A Temporary Boiler in a Box Solution for the Winter Months at a Soybean Crushing Plant

Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC), a global merchant company involved in agriculture, food processing, international shipping, and finance, has a large facility in Claypool, IN. This facility uses soybeans to make biodiesel fuel, soybean meal, and refined glycerin. While there are several facilities crushing soybeans for meal and vegetable oil in North America, the Louis Dreyfus Company facility in Claypool is one of the few that is crushing soybeans for biofuel and refined glycerin. This plant has grown every year in production and output — but their boiler system, a large capital asset to upgrade, remained the same.

The Problem

Being located in the Northern U.S. creates quite a challenge during the winter to keep the facilities warm and LDC’s processes running smoothly. The steam demand that is needed to support the same level of overall production and heat in the large buildings onsite increases significantly once the outside temperatures begin to drop. Overall, to comfortably meet the plant’s requirements, an estimated additional 25 MMBTU was required over the course of winter.

The Solution

Louis Dreyfus Company originally reached out to Powerhouse Equipment in 2014 about getting a temporary portable boiler solution to meet the increased demand for steam in the winter months. Powerhouse analyzed the needs of LDC and recognized the fact that LDC needed something in the range of an 800 HP portable boiler room unit and the plant already had sufficient feedwater treatment capacity onsite capable of supporting this additional unit.

As a result, Powerhouse offered a new product that had recently been developed, a BB-800 Boiler in a box unit, which could tie into the LDC’s current deaerator.

The Results

Powerhouse’s solution proved to be a critical component of LDC’s operations that winter, and when winter rolled around again in 2015, LDC knew where to go for their boiler needs. Mike Wolfe, the Maintenance Supervisor at LDC, says, “We have worked with Powerhouse over the last few years, and they have been very helpful and accommodating to meet our plant’s needs. We rent a boiler from them every year and every year they come through in a timely manner.”

Powerhouse continues to provide solutions to Louis Dreyfus Company, and the growing capability of Powerhouse’s product lines ensures that as the plant grows, their boiler solution can grow with it.