New Study May Help Cut Costs
Carnegie Mellon University researchers have used advanced process-design methods, combined with mathematical-optimization techniques, to reduce the operating costs of corn-based bio-ethanol plants by more than 60%.
Redesigning the distillation process by using a multicolumn system together with a network for energy recovery that ultimately reduces the consumption of steam, a major energy component in the production of corn-based ethanol, has been the key to the Carnegie Mellon strategy.
“This new design reduces the manufacturing cost for producing ethanol by 11 percent, from $1.61/gallon to $1.43/gallon,” said chemical engineering professor Ignacio E. Grossmann. “This research is also an important step in making the production of ethanol more energy efficient and economical.”