Production

In 5 continuously operating distillation plants, on more than 330 days out of the year we produce highly purified neutral alcohol from grain, sugar beets and sugar cane. With a capacity of over 80,000 m³, we are among Germany's largest producers of industrial alcohol.

We in large part developed the plants on our own and build them with competent partners from the region. This allows us to ensure that our standards for sustainable and highly-efficient production can be fulfilled. In production this means for us:

low use of energy and raw materials
practically no air emissions or pollutants
no waste disposal costs thanks to internal recycling
high degree of automation and thus low personnel costs
high safety standards and very low rates of stoppage
low fluctuations in quality thanks to IT-based product monitoring

In order to ensure and continually improve upon the high standard in production, at KWST. Special emphasis is placed on initial and further training of employees. A high level of expertise is one of the critical success factors for the company.

The key production facilities are located at the Misburg site:

Molasses Distillery

In the distillery, we produce crude alcohol from molasses according to a continuous process (BIOSTILL). The process exclusively uses sugar beet molasses from Northern Germany. The stillage is evaporated and sold as fodder. As an additional invaluable joint product, potassium sulfate is extracted as natural potash fertilizer and sold for use in agriculture.

Rectification and dehydration

We also process crude alcohol from third-party suppliers. A multi-step distillation turns this into azeotropic ethanol, which is odorless and free of undesirable impurities. The alcohol is then further processed partially to water-free neutral alcohol. In addition, we also operate a further combined rectification and dehydration plant, which produces dehydrated neutral alcohol directly from crude alcohol for the cosmetic and industrial alcohol market.

Recycling and wastewater recovery

Solvents containing ethanol are a valuable raw material and should not be thrown way. That is why we operate a distillation plant for reprocessing organic solvents; residual alcohols are reprocessed in a separate plant approved according to Germany's Federal Immission Control Act.

The industrial effluent from the boiler, recycling plant and distillation systems is reprocessed in the company's internal two-step water treatment facility and fed into the local sewer system. The biogas captured in the biogas plant is used to produce heat and thus lowers the primary demand for energy.

Storage

With a capacity of over 24,000 m³, the ethanol storage facility is among Germany's largest. Due to exclusive storage of ethanol in purpose-built tanks, a potential contamination is practically eliminated. In addition, storage tanks for molasses with a capacity of 9,000 liters are available. The storage of denaturants and chemicals is handled at a separate solvents storage facility.

Loading and denaturing facilities

Comprehensive facilities are available for denaturing the alcohol for technical applications. For delivery of crude alcohol and for storage of finished merchandise, loading terminals are available for tanker vehicles, rail tank cars or inland shipping vessels:

Ship loading facilities have been available since 2009, thanks to the company's own jetty on the Mittelland Canal, on which European vessels with a loading capacity of 1.000 – 1.200 can be loaded and unloaded.

The loading options for rail tank cars enable not only the clearance of groups of cars but also entire trains. Entire trains are generally cleared within 24 hours.

The good location, directly at the Hanover East (A2/A7) motorway interchange, is ideal for delivering to customers via road tanker.

In the area of piece goods, JBC, 260 or 200 e drums made of stainless steel or coated steel or cans and canisters are filled and dispatched.