INDUSTRIAL PRACTICAL TRAINING TECHNICAL REPORT.

NAME OF STUDENT: ERICK G. WASWA

ADMISSION NO:20100134010128
DEPARTMENT: MECHANICAL AND INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
COURSE: MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

LEVEL: UQF 8(2nd year)

ACADEMIC YEAR:2021/22

NAME OF INDUSTRY/COMPANY/ORGANIZATION;
KAGERA SUGAR COMPANY LIMITED.
 ABSTARCT
Practical training is one of the core values preferred and offered by the College of Engineering
and Technology of Mbeya university of science and technology to the students undertaking an
Engineering degree program during the first 3 years of his/her 4 years of study for the purpose of
exposing the students to different engineering perspectives at the industry after learning much of
their theories in class.

This Practical Training was conducted at KAGERA SUGAR LIMITED from 11/July to 16 /Sept
2022 in Kagera region Tanzania.

This report is divided into three chapters where by Chapter 1 gives the detailed description of the
Company and its location. Chapter 2 gives the brief description of the general processes of sugar
production. Chapter 3 explains the “MECHANISIM AND OPERATION OF BATCH
CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE IN SUGAR INDUSTRY”. Weekly reports are attached.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to pass my sincerely thanks to the whole management of KAGERA SUGAR
LIMITED from the Human resource manager – Training Miss. Schola and other workers around
the industry specifically the factory.

Also, I would like to thank heads of different factory sections for their good explanations on
different issues in processing production of sugar at the industry, starting with workshop and
welding engineer Mr. Frank kategile, the boiler engineer Mr. Kasongi, mill engineer Mr. Fedson
and other engineers.

Special thanks should go to my supervisor from Mbeya University of science and technology
(MUST) Mr. Philemon X Mtabilwa for his valuable visit at the industry and advise.

Table of Contents
ABSTARCT....................................................................................................................................i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT..............................................................................................................ii
LIST.OF FIGURES....................................................................................................................v

ii
 LIST OF TABLES......................................................................................................................v
1. THE COMPANY.......................................................................................................................1
1.1. Industrial background..........................................................................................................1
1.2. Mission................................................................................................................................2
1.3. Vision..................................................................................................................................2
1.4. Core Values.........................................................................................................................2
1.5. Industrial organization structure..........................................................................................2
2.0 GENERAL SUGAR PRODUCTION PROCESSES...............................................................3
2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................3
2.2 Plant major utilities..............................................................................................................3
2.3 Front end...............................................................................................................................5
2.3.2. Cane weighing..............................................................................................................5
2.3.3. Cane offloading and feeding.........................................................................................5
2.3.4. Cane preparation...........................................................................................................5
2.3.5. Juice extraction.............................................................................................................8
2.3.6. Steam production........................................................................................................11
2.3.7. Power Production in the Power House.......................................................................16
2.4 Back end/the process...........................................................................................................16
2.4.1 Juice clarification..........................................................................................................16
2.4.2 Evaporation...................................................................................................................22
2.4.3. Crystallization..............................................................................................................25
Pan boiling................................................................................................................................25
2.3.4. Centrifugation.............................................................................................................30
2.4.5. Sugar drying and packaging........................................................................................34
3.0 MECHANISM AND OPERATION OF BATCH CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE IN SUGAR
INDUSTRY..................................................................................................................................38
3.1 Introduction.........................................................................................................................38
3.2 Source of centrifugal force or Centrifugal drives...............................................................38
3.3 Batch centrifugal machines.................................................................................................39
3.3.1Mechanism of operation of batch..................................................................................39
3.4 Components and parts of a batch centrifugal machine.......................................................40
3.4.1 Electric motor and drive system...................................................................................40

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 3.4.2 Air treatment system.....................................................................................................41
3.4.3 Oil mist lubrication system...........................................................................................41
3.4.4 Basket...........................................................................................................................42
3.4.5 Process wash pipes.......................................................................................................42
3.4.6 Screen...........................................................................................................................42
3.4.7 Plough...........................................................................................................................42
3.4.8 Sensors or indicators.....................................................................................................43
3.4.9 Charging and discharging valves.....................................................................................43
3.4.10 PLC panel...................................................................................................................44
3.5. Maintenance of batch machines.............................................................................................45
3.5.1Unscheduled maintenance.............................................................................................45
3.5.2 Scheduled maintenances..................................................................................................48
Sequence in shutdown of a batch centrifugal............................................................................48
3.6 Ordering and repairing of parts...............................................................................................51
3.7 Conclusion..........................................................................................................................53
References.....................................................................................................................................54

LIST.OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Organization structure at Kagera sugar limited. ..............................................................
2
Figure 2: Block diagram for cane preparation ................................................................................
7
Figure 3: Block diagram for juice extraction ................................................................................
11
Figure 4: Block diagram for steam production .............................................................................
15
Figure 5: Block diagram for juice clarification .............................................................................
21
Figure 6: Block diagram for evaporation process .........................................................................
24
Figure 7: Block diagram for crystallization and centrifugation ....................................................
34
Figure 8: Block diagram for sugar drying and bagging ................................................................
37
Figure 9: Cross-section of a batch centrifugal machine.................................................................
44

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 LIST OF TABLES.
Table 1: Variables for fault analysis .............................................................................................
44
Table 2: Silver Weibull form for ordering replacement part ........................................................
51 IMPORTANT SUGAR DEFINITIONS

Bagacillo – are very small particles of bagasse separated either from pre-clarification juices or
from the final bagasse for filtration or other purposes.

Bagasse - Is the residue (left over fibres) obtained after crushing cane in a mill.

Brix (Degrees) - Unit divisions of the scale of a hydrometer, which, when placed in a pure
aqueous sucrose solution at 20°C, indicates the percentage by mass of dissolved solids in the
solution.

Brix - Is the percentage by mass of total soluble solids of a pure aqueous sucrose solution.

Crystal Content - The percentage by mass of crystalline sugar present in a massecuite, magma or
similar material.

Cush-Cush - The material removed from mill juice by straining

Cutting – is the transferring of massecuite from one pan to another.

Exhaustion – is the percentage of sugar recovered from sugar solution (syrup, A-molasses and
Bmolasses) in form of sugar crystals.

Extraction - The percentage ratio of sucrose in mixed juice to sucrose in cane. If based on pol it
is referred to as Pol Extraction.

Fibre - The water insoluble matter of cane and bagasse from which the Brix-free water has been
removed by drying.

Filter Cake - The residue removed from process by filtration including any added filter aid.

Final molasses - The mother liquor separated from the final massecuite by mechanical means.

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Gums - The precipitate, corrected for ash, consisting mainly of polysaccharides, which is
obtained by treating sugar liquors with acidified ethyl alcohol.

Imbibition- The process in which water or juice is put on bagasse to mix with and dilute the juice
present in the latter. The water so used is termed imbibition water.

Invert Sugar - A mixture of fifty percent glucose and fifty percent fructose obtained by the
hydrolysis of sucrose.

Magma – is the low-grade sugar mingled with water which can be drawn into a pan to start a
high-grade strike.

Massecuite - The mixture of crystals and mother liquor discharged from a vacuum pan, Milling

Loss - Is the percentage ratio of Pol in bagasse to fibre in bagasse.

Mixed juice - The mixture of juices from the extraction plant delivered into the juice scales.

Molasses – is the mother liquor separated from sugar crystals in the centrifugal machine.

Mud- The material removed from the bottom part of the subsides. The mud contains the settled
insoluble solids.

Pol- The apparent sucrose content of any substance expressed as a percentage by mass and
determined by the single or direct polarization method.

Polysaccharides - Polymers of medium to high molecular mass in which the units are mainly
pentose and/or hexose.

Preparation Index–Is the percentage ratio of brix in the ruptured cells to total brix in cane.

Purity - The percentage ratio of sucrose (or Pol) to the total soluble solids (or Brix) in a sugar
product.

Reducing sugars - Reducing sugars are sugars which reduce Fehling’s solution.

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Saturated Solution - is one which would neither dissolve nor crystallize solute in the presence of
undissolved solute.

Slurry – seeds introduced to the syrup in the pan for crystals formation and growth.

Sucrose - The pure disaccharide α-D-glucopyranosyl-β-D-fructofuranoside, commonly known as

sugar.

Sugar - The main product of a sugar factory consisting of crystals of sucrose as removed from
massecuite and containing more or less impurities, depending on the type of sugar.

Sugar Cane - Botanically a tall grass of the genus Saccharum and agriculturally the crop
produced from hybrids which are the progeny of a number of Saccharum species commonly
referred to as cane.

Syrup – is the concentrated juice from evaporators

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 1. THE COMPANY
1.1. Industrial background
Kagera sugar limited is the one of the company dealing with sugar production from sugar cane in
Tanzania. It is located in north west part of Tanzania in Kagera region. It is located in Missenyi
district 72 km from Bukoba town, 16 km from Mtukula road.

