Issue 26, 2013 - Novozymes launches a new enzyme

Novozymes launches new enzymes

Novozymes has launched two new enzyme preparations, Spirizyme?Achieve and Olexa?, which can increase the yield of corn ethanol by up to 5%, increase the extraction rate of corn oil by 13%, and reduce energy consumption
by 8%.
If these two new enzymes are combined with Novozymes' Avantec® enzyme formulation launched in 2012, it can further improve efficiency
.

Corn is the main feedstock for biofuel production in the United States and the largest cost to
ethanol plants.
After the corn is harvested, the kernels are ground into corn flour and added with water to make corn syrup
.
Enzyme preparations can enzymatically hydrolyze the starch in corn syrup into glucose, which can be fermented to obtain ethanol
.
Avantec and Spirizyme Achieve convert starch into glucose more efficiently than any other enzyme product
on the market.

Corn oil, which can be used to produce animal feed, biodiesel and soap, has become an increasingly important source of revenue for
ethanol manufacturers.
According to a survey by the University of Illinois at Chicago, in 2008~2012, the widespread implementation of extraction technology increased the corn oil production of the ethanol industry by nearly 5 times
.
Novozymes expects about 80 percent of ethanol manufacturing plants in the United States to be engaged in corn oil extraction by
the end of 2013.
Olexa?enzyme preparations catalyze the extraction of corn oil
from corn germ.

A typical ethanol plant in the United States, for example, requires about 36 million bushels (900,000 tons) of feed-grade corn per year, producing 100 million gallons of fuel ethanol, 300,000 tons of animal feed, and 8,500 tons of corn oil
.
Using Avantec, Olexa, and Spirizyme's Achieve complex enzyme technologies, the plant was able to save up to 1.
8 million bushels (45,000 tons) of corn while increasing corn oil extraction while maintaining ethanol production, earning up to $5 million in additional profits
.
Andrew Fordyce, Executive Vice President of Business Operations, Novozymes, said: "The application of this new enzyme innovation has generated significant benefits for ethanol producers, enabling them to consume less feedstock, increase yields and increase profit margins
.
(Lian Meng)