KATZEN VHQ™ Distillation System Design

KATZEN is the world expert in process technology and engineering for the production of grain neutral spirits. Our KATZEN VHQ™ distillation system designs are capable of routinely producing ethanol product with less than 1 part per million (ppm) of all impurities combined and no detectable organoleptic characteristics. We call this special product "True Neutral Spirit" — the purest ethanol commercially available anywhere in the world. The VHQ™ system is unique in that it can produce True Neutral Spirit from virtually any feedstock. Each VHQ™ system is custom-designed and can be implemented as a “bolt-on” unit to upstream distillation systems producing a rectified spirit feed of any quality.

The evolutionary elements of this technology have been implemented in several plants across the world during the past 30 years. The pinnacle VHQ™ technology was first installed at the Golden Triangle Energy plant in Craig, Missouri in 2007 and is currently in operation in 5 plants around the world. The most recent example is installed at the Bioagra plant in Goswinowice, Poland.

KATZEN’s expertise includes technology for the processing of all types of sugar and starch based feedstocks to produce a broad range of ethanol specifications; from standard motor fuel grades, to industrial and technical grades, to grain neutral spirits, to the pinnacle VHQ™ product. Below are examples of KATZEN plants producing industrial grade, grain neutral spirits and VHQ™ ethanol products.