Kagera Sugar Limited was established in 1954 for the purpose of producing sugar and
employment as the one way of providing service to people of Tanzania and other countries
around Tanzania. It was a private company owned by Mr. Grewal Singh. The total area of
Kagera sugar at that time was only 4000 acres. At that time the company had ability of producing
10000 tons of brown sugar per year. The company continued to be under private ownership until
in 1973 joint venture took place where the government started collaboration with Mr. Grewal.
The government owned 50% and Grewal owned 50%. The company made a great effort to
achieve a production of 60000 tons of sugar per year but this plan failed. The failure of this plan
was caused by the interference of Kagera war. This interference lead into Kagera war of 1978-
1979. After the war production continued but the performance was declining progressively
because the war caused a lot of negative effects to Kagera region and country at large like
destruction of some infrastructures, loss of man power, and also experts who were running the
industry could not stay in Tanzania. In 1999 the company was closed down because the
government could not run it due to great economic depression incurred by Tanzania government
after war. In the year 2001 the company was privatized to Super Group Investors. The new
owner first paid attention in rehabilitation and expansion of the Company in 2002. Currently
cane plantation covers 14000 hectares. The Company is producing 90000 tons of sugar per year.
Cane plantation is under irrigation and rain as the means of water source.

The company is aiming to catch up 15000 hectares of cane plantation with sustainable production
of 95000 tons of sugar by 2019-2020 season.

The Company also engage in social and health services to the surrounding villages like building
of schools and hospitals also it has a football team known as Kagera Sugar football team. The
company also support out growers in Kagera region by buying their cane.

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 1.2. Mission
To work with best practices to achieve continuous growth

1.3. Vision
To be the leading sugar producer in the region.

1.4. Core Values

The company’s activities are guided by the following set of core values:

• Honesty

• Integrity

• Ownership

• Innovation

• Team work

1.5. Industrial organization structure

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER

FARM MACHINERY CHIEF

CHIEF FINANCIAL CHIEF OPERATION
& TRANSPORTATION AGRICULTURAL
OFFICER OFFICER
MANAGER OFFICER

CIVIL ENGINEERING CANE HAULAGE FACTORY PROJECT

MANAGER MANAGER MANAGER MANAGER

FRONT END ELECTRICAL

ENGINEERING PROCESS
OPERATION & INSTRUMENTAT
MANAGER MANAGER
MANAGER ION MANAGER .

2
 Figure 1:Organization structure at Kagera sugar limited.
2.0 GENERAL SUGAR PRODUCTION PROCESSES
2.1 Introduction
Sugar industry is a large process production industry which involves production of sugar as a
final product from sugar cane.

Sugar cane is used as the main raw material at Kagera Sugar Limited despite the fact that sugar
can also be manufactured from other materials like sugar beets. This is due to geographical
location of the of the industry and most of all its plantations which is the tropical region,
supporting good growth of sugar cane.

Sugar cane are planted in the fields or plantations for a period of 12-18 months depending on the
cane variety. A complete sugar cane plant contains three main components namely sucrose,
glucose and fructose. Two monosaccharide glucose and fructose can combine to form sucrose
which is essential for making sugar crystals during sugar production. The reaction below is the
symbolic representation for formation of sucrose.

C6H12O6 + C6H12O6 C12H22O11 + H2O

Monosaccharide Sucrose

 Elements of good quality cane by (SASTA, 2007) are: -

(i) Freshness
(ii) Purity,
(iii)Tops properly removed,
(iv)Disease and insect damage free,
(v) Consignments free from dead sticks.
 High quality cane can be obtained through: - (i) Planting cane in
areas with low crop stress,
(ii) Priority harvesting of affected cane,
(iii) Separating out dead stick from harvested crop,
(iv) Green cane harvesting in preference to burnt cane.

3
2.2 Plant major utilities
Utilities are materials which are involved in production process for the purpose of meeting the
objectives but they do not become part of the final products. The process of sugar production
requires multi-utilities, which are to be maintained for efficient production. Below are common
utilities used at Kagera Sugar Limited: -

a) Water, this is one among the major utilities used in sugar production. Below are some of
uses:
i. Process hot water. This is used at centrifugals to aid separation, pan boiling
movement water, imbibition water at extraction plant as imbibition.
ii. Demineralized water. This is used in boilers for steam generation in case of low
condensate generation or during plant start up.
iii. Potable water, is the treated water used for domestic activities.
iv. Raw water. This is used for different cooling purposes such as cooling hot vapour
from pan boiling for creating vacuum, and in firefighting.
v. Process cold water. This used for different purposes such as in lime mixing,
flocculant mixing cleanliness, boiler ash cooling, turbine bearing cooling etc.
b) Steam, is another plant utility required for different purposes in production, it is mainly
produced using boilers at the boiler house. There are three kinds of steam with different
function at the factory. These are: -
i. High pressure steam, this is the main steam or live steam from the boiler house
which is used mainly for running steam turbines.
ii. Low pressure steam, this is the steam produced as vapour in processes involving
heating like evaporation process.
iii. Exhaust steam, this is the steam obtained after primary uses in running steam
turbines. This steam is widely used in a number of processes such as in
evaporation process, juice heating and pan boiling.
c) Compressed Air, this is the air supplied as instrumental air for opening and closing
different valves which work under pneumatic pressure for example transportation of
bearing lubricating oil in centrifugal machine motor shafts require pneumatic pressure,
etc.

4
 d) Vacuum, this is the negative pressure. This form of utility is used in processes such as
mud filtration and in pan boiling during crystallization process.
e) Electricity, is another form of utility utilized in production processes. The electricity used
at Kagera Sugar Limited is produced by live steam from the boiler but it is combined
with TANESCO supply in a process known as synchronization in order to meet the target
at low cost.

2.3 Front end

This is the part mainly involved with receiving, preparation of raw material and juice extraction
from raw materials for production. This part also involves generation of steam and electricity for
different process units.

2.3.2. Cane weighing

This is the process of weighing sugar cane which is received at the factory. This process is done
at weighbridge station which has got two weighing scales of type J115 concrete weighbridge;
scale 1 and scale 2 both with the same capacity of measuring weight up to 100 tones. The
maximum weighing capacity of weighbridge is 80000kg and the minimum of 400kg and a
tolerance of 20kg.

The main purpose of cane weighing is to know the amount of cane received for factory
performance calculations and for out growers’ payment purposes.

Generally, materials weighed at this station includes cane from estate plantations and out
growers, sugar, final molasses, filter cake, fuel (petrol), lime and metal scraps.

2.3.3. Cane offloading and feeding

Cane weighed at the weighbridge is off-loaded at a certain place commonly known as cane yard.
From the cane yard the cane is fed for preparation through two feeding tables. One table is fed by
using fixed Hilo and the other by using moving Hilo.

2.3.4. Cane preparation

This is the process of reducing the size of the cane by using cane knives for easy extraction of
juice at the mill tandem. This process is comprised of the following: -

(i) Cane carrier 1 which carries cane from feed tables to leveler knife.

5
(ii) Leveler knife which performs the initial size reduction of the cane. A leveler knife is
made up of 36 cutting knives.
(iii) Cane knife 1 which does the second reduction of the cane. This set has 38 cutting
knives.

(iv) Cane carrier 2 which carries cane from cane knife 1 to mill number one through cane
knife 2.
(v) Cane knife 2 which performs the final reduction of the cane ready for extracting juice
by the mills. This set has 62 cutting knives.

6
 Cane from
plantations

WEIGHBRIDGE

Outgoing tracks

CANE YARD

Cane off -loaded Canes off -loaded

by Hilo 2 by Hilo 1
FEED TABLE 1 FEED TABLE 2

CANE CARRIER 1

LEVELLER KNIFE

CANE KNIFE 1

CANE CARRIER 2

FEEDER DRUM

CANE KNIFE 2

Prepared cane to mill

tandem

Figure 2: Block diagram for cane preparation

7
 2.3.5. Juice extraction
This is the process of extracting juice from prepared sugar cane in the process known as cane
milling. This process is done by mills which is composed of four rollers which are feed roller,
under feed roller, top roller and discharge rollers. There is a series of four mills commonly
known as tandem or mill train.

All the four mills have got the same component compositions which are: -

(i) Chute which receives prepared cane from the cane carrier. It is connected with chute
level detector.
(ii) Four grooved mill rollers.
(iii) Scrapers.
(iv) Intercarrier (bagasse carrier).
(v) Trash plates.

Mill capacity

- The capacity of the mill depends on the design.

- The capacity of mills at Kagera Sugar Limited currently is 175 TCH.
Note: TCH stands for Tones Crushed per Hour.

Source of power and mill speed

- The source of power for the mill turbines is live steam from the boiler which has the
pressure range of 27-30bar.
- The speed of mills is measured in number of revolutions per minute (rpm) of the rolls.
The speed is directly proportion to the load feed, the higher the load the higher the speed.
- This steam powers the high rotating turbine which is coupled to three sets of gear boxes
to reduce the motion before coupling to the mill. Those gear boxes are
- (i) High speed gear box with reduction ratio of 5000:1111.
(ii) Intermediate sped gear box with reduction ratio of 1111:30.6
(iii) Bull gear box with reduction ratio of 30.6:6.9

Generally, the speed should be low for good performance of the mill.

8
Extraction process

The juice extraction process is done by the four mill rollers where by the top roller is driven
directly by the bull gear box and its resultant motion drives the feed, underfeed roller and
discharge roller and all do rotate squeezing the bagasse blanket draining the juice onto the tray
under the mill through the nip between the rolls. The top roller is able to rotate or drive the feed
and the discharge roller through the pinion which act as an inter-contact.

