ADDIS ABEBA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

COLLAGE OF BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL E NGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

PROCESS INDUSTRY:- II
 CHAPTER ONE

SUGAR PROCESS TECHNOLOGY

 History of sugar industry
It is difficult to determine just when sugar became known to humankind, but it probably
travelled from New Guinea to India many centuries before Christ.
Sugar was first extracted in North America in 1689, using cane from the West Indies, and in
1751 cane was grown on the continent.
From that time, the industry increased steadily, both in size and in quality of products.
Steam driven crushing and grinding roller mills were introduced in the latter part of 18th
century.
The vacuum pan was invented by Howard about 1824.
Multiple effect evaporation was proposed around 1834 and the first suspended centrifuge
was developed by Weston in 1852.
 History of sugar industry

Evaporation, centrifugation and filtration were the important and necessary step in the
manufacturing sequences.
In 1747 sugar beet was discovered, but it was not introduced into the United states until
1830, and no successful plants were operated until 1870.
A great deal of time, effort and money were expended in bringing the more complicated
beet-sugar industry to the point where it could compete with the cane industry.
At the start of present century, the Bergius process for the production of sugar by
Saccharification, or hydrolysis is first industrial trial.
 Manufacture of sugar

The major processing methods used for refining cane sugar today have been worked out for
many years and are unlikely to change drastically/hugely soon.
What is the basic raw material used for sugar production?
Cane is a grass grown in tropical and subtropical countries.
It is propagated vegetatively by planting pieces of cane stalk.
 Yields of cane varies from one area to another, depending on cane variety, climatic factors,
availability of water, cane growing practices and the length of the growing season.
The length of the growing season may vary from 8 months to two years.
Cane yields may vary from 50t/ha in poor conditions to values approaching 200t/ha under
exceptional conditions with long growing periods.
The major reason for processing cane is to recover sugar, which in its pure state is referred to
by its chemical name sucrose.
It is formed in plant by a complex process but essentially consists of a combination of the two
monosaccharide sugars, fructose and glucose.
A mature stalk is typically composed of 11–16% fiber, 12–16% soluble sugars, 2–3%
nonsugars, and 63–73% water.
Sucrose has the formula C12H22O11 and is termed a disaccharide since it is comprised of two
monosaccharide units.
The monosaccharide sugars are six carbon sugars products of the process of photosynthesis,
which both have the formula C6H12O6.
Beet sugar:- Beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and it is
grown commercially for sugar production.
The plant consists of the root and leaves.
Sugar is formed by photosynthesis in the leaves, and is then stored in the root.
The root of the beet contains 75% water, about 20% sugar, and 5% pulp.
The exact sugar contents can vary between 12 and 21% sugar, depending on the cultivar and
growing conditions.
Sugar beets grow exclusively in the temperate zone, in contrast to sugarcane, which grows
exclusively in the tropical and subtropical zones.
 Sugar production step from cane
The total crystal sugar manufactured in the world is over 110 million tonnes per annum, out of
which the cane sugar accounts for 60-65% of the production, the remaining being the share of the
beet sugar industry.
 Based on the type of sugar produced the cane sugar factories can be classified into two types.
1) Raw sugar:- This sugar being unsuitable for direct consumption is later converted into
refined sugar of very high purity. In many sugar producing areas raw sugar of 98-99 purity is
produced from the cane.
2) Refined sugar:- White and sparkling in appearance the refined sugar is of 99.9 purity and is
used directly for human consumption, besides a small proportion for pharmaceutical and
chemical industries.
These are mostly situated in urban areas which are major consuming areas.
Step 1: Cane preparation
Is the process of reducing the cane fed to the mill into small pieces suitable for the subsequent
extraction process.
The size reduction is generally achieved through the use of rotating knives or through
hammer shredder.
The cane preparation equipment can use more than 25 % of total factory power requirements.
Objectives of cane preparation
To reduce the size of the pieces of cane to a size suitable for handling in the extraction
process.
To rupture/break as many of the sugar bearing cells in the cane as possible to facilitate the
extraction of sugar.
To produce a material that has the right characteristics for milling and diffusion.
 Image of knives and shredder

Knife with blade Shredder

 Measurement of cane preparation
•The measurement of the degree of preparation is difficult and existing measures are not
always reliable. Methods of measurement of cane preparation include:
a) Bulk density:- It is measured by compressing a sample of prepared cane at a set pressure
for a given time.
• The bulk density correlated with the fineness of the prepared cane, with finer particle
sizes giving a higher density .

