SUGAR

Sugar is a broad term applied to a large number of carbohydrates present in many

plants and characterized by a more or less sweet taste. The primary sugar, glucose,
is a product of photosynthesis and occurs in all green plants. In most plants, the
sugars occur as a mixture that cannot readily be separated into the components. In
the sap of some plants, the sugar mixtures are condensed into syrup. Juices of
sugarcane and sugar beet are rich in pure sucrose, although beet sugar is generally
much less sweet than cane sugar. These two sugar crops are the main sources of
commercial sucrose.
Crystalline sucrose represents the highest volume organic compound produced
worldwide in pure form. Sucrose is widely used in food processing as preservative,
bulking agents, flavor enhancer, and texturizer. In baking, sugar functions as yeast
food, and it contributes to crust characteristics and product stability.
Sucrose is extracted commercially from sugarcane and sugar beet and to a lesser
extent from sorghum and sugar maple. The latter two sources normally provide
sucrose containing syrups, rather than the more commonly encountered crystalline
sucrose. The cultivation of sugarcane is restricted to tropical and semitropical
regions of the earth; the sugar beet is more suited to temperate zones.

The sugarcane is a thick, tall, perennial grass that flourishes in tropical or

subtropical regions. Sugar synthesized in the leaves is used as a source of energy
for growth or is sent to the stalks for storage. It is the sweet sap in the stalk that is
the source of sugar as we know it. The reed accumulates sugar to about 15 percent
of its weight. Sugarcane yields about 2,600,000 tons of sugar per year.
The sugar beet is a beetroot variety with the highest sugar content, for which it is
specifically cultivated. While typically white both inside and out, some beet
varieties have black or yellow skins. About 3,700,000 tons of sugar is
manufactured from sugar beet. The refined sugars from the two sources are
practically indistinguishable and command the same price in the market. However
since they came from different plants, the trace constituents are different and can
be used to distinguish the two sugars. One effect of the difference is the odor in the
package head space, from which experienced sugar workers can identify the
source.
The raw sugar produced in the mills at the cane field is an item of international
commerce. It is shipped directly in the holds of ship or railroad cars. As it is not
intended to be eaten directly, it is not treated as food. This raw sugar is shipped to
the refineries where it is refined to a food product, packaged and sent to the
market. The types of sugar used today are white sugar (fully refined sugar),
composed of clear, colorless or crystal fragments; or brown sugar, which is less
fully refined and contains a greater amount of treacle residue, from which it
obtains its color.
There is another category of cane sugar which is not truly refined. It is plantation
white or white sugar. White sugar, which should not be confused with refined
sugar, is made directly from the cane without going through the raw sugar stage. It
is little off-white, have a molasses aroma and it is not pure as truly refined sugar.
But is perfectly safe and edible and sold at reduced price. Today the trend has
begun to improve the quality of white sugar to make it comparable with refined
sugar and by pass the refinery.
Still there is another class of cane sugar, which is known as non centrifugal sugar,
or whole sugar. It is made by boiling down the whole cane juice without
eliminating any impurities. The whole mixture solidifies upon cooling and is
broken into pieces. It is light to dark brown in color. It is known as GUR,
SHAKKAR, and JAGGERY

Terminology The following terminology is used in this technical brief:

Bagasse The fibrous residue of sugar cane which remains after the
crushing operation.

Brix The term 'degrees Brix' (or more usually ºBrix) is the sugar
'technologists' measure of the concentration of dissolved solids in solution.

Clarification Removal of impurities from the juice.

Extraction The removal of juice from the cane by crushing.

Invert sugar High temperatures and acid conditions can cause chemical
decomposition of the sucrose resulting in simpler sugars such as glucose and
fructose forming. These sugars are known as invert sugars and are not desirable in
the final product.

Massecuite The concentrated cane juice obtained after boiling, also

known as rab or final syrup.

Molasses A syrup by-product from the manufacture of sugar,

containing sucrose, invert sugars, moisture, ash and other insoluble matter.
Strike The removal of massecuite from the boiling operation at the
required concentration.

Sucrose An organic chemical of the carbohydrate family, found in the

sap of most green plants. Ordinary white crystal sugar is almost (99.9%) pure
sucrose while some of the non-crystalline sugars may contain less; for example
syrup and jaggery which contain as little as 50 and 80% sucrose respectively.

