SUGARCANE nile@venue1981

It is a tropical grass of the genus Saccharum, thought to have evolved in the Burma-
China-India area of Southern Asia, and later spread to other areas

Composition of cane
Cane stalks consist of long internodes with soft centres and an external hard rind with
nodes in between. The ideal material to be sent to the sugar factory is the clean stalk,
above the root level and below the immature top, without extraneous matter such as
immature tops, trash, roots, soil and dirt. The composition of cane depends on the
variety, the region and the climatic conditions under which it is grown, the degree of
maturity of the cane etc.

Sugarcane is primarily composed of sucrose, fibre and water. The remaining

constituents are other sugars (glucose and fructose), inorganic materials, nitrogenous
substances, gums, waxes and organic acids. Tops and trash are low in sucrose content
and high in colour and ash.

Cane juice is acidic i.e. pH 4.5 – 5.5 and is a foaming turbid liquid with colour
ranging from light grey to dark green. It is not easily filterable because of the presence
of colloidal matter. When extracted by milling, it contains materials in suspension and
in solution. In suspension are found: fine bagasse, sand, soil, clay, chlorophyll and
waxes. In solution are present: sugars composed mainly of sucrose, fructose and
glucose, inorganic and organic salts, proteins, gums, polysaccharides, organic acids,
colourants and certain minor constituents

CUTTING AND LOADING

Manual cutting and loading
The traditional way of cutting and loading cane in Kakira sugar is manual. This
method is still in use today where mechanisation is not possible.

Partial mechanization
In this case, cane is manually cut and the loading is done with the help of loaders.
This method triples the workers productivity

Complete mechanisation
For socio-economic reasons, i.e. scarcity and expensive labour, there is no other
alternative than to go towards a complete mechanisation system. Unfortunately, this is
not always possible due to the land profile.

CANE TRANSPORT SYSTEMS

Methods of cane transportation are numerous and adoption of any system depends
mostly on local conditions. Transport systems are more and more designed to suit
mechanical harvesting and loading of the crop.

In-field transport
Tractors are usually used for in-field transport. They provide good traction on rough
ground and have the lowest compacting effect, which is very important in order to
minimise cane yield reduction. Front end loaders are also used to pick up cut cane and
load it on trailers.

1
Field to factory transport
The two principal systems of transport from field to factory are
The rail system
The road system

The rail system

Capital cost involved in laying down a railway system is very high. Maintenance is
also very expensive. The system can be economically interesting only if important
quantities of cane are transported over long distances.

Road transport
This can be by either tractors or lorries

CANE WEIGHING
Before sugarcane is unloaded, all the transporters cross the factory weighbridge. The
exact weight of cane coming to the mill must be known. This is important for the
following reasons:
1. Payment to farmers
2. Chemical control and determination of factory performance
3. Statistical information regarding cane yields per hectare and per field and
performances of different varieties of cane

UNLOADING OF CANE
Different types of unloading systems cane be used depending on local conditions, i.e.
type of transport used, type of cane to be handled, whether whole stick cane or
chopped. The most common type of equipment used are:
1. Over head travelling crane
2. Tipping platform
3. Hydro-unloader

CANE STORAGE
The most common practice is to transport as much cane as possible during the day
and less at night. There is need to store cane to assure normal running of the mill
during the night. Cane is stored in the factory cane yard in bulk. In factories having a
railway system, cane can be stored in the wagons.

SUGARCANE PROCESSING
1. CANE PREPARTION
A good preparation of the cane being delivered to the mills is of utmost importance
for factory performance. A fine preparation has a marked effect on the juice extraction
results, on the crushing rate capacity and on power consumed by the mill.

Cane preparation is done using the following equipment:

Cane leveller: this equipment is used to level cane in the main carrier before reaching
the cane knives

Cane knives: the role of the knives is to break the rind of the cane to facilitate the
disintegration of the cells and extraction of juice. It also increases the bulk density of

2
the cane by cutting it into very small and short pieces. The denser the material fed to
the mills, the better the milling work will be.

