ABSTRACT
The New Energy Company of Indiana was formed to play an important role in this new ethanol industry. New Energy Company of Indiana operates a new 60-million-gallons-per-year grassroots production facility in South Bend, Indiana. The most common method of producing ethanol-for-fuel begins with conversion of starchy materials to sugars by a process known as saccharification. These sugars are then converted to alcohol via fermentation. Corn-based ethanol plants are of two basic types, wet corn milling and dry corn milling. Examination of the characteristics of wastewaters discharged from alcohol production facilities reveals a stream that is high in organic material and solids but a stream that is compatible with treatment processes normally encountered in municipal facilities. The importance of a good wastewater management program, and its beneficial effect on the total effluent generated from an alcohol production facility, cannot be over-emphasized.
