Sugar declaration with ion exchange.
Brazil is one the largest producers of sugar in the world. Many geographical regions of Brazil cultivate sugarcane and large numbers of farmers and their families are dependent on sugarcane cultivation. The sugar industry sector is therefore important and vital for the country’s economy.
For more than two years, sparse rainfall and high temperatures have impacted sugarcane growth in Brazil which has resulted in a shortfall of sugar production. This has led to the importation and reprocessing of raw sugar to produce plantation white sugar. Due to an increase in the demand of the refined sugar, some of the sugar mills have had to augment and upgrade their plants to be able to process this raw sugar to produce international grade refined sugar. Refined sugar produced in Brazil is very competitive in the international market.
Sugar is a very important ingredient in consumable sweets and confectionery, beverages and is also used in the pharmaceutical industries. A high-quality refined sugar can improve food products and also provide a better shelf life for the finished products.
Decolorization is an important step in the processing of raw sugar. Ion exchange resin technology offers numerous advantages over conventional purification methods for producing white sugar. The ability of ion exchange to decolorize the raw sugar eliminates the need to import high quality refined sugar. The ion exchange process can also be utilized to reprocess off-spec grade sugar and add value to what would have been a waste product.
PURIFICATION OF SUGAR REMELT USINGTHE ION EXCHANGE PROCESS
The color present in sugar is mainly due to the carryover of color-causing complex bodies present in the sugarcane. These compounds get further complexed during juice concentration. This color is inside or on the surface of the sugar granules, and aging of the final sugar can also impart some color to the product. Conventional methods of sugar processing (clarification) result in color levels in the product of between 150 to 300 ICUMSA Color Units (International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis). There is a need for additional downstream treatment to achieve a desired color in the range of 20–40 ICUMSA units to achieve white refined sugar.
This final additional treatment utilizes strong base anionic exchange resins with a high degree of macroporosity. The macroporous structure and the polymer backbone of these ion exchange, which can be styrenic or acrylic materials, play an important role in the decolorizing efficiency of the resin.
The mechanism of removing color bodies through ion exchange can be represented as:
RN+ (CH3)3 Cl- + CA xxxxx RN+ (CH3)3 A- + CCl
(R = the resin, N+(CH3)3 = the functional group, Cl- = the exchangeable chloride ion, A = the color compound)
De-colorization of sugar melt using ResinTech Inc Ion exchange resin products:
ResinTech Inc offers customized technical grade ion exchange resins for the sugar industry.
ResinTech SBMP1 - Polystyrenic, macroporous, strong base anion exchange resin, supplied in the chloride form.
ResinTech SBACR-MP - Polyacrylic, macroporous, strong base anion exchange resin, supplied in the chloride form.
RESIN COLUMNS CONFIGURATIONS USED FOR SUGAR DECOLORIZATION
Depending on the concentration of color bodies in the sugar melt, one or several stages of treatment are required. Table 1 can be used as a guideline for selection of the resin configuration:
RESULTS: COLOR REDUCTION AFTER USING RESINTECH ION EXCHANGE RESINS
By choosing an appropriate resin configuration, it is possible to produce a final remelt sugar syrup with color less than 30 ICUMSA and low ash content.