Newswise — Creating environmentally friendly plastics, fibers and films from a corn byproduct is one focus of a new research project between South Dakota State University, Iowa State University and an ethanol company called Midwest Grain Processors Corp.
The study is being funded by a $1 million grant from a joint program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Energy. Approximately half of the grant goes to SDSU, and the rest to ISU. The project is one of only 19 selected for funding from among 400 applications.
Robert C. Brown, director of ISU's Center for Sustainable Environmental Technologies, is principal investigator for the project, which involves a total of 10 SDSU scientists.
Associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering James Julson, SDSU coordinator for the subcontract, said the goal is to develop value-added products from distillers' dried grains, or DDG, a byproduct from the production of ethanol from corn.
"Development of value-added products from DDG is crucial to the future profitability of the ethanol industry," Julson said.
Julson said DDG may contain compounds that can be extracted from the grain.
"There are potentially high-value oils and proteins which are not converted to ethanol by the yeast. They may provide beneficial nutrition or health benefits for humans," Julson said.
The two-year research project calls for first extracting those high valued oils and proteins from the DDG. Scientists then will use thermal gasification on the remaining DDG product to produce "syngas," a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. That syngas serves as feedstock for anaerobic fermentation in which microorganisms feed on the carbon monoxide to produce the biopolymer polyhydroxyalkonates, or PHA.
"PHAs are polyester biopolymers that have potential applications in the manufacture of degradable plastics, synthetic fibers and films," Julson said.
Eventually, Julson said, the research could have vast implications for corn growers and ethanol processors.
"What we're trying to do is create some high value revenue streams from ethanol production, and boost South Dakota's economy," Julson said.
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