TCD Tones of Cane per Day refers to the amount of cane a

processing plant crushes each day and not the amount of sugar produced. Most
sugar processing plants are sized according to this figure which is based on a 24
hour day. However, many small-scale factories, and some large ones, only operate
for part of a day and in some cases for only part of the year. Therefore care must be
taken when analyzing TCD figures as they only represent a factory's capacity and
do not necessarily reflect the actual throughput.

Vacuum Pan Vacuum (VP) pan describes a particular type of technology

used to boil or evaporate the sugar cane juice. It was developed by the large-scale
industry to improve efficiency but some small-scale VP factories are in operation.

The Manufacturing Process

Planting and harvesting

 Sugarcane requires an average temperature of 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23.9

degrees C)
 Harvesting of both cane and sugar beet is done primarily by machine,
although in some states it is also done by hand. The harvested cane stalks
and beets are loaded mechanically into trucks or railroad cars and taken to
mills for processing into raw sugar. Once there, they are cleaned, washed,
milled to extract juice, filtered, and purified. The result is a clear, sugar-
filled juice
 Sugarcane takes about seven months to mature in a tropical area and about
12-22 months in a subtropical area. At this time, fields of sugarcane are
tested for sucrose, and the most mature fields are harvested first. Standing
cane is fired to burn off the dry leaves. The six- to ten-feet (1.8- to 3-meter)
tall cane stalks are cut down and laid on the ground before burning.
Preparation and processing

In the production scheme for cane sugar, the cane cannot be stored for more
than a few hours after it is cut because microbiological action immediately begins
to degrade the sucrose. This means that the sugar mills must be located in the cane
field.

TRAMP IRON SEPARATOR:

The commonest metal objects found n sugar cane are knife blades, wrenches, horse
shoe, bolts & nuts etc. Pieces of cast iron or special steel are the most dangerous.
These types of metal pieces can severely damage the roller of extractors. To avoid
such damages, efforts are made to eliminate the pieces of tramp iron. Precautions
may be taken in loading and unloading of the cane, by keeping the strict tidiness at
the cane platform etc. But the best guarantee lies in the installation of a magnetic
separator generally known as TRAMP IRON SEPARATOR. It consists of an
electromagnet contained inside a rectangular box suspended over the last conveyor
before the entry to the first mill and covering the full length of the conveyor. The
box holding the magnet should be at the most 400 mm above the surface of the
conveyor. The type of arrangement can pick nearly 100 % of the metal objects.
Although magnetic separators are expensive, but they consume less power (7 kW)
and give efficient protection to the rollers, hence pays off rapidly.

WASHING:

Field mud, sand, trash, stones etc are brought to the factory whether cutting and/or
loading as mechanical or manual. Secondly, when cane is burned for unwanted top
leaves etc, the wax on the surface melts and the surface become sticky and soots
and soil adhere to the rind.

There are various methods for washing

1. Cane may be dumped into a water bath. The stones settle by sinking and
water is screened to separate fines. Bacteria & pH control is necessary.
2. Cane is discharged on loading tables in bundles. The bundle is thinned to
make a mat of about 12 inch thickness. Top of the table is perforated with
slots and the table is inclined at angle of about 13-14 o. The cane is sprayed
with water, preferably warm to wash. About 0.75 – 1 gal/min/ton/day of
water is needed.
 3. The cane may also be washed on the carrier while unloading but it needs a
large amount of continuous flow of water (about 3000 gal/min). The
conveyor may corrode easily which has to be replaced each year. To save
replacement cost, washing conveyors are made of short lengths.

About 0.16 % of total weight of sugar cane washed is lost during washing
which comes about 0.13 % of sugar yield.

When mechanical harvesting and chopping in small pieces is practiced, no

water washing is done due to heavy losses of sugar during washing. Instead
dry cleaning of cane is done to remove mud, soil etc.

