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Corn Sweetener Refining

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Corn Sweetener Refining with Ion Exchange Resins

Liquid and solid sweeteners are produced around the world from several starch sources including corn, wheat, tapioca, potatoes, and even cellulose hydrolyzate. Of these, corn is the most common. There are nearly one billion bushels of corn processed for sweeteners in the U.S. alone. High fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is the largest single sweetener syrup produced.

HFCS is found in canned fruits, cereals, chemicals, drugs, pharmaceuticals, condiments, confectionery items, gum, cough drops, dairy products, ice cream, frozen desserts, jellies, meat products and carbonated beverages. Ion exchange resins are utilized in the demineralization, enrichment and polishing/decolorization unit operations of HFCS refining to produce a pure colorless syrup having the desired sugar profile.

HFCS, the most highly refined of the liquid corn sweeteners, is produced in a corn wet milling process which includes the following unit operations:

  1. Steeping: Corn kernels soak in sulfurous acid to soften them.
  2. Germ Separation: Kernels are fractured into starch, gluten, hull and germ components. The oil rich germ is separated and processed for oil extraction.
  3. Fiber Recovery: The slurry of starch, gluten and hull is finely ground and the hull is separated.
  4. Starch/Gluten Separation: Starch and gluten are separated in centrifuges and each is washed.
  5. Liquefaction: The solid starch particles are liquefied by enzymatic breakdown into dextrins — partially degraded starch chains.
  6. Saccharification: Dextrins are enzymatically hydrolyzed into soluble mono-, di-, tri and oligosaccharides.
  7. Filtration: Diatomaceous earth or membrane filters remove retrograde starch, oil, proteins or other insoluble material.
  8. Decolorization: Carbon removes color, flavor and odor compounds from filtered syrup. 
  9. Demineralization: Ion exchange resins remove ash, protein, organic acids and color from the corn sweetener to provide color and flavor stability.
  10. Adsorbent resins can be used in lieu of carbon after ion exchange for color, taste and odor removal.
  11. Isomerization: Dextrose is enzymatically isomerized to fructose (42% fructose or 42 HFCS) for increased sweetness.
  12. Demineralization: Ion exchange resins remove color and the salts which were added to facilitate isomerization.
  13. Adsorbent resins can be used in lieu of carbon after ion exchange for color, taste and odor removal.
  14. Evaporation: Dilute syrup is concentrated by evaporation of water.
  15. Chromatographic Separation: Fructose/dextrose mixture (42 HFCS) is separated with a chromatographic separation resin to produce a fructose rich (90% fructose or 90 HFCS) stream and dextrose rich stream.
  16. Polishing/Decolorization: Color, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and residual ash are removed with ion exchange resins from the fructose rich product before or after blending to 55 HFCS.
  17. Evaporation: 55 HFCS product is concentrated prior to shipment by evaporation of water.

Ion exchange resins are utilized in the demineralization, enrichment and polishing/decolorization unit operations of HFCS refining as described below to produce a pure colorless syrup having the desired sugar profile.

Products by Application

Adsorption of patulin

MN102

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Weak Base Functionality, Free Base form

Beet Thin Juice Softening

C160S

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, High Capacity, Sweetener Grade

Chromatographic Separation

PCR631Ca

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Calcium form, Chromatographic Grade

PCR631Na

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, Chromatographic Grade

PCR642Ca

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Calcium form, Chromatographic Grade

PCR642K

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Potassium form, Chromatographic Grade

PCR642Na

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, Chromatographic Grade

SSTPCR642Ca

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Calcium form, Chromatographic Grade Shallow Shell ™ Technology

SSTPCR732Ca

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Calcium form, Chromatographic Grade Shallow Shell ™ Technology

Chromatographic Separation - Glycerin

PCR642Na

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, Chromatographic Grade

Chromatographic Separation - Lactulose

PCR642Ca

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Calcium form, Chromatographic Grade

Color, Taste & Odor Removal

MN102

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Weak Base Functionality, Free Base form

Color, Taste and Odor Removal - Sweetener Solutions

MN100

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Weak Base Functionality, Free Base form

MN102

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Weak Base Functionality, Free Base form

MN152

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Weak Base Functionality, Free Base form

MN502

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Strong Acid Functionality, Hydrogen form

Deacidification

A133S

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form, High Capacity, Sweetener Grade

Deashing - Sugar

A510SMBPlus

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Type II Strong Base Anion Resin, Chloride form, Mixed Bed Grade, Sweetener Grade

Decolorization - MSG

A502PS

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Type I Strong Base Anion Resin, Chloride form, Sugar Grade

Decolorization - Sugar Solutions

A502PS

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Type I Strong Base Anion Resin, Chloride form, Sugar Grade

MN102

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Weak Base Functionality, Free Base form

