SBIR-STTR Award

Applied Science Associates, Inc. proposes to produce fuel alcohol from sweet sorghum: a prolific producer of biomass on marginal farmland, renewable and non-competitive with the food chain. An experimental prototype of a "crossroads" feedstock processor is at hand; a loader, a flail for separating pith from rind, a vibrating separator of these components, and a screw press for expressing the juice. This Phase I award will permit us to operate the processor during the next harvest season to quantify the value of the products: extracted sugar for alcohol and the cattle feed value of the rind and residual extracted pith, and to compare these values with the costs of production of the products.

It is proposed to produce fuel alcohol from sweet sorghum; a prolific producer of biomass on marginal cropland, renewable, and non-competitive with the food chain. Phase I testing verified the operation of a whole-stalk processor which separates the pith from the rind-leaf. It expresses juice from the pith fraction only, and thus captures 74 percent of the stalk sugar. Phase II proposes to assemble the laboratory 5 ton/h processor on a lowboy trailer for demonstration on three growers' farms in the state. Ensiling studies with the residue will be expanded to include feeding trials. The juice will be concentrated into edible molasses. This address of the currently unsatisfied sorghum molasses market will gain economic return for continued development of the technology in Phase III.Applications:The system captures 94 percent of the stalk sugar as an ethanol feedstock (74 percent) or feed energy (20 percent) in the ensited residue, thus ensuring maximum economic return. The demand for ethanol in Virginia exceeds supply by 15 million gallons, which represents a $15.5 million expansion of the current industry. To produce this with sweet sorghum will require 90,000 acres. The local economics in the Piedmont counties can be expected to expand by $45 million with the establishment of this industry.