Decolorization of Brown Sugar

Purification of Brown Sugar through Decolorization Process and Activated Carbon

INTRODUCTION

Abstract

Most of the women today, are very conscious of their physical appearances especially their faces. Because of this, companies begun to discover and develop skin care products that can help us take care of our skin and one of these companies is Unilever which is a multinational company who owns the very famous Pond’s Institute.

Pond’s Institute was founded in New York by a pharmacist named Theron Pond, who created the “Pond’s Golden Treasure” which was now called the Pond’s extract which has an ingredient of witch hazel which they believe is a wonder product. Even though Theron Pond already died, his investors still continued to produce skin care products and so, "Pond's Vanishing Cream" and the "Pond's Cold Cream" were created, marking the entrance of Pond's products into the facial care industry. Today, Pond’s is sold around the world and still continues to fulfill their promise and that is to deliver beauty transformations through revolutionary product innovations that make a real difference to women’s skin and the way they live their lives.

There are a lot of processes to purify organic compounds and one is through decolorization process. Through this process, we aimed to purify the brown sugar through the use of carbon. In order to do so, animal charcoal was added to the solution to remove the impurities of the solution. The charcoal absorbed the impurities from the brown sugar and when it was filtered while still hot, the brown sugar became clear like water. Through decolorization process and through the use of animal charcoal you could purify a substance.

Pond’s really did a great influence on people’s daily regimen. From the classic cold cream, which was considered a cure years and years ago, Pond’s now offers various platforms such as oil control and acne solution for young women who are in the peak of romance, skin lightening for those in search of true love. As well as products that provide the best-proven anti-aging technology for those who wish to renew their smooth and sparkling faces.

Last 2010, Pond’s discovered a new ingredient to help remove dirt in our faces and this is through their Pond’s Pure white facial foam which has a special ingredient of activated carbon.

Activated carbon, also called activated charcoal, is more involved in your life than you might suspect. It is used in the preparation of many products we use every day; to remove those impurities that cause an objec¬tionable color, taste, odor or health hazard from drinking water, waste water, foods and beverages (i.e. making sugar white instead of brown); to control air pollution (gas masks); and to separate/purify products in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. The term "activated carbon" covers a family of materials made from carbon which have the ability to attract and hold certain substances on the carbon surface. This ability is called "adsorption". The adsorption process is an example of what is termed "chemical filtration", where certain dissolved substances are removed from the water. Filter floss, on the other hand performs "mechanical filtration" by trapping solid particles suspended in the water. (Richard M. Greenfield and Bob Straughan - Activated Carbon, 2000)

This research was done to test if activated carbon is really an effective ingredient in absorbing impurities from a solution.

PROCEDURE

1. Dissolve one gram of brown sugar in 25 mL distilled water in a beaker. Get 2 mL of this solution in a test tube and set aside as control.

Materials needed:

3. Transfer 2 mL of the filtrate in a test tube. Compare its color with that of the control.

Results and Discussion

2. Heat the remaining solution to nearly boiling. Add 0.5 grams of powdered activated charcoal with constant stirring. Continue heating and stirring for a few seconds. Filter the solution while still hot.

After it undergone the process of filtration, the solution has been purified, since the color changed. Due to the separation of the animal charcoal from water, it turned into a limpid liquid. The charcoal had also done a major role in purifying the liquid. It absorbed the impurities of the sugar as the solution was heated. From the brownish colored water, it resulted to a clear water. Comparing the filtered solution to the controlled solution, the filtered solution had a clear color than the controlled one.

Escaret, Danica

Oberes, Kenny Ann

Vergara, Rosalin

Conclusion

We had proven that carbon is more effective in absorbing impurities especially when heated or activated. Since, it becomes 8x more porous making it absorb more dirt leaving the substance clearer. That’s why through this experiment, activated carbon is proven effective in removing the impurities of the brown sugar molecules through the process of absorption.

~ END ~

> Brown sugar

> Beaker

> Stirring rod

> Test tube

>Filter paper

>Bunsen Burner

>Tripod

> Wire gauze

> Animal charcoal

> Water

Recommendation

Contact time between activated carbon and the sugar solution should be made as short as possible in order to recover greater amount of sugar molecules from the solution.

To prevent darkening of the sugar, it is recommended that low temp should be maintained during the initial heating process of the brown sugar.