Case Study: Cardinal Ethanol achieves higher yield and lower energy use with Rockwell Automation plant-wide optimization

Cardinal Ethanol - Customer Case Study

Cardinal Ethanol, LLC, a 100 million gallon-per-year ethanol plant in Indiana, faced volatile raw material and energy costs, reduced margins, and operational complexity in its highly integrated dry mill production process. To improve stability, yield, and energy efficiency, the company turned to Rockwell Automation and its Pavilion8-based model predictive control and plant-wide optimization solution.

Rockwell Automation implemented control applications across batch fermentation, distillation/sieve, slurry/water balance, and drying/evaporation to coordinate the plant end to end. The results included a 2.2% increase in ethanol yield, 7.2% higher production, 7.7% lower energy use, and a 20% reduction in residual sugars, delivering ROI in less than 12 months.

Cardinal Ethanol

Jeremy Herlyn

Plant Manager