Not so long ago, the production of alcohol was in the absolute monopoly of the state, and the manufacture of it by citizens was considered a violation of the law. However, now the situation has changed. Practically anyone can engage in activities related to the production and marketing of alcohol products.
Subject to all the norms and requirements of the law, of course. This opens up wide opportunities for such a specific business, which in reality can turn out to be very profitable, promising and, of course, profitable business.
Overview of key issues related to starting alcohol production
But, before taking any concrete steps and starting to build our own production, associated with such a difficult task as the manufacture of alcohol, you need to get answers to a number of important questions. They relate to the following topics:
- supply of own production (sources);
- marketing of finished products (channels and end consumers);
- the method by which ethanol will be produced;
- the type of alcohol that is planned to be produced (drinking or technical);
- equipping your workshop or plant (equipment);
- the possibility of obtaining a license (collection of necessary documents).
Only after clear and detailed answers to all of the above questions are received, it is possible to start organizing the production itself. Namely: to buy / rent a workshop or a plant, to purchase equipment for the production of alcohol and raw materials, to start production of trial lots, etc. In this article we will try to analyze the main points associated with the start of the alcohol business. They will form the basis of your business plan, without which it is impossible to start an entrepreneurial activity (and especially such a specific one) and make it a truly successful and well-coordinated production.
The choice of the type of alcohol produced and distribution channels: to whom, how, for what purposes
Alcohol is used in a wide variety of industries: both food enterprises (for the production of alcoholic products and not only), and pharmaceutical, chemical and other plants. Manufacturers of cosmetics, perfumes and other things also need it. The demand for this product is high, and therefore you can choose the direction that is more interesting to you.
In addition, when deciding on which type of alcohol to produce - technical or drinking, you should analyze this market in your region. Do not be surprised if there are major competitors: the business is still profitable. Therefore, make a qualitative overview of the main sales channels and compare the planned production volumes with existing demand. You may have to bring your products to other nearby regions, and this is an additional cost (in particular, transportation) and new competitors.
It is also possible that you yourself in the future will want to expand your business, and the production of alcohol will grow into something more, for example, in a winery. This is quite a feasible and promising idea, since the final product (alcoholic products) is much more expensive than the cost of pure alcohol. And subject to the proper level of production and quality of the product, the consumer will always be found.
Having assessed all the main points (competitors, distribution channels, development prospects), determine the type of alcohol that you will produce and proceed to the next question. And it is connected with the choice of raw materials and the search for sources of supply.
The choice of raw materials and sources of supply
From the previous question, another, no less important, smoothly follows - the choice of the types of raw materials used for the production and sources of its production.
The production of alcohol by distillation of mash can be carried out on the basis of a variety of raw materials. First of all, it’s sugar. Its productivity is maximum: 10 kg of such raw materials gives about 5-5.5 kg of the finished product, that is, pure alcohol.
However, it is also the most expensive. In addition to sugar, various starch-containing products can be used: cereals (rice, corn), as well as sugar beets and fruits (apples, grapes, plums, etc.). It is also possible the production of alcohol from potatoes. From wheat you can get up to 3 liters of alcohol, and from beets / potatoes and fruits only about a liter.
In any case, the choice is large enough. In addition, you can use several different sources at once, as well as mix mash, obtained from various components. This is not essential if you produce technical alcohol. But in the manufacture of drinking alcohol, and even higher quality (extra and higher categories), such mixing is unacceptable. Raw materials should be of high quality (and not rotten or frozen fruits, beets, etc.) and one-piece.
Assessing the capabilities of suppliers of raw materials
What kind of raw material will be used depends on the possibility of its uninterrupted production in the right quantities (it is not difficult to calculate them on the basis of the above data and planned production volumes). Analyze the situation with suppliers of raw materials in your area.
It can be a sugar factory located nearby, or a state farm that can supply you with fruits, beets, etc. Assess the volumes of possible supplies. A rash approach to this issue may not play in your favor, as a result, the production capacities of the workshop or plant will be idle. Learn in advance about the terms of cooperation with potential suppliers.
Production Planning: premises, equipment, technology
After all the basic issues have been resolved: the type of alcohol and possible sources of its production have been selected, marketing methods have been determined, competitors have been analyzed - you can proceed to the most important thing. These are questions about where (premises) and on what (equipment) to produce alcohol, and also how to do it (technology). Let us dwell on them in more detail.