R/n between fineness of preparation

and the bulk density
b) Measurement of cell breakage:- The most common measure is the extent of cell
breakage, obtained by tumbling cane and water in a container under standard conditions and
comparing the Pol or Brix of the extract with that achieved in a disintegrator, in which all
cells are ruptured.
Preparation Index (PI) has been adopted by ICUMSA as an Official method to measure
the cell breakage after cane preparation.
This involves tumbling a sample of 500 g of prepared cane in 3000 g of water for 30
minutes and measuring the Brix of the extract.
Pol Extracted by Cold Washing
PI   100
Pol Extracted by Disentegration
NB. After knives, PI = 65 – 70 %
After heavy duty shredder PI = 86 – 92%,
Step 2: Extraction and Imbibitions
Extraction is the percentage of sucrose extracted from the cane in the mills.
Cane can be assumed to comprise three components,
 Fiber- is a complex mixture of cellulose, and lignin and originates from the cell walls.
Dissolved material- consisting of the water-soluble material in cane, like sucrose and
non-sucrose
Water- Consisting of Free water (the solvent in which the sucrose and non-sucrose are
dissolved).
The percentage of the sucrose in the original cane that is removed with the raw juice is
termed as the "sucrose extraction (E)”, E expressed as a percentage:

Sucrose / Pol in Mixed Juice % ane

Extraction   100
Sucrose / Pol % in sugar

Sucrose / Pol in Mixed Juice % ane

Extraction   100
Sucrose / Pol in Mixed Juice  Sucrose / Pol in bagasse

Imbibitions:- is the water added to the last mill units to dilute and displace juice left in the
bagasse, to reduce sugar loss in it.
 Types of Imbibition:
1) Simple Imbibition: Where water only is applied to the various mills, simple imbibition
is not practical in modern installations.
2) Double Imbibition: Where water is applied to the bagasse from the next to last two
mills and combined thin juice from the last two mills is returned to the earlier mills in
the train. Now this system is obsolete.
3) Compound Imbibition: Applicable to trains of four or more mills, where water is
applied to bagasse going to last mill.
In modern industries compound imbibition installation is practiced everywhere.
The normal valve of imbibition water remaining in bagasse generally lies between 8 and
12%.
Juice Screening.
Mixed juice from the milling tandem contains a large amount of cane fiber that falls out with
the juice between the rollers of the mills.
The process in which the fiber is separated from the juice is called juice screening.
The fiber particles are trapped on the screen and returned to the mills while the screened
juice is sent to process.
Juice Screening Equipments
A stationary and vibrating or rotating wire mesh screen.
An inclined wedge-wire screen (DSM)
The mixed juice going to the boiling house flows down the concave surface tangentially,
passing through the 1.0 mm size.
Basic Equation of Milling Control
The mill control is based on an equation expressing the fact that the weight of the material
entering the milling plant is equal to the weight leaving.
Cane + Imbibition Water = Mixed Juice + Bagasse.
C + W = Q + B
W = Imbibition water % cane Q = weight of mixed juice % cane
B = weight of bagasse % cane C = weight of cane =100, relating all quantities
100 + W = Q + B
The weight of cane is the most important information since other materials are always related
to cane weight.
The weight of bagasse is calculated from the basic equation.
Bagasse = Cane + Water – Juice
Dilution
Dilution is the quantity imbibition water, which enters the mixed juice percent cane.
The ratio of dilution % primary juice to the imbibition should be between 0.95 and 1.05%.
The normal valve of imbibition water remaining in bagasse generally lies between 8 and 12%.
 If the ratio is below 0.95, the imbibition figure is too high.
If above 1.05, the imbibition figure is too low.
Example:
Brix of primary juice = 19.6
Brix of mixed juice = 14.98
Imbibition of water = 29.06
Ratio = 27.9/29.06 = 0.96 (too high imbibition)
Juice Weighing or Measuring
oMixed juice weighing is one of the steps in chemical control rather than part of the process
itself.
oThe basis of process control is an accurate determination of the weight of mixed juice
entering the boiling house.
o Maxwell-Boullogne and Servo balans are two methods of juice weighing.
Juice clarification process for the production of plantation white sugar
Step 3:- Juice heating
Measured mixed juice is heated to a temperature of 75 °C and directed to liming and
sulphuring.
The main purpose of juice heating is :
Decreasing coagulation of organic constituent like protein.
Heat destroys microorganisms and enzymes preventing loss of sucrose .
Heat accelerates the reaction rate between the juice acids and the lime.
The clear juice from the clarifier is heated to 115-120 °C before it flows to evaporators such
heating of the clear juice would bring the immediate starting of boiling in the 1st vessel as the
result evaporation capacity is raised.
How it heat transfer rate is calculated in evaporator????
Steam Usage for Heating
If 1 Kg. of water is heated from 0 °C to 100 °C it would absorb 419 KJ (100.1 K cal) of heat energy.
The temperature difference (t) between the hot steam and colder juice causes the
condensation. The rate of heat transfer from steam to juice is governed by (t).
The mean temperature difference between the heating steam/vapor and juice is expressed by logarithmic mean
temperature difference of (LMTD).

