Company Profile:
Valero's Bluffton ethanol plant is located in Bluffton, Indiana, about 30 miles south of Fort Wayne. The biorefinery sits on 422 acres and started ethanol production in September 2008. The facility uses a dry-grind production method and state-of-the-art technology to maintain industry-leading standards in production, safety, product quality and environmental stewardship. The Bluffton plant annually processes approximately 40 million bushels of corn into approximately 115 million gallons of denatured ethanol and 302,000 tons of distillers grains co-products. The biorefinery employs more than 55 full-time personnel.
The entire kernel of corn is converted to ethanol or distillers grains. Ethanol is an environmentally friendly, high-octane renewable fuel produced by fermenting converted corn starch with yeast. It is used as a blending agent with gasoline. Distillers grains are the co-product left after the ethanol is removed from fermented corn mash, and are sold as a valuable livestock feed. Distillers grains are high in protein, fat, vitamins and minerals, making an excellent feed supplement for beef and dairy cattle, swine and poultry. The Bluffton plant markets both dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS) and modified (or wet) distillers grains with solubles (MDGS).