Shredders/fibrisor: although quite good and fine preparation can be obtained from
an installation comprising of two knife sets, a shredder is often used to improve the
preparation and disintegration of the cane cells. The shredder is usually placed
between the cane knives and the first mill

2. CANE MILLING AND IMBIBITION

Milling is the process by which pressure is applied to the prepared cane to extract as
much juice as possible from it. The cane is made to pass through a succession of
rollers that comprise the milling tandem, and its juice is squeezed out as it goes
through. To help extract the maximum juice, use of imbibition water is made. The
extracted juice is sent to the process and the fibrous material left after milling, known
as the final bagasse, is sent to the boilers to be used as fuel for the generation of
steam.

The milling tandem

The classic combination of three rollers arranged in triangular form is the standard
milling unit used in the cane milling process. The mill tandem may comprise from
three such three-roller units to seven. Each mill may be driven by a separate drive,
either by electric or steam turbine. More than one mill turbine is not uncommon in
large modern factories.

Illustration of a classic mill of three rollers

Imbibition
This is the process where by hot water at a temperature of 60-80 0C is added to the
bagasse to dilute the juice present in it. The water is known as imbibition water. It is
first applied on the bagasse in the inter carrier before the last mill of a tandem. The
diluted juice obtained from the last mill is pumped back and applied in the carrier of
the mill preceding it. This process is repeated with juice being pumped back along the
tandem

Influence of cane quality on extraction

Sucrose content
Other factors constant (same fibre, same imbibition, same tonnes crushed per hour), a
cane of 15% sucrose will result in a higher extraction than a cane with 13% sucrose

Fibre and extraneous matter

3
The term fibre applies to the natural fibre of cane as determined in the laboratory by
drying. Extraneous matter refers to anything which is not fibre as described above, in
particular soil, dead leaves and cane tops. When clean cane (no extraneous matter) is
crushed, not only is sucrose extraction higher but the throughput of cane increases.
With “dirty” cane, the amount of sucrose extracted is less as it gets reabsorbed in the
extraneous matter.
Below is the basic mill equation:

CANE + WATER = MIXED JUICE + BAGASSE;

The mixed juice collected from the mill is pumped through a sieve and screened
before it is sent for weighing.

3. JUICE WEIGHING
Weighing of the mixed juice is more of a factory control step than a process
operation. Accurate weighing, sampling and analysis of the juice for pol (sucrose
content) and brix are essential for determining the level of sucrose extraction from the
cane as well as the boiling house recovery. The most common method of weighing
juice is by using a flow meter.

4. JUICE CLARIFICATION
Why must juice be clarified?
Cane juice extracted by the mills contains soluble and insoluble impurities, which
must be separated so as not to hinder crystallisation of sucrose and to reduce losses in
final molasses. Further more, cane juice is acid (pH 4.5 – 5.5) and must be neutralised
to reduce losses by inversion.

Steps in juice clarification

1. Juice screening to remove bagasse, sand etc
2. Coagulation of proteins in the juice by heat
3. Neutralisation of the juice by calcium oxide and precipitation of certain
soluble impurities
4. Separation of the impurities by decantation

Importance of good clarification

Clarification has direct effect on:
 Loss of sucrose in final molasses
When impurities are eliminated through clarification, they go out as filter cake which
has a low sucrose content. On the other hand if these impurities are not eliminated,
they will find their way in the final molasses where they will entrain with them twice
their weight of sucrose

 Viscosity of process material

Viscosity increase due to impurities has a great impact on process station capacity and
on molasses exhaustion

 Sugar quality
Occlusion of impurities in the sugar crystal deteriorates sugar colour and filterability.

4
  Improves colour

The objectives of clarification are:

1. Reduce colour and turbidity of the juice
2. Separate soluble and insoluble matter that can be precipitated
3. Bring pH of juice to about 7.0
4. Kill or inactivate micro organisms in the juice by heating

These objectives are met by:

 Heating of the juice to boiling
 Addition of lime to the juice
 Separation of the precipitate in the juice by decantation in clarifiers
 Filtration of mud to recover the residual juice

a) Juice Heating
The juice coming from the extraction plant has to be purified in the clarification
process. This requires that the juice be heated. Juice heating causes the coagulation of
albuminous or colloidal impurities and induces separation, flocculation and
precipitation of insoluble impurities in the clarifiers. The juice has to be heated to a
temperature of 103-1050C. The high temperature also kills micro organisms present in
the juice and at the same time catalyses the reaction between the lime and the juice.
Heating of the juice is done in heat exchangers known as juice heaters.

b) Liming
Lime (CaO) is the basic chemical for the clarification process.
The heated juice from the heaters flows to a reaction tank where hydrated lime is
added at a controlled rate to increase the pH of the juice from Acidic (4.5 – 5.5) to
slightly alkaline (7.8 – 8.0).