CANE KNIVES

After washing, the cane is prepared by breaking into pieces measuring a few
centimeters. When whole cane is fed, it passes through an equalizer so that a
cane layer of uniform thickness may be obtained. However this layer will
reach the crusher only in successive lumps, and its small bulk density will
render difficult the work of crusher, as it swallows as much cane as possible
in a given time. Furthermore, the metal of the mill roller often slips on the
smooth waxy, polished rind of the cane; hence chokes occur with short or
long interruptions to the feed or decrease in crushing rate.

Cane knives perform two functions (2 advantages)

1. They favor the capacity of the mill
2. They assist extraction of the mill by breaking the rind of the cane and
facilitate its disintegration.
SHREDDERS:
Fine shredding of cane is essential for good extraction. Efficient knife preparation
rupture a considerable number of cells but not sufficient for maximum extraction.
Therefore knives must be followed by shredders. With a well designed shredder it
is possible to rupture up to 85% of the cell. They increase crushing efficiency and
throughput but also extract more impurities.

JUICE EXTRACTION PRESSING

The juice is extracted from the cane by milling in which the cane is pressed
between heavy rolls, or by diffusion in which the sugar is leached out with water.

CRUSHING:
The crusher is the first machine applying pressure on the cane. It consists of a mill,
generally of two rollers, which perform two main functions

1. It possesses a surface especially constructed to permit it to grip the cane or

pieces of cane which are fed to it, in the best possible conditions
2. The surface must at the same time designed in such a way as to break, tear
up and crush the cane.

The crusher must have a speed greater then that of the mills which it has to feed.

For a better grip, the rollers of a crusher have deep zig zag groves. Once they were
the only means to disintegrate cane but fast revolving knives and shredders have
lesson the importance of crushers. Now they are used in connection with knives
and shredders or in many cases have been eliminated.

 Two or three heavily grooved crusher rollers break the cane and extract a
large part of the juice, or swing-hammer type shredders (1,200 RPM) shred
the cane without extracting the juice. Revolving knives cutting the stalks
into chips are supplementary to the crushers. (In most countries, the shredder
precedes the crusher.) A combination of two, or even all three, methods may
be used. The pressing process involves crushing the stalks between the
heavy and grooved metal rollers to separate the fiber (Bagasse) from the
juice that contains the sugar.
Hydraulic-run mechanism is used to maintain uniform roller pressure with
full freedom for self alignment and floatation of top rollers. The first roller
has V shaped 3 inches deep grooves while the grooves in the next rollers are
less deep.
 As the cane is crushed, hot water (or a combination of hot water and
recovered impure juice) is sprayed onto the crushed cane counter currently
as it leaves each mill for diluting. The extracted juice, called vesou, contains
95 percent or more of the sucrose present. The mass is then diffused, a
process that involves finely cutting or shredding the stalks. Next, the sugar is
separated from the cut stalks by dissolving it in hot water or hot juice.

SUGAR CANE DIFFUSION PROCESS:

Diffusion may be defined as the spontaneous intermixing of molecules or very

small particles in a liquid.

By the term diffusion, as applied to the cane sugar industry, we understand the
recovery of sugars from Cane tissue 'by liquid extraction, as opposed to mechanical
expression of the juices in conventional milling practice. The sugar juices in the
cane tissue are enclosed in cells, which in live cane are not permeable to the
sugars. In order to allow the sugars to diffuse through the cell wall, the latter has to
be made partially permeable, which can be most easily achieved by heating to
above 75°C. At this temperature the colloids, of which the cell wall is made up, are
precipitated and the true solutes of comparatively low molecular weight are free to
move through the tissue towards the surrounding extraction liquid. In this manner a
juice free from impurities of high molecular weight can be recovered since the cell
wall acts as a molecular sieve. This is a decided advantage over the mechanical
expression method of extraction, where the cells are broken and the whole contents
are squeezed out.
The driving force behind the movement of the solute molecules from within the
cane tissue to the surrounding liquid is the difference in concentration between the
juice inside the tissue and that surrounding the tissue. No useful diffusion can take
place when these concentrations are equal. The movement of molecules through
the solution inside the tissue is slow, and it is clear that the shorter the path along
which the molecules have to move, the quicker the process. High temperatures
increase the rate of movement of molecules and hence speed up the rate of
diffusion. Also the larger the area of contact between the tissue and the
surrounding liquid, the' quicker the concentration difference can be equalized.
Since diffusion stops when the concentration gradient has disappeared, it is
necessary for rapid diffusion that the concentration of the liquid surrounding the
cane is always kept at a minimum value. Also rapid movement of this solution past
the exposed tissue surface minimizes the possibility that a thin film of high
concentration is built up in the immediate vicinity of the diffusion interface.
Shortening the path of the diffusing molecules and increasing the diffusion
interfacial area is simultaneously achieved by a fine preparation of the cane. This
unfortunately cannot be accomplished without mechanical rupture of some juice
cells which in tum allows the high molecular nonsugars to escape into the diffusion
juice.
A thinner juice or water can penetrate inside the wall and replace heavier juice in
the cell until equilibrium is established. In the diffusion process, sucrose penetrates
through the semi permeable membrane faster then non-sugar with high molecular
weight. For this reason, in the diffusion process, the purity of the residual juice
even with 97 % sucrose extraction is higher then the purity of juice in the straight
milling process even with lower extraction.

