Delta Biofuel has announced a $100 million final investment in the construction and start-up of a full-scale renewable fuel production facility pelletizing sugarcane waste in Jeanerette, Louisiana, with annual production estimated at 340,000 metric tons of bagasse pellets.
Player Design Inc. (PDI) has been selected to provide two PDI 17 ft. x 70 ft. dryers (each with a 100 million BTU/hour furnace). Additionally, PDI is serving as the complete engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) provider for the facility.
This is not the first pellet plant for which PDI has served as the EPC contractor in the company’s history, and it certainly will not be the last. PDI has built EPC pellet facilities for FE Wood Natural Energy, MaineFlame, and is a well-known supplier of EPC drying and energy systems in the pellet industry in North America and Asia.
"This is the natural growth of our capabilities as a full-service provider of pellet plants. With the drying and energy systems being such a cornerstone of a successful pellet operations, the guaranteed performance and capital cost of the facility were already something we provided. Adding the PAL pellet presses and other systems was a logical step to rounding out our complete package" said Tyler Player, President, Player Design Inc.
PDI stands behind its concept so strongly that Player made the decision to financially guarantee the complete capital cost and the plant’s performance inclusive of all PDI and non-PDI equipment.
"Our process engineering knowledge and global expertise in construction made this an easy transition. Knowing what will work, and making certain to fix any mistakes is critical to the success of Delta Biofuels, and our willingness to share risk and resolve fault has been the basis for all of our success" said Tyler Player, President, Player Design Inc.
PDI is excited to work the project for Delta Biofuels through to completion—the first of its kind in North America to use bagasse to manufacture biomass fuel pellets on a commercial scale. Construction in Iberia Parish is expected to begin in late June, with long-term feedstock purchase agreements already in place, as well as several long-term contracts with power utility companies located primarily in Europe for the sale of more than 1.8 million tons of pellets over the next several years.