The top roller is also connected with the hydraulic system which floats on the top bearing of the
top roller there aiding it increase the effects on the driving force it exerts on driving the other two
rollers.

- Efficient juice extraction depends on the number of mills utilized, the high the number of
mills utilized the greater the effectiveness of juice extracted. For example, extraction is
better when seven mills are used in extraction than when five mills are used etc.

Imbibition flow and re-cycling applications

Imbibition flow or rate is the process where hot water with temperature around 750C-800C is
added during juice extraction to increase the efficiency of extraction. It has been observed that an
increase in imbibition will lead to an increase in extraction provided that other factors such as
preparation, roll roughness and drainage are optimum. Imbibition is applied by spraying water on
the bagasse surface along the intercarrier.

On the other hand, recycling is the process whereby the juice extracted by one mill mostly from
the third onwards is recycled back to one of the previous mills by considering the sugar
concentration between the juices extracted in the two mills. For the case of Kagera Sugar
Limited where four mills are used in the process of juice extraction, the juice extracted by mill
no.3 is recycled to mill no.1 likewise juice extracted by mill no.4 is recycled to mill no.2. The
recycled juice is sprayed on the bagasse of the previous mill there by aiding in extraction some
concentrations of sugar content in the bagasse.

Conditions for good juice extraction

9
The following are the conditions for efficient juice extraction as explained by (Hugot, 1986)and
(Rein, 2007):-

(i) Good cane preparation

(ii) Promotion of good feeding into each mill.
(iii) Maintenance of good rough roll surface.
(iv) High first mill extraction.
(v) Good juice drainage.
(vi) Nice imbibition flow rate.
(vii) Number of rollers.

10
The above explanations can be summarized by the block diagram below: -

PREPARED
CANE
Unscreened juice to
process

MILL 1
DSM SCREEN
Cush-cush

INTERCARRIER 1

UNSCREENED
JUICE TANK
MILL 2

Imbibition flow
INTERCARRIER 2

MACERATION
MILL 3
JUICE TANK

Imbibition flow
INTERCARRIER 3

MACERATION
MILL 4
JUICE TANK

Bagasse to boiler

Figure 3: Block diagram for juice extraction

2.3.6. Steam production

This is one among the largest unit in sugar production which is done and controlled in a special
house commonly known as Boiler house.

(i) Meaning of boiler.

Boiler is a closed vessel in which water is fed in a water drum to be heated until it is
converted into steam at required pressure. At Kagera Sugar Limited the steam
produced has the pressure ranging from 27-30bar. The pressure is produced with

11
 respect to the uses or demand of the factory for efficient running of the factory
processes and activities.

(ii) Working principle of a boiler

The boiler water is held in two drums, these are mud drum (full of water) fixed at the bottom and
steam drum (half full) fixed at the top, the two drums are connected by riser tubes. When the fuel
is burnt in the furnace hot flue gases are released, these flue gases come into contact with the
tubes where the heat is transferred to water and steam is produced.

This works with the “Natural circulation” principle, where by the driving force behind natural
circulation is the density difference between cold water and hot water. Cold water is denser than
hot water and therefore sinks to the bottom while the hot water rises. The hot water formed
creates steam which is mixed with water in the steam drum and they are separated by cyclones
where the water goes down and steam goes up into the steam space. By (Rein, 2007) pg.641.

The kind of boilers used at Kagera Sugar Limited is known as JOHN THOMPSON HIGH
PRESSURE WATER TUBE BOILER.

 Boiler requirements

Main requirements for boiler are: -

 Water, which is fed in the drums and heated to produce steam, this water is treated
to remove some dissolved salts which can lead to scaling of water pipes and
drums.
 Fuel, which is burnt in the furnace produce hot flue gases for heating water in the
drums and to produce steam. The main source of fuel for boiler at Kagera Sugar is
Bagasse produced after juice extraction in the mill tandem.
 Air, air is supplied to the boiler using three main fans which are Force Draught
fan (FD fan), Secondary Air fan (SA-fan), and Induced Draught fan. Force
Draught fan blows in oxygen for supporting combustion, Secondary Air fan blows
in air which help to spread the bagasse in the furnace and Induced Draught fan
aids in sucking flue gases from the furnace.

12
  Parts or components of boiler.
The following below are the main parts of the water tube boiler: -

Water drums
There are two drums which are steam drum and mud drum which are connected
by water tubes and their main function is to receive and carry or hold feed water
from the feed pump.
 Steam drum, is the drum fitted at the top of the Mud drum, it is the first to receive
water from the feed pump. The steam drum is half full of water the left space is
specifically for accommodating steam produced after heating the water.
 Mud drum, this is the Drum fitted at the base of the water drum and it receives
water from the steam drum after passing through the connecting tubes.
-The mud drum is totally full of water.
-Impurities like muds, sediments, sand particles are gathered in this drum. -Cold
water at the top sink down to this drum while the hot water rises to the steam
drum, this is the continuous process due to density difference between cold and
hot water.
Note; Steam drum is the part of the boiler which has steam separators which
separate steam from water, steam goes from top side to super heater and water
goes down to the water drum. Steam drum of water boiler has two types of
draining arrangement (a) CBD-Continuous Blow Down used when TDS or SiO 2
is on the higher side. (b) Emergency blow down which is used when drum level is
high. Boiler mountings and accessories like the safety valves, water level gauge
and pressure gauge, feed water inlet connections are installed on this drum.
 Super heater
This is the component of the boiler which is used to increase the temperature of
the steam, it is a heater exchanger. If the temperature of the steam is above its
saturation temperature, it is called superheated steam.
-Super heaters are bundles of high strength tube which can bear temperature up to
4000C depending on the material used. (Rein, 2007) pg.640.
-The super heater is placed at the point where flue gases make their turn from the
radiant to the convection section of the boiler

13
 -There are three types of super heaters convection, radiant and conv-radient super
heaters
 Economizer
Economizer (heat exchanger) is the boiler accessory used to recover the heat of
flue gases leaving the boiler by heating the feed water. It is an important part of
the boiler which can rise the temperature of feed water up to 60 oc, this can help to
save up to 1% of the fuel.
-Mostly an economizer is used before the air heater in the flue gas path of to
increase the boiler efficiency  Air Heater.
This is the component of the boiler which is used to pre-heat the air supplied to
the boiler, by recovering the heat of waste flue gas that leaves the economizer.
200c rise in temperature of combustion air can save up to 1% of total fuel.
-Preheated air is required for heating the fuel (bagasse) because they contain some
moisture, hence small percent of that moisture can be reduced and aid in the
combustion efficiency.
-Air heaters are classified into two main types which are recuperative Air heaters
and regenerative Air heaters
 Boiler fans
Fans are essential parts of the boiler because it is through these fans the boiler is
supplied with the air to support combustion. The table below shows the three
main types of fans needed for efficient functioning of the boiler to produce steam.

Consider the general block diagram for boiler

14
 Figure 4: Block diagram for steam production

2.3.7. Power Production in the Power House

Power House is the electrical station used to receive, generate and supply power (electrical
power). The live steam produced by the boiler is taken directly to the power house to run the
Turbo

15
Alternators (TA’s) by employing the steam turbines as the prime mover. There are two turbines
each with the capacity of generating power up to 2.5MW.

The power produced is mixed with the Power source received from the TANESCO by the
process known as “Synchronization” During synchronizing turbines must undergo 12081 rpm,
AVR of 11kV and frequency of 50Hz. There after the power produced is distributed. Consider
the diagram for Turbo Alternators. below

2.4 Back end/the process

2.4.1 Juice clarification
Juice obtained after extraction commonly known as “raw juice” is totally not suitable for
processing to get the sugar with the quality required, why?

This is because it contains a mixture of different impurities both organic and inorganic matters.
(Doherty, 1999) states the major components of a raw juice that result to its clarification are: -

• Sucrose, reducing sugars, monosaccharides;

• Polysaccharides and trisaccharides;
• Proteins, amino-nitrogen,
• Salts of inorganic acids such as KCl, CaSO4, and Phosphates;
• Organic acids (malic and citric) acids, salts of organic acids such as calcium
aconitate;
• Insoluble matters such as waxes, fats, bagacillo, soil, sand, clay particles. These
particles are suitably removed by coagulation and flocculation.

Note; Juice clarification is the process of removing impurities from the mixed juice to get clear
juice with golden yellow color of correct pH ranging from 6.9 to 7.1 with minimum loss of
sucrose.

The main objectives of juice clarification as explained by (Rein, 2007) are:

• To form flocs to trap all suspended matter, which can be settled at satisfactory rate;
• To provide condition of temperature, pH and ion concentration which will maximize
the precipitation of soluble impurities from the juice;

16
 • To produce clarified juice of high quality, with a minimum turbidity, color and a low
calcium ion content;
• To produce settled mud which is amenable to further processing commonly known as
filtration;
• To carry out the above at minimum cost, minimum residence time and minimum loss
of sucrose;
• To obtain a clarified juice that pH that will minimize inversion in the subsequent
evaporation operation

-Clarification process is accompanied with a series of different process which aids in obtain the
clear juice with a golden color from the clarifier. This is explained below: -

i. Juice heating.

After the mixed juice is pumped from the Dsm screen it is taken to the MJ (Mixed Juice)
receiving tank which comprises of the MJ weighing scale with the capacity of 3tonnes per batch.
After each three tones the juice is poured into the MJ tank.

