Next Generation Carbohydrate Analysis
In the current Horizon2020 SME project, Specshell is developing new robust inline analyzers for the ethanol and starch industries; where part of our Chemistry team, Joshua Mayers, Katrin Pontius and Pernille Christensen, is pushing the existing technological and scientific limits of carbohydrate analysis. With the development of a new quantitative method combining HPAEC (High Performance Anion Exchange Chromatography) and HPLC with high field 2D-NMR, Specshell is now able to accurately characterize complex carbohydrate matrices from starch-based industries .
In the Horizon2020 project the Specshell team has discovered several limitations and shortcomings in the industry's analytical methods for characterizing the complex fermentation slurries. Today the industry largely relies on HPLC protocols which are inherently poor for characterizing and quantifying dextrins, which leaves large parts of the hydrolyzate sample matrix poorly characterized. As chemometric models can never be better than the analytical reference methods they rely on, the efforts in analytical reference methods are a key element in Specshell's mission to become the new standard must-have equipment in every bioethanol plant and starch based industries.
