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Poster Presentation 5-08
Pilot-Scale Pretreatment of Corn Fiber Using Snake Coil Reactor System
Gary Welch1, Michael R. Ladisch1, Rod Bothast3, Richard Hendrickson2, Nathan S. Mosier2 and Mark Brewer2
1Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering Department of Biomedical Engineering Purdue University 1295 Potter Engineering Center West Lafayette, IN 47907
2Williams Energy Services Pekin, IL
3USDA NCAUR Laboratories Peoria, IL 61604 LORRE
Telephone: (765) 494-7022; Fax: (765) 494-7023; Email: ladisch@ecn.purdue.edu
A process was designed, based on experimental knowledge and industrial experience, to add a corn fiber pretreatment/enzyme hydrolysis/ethanol fermentation system into an existing corn starch-fermenting ethanol plant. This pretreatment process was incorporated for a pilot-scale test of the design, and consisted of several steps: the corn fiber enters a storage tank where it is mixed with stillage. The resulting slurry is pumped through two heat exchangers--the first heat exchanger transfers heat from the fiber stream leaving the pretreatment reactor to the fiber entering the pretreatment reactor, and the second heat exchanger transfers heat from steam to the fiber stream. The hot fiber stream passes through a snake-coil at 160°C for 20 minutes. It is during this time that the cellulose structure loses crystallinity structure. The fiber stream leaves the pretreatment reactor and exchanges heat with the incoming fiber stream. Finally, an economic analysis of the key process steps was conducted to generate a pro forma analysis for corn fiber/enzyme hydrolysis/ethanol fermentation.
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