Temperature in Diffusers:
The optimum temperature in the diffusion process is 65-75 o C. This high
temperature is important to
1. break the non-open cells to permit diffusion
2. to suppress bacterial action and
3. to prevent sucrose losses resulting from the presence of enzymes

Disintegration of bagasse:

It is not necessary to disintegrate bagasse into very fine particles. The bagasse most
suitable for diffusion is flattened pieces of homogenous size, with maximum length
of particles 100 mm, free from non-crushed cane and with a maximum of 10%
fines.

Losses:

Losses of sugar are practically same from 500 mm to 1500 bed depth. Beyond that
point, losses begin to increase. The minimum recommended bed depth is 1000 mm
because depth below this, there will be
1. insufficient contact time between the diffusion juice and bagasse tissues,
2. insufficient filtering area to retain suspended matter

Rate of percolation:

The rate of juice percolation through the layer of bagasse is about 85 mm/sec. The
minimum retention time in the diffuser is 20 minutes. Excessive retention time and
high temperature may increase undesirable extraction of non-sugars.

pH in Diffusion Process:

Diffusion can occur at neutral or low pH. If diffusion is conducted at low

temperature, the diffuser must be of stainless steel to avoid corrosion. On the other
hand, a high pH and temperature near 74o C may cause destruction of reducing
sugars.
 DIFFUSION TANDEM MILL

SUCROSE EXTRACTION UPTO 97 % B/W 80 – 84 %

IMPURITIES MINIMUM MUCH MORE

(Some impurities never be extracted in diffusion as they cannot filter through the
semi permeable dead membrane of the cell, left in the bagasse.)

RECOVERY OF SUGAR V. GOOD AVERAGE

CLARITY OF JUICE MORE LESS

(bagasse acts as rough filter medium)

BACTERIAL ACTIVITY MINIMUM MAXIMUM

(juice is heated above pasteurization temp)

DISSOLVING OF GUM & WAX MORE MINIMUM

(due to temp 85 o C)

MUD FILTERS NOT NEEDED MUST BE USED

POWER CONSUMPTION LESS MORE

( 2945hp) (4925 hp)

INITIAL INVESTMENT LOWER HIGHER

RUNNING COST LOWER HIGHER

PURIFICATION OF JUICE — CLARIFICATION AND EVAPORATION

The juice from the mills, a dark green color, is acidic and turbid. The clarification
(or defecation) process is designed to remove both soluble and insoluble impurities
(such as sand, soil, and ground rock) that have not been removed by preliminary
screening. The process employs lime and heat as the clarifying agents. Milk of
 lime (about one pound per ton of cane) neutralizes the natural acidity of the
juice, forming insoluble lime salts. Heating the lime juice to boiling coagulates the
albumin and some of the fats, waxes, and gums, and the precipitate formed entraps
suspended solids as well as the minute particles.