Demineralization - Cellulose hydrolyzate

A103SPlus

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form, Sweetener Grade

C150S

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, Sweetener Grade

Demineralization - Cheese and Milk Whey

A133S

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form, High Capacity, Sweetener Grade

Demineralization - Citric, Lactic & Glycolic Acid

A149S

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form

A845S

Polyacrylic Gel, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form, Sugar Grade

C160S

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, High Capacity, Sweetener Grade

Demineralization - Ethanol

A500SPlus

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Type I Strong Base Anion Resin, Chloride form, Sugar Grade

C150S

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, Sweetener Grade

Demineralization - Gelatin, Collagen

A103SPlus

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form, Sweetener Grade

A133S

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form, High Capacity, Sweetener Grade

A845S

Polyacrylic Gel, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form, Sugar Grade

Demineralization - Glycerin

A103SPlus

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form, Sweetener Grade

C150S

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, Sweetener Grade

Demineralization - High organics water

A845S

Polyacrylic Gel, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form, Sugar Grade

Demineralization - Sucrose

A500SPlus

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Type I Strong Base Anion Resin, Chloride form, Sugar Grade

Demineralization - Sweetener solutions

A100SPlus

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form, Sugar Grade

A103SPlus

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form, Sweetener Grade

A111S

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form, Sweetener Grade

A133S

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form, High Capacity, Sweetener Grade

A1496S

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form, Sugar Grade

A500SPlus

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Type I Strong Base Anion Resin, Chloride form, Sugar Grade

C150S

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, Sweetener Grade

C160S

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, High Capacity, Sweetener Grade

Demineralization/Deashing

A500SPlus

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Type I Strong Base Anion Resin, Chloride form, Sugar Grade

Desugarization - Beet Molasses

PCR642K

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Potassium form, Chromatographic Grade

Dextrose Enrichment

PCR642Na

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, Chromatographic Grade

Food Processing

A845S

Polyacrylic Gel, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form, Sugar Grade

Fractionation - Maltose

PCR631Na

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, Chromatographic Grade

Fractionation - Threonine

PCR631Na

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, Chromatographic Grade

Fructose enrichment

PCR642Ca

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Calcium form, Chromatographic Grade

SSTPCR642Ca

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Calcium form, Chromatographic Grade Shallow Shell ™ Technology

SSTPCR732Ca

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Calcium form, Chromatographic Grade Shallow Shell ™ Technology

Hydrophobic Organic Species Separation

MN100

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Weak Base Functionality, Free Base form

MN102

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Weak Base Functionality, Free Base form

MN152

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Weak Base Functionality, Free Base form

MN502

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Strong Acid Functionality, Hydrogen form

Hydrophobic Organic Species Sorption

MN100

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Weak Base Functionality, Free Base form

MN102

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Weak Base Functionality, Free Base form

MN152

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Weak Base Functionality, Free Base form

MN502

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Strong Acid Functionality, Hydrogen form

Ion Separation

PCA433/5180

Polystyrenic Gel, Type I Strong Base Anion Resin, Chloride form, Chromatographic Grade

Juice debittering

MN102

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Weak Base Functionality, Free Base form

Mixed bed anion component

A500MBPlus

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Type I Strong Base Anion Resin, Chloride form, Mixed Bed Grade

Mixed bed cation component

C150SMB

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, Mixed Bed Grade, Sweetener Grade

Organic Scavenger

A502PS

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Type I Strong Base Anion Resin, Chloride form, Sugar Grade

Softening - Potable Water, Food & Beverage

C100SH

Polystyrenic Gel, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Hydrogen form, Sugar Grade

sweetener mixed bed polishing

A500MBPlus

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Type I Strong Base Anion Resin, Chloride form, Mixed Bed Grade

A510SMBPlus

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Type II Strong Base Anion Resin, Chloride form, Mixed Bed Grade, Sweetener Grade

C150SMB

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, Mixed Bed Grade, Sweetener Grade

Taste and Odor Removal - Collagen

MN102

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Weak Base Functionality, Free Base form

Taste and Odor Removal - Sugar Solutions

MN102

Hyper-crosslinked Polystyrenic Macroporous, Adsorbent Resin, Weak Base Functionality, Free Base form

Volatile Acidity Removal - Wine Permeate

A103SPlus

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Weak Base Anion Resin, Free Base form, Sweetener Grade

● Category List - SAC Macroporous

C150S

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, Sweetener Grade

C160S

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Strong Acid Cation Resin, Sodium form, High Capacity, Sweetener Grade

● Category List - SBA Macroporous

A500MBPlus

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Type I Strong Base Anion Resin, Chloride form, Mixed Bed Grade

A510SMBPlus

Polystyrenic Macroporous, Type II Strong Base Anion Resin, Chloride form, Mixed Bed Grade, Sweetener Grade