Where; ∆t mean - logarithmic mean temperature difference; Ts - Temperature of heating steams or vapor; T1 - Temperature of
juice at in let; T2 - Temperature of juice out let; ∆ t in - Temperature difference between steam and juice entering the heater
and ∆t out - Temperature difference between steam hot juice leaving the heater.
Example on calculation relating to Juice heaters
The amount of heat required to raise the juice temperature t1 (juice in) to t2 (juice out) is
dependent on the following.
 Mass of juice (kg/hr)  The specific heat of the juice CP
 The rise in temperature (t2 – t1)
Given (1st heating)
Juice flow = 8000 Kg/hr Juice temperature (in) = 25 °C
Juice temperature (out) = 75 °C Juice brix = 17.0
Steam supply pressure = 0.8 Kg/Cm2 Steam supply temperature = 100 °C
Steam latent heat = 539 KCal/Kg
mixed juice brix =16.67
a. The amount of heat required to raise the juice temperature from 25 °C to 75 °C .
Q = Juice flow * rise in temperature * specific heat of juice
Specific heat of juice (c) = 1 – 0.006bx = 0.9.; bx=mixed juice brix=16.67
Q = 8000 x (75 – 25) x 0.9 = 400,000 KCal/hr.
b. The quantity of steam/vapor required is equal to 400,000  539 = 742 Kg/hr. = 0.74 Ton/hr.
c. The logarithmic mean temperature difference 1 2
LMTD = (100 – 25) – (100 – 75) 100
ln (100 – 25)/(100 – 75)
= 45.51 25 75
d. Heat transfer coefficient (u) = 600 KCal/m2/hr/°C
e. Heating area required = (A m2) 100