LIMING OF CANE SUGAR:

Liming is one of the most important stations in a raw-cane sugar factory as without
correct liming, good clarification cannot be expected. Raw sugar cane juice is
composed of a great number of organic and inorganic compounds, acids, salts,
gums, albumin, wax, coloring matter, and soil, sand and fine bagasse. The juice
is an opaque liquid of greenish-grey to dark green in color with a pH of about 5.2 –
5.4. The gums, waxes and albumins make it viscose liquid which can not be filtered
when cold. Liming and heating caused many impurities to become coagulated and
precipitated out. At the same time acids are neutralized and phosphates are
flocculated, adsorbing large amount of coloring matter and other impurities. Usually
lime is added to the raw cane juice in the form of milk of lime. Milk of lime of about
5 o Baume is used.
Cold liming appears to be the best due to
i) danger of sucrose inversion is reduced since juices are heated to boiling
temperature after neutralization,
ii) lime is more soluble in cold juices then in hot
iii) the solubility of lime increases with sucrose conc.

However cold liming requires special techniques. E.g. contact time should be 15 to
20 minutes. If it is less, then a certain amount of lime will remain unreacted which
will tend to precipitate on heating causing scaling of heaters and evaporators. 20
minutes give a very satisfactory result. During liming, juice must be stirred
continuously to disperse milk of lime properly and evenly. The speed should not
exceed 60 rpm. The final pH after liming should be maintained at 8.0. An automatic
control valve is linked with a pH meter which controls the dosage of the lime.

CLARIFICATION OF CANE JUICE:

The purpose of clarification is precipitation and removal of all possible non-sugars,

organic & inorganic, and the preservation of the maximum sucrose and reducing
sugar in the juice. Poor clarification of cane juices complicates the entire process of
sugar manufacture. A clarifier is used to separate out the solids suspended in the cane
juice. These solids originate from sand adhering to the cane stalks as well as from
material inherent in the cane stalk. The separation takes place by allowing the solid
particles to settle out onto a tray. The solids are swept from the tray into a mud
compartment, from which it is pumped to filters for de-sweetening and dewatering.

1) The presence of an adequate amount of P2O5 in the juice at the time of clarification
is very important. It must be not less then 300 ppm. If the juice is deficient, it
must be made up to this minimum before liming. Phosphoric acid, mono calcium
phosphates or tri calcium phosphate may be added in the form of solutions.
2) Temperature is another important factor. The limed raw juice entering clarifier
should be heated to 104 o C. (slightly above the boiling point of juice of 13-16 o
Baume). Elevated temperature gives i) good coagulation of albumin & nitrogen
substances ii) flocculation of lime & phosphates iii) more destruction of inverted
sugar iv) less viscose v) occluded gases are eliminated.
3) The retention time of juices in clarifiers at high temperature is important. If the
juices contain large amount of suspended matter of low density, then the juice
may be retained in the clarifier as long as possible. The retention time should be as
brief as possible, about 2-3 hrs or less.
4) Clarified juice should be screened and adjusted if necessary to pH 6.8 to 7.2 with a
small amount of soda ash before it is reheated and pumped to evaporators.

CLARIFIERS:
 1. Tank, 2. Rotating arm, 3.rotating hub 4. Adjustable slot. 5.6.7 pipes,
8. Bearing assembly 9.fixed bridge.
An apparatus for the continuous process of raw mixed sugar juice clarification by
means of the settlement of insoluble particles and juice precipitate in a cylindrical
clarifier tank that permits non-turbulent vertical subsidation and short retention
time of the sugar juice in a relatively large, non-turbulent settling sector of the
contents of the cylindrical clarifier tank which is maintained by the continuous
rotary advancement of the raw mixed sugar juice entry and clear sugar juice and
precipitate extraction station arm that rotates within and around the center of the
annular shaped cylindrical clarifier tank. The rotating arm has three internal radial
compartments which provide for the introduction of raw mixed sugar juice and the
extraction of clear sugar juice and precipitate, in and out of the annular clarifier
tank in the immediate vicinity of the respective leading and trailing faces of the
rotating arm, through adjustable slots on the leading and trailing faces of the arm.

FILTRATION OF MUD FROM CLARIFIERS:

Mud consists of suspended matter and heavy particles which settle during liming
and clarification process. This mud is removed from the clarifiers’ trays and sent to
mud filter station. The mud is filtered in Rotary Vacuum Filter. A small amount of
milk of lime can be added to the mud, making it more granular and improve
filtration, but the pH of the limed mud should not exceed 8.5. The higher will
destroy reducing sugars and will increase the dissolved calcium salts.
The amount of mud can vary from < 2% on the weight of cane for clean sugar cane
to > 5 % for mechanically harvested and loaded sugar cane. The mud cake has
usually 60-85 % moisture content.

