how ethanol is made
TRANSCRIPT
Ethanol Production
Geena Brown
JGEN 200Project No. 5
Image from www.americanautomove.com
What is ethanol?
•Ethyl-alcohol
•Fuel made from grains or biomass
Picture courtesy of UCLA Chemistry Department
Picture courtesy of blogs.edweek.org
Sources of Ethanol•Corn
•Sugar-Cane
•CellulosePicture courtesy of acreagelife.com
Types of Production
1. Dry-Milling-More prominent-Less expensive
2. Wet-Milling-Higher yield
The BIG Picture•Enzyme: build or break molecules
•Amylase: breaks down sugar chains
•Yeast: turns sugar into alcohol
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DeliveryGrain is delivered to the plant and stored.
Image courtesy of the New York Times.
Hammer-Mill
Kernels are ground to a powder by a rotating hammer.
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SlurryWater and alpha-amylase added. Starch is broken into sugars.
Image courtesy of www.chooseethanol.com
Fermentation
Yeast and glucoamylase are added and the mash sits for over 50 hours.
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C6H12O6 → 2 C2H5OH + 2 CO2
Glucose → 2 Ethanol + 2 Carbon Dioxide
Distillation
Diagram from www.gcsescience.com
DehydrationWater is removed with a molecular sieve.
The mixture passes through a filter that catches ethanol molecules.
DenaturingSmall amounts of are gasoline added to prevent human consumption.
Image courtesy of www.eere.energy.govImage courtesy of www.crateandbarrel.com
FuelEthanol is shipped to refineries to be mixed with oil.
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Co-Products•Solids and water separated
•Water added to new slurry
•Solids dried and sold for livestock feed
Image from switchboard.nrdc.org
Cellulosic Ethanol•Similar to starch•New enzyme needed
Image courtesy of bioweb.wku.edu
Summary•Enzymes break starches into sugars.
•Yeast ferments sugars into ethyl-alcohol.
•Ethanol is purified and denatured.
Questions?
ReferencesAmerican coalition for ethanol. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.ethanol.org
Biofuels- poet. (2012). Retrieved from www.poet.com
Ethanol molecule. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.worldofmolecules.org/solvents/ethanol
Ethanol production process. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.icminc.com/innovation/ethanol/ethanol-production-process.html
Gustafson, C., & Fewell, J. (n.d.). Ethanol production - dry versus wet grind processing. (North Dakota State University)Retrieved from http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/energy/biofuels/energy-briefs/ethanol-production-dry-versus-wet-grind-processing
Helmenstine, A. M. (n.d.). What is fermentation?. Retrieved from http://chemistry.about.com/od/lecturenoteslab1/f/What-Is-Fermentation.htm