Increasing distillers corn oil (DCO) yield is critical for ethanol producers aiming to extract the highest value from their corn.
While yields have improved year over year, most of the industry is only recovering about 50-60% of total yield. This presents a tremendous opportunity to boost profitability.
The role of wet cake solids in corn oil recovery
The majority of unrecovered distillers corn oil is lost to the wet cake. Wet cake solids act like a sponge, soaking up free oil, and making it unrecoverable. The combination of OPTIMASH® F200 and OPTIMASH® AX free oil from the fiber and reduce oil lost to the wet cake.
4 ways OPTIMASH® F200 and OPTIMASH® AX deliver benefits to ethanol producers:
1. More Corn Oil
Delivers up to 15% increased corn oil recovery
2. Cellulosic Gallons
Cellulase can be used in low-carbon intensity (CI) cellulosic pathways such as California LCFS and D3 RINS
3. Fiber Dewatering
Dewaters corn kernel fiber for reduced natural gas consumption in the dryers, lowering energy consumption and CI score
4. Maximum Operability
IFF technical service optimizes enzyme dosages and ratios for maximum plant operability
Plant Data:
Plant B observed a significant increase in corn oil recovery with OPTIMASH® AX and OPTIMASH® F200
When the products were removed, oil recovery immediately dropped
Our Expertise
Our Technical Service team at IFF is pushing optimization even further by providing comprehensive support to ethanol producers from the trial phase onward. This includes baseline and trial oil mapping, along with data analysis to tailor OPTIMASH® F200 and OPTIMASH® AX dosing recommendations, enhancing oil recovery without compromising downstream processability.
Additionally, IFF experts can work directly with individual plants to reduce energy consumption through fiber dewatering facilitated by OPTIMASH® F200 and OPTIMASH® AX.
“There are a multitude of factors that can impact corn oil yields, ranging from corn quality to fermentation performance and centrifuge efficiency. Despite the variable nature of corn oil yields, we found that a combination of cellulases and xylanases can consistently reduce the amount of oil that's lost to the wet cake. And this can translate into improved corn oil yields. One of our key learnings is that this is not a one-size-fits-all solution. So we've taken a very comprehensive approach to develop the expertise and the know-how to apply these enzymes at the optimal ratio and dose to fit a customer's plant. This approach is critical to avoid downstream viscosity and fouling issues that can sometimes plague plants and ultimately realize sustainably higher oil yields.”
FEATURE STORY
Extracting Every Drop
Reaching DCO production’s full potential entails the utilization of a variety of solutions throughout the production process, including biotechnology, chemical and mechanical means.
In this article from Ethanol Producer Magazine, Jaclyn DeMartini, lead scientist with IFF, explains how enzymes are one of the valuable allies for ethanol producers in their pursuit of higher oil yields.
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