Company will roll out initial phase at four locations
9/16/2011
San Antonio, Texas
Valero Renewable Fuels Company LLC, a subsidiary of Valero Energy Corporation, announced today its plan to install an ICM-patent pending, next-generation Advanced Oil System™ (AOS™) corn oil extraction system at four of its ethanol plants in the Midwest by the end of the first quarter of 2012.
The investment will allow the Valero Renewables plants to recover more than one-half pound of corn oil per bushel of corn processed, giving the plants an additional source of revenue besides ethanol and distillers grains.
The four plants that will take part in the initial installation of corn oil extraction equipment are in Albert City, Charles City, Fort Dodge and Hartley, Iowa. Following the initial rollout of corn oil extraction at these first four plants, Valero Renewables will study the possibility of installing the equipment at another five of its plants that use a dry mill technology to produce ethanol.
"In the basic dry mill ethanol process, all of the corn oil ends up in distillers grains, which is used as livestock feed," said Jim Gillingham, Valero's Senior Vice President-Alternative Energy and Project Development. "The new equipment will allow us to recover corn oil so that it can be sold into higher-value markets for use in animal feed and as a feedstock for biodiesel production."
Valero Renewables expects the corn oil extraction program to enhance plant margins at a low cost, enabling a payback of capital expenditures in less than two years.
About Valero:
Valero Energy Corporation, through its subsidiaries, is an international manufacturer and marketer of transportation fuels, other petrochemical products and power. Valero subsidiaries employ approximately 20,000 people, and assets include 15 petroleum refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 2.9 million barrels per day, 10 ethanol plants with a combined production capacity of 1.2 billion gallons per year, and a 50-megawatt wind farm. Approximately 6,800 retail and branded wholesale outlets carry the Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock and Beacon brands in the United States and the Caribbean; Ultramar in Canada; and Texaco in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Valero is a Fortune 500 company based in San Antonio. Please visit www.valero.com for more information.
