BioMatNet Item: FAIR-CT95-1105 - Cascade Refining of European Wheats for Production of High Quality Products for the Paper Industry

FAIR-CT95-1105
Cascade Refining of European Wheats for Production of High Quality Products for the Paper Industry

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FAIR Area 2.1 - Chemical and Physical Processes : Paper/Pulp : Process Engineering : Starch

	Type of Project	Shared Cost
	Contract No	FAIR-CT95-1105
	Total Cost	4,030,000 ECU
	EC Contribution	1,900,000 ECU
	Start Date	01/09/1996
	Duration	48 Months

Cascade refining of European wheats for production of high-quality products for the paper industry

Objectives

The Cascade Refining project is dedicated to environmentally friendly production of chemically modified starch-rich wheat flour for the paper industry. The project is characterised by a close collaboration between the seed grading/milling industry, the wheat flour modification industry, the paper industry and associated research institutions. The partners in this project represent a complete production line from the raw wheat material to the application in the paper industry. They include research institutions capable of developing on-line quality control of the intermediate and final products as well as setting up economical feasibility models for the production.

For many paper applications potato starch is used today as the binding component. Potato starch and conventionally produced starch-rich wheat flours are manufactured through a series of wet processes resulting in high water consumption and a discharge of pollutants. The wheat in this project is fractionated, milled and chemically modified in dry processes eliminating the large water consumption and the discharge of pollutants from the starch-rich wheat flour production.

Technical Approach

to scale-up an integrated production chain for cheap and high quality modified starch wheat flours for use in the paper industry
to develop a closed cycle production system for modified starch wheat flours
to ensure that all production steps are "environmentally friendly"
to ensure full utilisation of the raw material
to ensure a positive socio-economic impact on the society

Expected Results

A set of trials through the production chain has been carried out. The preliminary testing of chemically modified wheat flour as the starch component in the paper production shows an almost equal performance compared to the traditionally produced potato starch products. The results of technical analysis of the paper samples produced using the cascade products are encouraging, as the technical characteristics are not substantially different from those of paper produced using potato starch.

Investigations have proved that it is possible to fast-screen and predict (measure) a set of chemical parameters in the wheat and wheat flour, as well as the chemical degree of substitution in the modified wheat flour. This leads directly to the development of fast on-line screening methods for controlling the chemical modification process, which is essential for two main reasons:

A reduction in chemicals results in a lower price for the cascade products, since the chemical modification is very expensive in comparison to the total production cost of the modified wheat flour.
A reduction in chemicals makes the chemical modification process even more environmentally friendly.

Spectroscopic analyses on the raw wheat flour indicate that the isoelectric charge can be measured using spectroscopy. This is highly encouraging, since the measurement can be performed on-line and can be used to calculate the amount of chemicals needed in the chemical reaction with the wheat flour. This helps reduce the need for chemicals without degrading the quality of the chemical reaction

Results To Date

A set of extreme wheat samples have been collected and processed through the cascade chain. The wheat and all the intermediate products through the chain have been analysed chemically, physically and by Near Infrared Spectroscopy establishing a large knowledge database. By analysing the data and correlating spectroscopic measurements with chemical parameters, fast screening methods have been developed. Economic analysis of the whole production chain has identified the critical process parameters, enabling a competitive price setting of the cascade products to be obtained. A preliminary testing of a selected cascade product in a paper making application showed promising results compared to traditionally produced starch products.

Wheat grading trials on the density grading pilot
equipment at Cimbria Unigrain GmbH, Vienna, Austria. Wheat kernels with various densities are sorted and the results compared with chemical characteristics of the same wheat in order to find possible correlations.

Contacts

Coordinator

L MUNCK / Royal Veterinary & Agricultural Univ. Dept. of Dairy and Food Science / DENMARK

Participant