Potato Starch
Potatoes have been used as a source of raw material for high-quality starch for over 150 years. In addition to product quality, the consumption of fresh water and energy are now playing an ever more important role in potato starch factories. For this reason, GEA Westfalia Separator developed process lines which also convince users from these economic points of view.
Integrated process line from GEA Westfalia Separator for obtaining potato starch
Once the potatoes have been broken up and the sand removed, the fruit water is separated by a decanter. The starch is then extracted followed by washing. The washing line consists of 3-phase nozzle separators in three stages working on the counter-current principle, fresh water only having to be supplied to the last stage. The separators separate the starch milk into the fractions starch, fine fibers and water. In this process, use of 3-phase technology ensures a high starch yield in top-class quality.
After the last washing stage, the starch arrives for dewatering via a buffer tank. The fine fibers leave washing in the first stage for fine fiber screening. The washed and concentrated starch milk is dewatered and then dried by decanters. The fine fibers and the pulp from the extraction screens are dewatered by a decanter. The dewatered pulp can either be dried or extracted from the process and used as a feed immediately downstream of the decanter.