Karl Kroyer - Danish inventor of the continuous starch conversion.
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Kroyer was awarded the German Diesel Medal in Gold in 1969 and the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement 1971.

Karl Kroyer (21. august 1914 - 19. august 1995), Danish inventor.

Karl Kroyer invented the process for continuous conversion of starch into glucose syrup. We at International Starch have pursued his ideas and his invention is still the backbone of our modern and optimized glucose and dextrose processes of today. He made a fortune on this technology and it gave him strength to expand activities into many other areas of business - but glucose and derivative products remained his core business.

An inventive environment. Karl Kroyer attracted young people to his research and engineering centre in Aarhus, Denmark and it is in this innovative environment International Starch Institute has its roots. Here the International Starch Institute founder invented the method of raising a sunken ship with polystyrene balls - a method making the Kroyer company world famous - and invented the method of making Total Sugar and was deeply involved in the introduction of enzymes in the glucose process, the Direct Hydrolysis of Corn, non-woven textile (air-laying process) etc.

The Starch / Glucose Converter. During and after the Second World War Karl Kroyer was challenged by the shortage of supplies. Sweets were among the goods in shortage and he studied his grandmothers encyclopedia to learn how to make it. The described procedure was a batch autoclave process. The encyclopedia, however, was old and the process outdated, he imagined. He believed that "nowadays" a machine takes starch in one end and glucose out the other. G.A.L.Thorsen - an inventive acquaintance - had just succeeded making the well known kitchen sink from a stainless steel plate in a one step press and he was also the person who solved the technical problems by building the first converter. This prototype proved successfully at the Ceres Breweries, Aarhus and hundreds of converters were distributed world wide.

Total Sugar. The Kroyer organization developed a method for turning high DE syrup into a crystalline product - Total Sugar.

Direct Hydrolysis. Karl Kroyer took advantage of new improved enzymes and introduced an enzymatic method for direct hydrolysis of corn to glucose syrup. The method was implemented by the Danish Sugar Industry .

Ship raising with expanded polystyrene, however, was the invention making Karl Kroyer known to the public. A gifted journalist reported to the world that a patent application was rejected due to "prior art" - a 1949 Donald Duck story using the same technique. Copying Donald Duck, however, was a journalistic artifact, but made it a good story. Read the story about Uncle Scrooge and "The Sunken Yacht".