Q = U A t
A = Q = 400,000 = 15 m2
U t 600 x 45.51
 Step4:- Juice Clarification
The purpose of clarification process is to remove maximum possible impurities from the
juice as early as possible in the process.
The primary object of juice clarification is the removing of maximum quantity of non-
sugars
that have harmful effect on recovery of commercial sugar.
The main objects of cane juice clarification are: -
a) To separate soluble and insoluble matter that can precipitate.
b) To reduce color and Turbidity of the juice
c) To produce clear juice of correct pH (7.0)
d) To kill or inactivate microorganisms in the juice by heat treatment.
 Methods of Clarification
Depending on the type of final product to be produced, there are different methods of juice
clarification.
1) Defecation Process: Clarification by heat and lime is known as a simple defecation
process.
 Sufficient lime is added to neutralize the organic acids present in the juice, after which
the temperature is raised 98°C (boiling point).
 The treatment causes formation of heavy precipitate of complex composition.
 The defecation process is used usually in the manufacture of raw sugar.
Lime Action on Juice Clarification
1. Lime 1st neutralizes the free organic acids present in the cane juice forming organic salts
of calcium.
2. On continuous addition, lime reacts with phosphoric acid present in juice and forms
calcium phosphate.
3Ca(OH)2 + P2O5 Ca3(P2O5) 2 + 3H2O
3. Lime combines with nitrogenous impurities like gummy substances, which are partly
precipitated.
4. Lime precipitates coloring matters like chlorophyll and anthocyanin.
2) Sulphitation Process:
Is done by heat lime and sulphur dioxide gas.
The mixed juice is heated to 75ºC, more lime slurry is added to the raw juice and the excess
of lime is neutralized by SO2 gas.
The treated juice is heated to 98ºC and separation of flocculated non-sugars takes place in
a continuous settler.
From the settler the clear juice continues in the process and the underflow mud is a filtered
on continuous drum filter and the filtrate is recycled to the measured raw juice.
Action of SO2 gas on juice clarification
1) SO2 neutralizes the excess quantity of lime added and precipitates calcium sulphite
Ca (OH)2 + H2SO3 CaSO3 + H2O
2) SO2 bleaches juice by acting on the coloring matter. Sulphurous acid is a strong bleaching
agent. It bleaches the coloring matter originally present in the cane juice. It prevents or
slows down the color formation in later stages of the processing.
3) SO2 gas decreases the viscosity of the juices. The lower viscosity of juice, is easier to
crystallization.
Advantages of Sulphitation
 Rapid settling of juice  Fast boiling of massecuite
 Fast crystallization of sucrose  Marked improvement of sugar color
 Better elimination of phosphates and waxes during clarification.
Disadvantages
 Heavier deposit of scale in heaters  Higher ash content of sugar
 Great expense for sulphur and its generation equipments.
 Heavy corrosion of sulphur dioxide generating plant
3) Carbonation Process: The main clarifying agents in the carbonation process are lime and
CO2 gas. The process consists of precipitating calcium carbonate.
Ca (OH)2 + CO2 CaCO3 + H2O
The precipitate (Calcium Carbonate) adsorbs coloring matter and gums. It is easily
filterable.
The raw juice is heated to a temperature 50 – 55ºC and pumped into the carbonation tank
where lime is added and mixed thoroughly.
The juice is neutralized with CO2 gas.
The quantity of lime used in carbonation process is approximately ten times more than the
quantity used in sulphitation process and Consequently, its working cost.
 The advantages of carbonation process over sulphitation are: -
Superior lighter colored clear juice with less viscosity is obtained
More non-sugars are removed in which recovery of sugar is higher by about 2%
CO2 gas is much less corrosive than SO2 gas and the damage done to the plant is light
The CaO content in clarified juice is much less and consequently the formation of
incrustations in the heating tubes is much less.
The efficiency of the juice treatment is characterized by:-
Sharpness of the separation
Rate of settling
Volume of settling
Quantity and nature of impurities removed by settling and floating
 Role of Phosphate in Juice Clarification
The phosphate content of the juice is the most important factor in efficient clarification.
In sugar cane, the phosphates are found as inorganic as well as organic forms.
The inorganic phosphate exists as free phosphate ions, where as the organics exists in the form
of phospholipids, phosphoproteins, hexophosphates, etc.
It is obvious that only the free phosphate ions (inorganic form) take part in juice clarification.
Therefore, juices with adequate quantity of inorganic phosphate are most desirable.
During cane growing, if fertilizers are not properly applied, there may be more organic
phosphate in the juice than inorganic phosphate.
Then the juice may not respond well to clarification.
It is demonstrated that the inorganic phosphate level in raw juice is less than 300 ppm (W/V)
the juice can’t be properly clarified and addition of phosphate is required.
The advantages of phosphate adding are
 Greater colloid elimination  Fewer lime salts in clarified juice
 More rapid settling  Faster mud filtration
 Better working conditions of low grade massecuites
The disadvantages of phosphate addition
 The precipitate tricalcium phosphate is difficult to filter
 Increased mud volume
The Flash Tank
The treated juice fed to the clarifier must be at constant temperature to avoid formation of
convection currents and get rid of air and gas bubbles.
