World-wide demand for starch products is growing daily and centrifugal separation technology is a critical element for meeting this demand. Industrial success depends on a combination of increased productivity, premium quality and the economical use of resources.

In starch, one of the most important components of plant cells, nature has given us a truly universal product. Its industrial use in the food industry and numerous other sectors is so varied that today the world-wide demand for starch already exceeds 50 million tonnes per annum. In the light of this huge quantity it is no surprise that starch has come to be the third most important renewable raw material after cellulose and vegetable oils.

Renewable raw material with many strengths

Starch is obtained predominantly from starch-rich plants such as wheat, potatoes, maize, rice, peas and tapioca. Starch is the material in which plants store reserves of energy, it is a polysaccharide consisting of glucose units. Depending on botanical origin, the starch grains, grain-size distribution and molecular composition of the molecules may vary. The principal components of the glucose units on which the physical properties of starch depend are amylose and amylopectin. It is on these components that the starch's viscosity and gelatinisation characteristics depend. Among the most important technical properties of starch are adhesion, binding, thickening and stabilisation.

Its functional properties can also be subsequently modified by means of mechanical, chemical and thermal processes, yielding tailor-made products for industry. Today, there are some 600 different starch products used for a variety of applications such as the making of noodles, farinaceous foods, grape sugar, for sizing paper and thickening paints, to cite only a few examples. Apart from its traditional use in the food and paper industries, highly effective developments for, among other things, detergents, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and biodegradable products are becoming ever more important. The resulting increase in production and the potential for end-product diversification demands ultra-modern production systems. Today Westfalia Separator continues to occupy a leading technological position world-wide in this important sector with its integrated process lines for starch extraction.