Ethanol Blog

A new cellulosic ethanol system is being utilized by an Iowa company which produces ethanol from corn kernel fiber, according to an article by Farm Industry News (http://bit.ly/…).

The new technology, utilized by Quad County Corn Processors in Galva, Iowa, has been named Cellerate and is a collaboration between Syngenta and Cellulosic Ethanol Technologies, LLC, a subsidiary of QCCP. The concept began at QCCP in 2009 with a technology called Adding Cellulosic Ethanol (ACE). Syngenta signed an agreement to license the process and act as marketer in 2014 and the name was changed to Cellerate.

Cellerate uses the corn kernel, which is comprised of about 8% fiber. The fiber is taken out of the corn as it leaves the ethanol production process, and before it becomes dried distillers grains.

Other cellulosic ethanol plant in the U.S. use plant fibers like corn stover for ethanol production, but the Cellerate process uses the corn purchased to make ethanol, just adding a second fermentation process.

The process removes the kernel fiber, making the resulting distillers grains a high protein, low fiber feed product that resembles soybean meal in protein content.

The technology is expected to boost ethanol production by about 6%, as well as increasing the amount of corn oil that can be extracted from each bushel of corn.

Cheryl Anderson can be reached at Cheryl.anderson@dtn.com.

(ES)

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