Patent ID: 8101217

Claim:
A method for producing and separating ethanol from mash, comprising steps of: providing an integrated system including a mash circulating-and-recirculating-and-fermenting system, an atmosphere circulating system, and a refrigerating/heat-transfer system; operating a pump in the circulating-and-recirculating-and-fermenting system to move mash from a fermentation tank to a warming station with first coils and then to move the mash back into the fermentation tank to facilitate mixing and fermentation; operating a blower in the atmosphere circulating-and-recirculating system to draw ethanol-laden atmosphere off of the fermentation tank, and to move the ethanol-laden atmosphere past second coils in an ethanol-removing station to wring out an ethanol/water mixture to leave a remaining atmosphere, and to move the remaining atmosphere back to the fermentation tank; and operating a compressor in the refrigerating/heat-transfer system to move coolant fluid from the first coils in the ethanol-removing station where heat is removed from the atmosphere as part of wringing out the ethanol/water mixture and to move the coolant fluid to the second coils where heat is removed from the coolant fluid to warm the mash in the warming station.