Distillers Grains

DISTILLERS GRAINS

An important co-product of the ethanol production process is distillers grains. Our ethanol production segment currently has the capacity to produce approximately 1.1 billion gallons per year of ethanol and as a result, we produce co-products such as wet, modified wet or dried distillers grains.

Processing at full capacity, our 13 plants will produce approximately 3.1 million tons of distillers grains annually. Our plants use a dry mill process to produce ethanol and co-products. The spent grain mash from the ethanol production process is pumped into one of several decanter type centrifuges for dewatering. The water, or thin stillage, is pumped from the centrifuges and then to an evaporator where it is dried into a thick syrup. The solids, or wet cake, that exit the centrifuge are conveyed to the dryer system. The wet cake is dried at varying degrees, resulting in the production of distillers grains. Syrup might be reapplied to the wet cake prior to drying, providing nutrients if the distiller's grains are to be used as animal feed. Distillers grains, a major co-product of the ethanol production process, are principally used as a high-energy feed additive marketed to the dairy, beef, swine and poultry industries. Distillers grains have alternative uses as burning fuel, fertilizer and weed inhibitors.