and Cereal-based Products, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, New York
Serna-Saldivar S.O., 2010, Cereal Gains: Properties, Processing and Nutritional Attributes, CRC Press,
Taylor & Francis Group, New York
Hull P., 2010, Glucose Syrups Technology and Applications, Wiley Blackwell, Oxford, UK
Martin Chaplin, 2014, Enzyme Technology, http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/enztech/hfcs.html,
http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/enztech/glucose.html, http://www1.lsbu.ac.uk/water/enztech/starch.html,
accessed in 2016

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