MAKING ETHANOL
January 3rd 2008 -
Ethanol has been in use for many decades now. Making ethanol is actually quite easy as it can be manufactured using any feed stock. Feedstock’s that have an adequate amount of sugar or any other substances that can convert into sugar such as cellulose or starch can be easily used for making ethanol. Some of the examples of feedstock are sugar cane and sugar beets as they both contain sugar. The most popular feedstock used in the manufacturing of ethanol is corn as it is a starch, which makes it very easy to convert into sugar. Some trees, as well as grasses, can also be used in making ethanol.
The process of making ethanol initiates with wheat or corn ground in a mill to bring out the starch and then water is added to this ground grain. It is cooked briefly and then enzymes are blended to convert the starch into sugar. This transforming chemical reaction is called hydrolysis. The yeast is then included to ferment the sugars which actually produce the ethanol. This ethanol then undergoes a process called distillation and the excess water is removed by means of dehydration; a part of the distillation process.
The production of ethanol begins by feedstock grinding and the process is easy following the above steps. Once it has been ground, either the sugar is dissolved or the starch is transformed to sugar. This sugar is released to microbes as food, and ethanol is produced in the presence of carbon dioxide. Finally, purifying creates the absolute concentration of the ethanol. Many producers, large or small, employ this process as it also creates products such as corn sweetener.
Many new processes are under development for making ethanol. But the method of preparing ethanol is identical to the traditional method. Countries like
