Walthers announces the arrival of the Cornerstone® Fermentation Tanks, Fermentation Tank Detail Kit and Cooling Tower kits. These HO Scale North American Ethanol series kits are based on necessary structures in the ethanol making process.
Fast Facts: The production of ethanol, a type of alcohol used in motor fuel blends is big business for railroads. Its use in gasoline blends reduces gas emissions and lessens dependence on foreign oil. Corn is the main feedstock and thousands of carloads are moved each week to production plants across the continent.
Fermentation tanks are where ethanol is actually produced. Inside, enzymes and yeast chemically break down simple sugars in a corn/water mixture called mash. Carbon dioxide gas is collected for processing and an ethanol-rich liquid called beer (not the kind you can drink) is returned to the processing center, via the slightly larger beer well tank, for distillation and further refining. During fermentation the mash in the tanks is continually circulated through temperature control and monitoring equipment housed in the structure between the tanks.
The cooling tower is a key element in temperature control at every ethanol plant. Cooling towers work by exposing water to as much air as possible to maximize evaporation. Large fans draw air upward through the structure as the water cascades over baffles (or "fill," often made of wood because it resists corrosion). Warm water from other plant processes is cooled in the tower. Fresh water from an outside source makes up the amount lost to evaporation. The evaporated water is easily visible on cool days as wisps of steam rising from the fans. The cold water is used in the processing center and the monitoring structure between the fermentation tanks.
Features: The Fermentation Tanks kit includes three fermentation tanks, a slightly larger beer well and fermentation building designed for placement next to the processing center. If the fermentation tank model is used as a stand-alone structure a scratchbuilt end wall will have to be fabricated. For more detail, the Fermentation Tank Detail Kit, #933-2981 (sold separately) includes agitator details, exterior stairways, walkways and a carbon dioxide scrubber and stack.
The Cooling Tower kit includes a cooling tower with four simulated rooftop circulation fans, a water storage tank and a maintenance/pump/monitoring shed. The kit is based on a facility at an ethanol processing plant, but cooling towers are also used at power plants, steel mills, refineries, modern food processors and chemical processing plants for cooling process and discharge water. This kit is molded in ABS plastic, which requires compatible cement for assembly.
Expected Delivery Date: January 2010
Scale: HO
933-2977 Fermentation Tanks
Retail Price: $79.98
933-2981 Fermentation Tank Detail Kit
Retail Price: $17.98
933-2979 Cooling Tower
Retail Price: $49.98