To obtain these conditions, treated juice is heated to slightly above boiling point (98 –
103ºC).
The flash tank must offer sufficient contact surface to allow the evaporation of air and gas
bubbles contained in the juice.
The juice enters tangentially into the flash tank and air bubbles attached to the suspended
particles are would prevent the settling.
Flocculants
Flocculants are materials of high molecular weight such as polyelectrolyte.
Flocculants form a bridge between two or more particles uniting the solid particles into a
loose porous state.
Most suspensions in lime treated cane juice contain negatively charged particles.
Therefore, cationic flocculants are expected to be the most suitable.
When flocculants (cationic) are applied in mud filtration the following advantage is
achieved:
a) Insoluble solid content of the filtrate is reduced from 2.0 to 0.4%.
b) The moisture content in the filter cake is reduced from 79.5 to 75.6.
c) The percentage of Pol in mud is reduced by about 30%.
The action of flocculants in juice clarification are:
i. Increases settling rate.
ii. Reduce mud volume.
iii. Decreases Pol in cake.
The normal dosage of polymer in juice clarification is 2 – 4 ppm on weight of juice.
Juice Settling/Decantation
 In the clarifier, the suspended solids are allowed to settle out from the juice.
 The juice flows upward at a velocity low enough to allow the precipitate to settle.
 The Dorr clarifiers have a settling tray, which are supposed to segregate the setting juice
into compartments.
 Liquid-solid separation occurs utilizing the cross sectional area of each tray.
The Juice Clarifier
In the clarification, precipitate is formed by the clarifying agents added.
The separation of this precipitate or mud is done in a specially designed tank called the
clarifier.
The precipitate settles at the bottom and the clear juice is extracted at the top.
A good clarifier should produce good juice quality, should have short retention time and
more efficient mud removed.
For a good control, the difference in pH between mud and clarified juice should not be more
than 0.2 units.
Dorr Clarifier is the equipment used to clarify mud and clear juice from each other.
Dorr Clarifier equipment
Filtration
The clarification process separates the juices treated into two parts.
a) Clear juice which rises to the surface
b) The muddy juice which collect at the bottom
The clear juice is sent to manufacture.
The muddy juice is sent to filtration where suspended matter, insoluble salts, fines bagasse are
separated.
Types of filter
Filter presses, Mechanical or leaf filters, and continuous rotary vacuum filter.
The 1st two types are disappeared from the defecation and sulphitation sugar factories.
However, filter presses remain the standard system for carbonation factories.
Continuous Rotary Vacuum Filters
The filter is composed of a hollow drum rotating about a horizontal axis and partly
submerged in the liquid to be filtered.
The exterior surface of the drum consist of a sheet of copper, or brass or stainless steel
perforated with 625 holes per sq. in. of 0.5 mm (0.020 in) in diameter.
In order to avoid allowing the mud in the filter tank to settle out, they are kept in
movement by an agitator oscillating to and from, pivoted on the axis of the filter, and driven
by a small separate motor.
The speed of the drive motor is constant generally 1450 r.p.m.
The maximum rotation of the drum may be regulated to 1 rotation in 3 minutes i.e. 20
rotation per hour.
Filter Cake
The filter cake appears dry and porous. But never the less contains, about 70%
of water.
Bagacillo is added to the mud to facilitate filtration.
It is calculated about 3 – 4 Kg of filter cake per 100 Kg of cane.
The filter cake contains 0.5 – 3% of sugar, averaging 1 – 2%.
This corresponds to a pol loss of about 0.2 – 0.8%, average 0.5%.
Step 5: Juice concentration/Evaporation
Historically Evaporation was achieved by applying heat in the following ways:-
1) By open fire
2) Heating by steam
3) Applying vacuum to reduce boiling point
4) Multiple effect evaporation
The evaporation process is the process of concentration of the solids in juice with removed of
the water, without substantial changes in the composition or character of the solids in the
solution.
Objective of evaporation
The aim of evaporation is to boil off water from clear juice, increasing its Brix concentration.
Sugar Boiling and Vacuums Pans
The sugar boiling process commences with syrup from the multiple effects at 65 – 70 Bx.
This material is further concentrated to a concentration of 78 Brix in which crystallization of
sucrose begins.
The operation known in the sugar factory, as sugar boiling is essentially the process of
crystallization, which is carried out in single effect vacuum evaporators designed for handling
viscous materials known as vacuum pans.
Thus, the vacuum pan is an evaporative crystallizer in which degree of super saturation is
controlled by evaporating solvent as the solute crystallizes out.
 Crystallization
Crystallization is a process which consists of mixing the massecuite for certain time after
dropping from the pans, and before passing to the centrifugals.
The process is with the aim of completing the formation of crystals and forcing further
exhaustion of the mother liquor.
In crystallizers conditioning, solubility is reduced by cooling the massecuite.
When cooling the massecuite, the viscosity increases.
The temperature to which to cool the massecuite is 41 – 43°C.
 Centrifugal Separation
The sugar crystals mixed with the mother liquor has been separated by the centrifugal force.
This step is a step in which sugar is separated from molasses/mother liquor.
Cycle Operation of Centrifugal