From the MJ tank the juice is pumped into the heaters for rising its temperature from 30 0C to
approximately 1030C. There is a series of six heaters whereby the first four heaters perform the
primary heating rising the temperature of mixed juice from 30 0C to around 700C. The two other
heaters perform secondary heating rising the temperature of juice from 700C to approximately
50C units above the boiling point i.e.to 1030C.

Not all heaters are used at the same time, instead one is left free for the purpose of cleaning and
this is done in rotation continuously.

The source of energy for primary heating is the vapor produced by evaporator two, commonly
known as vapor two, V2. On the other hand, vapor produced by the Kestener (evaporator one) is
used as the source of energy for secondary heating.

There are four main aims of juice heating, these are killing micro-organisms, increasing the rate
of reaction between lime and phosphate ions, aiding the flashing rate, increase the rate of
formation of flocs.

17
Heated juice with a pH range 0f 5-5.5 is passed through the unit called in line lime mixer, for
lime dosing using a dosing pump. It is U-leg comprised of baffles which increases turbulence
during mixing. At this place milk of lime is dosed automatically by a pump termed as limed
dosing pump, which doses lime at a set point ranging from pH of 7.2 to 8.3. This is according to
E. Hugot,2007

This is for the purpose of obtaining clear juice from the clarifier with the pH range of 6.8-7.1
(particularly at Kagera Sugar Limited)

The lime mixture is made by mixing the lime powder with water in a given proportion to make a
lime solution in a lime mixing tank.

Note; Excess lime can result into colorations of the final sugar, introduce excess calcium ions
which later on will react with silica in the evaporators to form silicate layer this can lead to
decreased evaporator efficient and tube cracks.

ii. Acid phosphate addition

Phosphoric acid occurs in the cane as both soluble phosphates in the juice and in combination as
protein in the cell of the material which are insoluble Phosphate acid is added for the purpose of
introducing soluble phosphates which react with the lime and form a precipitate which are parts
of flocs produced in the juice by the lime. Phosphate acid is mainly added in the mixed juice tank
in case the juice is not totally clear such that the later production of sugar would have slightly
brown color. The phosphates added are for the purpose of maintaining an optimum level of
phosphates which aids in eliminating greater colloids, eliminating Calcium ions produced by
liming, faster mud floc formation with more rapid settling as well as better clarification with
lighter coloured clarified juice.

Note; Too much phosphates can lead to high lime consumption and higher mud volume and
hence higher filter mud loss

iii. Juice flashing

This is the process which takes place in the flashing tank installed near the clarifier, the main
purpose of juice flashing is to remove air bubbles or gasses. This is done efficiently with the

18
juice which is at least 30C above its boiling temperature, also the flashing tank must be
maintained at atmospheric pressure and there should be less accumulation of sand in the tank.

Note; The main disadvantage of air bubbles is that they tend to interact or combine with particles
during settling in the clarifier as they are tending to ascend while the particles descending to
settle hence inefficient settling.

iv. Flocculant’s addition

Flocculants are added into mixed juice to cause flocculation of impurities. Flocculants are
polyacrylamide compounds which are anionic types thus attracts particles, make them grow
bigger and heavier. This leads to formation of denser materials easier to settle or sink. The
effectiveness of an anionic flocculant is dependent of its molecular weight and degree of
hydrolysis.

v. Sedimentation

After flocculant addition the mixed juice flows to the clarifier where sedimentation (settling)
takes place to remove precipitates formed within the juice body. The equipment in which
sedimentation takes place is called a Clarifier. There different types of clarifiers including multi-
tray clarifiers e.g., Dorr, Rapid Dorr, ATV, Batch etc. (Rein, 2007) pg.228.

For the case of Kagera sugar Rapid Dorr clarifier with a capacity of 400m 3 is used. The clarifier
is a large cylindrical tank which has got four compartments and a central shaft rotating very
slowly at 12 turns per hour and it carries scrappers of sheet metal which brush slowly the bottom
of each compartment. The juice coming from the flashing tank enters the clarifier tangentially at
the top of the tank into flocculation chamber. There is a central pipe connecting the upper parts
of various compartments which takes the juice to the compartment main space where mud
descends and there after overflows to the mud overflow box and the clear juice with golden color
overflows into the juice overflow box.

The mixed juice flows into the clarifier continuously and remains for a specific time known as
‘’residence time’’ and the mud overflow is pumped to the mud tank at a very small rate in order
to decrease turbulence so as to maintain the flocs structure. From the mud tank it is pumped to

19
filtration unit and the clear juice obtained from the clarifier is pumped to clear juice tank from
which it is taken to clear juice heating heater for rising the temperature to around 1100C before
feeding to the Kestener for first evaporation.

vi. Filtration

The mud obtained from the clarifier has to be filtered in order to recover the juice from the soil
and mud solids. The juice is pumped from the mud tank to the mud mixer where it is mixed with
the bagacillo in a given proportion which act as filtration aid later on. After the mixing process
the mixed muds are pumped to the rotary drum vacuum filter for extracting juice from sand and
juice solids.

The Rotary drum filter is composed of hallow large diameter stainless steel drum rotating about
horizontal axis and partially submerged in a liquid to be filtered(mud). The periphery of the drum
which is covered with the stainless-steel screen perforated with fine hole act as filtering surface
and is substantially divided into 24 independent sector decks each occupying 15 0 of the
circumferences and extending along the full length of the drum. Each of these sections is
connected internally to stainless steel vacuum pipes with large radius swept bends terminating in
three port high capacity distributing valves which are situated at one end of the drum and
carrying three sectors which are the cake discharge sector which vents to the atmosphere, the
second is the cake pickup section which is either connected to the high or low vacuum and the
third sector is connected to a chamber where high vacuum of about 25-40bar is maintained.

low- and high-pressure vacuum supplied provide negative pressure to the spider valves
connected to the inner part of the rotating drum thus aiding in sucking the juice which diffuses
through fine holes making the screen of the rotating drum.

Hot water is sprayed on the cake for the purpose of aiding easy diffusion of the juice from the
mud.

The filtered juice is pumped to the filtrate receiver tank from which it is pumped to the mixed
juice tank.

The cake removal of mud is by adjustable scrapers which are installed on one side of the rotary
drum nearest to the drum such that the drum makes contact with them in each turn and scraps off
the dried cake of muds which are taken directly to the mud bin.

20
 Figure 5: Block diagram for juice clarification

2.4.2 Evaporation
Clear juice with golden color obtained from the clarifier is heated first and fed to the evaporators
for evaporation in order to concentrate the juice which is having Brix of approximately 12.5 and
finally make syrup with Brix of around 65-70 for crystallization.

21
The mode of heating for the first evaporator is different from the other evaporators in terms of
source of heat. The first evaporator is supplied with exhaust steam from power house and mill
turbines, while other evaporators use the vapor produced in the previous evaporator. All the
evaporators have got the common structure inside i.e., they are made of thin elongated tubes
which are fitted in the calandria where steam is or vapor is fed and heat is transferred from the
steam which is at high temperature compared to juice in the tubes. The juice leaving the
evaporators have different temperatures depending on the pressure of the steam used for heating
and this temperature decreases from the first effect evaporator to the fourth effect evaporator.
The juice temperature from the first evaporator to fourth evaporator are 110 0C, 1000C, 860C and
600C respectively.

At Kagera Sugar there are four multi-effect evaporators which are used for evaporation purpose,
the first evaporator is the Kestener which is large than other evaporators purposely for leaving
enough empty space for accumulation of enough vapour produced which has got three uses later
on. The vapour produced from the Kestener is commonly known as vapour one, V1 and it is used
as follows: -

 Firstly, it is used for heating the second evaporator for second concentration of
the juice,
 Secondly, it is used at pan floor for pan boiling and
 Thirdly, it is used for secondary juice heating in secondary juice heaters.

The second vapour (V2) produced by the second evaporator is used for heating in the third
evaporator as well as for primary juice heating in primary juice heaters.

Lastly the vapour produced by third evaporator commonly known as Vapor three, V3 is used for
heating in the two fourth effect evaporators which are 4A effect and 4B effect.

In each evaporation process condensates and incondensable gases are collected through the well-
connected pipes where by the incondensable gases such as ammonia carbon dioxide and vapour
are released to the atmosphere and the suit condensates are taken for further relevant processes
such as in pan boiling and magma mixing, and the clean condensates are pumped to the boiler
house.

22
Consider the block diagram for the evaporation process;

Clear juice from

Clear Juice tank clarifier

Exhaust steam
First effect evaporator

V1
Clear Juice pump

Second effect evaporator

V2

Third effect evaporator

V3
Vapor 4
Fourth effect evaporator

Syrup receiver
Condenser Vacuum pump

Syrup pump water

Air

Water pump

Syrup to pan floor

Figure 6: Block diagram for evaporation process

After the evaporation process the concentrated juice obtained commonly known as syrup is
pumped to the syrup receiver tank for some further purification and there after the syrup juice is
pumped to the syrup storage tank from which it is pumped to the pans for boiling.

