By Lori Ehde
Wednesday was the day Luverne's Agri-Energy Ethanol Plant was supposed to launch its much-anticipated thermal oxidizer.
It's the $1.5-million solution to the plant's odor problem that has prompted community complaints since it began operating in 1998.
The equipment was ordered in January and arrived for installation in July. It's a major project that required two additions, one for the electrical panel and one to house the boiler.
The oxidizer was scheduled to start operating by late summer, but inspectors required additional equipment that delayed startup.
The Agri-Energy plant shut down Tuesday for usual fall maintenance, so the oxidizer was scheduled to be connected at that time.
"I suppose people saw there was no plume coming from the plant when we were shut down and assumed the oxidizer was working," Plant Manager Rick Serie said Wednesday.
But a last-minute inspection Tuesday revealed a section of pipe needs to be replaced in a pressure line, which will delay use of the oxidizer for at least another week.
The plant resumed production Wednesday afternoon, but will have to be briefly shut down next week to install the piece needed to launch the thermal oxidizer.
In the thermal oxidation process, odor is eliminated by venting plant emissions into the oxidizer and destroying them with heat.
The existing 175-foot stack will remain, but the steam plume coming out of the stack will be all but eliminated.
"Cold air condensing hot air makes steam, so there may be a plume in the wintertime, but there won't be any emissions," Serie said.
Agri-Energy started production in 1998. It now employs 29 people full-time with an annual payroll of more than $1 million.
It processes seven million bushels of corn per year and produces more than 20 million gallons of ethanol annually.