USDA Scientists Use Commercial Enzyme to Improve Grain Ethanol Production

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr/2011/110912.htm

USDA Scientists Use Commercial Enzyme to Improve Grain Ethanol Production

By Ann Perry
September 12, 2011

WASHINGTON—A commercial enzyme could reduce overall costs linked with producing ethanol from grain, and also reduce associated emissions of greenhouse gases, according to a study by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and colleagues.

The researchers found that the enzyme helps extract water from an ethanol byproduct used to make dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS), which can be used as feed supplements for cattle, swine and poultry. This could significantly reduce the amount of electricity, natural gas, energy and water needed for production of grain ethanol and its marketable byproducts. Results from this study were published in the scientific journal http://www.liebertpub.com/products/product.aspx?pid=140">Industrial Biotechnology.

…

The stillage was transferred first to an evaporator and then to a dryer powered by natural gas for another round of moisture reduction. The scientists found that the amount of natural gas needed by the dryer to reduce stillage moisture content to levels suitable for DDGS production dropped 14 percent because water extraction in the centrifuge had been boosted by the enzymes.

Data from these trials were used to calibrate an existing economic model of ethanol production. The resulting estimates indicated that using the enzymes to dewater the stillage would reduce overall facility water use by 10 percent, reduce electricity consumption by 2.4 percent and reduce natural gas consumption by 12 percent. The model indicated that these reductions would in turn reduce the emission of greenhouse gases equivalent to approximately 8,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year from a mid-sized ethanol facility producing around 50 million gallons of grain ethanol annually.