23
2.4.3. Crystallization
Crystallization is the preceding step after evaporation which is conducted so as to make sugar
crystals which grow in a mother liquor commonly known as massecuite. Crystallization is
conducted for the main purpose of recovering sugar from concentrated sucrose solution. The
crystallization process takes place in the pans (pan boiling) and crystallizers. Below is the belief
explanation of the process: -

Pan boiling
Pan boiling is the process by during which sugar is produced by further evaporation of the syrup
juice obtain from the evaporators. This process takes place in the equipment known as vacuum
pans which are constructed in the same way as the evaporators i.e., they are made of the
calandria in which tubes are inserted through the bottom and top tube plates for occupying the
juice to be heated by the steam which is supplied on the calandria.

There are two common types of pans continuous pans and batch pans. At Kagera Sugar Limited
batch vacuum pans are used for the process and there is a total of seven pans which can perform
the same task of sugar boiling but they are divided in to three categories depending on the type of
sugar to be produced, that is there are A-pans, B-pans and C-pans.

The main purpose of vacuum pans is to grow the sugar crystals from the syrup until it attains the
purity of the final molasses of around 35% and maximize the amount of pol recovered in the
sugar

In each of the three kinds of pans utilized two main products are produced in three different
phases after crystal molasses separation, these are A-sugar and A-molasses, B-sugar and B-
molasses, C sugar and C-molasses or final molasses.

Mechanism

Batch vacuum pans work on the principle of heat transfer and vacuum (low pressure). Heat
transfer takes place in the calandria between steam and water tubes, on the other hand vacuum a
vacuum pump is connected to the pan through the top part of the pan and it is connected to the
condenser where water pump is connected supplying water which cools the vapour sucked from
the pan. As the water cools the vapour sucked from the pan it leads to decreased pressure in the

24
condenser resulting into continuous flow of hot vapour from the pan to the condenser. This
vacuum generated aids during the boiling process whereby it tends to suck the growing crystals
to certain height and release them to fall under gravity into the tubes again, this aids in
continuous circulation of sugar crystals in the pan.

The vacuum is controlled by adjusting the amount of water entering the condenser, an increase in
the amount of water increases the vacuum whereas a decrease in the amount of water decreases
the vacuum.

Also, the increase in vacuum reduces the massecuite boiling temperature and increase in the rate
of evaporation and a decrease in vacuum increases the massecuite boiling temperature and
decrease in the rate of evaporation.

 A-pan boiling

These are pans used for boiling massecuites from which type A-sugar is obtained, these are the
start over pans and are connected with the cut-over line. The line is a large bore pipe connecting
the pans, seed receiver and magma tank. Each pan and receiver has its sum isolating valve which
is close to the pan or receiver to prevent any “dead zone” where massecuite can harden to form a
blockage.

The seed is transferred from pan to pan by difference in vacuum, for example if an operator
wishes to transfer/cut a seed from pan 1 to pan 2 the vacuum in the pan 2 must be greater than
that in pan 1. when the necessary valves are opened the seeds will be sucked from pan 1 to pan 2.

At the start of the new season syrup is fed to one of the A-pans through the pipe oriented
horizontally below the calandria but divided into branches for uniform distribution in the tubes
until the tubes are covered and some mills of slurry of about 150-250mls are added and the
mixture is boiled to grow up the seeds from the slurry in the process known as ‘’seed graining’’,
then the solution is cut-off into two parts to the seed reservoir for reserving so as to
continue boiling the remaining half and finally cutting-off again into two parts which are boiled
up again and finally obtaining the strikes which are released into strike receiver before flowing
into the crystallizers for cooling. After transferring the strikes from the pans steam is sprayed so
as to wash the remaining particles of strikes from the tubes so as to maintain efficient heat
transfer from the steam to the calandria tubes in the next boiling.

25
There after the initial cut-off part is transferred to the seed growing pan for further boiling in
order to obtain seed solution which is then cut-off into two equal parts for further growing to
obtain strikes as in the previous stage.

The process of using slurry for type A-sugar boiling is only used at the start of the season but
during the progress of the production B-magma which is obtained after mixing B-sugar with hot
water are used as the source of seed because they contain small sugar crystals which did not
grow up completely in the previous boiling.

Massecuites from A-crystallizers are transferred to Batch centrifugal machines for separation of
sugar crystals from the molasses which flows to the A-molasses tanks for temporary storage.

 B-pan boiling

A-molasses obtained from A-massecuites are pumped from A-molasses tanks to A-molasses
blowup tanks situated at the pan floor. From the blow-up tank the molasses is fed into B-pans
and mixed with hot water for the purpose of increasing the number of brix to around 75 0 and
control temperature between 63-70 0C in the further boiling. After feeding the molasses to the B-
pans then 400-500mls of slurry is added as the source of seeds which grow up on continuous
boiling due to deposition of sucrose on the slurry particles. The B-massecuite is boiled for period
of 4-6 hours there after strikes are releases to strike receivers from which it flows to the B-
crystallizers for cooling before feeding to the continuous centrifugal machines for separating B-
sugar from the Bmolasses.

Note; Sometimes the A-molasses can have low purity, in this particular case syrup is added to the
molasses and the boiling takes place to obtain the B-massecuites.

The sugar obtained is dissolved in hot water in the magma mixer and the obtained mixture with
the purity range between 89-92% is pumped to the magma tanks which consists a stirrer for
continuous mixing of the magma. From the magma tank part of the magma is used as seed for
boiling type A-sugar and part of it is melted in magma remelter and then pumped to the syrup
tank.

The molasses obtained from B-centrifugals with purity of around 65% flow to B-molasses tanks
from which it is pumped to C-pans for boiling type C-sugar massecuites.

26
  C- pan boiling

B-molasses obtained from B-massecuites are pumped from B-molasses tanks to the C-blow up
tanks situated at pan floor. From the blow-up tanks the molasses is fed into C-pans, 1800-2200
ml of slurry is added and the mixture is boiled to obtain C-massecuites from which type C-sugar
is obtained. The massecuites are taken from the C-crystallizers to C-centrifugals for separation of
Csugar crystals from the C-molasses which is the final molasses with the purity of around 35%.

Note; Sometimes the B-molasses can have low purity, also in this particular case A-molasses or
syrup is added to the B-molasses and the boiling takes place to obtain the C-massecuite. The
decision of adding the A-molasses or syrup is up on the operator depending on the purity of the
molasses by using is experience.

The sugar obtained is mixed with hot water in the magma mixer to obtain a solution with the
purity range of 52-56%, from which it is pumped to the C-magma tank for temporary storage and
there after pumped to the remelter and then pumped to the syrup tank.

The C-molasses flows to the C-molasses tank and have no further use for the factory production.

Function of the blow-up tanks

(i) The molasses is heated so that it has a temperature higher than that of the pan into
which will be introduced. This has the advantage that the molasses will flash when
entering the pan thus promoting circulation. Heating is done by using steam or hot
water and the contents in the tank are well mixed by a stirrer.
(ii) The molasses brix is controlled in the blow-up tank provided that the temperature is
controlled at a fixed temperature.

Common problems experienced during pan boiling by (Rein, 2007) are: -

False grain; false grain is unwanted grain whose size do not compare with the desired size and is
formed during the growing process of existing crystals by secondary nucleation. False grains are
mainly caused by low crystal content in the boiling massecuite, high evaporation rate due to

27
rapid boiling, poor massecuite circulation, grain in the feed (small crystals which pass through
the centrifugal screen with the molasses),

-False grains must be removed quickly because the longer it is there the harder it is to remove.
To redissolve false gain the supersaturation coefficient must be reduced to just below the
saturation line either by: -

• Diluting the pan content with water or

• Heating up the pan by reducing the vacuum.

Water dilution of massecuite in a pan; sometimes during boiling the massecuite may become
more dilute unexpectedly due to different reasons such as: -

 A leaking calandria, this can happen when a tube is broken such that steam and
condensates in the calandria may enter the massecuite in large amount causing dilution
 A badly leaking internal condenser
 A badly leaking water or feed valve
 A faulty controller. In extreme cases the crystals in the pan may all be dissolved. -In this
case the pan content must then be returned to the relevant feed tank or if not possible used
as seed through the cut over-line to another pan.

Loss of vacuum; this is another problem experienced during pan boiling and can result from: -

 Interruption of injection water supply

 Hot injection water being fed to the pan condenser when the cooling tower fans trip 
Faults in vacuum pumps

Pan not boiling fast enough; this can result from scaling of juice tubes or fouling on the steam
side. This require cleaning the pans for returning the normal heat transfer steam to juice in the
tubes

Purity of pan feed and low brix feed; boiling rates are sensitive to purity and slow boiling may
indicate presence of lower purity materials into the pan feed. Which is due to presence of some
impurities affecting the shape of the crystals growing in the massecuite. On other hand low brix
feed to a pan markedly increases the evaporation load on a pan.

Condition for efficient pan boiling, By (Meade, 1963)

28
  Constant pressure saturated steam at the required minimum pressure.
 Pan vacuum should be kept constant, fluctuations in the absolute pressure can result in
changes to the level of supersaturation which can lead to false grain formation or crystal
dissolution.
 Feeding pans with molasses or syrup with constant brix.
 Whether pan automation is applied it is important to maintain manual checks.
 The evaporation rate should be equal to or lower than the crystallization rate in order to
prevent the formation of false grains.

