Corn Mash

Our KARL class had quite the adventure, as we trekked through the Ethanol plant, located in Garden City, Kansas.  Did you know that ethanol can be created from Milo or Corn?  The plant has two silos, one to hold milo and one for corn.  However, corn was in action the day we visited.

Grain trucks deliver the dry (or mostly dry) grain.  The grain is unloaded into storage silos.  The ethanol process begins when grain and water are added to a mash machine.  The mixture is heated and mixed to begin the fermentation process.  The plant definitely has a very yeasty smell, due to the fermentation process.

The mixture moves from mash mixers to fermentators and eventually out of the plant.  The ethanol is extracted, and a very, bright, hot, moldable mixture remains.  This is referred to as distillers grain.  This photo shows a close up shot of the grain.  It looks almost like Play-Doh!  This bi-product is hauled, by another truck, to some very hungry cattle.  Tasty?