Chromatographic separation of sugars using blend of cation exchange resins
View Patent ↗A chromatographic method for separating a sugar from a sugar-containing liquid feed mixture by: contacting the liquid feed mixture with a stratum of cation exchange resin comprising a crosslinked copolymer matrix functionalized with sulfonic acid groups, and recovering a first product stream from the stratum that has a higher purity of the sugar than present in the liquid feed mixture. The method is characterized by the stratum of cation exchange resin including: i) at least 80 wt % of cation exchange resin including alkaline earth counter ions, and ii) at least 5 wt % of cation exchange resin including alkali earth counter ions.
1. A chromatographic method for separating a first sugar from a sugar-containing liquid feed mixture by:
contacting the liquid feed mixture with a stratum of cation exchange resins comprising a crosslinked copolymer matrix functionalized with sulfonic acid groups, and
recovering a first product stream from the stratum that has a higher purity of the first sugar than present in the liquid feed mixture, wherein the method is characterized by the stratum of cation exchange resins comprising:
i) at least 75 wt of cation exchange resin comprising alkaline earth counter ions, and
ii) at least 5 wt % of cation exchange resin comprising alkali metal counter ions.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the alkaline earth counter ions are selected from at least one of: calcium, strontium and barium.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the alkali metal counter ions are selected from a least of: lithium, sodium and potassium.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein the crosslinked copolymer matrix is derived from a monomer mixture comprising styrene and divinylbenzene.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein the cation exchange resins are provided in bead form having a particle size of from 100 to 1000 um.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the stratum of cation exchange resins comprises:
i) from 80 to 95 wt % of cation exchange resin comprising alkaline earth counter ions, and
ii) from 5 to 20 wt % of cation exchange resin comprising alkali metal counter ions.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the sugar-containing liquid feed mixture includes at a least two different types of sugar and wherein the first sugar is recovered in the first product stream, and the method further includes the step of recovering a second product stream wherein:
i) the first product stream has a higher purity of the first sugar than the second product stream, and
ii) the second product stream has a higher purity of the second sugar than the first product stream.
8. The method of claim 7 wherein the first and second sugars are selected from: glucose, fructose, lactose, sucrose, lactose, sucrose, maltose, glucose, galactose, sorbose, xylose, mannose, isomaltose, stachyose, arabinose, tagatose, and raffinose.