2.3.4. Centrifugation
Centrifugation is an important process in sugar industries conducted for the purpose of separating
sugar crystals from the mother liquor (massecuites) by applying the centrifugal force. This
process is done basically after the crystallization process which takes place in two stages, in the
pans (by boiling) and in the crystallizers (by cooling). It is an important process before the sugar
is taken to the dryer for drying (specifically for type A sugar).

Centrifugal separation is good option for separating sugar crystals from the mother liquor due to
the fact that the crystals and the mother liquor have got the same density and very high viscosity
of the mother liquor.

Centrifugation takes place in centrifugal machines which are categorized into two, Batch
centrifugals and continuous centrifugals. Batch centrifugals are used for separating A-
massecuites whereas continuous centrifugals are used for separating B and C massecuites.

 A-massecuite centrifugation;

A massecuites are transferred from the crystallizers into the mingler positioned at the top near the
machine for temporary storage before feeding the massecuite into the centrifugal machine. The
mingler contains a stirrer for continuous mixing of the massecuite and helps in regulating the
amount of massecuite entering the machine during feeding. Batch machines are used for
centrifuging A-massecuites.

At Kagera Sugar Limited there are two batch centrifugals each with the capacity of handling
1021Litres of massecuites and can attain the maximum speed of 1150rpm. Each of these
machines are run or operated automatically using the PLC screen situated on the machine.

29
 1. Feeding, the machine is feed with the material to be processed i.e. A-massecuites from
the feed mixer (mingler) into the centrifugal basket at a certain rotating speed. The
basket must be rotating at correct speed during feeding so as to ensure uniform layer of
massecuites distribution of massecuites on the basket screen. If the speed increases too
much it can lead to fast purging of the massecuites hence not flowing smoothly up and
down the basket.
Also, the feeding speed should not be very low because this can lead to slumping of
massecuites to the bottom of the basket resulting into poor separation.
At Kagera Sugar Limited, batch machines have maximum speed of 1150 rpm, and the
feeding speed is around 150-200 rpm.
2. Spinning, At Kagera Sugar Limited the batch machine baskets spin within the given
range of speed reaching a maximum of 1150 rpm, at a certain speed of spinning around
200 rpm materials are fed into the basket and the basket accelerates to speed near the
maximum speed i.e. around 1145 and starts to decelerate to speed around 800 rpm where
washing water is sprayed onto the sugar layer formed within the basket for removing the
remaining molasses layer. Long spinning time help to remove additional liquid hence
helping in reducing the sugar moisture.
3. Ploughing and discharging, ploughing is done at a certain speed during the deceleration
of the basket by a plough which is installed within the basket but oriented away from the
spinning way and just pulled towards the screen but does touch the screen. As it is pulled
near the screen it tends to block by digging into the cake formed during spinning hence
ploughing the sugar into the center of the basket. After ploughing the discharge valve is
opened to discharge the sugar to the sugar chute below the machine from which it is
taken by a screw conveyor to the drier.

Inner Components of a batch machine

A batch machine is made of a stainless-steel basket which has got vertical walls perforated with
the screen which is drilled with holes of diameter size 0.35mm which enhance drainage of
molasses during the process. There are two types of screens inside the basket which can be made
from stainless steel, copper or brass these are the working screen and the backing screen. It is on
these screens the sugar cake is formed during centrifugation and flatter surface backing screens
are preferred because they enhance good drainage of molasses. Inside the basket there is also a

30
plough which has the function of ploughing the separated sugar crystals from the basket wall
during discharging. Steam and water pipes are also situated inside the basket for washing
purpose of the sugar crystals.

The mother liquor(molasses) obtained from the A-massecuites flow to A-molasses tanks
and from there it is pumped to the blow-up tanks at the pan floor for conditioning it for
pan B boiling.
Quality of products and by-products; the sugar obtained from the batch centrifugal have
purity range of 99 to 99.5% whereas the molasses obtained has the purity of around 65
Generally; The main purpose of centrifugation is to remove molasses from the sugar
crystals and good molasses removal is attained when: -
• The time for spinning is longer,
• The size of the crystals is uniform,
• The crystals are bigger,
• The viscosity of the molasses is low,
• The thickness of massecuite wall is small.
By (Hugot, 1986)

 B and C-Massecuite separation;

B-massecuites and C-massecuites are separated using centrifugal machines. Centrifugal

machines are made of stainless-steel baskets whose walls are not vertical like in the case of
batch machines. The basket wall is inclined at a certain angle ranging from 28-35 0 depending
on the design. The walls of baskets are perforated with 3 to 4 screens drilled with holes for
drainage of molasses. Continuous centrifugals for massecuite B are inclined at an angle of
300 while those of C-massecuites are inclined at 340 or 350.

At Kagera Sugar Limited there are four continuous centrifugal machines two for
Bmassecuites, one for both B and C-massecuites and the other one for C-massecuites.

Mechanism of continuous centrifugal machines

Continuous centrifugal machines work on the principle of thin layer of massecuite moving
continuously over the basket screen while the mother liquor is being purged the cured sugar

31
going over the lip of the basket to the sugar chamber. This is made possible by the shape of
the basket which has a conical shape which also leads to variation of centrifugal force from
the bottom to the top of the basket due to change in radius, thus the particles are easily
moved along the incline to the sugar chamber.

Baskets of continuous centrifugal machines rotate at very high speed of maximum value of
2000Rpm and the speed is constant throughout the process. This aids in draining the mother
liquor through the screen easily.

Feeding and discharge

Continuous machines are fed directly from the top by the continuous supply pipe from the
crystallizers. The massecuites from the crystallizers are mixed with hot water which is
supplied continuously at the top part of the machine before the mixture enters the basket.
Steam also is supplied and both steam and hot water aid in decreasing the viscosity of the
massecuite.

Note; C-massecuites are re-heated first in massecuite re-heater before feeding into the
Centrifugal, this is for the purpose of decreasing the viscosity to enhance the flow and the
Cmolasses is the final molasses from the process unit and the B-molasses is pumped to pan
floor for boiling in C-pans.

The sugar from the continuous centrifugals fall directly into the magma mixers which are
installed directly below the machines where the sugar is mixed with hot water to make
magma which is pumped back to the pan flow. The portion of B-magma is used as seed for
boiling Amassecuites and the remaining B-magma is mixed with C-magma and remelted
then pumped back to the syrup tank.

Below is the block diagram representation of the crystallization and centrifugation processes.

32
 Figure 7: Block diagram for crystallization and centrifugation

2.4.5. Sugar drying and packaging

Sugar drying takes place in a sugar dryer known as Rotary cascade dryer. The drier is connected
to both hot air fan inlet and cold air fan inlet both with different functions as will be explained.

Sugar drying is an important and last unit before the sugar is packaged and ready for customer
use. It is done for the purpose of reducing the moisture content of the sugar crystals from the
centrifugal and other initial processes.

At Kagera Sugar limited sugar drying takes place

33
Reasons for sugar drying:

• If sugar is not dried molasses film contained on the sugar crystals can be deterioration
and this can lead to sugar loss.
• If sugar moisture is not removed it can lead to caking during storage.
• Dry sugar is easier to hand as it can flow easily compared to wet sugar which increase the
rate of chokes or blockage hence leading to damage of machines.
• The market also has the requirement of moisture content mainly for storage and handling
purpose.
 are major causes of high moistures and caking. Conglomerates are larger crystals resulting
from combination of small sugar crystals on one surface. Presence of high conglomerates
results in high impurity level and moisture removal becomes more difficult.

Packaging; dry sugar with temperature below 38 0C is packed and stored safely because at this
temperature there is less chance of forming temperature gradients within the sugar and therefore
has less chance of caking. Care should be taken

Mechanism of sugar drying;

Sugar is passed in the cascade drier which is the rotating cylindrical drum tilted towards the
discharge end, within the drier there are flights which tend to elevate the sugar crystals to about
1800 from the base and drop them back into the curtains at the base of the drier. Hot air is
supplied in the drier through the discharge end by the hot air inlet fan which blows air from the
surrounding and the air is filtered then heated by steam to rise its temperature before letting it in.
At the same time cold air is blown in at the other side for the purpose of cooling the sugar to
temperature below 380C before it is conveyed to the packing station.

The hot air blown in passes counter-current to sugar before existing at the sugar feed end. The
countercurrent results in sugar drying which is the result of heat and mass transfer i.e., movement
by diffusion of internal moisture to the crystal surface and removal of the moisture from the
crystal surface by evaporation.

Factors affecting sugar drying

34
Sugar drying can be affected by a number of factors such as: -

 Inlet sugar condition; sugar entering the drier should have sufficient energy to evaporate
moisture from the surface. That is the energy should not be expected from the air only
instead sugar entering the drier should have higher temperature.
 Grain size; smaller crystals have higher surface moisture and are more difficult to
fluidize, and larger crystals require more time to remove the surface moisture.
 Air flowrate; a high rate flowing air results in rapid moisture removal and the sugar
leaving the drier will be cool and wet. On the other hand, a low air flow rate results in
low moisture removal and the sugar leaving the drier will be warm but still wet.
 Air condition; the air supplied should not contain high moisture content i.e.it should have
at least 60% moisture content less than the sugar to be dried unless otherwise the sugar
will absorb moisture from the air.
 Conglomerates; these during drying because hot sugar can absorb moisture from the
surrounding atmosphere.

