At Agro2 we’ve been working hard to study other patents pertaining to ethanol, cassava (yuca) production, and especially co-production of ethanol and other products. With that on the brain, we wanted to share a simplified look at how the ethanol-from-cassava process works.
This diagram, taken from The Integrated Cassava Project, demonstrates the basic steps required for production of ethanol from a tuberous, starchy material. The process begins with flour, which is created by cutting and drying cassava until it is a fine powder. The flour is then liquefied into a slurry and saccharified in a tub. Afterward the sugary substance is fermented and distilled.
Agro2, is currently looking for ways to optimize this process and to produce other products using the same infrastructure and by using waste energy to power other products. Our large-scale ethanol plant, which will be operational in 2011, will use a mixture of waste biogas, sustainably grown grees, and rice waste to meet its energy needs.
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[...] “Cassava” in Thai is mansapparrang, which is just one of 28 different names for the plant. Cassava is popular all over the world, but Thailand is especially a leader in ethanol from cassava. [...]
[...] article found that removing the saccharification step reduces the energy required to produce alcohol from cassava from 30 percent. The article, goes on to describe the history of cassava and ethanol from cassava [...]