Sugar industry concentration and separation

1 Application industry products

● Separation of monosaccharides and polysaccharides

Sugar solution color removal and concentration

Glucose concentration and defocusing

● Fractionation and concentration of immersion water

Purification of corn juice extraction, such as deglycosylation and fructose

II Application of membrane technology

Due to factors such as complex equipment and high costs, the solid-liquid separation and waste treatment processes in the sugar industry have led some refineries in the United States and Europe to actively introduce new technologies and processes in sugar production to overcome these drawbacks, thereby driving new breakthroughs in industrial technology. Membrane separation and filtration technology, ion exchange technology, etc. are some of the new technologies. Membrane separation technology was first used in industries such as food, dairy products, and pharmaceuticals. With the continuous improvement of membrane separation technology, membrane separation performance has gradually improved, making the application of membrane separation technology in the sugar industry a reality. This includes processing refined sugar from raw materials, directly producing high-quality white sugar from sugar beets and sugarcane, recovering refined sugar from refined honey, producing glucose from starch, and treating wastewater from refined plant production. Experimental results have shown that using membrane separation technology instead of traditional processes can reduce the equipment required for production and decrease the amount of lime CO2、 The use of clarifying agents such as phosphoric acid and the resulting pollution discharge.

Guangzhou Kaimo Company continuously develops world leading membrane material application technology, combined with the high drilling degree and high temperature characteristics of sugar solution, optimizes the process structure design of inorganic membrane separation system with high pressure resistance, high temperature resistance and high separation rate. It can directly filter hot sugar juice (70900C), with a turbidity removal rate of 100% and a decolorization rate of 50%; The ceramic membrane filtration+UF membrane filtration+nanofiltration membrane (reverse osmosis) membrane filtration system designed by the company can concentrate sugar syrup by removing 40% of the water without phase change. It has high permeability for reducing sugars and low molecular ions, and high retention rate for sucrose, which can achieve concentration and purification effects. The main processes are as follows:

1.preprocessing

The pre-treatment of the sugar industry mainly completes the sedimentation and decolorization of the original solution through coarse filtration.

2.Purification and sedimentation of tubular ceramic microfiltration membrane

Most starch sugar production uses enzymatic conversion technology, and the syrup produced by starch hydrolysis contains a large amount of insoluble impurities such as fat, starch, protein, fiber, etc. The majority of the sugar in the juice is extracted using extraction technology, resulting in high impurities and color in the juice. In traditional processes, diatomaceous earth and activated carbon are used as filter aids, and the subsequent vacuum drum filter is used for clarification and filtration.

Ceramic membrane separation technology can replace traditional separation methods such as centrifugation, sedimentation, evaporation, and adsorption in the sugar industry. Ceramic membrane filtration systems are based on microfiltration membranes using ceramic materials as filtration media, and have the following characteristics:

High filtration accuracy, good separation and purification of sugar solutions, fast filtration rate, and high purity of sugar solutions;

Removing microorganisms and other small particles, as well as proteins, colloids, pigments, and other substances in the solution;

Significantly reduce energy consumption, completely eliminate the use of activated carbon and filter aids, and simplify multiple processes of traditional processes;

Solved difficult filtration problems such as high temperature, high pressure, strong acidity and alkalinity, and chemical solvent media;

The aseptic filtration process has good cleanliness, easy cleaning, high production efficiency, low operating costs, simplified operation, and long service life;

3.Ultrafiltration membrane process for color removal and coking

Ultrafiltration membrane separation can intercept substances with a wide range of diameters and molecular weights ranging from 10 to 300000 Dal. It is widely used in solid-liquid separation of sugar solutions, separation of large and small molecular substances, removal of color, product purification, removal of fungal hyphae and large proteins from sugar solutions. It can replace traditional processes such as natural settling, plate and frame filtration, vacuum drum, centrifugal separation, solvent extraction, resin purification, activated carbon decolorization, etc., and has the advantages of high product yield, good quality, and low operating costs as follows:

Better filtration effect, high recovery rate, and good product stability;

Shorten production cycle and reduce production costs;

The filtration process does not require the addition of chemicals or solvents, and does not introduce secondary pollutants

● Simple operation and small footprint

Good scalability, easy to achieve industrial expansion needs;

The equipment can operate automatically, with good stability and easy maintenance.

4.Nanofiltration membrane (reverse osmosis membrane) process for concentration and separation

The main process used is nanofiltration membranes with a molecular weight cutoff of 100-1000 Dal. The nanofiltration membranes have a retention rate of over 98% for divalent ions, functional sugars, small molecule pigments, peptides, cephalosporins, and other substances. And it has a permeability of 30-50% for some monovalent ions, small molecule acids and bases, alcohols, etc. Commonly used in the classification of solutes, elution of low molecular substances in solutions, adjustment of ion components, concentration of solution systems, and separation, refining, concentration, desalination, and other processes of fluid substances. Nanofiltration membrane separation technology is commonly used in the sugar industry for processes such as ion exchange desalination, resin process classification, and pre concentration. The advantages of using nanofiltration membrane separation technology for concentration and purification are:

The concentration and purification process is carried out at room temperature, without phase transition, chemical reaction, and without introducing other impurities or causing product decomposition and denaturation.

● It can remove salt from the product, reduce ash content, improve product purity, and increase yield to some extent.

● Recyclable effective substances such as acids, bases, alcohols, etc. in the solution to achieve the recycling of resources;

● Equipment structure introduction: Compact, small footprint, low energy consumption
● Easy to operate, capable of automated tasks, good stability, and easy maintenance at room temperature

5.The advantages of membrane separation technology in the sugar industry

Compared with the traditional processes of adding ash and sulfur fumigation, using microfiltration or ultrafiltration to treat sugarcane juice can not only improve the purity of sugarcane juice, reduce color value, and improve the quality of white sugar, but also reduce the loss of sugar carried away by waste honey;

Due to the fact that microfiltration or ultrafiltration can directly obtain higher clear juice, the clarification section can reduce the amount of clarifying agent used, and may even completely eliminate the use of sulfur dioxide, greatly reducing the sulfur content of the finished sugar;

The combination of ultrafiltration and nanofiltration for clarification treatment can reduce the ash content in sugar juice, decrease the scale accumulation in the evaporation tank, thereby reducing the number of tank shutdowns and washings, as well as the corresponding consumption of manpower and material resources;

Using reverse osmosis to treat steam condensate as supplementary water for boilers can eliminate the softening of water by ion exchange resins;

Compared with traditional single evaporation concentration, reverse osmosis can reduce the load of evaporation treatment and consume less energy due to its partial dehydration task;