An engineering and economic evaluation of quick germ–quick fiber process for dry-grind ethanol facilities: Model description and documentation

An engineering economic model, which is mass balanced and compositionally driven, was developed to compare the conventional corn dry-grind process and the pre-fractionation process called “Quick germ/Quick fiber”. For the purposes of this model, the distillers dried grains with solubles price was correlated to its protein and fiber composition and the long-term average relationship with the corn price. This paper has been prepared to describe the development of the model and provide documentation for its use. This model can be used to provide decision support for ethanol producers considering the new emerging technologies that may provide sustainability to the business of ethanol production from corn.