Corn-Based Chemicals To Be Discussed At Conference
ST. LOUIS, Mo. Fuel etha
nol and liquid com sweeteners are
already facts of life. Large-scale
production of corn-based plastics
and de-icing compounds is just
around the bend. And just over the
horizon lies a whole new array of
corn-based chemicals that may
multiply the industrial uses of a
renewable resource -- and add val
ue to each bushel produced.
New ideas and developments in
making industrial chemicals from
com will be discussed at the 2nd
Corn Utilization Conference,
November 17-18 at the Airport
Radisson Hotel, Columbus, Ohio,
sponsored by Funk Seeds Interna
tional and the National Com
Growers Association (NCGA). Dr.
George T. Tsao, professor and
director of the Laboratory of
Renewable Resources Engineer
ing at Purdue University, will chair
a special break-out session on the
topic of com-based chemicals. The
possibilities to be explored include
butanol-acetone fermentation:
production of sucrose from com;
cyclodextrins and their applica
tions; cornstarch as a herbicide
encapsulation agent; and genera
tion of soluble proteins from com
gluten.
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* Butanol-acetone fermenta
tion. With funding provided by the
U.S. Department of Energy and the
NCGA, Battelle Memorial Insti
tute of Columbus is continuing
research into a process which
could drastically reduce the cost of
producing butanol, a high cetane
alcohol used as an industrial sol
vent and fuel additive, through
fermentation.
The process by which butanol
and acetone, another solvent, are
derived from com was discovered
around World War I and was wide
ly used until the 19305, says Dr.
Robert Busche of Bio En-Gene-Er
Associates, Wilmington, DE.
“With the introduction of petro
chemicals, however, the cost of
producing butanol through fer
mentation became prohibitive,”
says Busche, who will be appear
ing on the program with Dr. Bill
Allen of the Battelle Institute.
“Today the cost of just the fermen
tation alone is about $1.25 per
pound of butanol while the entire
cost, including product recovery,
of producing butanol from petro
chemicals is currently around 35
cents per pound.”
The reason for the high cost is a
phenomenon called ‘product
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inhibition,’ Busche explains.
“Once butanol concentration
reaches approximately one per
cent, the organisms which cause
the fermentation stop producing it.
Battelle’s process eliminates this
problem by immediately removing
the product with an organic
solvent.”
Busche estimates the new pro
cess could bring the cost of butanol
fermentation and recovery down to
56 cents per pound, still more than
the conventional process, but pet
roleum price hikes similar to those
experienced in the 1970 s could
easily eliminate that disadvantage.
Potentially the patented process
could be applied not only to buta
nol, but also to other chemicals
which could be produced through
fermentation, says Allen. “With
intensive effort, die process could
be commerically available to two
to five years,” he says.
* Production of sucrose from
corn. Conventional wet milling
and refining of com produces a
simple sugar called glucose. Bio-
Technical Resources, Inc., a pri
vate research laboratory in Mani
towoc, WI, is perfecting a one-step
fermentation process that takes the
glucose and converts it into
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sucrose, the sugar commonly pro
duced from sugar beets and cane.
“The fermentation results in a
20 percent sucrose solution whifch
then is subjected to conventional
refining techniques to produce
crystalline sugar,” says Dr. Mike
Sfat of Bio-Technical Resources.
“We have got the process down to
a cost of around 40 cents per pound
of sugar. Within two or three years,
we hope to achieve our target cost
of 20 cents a pound. At that point,
sucrose produced from com would
be competitive with beet or cane
sugar.”
The potential market for corn
based sucrose would be 500 mil
lion bushels of com each year, Sfat
estimates. “High fructose com syr
up cannot replace sucrose in many
food industry applications,” he
says. “The growth in liquid corn
sweetener use is diminishing and
probably is reaching a plateau.”
* Cyclodextrins. Because of
their ability to “capture” other
molecules within themselves,
thereby modifying their chemical
and physical properties, cyclodex
trins (donut-shaped carbohydrate
molecules) offer a wide range of
stabilizing and delivery applica
tions across the chemical process
ing, pharmaceutical, personal care
and food industries.
“First observed in the 1890 s,
cyclodextrins were known for
years as high-priced laboratory
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curiousities,” sm s George Reed ol
American Maize Product Com
pany, Hammond, IN. “Now, after
five years of research and develop
ment, American Maize has learned
how to economically produce
cyclodextrins from com starch.
Initial commercial sales are
unfolding in photochemical and ag
chemical markets, and we’re cur
rently working with the Food and
Drag Administration (FDA) to
gain clearance for cyclodextrins in
pharmaceutical and food
applications.”
Cyclodextrins are molecular
encapsulates which can modify
the taste, texture, color and aroma
of processed foods or shield highly
reactive molecules from the
degrating effects of heat, light and
oxygen, for application in con
trolled, targeted or sustained
release delivery systems.
* Corn starch encapsulation.
Using com starch to encapsulate
slow-release herbicides has proven
effective, says Dr. R.E. Wing of
the ARS-USDA Northern Region
al Research Center in Peoria, IL.
“Com starch costs only 8 to 10
cents per pound, making it more
economical than petrochemical
based carriers,” Wing explains.
“And it has the advantage of being
FDA-approved for this purpose.
We tried other starch-based
agents, but found we had to add
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