Ethanol From Corn Process

Dry Mill Ethanol Process

Proprietary and Confidential Copyright 2007 Pavilion Technologies

Lina M Rueda

 Copyright 2007 Pavilion Technologies

The Distillery Flow Diagram: From Corn to Ethanol Plus Co-products

1 bushel of corn (56 lbs)

Milling

Ethanol (17.6 lbs) + DDGS (17 lbs)

Starch (32 lbs)

Liquefaction Saccharification

Fermentable sugar (36 lbs)

Fermentation

+ Heat (7450 BTU)

+ CO2 (18.4 lbs)

Recovery
Dryhouse

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Fermentation Fundamentals
Key Ingredients
- Starch (sugar source) - Enzymes (breakdown of starches) - Yeast (conversion of sugar to ethanol)

Key Process Components

- Enzyme addition - Yeast propagation - Fermentation cycle - Cooling system

C6 H12O6 2C5 H 5OH 2CO2 Energy

Copyright 2007 Pavilion Technologies

Process Description
Milling Cooking and mixing
Milled corn and cook water a-Amylase to break down long polymer chains (starch), reduce solids Solubilization of sugars Release of bound sugars: starch is bound to protein and fiber which is released during cooking Gelatinization: absorb water so enzymes can react with molecules

Liquefaction
Using a-Amylase to break down starches to shorter chain molecules

Saccharification and Fermentation

Batch processs (~ 50-60 hours) Exothermic Glucoamylase is used to break down short chained molecules to glucose Yeast is added to convert glucose to ethanol

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Water Balance
Milling Process Water

Beer Feed

Slurry Tank Liquefaction Methanator

Backset

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Fermentation

Yeast Propagation

Fermenter Beer Feed

Enzymes

Slurry Tank
Liquefaction

Backset

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Process Description
Distillation
- Separate Ethanol from non-fermentable components

Dehydration
- Azeotropic Distillation

- Molecular Sieves

Non-Fermentables
- Centrifugation - Evaporation - Drying

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Distillation

Vaporizer Temperature Rectifier Reflux Sieve Feed

Sieve Back Pressure Beer Feed

Evap. Steam Steam Flow

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Dryer, Evaporator and TO

Wet Cake Pad

Whole Stillage

Centrifuge Feed

Dryers Thin Stillage

Syrup Tank Steam Flow

Evaporators

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Control Strategy
$ costs

Ethanol Plant-Wide Optimizer

Energy, feedstock, Product Values

Slurry/Waterbalance APC

Fermentation APC Dryer Evap TOAPC & Distill/Sieve APC

Mv setpoints

Plant and constraint Measurements (CV)

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