Sugar Industry

Dr. S. R. Mane
Associate Prof. & Head, Department
of Chemistry,
Smt. Kusumtai Rajarambapu Patil
Kanya Mahavidyalaya, Islampur
 Semester-V Paper-XII

(Industrial Chemistry)

3. Sugar Industry Lectures- 7

3.1 Introduction

3.2 Manufacture of cane sugar, extraction, decolourisation,

crystallization and other details of industrial process

3.3 Refining of raw sugar

3.4 Manufacturing of white sugar in India

3.5 Byproducts of sugar industry

 Introduction

 Cane sugar is chemically known as sucrose. It is an

important household commodity. Two majors source of
sucrose are sugar cane & beet root . Indian industry is
based on sugar cane. In 1747,a German chemist discovered
that . Sugar can be crystallized from beet root extracts too.
More than half of world sugar produced from sugar cane.
Sugar cane is a large perennial tropical grass . It grows to a
height varying from 10-15 feet. It has bamboo like stalk
whose diameter varies from 2” to3”. The canes are
transported into factory.
 Manufacture of cane Sugar

Production of raw sugar is carried out in following operation

1)Extraction of juice:-
The cane is first washed to remove dirt & mud. Then cut
diagonal into small pieces by rapidly rotating knives . The
cane chips are then send to milling train, consisting of a two
rolled crusher followed by three rolled mills.
The mill consists of three horizontal rollers arranged in
triangular pattern. Only the top roll rotates & the two
bottom rollers remain stationary
The pressure on the top roller is maintained at 75-80 tons per
meter of roller length . The cane juice collected in the pan . The
raw juice is send to boiling house.
The 2nd, 3rd & 4th mills are provided with simple containers .
When the chips are crushed only about 60-70 % of juice
extracted. The bagasse containing the rest of juice is then
passed 1st , 2nd , 3rd , 4th mills. So the compound imbibitions
technique is used. Hot water is sprayed on the bagasse passing
through 3rd mill . The juice from the 3rd mill is sprayed
between 1st & 2nd mill . The dilute juice from 4th mill is sprayed
between 2nd & 3rd mill .The moistening of bagasse helps
efficient extraction of cane juice.
The approximate % of juice extracted by successive mill is as
below.
Crusher 1st mill 2nd mill 3rd mill 4th mill Total
70.0 12.5 7.0 4.5 2.0 96
2] Clarification of juice:-
The cane juice collected from milling house is acidic ,
opaque and greenish Iiquid . It contain both soluble and insoluble
impurities. The process of removing impurities from the cane
juice is called clarification.
• Lime defication process:-
The pH (5.1 -5.7) of freshly extracted juice increased to
7.5- 8.5 , by adding milk of lime addition of lime reduces loss of
sucrose due to hydrolysis , increase in pH also causes coagulation
of colloidal particles like proteins , pectin's ,gums,.
At this stage if the juice contains less than 3.0*10 -5 kg of
phosphate / 100 ml of juice.
 Next, the limed juice is heated to 333K in juice –heaters
. These heaters are simple brass tubules , where the cold
juice & the high pressure hot steam are travelling in
opposite direction . The juice heated to near boiling

Heating helps in rapid coagulation of proteins &accelerates the

settling process.
The hot juice is then sent to settling tanks known as clarifiers.
In the clarifier the hot limed juice separates into three layers. The top
layer is of scum consisting of fine fiber particles & the bottom layer is of
mud of heavy ppt. Middle layer consist of clear juice. The mud & scum
are filtered under pressure to produce cakes , cakes are washed & the
washing are send back to clarifier.
3) Concentration of juice to syrup:-
The clarified juice is dilute & contains about 85 % of water .it
conc. In two stages by evaporating water . The first stage conc. Is done
in multiple effect evaporators where water content is reduced to35%
to form heavy syrup.
An evaporator is a tall (20’*10’) cylindrical bottle necked vessel
made off mild steel. The top &bottom chambers are called juice
chambers &middle chamber is steam chamber. The juice moves up
through to the narrow tubes& comes down through the wider tubes.
The top 1st evaporator is connected to 2nd evaporator & top of 2nd
evaporator is connected to the 3rd evaporator by the steam outlet
pipe .
The steam outlet pipe of last evaporator is connected to the
vacuum pan .
 The 1st evaporator is exhausted & it is heated by passing
steam. As a result juice is heated &start boiling .Then water is
evaporate from juice . The partially conc. Juice is moves to the
2nd
Evaporator. It is exhausted to a greater degree than the 1st
evaporator .The evaporation is repeated . The syrup of 2nd
evaporator is more conc.
As the same steam is used for heating the juice in three
different evaporators, fuel is saved .Then water content is
reduced to 9.11% leading from crystallization of sugar .
4) Crystallization of sugar :-
The thick syrup is conc. In the single effect vaccum in
pan also called as strick pan .It is heated with steam coils
,then it is heated with vaccum gauge ,condenser ,
thermometer , sampling stick, stirrer & safety device. The
crystallization takes place in two stages given below:
A) Graining :-
It is induced in diff. ways ,
1) Waiting method :-
The syrup is cool down to break super saturation .
2) Shock treatment method :-
Here super saturation is broken by sudden chilling . If
the shining, small crystals are found on the plate , it
indicates the break even point then crystals are mixed
with the syrup in the pan & gives low grade sugar.
B) Growth of crystals :-
 When graining point is reached , more & more syrup is added in
lots & mixed thoroughly .
The crystal growth is allowed till the required grain size attained
. During the growth , falls grains are likely to be formed . Finally
same solid mass called as massequite ,consist of sucrose &
molasses' . The mass equite containing 9-11% water is sent to
crystallizer tank .
The crystallizer tank , which has cooling attachment . Cooling
reduces sucrose solubility . To attain maximum sugar recovery .
Massequites are sent for centrifugation to recover sugar.

