Radio Iowa, IA
10-02-06
Effort underway to make ethanol production cheaper
by Darwin Danielson
Iowa State University researchers are working to improve a process that could
make the production of ethanol cheaper by cutting the use of natural gas from
the process. Researchers say natural gas is the second largest expense in the
ethanol process behind the corn.
I-S-U Mechanical Engineering professor Ted Heindel, says they're helping an
Ames company develop a renewable and cost effective alternative to natural gas.
He says they're working with "Frontline BioEnergy" which designs "fluidized bed
gassifiers" that are used to gasify biomaterial into a gas that can be burned in the
place of natural gas.
Heindel says the gassifiers can turn some common waste materials into burnable
gas. Heindel says the biomass could be corn stalks, or corn stover, or distillers
dried grains that are a byproduct of ethanol production, or it could be
switchgrass. Heindel says the use of the alternative gas has several benefits.
Heindel says it's cheaper and they're using a renewable resource, which in some
cases is just waste material with a low value. Heindel says he's working with
three colleagues to refine the process that creates the alternative gas.
Heindel says they're looking at how the gas is mixed in the fluidized bed and how
it travels. Heindel says they can use the specialized equipment at Iowa State to
study the process and help make it better. One estimate says Iowa’s annual
production of more than one billion gallons of ethanol accounts for about 16
percent of the state’s demand for natural gas.