Gluconic acid : Fructose
: Synthetic Zeolites : Cellulosic
waste fractionation : Other processes
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Gluconic acid is a widely used chemical in food and industry. It can be used as a food acidulant, as a leavening agent, as a coagulent for protein, and as mineral supplement when added as a salt. In industry it is used as a metal sequestrant, as a mordant in textile dyeing, as an ingredient in cleaning preparations, as a de-scaling agents, in industrial bottle washing, and in the brewing and dairy industries to prevent beerstone and milkstone respectively. In pharmaceuticals it is used to provide soluble and easily assimilable trace metals to counter deficiencies.
Gluconic acid is currently produced commercially by fermentation or by catalytic oxidation. These processes have drawbacks in high capital cost, downstream processing requirements, and effluent disposal requirements. The ABR gluconic acid process has significant competitive advantages over existing processes.
The ABR gluconic acid process synthesises gluconic acid from sucrose using proprietary electrolytic technology. The ABR process uses high purity sucrose as feedstock, has low operating costs, low projected capital costs, and zero waste disposal costs. Australian BioRefining has recently lodged it's first provisional patent covering this technology and is currently pilot testing the technology at it's laboratory in Australia.
Our plan is to complete development and install a manufacturing facility to supply the Australian market and export by late 2007.