5) Centrifugation ( separation of crystals )

The sugar crystals are separated from mother liquor in
centrifuge machine .
The path followed by cane to raw sugar is given in fig.
Cane Cane chips Cane juice Heated juice
Rotating knives Mill house Steam heater Clarifier

Clear juice
Bagasse

massecuite Conc. multiple effect of

Centrifuge Crystalliser Single effect evaporator evaporator
Syrup

mollasses

Raw sugar
Refining of Raw Sugar
 Refining of raw sugar
It refers to the decolourisation of light brown raw sugar to produce pure white sugar.
a) Affination:-
The raw brown sugar is mixed with heavy mother liquor of 600 to 800 brix. The mixing is
done in special vessel called mingler, provided with a stirrer. This helps to remove
molasses film & coloured impurity around the sugar crystals. The coating of impurities
is removed & very little of sucrose goes into mother liquor. The mixture is centrifugate
to separate the crystals from the mother liquor. Crystals are washed with hot water.
Washed sugar are melted in water to a density of 55-60 brix. Potable water steam
condensate are used for melting. The vessels used for melting is called Melter. This syrup
is sent for defication.

b) Defication:-
The sugar solution at this stage some insoluble impurities are clarification during raw sugar
manufacture. They are removed by defication. Liming, sulphitation & carbonation can be
used. Liming is simplest chemical treatment. The syrup is limed to a neutral pH & then
heated by steam.A flocculent precipitate is formed which carries the suspended
impurities & colloids with it. Added the slurry of diatomaceous earth greatly enhances
the process of defication. The treated liquor is filtered through a filter press.
c) Decolourisation:-
Filtered liquid obtain in step (b) is a clear, dark brown liquid still containing some
dissolved impurities. So the liquid passed through beds of bone charcoal, kept in
char tanks (12’*3’). When liquid percolates through the charcoal the coloured &
some soluble impurities are selectively adsorbed on the charcoal & clear,
colourless, pure syrup comes out of the char tanks. The disadvantage of this
method is, adsorption cycle takes longer time & inorganic salts are not removed.
When the bone charcoal is saturated, the emerging syrup becomes coloured. So,
the bonechar is removed & reactivated.

Alternative methods used for purifying the syrup are as under.

1)Activated carbon process:-
The activated carbon is more effective decolourising agent. It is added to defecated
juice & then filteed. Unlike in bonechar filteration, it is faster & decolourization is
more or less complete.
2)Ion exchange process:-
It is more recent development, the syrup is passed through two set of ion exchange
column & the charged impurity are certain on ion exchange coloum & uncharged
sucrose come out. One set is filled with anion exchange resin & it retains the
negatively charged impurities. While the other set of column is filled with cation
exchange resin & it retains the positively charged impurities.
3) Sulphitation process:-
Sulphur dioxide gas is used for decolourising the syrup. Usually double sulphotation is
employed.

4) Carbonation process:-
In this process excessive amount of lime is used to precipitate the gums, pectins etc.
much more completely. The process is same as that explained in carbanation
defication except that, here the raw sugar syrup is used instead of cane juice.

d)Crystallization & centrifugation:-

The sugar syrup become, diluted to defication. It is sent to vaccum pan where it is
concentrated under reduced pressure. The massecuite so produced is sent to
Crystallizer. Then sucrose crystals are separated by centrifugation. It is washed &
dumped in the wet sugar container. The mother liquor left after sucrose
crystallization, is used for refining fresh batch of raw sugar i.e. in affication
process.
e) Drying process:-
Sugar thus obtain 1-2 percent moisture is dried in granulator. A granulator is a
horizontally rotating drum through which hot air is blown in opposite direction. When
wet sugar passes through the hot air, it is dried.

