I am getting several hundred kilos of surplus baked bread that I want to convert into ethanol?

Question

I need some help converting this baked bread into ethanol. Using an enzyme and boiling the bread to break up the starch and then using yeast to convert the sugar into ethanol for my car. Has anyone done this before??????

Answer 1

Taking bread and converting it into ETOH is possible so long as you have starch in that bread. Take into consideration that most of the bread does not have very much starch in it due to the fact that it once had yeast in it that already consumed much of the sugars to create CO2 to make the bread rise. Knowing this, you would have to mill the bread to a fine "flour" like substance. Add an enzyme (alpha amylase) and hot water (~185F) to the mix and allow the enzyme to break down the starch to complex sugars this time will normally take about 2 hours or so. The enzymes work well at about a pH of 5.85 and the total solids should be around 33%. This will greatly effect the outcome of the fermenter due to osmotic pressure. Cool the mix to 90F and add the yeast along with another enzyme (gluco amylase) to allow the complex sugars to be broken up to simple sugars (your fermentable sugars). The yeast are only able to use these sugars to make ethanol. Once you have done this you will need to contain the mixture in a vessel, preferrably one that lacks a supply of oxygen. The yeast will then create ethanol, it will take about 48 hours to fully ferment, depending on how much yeast there are, the conditions of the the vessel, etc. Strain the mix and keep the liquid for distillation. The mix will only be about 10-13% alcohol by weight, around 17% alcohol by volume. That is assuming that all went well. Distill the liquid and do what you will with the ethanol!

Answer 2

Ok...you can convert the bread into a beer/wine type liquid with water and yeast but the level of ethanol in the form of alcohol will be between 5 to 10% of the liquid by volume.

Now you need to get rid of some of the water, this is achieved by distilling the liquid.  I think you need to get the ethanol to greater than 40% of the liquid.  You now have a whiskey like liquid and you may have tax problems with the government.  

I'm not sure that this is doable on a non industrial scale because of the different processes involved.  Also you will be dealing with inflammable hot liquids under pressure, not a very safe combination for the faint hearted.

Good Luck

Answer 3

I have done homebrewing, and you will need a big vat for that amount. You may find keeping the whole thing cool enough may be a problem, as it may overheat and kill the yeast. also, make sure it is airtight and be careful with that much ethanol.

Answer 4

When making ethanol you will need basically two things aside from a little know how. You will have to have a working still and some corn. Actually you can use other grains such as barley or oats but many people use corn because of its high abundance. Once you have your still you will need to ground the corn or other grain so that it looks like corn meal. Place the meal, along with some enzymes, into your still with some water so that you have what looks like a watered down corn bread mixture and turn up the heat. When making ethanol you will have to turn up the heat on your still so that this mixture is on high heat.

When the time is ready the mixture will need to be removed from heat and thoroughly cooled. This is necessary for all the elements to work together properly. Yeast will also need to be added so that the fermentation can completely take place. The mash will need to be allowed to ferment for forty to fifty hours and stirred occasionally. Finally you will strain out the grains, leaving the liquid to be a nice alcoholic mixture, Ethanol.

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