Purdue Researchers Cut Corn, Water from Ethanol Production

Renewable Fuel News, September, 2006 by Ngo, Peter

A Purdue University team says it has discovered a new, environmentally friendly method to produce ethanol from corn.

Researchers led by professor Li-fu Chen and research assistant Qin Xu say they have come upon a process about 2.85 gallons of ethanol for every bushel of corn processed. The output is not only slightly higher than current methods - according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, about 2.5 gallons of ethanol can be produced per bushel of corn - but purportedly, the process uses less water.

Using a machine originally designed to make plastics, the technique, already dubbed by the Purdue team the "Chen-Xu Method", grinds corn kernels and liquefies starch with high temperatures.

The water input required by wet milling is reduced by a 90%,...

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