Corn Degerming Ethanol Fermentation Process
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Solution Overview
Problem
The dry-grind ethanol process struggles to recover germ fractions efficiently, leading to lower ethanol yield, oil quality, and germ recovery, due to the complexing of starch with oil, which reduces fermentability and results in high degradation of oil, making it difficult to separate and recover intact germ.
Innovation Solution
A novel degerming process where the germ is recovered during or after ethanol fermentation, utilizing a tail-end degerming approach that maintains the integrity of the germ throughout the fermentation process, allowing for higher ethanol yield and cleaner germ separation with less equipment investment, using techniques like steeping, gelatinizing, liquefying, and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If dry-grind ethanol process is used without degerming, then process simplicity and lower capital investment are maintained, but germ recovery and oil quality deteriorate due to complexing of starch with oil
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary degerming action before fermentation by separating germ from the corn meal using aspiration and classification equipment. This preliminary separation prevents the complexing of starch with oil that would otherwise occur during fermentation, thereby maintaining both process simplicity and high germ recovery without requiring complex downstream separation equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the germ fraction from the corn meal before fermentation using air aspiration and classification. By taking out the germ-containing fines early in the process, the system prevents oil-starch complexing during fermentation while maintaining a simple dry-grind process flow. The extracted germ is then processed separately to recover high-quality oil.
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional dry-grind process is used, then lower equipment investment is required, but oil quality and fermentability worsen due to starch-oil complexing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary degerming before fermentation using aspiration equipment and classification screens. This early separation prevents starch-oil complexing that would degrade oil quality, while the equipment required (aspirators and classifiers) represents a modest capital investment compared to complex wet-milling or post-fermentation separation systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary degerming step that uses air aspiration as a mediator to separate germ-containing fines from the corn meal. This intermediary process protects the oil quality by preventing direct contact between starch and oil during fermentation, while requiring only moderate equipment investment.
3Loss of substance
If degerming is performed before fermentation, then germ recovery is improved, but process complexity and equipment investment increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary degerming before fermentation using a relatively simple aspiration and classification system. This approach achieves high germ recovery without requiring complex multi-step separation equipment, maintaining process simplicity while effectively recovering the germ fraction for oil extraction.
4Ease of operation
If starch and oil are not separated before fermentation, then process simplicity is maintained, but ethanol yield and oil quality deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary degerming before fermentation to remove germ-containing fines that contain oil. By removing this oil-containing material beforehand, the process maintains simplicity while preventing starch-oil complexing that would reduce ethanol yield and degrade oil quality. The separation is achieved through aspiration and classification rather than complex fractionation equipment.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This process achieves higher ethanol yield, better germ recovery, and improved oil quality by maintaining the physical integrity of the germ, reducing energy and capital costs, and producing valuable co-products like germ oil and protein-enriched fractions, while being adaptable to existing dry-grind infrastructure.
Implementation Method 1
The corn is fermented to produce ethanol
Implementation Method 2
The fermented mash is then distilled to recover the ethanol. After the removal of ethanol, the mash, called whole stillage is separate into two fractions by centrifugation or decanting.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention presents novel corn fermentation processes that remove the oil-rich fraction either during or after fermentation instead of before fermentation as usual. Besides recovery of high value oil-rich fraction of the corn, the processes also produce other value-added co-products such as that with high fiber or high protein but low oil contents.