Microbes feed on sugars derived from the starch in a grain of corn, fermenting it into an energy-efficient fuel, carbon dioxide and a third product called distillers grains. This is the story of ethanol.
But for researchers at Kansas State University, it is only the beginning.
Praveen Vadlani, an assistant professor of grain science and industry, is taking this energy-efficient fuel to the next level. He's investigating how to best use one of ethanol's key co-products, distillers grains. Vadlani is a researcher with K-State's Center for Sustainable Energy, whose work also falls under the university's Bioprocessing and Industrial Value Added Program.
Distillers grains are fed to livestock as a partial replacement for corn or other feed grains. But cattle can only eat so much of it before growth performance and beef quality are affected.
"It's already got a lot of protein, some leftover sugar and fiber, oil and some ash," Vadlani said.
He puts the grains through a secondary fermentation process to add more nutritive qualities to it.
"We are adding value to the product by converting fiber into protein," Vadlani said. "Recently, we also started some research where not only are we increasing the protein, we're trying to get some high amino acid profiles and antioxidants, too."
This added value should make distiller's grains more useful to not only animal feed manufacturers, but also to the livestock eating it. And, as ethanol becomes more popular, there also will be more distillers grains.
"With so much ethanol activity going on, distillers grains will to be produced in large quantities," Vadlani said. "At some point, the market will be saturated."
As more is added to the distillers grains, a broader variety of animals will be able to consume them, according to
Vadlani.
"We're developing a premium product," he said.
Vadlani's research also is making sure that the energy-efficient fuel is sustainable, which he says is critical.
"Fossil fuels are finite. Crude oil is going to run out someday," Vadlani said. "The way that fossil fuels have been produced has left some environmental footprints."
We don't want to make the same mistakes with new fuel sources, Vadlani said. "We know what kind of issues are going to come up and it's our responsibility to develop these products in such a way that all things are satisfied."
That's why Vadlani is also looking at developing other chemicals from distillers grains, so that those can replace the things made today from nonrenewable petroleum resources.
Sustainability, he said, will mean benefits for the rural economy and agriculture in Kansas, as well as for the environment.
"The transition from fossil fuels to renewable resources will be smoother if we try and figure all of these things out now," he said.