Sugar Treatment Composition Using Ammonium Buffering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for treating sugar liquors and syrups face challenges in minimizing sucrose inversion due to acidic conditions and residual calcium and magnesium, which lead to pH drops and unwanted side effects like scale formation during sugar purification.
Innovation Solution
Compositions and processes incorporating sources of ammonium, particulate sulfur reagents, amorphous silica, and polymer decolorants are used to buffer sugar solutions, reduce ash constituents, and enhance decolorization with minimal pH change, incorporating materials like ammonium bicarbonate, ammonium phosphate, and activated carbon.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If acidic activated carbon is used to decolorize sugar solutions, then decolorization capacity is improved, but pH drops and sucrose inversion increases
Solution Approach 1:
A buffering agent (such as calcium carbonate, magnesium oxide, or ammonium hydroxide) is introduced as an intermediary substance to neutralize the acidity generated by activated carbon during decolorization. This mediator prevents pH drop and sucrose inversion while allowing the activated carbon to maintain its decolorization function.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines activated carbon with buffering agents to create a composite decolorization system. This composite material integrates the decolorization capability of activated carbon with the pH-stabilizing properties of the buffering agent, resolving the contradiction between decolorization efficiency and pH stability.
2Reliability
If lime or milk of magnesia is added to remove impurities, then clarification is improved, but residual calcium and magnesium cause scale formation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs phosphates to precipitate and remove residual calcium and magnesium ions from the sugar solution after clarification. This process discards the harmful residual metals that would otherwise cause scale formation, while maintaining the beneficial clarification effects of the initially added lime or magnesia.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the potentially harmful residual calcium and magnesium ions into beneficial precipitates by adding phosphates. These ions, which would cause scale formation, are transformed into insoluble phosphate salts that can be easily removed through filtration, turning a harmful byproduct into a manageable substance.
3Stability of the object's composition
If pH is maintained above 7.0 to avoid sucrose inversion, then sucrose stability is improved, but decolorization efficiency of acidic activated carbon decreases
Solution Approach 1:
A buffering agent serves as an intermediary that allows the system to maintain pH above 7.0 for sucrose stability while still enabling acidic activated carbon to function effectively for decolorization. The buffer mediates between the conflicting requirements of high pH for stability and low pH for decolorization efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the pH parameter from acidic to alkaline (maintaining pH > 7.0) to protect sucrose from inversion. This parameter change is made possible by introducing buffering agents that counteract the acidity of activated carbon, allowing decolorization to proceed under alkaline conditions where sucrose remains stable.
Data Source
AI summary
A composition and process for treating sugar solutions that includes one or more sources of ammonium that obtain a pH in water solution above pH 7.0, such as ammonium bicarbonate (NH4HCO3), ammonium phosphate dibasic (NH4)2HPO4, and ammonium sulfite (NH4)2SO3. The composition can also include a particulate sulfur reagent, an amorphous silica, a particulate aluminum reagent, a particulate phosphorous reagent, a particulate filter aid selected from diatomaceous earth and perlite, a particulate activated carbon, a particulate bleaching earth, a polymer decolorant, or combinations thereof. The individual materials can be pre-mixed before addition to the sugar solution, added individually to the sugar solution, or added as a combination of one or more singular ingredients and one or more pre-mixed ingredients. The invention can stabilize the pH of the sugar solution, reduce the calcium, magnesium or related ash constituents of the sugar solution, achieve color reduction of the sugar solution, or some combination of these effects.