Improving softening system efficiency in starch production with SST® resins

A large corn starch refiner in Ontario, Canada, was running a 350 U.S. gpm co-current softener with 225 ft3 SAC resin. The feed water, expressed in ppm as CaCO3 contains hardness @ 128 ppm, and TDS @ 210 ppm. The original resin, Purolite® C100E, regeneration specifications called for 10 lb/ft3 of NaCl resulting in an operating capacity of 26.4 Kgr/ft3 and average total hardness leakage of 1 ppm. The customer approached Purolite to enhance the performance of their softening process, and save time, money and resouces.

The softener was recharged with high-performance Purolite Shallow Shell SSTC60 with the intention of reducing operating cost and improving regeneration efficiency.

One of the first areas of improvement was the reduction in time and volume of the fast rinse step. After the first 10 regenerations, the SSTC60 reached specification hardness leakage within 10 minutes as opposed to 75 minutes for the previous SAC resin.

The salt dosage was lowered to 6 lb/ft3 resulting in a capacity for SSTC60 of 24 Kgr/ft3 and a leakage of 1 ppm.

Overall, the plant was able to achieve an annual savings of $37,777 by switching their system to Shallow Shell Technology™ resins including regenerant water and chemicals—with additional savings in operator time for change-outs and plant down time.

Why Purolite?

  • Perform thorough system evaluations
  • Very knowledgeable
  • Bring economic value to customer operations