lime
Steam
Heavy mother liquor

Hot water Diatomaceous earth

centrifugation
Raw sugar Mingler sugar crystals melter syrup Defication tank

Filterd syrup

Mother liquor

Massecuite Clear dilute syrup

Dryer Wet sugar crystallization &
Centrifugation vaccum pan Bone char bed

Pure White Sugar

Fig. Flow sheet of ref ining raw sugar

The syrup is decolourised to different degrees. The sugar is finally sieved through different
mesh size & packed.
Manufacturing of White Sugar in India:
Manufacturing step involved are follows,
1) Extraction of juice:-
The cane juice is extracted by compound imbibition process.
2) Clarification of juice:-
The cane juice containing water (78-86%), sucrose (10-20%), organic matter (0.5-1%),
reducing sugar (0.5-2.5%) & ash (0.3-0.77%). Besides these it also contains fine pith, fibre
& also some colloidal matter. They affect crystallization of sucrose & impart colour to it. So
they removed by two clairification process.
a) Sulphitation defication process:-
The cane juice is excessively limed (about 1-2 kg per ton cane) & heated to 333K.
This increase the pH to alkalinity, as a result the colloidal particals & soluble
phosphate salts separate out rapidally. Now sulphur dioxide gas is bubbled
from limed juice till the pH is brought to 7. The heavy precipitate of calcium
sulphite accelerates the sedimentation of caagulated particals. Sulphur dioxide
also helps to bleach the juice o colourless liquid.

b) Carbonation defication process:-

Juice is heated to 328K & then excessively limed with lime water.
When carbon dioxide is bubbled through juice insoluble CaCO3 is formed. These
carries with colloidal mass. Juice is filtered to remove precipitate &filtered
obtain is heated to boiling. It is resaturated with carbon dioxide to break the
bicarbonate formed & to remove any contaminants still remaining in the
filtrate.
c) Concentration of juice:-
Concentrated to syrup containing 45-50% water in triple effect vaccum
evaporator.

d) Crystallization of sugar:-
The thick sugar obtained from multiple effect evaporator is further concentrated
to massecuite containing 9-11% water in strick pan.

e) Centrifugation:-
The sugar crystals are separated from mother liquor in centrifuge machine.
 Growth and economy of any industry depends on the successful and
complete utilisation of by products produced by it.This helps to reduce
operational cost ,provides additional employment and reduces the risk of
waste management. A great deal of attention has been paid to the
meaningful utilisation of byproducts of sugar industry are bagasse and
molasses.

(A)Bagasse: It is the spent cane or cane cane residue expelled from the last
mill of mill house after the complete extraction of juice. It contains 52-58%of
solid (including some sucrose)and the rest water. The solid is mainly cellulose
fibre and pith. It is used for various purposes like;

1) When other sources of energy like coal and electricity are not available, it is used
as fuel for raising steam. This practice is most prevalent in our country.
2. It is used for the manufacture of hard board called celotex. It is stronger than
wood. It is a bad conductor of heat so has high insulating value.

3. The pith is pentosan,it is separated from the fibre. Then by acid treatment it is
dehydrated to furfural which is an important industrial chemical used in the
manufacture of nylon intermediates.

4) After some pretreatment and mixing with nitrogenous nutrines it is used as

cattle feed.

5)It may be degummed to manufacture valuable wax and gums.

6)It is used in the manufacture of paper for news print and also as
fertilizer.

B)Molasses: It is the mother liquor left behind after the crystallization of

sucrose,it is also called as blank strap.Its composition is variable,
approximate percentages of major components are given in table.

Approximate composition and molasis:-

Components Percentage
Water 15-25
Total solids 75-85
Sucrose 25-40
Reducing sugar 5-30
Ash 7-15
Gums 3-5
Organic matter 10-20
 Though the percentage of sucrose is appreciably high, it cannot be
recovered. But it is utilized for following purposes.

i) In the manufacture of ethyl alcohol: The single most important use of

molasses is in the manufacture of ethyl alcohol. The yeast cells are grown
in the molasses nutrient medium. They consume the sugars present in
molasses (glucose) and oxidize the sugars present in molasses to produce
ethyl alcohol. From the culture medium ethyl alcohol is collected by
distillation. The yeast residue so obtained is used as cattle feed.

ii) In the production of other chemicals : Ethyl alcohol produced from

yeast fermentation is an important raw material for the production of
chemicals like acetaldehyde, acetone, acetic acid, butyl alcohol etc.

iii) Molasses is a source of plenty of other rare chemicals like aconitic acid.

iv) Directly molasses can be used as an adjunct in the manufacture of animal

feed.