35
 Screw conveyor
Wet sugar from batch
machines

Wet sugar bucket Sweet water

elevator Ambient air solution to
magmarizer
Wet sugar

steam
Air heater Sugar dryer Cold air fan Dust mixing bin
Water

Hot air

Belt conveyor Rotorcyclone Air fan

Hot air fan Sugar dust

Dry
sugar

Dry sugar bucket Air

Air from the surrounding Sugar chute
elevator

Sugar bin 1 Sugar bin 2

Scale 1 Scale 2

Bagging chute

Sugar bags to storage

Sewing machine Belt conveyor

Figure 8: Block diagram for sugar drying and bagging

3.0 MECHANISM AND OPERATION OF BATCH CENTRIFUGAL MACHINE
IN SUGAR INDUSTRY
3.1 Introduction
Centrifugal machines are the basic and important machines in sugar industries used for the
purpose of separating sugar crystals from the mother liquor (massecuites) by applying the
centrifugal force in the process commonly known as centrifugation. This process is done
basically after the crystallization process which takes place in two stages, in the pans (by boiling)
and in the crystallizers (by cooling). It is an important process before the sugar is taken to the
dryer for drying (specifically for type A sugar). It is centrifugation which provides
proportionality of sugar crystals

36
 Note: Centrifugal machines work on the principle of centrifugal force.

(i) Why centrifuging?

Centrifuging has been taken as the best mean of separating sugar crystals from mother liquor due
to the fact that centrifugal separation needs to be proceeded by a step in which the massecuite is
conditioned for optimum separation under the influence of centrifugal force which exerts larger
force compared to the one which could be exerted if gravitational force could be applied.

3.2 Source of centrifugal force or Centrifugal drives.

The main source of centrifugal force which is used in the separation process is the rotating
spindle which is driven by the motor connected together by coupling. The spindle is attached
to the bottom of the perforated still basket, as the result of its motion the basket also rotates at
the same speed as the spindle.
The centrifugal force is dependent on the speed of rotation and the diameter of the basket. It
is expressed in relation to gravity “g” leading to
the term G factor is simply the ratio of centrifugal acceleration to the acceleration due to the
earth’s gravity.
Mathematically;
G = w2.r
Where: -

w is a speed of rotation, r
is the radius of the basket,
g is the force due to gravity.

3.3 Batch centrifugal machines.

Batch machines are centrifugal machines which work under a closed system mechanism (that is
the materials are fed into the machine and processed before others are allowed to enter the
system). This process is done automatically in terms of cycles and it takes short time for each
cycle to accomplish.

37
At Kagera Sugar Limited there are two Batch machines designed, manufactured and installed by
SILVER WEIBULL and they are used for separating type A sugar. Each machine has the
capacity of carrying the maximum of 1021 liters of massecuites which are processed to obtain
around 806kg of wet sugar. centrifugal machines

3.3.1Mechanism of operation of batch

The operation of batch machines can be controlled manually or automatically by setting
operation parameter using a Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) panel with different
indicators in case of manual operation the operator uses the panel to operate the machine on the
hand, automatic operation is also controlled by setting the constant parameters for the process.

The operation of batch centrifugal machine involves the following main processes: -

1. Feeding (charging); batch machines like other centrifugal machines are charged from the
top through a charge valve and massecuites build up against the screen until a wall of
massecuite of a certain thickness commonly known as a sugar cake is formed. During
charging the machine is rotated at low speed around 200 rpm, this is important for
ensuring evenly distribution of massecuites over the screen to prevent imbalances.
2. Spinning(accelerating); after completing the charging process the machine speeds up to
almost maximum speed of up to 1145rpm and starts to decelerate. During this high
spinning maximum centrifugal force is exerted on the massecuite cake in the basket
resulting to drainage or passage of molasses through the screen holes leaving the sugar
crystals in the basket.
3. Water wash; at a certain speed around 800rpm during deceleration hot water (at 80 0C or
above) is sprayed to wash the sugar crystals through the water pipe contained in the
basket.

This water has very high pressure which is controlled by the pneumatic valve. The water
should be enough to ensure sufficient washing of the sugar crystals but it should not
exceed because can lead to dilution of the sugar crystals. The quantity of water used is
recommended to be in the range of 1 to 3kg/100kg of massecuite. Excess water can
dissolve approximately 3kg sugar/100kg crystals. By (Reins, 2007, pg. 432)

38
 4. Sugar steaming; after water wash the sugar crystals at a speed around 400 rpm steam is
sprayed to the sugar cake for the purpose of heating the sugar crystals rising the
temperature of the crystals before conveying to the dryer, this makes drying easier.
5. Ploughing; is the process done by a plough inside the basket where by it aids in blocking
the sugar cake so that the sugar crystals can be poured into the center of the basket for
discharging. A plough is positioned in such a way that it leaves a certain gap from the
cake during spinning and during the ploughing it is pulled towards the screen such that it
digs into the cake but leaves small gap between itself and the screen. While ploughing the
size of the centrifugal is very small.
6. Discharging; after ploughing the sugar collected is passed through the discharge valve
positioned at the bottom of the basket. The sugar is conveyed by the screw conveyor just
under the batch machines to the bucket elevator and then to the drier. After discharging
the discharge valve closes and the basket can take another load again.

3.4 Components and parts of a batch centrifugal machine

Centrifugal machines comprise parts and components which work together and give the best
combination for proper functioning of the centrifugal machine.

The following below are main component of the centrifugal machines: -

3.4.1 Electric motor and drive system

An electric motor an electric device which converts electrical energy into mechanical energy. For
the case of batch machine electric motors are located at the top side of the centrifugal machine.
Normally a star-delta connection is preferred for starting and operating the centrifugal.

The rated power on the electric motor provides the required speed of rotation of the shaft or
spindle which is incorporated to the bottom side of the basket resulting to the motion of the
basket too.

Motor bearings are connected with lubricating system for the purpose of cooling and lubricating
to ovoid overheating. At Kagera Sugar Limited batch centrifugal machines have been installed
with electric motors rated 90Kw which give the maximum number of revolutions of 1150 min -1.

39
This speed can be controlled manually by an operator or automatically by using PLC
(Programmable Logic Controller).

-Ability of varying speed aids in fixing time for different processes which are accompanied in the
whole process of centrifuging such as setting the speeds at which water and steam will be
sprayed for washing, speeds for feeding and discharging the load etc.

This high speed is necessary for exerting enough centrifugal force for rotating the basket and
load which is actually a large load of more than 1000kg.

3.4.2 Air treatment system

Centrifugal machines are also supplied with compressed air which is used as the main source of
pneumatic pressure for opening and closing different valves and the plough (for Batch machines)
during the functioning of the centrifugal machine. It is also a transporting medium for lubrication
oil.

This compressed air is carried in a single large tank which receives it from the compressing
station but it is distributed to small tanks attached to each centrifugal machine where the pressure
is reduced to the range required for the case of Batch machines it ranges from 5-7bar.

3.4.3 Oil mist lubrication system

There are small oil tanks holding oil which is used for lubricating and cooling the bearings inside
the top part of the rotating spindle driven by the motor. The oil is fed in the tanks manually but it
is connected with a ball valve which is operated under the pneumatic pressure due to compressed
air.

The oil drops drop into small transporting pipe drop by drop and transported under pneumatic
pressure to the bearings. The rate of oil drop for Batch machines is 1 drop per second and after
cooling the oil is returned through the return pipe to the collecting container.

The lubricating oil must be maintained at a pressure of not more than 2bar.
3.4.4 Basket
Basket is an inner part of the centrifugal machine in which the process of separation of sugar
crystals from massecuite takes place. It is the part in which a screen is perforated.

40
Different materials such as steel, copper and cast iron can be used for making centrifugal baskets
but stainless steel is preferred of the others due to its corrosive environment. Stress corrosion can
lead to cracking and breaking of the basket but for still this is rare due its sustainability and
strength.

The batch machines comprise baskets with diameter larger than the height, this is for the purpose
of attaining the high centrifugal force G values with shorter central shaft to keep potential out of
balance problems minimized.

-Batch centrifugal machines are cylindrical in shape and have a wide lip at the top wide enough
to accommodate the cake which is formed during the process of feeding the massecuites and
throughout the process of separation. This cake can have thickness range of 170mm to 260mm.

3.4.5 Process wash pipes

Batch machines are connected with hot water supplies and exhaust steam for the purpose of
washing the sugar crystals being separated from the massecuite. For each batch machines steam
jacketed sheath and circumferential water pipes are inserted within the basket.

3.4.6 Screen
Batch centrifugal machines contain screens which are made of stainless steel and have a circular
perforation of about 0.35mm diameter. Screens are important for the purpose of formation of
sugar cake during centrifugation which retains the bulk of the sugar and very little sugar pass
through the holes on the screen. Two different types of screens are installed in the basket, these
are the working screen and backing screen. The installation of screens which include slight
overlap is done carefully so as smooth surface is present as the plough scrapes the screen. The
screen used at Kagera sugar have the shape of backing screen with a flatter surface which
improves the drainage of the material.