SULFITATION:

Another scheme that makes better clarification is the sulfitation process. In this
method, lime is added as usual but then sulfur dioxide is bubbled through the juice.
The precipitate is settled as in the ordinary clarification. The bleaching effect of the
sulfite makes a lighter colored sugar. Further heating has a tendency to react with
residual amino acids, causing the juice to assume a dark brown color. To avoid
this, the juice usually undergoes a process called sulfitation which whitens the
sugar. The plant adds sulfur dioxide gas to the juice at a level of about 120 to 200
pounds per million pounds of juice. The gas rapidly dissolves in the juice.

The sulfitation process has three benefits:

1. It slows the browning process during the subsequent concentration and
crystallization processes allowing white sugar to be produced.
2. It keeps the juice from becoming too alkaline, which would cause the sugar
crystals to stick together and acquire an undesirable taste
3. It acts as a biocide to sanitize the sugar prior to evaporation.

The final clarified juice contains about 85 percent water and has the same
composition as the raw extracted juice except for the removed impurities.

EVAPORTION:

Cane juice has a sucrose concentration of 15 brix. The solubility of sucrose in

water is about 72 brix. The concentration of sucrose must reach the solubility point
before crystal can start growing. This involves the removal 93 % of water by
evaporation in the cane juice.
This is done in several evaporators connected in series called MULTIPLE
EFFECT EVAPORATOR. In each succeeding effect, the vapors from the previous
effect are condensed to supply heat. This works only because each succeeding
effect is operating at a lower pressure and hence boils at low temperature. The
result is that 1 Kg of steam is used to evaporate 4 kg of water. The steam used is
exhaust steam from the turbines in the mill or turbine driving generators. This
steam has therefore already been used once and here in the second use it is made to
give 4 fold duty. The juice travel from one vessel to another vessel due to gradual
increase in vacuum in the evaporators. The amount of water to be evaporated may
be calculated by

W = C x ( 1- B1 / B2 )

Where W = weight of water to be evaporated

C = weight of juice
B1= brix of juice
B2= brix of syrup

The evaporation is carried on to a final brix of 65-68. The juice after evaporation is
called syrup and is very dark brown, almost black, and a little turbid.

CRYSTALLIZATION:

The crystallization of sucrose from concentrated syrup is a batch process. The

solubility of sucrose changes rather little with temperature. It is 68 brix at room
temperature and 74 brix at 60 o C. For this reason, only small amount of sugar can
crystallized out of a solution by cooling. The sugar is, therefore, crystallized by
evaporating water. The sucrose solutions up to 1.3 supersaturation are quote stable.
Above this super saturation, spontaneous nucleation occurs, and new crystals form.
The syrup is evaporated until supersaturation of 2.5 is reached. As soon as the
saturation point has been exceeded, small grains of sugar are added to the pan, or
"strike." These small grains, called seed, serve as nuclei for the formation of sugar
crystals.

VACUUM PAN:

After being evaporated in a multiple effect evaporator to a syrupy consistency,

clarified juice must be evaporated further for the sugar to crystallize. This is
accomplished in a vacuum pan. Here the syrup is boiled under vacuum to form a
heavy mixture of crystals and mother liquid called MASSECUITE.

The boiling point of a saturated sugar solution at 1 atm Is 112 o C. Sugar is heat
sensitive and at this temperature, thermal degradation is too great. The boiling is
therefore done under highest practical vacuum at a boiling point of 65 o C.

Vacuum pan has a small heating element in comparison to the very large liquor
and vapor space above it. The heating element was formerly steam coils but is now
usually a chest of vertical tubes. The sugar is in side the tubes.

CENTRIFUGING:

The massecuites from the vacuum pan enter a paddle mixer that to prevent the
crystals from settling. This mixer is feed for the centrifuges. In batch type
centrifuges, the mother liquor is separated from the crystals in batch of 1 ton at a
time. The basket is lined with a screen having openings that will retain the crystals
of the minimum required size. Very fine crystals will mostly go with the mother
liquor. The entire cycle takes as little as 3 minutes on refined sugars to as long as 3
hours on very viscose final strike. The apparatus has now been automated but used
mostly used in the final strike.