Time (sec)
Quantity of water and steam for washing
Water: 1 Kg per 10 Kg of sugar, or 10 % on weight of sugar.
Steam: 1 Kg per 5 Kg of sugar, or 20 % on weight of sugar
Sugar Dryers
The sugar leaving the centrifugals is hot at 60 – 70ºC and moist 0.5 – 1.5% moisture and as
such it can't be bagged for sale.
There are two ways of sugar drying in practice.
1) Drying sugar in rotary drying
2) Drying sugar is centrifugal machines
Of the two, drying sugar in centrifugal machines is considered superior, since in the rotary
dryers the crystals lose their shape by rubbing action against each other.
Rotary-Drum Dryer is the most widely used.
It is cylindrical and set at a slope of 5° to the horizontal, which facilitates the movement of
the sugar from end and end of the drum.
The revolving motion of the drum causes to lift the sugar and fall from one sloop to other
through a countercurrent hot air flow and reaches the discharge end of the drum.
The drum is often arranged to act as both dryer and cooler. The cold air enters at the lower
end and leaves near the middle of the drum.
The water content of raw sugar is generally within the range of 0.5 – 2%.
The true density of the sugar crystal is approximately 1.6g/cm3
Sieving and Grading of Sugars
The sugar obtained after drying and cooling consists of a mixture of heterogeneous crystals and
needs to be well sieved and graded before it is marketed.
The sieving is done through sifters which are of the following.
a) Rotary Type
b) Grass-Hopper Type
c) Magnetic or Vibrating Type
Of these magnetic or vibrating type is considered to be efficient.
 Screens of various mesh sizes are fixed in frames and arranged one over the other in order
to facilitate grading of sugars.
 The frames are vibrated at a very high speed by means of an eccentric having a small throw
0.5 – 1.0 inch and are belt driven by a motor.
The regularity of crystal size is expressed by the coefficient of variation (c.v.). It is given
by 100 times the difference between the sizes of screens.
A good grain has coefficient variation of 20 – 30.

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