The hydrated lime (calcium ions) reacts with the phosphoric acid in the juice to form
a complex tri-calcium phosphate precipitate, which traps suspended particles in the
juice and carries them along with it.

Ca2+ + P043- Ca3 (Po4)2

The alkaline pH of 7.8 – 8.0 helps to prevent inversion and degradation of sucrose in
the secondary heaters.

c) Separation of the precipitate in the juice be decantation in clarifiers

Clarifier
The separation of the precipitate formed by liming of juice is done in a specially
designed tank called a clarifier. The precipitate settles at the bottom of the clarifier

5
and the clear juice is extracted at the top. A Solution of a flocculant is added to the
clarifier.

A flocculant is a long chain, high molecular weight polymer that is either anionic or
cationic. The purpose of adding the flocculant is to speed up the settling rate of mud
and suspended particles and therefore increase on the clarity of the juice. The
flocculant attaches itself to the tri-calcium phosphate precipitate and increases its size
so that it becomes denser and settles at the bottom of the clarifier.

d) Filtration of mud to recover residual juice

The impurities (also known as mud) settling in the clarifier is about 70% saturated
with juice, which requires them to be filtered in order to recuperate the juice and
separate the precipitated solids. This is done with the help of a rotary vacuum filter.
The filtered juice is known as filtrate while the filtered mud is known as filter-cake.

5. EVAPORATION
The aim of evaporation is to concentrate the clarified juice to a brix, which will allow
crystallisation. Evaporation is done in two stages:
 In the evaporator to a brix of 700B, to give syrup
 In vacuum pans where the syrup is further concentrated to allow crystallisation
to proceed

Evaporation removes 70% of the water contained in the juice to produce syrup to be
used in the vacuum pans for sugar boiling.

6. PAN BOILING AND CRYSTALLISATION

Pan boiling involves the removal of water by evaporation until crystals appear and
grow. The main objective of pan boiling is the formation and growth of the sugar
crystals of the required size and the complete or near exhaustion of the mother liquor
to its recoverable sugar.

Syrup, a sugar solution, is the single material input to the pan floor. Sugar crystals are
created by a process of graining, thereafter growth of crystals takes place concurrent
with which is a depletion of sucrose content or exhaustion of the mother liquor.

From the syrup input, there are two outputs: sugar and final molasses.
The pan stage and the centrifugal section perform two important functions:
Recovery: to recover the maximum amount of sucrose as crystal sugar
Quality: to produce sugar crystals of the desired size, purity and water content

7. CRYSTALLISATION BY COOLING
The sugar crystals (also known as massecuite) obtained from the pan are transferred
into crystallisers for cooling. Cooling in the crystallisers enables further growth of the
already existing crystals. Stirring is done continuously to avoid the formation of new
crystals. Therefore during cooling, the sugar in solution continues to separate out as
layers of sugar deposit on existing crystals

6
 8. CURING
This involves the separation of the sugar crystals from the mother liquor (also known
as molasses). This is achieved by centrifuging the massecuite in screen lined
perforated baskets rotating at high speeds and creating very powerful centrifugal
force. This centrifugal force separates the mother liquor from the crystals. The sugar
obtained is sent for drying while the molasses are re-processed.

9. SUGAR DRYING AND BAGGING

The drying of sugar after centrifuging is done for two major reasons:
 To avoid deterioration in storage particularly caking
 To enable the sugar to flow freely therefore allowing easy filling and weighing

The dryer consists of a slightly inclined horizontal drum about that rotates slowly.
Wet sugar is fed in at one end and dry sugar is discharged at the other end. Heated air
is admitted in to the upper end of the drum and moisture ladder air is removed at the
lower end. The rotating action of the drum improves the sugar and heated air contact
and also prevents caking. The dryer also has a cooling section that cools the sugar
before it comes out. The dry sugar has a moisture content of around 0.04%.

10. BAGGING
Fifty (50) kg woven polypropylene bags are used. They are printed with the company
logo, the weight and serial number. The bags have got polyethylene liners, which
protect the sugar in humid conditions to prevent deterioration.
Sugar is also packed in 5Kg, 2Kg, 1kg, 500gm, 250gms, 6.25gm and 4gm packs..