ARS | Publication request: BIOFUEL COPRODUCTS: MODELING THE EFFECTS OF VALUE-ADDED PROCESSING AND LOGISTICS

Submitted to: Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: September 28, 2007
Publication Date: November 8, 2007
Citation: Rosentrater, K.A., Kongar, E. 2007. Biofuel coproducts: modeling the effects of value-added processing and logistics. International Logistics and Supply Chain Congress 2007, November 8-9, 2007 Istanbul, Turkey. pp.479-486.

Technical Abstract: The energy security needs of energy importing nations continue to escalate. Biofuels, which are renewable sources of energy, can help meet some of these increasing needs. These can be produced from a variety of biomass materials, including agricultural residues, straw, corn stover, perennial grasses, legumes, and other biological materials. At the moment, however, the most heavily utilized is corn starch. Industrial ethanol production from corn is readily accomplished at a relatively low cost compared to other biomass sources. The production of corn-based ethanol in the U.S. is dramatically increasing. As the industry continues to grow, the amount of generated byproducts and coproduct materials also increase significantly. At the moment, these nonfermentable residues are utilized only as livestock feed. The sale of coproducts provides ethanol processors with a substantial revenue source and significantly increases the profitability of the production process. Even though these materials are used to feed animals in local markets, as the size and scope of the industry continues to grow, the need to ship large quantities of coproducts throughout the entire U.S. via rail and trucking systems also grows. Alternative disposal methods, as well as value-added processing operations, offer the potential to increase economic returns to each ethanol plant. However, implementation of new technologies will be dependent upon how their costs interact with current processing costs and logistics of coproduct deliveries. The objective of this paper is to examine some of these issues by discussing a computer model developed to determine potential cost ramifications of use of various alternative technologies. This paper focuses specifically on pelleting of distillers grains.