SIUE ethanol research center gets more than $4M for new equipment

BND.com
Thursday, Nov. 03, 2011
BY ELIZABETH DONALD Belleville News-Democrat

EDWARDSVILLE -- The ethanol research plant unveiled $4.3 million in new equipment and announced a new partnership agreement Thursday.

The National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center launched a new corn fractionation system in a ceremony Thursday. Funding sources include a $3.5 million capital grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and a nearly $1 million donation from private firm Cereal Process Technologies.

Corn fractionation is the process in which a corn kernel is separated from its fibrous husk, the starchy portion and the oil, according to John Caupert, director of the research center. The goal is to make the process more effective and cost-efficient, so there is less useless material left over, or at least to make the leftover material more useful in other ways.

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