Ethanex Energy Announces Successful Fractionation Tests
Ethanex Energy, (Nachrichten) Inc. (OTCBB: EHNX), a renewable energy company whose mission is to become the ethanol industry's low-cost producer, announced today the successful completion of commercial scale pilot plant testing of its proprietary fractionation feedstock technology at the National Corn to Ethanol Research Center (NCERC) at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. The tests produced greater than 22% higher ethanol yields per unit of feedstock compared to standard whole kernel corn fermentations.
“The fermentation data indicated extremely positive results with the highest ethanol production we have seen,” stated David Ellis of Ethanol Technology Inc., the NCERC consultant responsible for the tests' fermentation management. “The fractionated grain from the Ethanex process outperformed the theoretical yields calculated in the lab at Ethanol Technologies.”
“We are very pleased with the unprecedented results of our testing at NCERC,” stated Al Knapp, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ethanex. “Ethanex continues to deliver on its promise to become the industries low cost producer.”
The week long trials utilized Ethanex's fractionated corn feedstock generated at Satake USA Inc.'s Houston, Texas testing facilities. Satake is the manufacturer of the degermer machines utilized in Ethanex's fractionation process. Tests utilized full sized equipment run at full capacity. Sixteen independent tests were conducted with resultant data clearly demonstrating stability and repeatability.
The NCERC trials utilized the same ethanol production process that is used in standard dry-grind ethanol plants to convert non-fractionated or whole kernel corn to ethanol. Ethanex's fractionated feedstock did not produce any relevant processing difficulties in the areas of cook/liquefaction, fermentation or distillation. The resultant co-product DDG demonstrated superior material handling characteristics with high granularity and resultant flowability. Further testing is scheduled to verify a near doubling of protein content relative to industry standard DDGS.
About Ethanol Technology Inc.
Ethanol Technology Inc. is a leading supplier of fermentation ingredients, technical support and education to the fuel ethanol, distilled beverage, and industrial alcohol industries. Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Ethanol Technology has research facilities in Montréal, Quebec. Ethanol Technology Institute carries on a tradition of industry education that began in 1980. It presents the annual Alcohol School and publishes The Alcohol Textbook and Alcohol Times newsletter. For more information about Ethanol Technology Inc., visit
www.ethanoltech.com.About Ethanex Energy, Inc.
Ethanex Energy, Inc. is a renewable energy company whose mission is to become the ethanol industry's low-cost producer. The company expects to achieve this industry position through the application of next-generation feedstock technologies and use of alternative energy sources. Ethanex Energy is currently developing three ethanol production facilities located in the mid-west, with a combined production capacity of approximately 400 million gallons of ethanol per year. The Company expects these three plants to be operational in 2008. Ethanex Energy is concentrating its geographic focus in areas that allow access to abundant supplies of corn, alternative energy sources, transportation infrastructure and the potential for expedited permitting. Ethanex Energy's acquisition and brownfield development strategies afford it rapid capacity development with significant operating cost advantages. The Company's senior management has over eighty years of experience in the energy sector including the design, construction and operation of hundreds of power generation facilities. Ethanex Energy is based in Basehor, Kansas with offices in Santa Rosa, California and Charleston, South Carolina. For more information about Ethanex Energy, visit
www.ethanexenergy.com.