|
Many people think ethanol can only be made from corn, but this article explains that it can be made from other crops too.
|
How Ethanol is Made
Dorrie Ruplinger
While most of the ethanol in the United States is made from corn, it can also be produced from other feedstock such as grain sorghum, wheat, barley, or potatoes. Any feedstock that contains high amounts of sugar or materials that can be converted into sugar can be transformed into ethanol. Brazil, which is the world's largest producer of ethanol, makes it from sugarcane.
Ethanol can be produced in two ways: a dry mill process or a wet mill process. The most commonly used process in the United States is the dry mill process. In the dry mill process, the starch portion of the corn is fermented into sugar then distilled into alcohol.
There are 8 major steps in the dry mill process: Milling, Liquefaction, Saccharification, Fermentation, Distillation, Dehydration, Denaturing, and Co-Products.
Here is a brief description of each process.
Milling: The feedstock passes through a hammer mill which grinds it into a fine powder called meal.
Liquefaction: The meal is mixed with water and alpha-amylase, then passed through cookers where the starch is liquefied. It is then heated to enable liquefaction.
Saccharification: The mash from the cookers is cooled and a secondary substance is added to convert the liquefied starch to fermentable sugars.
Fermentation: Yeast is added to the mash to ferment the sugars to ethanol. Using a continuous process, the fermenting mash is allowed to flow through several fermentation tanks until it is fully fermented. Before the distillation process is started, the mash stays in one fermentation tank for about 48 hours.
Distillation: The fermented bash now contains approximately 10% alcohol. The mash is then pumped to the multi-distillation system where all the alcohol is removed from the solids and water. What's left of the alcohol is on the top, and is at about 96% strength. The residue mash is transferred from the base of the column to the co-product processing area.
Dehydration: The alcohol that was left at the top of the column now passes through a dehydration system where the remaining water is removed. The alcohol product at this stage is called anhydrous ethanol.
Denaturing: Any ethanol that will be used as fuel must be denatured which means that it will be unfit for human consumption. This process is done at the ethanol plant.
Co-Products: There are two main co-products created in the production of ethanol: distillers grain and carbon dioxide. Distillers grain is used as livestock feed, while carbon dioxide is given away or sold for other use in other industries.
|
|
|
What is E85
Ethanol & How is it made
Rising gasoline prices have heightened consumer awareness about E85
ethanol. These days, there is much ado about this fuel, and why
shouldn’t there be? After all, it costs close to thirty five percent
less than gasoline and is quickly becoming the preferred choice for
motorists at the pump stations. E85 ethanol is already widely used in
Sweden and pump stations in America, with states like Minnesota and
Illinois having the highest rate of E85 fuel pumps servicing motorists.
What is E 85 Ethanol?
When 15 percent of leaded gasoline is combined with eighty five percent
of ethanol, the result is the low-cost E85 ethanol fuel. Widely
available in the US, it is an alcohol-based fuel that can be produced
from employing the use of two methods. The first source of production
involves the fermenting and distilling of starch-like feedstock. They
include corn, barley, and wheat. The next method, which is referred as
bio-ethanol, involves extraction from trees and grasses.
Although the price of the Ethanol E85 may be foremost on consumer’s
minds, it also gets the nod from earth activists because it is an
environmentally friendly product. It burns clean and its key ingredient
source is renewable. Ethanol E85 also eliminates the import of crude
oil because it is locally produced and is also known for increasing the
octane rating in fuel while decreasing the harmful emissions caused by
gasoline.
Ethanol E85 will run well in flexible fuel vehicles like those
manufactured by Daimler Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Isuzu and Nissan
to name a few. But, if you don’t own a vehicle by one of the
above-mentioned manufacturers, you need not fear. Some people are not
aware that many other cars manufactured today are Ethanol E85
compatible. It is best to find out from your car dealer if you have a
flexible fuel vehicle.
How is E85 Ethanol
Made?
The method for producing Ethanol E85 is long and complex. The maker has
to first extract sugar from biological feedstock in order to begin the
process. Corn is the leading ingredient in Ethanol E85 gas. And the
starch in it can easily be converted into sugar. Sugar for this fuel can
also be extracted from cellulose, which is a sugar based ingredient
found in trees and grasses.
Once the feedstock is collected, it goes through a grinding process to
extract the sugar. Sugar fed into microbes quickly produces ethanol and
carbon dioxide, which finally endures purification stages to get the
ethanol to the right consistency.
There is another method of manufacturing Ethanol E85 oil or grain
alcohol, as it is also known, and this is through a wet-milling process.
This is also the method that large-scale manufacturers use when
producing high-fructose corn sweetener.
Ethanol E85 is an innovative and renewable resource with many positive
characteristics, making it one of the leading topics of discussion for
those looking to help the earth and looking to keep a few extra bucks in
their wallet.
|
