Process for recovering betaine
AssigneeFinnfeeds Finland Oy
InventorsHannu Paananen, Heikki Heikkila, Outi Puuppo, Hannu Koivikko, Kaj-Erik Monten, Mika Manttari, Marianne Nystrom
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Abstract
The invention relates to a separation process of fractionating a solution comprising betaine and sucrose by subjecting said solution to chromatographic fractionation and nanofiltration and recovering a fraction enriched in betaine and optionally a fraction enriched in sucrose. The solution to be fractionated in accordance with the present invention is typically a sugar beet-derived solution, for instance a molasses solution.
Claims41
A process of recovering betaine from a solution comprising betaine and sucrose, characterized by subjecting said solution to chromatographic fractionation and nanofiltration in any desired sequence and recovering a fraction enriched in betaine and optionally a fraction enriched in sucrose.
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the process comprises a combination of successive and parallel chromatographic fractionation and/or nanofiltration steps.
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that in the nanofiltration step of the process, the fraction enriched in betaine is recovered as the nanofiltration permeate.
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that in the nanofiltration step of the process, the fraction enriched in sucrose is recovered as the nanofiltration retentate.
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said fraction enriched in betaine and/or said fraction enriched in sucrose and/or said one or more further fractions are subjected to one or more further nanofiltration and/or chromatographic fractionation steps.
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the chromatographic fractionation of the process is carried out using a column packing material selected from cation exchange resins.
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the chromatographic fractionation is carried out using a column packing material selected from anion exchange resins.
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the chromatographic fractionation of the process is carried out as a batch process.
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the nanofiltration of the process is carried out with a nanofiltration membrane selected from polymeric and inorganic membranes having a cut-off size of 100 to 2500 g/mol, preferably 150 to 1000 g/mol, most preferably 150 to 500 g/mol.
A process as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said solution comprising betaine and sucrose is a sugar beet-derived solution.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.