CRYSTALLIZERS:

In the final strike, the time an amount to days, so final strikes are not sent directly
to the centrifuges, but instead to crystallizers, holding tank is in which the crystals
grow as much as possible and the super saturation in the molasses is reduced to
1.0. Since the intention in handling the final molasses is to remove as much sugar
as possible, advantage is taken of the small temperature coefficient of solubility
and the massecuite is also cooled. The crystallizers are large tanks, some open-top,
with a slow-moving stirrer that is sometimes also a cooling coil. At the end of the
holding time, the massecuite is warmed slightly as it enters the centrifuge to lower
the viscosity and achieve better separation. The limiting factor in exhaustion of
masses is the viscosity. A little more water can always be boiled out, but the
molasses must remain fluid enough to run out of the pan, into the centrifuge and to
flow between the sugar crystals on the centrifuge screens.

STORAGE:
The raw sugar may be slightly dried or cooled, but usually not. This goes to the
warehouse from where it is shipped to the sugar refinery. It can be stored for up to
several years. The moisture and heat are the two enemies for it. Moisture allows
microorganism to grow and heat effect the color and sucrose loss. Sugars at 30 o C
can be stored for years, at 38 o C for months and at 45 o C for weeks.

REFINING:

Step 1 - Affination
The first step is called affination, a French word meaning refining. The process
consists of mixing the sugar with saturated syrup to soften the adhering film of
molasses, then spinning and washing off as much of this adhering impure syrup as
possible in centrifugal machines.
The centrifugal machine utilizes the considerable gravitational force at the
periphery of a basket spinning at high speed. This means minimum contact time
between wash water and sugar, thus reducing the amount of sugar dissolved in this
process. The impure syrup is recycled but an excess is produced. This material
contains recoverable sugar and is processed separately in the boilout section of the
refinery. Recovered boilout sugars are returned for remelting with the washed
sugar. The impurities are concentrated into molasses which can be regarded as a
final by-product. The "washed" or "affined" sugar is then dissolved, utilizing
"sweet" water from parts of the refinery process. At this stage the melted liquor is
temperature and density controlled. The liquor is screened to exclude fibrous
material.

A uniform crystal size is important in raw sugars because a mixture of different

sizes or broken crystals does not wash well in the affination centrifuge. The syrup
formed is called affination syrup and is used for mixing. The sugar is called
washed sugar and is ten shades lighter in color than the raw sugar. It is estimated
that 90% of refining is done in this first step. About 10% of the sugar becomes
apart of the affination syrup, which thus keeps increasing in volume and is sent to
the recovery house.
The recovery house is route through a set of equipment in the same building. It
uses the same processes that are used in the main refinery, but in manner more like
a raw sugar operation. As the name suggests, sugar is recovered in the recovery
house, but the main object is to transfer impurities into molasses that contains the
least possible amount of the sucrose. The recovered sugar is called remelt and is
sent back to process.

Melting:
The washed sugar is melted in hot water, and usually the pH is adjusted with lime.
Water that contains a little sugar from anywhere in the refinery is called
sweetwater, and if it does not contain much impurity, is used in the melter. The
washed sugar liquor coming from the melter is adjusted to the operating
concentration, usually about 65 brix. The trend is to operate refineries at higher
brix up to 68, because if water is not added, it does not have to be boiled away
later. The washed sugar liquor is dark brown and quite turbid, and appears much
darker than the sugar from which it came. The melter liquor is strained through a
plain screen to catch debris in the raw sugar.

Clarification:
The object of clarification is the complete removal of all particulate matter. The
particles in the sugar come from all sources, e.g., field soil and fiber which escaped
clarification in the raw-sugar factory; all microbiological life, including yeasts,
molds, bacteria, and their spores; colloids and very high molecular weight
polysaccharides; and foreign contaminants such as insect and rodent dropping. The
very diversity of the nature of the particulate matter and wide range of particle
sizes makes clarification a difficult and critical step in the refining of sugar. One of
three processes is used: filtration, carbonization, or phosphatation.

