Comparing Fermentation And Hydration As Methods On Producing Ethanol

All cells need to obtain energy from large organic molecules. This process is referred to as respiration. If oxygen is not available fermentation will occur. Some plants and microorganisms such as yeast carry out alcohol fermentation in the absence of oxygen. Alcohol fermentation occurs to the following equation: glucose →alcohol + carbon dioxide (C6H12O6→ alcohol + CO2). It is possible to measure the rate of fermentation by measuring the production of heat, carbon dioxide or alcohol. As the reaction is controlled by enzymes, its rate will be influenced by a number of factors.

Fermentation is undoubtedly the most important stage to achieve the taste of the beer, because while sugar transformation into alcohol and carbonic gas takes place, yeast produces other substances in very small quantities, which are responsible for the aroma and flavor of the beer. The development of chemical analysis procedures that took place during recent years allowed a more comprehensive understanding about beer composition. It is therefore during the fermentation process that the beer style is created. This process normally will take a month.

As corn will naturally ferment, it is bathed in water containing sulfur dioxide. The water is kept at an elevated temperature at about 120 Fahrenheit for the 40 hour duration of the steeping process. George Inglett indicates that during that time, the corn absorbs water, swelling to its maximum size, and starches are “loosened from the protein matrix” (79). Soluble components in the corn are also removed during steeping. The steepwater is often recovered, allowed to ferment, and used to make antibiotics in its fermented form. The second major step is milling. After the steepwater is drained, the kernels are sent to degerminating mills. Here, the kernels are torn apart and the oil-containing germ is freed in centrifuges. The oil-containing germs are ground to separate the starch and gluten from the coarser particles. These two elements are separated with centrifuges, and the extraction of water completes the process of recovery. Finally, the starch and gluten are refined to make pure corn syrup. By extracting different portions of the corn at different times, other products can be produced from basic corn like corn oil, feeds, starches, antibiotics, and other sweeteners.

Ethanol (CH3CH2OH) is a clear, colorless liquid. It is also known as ethyl alcohol, EtOH, and grain alcohol. Ethanol is widely produced by processing grains such as corn or starch and sugar crops. The grain is first milled, then fermented with yeast and different enzymes to turn the grain 's starches into alcohol(EPA). A distillation process then increases the ethanol concentrations, basically the same process a whiskey maker would use to make whiskey. Of course, law mandates that a denaturant is added, making the liquid unsafe for drinking. In the process, waste grain is produced and sold as farm animal feed. Bioethanol, can be made from many types of trees and grasses, but the procedure is much harder. The chemical formula of ethanol is the same whether it is made from starch and sugar-based feedstocks, such as corn grain (widely used in United States), sugar cane (Brazil), or from cellulosic feedstocks (such as wood chips or crop residues). (The Alternative Fuels Data Center)

The ethanol production process starts with growing corn, on average an acre of corn yields close to 7,110 pounds of corn that require 140 gallons of fossil fuels to grow through the use of liquid fertilizer and powering machinery (Ethanol Fuel from Corn par. 4). The corn is harvested and transported to an ethanol refinery where it is ground, then water is added to create a mash in which enzymes break down the corn into sugar, afterward the sugar is mixed with yeast and fermented to produce ethanol (Ethanol Fuel: is ethanol par. 9-10). During the process of growing and processing the corn needed to manufacture one gallon of ethanol, it requires 131,000 British Thermal Units (BTU) to generate a gallon of ethanol while a gallon of ethanol produces only 77,000 BTU (Ethanol Fuel from Corn par. 5). The net ratio of energy for ethanol production is undesirable because ethanol has barely over half of the total energy needed to produce ethanol. Other materials can produce ethanol, such as switch grass or wood biomass, however, their energy returns are just as atrocious, needing forty-five percent and fifty-seven percent more energy to produce ethanol than it provides, respectively (Lang par. 5). This net

During this process an intermediate carbocation is formed as shown in the figure above. A base then removes the proton adjacent to carbocation leading to the formation of an alkene. Since heat, concentrated sulfuric acid and phosphoric acid were used during this experiment, the result is an alkene and water (dehydration reaction). After the experiment was conducted, the mass of the product was first taken in order to calculate the percent yield of the experiment. Since the reactant and products have a 1:1 mole ratio, the theoretical amount of product was calculated based on the starting weight of the alcohol.

