Ethanol Company Limited

Ethanol Company Limited has a design capacity of 60,000 litres of alcohol per day using molasses derived from sugar production. Due to raw material (feedstock) shortage and plant age full capacity utilisation is rarely achieved. A working maximum of 50,000 litres per day can be achieved. Molasses is currently purchased from Dwangwa Sugar Corporation which in turn gets its cane from its own estates and Smallholder Cane Out Growers and Dwangwa Cane Growers Limited. .

Ethanol Company Limited has a batch type fermentation system which until 2007 the  used an azeotropic form of distillation. The plant is in the process of being re-jigged to a modern molecular sieve system for anhydrous ethanol production and to a multieffect extractive distillation for extra neutral alcohol production. Malawi’s total supply of potable (extra-neutral-spirit) and the total required by the beverage and pharmaceutical industries comes from this company. Rectified alcohol for industrial applications is also produced. The revamped plant will produce anhydrous alcohol without any traces of entrainers and the extra neutral alcohol will be to the specifications of alcohol requirement for Smirnoff Vodka.

Energy is supplied from burning coal in two, ten tonnes per hour, steam boilers. Steam produced is used principally for distillation and other sanitary requirements in the plant.

Effluent resulting from distillation is evaporated in open pan-ponds. Latterly the effluent has been adopted by local farmers as fertiliser in their maize gardens and now fully satisfies local needs, cutting drastically their costs of artificial fertiliser. The use of the effluent for soil enrichment has eased the burden on the ponds.