Real-time process control for resin-based organic removal in beverage production

Overview

Max-IR Labs has developed a real-time monitoring platform that pairs selective ion-exchange resin beads with spectroscopic process control to remove organic compounds and volatiles from fluids. Originally demonstrated on municipal wastewater for contaminant removal, the technology is now being adapted for beverage production, with coconut water as the lead application. The platform enables producers to screen a wide variety of resins, identify the optimal match for their fluid matrix, and continuously monitor removal performance during production. This helps operators adjust resin composition, replace saturated resin, and perform real-time regeneration as needed, supporting consistent taste and odor in the finished product.

Technical specifications

• Spectroscopic real-time monitoring of organic and nitrogen-based compound removal, as well as select inorganics
• Resin screening capability to evaluate a large variety of commercially available ion-exchange resins against target compounds
• Target compound classes for the coconut water application include aldehydes, lactones, benzothiazoles, and alcohols
• Side-effect detection to flag whether candidate resins incidentally remove desirable components such as sugars or salts
• Process control integration allowing operators to vary resin composition, trigger resin replacement at saturation, and perform real-time regeneration
• Fiber-optic infrared sensor expertise developed through prior defense, environmental, and biomedical R&D programs

Technology readiness level

The core resin-plus-spectroscopic monitoring approach has already been validated on municipal wastewater, where it demonstrated real-time tracking of organic and nitrogen-based contaminant removal. The current project extends the platform to beverage matrices, beginning with resin screening directly in coconut water samples and culminating in scale-up support for commercial implementation. Because the resins under consideration are commercially available, the pathway from laboratory screening to production deployment is intended to be short, with future work focused on resin selection, side-effect characterization, and commercial-scale integration.