The purpose of this assessment was to characterize the pre-blended GPS (Grain Processing Corporation) alcohol, a mixture of 190/200 proof SDA-3A alcohols, produced from corn feedstocks (yellow No. 2 dent. corns) through enzymatic, fermentation, and distillation methods. For this purpose, the chemical and physical properties as show in the Certificate of Analysis (CoA) of the SDA-3AU were considered and their effects were investigated. This was performed by comparing the typical and acceptable limits of the weight percentage of total alcohol and methanol in the SDA-3AU against the current

Overall, there was much to be learned from this experiment – even including the error that was seen throughout the experiment in our incorrect data points as we attempted to find the percent ethanol in Busch’s, Busch’s Light, and Busch’s nonalcoholic beers – of which we did not get close to in the slightest. The calibration method resulted in a number that made sense for the extraction sample of an original 5% in water solution, 3.46%. The week two experiment resulted in a large amount of error, meaning that the conclusions drawn were not accurate, even though theoretically the standard addition solution should have had more accurate results. The main problem set out to be solved is finding ethanol percent in solutions of which the ethanol

Distilation may be the only way to produce a strong finished product there are serious dangers that the process brings. First, there is a dangerous chemical in the mash that is produced, and boils at a lower temperature than ethyl alcohol, methanol. Although methanol is an alcohol, it is not the good kind and is the reason people would go blind from drinking it. Methanol boils at 143 degrees farenheight and is usually the first to start flowing, so the first few gallons are discarded. Another important danger is because during distillation there is an open flame and

One of our sources said that alcohol burns really good and produces little CO2 and no odor. According to our results, not only is it really efficient, but it had no odor nor did we notice the same amount of emissions as gas and diesel. The diesel performed the least, but research has shown that diesel performs greater with different engines. The engines are engineered to have better traction, thrust, etc. that makes the diesel better. So, gasoline was the only real competition for the alcohol. Gasoline lasted a little less than a minute and alcohol lasted a little more than a minute, and gas heated the water less than the alcohol. Gas is barely better per second, but long term alcohol performs better. The literature points to alcohol performing better and the next breakthrough in alternative

Ethanol or as we know as alcohol in our beverages can be made from any fruit or vegetable that performs photosynthesis which produces glucose shown As required as the reactant of the previous equations.

The purpose of this lab was to synthesize the ester isopentyl acetate via an acid catalyzed esterification (Fischer Esterification) of acetic acid with isopentyl alcohol. Emil Fischer and Arthur Speier were the pioneers of this reaction referred to as Fischer Esterification. The reaction is characterized by the combining of an alcohol and an acid (with an acid catalyst) to yield and ester plus water. In order to accomplish the reaction, the reactants were

Since the climate and ecological conditions favor cane production in Brazil, that has become the substrate of choice for the ethanol distillers in that region. Sugar cane is a rapid growing, drought hardy species that usually contains 15-17 % fermentable sugars. With a biomass harvest of 30 tons/ hectare, it is one of the better crops for calories/ hectare in the agricultural spectrum. It also is essentially a ready made fermentation medium, with the needed micronutrients (minerals, vitamins) provided from the raw syrup. The preparation is essentially a heating of the plant extract to sterilize it and inoculating it with the desired fermenter under proper conditions. Yeasts produce alcohol in response to anaerobic conditions, so the typical fermentation chamber is essentially a closed tank with a heater and agitator. The remaining biomass of the cane is often burned to provide the needed heat and or electricity to run the fermentation facility.

Beer brewing has been around since ancient times and even as far back as five thousand years ago in ancient Egypt (“Researcher”). The well-known drink is created, and the processes in which it is created both for the cultural and historic value are important to know for our history as humans but also for certain health issues associated with alcohol. An average consumer does not usually know much about beer or the brewing processes the beer withstands. For instance, there are misconceptions about bottle-fermented beer and also the ability for bacteria to thrive in the drink. As a major, I plan on becoming a master brewer, and I hope to create

Dry-mill, the more common and standardized of the two processes, utilizes the four basic processes of ethanol production, “clean corn is ground and mixed with water to form a mash… enzymes are added to convert starch to sugar… yeast is added to ferment… then distilled and dehydrated to create fuel-grade 99-percent ethanol” (Shapouri 2). The Wet-mill process commonly referred to as a “biorefinery” process approaches ethanol from a more atomic level. In Wet-mill ethanol production “grain must be separated into is components including starch, fiber, gluten, and germ” (Shapouri 2). Nevertheless Wet-mill production still uses the three processes above to create ethanol, the difference between Wet and Dry-mill is the quality of their byproduct. Through Dry-milling you avoid the complexity of multiply biochemical disseminations, which save energy and money through lower skill labor and lower tooling costs. However Wet-mill production makes more efficient use of mass and higher quality byproducts that will have greater market value. In the end the net cost of either method is variable, yet on the average the cost to produce a gallon of ethanol is less for Dry-milling than for Wet, yet when you consider the sale of extra byproducts this figure is reversed (SEE Table 2).