A Comparison of Several Noninverting Ion-Exchange Systems used in the Purification of Puerto Rican Sugarcane Juices

Abstract

Tests were made with five different demineralizing arrangements of ion-exchange resins in the purification of clarified sugarcane juices, but none provided juices superior in quality to those obtained from the reverse-cycle system. Feed juices of variable composition and high purities, and limited testing with the various mixed cycles preclude precise determination of the performance of these arrangements of exchangers, but ash, protein, color, and turbidity removals were insufficient to justify extensive testing. Purity increases obtained with most mixed cycles were found to equal or exceed that from the reverse cycle, indicating that more crystalline sugar would be available from the product juices, but the advantage of such additional sugar would be cancelled by the greater expense of installation and operation of four or five exchanger-beds, as compared with that for the three-bed reverse-cycle system.