Bioethanol | Bioethanol Production process Ø Grain Handling Incoming wheat is tested for quality before being transferred into Grain Storage Bins. Ø Milling The wheat first passes through hammer mills, which partially crush it into coarse particles referred to as 'meal' Ø Mashing Water and enzymes are added to the meal in a mixing tank to produce what is known as 'mash'. Ø Cooking The cooking system heats the mash. This liquefies the starch and reduces the levels of bacteria in the mash. Ø Liquefaction Enzymes are added to the liquefied mash to convert the starch to dextrose, a simple sugar. Ø Cooling The mash continues on through a series of heat exchangers that cool it before it passes on to the fermentation process. Ø Fermentation Yeast is added to the mash to convert the sugars by Sachrification method of fermentation. During a 50 hour process, heat, CO2 and a beer solution made up of alcohol and non-fermentable solids is produced. Ø Distillation During distillation the beer solution is continuously pumped through a multi-column system that separates the alcohol and the stillage. The alcohol moves on to the dehydration and the stillage is further processed into distillers grains. Ø Dehydration The incoming 190 proof alcohol is circulated through a molecular sieve to remove any water. The resulting 200 proof ethanol is transferred to on site storage tanks. It can be denatured by adding a small percentage of automotive fuel. Ø Storage Finally, the ethanol is pumped into storage tanks for onward shipment to fuel terminals. Ø Stillage The stillage is passed through a centrifuge system that separates the coarse grains solids from the solubles. The soluble are then concentrated into syrup by evaporation. The coarse grains solids and the syrup are then dried together to produce a high protein, nutritious animal feed known as Distillers' Dried Grains with Solubles (DDGS). |
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