The flowchart gives information about the steps involved in the production of ethanol fuel from corn.
Overall, the ethanol fuel production consists of 8 steps, which could be categorized into three main stages: growing corn in the open land, separating solids from liquids, and finally transporting the fuel to gas stations. Some stages require human input, whereas others are fully automated.
The initial step takes place outside the production plant, where corn crops are harvested manually. Once the corn has been stored in containers, it is ground in a milling machine in order to become corn meal. Following that, it is cooked with water for four hours, after which this cooked corn undergoes a fermentation process for 48 hours. Once this stage is complete, solids are separated from liquids and then the ethanol is purified for five hours. In the final step, raw materials are loaded onto trucks in order to dispatch them to gas stations.