New Canola Seed Crushing Facility

Our team transformed an old grain drying and storage site into the largest commercial-scale canola oil production plant west of the Rockies, overcoming layout challenges and extreme weather to deliver a high-performing facility.

Location

United States

Client

Confidential

Project Status

Completed

To build a state-of-the art canola oil production plant while saving costs, our client turned to reusing elements from an old grain drying and storage site.

Set on a narrow wedge of land adjacent to a rail line, the old grain site posed challenges. Special building and wastewater pond requirements complicated the prospect, as did extreme seasonal weather.

But our team saw possibilities on the site — and helped our client see them, too. Together, we maximized the location’s potential and delivered a high-performing plant that produces expeller-pressed canola oil for both food and renewable fuel applications.

We provided a fast-track design and construction schedule for five buildings, including a two-story laboratory and administration building and two rail carload-in and –load-out buildings.

Metric tons of canola seed

350,000

Hours of plant operation

24/7

Feet of main pipe

560

Building net square feet

35,387

Delivering year round

A 560-foot-long main pipe rack zigzags through the facility, carrying product from production areas to railcar load-out. In hot weather, the steel rack heats and expands significantly, creating stress on the piping system. To mitigate that issue, we designed built-in expansion joints and slip connections to ensure pipes are not damaged and ensure continued even on the hottest summer days.

Two-pond solution

Process wastewater is applied to nearby corn fields in the summer, but it must be stored on-site during the winter. Due to a shallow layer of hardpan, an individual pond couldn’t be dug deep enough to hold the necessary volume, so we offered a creative solution: two separate ponds connected by a pumping system to fit the awkwardly shaped site and avoid the need for a dam permit.

Clean and durable

Our client wanted silos and storage tanks that were easy to clean and sanitize. They also preferred concrete bases on the tanks to prevent corrosion. We worked with the contractor to deliver a solution that was more durable and easier to rinse, clean and maintain than a typical tank.

The plant, now in production, is the largest commercial-scale canola processing facility west of the Rocky Mountains, crushing more than 350,000 metric tons of seed each year.