Installations > Back to Installations: Case Studies

Whole Stillage and Wastewater from Whisky Distillation

Bourbon whisky distillery

Under a design-build agreement, Ecovation is constructing a treatment system to manage the whole stillage from the whisky making process for the world’s oldest operating bourbon whiskey distillery. After evaluating options to the traditional, energy intensive “dry house” process, the client selected Ecovation’s total solution that incorporates innovative solids separation, high-rate anaerobic treatment using the patented MFT process, and a modified activated sludge system. An existing wastewater system was also incorporated into the design. The entire treatment system uses a relatively small amount of energy to operate, as compared to a dry house, and will generate biogas as a renewable energy source that will be used to offset natural gas use in the distillery. The entire system was designed to accommodate a planned 50% expansion of the distillery’s production capacity. As the system reaches full capacity, the production of biogas will increase from an estimated 85 MMbtus per day to 165 MMbtus. The system is scheduled to be online in February 2008.

Benefits:
• Provide a long-term sustainable solution to whole stillage management that does not risk interruption of whisky production
• Eliminate bottleneck created by fluctuations in animal feed market
• Allow for long-awaited expansion of the distillery
• Generates renewable energy, as opposed to energy-consuming “dry house” alternative