Precision Oil Recovery: Using NMR Analysis to Enhance Corn Oil Tracing
Overview
Air Date: June 17, 2025Summary
Distillers corn oil (DCO) is a valuable co-product of the ethanol industry, but optimizing its recovery remains a significant challenge. Implementing a straightforward and reliable method for analyzing oil content throughout the entire milling process has been shown to increase DCO yield and improve overall process efficiency. The ORACLE system—a rapid fat analyzer that operates without the need for solvents or method calibration—leverages Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) pulsed time-domain nuclear magnetic resonance (TD-NMR) spectroscopy to accurately determine fat content.As the ethanol industry diversifies its product portfolio to enhance revenue, the ability to monitor and analyze a wide range of co-products becomes increasingly important. A practical approach for measuring oil content throughout the fuel ethanol production process will be presented, which can be integrated with precise moisture analysis to ensure product stability during transport and minimize spoilage. A real-world example will be presented, illustrating the shift from outsourced Soxhlet analysis to deploying an in-house ORACLE platform for accelerated analytical capabilities.