Carbonation:
Carbonatation, also called carbonation, involves adding lime (CaO) to the melt
liquor and then passing this juice through a carbonation vessel where carbon
dioxide (CO2) is bubbled up through the juice.

In carbonatation, milk of lime (calcium hydroxide) is added to the heated liquor,

and boiler flue gas, containing CO2, is bubbled through the mixture.

Ca(OH)2 + CO2 → CaCO3 + H2O

The chemical reaction occurs under controlled conditions and as the calcium
carbonate precipitate is formed it includes and occludes organic impurities such as
the gums, amino acids and colour components mentioned earlier, removing them
from the sugar syrup. The carbonatation process is carried out in two stages to
obtain an optimum quality precipitate for filtration, i.e. a suitable size and
distribution of precipitate particles. Measurement of the electrical resistance of the
solution indicates the residual lime content. Eighty to ninety percent of
precipitation is sought in the first stage. The second stage is controlled by the
measurement of the pH of the solution which is important throughout the process
and ensures complete precipitation of the lime.
Polymers are added to the juice to assist in the formation of a precipitate floc
which is more easily settled and filtered.

Decolorization:
Step 3 - Char Filtration
The relatively pure honey coloured liquor from the filtration stage, "raw liquor", is
then subjected to final decolourisation by contact with bone charcoal. The bone
char consists of active carbon on a calcium phosphate skeleton. It has a high
surface area and the unique ability to absorb colour and inorganic ash impurities
from the sugar. Following the decolourisation cycle the bone char is revivified first
by water washing, to remove inorganic impurities, and then heating in the absence
of air to 650oC to volatilise organic impurities. The decolourised ’fine liquor’ is
now ready for the final refining and recovery step, which is achieved by
crystallisation in vacuum pans.
The key process in sugar refining is decolorization. Color is the principal control in
every sugar refinery. It is the main property that distinguishes refined sugar from
raw sugar. The word color is used loosely. It usually means visual appearance, but
in technical sugar work it means colorant, the material causing the color. It can be
classified in three groups: plant pigments; melanoidins resulting from the reaction
of amino acids with reducing sugars; and caramels resulting from the destruction
of sucrose. In sugar work, color refers collectively to the optical sum of all the
colorants. Bone char and granular carbon behave similarly in decolorization of
sugar. For the contact with sugar liquor, both are contained in helds called cisterns
ca 3 m-dia and 7 m tall and holding 30-40 t carbon. The liquor flows downward
with a contact time of 2-4 h. The first liquors are water white with a very gradual
yellowing.
Crystallization:
The color of the washed, clarified, and decolorized liquor going into the
crystallization process ranges from water white to slightly yellow. Many refiners
polish filter the sugar liquor at this stage to make sure that it is sparkling clear with
no turbidity. Others rely on good operation upstream and do not polish-filter. In
many cases, the brix has become too low, either on purpose or by error; these
liquors first go to the evaporators to bring the brix to >= 68.The vacuum pans are
the same as were described under Raw Sugar Manufacture, and their operation is
the same. They are operated even more carefully to produce crystals of the desired
size. Great care is taken to avoid conglomerates and fines. Boiling rate and
throughput are important.
The drying of the sugar from the centrifuges is done by rotary dryer using hot air.
This dryer is universally misnamed the granulator because by drying in motion, it
keeps the sugar crystals from sticking together, or keeps them granular. The hot
sugar from the granulator is cooled in an exactly similar rotary drum using cold air.

Conditioning:
The sugar from the coolers would appear to be finished, but after a few days
storage it becomes wet with water trapped inside the grain because of the very high
rate crystallization and drying. After a few days, this moisture migrates outside the
crystal and the sugar is wet again. A process known as conditioning removes the
moisture, in which the sugar is stored for four days with a current of air passing
through it to carry away the moisture. In one system, a single silo is used with
sugar being continuously added to the top and removed from the bottom, and a
current of dry air blowing upward. In another system, the sugar is stored in a
number of small bins. It is continuously transferred from bin to bin with dry air
blowing around the conveyors that move the sugar.

PACKING, STORING AND SHIPPING:

Sugar is sometimes stored in bulk and then packaged as needed. Others package
the sugar and then warehouse the packages. The present trend is away from
consumersized packages and toward bulk shipments.