November 2003 - The main column of the new distillation plant for the fuel additive power alcohol, which was erected in Zörbig (Saxonia-Anhalt) at the end of November, has a length of 35 meters and a weight of 70 tonnes. Two weeks ago, the transport of this column brought traffic on several motorways from the GEA Wiegand manufacturing workshop in Beckum (North Rhine-Westphalia) to the site of erection to a standstill for three nights.
On 24 November, the giant was erected. It was lifted about 50 meters above ground by several special cranes of more than 1000 HP. This procedure was not altogether without its dangers and represented an engineering challenge.
After completion of the installation work and the commissioning at the beginning of 2004, the plant will be producing 330,000 litres of bioethanol per day. In comparison with conventional production plants, the state-of-the-art plant does not require any toxic additives. Bioethanol is produced from renewable resources and, as fuel additive, reduces the emission of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide.