How to simulate corn wet milling: starch to high-fructose corn syrup
The sweetener train of a corn wet mill, end to end on the new `sugar` thermo package. A 35 wt% starch slurry off the mill is saccharified to glucose (glucoamylase, Michaelis-Menten), part-isomerised to fructose, enriched by simulated moving-bed chromatography, and concentrated to syrup in a two-effect evaporator. Three results are worth reading rather than assumed. The isomerase lands at **42% fructose** — the real equilibrium of glucose isomerase, which is precisely *why* an SMB exists downstream: the reaction cannot reach HFCS-55 on its own. The SMB then splits on the cited Ca²⁺-resin affinities (fructose H=0.69 vs glucose H=0.26), sending fructose to the extract and recycling glucose in the raffinate. The evaporator finishes at **77 wt% solids**, commercial HFCS syrup spec. That last number is only reachable because of boiling-point elevation. Modelled as inert solids the sugars give no BPE feedback and the evaporator is bimodal — it either does not boil or boils to dry sugar, with nothing in between. The `sugar` package (Norrish) supplies the real elevation, and syrup concentration becomes a smooth, controllable function of steam (42 → 77 wt% over the sweep range). Starch itself is carried as an involatile pseudo-component: it has no boiling point to characterise, so none is invented.
- 1Open the ready-made model
Open the "Corn wet milling: starch to high-fructose corn syrup" model in the MaximaLabs workspace — no install, no license. It loads live on the canvas, ready to edit and run.
- 2Confirm the thermodynamics
This process is modeled with the SUGAR property package over starch, glucose, fructose, water — already selected, so the phase equilibrium and enthalpy are physically consistent from the first run.
- 3Review the flowsheet
The flowsheet chains 2× ISOM, SMB, 2× Evap2. Every block is a real, solvable unit op you can reconfigure on the canvas.
- 4Run the simulation
Click Run. The deterministic solver converges the material and energy balances (recycles included) and fills the live stream table — the AI never invents a number.
- 5Read the results and iterate
Inspect the converged streams, tweak a spec, and re-run — or ask the AI copilot to explain a result or diagnose a failed solve in plain English.
- Thermodynamics
- SUGAR
- Components
- starch, glucose, fructose, water
- Unit operations
- 2× ISOMSMB2× Evap2
Opens live on the canvas — free, no install.
Explore the model & flowsheetFrequently asked questions
- What does the Corn wet milling: starch to high-fructose corn syrup model simulate?
- The sweetener train of a corn wet mill, end to end on the new `sugar` thermo package. A 35 wt% starch slurry off the mill is saccharified to glucose (glucoamylase, Michaelis-Menten), part-isomerised to fructose, enriched by simulated moving-bed chromatography, and concentrated to syrup in a two-effect evaporator. Three results are worth reading rather than assumed. The isomerase lands at **42% fructose** — the real equilibrium of glucose isomerase, which is precisely *why* an SMB exists downstream: the reaction cannot reach HFCS-55 on its own. The SMB then splits on the cited Ca²⁺-resin affinities (fructose H=0.69 vs glucose H=0.26), sending fructose to the extract and recycling glucose in the raffinate. The evaporator finishes at **77 wt% solids**, commercial HFCS syrup spec. That last number is only reachable because of boiling-point elevation. Modelled as inert solids the sugars give no BPE feedback and the evaporator is bimodal — it either does not boil or boils to dry sugar, with nothing in between. The `sugar` package (Norrish) supplies the real elevation, and syrup concentration becomes a smooth, controllable function of steam (42 → 77 wt% over the sweep range). Starch itself is carried as an involatile pseudo-component: it has no boiling point to characterise, so none is invented.
- Which thermodynamic method does it use?
- The SUGAR property package, over starch, glucose, fructose, water — already selected. You can switch the method on the canvas before running.
- Which unit operations are in the flowsheet?
- It chains 2× ISOM, SMB, 2× Evap2. Every block is a real, solvable unit operation you can reconfigure, add to, or remove.
- Do I need to install software or buy a license?
- No. Corn wet milling: starch to high-fructose corn syrup runs entirely in your browser on MaximaLabs — free, no install, no license. Open the model to load it live and run the deterministic solver.
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