INSTRUCTION FOR MAKING

ETHANOL FOR FUEL

---

CHAFTER THREE

Step-By-Step Instructions For Making Ethanol

Preparation

A lot of producers use wheat, corn and milo to make ethanol. The process for

making ethanol from other crops is the same except for preparation of the raw

material. Potatoes, for instance, would have to be sliced or chopped first. If
you

are using something besides grains, you will have to experiment a little as to
how

to prepare the feedstock.

If the raw material contains sugar, not starch, the batch does not have to be

treated with enzymes. The sugar, as in sugar cane, is ready to be changed to

alcohol by the yeast without pretreatment. The batch may need to be cooked

briefly to sterilize it before adding the yeast.

Crack wheat, corn, or milo with rollers or a hammer mill grinder. It.s best to
use

rollers because fines in the mash are harder to separate from the liquid. If
using

corn, it should be screened to separate any whole kernels that escaped cracking.

Whole corn kernels are likely to plug up columns.

Making The Mash

Materials Needed - Brewers yeast from the bakery; liquefying and

saccaharifying enzymes (See appendix for suppliers); sulfuric acid diluted half

and half with water (Caution: Always add the acid to the water, not the other
way

around); lime; a little sugar; plastic bag; thermometer to read up to 212
degrees

F; pH paper; triple scale wine hydrometer that reads sugar content, potential

alcohol, and specific gravity.

Batching

Start out using 10 gallons of water per bushel of grain. You will end up with 30

gallons of water per bushel of grain. The tank size varies depending on your

application. However, for illustration purposes, we use a 4000 gallon tank.

Into a 4,000 gallon tank equipped with cooling coils and stirrer, put 1,000
gallons

of hot water, then 100 bushels of ground grain. Inject live steam and bring to
212

degrees F. Calculate how much liquefying enzyme you need. Measure out the

entire amount needed.

Add 1/5 of the liquefying enzyme you have measured out.

Boil the batch 30 minutes with stirring.



Cool to 195 degrees F. Add the rest of the liquefying enzyme measured out, and

hold the batch at 195 degrees for one hour, with stirring.

Note: Follow the instructions of your enzyme manufacturer. Take a sample and

add a drop of iodine to it. If a blue to purple color forms, the starch has not
all

been broken down. If the sample containing iodine is colorless or red-brown, all

the starch has been broken down. It is possible to break down all the starch in

this step so that it gives a negative iodine reaction. Stirring is very
important to

bring the enzyme in contact with the starch. This is probably the most difficult

step in batching.

(If all the starch has not been broken down, the saccharifying enzyme will do
it, in

time, but you run the risk of not changing all the starch in the batch to
sugar.)

Cool quickly to 140 degrees F by adding cold water to the batch. Add sulfuric

acid, diluted half with water, to bring the pH to 4.2 when tested with pH paper.
(If

you overshoot with the acid, bring the pH back up with lime.) Add the

saccharifying enzyme. Maintain the batch at 140 degrees F for 30 minutes with

stirring.

Add cold water until the temperature is about 80 degrees F. Test with the triple

scale wine hydrometer. The specific gravity should be about 1.08. Record the

potential alcohol reading for later use. if the sugar content is above 20%, add

more water. Over 20% sugar will kill the yeast.

Fermentation

Add 2 to 21/2 pounds of brewers yeast for a 3,000 gallon batch. Crumble the

yeast up in a little warm water in a plastic bag. Sprinkle in a little sugar and
mix

the yeast with your hands on the outside of the bag. As soon as the mixture

starts to bubble, the yeast is growing and should be mixed in with the batch.
(You

can grow your own yeast in a super mash)

Maintain the batch at between 80 and 90 degrees F for 21/2 days with agitation.

The tank should be covered with a pressure cap or air lock to keep the air out
but

let the carbon dioxide gas out. The fermentation itself will produce some heat.

When the yeast is producing carbon dioxide, it is making alcohol.

You can use an augur pump to mix the batch. Any pump designed for high

volume, low pressure, would be ideal.

After 21/2 days, take the potential alcohol reading on the triple scale wine

hydrometer again. Subtract this figure from the first figure obtained before

fermentation. The difference is the amount of alcohol in the batch now. The mash

should contain between 8% and 10% alcohol. If it does not, either something was

wrong in the batching, or the fermentation is not complete. If fermentation

temperature was below 80 degrees F, the yeast probably needs more time to

work. If the temperature was above 90 degrees, the yeast has stopped making

alcohol. In that case, the temperature should be brought down, more yeast added,

and fermentation continued.



All the sugar should be gone from the batch when fermentation is complete. Dip

a glucose test strip in the mash to see if any sugar is still there.

It is important to keep the air out of the batch, change temperatures quickly,
and

be clean in handling the equipment and the mash. Also, it is possible, but not

probable, that your mash may turn .sour. or make vinegar instead of alcohol.

Distillation

The cold mash is put into the boiler. The alcohol vapors are stripped out of the

mixture and carried to the top of the column.

The water, since it vaporizes at a higher temperature, is not vaporized and

continues to fall to the bottom of the column. The alcohol vapors rise in the

column and more water falls out. The vapors exit the top of the column at 170 to

175 degrees F and 190 proof.

Drying The Alcohol

The highest concentration of alcohol obtainable from a still is about 195 proof.

The final fraction of water must be removed by other means, if this is deemed

necessary. Alcohol with water can be burned in engines as is, but most experts

claim all the water has to be removed if it is mixed with gasoline. There are

conflicting claims on this.

The alcohol need not be dried if it will be used straight in a vehicle, without

mixing it with gasoline, or if it will be injected into the carburetor.

Evidence indicates that when alcohol is burned straight in an engine, the water

serves a useful function. It changes to steam in the engine and gives extra

power, and is emitted as steam through the muffler. Those using straight alcohol

prefer about 160 proof. If the alcohol will be mixed with gasoline, the accepted

method is to dry it to about 197 proof. There is no specific recipe for doing
this,

but there are several possibilities.

The alcohol can be dried by running it over zeolite, aluminum oxide or lime. The

chemical takes up the water. After use, the chemical can be dried with heat and

used again.