Liquids to Value

Starch and Protein from Potatoes

GEA Mechanical Equipment / GEAWestfaliaSeparatorGroup

A Versatile Tuber

In order to guarantee quality and yield, as well as a high degree of added value in the process of recovering potato starch, the overall process must be designed right down to the smallest detail to meet the specific needs of the product to be processed. The water content of potatoes, which are used for starch extraction for more than 150 years, is notably high at 75 percent which limits its storability. Extraction of potato starch thus takes place by seasonal working. For the process and machine technology this means 100 percent performance no less from the first day of the season, 24 hours a day, after a production break of several months. GEA Westfalia Separator Group provides the outstanding reliability essential for success in this sector.

GEA Westfalia Separator Group has been playing an instrumental part in the advancement of mechanical separation technology for more than 115 years now. The basis of the innovative capability of the company are enormous investments in research and develop ment as well as close cooperation with universities, research institutes and industry. With this approach GEA Westfalia Separator Group has developed numer ous innovative separation processes and brought them to market by applying first class engineering. Today, the company can handle a total of 3000 processes. With this knowledge GEA Westfalia Separator Group has for example succeeded in developing a process for making efficient use of fruitwater with the aid of decanters. This not only makes for additional value of the overall process in form of more marketable protein. The fruitwater process also reduces the consumption of fresh water significantly.

Potatoes

Disintegration

Fruitwater separation

Starch extraction Desanding

Starch concentration and washing

Pure Starch, High Yield, Low Water Consumption

3-phase technology

Before starch can be extracted from a potato, the starch granules must first be released from the cell structure. High-performance raspers are used for this purpose which grate the potatoes quickly and thoroughly and thus release the starch granules, fibres and fruitwater.

the dewatered gratings, and the mixture is passed through a desanding cyclone in order to remove sand and other erosive constituents effectively. This arrangement protects downstream machines against wear and increases the purity of the end starch. After desanding, the free starch is extracted in four

Water containing SO2 is then mixed with the potato gratings in order to stabilize the microbiological conditions in the process and to avoid oxidization. The soluble constituents of the potato contained in the fruitwater have to be removed from the overall process as quickly as possible. Decanters are used for this purpose; these machines separate the pota to fruitwater from the gratings, and thus remove more than 70 percent of the soluble constituents from the process. The clarified fruitwater, which is discharged under pressure from the decanter by means of a centripetal pump, is conveyed to the protein installation for further processing. Process water is then added to
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stages from the potato gratings with the aid of centrifugal strainers. This task is performed by conical and rapidly rotating strainer baskets with a corresponding strainer perforation and an integrated washing facility. Process water is again used for intensively washing the starch / fibre mixture. Fibres and starch are separated from each other via strainers. The countercurrent principle is used in order to minimize the losses. The fibres pass through the next strainer stages and are eventually discharged from the extraction process via the fourth stage for subsequent pulp dewatering. The starch recovered in every stage is pumped to the upstream strainer until it leaves the extraction process via the first strainer stage. The raw starch milk is then pumped to the

Fruitwater to protein recovery

Fine fiber screening Pulp dewatering Pulp

Starch dewatering

Starch to dryer Fresh water

actual starch washing process via a buffer tank. A rotary brush strainer is installed upstream of the multistage separator washing line in order to prevent larger particles from entering the centrifuges, where they might clog up the nozzles. The washing line itself consists of 3phase nozzle type separators in three stages working in accordance with the counter current principle. Fresh water is added to the final stage only. The separators separate the starch milk into fractions of starch, fine fibres and water. The starch is concentrated in the bowl, where it is washed and continuously discharged via the nozzles. After the final washing stage, the starch is conveyed via a buffer tank to the dewatering stage. The fine fibres as well as part of the finegrain starch are discharged under pressure via the middle phase as a defined volume. They leave the washing facility via the first stage and are sent to the finefibre straining process. The water phase is likewise discharged under pressure as overflow and used as process water. This installation makes for minimum fresh water consumption and energy costs for the entire process. This can only be

achieved by 3phase nozzle separators. It also simplifies subsequent processing of the fine fibres considerably. The washed and concentrated starch milk is dewatered by means of vacuum rotary filters before it is conveyed to the starch drying process. The filtrate water is recycled to the starch washing stage in the form of process water. The fine fibres from the middle phase of the separators are initially separated from the starch milk in a 2stage centrifugal straining unit. They are simultaneously washed and subse quently subjected to further intensive washing before being conveyed to pulp dewatering. Any filtrate water is again recycled to the previous stage. A decanter is used for dewatering the fine fibres as well as the pulp from the extraction strainers. The clarified phase is returned in the form of process water to the wet starch process. The dewatered pulp can either be dried or removed from the process and used for example as animal feed.

