Sioux Falls, SD – Officials at Sioux Falls-based Broin Companies unveiled on Wednesday a bio-refining revolution for the ethanol industry at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop (FEW) in Kansas City: Broin Fractionation, also trademarked BFRAC™.

The new bio-refining technology separates the corn into three fractions including fiber, germ and endosperm. The endosperm is then fermented to created ethanol, while the remaining fractions are converted into new value-added co-products, including Dakota Gold HP™, Dakota Bran™ Cake, corn germ meal, and corn oil. In addition to these high value co-products, the process also results in increased ethanol yields and decreased energy consumption.

The breakthrough process has been under research and development, including pilot scale production, for over four years and Broin’s BFRAC is the first to achieve commercial scale success. Broin Companies began commercial operation of the process in 2003. Presently, the company has two commercial plants presently in operation and a third under construction.

Broin received matching grant funds for the U.S. Department of Energy for the development of BFRAC. There are several patents pending related to BFRAC and it was developed through a strategic partnership with Satake, a worldwide leader of grain fractionation in milling.

“We worked with Satake Corporation from Japan to provide the equipment necessary to make BFRAC possible,” said Rob Broin, Broin Companies Chief Technology Officer. “We have negotiated a long-term exclusive with Satake for the equipment developed through our collaboration.”

“We are excited to announce this new technology that has become the foundation for the Broin bio-refinery of the future,” stated Jeff Broin, Broin Companies Chief Executive Officer. “As consistent with our philosophy, we waited to announce this breakthrough until we were positive that BFRAC was commercially viable and successful.” Broin added that the company has several new technologies under development that are synergistic with their BFRAC and Broin Project X (BPX™) technologies.

In November 2004, the company announced the creation of a revolutionary new patent pending BPX technology for ethanol production that eliminates a costly energy consuming cooking step in the process. The BPX process not only reduces energy costs, but also releases additional starch content for conversion to ethanol, increases protein content and quality of byproducts, increases byproduct flowability, potentially increases plant throughput, and significantly decreases plant emissions.

“BFRAC is yet another demonstration of our commitment and belief that innovation and technology are necessary to maintain and expand our leadership position in the ethanol industry,” stated Jeff Broin.

The Broin Companies are a highly specialized and integrated technology development, production and marketing company in the ethanol industry. As the second largest producer in the industry, the Broin Companies have designed and constructed 21 operating ethanol plants and currently have five more under construction or development. The Broin Companies produce, manage and market more than 700 million gallons of ethanol annually.