| COMPANY: | Sterling Ethanol Group LLC |
| HEADQUARTERS: | Sterling, CO |
| SIZE OF COMPANY: | 50-99 employees |
| INDUSTRY: | Miscellaneous manufacturing |
| PRIMARY PRODUCT LINE: | Fuel-grade ethanol for blending with refinery fuel, wet distiller’s grain and solubles for use as feed for livestock producers |
| NAME OF PROJECT: | Sterling Ethanol: A Plant-Wide Optimization and MPC Project |
| PROJECT OBJECTIVE: | To respond to mercurial market conditions; minimize waste through automation technology; ensure that a new control system was used effectively from the start |
| TECHNOLOGIES EMPLOYED: | Rockwell Automation Pavilion8 Model Predictive Control and Plant-wide Optimizer, Siemens APACS Control System |
| ACCOMPLISHMENTS/ROI: | ROI exceeded 100% per year for Sterling Ethanol, Yuma Ethanol, and Bridgeport Ethanol. For Sterling Ethanol, production rose 18%, energy use fell 4%, and fermentation yield efficiency rose 1%. For Yuma Ethanol, energy use fell 4% and fermentation yield efficiency rose 6.5%. For Bridgeport Ethanol, energy use fell 15% and fermentation yield efficiency rose 2%. |