This demonstration plant makes bioethanol from tapioca residue

In April, a demonstration plant started up that makes bioethanol from cassava residue — a byproduct of tapioca production. The demonstration plant, located at the cassava starch plant of EBP Ethanol Co. in Sa Kaeo Province, Thailand, is part of a four-year, $7-million project of New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) and Thailands National Innovation Agency. The project aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of technologies to efficiently produce bioethanol from cassava residue using newly developed heat-tolerant yeast, which can be used for the fermentation of cassava materials containing more than 30% fibers at temperatures over 40°C. The process (flowsheet) is able to treat the highly viscous pulp without additional pretreatment. The demonstration plant will operate until February 2016. NEDO aims to disseminate the new technologies throughout Thailand, as well as in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries where cassava plants are widely cultivated. The project started in 2012 with the installation of a pilot plant at EBP Ethanol Co. NEDO selected Sapporo Breweries Ltd. and Iwata Chemical Co. as partner companies, and aims to produce 80,000 L/yr of bioethanol by processing…