Issue date: 2/4/10 Section: News

Media Credit: Courtesy of National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center Analytical Director Yan Zhang works in the laboratory.

Media Credit: courtsey photo

John Caupert, National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center Director, is asking for an upgrade to the facility that could cost anywhere from $2 million to $4.5 million.

"We are installing a corn fractionation system," Caupert said. "Through the SIUE system we did an individual solicitation for donors."

The total cost will not be known until all the engineering work is complete, according to Caupert. He is also looking into finding industry providers to donate to the project and has found two companies so far that will donate portions of the upgrade.

Fractionation involves three different parts, according to Caupert. The starch fraction is material that is taken to convert ethanol into fuel. The oil fraction is the cooking oil and is high quality food corn. The corn kernel fiber is run through the fractionation system again to make ethanol fuel.

This is only one of the two major parts to the project, according to Caupert. The second part will allow the research center to make advances in bio fuels. Advanced biofuels are fuels that do not come from the kernel of the corn, but the whole plant.

"It could still come from the corn plant, but it could also be any number of other products as well," Caupert said.

These products could be switch grass, municipal waste, biomass or even algae, according to Caupert.

There are economic factors, job creation and energy security, which makes the project important, according to Caupert. Right now the total ethanol production in the United States is at 10 billion gallons that is utilized annually, while the country consumes more than 150 billion gallons.

The production of ethanol could decrease overall fuel prices by 10 to 30 percent, depending on how close a gas station is to an ethanol plant, according to Caupert.

"We have to do something," Caupert said. "I don't necessarily think that higher gas prices two years ago were a bad thing. That was a wake up call."

State representative Jay Hoffman is working on a book titled "Hope from the Heartland." In the book he writes about jobs, clean air, natural resources and the need to reduce dependence on foreign oil.

"Renewables such as corn-to-ethanol will help lead the way to industry and job security," Hoffman said. "Ethanol plants have begun to spring up all over the Midwest."

Congressman John Shimkus said the research is proprietary. The work done at the center on the campus is a scaled down version of ethanol refineries. The center is looking at ways to make the process better.

"There has been a projected desire to put more [ethanol products] into the market without affecting the food supply or animal feed," Shimkus said. "There has to be some major upgrades to do this."

He also said there are many benefits to stabilizing the price of corn by finding uses for the rest of the corn plant, otherwise corn products will become expensive.

Jim Pennekamp, the executive director of University Park, said there are plans to add more freezer space to the facility and possibly a new CO2 unit. One of the reasons for the upgrades is that many commercial facilities use the National Corn-to-Ethanol Center to do their own research. The research center has also helped attract ethanol facilities to this area, according to Pennekamp.

But John Caupert said it is the uniqueness of the plant that is also a major factor. 

"This is the only center like it in the world," Caupert said.

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