Title: Unit 2 Readings and Lecture
Course: BFM 201 Ethanol Production > Section: BFM 201 Ethanol Production

Unit 2 Readings and Lecture

To Do:
Read Textbook: Ethanol Process Fundamentals – Chapter 2 pages 2.1 – 2.13
Molecular biologist Z. Lewis Liu and technician Scott Weber add a new yeast strain to a corncob mix to test the yeast's effectiveness in fermenting ethanol from plant sugars.

Dry Mill Production

Unit 2 introduces you to the processes involved in the production of ethanol. Ethanol production is described as either Wet Mill production or Dry Mill Production.The majority of ethanol produced in the United States is the Dry Mill Production process using corn as the main feedstock.

This unit will briefly discuss the ethanol production processes involved in production of ethanol at a Dry Mill Production facility. We will utilize a process flow diagram in Unit 2 as well as a Dry Grind Corn-to-Ethanol Process demonstration kit in our lab. Ethanol production facilities are always looking for technological advancements in the production of ethanol.

Chapter 2 in your textbook breaks out the processes involved slightly differently than listed here. Each of the processes will be discussed in future chapters in the textbook. The eight major processes are:

1. Milling & Mixing (this includes receiving which is the starting point for ensuring quality grain or feedstock goes into the process).
2. Cook and Liquefaction.
3. Fermentation
4. Distillation
5. Dehydration
6. Denaturing (to make the ethanol unfit for human consumption).
7. Evaporation
8. Drying (for one of the major co-products from the ethanol production process – Dried Distillers Grain with Soluble – DDGS).

The length of time to produce ethanol from a kernel of corn is 54 – 58 hours. The fermentation process is the most time consuming process at 50 hours.

One bushel of corn provides 2.8 gallons of ethanol, 18 pounds of CO_2, and 18 pounds of Dried Distillers Grain with Soluble.

Ethanol is made from the fermentation of the sugars that are found in the starch.
References:

Chapter 2. (2006). In Ethanol process fundamentals: An introduction to ethanol processing. Granite Falls, MN: Minnesota Energy Enterprise Center.

National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center at SIUE – http://www.ethanolresearch.com/.