Introduction
There are number of small manufacturers of gluconic acid in India.
The manufacturer's of gluconate salts have developed a new route to produce sodium gluconate using catalytic air oxidation process & approached Ion Exchange (India)Ltd to study the conversion of sodium gluconate to gluconic acid using ion exchange process. Since gluconic acid is a basic ingredient in the manufacture of inorganic salts as required in Pharma application, the overall process is likely to be economical in comparison with conventional process of electrolytic oxidation.
Gluconic acid - C6 H 12 O 7
Gluconic acid used for a large different industrial applications due to its exceptionally useful properties . These includes its extremely low toxicity and corrosiveness and its ability to form water soluble complexes in different metal ions , plasify concrete and retard the setting process.
Manufacturing Process
The principle behind the manufacturing of gluconic acid is the oxidation of glucose ( or sucrose ) which can be carried out by number of ways such as chemical oxidation , electrolytic oxidation and catalytic air oxidation .
There are number of plants producing gluconic acid by biological fermentation method for the industrial production .It is usually produce by Aerobic fermentation .
It is also known that it can be prepared by converting glucose to gluconic acid by oxidation with oxygen in aqueous solution
Ion Exchange Resin
A major manufacturer of gluconate salts has developed a new route to produce sodium gluconate using catalytic air oxidation of glucose. The large scale production of gluconic acid from sodium gluconate to is only possible by making use of ion exchange resin technology. The strong acid cation resin is used for converting sodium gluconate to gluconic acid. The product obtained after ion exchange column is in equivalence with sodium gluconate. The whole process of conversion becomes easy, trouble free and commercially viable.
Schematic Diagram of Ion Exchange Unit
Treated water