SIU Ethanol Center To Partner With Siemens

Edwardsville--The National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center and Siemens Energy & Automation Inc. announced Friday a 10-year agreement aimed at speed the growth of alternative fuel technology.

The $20 million National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center (NCERC), which opened in 2003 in University Park at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, researches ways to improve and commercialize new technologies for producing ethanol.

Financial terms of the new agreement were not disclosed, but represents hundreds of thousands of dollars in equipment, software and on-site simulation training, according to a release.

The SIMATIC PCS 7 distributed control system and instrumentation from Siemens is now being used by the NCERC. Since 2000, Siemens has supplied the process automation systems for two-thirds of the fuel ethanol plants built in the U.S., according to the release.

St Louis Business Journal, June 30, 2007