Choose a room
As for the premises, it is necessary to approach its choice with all responsibility. Let's look at the main parameters that it should correspond to. We hope you do not plan to produce alcohol at home? This option is quite acceptable if we make it for personal needs, but we are going to do business. But here everything is already serious, and the premises are required to organize a fully functioning workshop in it.
Criteria for choosing production facilities:
- Dimensions - your workshop should be two, or even three times larger than the area occupied by all equipment for the production of alcohol (in particular, fermentation tanks). The same applies to the height of the ceilings.
- Temperature - in the room where the organization of production is planned, should be quite warm. That is, two options - a well-organized heating system or good thermal insulation. This is essential to maintain continuous fermentation processes.
- Ventilation is also a very important point. It can be both forced and natural (only if a water seal is used).
- A separate room should be intended for the installation of distillation equipment (distillation part).
- Other important parameters.In the workshop itself there should be a sewage system, floors with equipped drains for runoff, as well as necessarily running water.
As you can see, it is important to take into account various nuances before deciding whether a room is suitable for organizing an alcohol workshop in it. Keep in mind that the larger production volumes you plan, the larger the dimensions of the equipment (as well as its quantity), and the larger the area required for the workshop or plant.
We buy equipment
Before proceeding to the selection of equipment and the search for sellers from whom the purchase will be carried out, you need to understand the production process itself. The technology for the production of alcohol is not very complex. However, it is important to have a complete understanding of all stages of manufacturing and the equipment required at each of them. This is necessary in order to understand how to buy equipment for the production of alcohol, what sizes / volumes and in what quantity. This section is devoted to this section of the article.
The two most important components are the brew tank and the distillation unit:
- The first component is the so-called technical bath - a container made of stainless material, into which raw materials are loaded at the first stage of processing. The mash tank must necessarily have a drain cock and a hatch for a water seal, since carbon dioxide is released during the fermentation process.
- The second (distillation unit) consists of two parts: mash (here the process of distillation of mash takes place) and distillation (the ethanol obtained is purified here).
In addition to the main equipment, you will need various additional devices and accessories: refrigerators, thermoelectric heaters, separators, alcohol meters and more.
Make a detailed list of what kind of equipment for the production of alcohol you need, in what quantity, with what physical and technical characteristics. It is best to determine the complete set of production equipment and its specific characteristics with the chief technologist of your future workshop.
As for the cost, it must be calculated in advance (at least approximately) and included in your business plan. The price largely depends on the planned capacity.
So, a distillation plant for the production of alcohol for a small workshop (capacity of about 12 l / h) will cost about 150 thousand rubles. If we talk about a large plant, the prices here are much higher - from 1 to 3 million rubles for only one column. But the power is several times more.
It may be worth starting with a small workshop, and with favorable development of production, expand and grow into larger factory production. It all depends on your desires and capabilities at the moment, especially financial.
Drinking and technical alcohol: production
The process of manufacturing alcohol is almost the same regardless of what raw materials are used and for what purposes the final product is intended. However, there are still differences and they are associated with the preparatory (or initial) stage of production.
If you describe the technology of how to make alcohol from apples, oats or sugar, then they will be different. The fact is that starchy products undergo preliminary processing - sugaring. The result is sugar wort, which is then fermented. That is why it is easiest to make alcohol from sugar, but not cheaper. Consider how to prepare plant materials for the main stage of production.
Grain processing
For production, you can use rye, wheat, rice. First, the grain is cleaned of impurities and passed through an air-sieve apparatus. Before use, it is dried and ground. Wort is prepared from the obtained flour: the flour is combined with water in a special container where they are mixed. Next, the batch is heated by steam to 75 degrees and fed into the contact hole of the installation.Here the mixture is heated to 100 degrees.
Then the cereal gruel is sent to the cooking apparatus, where it is boiled for several minutes at high temperature (up to 172 degrees). As a result, the cell walls of the grain break. Malt milk is added to the already cooled mass to break down the starch. As a result of this saccharification process, sugar mash is obtained, which is used for the further production of alcohol.
Fruit processing
Making wort from apples and other fruits is somewhat easier than from grain. The fruits are ground and wort is introduced into them (in a proportion of about 5% of the fruit mass). Then the same thing happens as with cereals. Water is added, everything is mixed and heated in the cooking apparatus. Then the resulting homogeneous mass is cooled, frayed and fermented.
