Simultaneous Food And Fuel Corn Refining

A process for refining a feedstock comprising corn starch containing materials and plant bio-mass containing cellulose that can be converted with a process for food priority, animal feed, fuel ethanol, and no process loss, the process comprising:

• (a) providing corn kernels having a moisture content of 10 to 30 percent and comprising:
• (i) a pericarp comprising coarse fiber;
• (ii) an endosperm comprising soft starch, hard starch, protein, and fiber;
• and (iii) a germ;
• (b) screening the feedstock to remove 20 to 40 percent of the corn to remove small grain, broken grain, and elevator dust, and then diverting to a secondary process for conventional dry grind processing;
• (c) steeping the corn kernels in recycled water from down stream processes, which water has a temperature of 125 to 160° F., is essentially free of sulfurous acid and contains effective amounts of amylase enzymes in a counter-current steeping reactor system for about 10 to 20 hours to produce an aqueous slurry of steeped corn kernels having a moisture content of about 43 to 45 percent;
• (d) washing the steeped corn and fractionate the steep liquor to be used as fermentation media, blending protein, and animal feed;
• (e) coarsely grinding the steeped corn kernels to produce a coarsely ground stream comprising coarse fiber, soft starch, hard starch-protein-fine fiber fragments and germs;
• (f) reducing the dry substance to 17 to 18 percent to hydro-float fractionate the germ and any other starch product to be used for food and transferring the balance to a Supraton System for blending to 40 to 42 percent DSS for fuel ethanol feedstock;
• (g) blending the dry grind feedstock to drop the moisture to 15 to 18 percent moisture, and replacing the corn used for food in the bio-grind grind stream with the volume planned for the dry milling stream;
• (h) cleaning the corn and adding the corn cleanings-off-all to the Supraton System for DSS blending;
• (i) coarse grinding the cleaned dry grind food products required and sending the balance to the Supraton System for blending and controlling the feedstock to raise the typical dry grind fermented dry substance from 34 to 36 to 40 to 42 dry substance starch;
• (j) subjecting the partially gelatinized stream to sufficient shear and cavitation forces in the presence of effective amounts of amylase enzymes to gelatinize substantially all the starch and to produce a liquefied stream at a viscosity typically of the dry grind 34 to 36 DSS level;
• (k) exposing the liquefied stream to effective amounts of amylase enzymes to produce a saccharified stream reducing the viscosity for fractionating the remaining insoluble corn grain to produce a clean soluble stream to the fermenter;
• (l) adding an effective amount of yeast to the saccharified stream and fermenting it to produce carbon dioxide and a fermented stream containing ethanol;
• (m) scrubbing the carbon dioxide removed from the fermenter to recover retained ethanol;
• (n) returning sufficient carbon dioxide for the agitation assist fine bubble system for anaerobic fermentation and head space blanketing;
• and
• (o) finishing the refining of the ethanol in the distillation system.

A sustainable process for producing ethanol from corn, cereal grain, adjuncts of cereal grain processing, corn stover, adjuncts of biomass material, starch containing tubers, or starch containing adjuncts of rejects or re-process materials, the process comprising:

• (a) Corn Wet Grind with food fractionation with continuous steeping;
• (b) Corn Dry Grind with cereal grain adjunct and counter flow bi-products and wash water blending;
• (c) Corn Bio Grind with LAI Supramyl high solids feed, high speed centrifugal colloid mill, combination fine grind/Liquefaction with high shear and low viscosity discharge. The discharge is separated for addition to the combined fermentation system and the animal feed refining system with the balance to feed the Cellulose Grind;
• (d) The cellulose grind utilizes available fiber, heat, water, catalyst, chemicals, enzyme and yeast recycles from the Bio Grind, adjunct from the Dry Grind and additional feedstock material containing cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and pectin;
• (e) The combined fermentation process includes three continuous fermenters comprising:
• (i) The Bio Grind LAI continuous cascade fermenter process with Carbon Dioxide fine bubble supplemental mixing and blanketing for anaerobic yeast ethanol production;
• (ii) the invention of a one stage continuous Pentose utilizing recycled catalyst and pervaporation filter fractionation of ethanol and sugar discharged to the primary fermenter for concentration;
• and (iii) the invention of a one stage fermenter for the discharge of the cellulose/dextrose hydrolysate process is finished in the pentose fermenter and transferred after concentration with the pervaporator, the evaporation and animal feed product is combined with the Bio Grind fermentation and animal feed processes;
• and
• (f) The animal feed fraction is washed with the solubles back to the fermenter process to the fermenters. The fiber, Corn steep syrup and protein are blended with a priority to produce the corn value products with the best demand and price.