Making the Most of DDGS

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Researchers coax more products and income streams from distillers grains
...(R)esearchers see a time when distillers grains will be used for more than feed. Diversifying uses for distillers grains can provide multiple revenue streams and contribute to the increasing need for renewable fuels. Several projects currently are exploring how to make the most of ethanol’s most abundant coproduct.
...“We found that if we extract products from DDGS using ethanol, we have two parts valuable for biofuel—fat material, which can be used for biodiesel production, and solubles, which can be converted to more ethanol,” he says. “At the same time, after extraction of these products from DDGS, we increased the protein level of DDGS from 28 percent to nearly 40 percent.” Lab and early pilot plant test results indicate that corn ethanol plants could increase their ethanol production using this method by nearly 10 percent.
...(W)hile the numbers look promising, there may not be many producers in the position to front the capital required to install the equipment to produce these varied products. One possible solution is for producers to team up to establish regional processing facilities. READ MORE and MORE and MORE (Biodiesel Magazine)