SYSTEM AND PROCESS FOR PRODUCING ALCOHOL

1 . A production system comprising:

an electrolysis cell configured to receive a liquid, and to electrochemically activate the received liquid;

a slurry cooker configured to receive the electrochemically-activated liquid and feedstock granules, and to mix the electrochemically-activated liquid and the feedstock granules to form a slurry;

a fermentation vessel configured to receive the slurry in a hydrolyzed state, and to produce a liquid mixture from the hydrolyzed slurry, the liquid mixture comprising water and alcohol; and

a distillation assembly configured to receive the liquid mixture, and to separate at least a portion of the alcohol of the liquid mixture from the water of the liquid mixture.

2 . The production system of claim 1 , wherein the electrolysis cell comprises:

a chamber;

an anode electrode disposed within the chamber, and configured to be electrically connected to a power source; and

a cathode electrode disposed within the chamber, and configured to be electrically connected to the power source.

3 . The production system of claim 2 , wherein the electrolysis cell further comprises an ion exchange membrane disposed between the anode electrode and the cathode electrode.

4 . The production system of claim 1 , and further comprising:

a first outlet line interconnecting the electrolysis cell and the slurry cooker, and configured to direct a first portion of the electrochemically-activated liquid from the electrolysis cell to the slurry cooker; and

a second outlet line extending from the electrolysis cell, and configured to direct a second portion of the electrochemically-activated liquid away from the electrolysis cell.

5 . The production system of claim 4 , wherein the first portion of the electrochemically-activated liquid is selected from the group consisting of alkaline water and acidic water.

6 . The production system of claim 1 , wherein the electrolysis cell is a first electrolysis cell, and wherein the production system further comprises a second electrolysis cell.

7 . The production system of claim 6 , wherein the second electrolysis cell is configured to electrochemically activate the liquid mixture, the electrochemically-activated liquid mixture being the liquid mixture received by the distillation assembly.

8 . A process for producing an alcohol product, the process comprising:

heating an electrochemically-activated liquid and feedstock granules in a slurry cooker to form a slurry, wherein the electrochemically-activated liquid at least partially solvates the feedstock granules;

hydrolyzing the slurry;

fermenting the hydrolyzed slurry to form a liquid mixture comprising water and alcohol;

feeding the liquid mixture to a distillation assembly; and

separating the alcohol of the fed liquid mixture from the water of the fed liquid mixture in the distillation assembly.

9 . The process of claim 8 , and further comprising:

introducing feed liquid into an electrolysis cell, the electrolysis cell having at least one cathode electrode and at least one anode electrode; and

applying a voltage potential across the at least one cathode electrode and the at least one anode electrode to generate the electrochemically-activated liquid from the feed liquid.

10 . The process of claim 9 , and further comprising maintaining separation of at least two portions of the feed liquid with at least one ion exchange membrane disposed between the at least one cathode electrode and the at least one anode electrode.

11 . The process of claim 8 , and further comprising electrochemically activating the liquid mixture prior to feeding the liquid mixture to the distillation assembly.

12 . The process of claim 11 , wherein electrochemically activating the liquid mixture comprises:

introducing the liquid mixture into an electrolysis cell, the electrolysis cell having at least one cathode electrode and at least one anode electrode; and

applying a voltage potential across the at least one cathode electrode and the at least one anode electrode to electrochemically activate the liquid mixture.

13 . The process of claim 11 , wherein electrochemically activating the liquid mixture comprises generating gas-phase bubbles in the liquid mixture.

14 . A process for producing an alcohol product, the process comprising:

electrochemically activating a liquid mixture comprising water and alcohol;

feeding the electrochemically-activated liquid mixture to a distillation assembly; and

separating the alcohol of the electrochemically-activated liquid mixture from the water of the electrochemically-activated liquid mixture in the distillation assembly.

15 . The process of claim 14 , wherein electrochemically activating the liquid mixture comprises:

introducing the liquid mixture into an electrolysis cell, the electrolysis cell having at least one cathode electrode and at least one anode electrode; and

applying a voltage potential across the at least one cathode electrode and the at least one anode electrode to generate the electrochemically-activated liquid mixture from the liquid mixture.

16 . The process of claim 15 , and further comprising maintaining separation of the anode chamber and the cathode chamber within the electrolysis cell with an ion exchange membrane.

17 . The process of claim 14 , wherein electrochemically activating the liquid mixture comprises

introducing a first portion of a liquid mixture into an anode chamber of an electrolysis cell;

introducing a second portion of the liquid mixture into a cathode chamber of the electrolysis cell; and

applying a voltage potential across the first and second portions of the liquid mixture to electrochemically activate the first and second portions of the liquid mixture.

18 . The process of claim 14 , wherein electrochemically activating the liquid mixture comprises generating gas-phase bubbles in the liquid mixture.

19 . The process of claim 14 , and further comprising:

heating a feed liquid and feedstock granules in a slurry cooker to form a slurry, wherein the feed liquid at least partially solvates the feedstock granules;

hydrolyzing the slurry; and

fermenting the hydrolyzed slurry to form the liquid mixture.

20 . The process of claim 19 , wherein fermenting the hydrolyzed slurry also forms residual solids, and wherein the process further comprises at least partially separating the liquid mixture from the residual solids prior to electrochemically activating the liquid mixture.