The research and development activities for the Sugar and Starch Segments are undertaken to a large extend by Zuckerforschung Tulln Gesellschaft m.b.H. (ZFT) in Austria. In the Sugar Segment the main focus of ZFT is the development of new, environmentally friendly and energy-saving processes and process steps. As the efficient use of process materials in the production of sugar is becoming increasingly important, the department of sugar technology has started and implemented in the recent years some projects that facilitated the significant cutting back of the use of such materials.

The main focus in research is the development of programs and equipments aimed to:

• Reduce the use of anti-foam optimizers (AFO).
• Development programs aimed to reduce the use of limestone (LIMOSTM – Lime Optimisation System) and of alkalinizing agents (LISA – Lime Salts Analysers). The development of the LIMSTOM program for reducing the use of limestone led, for example, to a decrease up to 50% in the use of limestone in the sugar production. .
• Further development of LIMOS, a program for the optimization of the lime milk dosage in the cleaning of the juice, with a view to achieve further savings in terms of process materials and energy.
• Development of natural bio-stabilizers based on hops and tree sap to be used in the sugar production process instead of chemical biocides, such as formaldehyde. This application patented by ZFT is now being tested for other fields besides sugar industry as well.

Zuckerforschung Tulln is accredited, according to the norm EN 17025 as a testing laboratory to perform field tests and for the analysis of sugar beet, and is authorized as the “officially accredited test centre ZFT” (according to the Law of Pesticides 1997) to assess the efficacy of non-registered crop protection agents for sugar beet cultivation.

In the Starch Segment the main objective is to develop new fields of application for starch-based products and to adapt the existing products to special applications. Continuous market investigation and the close cooperation with the customers are the basic principles for successfully implementing new products and technologies.

The work in the starch segment focuses mainly on:

• The development of special starch products (potato starch, corn starch and waxy corn starch) by means of physical and chemical derivatization for the use in technical fields (paper, corrugated cardboard, textiles, construction, adhesives, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, etc.)
• Tests of the application technologies for the use in a wide range of technical fields.
• Development of innovative starch products for the construction industry
• Organic starches, AGRANA being market leader in this segment, used for example in fruit preparation processes, for mayonnaises, etc.
• In the field of the production of bioethanol: testing and developing high starch content varieties of wheat as raw material for the production of bioethanol, and also tests for the optimization of the process of bioethanol manufacturing, especially by accelerating the fermentation by adding special additives (for example, complex nitrogen sources, such as PNC – Potato Nitrogen Concentrate)

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