Patent ID: 7842484

Claim:
A method for producing ethanol from ground corn which method comprises: providing an aqueous composition comprising ground corn sized such that more than 50% of the ground corn passes through a 0.5 mm screen, a fungal acid amylase and a glucoamylase under conditions which produce glucose including a pH of from 3 to 6, a temperature of from about 25° C. to about 40° C., and a solids content in said composition of from about 20 to 50 weight percent; and fermenting the glucose in the presence of a yeast under conditions which produce ethanol wherein said conditions include a pH of from about 3 to 6 and maintaining a glucose concentration in the aqueous composition of less than about 1 weight percent after 12 hours of saccharification and fermentation, wherein said method produces at least 18 volume percent ethanol.