Why Fractionation?

State of the Ethanol Industry

Today, ethanol produced from corn is the most widely produced liquid renewable fuel in history, with over 9 billion gallons of production in 2008. This number represents over 6% of the annual U.S. gasoline fuel consumption, a number that is unrivaled by other renewable energy sources in terms of percent displacement of traditional fossil fuels. Ethanol has been successful on a number of fronts, such as reducing vehicle emissions, reducing CO₂ emissions, reducing dependence on foreign oil, adding value and jobs to the U.S. economy, and phasing out MTBE, a carcinogenic petrochemical.

Despite these successes, the corn-based ethanol industry today is facing a rash of criticisms from many different sources. The public, congress, and the new administration have all voiced major concerns with the current corn dry mill ethanol industry. These core criticisms include – energy consumption, carbon footprint, water usage, net-energy return, co-product values, and the use of human food feedstocks for fuel production.

Sustainable Ethanol, Food and Fuel - Through Fractionation

It is easy to see why fractionation technology has been the buzz of the industry for quite some time. To put it simply, fractionation technology, when properly implemented, has a major positive impact on the profitability of the existing base of corn dry mill ethanol plants, while at the same time addressing nearly all of the public concern issues faced by the industry today. It is a win-win situation.

Positioning Plants for the Future

In addition, fractionation is a key in the transition towards cellulosic ethanol, producing a bran product that, along with corn cobs and stover, will serve as one of the first viable cellulosic feedstocks for next-generation plants. Fractionation is also the first step in creating a biorefinery, which produce not only ethanol, but a host of other products. By using fractionation to separate the corn kernel into its primary components, plants today will begin to transition to biorefining, or more specifically, value-added food-processing AND biorefining, producing specialty food products such as corn protein isolates, as well as corn-based plastics and other valuable products.