Steam Acid

Protein coagulation

Protein dewatering Fruitwater feed Pre-heater CIP recycle Caustic

CIP system CIP liquid

Additional Value From the Potato

Dual benefit

The potato fruitwater from starch recovery contains high-quality and thus valuable protein that can be recovered in subsequent process stages. It can, for instance, be used in the animal feed industry. Additional benefit is achieved as a result of the considerable reduction in the effluent load. The protein installation is an important criterion for treating the effluent in view of the downstream evaporator or for a biological effluent treatment plant. The quality of fruitwater separation in the upstream starch recovery process is extremely important for the benefit of the protein installation. Depending on the process configuration used, up to 95 percent of potato fruitwater can be separated in starch installations from GEA Westfalia Separator Group and used subsequently for protein recovery. The sepa rated fruitwater is conveyed under pressure and in the absence of oxygen directly to the protein installation; this arrangement avoids negative phenomena such as heavy foaming and product oxidization. Effective acidheat coagulation ensures precipitation of the potato protein.
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Residual fruitwater to evaporator

Protein drying

Protein powder to silo

Two heat exchanger stages heat the fruitwater initially from 20 to more than 100 C. At the same time, acid is added to adjust the pH value to the isoelectric point as well as direct steam. This is essen tial in order to ensure optimum precipitation of the protein. The mixture is then injected with direct steam before it is allowed to rest.

arrangement. This enables most of the generated thermal energy to be used for preheating the fruit water and eliminates the costs for external energy input. The remaining fruitwater can be sprinkled on fields, evaporated in evaporators or treated appropri ately in effluent treatment plants.

The main benefits at a glance

This is where the actual flocculation process takes place, and also where the flocculant stabilizes. In order to make optimum use of energy, the coagulated fruitwater is now recycled via a countercurrent arrangement to the second preheating stage, where it is cooled to approx. 85 C. This is followed by highly efficient dewatering of the protein by highperform ance decanters from GEA Westfalia Separator Group. The decanter has been specifically designed for this application so that it achieves maximum dewater ing of the coagulate and optimum clarification of the residual effluent. A scroll conveys the dewatered potato protein to the drying stage. Because the digest ibility and colour of the protein depends very much on the temperature, duration and type of drying, the drying process is very gentle (in ring driers). The dried product with a residual humidity of approx. 10 percent is then sent to storage and packaging. The clarified fruitwater from the decanter is pumped through the first preheating stage in a countercurrent Optimum product quality and maximum yield due to the use of the latest centrifugal separation technology, such as highperformance decanters and 3phase nozzle type separators Consistent and intelligent use of process water requires extremely low consumption of fresh water to minimize the effluent load and the energy costs of the entire process Compact closed systems and CIP capability of the entire process line for meeting the latest hygiene requirements Inline recovery of potato protein under pressure by means of heat coagulation for efficient utilization of protein Dual benefit from coagulation:

More marketable protein Less effluent load

Depending on the specific requirements, a fully automatic computerdriven process control facility can be supplied
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Fine-Tuning for Maximum Dewatering

Platzhalter Motive
2-gear drive Differential gear drive Westfalia Separator varipond

GEA Westfalia Separator Group supplies decanters in a wide range of sizes and designs always customized for the specific processing capacity and the separating task in hand. In the process of recovering starch and protein from potatoes, decanters are used for separating the fruitwater, dewatering the coagulated protein and for dewatering the pulp. Sophisticated drive systems ensure a high dry matter content. Decanters from GEAWestfalia Separator Group have specially designed drive systems which allow a very smooth adjustment of the differential speed to the starch or protein quantity to be separated. This is the only way in which maximum dewatering and separating capacities can be achieved.

Differential gear drive The differential gear drive is recommended when automatic control of scroll speed is required in addition to bowl speed control. This is made possible by the use of two gears. The secondary motor drives the central inlet shaft and generates the differential speed proportionally to its own speed. A second inlet shaft with no speed is connected to the housing. This makes differential speed independent of bowl speed. Differential gear drives are used primarily for the lower differential speed range.

Westfalia Separator varipond reliable mastery of solids concentration

This control system uses existing capacities so accurately that maximum results are achieved for minimal duty. Westfalia Separator varipond means variable pond depth with machine running. Even if feed concentration varies dramatically, the system controls the liquid level in the decanter bowl so accurately that the concentration of the con centrated solids can be set to a constant value and maintained exactly. Westfalia Separator varipond facilitates much lowerenergy operation, because adapting the gforce to feed conditions and the associated reduction in speed allow electrical energy to be saved. Wear to the components is reduced and their service life is increased.

