Dry Milling

 Cleaning
When corn is received at the mill, it is cleaned by both dry and wet process. Cleaning
steps are sieving, separating particles and density and removing ferromagnetic metals
by permanent magnets.
 Conditioning
The cleaned corn is conditioned, which basically means that water is added and the
moisture allowed to equilibrate within the kernels. A moisture content of 21% is
considered optimal.
 Degerming
The purpose of degerming is to remove hull, tip cap and germ and leave the endosprum
into large grits.
 Drying
The degermer product are to be dried to 15-18% moisture content for proper grinding
and sifting. Drying is performed by conventional rotary steam tube dryers.
 Cooling
Counter-flow or cross flow rotary cooler can be used for cooling the dried products.
 Grading
Recovery of various primary products is the next step. The through-stock is sifted or
classified by particle size and enters into conventional long reduction system having the
function of removing bran and germ while releasing a maximum amount of clean large
grits.
 Milling
The milling operation consists of the steps of grinding, sifting, classifying, purifying,
aspirating and in some case, final drying. The normal flow is through break roll which
grind the endosperm to the desired particle size.

WET MILLING

 Steeping
Steeping occurs in steep tanks made of stainless steel that carry approximately 3,000
bushels of grain apiece. Maize is held in these tanks for 30 to 40 hours in soaking water
containing 0.1% sulfur dioxide at 50 degrees Celsius (to prevent excessive bacterial
growth). During the incubation period, kernel moisture levels rise to between 15 to 45%,
resulting in a size growth (up to 2X). The gluten linkages inside the maize loosen as it is
held in the somewhat acidic steep water, allowing starch to be released. Following
infusion, the corn is roughly ground to separate the germ from the other components.
This water is used as animal feed and for subsequent fermentation procedures. The
resulting maize meal is suspended in a slurry of water that flows to cyclone germ
separators.
 Corn Germ Separation
Corn germ comprises roughly 85 percent of the oil present in corn. The cyclone
separators, which resemble centrifuges, spin the low-density corn germ out of the slurry
and pump it onto screens, where it is continuously cleaned to eliminate any residual
starch. Finally, the germ is exposed to a combination of mechanical and solvent
techniques that remove its oil. The resulting germ residue is kept for use as an animal
feed ingredient.

 Fine Grinding
The maize and water slurry is transferred from the germ separator to an impact or
attrition-impact mill to separate the kernel's starch and gluten from its fiber. Suspension
of starch, gluten, and fiber flows over fixed concave screens that trap fiber but allow
starch and gluten to pass through. The fiber is then collected, slurried, and screened
once more to recover any remaining carbohydrate or protein, before being piped to the
feed house for use as a primary component of animal feed. The suspension of starch
and gluten (mill starch) is piped to the starch separators.

 Starch Separation
The mill starch is run through a centrifuge to separate the gluten, which is mostly used
for animal feed (gluten has a lower density than starch). At this time, just about one to
two percent of protein remains in the starch. The starch is diluted 8 to 14 times,
rediluted, and washed again in hydroclones to eliminate all traces of protein and
produce high-quality starch (often greater than 99.5% pure). The majority of maize
starch is transformed into corn syrups, dextrose, high fructose corn syrups, and fructose
crystals. A portion of this starch is dried and sold as unmodified maize starch, while the
remainder is transformed into specialty starches.
 Syrup Conversion
Starch is suspended in water and liquefied in the presence of acid and/or enzymes
during the syrup conversion process. The final product is a dextrose-free solution.
Further enzymatic treatment of the solution continues the conversion of starch to syrup.
Throughout the process, refiners are able to block acid or enzyme operations at crucial
stages in order to produce the correct sugar composition (e.g., dextrose and maltose)
for syrups. Using filters, centrifuges, and ion-exchange columns, the syrup is refined,
and surplus water is eliminated. The syrups are either sold directly, crystallized into pure
dextrose, or further processed into high fructose corn syrup.
 Fermentation
Corn starch is also utilized to provide feedstock suitable for yeast or bacterial
fermentation processes. The feedstock is produced by modifying corn starch using
enzymes, and the fermentation product is ethanol. Around 306 million bushels of maize
are utilized annually in the manufacturing of ethanol via wet milling. This ethanol product
is offered for use in industry and drinks after being distilled to eliminate superfluous
water.

Semi-Wet Milling
 Isolation
Corn germ isolation by a semi-wet process, because corn germ and endosperm have
different water contents and water-absorbing qualities, and after water absorption, they
have diversity in elasticity, toughness, and crushing strength, the principle behind this
method uses the nature of corn to select appropriate equipment for corn breaking,
peeling, and degerming by using the fact that corn germ and endosperm have different
water contents.
 Filter
In order to achieve the goal of germ extraction, it is necessary to first filter the material
before pressing the germ into a flat surface and crushing the endosperm. Finally, the
germ must be sorted out.
 Heating
In order to extract corn germ using this process, first the corn is heated until its water
content reaches 16% to 20%, and then the corn is peeled, crushed, and ground.
 Extraction
The efficiency of this embryo extracting method can reach more than 85%, with low
energy consumption, minimal pollution, reduced equipment investment, a short payback
period of investment, and low production costs; however, the embryo does contain a
certain quantity of endosperm.