Sugar Manufacturing Process

Sampling
On arrival, a sample of the sugar beet is taken from the load and tested to measure the sugar content and to determine the
amount of soil, tops or leaves present in the load.
These analyses, combined with the weight of the vehicle entering and leaving the factory, enables the calculation of the quantity of
sugar delivered and hence the payment due.

Cleaning
Sugar beet floats in water and in the cleaning stage of the process it is moved around in large quantities of water, allowing the beet
to pass through machinery which 'catches' stones but allows the beet to float over the top. Weeds and other trash are also
removed before the beet enters the factory, where it is sliced into thin slices called 'cossettes'.

Slicing
The slicing machines work in a similar manner to a kitchen grater and the cossettes they produce have a 'V' cross section. This
ensures the largest possible surface area is presented to maximise the sugar extraction stage.

Diffusion
Sugar is extracted from the beet by diffusion. This process takes place in a large vessel and in simple terms is akin to brewing tea
in a teapot.
The cossettes are mixed with hot water at around 70°C for a period of time and the sugar simply passes from the plant cells into
the surrounding water by the diffusion process.
The vegetable material left behind from this stage is mechanically pressed to extract as much remaining sugar and water as
possible and, after the addition of molasses, is dried to produce animal feed products. It is this drying process which gives rise to
the familiar plume of steam rising from the factory. The liquid resulting from the diffusion process is dark in colour and is called raw
juice.
Purification
This juice is passed through an important purification stage called carbonatation. This involves mixing the juice with milk of lime and adding carbon dioxide
gas. During this process, the carbon dioxide and the milk of lime re-combine to produce calcium carbonate which precipitates out, taking most of the
impurities from the juice with it.

Evaporation
The pale yellow juice which remains is called thin juice and while much purer it is still relatively low in sugar content. It passes to
the next stage of the process - evaporation - where the water is boiled off in a series of evaporator vessels to increase the solids
content of the juice from the previous 16 per cent in thin juice to 65 per cent in the thick juice.
The concentrated juice passes through filters, after which it is ready for the final stage of the process; or it can be stored and
brought back into the factory during the summer to produce crystal sugar.

Crystallization
The crystallization process takes place in vacuum pans which boil the juice at lower temperatures under vacuum. When the juice reaches a predetermined
concentration it is 'seeded' with tiny sugar crystals which provide the nucleus for larger crystals to form and grow.
When the crystals reach the desired size the process is stopped and the resultant mixture of crystal sugar and syrup - known as massecuite - is spun in
centrifuges to separate the sugar from the 'mother liquor'. The sugar crystals are washed and after drying and cooling, are conveyed to storage silos.
Some sugar remains in the separated liquid so it is boiled again in a further set of vacuum pans to produce raw sugar. This process is repeated a third time
resulting in final product sugar and molasses. Raw and final product sugars are re-dissolved into the thick juice.
Reference:
http://www.britishsugar.co.uk