Wheat based starch production
Wheat is an increasingly popular source of starch throughout the world, because it is readily available in milder climates and contains a valuable protein fraction called vital gluten. This is widely used for human consumption. Alfa Laval processes and products for wheat starch production provide you with low water and energy consumption, easy control and high yield. Alfa Laval equipment lets you boost performance and minimize operating costs without compromising on quality or reliability.
Three-phase wheat splitting
High capacity, compact size, low energy consumption and high reliability make Alfa Laval STNX three-phase decanter centrifuges the ideal choice for separating gluten, starch and pentosanes.
They ensure gentle product handling as well as producing well-agglomerated gluten, which paves the way to greater efficiency in any further processing. The open-outlet design makes these decanter centrifuges less sensitive to variations in flow velocity and flour quality.
B starch dewatering
Using a decanter centrifuge for B starch dewatering results in starch with 40–44% dry solids – roughly twice as high as from a high-speed separator.
Better dewatering results in lower energy consumption in the drying stage, and means that more water can be reused in the process. The overflow water from the decanter centrifuge has the same high quality as that from a high-speed separator.
Fibre removal
Conical sieve centrifuges are used for efficient fibre removal. Each screening centrifuge consists of a rotating conical basket with sieve plates, a nozzle arrangement from which wash water is continuously sprayed over the pulp layer in the conical sieve, a housing equipped with nozzles for “back washing” of the sieve and cleaning of the housing, and a drive arrangement.
Clarification
Depending on the required capacity, Alfa Laval is able to supply high-speed separators or hydrocyclones for clarifying process water from starch concentration.
Starch washing
High performance and reliable operation characterizes our starch washing systems. High-quality materials and low tolerances in our hydrocyclones (cyclonettes) lead to efficient washing and very low levels of impurities in the end product.
Effluent evaporation
Our evaporation systems for wheat effluents are based on Alfa Flash technology, making them compact and energy-efficient. High flow velocity and turbulence minimize fouling. In existing evaporation systems, steam consumption can be cut by 50% by retrofitting them with an extra effect based on Alfa Laval technology. The payback time for this type of investment is often less than a year.
Heating and cooling
Alfa Laval provides a wide range of gasketed and welded plate heat exchangers with high thermal efficiency, compact design, high uptime and low maintenance costs. You can easily expand the capacity of these gasketed heat exchangers by adding more plates at a later stage.
