Continuous Countercurrent Separation of Saccharides with Inorganic Adsorbents

Abstract

AbstractLarge‐scale separation of saccharides is possible through the combination of suitable inorganic adsorbents and continuous countercurrent processing. Advantages of such a separation process are gained through the development of highly selective adsorbents and the efficient use of the adsorbent bed. Development of an adsorptive separation process proceeds through three steps: screening of adsorbents for sorption equilibria and kinetics, feasability testing in bench‐scale continuous units, and process optimization in large pilot plants. For the extraction of either fructose or glucose from mixtures of saccharides such as high fructose corn syrup or invert sugar, suitable inorganic adsorbents have been developed and tested. Unit behavior and test data were obtained for the extraction of fructose or glucose, indicating that product purities of 95 wt‐% and higher are possible at product recoveries of 90% and higher.