Method of controlling foam with carbonic acid ester agents

Abstract

Methods of use of carbonic acid esters corresponding to general formula I: ##STR1## in which R.sup.1 is an alkyl radical derived from an aliphatic saturated primary alcohol containing 1 to 22 carbon atoms and R.sup.2 is an alkyl radical derived from an aliphatic, saturated primary alcohol containing 1 to 8 carbon atoms and/or has the same meaning as R.sup.1 and n is a number of 2 to 20 while m is 0 or has the same meaning as n, as foam control agents for the sugar beet or potato-processing food industry and/or in fermentation processes are provided. In the industrial processing of sugar-containing plant juices, as carried out on an industrial scale in the case of sugar beet, particular difficulties are caused by excessive foaming in the defecation units, during transport of the beet, in the diffusors and in the carbonizing tanks and before the evaporators, thus, use of the esters in these processes is advantageous. Other areas of use include the production of potato products, such as chips or French fries, in the production of baker's yeast using molasses or other industrial fermentation processes, such as the production of medicaments, to reduce foaming to a level which does not interfere with the industrial production process.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.