ADM's Decatur facility to produce more lysine, threonine

A plan to produce more lysine and threonine, both amino acids, at Archer Daniels Midland Co.’s plant in Decatur, Ill., won’t mean changes on the ethanol side. “This expansion will not impact ethanol production nor the protein content of Decatur’s corn gluten feed,” a spokesperson told EPM.

The company announced June 20 that it would expand lysine and threonine amino acid production capacity in Decatur. ADM hopes to have the project completed by the second half of 2013 bringing total production capacity to 340,000 metric tons annually.

In addition, the company started preliminary engineering work to increase lysine production capacity at its Clinton, Iowa, plant, aiming for a total capacity of 70,000 metric tons annually. Both expansion projects will be built in such a way to allow for further capacity increases in the future. “ADM is committed to growing our lysine and threonine business to meet increasing demand for these feed amino acids,” said Kevin Moore, vice president and general manager, specialty feed ingredients. “Our feed-grade amino acids are the building blocks of protein for swine, poultry and other animals and play a significant role in their diets.”

According to information in the company’s air permits, the plant in Decatur has an ethanol capacity of 290 MMgy and the plant in Clinton has a capacity of 237 MMgy. Ethanol is not the only product produced at those plants, however. In all, ADM produces a total of 24 products from corn, including food ingredients, animal feed, fuel ethanol and beverage alcohol, the company has said.

All the products are made by separating No. 2 dent field corn into corn oil for cooking oil; corn fiber and hulls for animal feed; corn gluten used in poultry feed; and corn starch which is converted into dextrose, a sugar. Besides being the main ingredient for ethanol, dextrose is used to make high fructose corn syrup to sweeten soft drinks and baked goods or xanthan gum to provide body, texture and stability in things such as salad dressings, gravies and sauces. Dextrose is also used to make biodegradable plastics at the company's first commercial bioplastics facility, which is co-located with the ADM ethanol plant in Clinton.