As engineers, chemists and technicians set to work on this task improvements will come. for example:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060601213717.htm|Iowa State University files for patent for ultrasound process applied to ethanol production process]
Ultrasonics Boosts Release Rates Of Corn Sugars For Ethanol Production
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Samir Khanal, an Iowa State research assistant professor of environmental engineering, said the conventional dry-milling process that's used to make ethanol doesn't convert all the starch in corn kernels into the simple sugars that can be fermented into ethanol. A team of Iowa State researchers has demonstrated that pre-treating milled corn with ultrasonics can break the corn pieces into even finer particles. That exposes more of the corn's starch to the enzymes that convert starch to simple sugars. The research team also plans to see if ultrasonics releases some sugars from the fibrous, cellulosic material in corn.
Grewell said ultrasonic treatment in laboratory experiments has increased corn's release rates of sugars by nearly 30 percent. And that could mean each bushel of corn that goes into an ethanol plant could more efficiently produce ethanol for your car's fuel tank.
"This seems to work very well," Grewell said. "We're releasing more of the corn's stored energy in a shorter period of time with less energy consumption."
The discovery has led to a patent application and a one-year provisional patent for immediate commercialization of the technology.
and :
http://purdueresearchpark.com/newsreleases/2006/060915ChenLicense.htmlSeptember 15, 2006
New ethanol process offers lower costs, environmental benefits
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. —
A Purdue University team led by professor Li-fu Chen and research assistant Qin Xu, both from the Purdue food science department, discovered a new method to create ethanol from corn. The method also produces biodegradable byproducts that could be safely eaten.
"Our process, which we are calling the Chen-Xu Method, not only makes ethanol, but products that are fit for human consumption," Chen said. "This process also produces corn oil, corn fiber, gluten and zein, which is a protein that can be used in the manufacture of plastics so that it's good for the environment because it's biodegradable and easily decompose.
"The containers would actually be edible, although there probably wouldn't be much market for that."
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Using a machine originally designed to make plastics, the Chen-Xu Method grinds corn kernels and liquefies starch with high temperatures. The water input required by wet milling is reduced by 90 percent, Chen said. Wastewater output is cut by 95 percent, and electricity use is reduced by 47 percent.
"The total operating cost of a Chen-Xu Method ethanol plant should be much less than that of a wet-milling plant, and total equipment investment is less than half," Chen said. "And with proper planning and management, total equipment investment should be less than that of a dry-milling plant."
Funding for the work came from industry donations and one year of support from the Value-Added Grant Program of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture. Chen said the next step for the fledgling company is to commercialize the technology worldwide. The technology was licensed to Bio Processing Technology Inc. through the Office of Technology Commercialization, a division of Purdue Research Foundation.
MOre output, less cost , less use of resources (water). And this research enabled by relatively small grants from State Governments! Just imagine what we could do if the Cheney/Exxon-Mobil administration wasn't in power. INstead were stuck with the GOP's Katrina disaster model of management of national affairs.
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