For almost two decades, McGough has been more than just a general contractor for Heartland Corn Products in Winthrop, MN. With a continuous presence on-site and frequent engagement, McGough has operated more like an internal resource, offering strategic advice and issue resolution on dozens of projects large and small.
Over the duration of the relationship, McGough and engineering partner KFI Engineers, which has also been an ongoing, established part of the team, have taken the original 40 million gallon per year (MMGPY) plant and more than tripled its capacity, to 140 MMGPY today.
Recently, McGough executed the construction of a new combined heat and power expansion into the existing plant utility system. This project included a 4.6 MW combustion turbine made by Solar Turbines with heat recovery steam generator and a supplemental fired duct burner creating an additional 83,038 lb/hr of steam. A utility building addition and electrical room to house the medium voltage equipment were added and integrated into the existing plant infrastructure.
A long history of expansion and growth
That integration into existing systems while keeping the plant open was a unique challenge, but one McGough was well-positioned to perform, having built many other components of the facility over the years. These included:
- Building a second processing plant on site
- Increased cook capacity
- New and expanded fermenters
- New distillation and evaporation units
- New DDG drying system with Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer
- Cooling tower replacements
- Interplant conveyance system
- Centrifuge installation
- Rail expansion
Up for any challenge – even the unexpected
Being on site and part of the team also lets McGough help with the unexpected. Whan a major snowfall collapsed the roof of a crucial building, McGough was there to make an immediate assessment and assemble a team to recover equipment, demo the damaged structure, rebuild and reinstall, all while rerouting crucial systems to keep the plant up and running – a team effort that reinforced the value of the long-term relationship.
