Ethanol production

From first-generation to second-generation ethanol production, ANDRITZ's technology portfolio has played a key role in redefining the field of evaporation and drying to meet an ever-evolving industry.

First generation ethanol plants

First-generation ethanol is typically produced from food crops such as corn and wheat. Also known as conventional biofuel plants, technologies in this market are well established. Conventional distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) process starts with a Dedert evaporator system to pre-concentrate the stillage (solubles). This is then combined with grains and dried in Dedert's ring dryers, rotary dryers, steam ring dryers, or in a Swiss Combi ecoDry™ system. During the American ethanol boom in the 2000s, Dedert's team supplied some of the largest evaporators and ring dryers in the world.

The successful operation and servicing of our dryers and evaporators has resulted in the supply of replicated plants. As the market trends toward higher value sustainable protein sources and expanded applications in aquaculture and other industries, Dedert continues to develop tailored solutions to match the specialized processes. The industry's high-protein DDG products are primarily dried on Dedert's ring dryer solution with integrated processes to improve the energy-efficiency of the overall operations.

First generation ethanol process

Second generation ethanol plants

Second-generation ethanol is made from non-food based biomass, converting non-edible fibrous materials, eg. straw or corn stover, into biofuel. While not as established as its predecessor, commercial scale plants are starting to pick up steam. At Dedert, we take this literally with the supply of our evaporator systems, used to recover process water from the stillage and significantly reduce the waste stream.

Dedert's continued depth in the biofuels industry is a testament to our success in helping our clients to meet their product development, process innovation, and operational optimization goals.