Alcohol production technology: milestones
- Raw materials (sugar or sugar must obtained from other products) and yeast are loaded into a special brew tank. Mash is prepared within a week, as a result of which the process of alcohol content in it should reach 15% (if there is more, the fermentation process will stop).
- Next, the finished mash is sent to the distillation apparatus. In the first part, its actual distillation takes place: heating (ethanol evaporates) and cooling of vapors (condensation).
- In the second part, ethanol is purified from fusel oils. The process is called fractional distillation. As a result, we get the very finished product - pure ethyl alcohol.
Since the mash is prepared within 7 days, a weekly rate of raw material is loaded into the distillation apparatus. This must be considered to ensure the continuity of the production process. Thus, about 7 times more capacity is required than the capacity of the distillation apparatus.
In general, we can say that the technology is quite simple and understandable. Understanding the process of making ethyl is for everyone. This is not the production of methyl alcohol, which requires serious knowledge in the field of chemistry and can be very dangerous if improperly organized. However, it is not worth joking in both cases, in this process, compliance with all standards, technology and safety precautions is the key to successful production and the absence of accidents. By the way, you still need to get the appropriate license. About it further.
Legal alcohol production. Obtaining a license
After you have figured out all the intricacies and nuances of your future business, have studied how to produce alcohol and what you need for this, you can proceed to one of the most crucial stages - obtaining a license. Without this document, no matter what knowledge you possess and no matter how much money you have, it will not be possible to implement plans to build and launch production. So, what documents will be required to obtain the coveted permission? Let's review them:
- Constituent documents (memorandum of association, charter, etc.) - the original or copies certified by a notary.
- Registration documents (certificate of state registration) - the original or notarized copies.
- Certificate of registration with the tax authority - original / copy.
- Payment order to pay a license fee (required with a bank note).
- Certificate of no debts on the payment of taxes.
- A document on the availability of premises suitable for organizing the production of ethyl alcohol (on the basis of property rights or leases).
- Conclusion on the compliance of the premises with sanitary and epidemiological standards.
- Conclusion on the compliance of premises with fire safety requirements.
- Conclusion on compliance with their environmental standards.
- Documents confirming the availability of certified equipment (for the production and storage of alcohol products, control over production volumes).
- Certificate of technical competence (it should reflect the list of the analyzed equipment, raw materials and finished products and their compliance with state standards).
- A document on the availability of sufficient authorized capital.
- Extract from the register.
- Goskomstat codes.
Before you collect a complete set of documents, you have to run. However, the presence of all the required certificates, conclusions and certificates is a guarantee that you will receive the coveted license and will be able to begin legal activities in the production of ethyl alcohol.
It would seem that there are no longer any obstacles to the long-awaited start of their activity - you can safely start the production process. It really is. But it is very important in this matter to always be on the alert, especially with regard to maintaining the quality of finished products and compliance with excise laws.
Prospects for the development of alcohol production
In the process of developing your business, deepening in this field of activity, you can find a number of attractive prospects for yourself. In particular, the reorganization of production in order to increase its scale and expand the specifics.
This may be its own perfumery-cosmetic or food production related to alcohol, chemical or pharmacological activity. The choice is great enough. Of course, these enterprises require additional costs, investment and time. However, they will be able to take your business to a new level, including profit-making.
In addition, you can expand your production without major investments. In parallel with the production of alcohol to engage in the manufacture of feed for agricultural animals. Upon receipt of ethanol, a light brown waste is formed, called bard. It is a very valuable secondary raw material due to the content of protein, carbohydrates and fiber, and therefore can be used to feed cows, pigs and other animals. And its output is no less than 13 liters per liter of alcohol. A very profitable business that does not require large expenses.
Conclusion
In this article, we have tried to illuminate for you all the main points related to the organization of such a specific type of business as the production of ethanol or, more simply, alcohol. We considered issues regarding the selection of raw materials for the manufacture of alcohol and the search for its sources; sales methods for finished products; Features of the premises for the workshop required for the production of equipment. And also the technology for producing alcohol from various raw materials has been described.
We did not disregard the legal issue, presenting a list of necessary documents for obtaining a license to carry out this type of business. In conclusion, we briefly focused on the prospects and opportunities for additional profit in the production of alcohol. We hope that this information will help you draw up your own business plan and soon begin this profitable activity.