Agro-industry
IPSB offers you the benefit of nearly 20 years’ experience in beet, cane and grain transformation. Auditing sites, revamping installations, extending workshops and building new industrial plants are among the missions to which our experts and engineers bring added value.
A significant part of our activity focuses on the rapidly developing Agro-Industries sector, with its new market opportunities and its orientation towards environmentally friendly production.
The agro-resources (beets, sugar cane, grains, potatoes) used in our processes are intended for fractionation and to be transformed and upgraded into food and non-food products. In this context, IPSB offers you its know-how in the following sectors:
- Sugars
- Alcohols and biofuels
- Biomass energy valorization
- Grains
Historically, our engineering work for the major players in French sugar production is the basis of IPSB activity in this sector. Today, IPSB teams have expertise in this field available recognized by operators in beet, cane and grain transformation.
Our activities concern:
- Sugar production processes for the mass market
- Sugar production processes for food and non-food industries
- Valorization of process by-products (pulps, molasses, proteins, vinasses, etc.)
Our expertise focuses on:
- Improving energy efficiency
- Increasing production performance
- Renovating workshops
- Designing installations adapted to client needs and requirements (ease of operation, maintenance, extensibility, etc.)
Our strong points are:
- Knowledge of products and manufacturing intermediaries
- Hands-on expertise in carrying out audits and analyses, and in communicating with plant operators
- Mastery of operating constraints
- Access to diagnostic assistance software developed in-house for carrying out plant balances (mass and thermal) adapted to the processes employed
- Knowledge of unitary operations, from reception of raw materials to packaging, storage and shipment of finished products
Our missions range from specific audits, to monitoring plant performance, to project management for building new, fully-equipped workshops.
We are active in the following geographical regions:
- North and West Africa (Morocco, Algeria, Senegal and Ivory Coast)
- Eastern Europe (Ukraine and Romania)
- La France.
Our knowledge of sugar and starch processes, expertise in biotechnologies and mastery of engineering have led us to support our clients in their development and their diversification into new markets for alcohol and bioethanol production.
Today, with some 15 years’ experience, IPSB teams offer their clients a wide range of services for studying, building and optimizing potable alcohol and biofuel production installations starting with the fermentable sugar and starch raw materials from beet, cane and grain biorefineries.
IPSB, with numerous client references in alcohol production, is the preferred engineering firm of one of the European leaders in this sector and has provided it with project owner assistance from the master plan to the commissioning of all of its production lines.
In addition to 1st generation alcohol, IPSB was early on interested in 2nd generation biofuels and thus carried out studies on, as well as managed, the first French project intended to market an innovative process of lignocellulose biomass-based bioethanol production.
Whether providing assistance to the project owner or overall project management, IPSB will help you design and integrate the best technologies to implement energy efficient, environmentally friendly production units.
And beyond the main production line (e.g., preparation of raw materials, alcoholic fermentation, distillation, alcohol rectification and dehydration), IPSB offers you its expertise in the following areas:
- Alcohol storage, denaturation and shipment (truck/wagon loading stations)
- By-product valorization processes (vinasses, DDGS, etc.)
- Energy coupling optimization
- Water recycling
- Implementation of the Best Available Techniques (BAT) to limit environmental impact
La valorisation de la biomasse : une nécessité environnementale et une opportunité économique.
Les industries pour lesquelles nous intervenons sont très consommatrices d’énergie, or, la biomasse est susceptible de fournir de l’énergie sous diverses formes : chaleur, électricité, combustible et/ou carburant gazeux.
Nos interventions concernent deux des trois grandes familles de procédés de conversion de la biomasse en énergie :
- Voies thermochimiques : combustion, cogénération
- Voies biologiques : fermentation, méthanisation.
IPSB a accompagné ces dernières années plusieurs de ses clients dans les études de conception et la construction d’installations dans ces deux secteurs.
L’expertise d’IPSB porte sur :
- L’ingénierie globale des unités de production
- Le conditionnement, la préparation et la manutention de la biomasse
- La maitrise des technologies constitutives des procédés
- La gestion des interfaces et l’intégration des packages technologiques
- L’optimisation de la distribution de l’énergie produite dans les procédés consommateurs
Ces dernières années les équipes d’IPSB ont développé des partenariats avec des amidonniers glucosiers européens afin de les assister dans leurs projets d’optimisation, de développement (extension de capacité de production) et de diversification de leurs activités (nouveaux produits).
Ces partenariats, associés à notre implication dans les projets de productions de biocarburants à partir de céréales, nous ont conduits à nous intéresser aux procédés de fractionnement et transformation des céréales. Nous avons ainsi mené des études pour la mise en œuvre d’unités de grande capacité traitant un débit de matière première de 300 t/h.
La capitalisation de l’expérience acquise pendant ces années, permet aujourd’hui aux équipes d’IPSB de proposer des services d’ingénierie pour les unités et secteurs suivants :
- La réception et le stockage des céréales
- Le nettoyage et le fractionnement par voies sèche et humide
- La liquéfaction et l’hydrolyse des différentes fractions constitutives (amidon, gluten…)
- La purification des molécules d’intérêt (séparations liquide/solide, filtration membranaire, échanges d’ions, chromatographie …)
- La concentration et le séchage des produits et coproduits (atomisation, sécheur ring…)
- Le stockage vrac (liquides et solides) des produits finis
- Les postes d’expédition (chargement vrac, camion/wagon)
- Les ateliers de conditionnement
- Les ateliers de « fonctionnalisation » sur des produits de base (hydrogénation, acétylation…)
Au-delà du procédé, IPSB peut également vous accompagner dans la conception et la réalisation des bâtiments accueillant ces unités industrielles. En effet, la conception du bâtiment peut nécessiter une expertise permettant la maitrise des conditions d’asepsie en fonction de la destination du produit fini (secteur agroalimentaire, alimentation infantile, secteur pharmaceutique, …)
Our references
Evaporation-installation project, 1st and 2nd effects
In the context of its multi-annual energy saving program, SAINT-LOUIS SUCRE entrusted IPSB with the task of assisting the Owner for the modernization of the diffusion workshop in order to allow the transition to 6 effects of the evaporation station.
Evaporation-installation project 2nd effect
The company Lesaffre Frères has entrusted IPSB with the detailed design and project management for a decarbonization project at its production site.
Study of the layout of a drying line
In 2021, to increase its processing capacity and decarbonize its operations, the CRISTAL UNION Group commissioned IPSB to conduct a detailed preliminary study for the installation of a third drying line. Powered by a biomass furnace, this line is designed to dry organic alfalfa, beet pulp, and sawdust.
Liquid sugar loading station
In 2013, CRISTAL UNION entrusted IPSB for the project management support towards the studies and execution of a new liquid and inverted sugars loading station at the client’s ERSTEIN facility.
Creation of a new workshop for the production of functional flours
The company LIMAGRAIN Ingredients has entrusted IPSB with the missions of studies of Preliminary Detailed Design and project management for the creation of a new workshop for the production of functional flours on its site of Arques (62).
Energy-saving project
TEREOS asked IPSB to carry out the missions of preliminary design, detailed design and project owner assistance for the realization of an energy-saving project which consist to replace thermos compressors in evaporation unit.