Ethanol / Biodiesel
Ethanol production is one of fastest growing segments in the grain industry. The use of agricultural products for conversion to fuel is seeing huge growth in today’s market. The need to explore alternative fuel sources to oil and government incentives have rapidly expanded the ethanol industry. The challenge to ethanol producers who wish to compete in today’s economy is to operate plants as efficiently as possible, with a focus on quality control and keeping costs in check. Classical analytical tests to analyze raw agricultural products, intermediates, and finished product can take hours to complete with high costs for reagents and consumable items. Sites without on-site analytical laboratories may have to send samples to outside laboratories, which can take days to return results. Such time lag can hurt plant efficiency by slowing production or causing product to be held in quarantine until these tests are completed.
How can NIR be used for ethanol production?
NIR can be used in every step of ethanol production.
Incoming grain (corn, canola, rye, etc.) can be analyzed for moisture, protein, fat, and starch to assess quality for storing in the appropriate bin. For ethanol production, the level of starch in the grain is directly related to the ethanol yield. Since NIR produces a rapid result, incoming corn can be immediately accepted and stored appropriately, or rejected / discounted against the contract price.
NIR is also used to analyze the in-process mixture. Both the corn mash and the fermentation broth can be analyzed for parameters such as brix, sugars, glycerol, acetic acid, lactic acid, and ethanol. Analyzing these properties quickly can help control the process, improve yields, and help to eliminate mistakes.
Distiller’s Dried Grain and other by-products of ethanol production, like oilseed meals can be analyzed by NIR for moisture, fat, protein, fiber, etc. Protein levels, specifically, are important when trying to maximize the price obtained when selling these by-products as animal feeds or for other uses. With NIR, 100% analysis rates of all finished product is possible, providing traceability for every shipment that leaves the plant.