Drive systems
GEA Westfalia Separator Group decanters have specially designed drive systems. 2-gear drive With this drive, the main drive motor drives the bowl and the housing of the primary gear. An additional secondary gear allows part of the power required for the scroll drive to be provided by the secondary motor. The current of this motor serves as a measure of torquedependent differential speed control. The drive is electronically monitored and can thus be restarted. Downtimes due to overloading are thus ruled out and smooth operation is guaranteed. Decanters with this drive, which is patented in many countries, are used when high torques are required for maximum yields at low differential speeds.
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Pressure discharge of clarified liquid

Solids discharge

In addition, the simple and optimum facility for adjust ing the pond depth can also be used for increasing the relative clarifying area; this means that extremely small particles can be separated during the protein recovery process itself, and excellent separating effi ciencies can be achieved. As the clarified liquid is dis charged under pressure, the bowl chamber is hydro hermetically sealed. This arrangement avoids additional oxygen intake and also particularly avoids foaming which would result in product losses. GEA Westfalia Separator Group decanters are also CIPcapable in line with the requirements applicable for process management which meets the requirements of the food industry. The twin frequency converter drive enables the machine to operate at low bowl speeds to ensure that chemical cleaning is even more effi cient. In addition, the decanters are lined completely with stainless steel, which means that no corrosion damage can occur. Automatic circulation of lubricat ing oil ensures that the decanters have a long service life and high availability; the compact design means that the decanters do not require much space when they are installed.

The main benefits at a glance

Variable drive, torquedependent differential speed regulation for constant and extremely high solids concentration even in conjunction with fluctuating feed concentrations Adjusted drive concepts: 3phase motor with frequency converter for regulating the bowl speed or motor for controlled torque starting Automatic lubricating oil circulation: long bearing lives due to cooling lubrication and filtering Patented pond depth regulator Westfalia Separator varipond: pond depth adjustment while the machine is running Paring disc: hydrohermetic operation and energy saving due to small diameter Maximum dewatering combined with maximum separating efficiency Material and sealing systems matched to the specific product

Intelligent Machine Technology for Efficient Processes

High purity, high concentration

A major advantage of 3-phase nozzle type separators is their ability to enable the water phase to be used as process water in the entire process and thus to enable the overall consumption of fresh water to be significantly reduced. Upon request, GEA Westfalia Separator Group can of course also supply nozzletype separators in 2-phase design. Nozzle type separators are primarily used for recovering potato starch. The concentrated starch milk is extremely pure. It is continuously ejected through nozzles at the periphery of the bowl, and then discharged.

starch concentration. The nozzle type separator with washing facility is used whenever the process requires additional washing of the suspension. As the starch fraction is washed with water directly before the nozzle discharge, process water of poor quality is displaced from the concentrate area. This displacement washing ensures that the starch which is recovered has a high concentration and is very pure. The quantity of wash water depends on the through put capacity of the separator and the required degree of purity of the starch. In a 3phase bowl fine fibres which are separated

An important aspect is guaranteeing a high and also constant starch concentration. For this purpose, the starch mass in the bowl is continuously measured. An intelligent density regulating facility automatically compensates for any fluctuation by recycling the necessary amount of concentrate; this arrangement means that the separator always discharges a constant

from the starch are discharged under pressure by a centripetal pump as a defined volume together with a proportion of small granule starch. The water phase is clarified in the builtin disc stack and is also discharged from the separator under pressure via the overflow as process water.

Product feed

Discharge, light phase Discharge, middle phase

Discharge, solids concentrate

Wash water 3-phase nozzle separator with flat belt drive

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Wash water

The 2phase separator separates into a heavy starch suspension and a light clear phase consisting of process water, fine fibres and small granule starch. With the direct drive, developed by GEA Westfalia Separator Group, the power is transmitted to the bowl directly. Due to the gearless drive there is no trans formation of speed anymore. Therewith motor sizes of up to 600 kW are possible which provide for a tre mendous boost of performance. Moreover, no energy is wasted as the transmission is virtually lossfree. Another great advantage is that the gearless drives require a minimum of service and maintenance.

Short spindle drive for lowvibration running Speed monitoring Irrespective of whether small or large capacities are involved GEA Westfalia Separator Group provides nozzletype separators for all desired processing capacities
Wash water

Product feed

The main benefits at a glance

Discharge of the concentrate under pressure via nozzles, discharge of the other phases via centripetal pump this permits very efficient countercurrent washing with a small number of washing stages and minimum consumption of fresh water The latest sophisticated drive concepts ensure maximum performance with minimum maintenance Washing of the starch suspension before the nozzle, resulting in high purity and concentration of the discharged potato starch Clarifier bowl with closed feed and discharge of the product phase to avoid oxygen absorption The solids concentrate is discharged continuously from the bowl through special nozzles which save energy due to their specific discharge angle CIP cleaning at operating speed
2-phase nozzle separator with direct drive
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Discharge, light phase Discharge, solids concentrate

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The information contained in this brochure merely serves as a non-binding description of our products and is without guarantee. Binding information, in particular relating to capacity data and suitability for specific applications, can only be provided within the framework of concrete inquiries. Westfalia, Westfalia Separator and varipond are registered trademarks of GEA Mechanical Equipment GmbH. Printed on chlorine-free bleached paper www.kabutz.de B_RR-10-11-0003 EN Printed in Germany Subject to modification

GEA Mechanical Equipment

GEAWestfaliaSeparatorGroupGmbH
Werner-Habig-Str. 1 59302 Oelde (Germany) Phone +49 2522 77-0 Fax +49 2522 77-1794 www.westfalia-separator.com