Bioenergy Implementation Plan - South-East Regional Authority

Figure 7.3: Flow Diagram of Biodiesel (RME) Production
Methanol
Catalyst
Rape Seed
Rape Oil
Biodiesel
(RME)
Rape Cake
Glycerin
Rest of Catalyst
Feed Industry
Pharmaceutical/
Victuals Industry
Biogas
Production
Fertilizer
Co-Products
The co-product from the process of rape oil production is rape cake which can be utilised as an animal feed.
The co-products from the transesterification process are glycerine and a catalyst residue. The first can be exploited in the
pharmaceutical or the victuals industry or it can be digested to produce biogas. The second co-product can be utilised as
fertiliser.
7.3. Bioethanol Production
Figure 7.4 illustrates the process of bioethanol production from sugar beet and cereals.
The main difference between the production of bioethanol from sugar beet and cereal is in the process before
fermentation. The easiest way to produce bioethanol is to use feedstock which contains six-carbon sugars, as the pretreatment
of the biomass is simple compared with feedstock containing starch. This technology is considered mature
and is widely used.
Pre-treatment
During the pre-treatment of sugar beet the sugar is extracted by crushing, soaking and pressing. Once the sugar has
been extracted it is ready for the fermentation process.
During the pre-treatment of cereal the starch is first separated from the cereal and then converted to sugar. Only the
starchy part of the cereal is used for bioethanol production. Pre-treatment involves the separation, cleaning and milling
south-east regional authority
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