3.4.7 Plough
This is the specific component for Batch centrifugal machines used for ploughing the sugar cake
formed during the process by obstructing the way of rotation of the sugar cake, it is fitted inside
the basket and it does not interfere the rotation of the basket instead it stretches out automatically
towards the screen at a given set speed during the deceleration of the basket after rotation. Its
function is to put an obstruction on the screen for the sugar which has been separated from the

41
molasses. Ploughs are provided with tips and continuous use of these tips leads to wearing hence
replacement is required. Basket are provided with steady system to stop any side movement
during ploughing reducing the likelihoods of plough digging in and enabling closer clearances to
be used. Ploughs are made larger in size to avoid vertical movement required and speed up the
ploughing rate.

3.4.8 Sensors or indicators.

These are other specific components of batch centrifugals, they are connected to run
automatically and have the function of sensing different conditions in the machine. Different
indicators are installed for different purposes for example: -

 Temperature and vibration indicators, centrifugal vibration is a sign that there is one or
more serious operation such as uneven massecuite feed or blocked screen. Due to
different to these facts centrifugals are installed with vibration sensors to sense the faults.
On the other hand, temperature sensors are connected to detect any rise in temperature
specifically in shaft bearings. One temperature level that should not be exceeded is
present in the program to protect the bearings from failure.
 Feed Cake size detector, this is connected within the basket and bends at an angle during
the feeding to detect the size of the cake formed during feeding and the transmitter
transmits the information to stop the feeding after the size is attained.

3.4.9 Charging and discharging valves

These are valves which allow material to enter into the machine or discharge from the machine.

For the case of Batch machines during the feeding process two valves are involved one which
allows massecuite to flow from the mingler and the other near the basket opening to feed in the
massecuite into the basket. The functioning of this valve depends on the signal sensing from the
sensor. On the other hand, the discharging valve at the bottom opens after ploughing to allow the
processed sugar to be poured on the screw conveyor. The opening of this valve goes together
with stretching of the plough.

3.4.10 PLC panel

This is the Programmable Logic Controller panel which is situated on the front side of the
machine and its main function is for setting the working parameters and displaying the

42
conditions of the process such as speed and process faults. It is on this panel where an operator
manages his machine.

Figure 9:Cross-section of a batch centrifugal machine

3.5. Maintenance of batch machines.

Batch machines like other machines get some faults due to continuous use of the machine and a
number of circumstances such as loosening of wires connecting different components of the
machines such as sensor wires, transmitter wires and valve connections. Some failures of one
among the components can lead to low efficiency of production or totally failure in production.
Two maintenances are usually done these are scheduled or unscheduled maintenances.

43
One or both parts among the following are considered in fault diagnosis either the Field part or
Motor Control Centre (MCC).

Field part-In this part the parts of the machines are checked and the part to be checked
depends on the problem or fault. Fault diagnosis in field part involves checking for the
proper connections between the parts and valve connections. Wires are checked to ensure
continuity mainly from one component to the vibration monitoring module.

Motor Cubical Centre (MCC)-in this part the main task done is to check and compare
different inputs and outputs of the PV’s and MV’s i.e., Process Variables and Measured
Variables. Different Set Points (SP’s) and control values (CV) are used. The CV values are
compared with the Current to Pneumatic (I/P) converter. The CV’s range from 4- 20 mA and
correspond to percentage range from 0-100% also the I/P correspond to pressure range of 3-
15psi.Consider the table below which shows the correspondence of the terms above as used
in fault analysis.
Table 1: Variables for fault analysis
S/N CV (mA) CV (%) I/P
(psi)
1 4 0 3
2 8 25 6
3 12 50 9
4 16 75 12
5 20 100 15
3.5.1Unscheduled maintenance.
Unscheduled maintenances are fault diagnosis which takes place within the production
time/period or before the time for scheduled maintenance. That is the faults occur unexpectedly
and leads for short breakdown leading to technical checkup in order to counteract the problem.
Three main departments are concerted in case of these faults, these are instrumentation
department, electrical department as well as mechanical department.

Below are Batch centrifugal common problems/faults.

(i) Compressed air faults

44
This refers to the fault in one or more of the parts which work under compressed air. Several
valves which work under compressed air tend to fail in one way or other and this can lead to
decreased efficiency of the apparatus. This fault is displayed on the screen when the pressure
falls below 4, 5bar
-This problem is checked by ensuring the correct connection of wires and air pipes from the
air tanks to the valves which work under compressed air and in case there is loosening, the
fault is analyzed.
Also resetting the pressure to the correct range can help to fix the problem. (ii)
E-stop/over speed
Refers to increased speed exceeding the specified speed, for example for the case of batch
centrifugal machine which is installed at Kagera Sugar Limited have maximum speed of
1150 revolution per minute but in some cases this limit is exceeded to more than 1180
revolution per minute. Main cause of this fault is delaying in sensors which send information
to the control center,
(iii) Main gate fault
This refers to the fault in the valve which allows massecuites to flow from the mingler into
the centrifugal basket for separation. The main cause of this can be freezing of massecuites
along the flow into the machine due to viscosity.
-This can be solved by checking the valve and making some cleanliness if there is any
blockage. The easiest way is by passing hot water or steam to melt the accumulated
massecuite. (iv) Charge indicator fault.
This fault occurs in case the indicator is not bending to its respective angle for making
contact with the load layer which is being fed in the machine basket. This can lead to
overfeeding of the machine which in turn can lead to lowering the efficiency of separation by
leading to production of less cleaned sugar due to large load in the machine.

-The fault is solved by checking the sensation of the indicator and its connections.
(v) Long time charge fault.
This fault results from the delaying of transmission of signals from the charging valve to the
control center.
-Checking connections of wires and the valves is made for solving the problem.
(vi)Oscillation and vibration faults.

45
Oscillation fault refers to the non-uniform motion of the basket, on the other hand, vibration
fault refers to increased trembling of the machine. These can result from: -
• Accumulation of sugar or deposits on rotating parts such as basket, screen and the
rotating bell.
• Foreign objects might have stuck in the accelerator bell.
• Uneven massecuite flow resulting in uneven massecuite thickness over the working
screen surface.
• The working screen can be damaged, clogged or fitted back to front.
• Weight deviation between the screen segments.
• The backing screen not in full contact with the basket and clamping ring on all
surfaces.
• Incorrect assembly basket.
• Damaged motor or poor centrifugal bearings.
(vii) Sugar outlet fault.
This is the fault which takes place mainly in the discharge valve resulting in difficulties in
out discharging the sugar from the machine. This can be accompanied by long discharging
fault. -The fault can be figured out by checking the discharge valve as well delaying time of
indicators.
(viii) Wash pressure fault.
This refers to the fault in washing water pressure, in most of the cases the pressure tends to
decrease resulting in uncleaning of some portion of the sugar crystals being processed in the
machine due to less penetrating power of the water sprayed on the sugar crystals. The main
cause behind is the blockage of some of the washing water holes and some other cases there
is wear in the rubber.

(ix) discolorations of sugar

This is one among the troubleshooting fault which is observed in centrifugal machines. In
this case the sugar crystals leaving the centrifugal appear to be discolored due to a number of
reasons such as: -
• The drip gate is leaking,
• The wash pipe gives uneven distribution or insufficient water,
• The wash time too short,

46
 • The working screen is clogged,
• The backing screen is clogged or worn out etc.
(x) Wet sugar
If the sugar is dump during discharging it can adhere to the spokes at the base of the
centrifugal basket. This may as the result of: -short centrifuging time, Centrifuging speed is
too low, washing too thoroughly or too late, leakage in one of the wash valves etc.

3.5.2 Scheduled maintenances

These are the maintenances which are periodically for the purpose of checking up the
machine parts and repairing and replacing some parts of the machine. Scheduled
maintenances are carried out at the end of the season i.e., after each 8months, and require
long time shutdown of the machine.

Sequence in shutdown of a batch centrifugal

Before a planned stop in centrifugal operations for general checkup and maintenance the
following should be ensured or followed as instructed by (Weibull, 2004): -

(i) The mingler must be emptied and cleaned as thorough as possible.

(ii) Select the charging speed by using the speed selection button 2.
(iii) The mode of operation should be turned to manual (MAN) by pressing the
MAN/AUTO-SEQUENCE.
(iv) Opening the main gate and drip gate.
(v) Clean the massecuite feeder mixer and the inlet system of the centrifugal.
(vi) Close the main gate by pressing MAIN GATE CLOSE and the drip gate by pressing
WASH1.

(vii) Clean the other operational features of the centrifugal such as charge indicator and
discharger.
(viii) Wash the centrifugal basket thoroughly making sure that the working screen,
charging screen and the basket are spotless.
(ix) Open the steam outlet so that the steam reaches both the washing tube for thorough
steam cleaning of the basket and the screen.
(x) If syrup washing occurs, make sure the supply is shut-off.

47
(xi) When steaming and other cleaning is completed, dry out the centrifugal and screens
by pressing speed selection button 3which causes the centrifugal to run, first at
centrifuging speed and then at discharging speed.
(xii) Press the MOTOR OFF (0) button, which disconnects the mains supply to the
monitor.
(xiii) Press the emergency break button and all the mechanical brake to be activated to
bring the centrifugal to stand still. Release the brake by turning the push button in the
direction of the arrow.
(xiv) Shut off the air supply to the air treatment unit behind the centrifugal.
(xv) Switch off the electrical main supply with the main switch on the electrical supply
unit (frequency converter and thyristor converter)

After shutting down the centrifugal the main parts to be checked out in scheduled
maintenance include the following: -

1. Basket
The basket should be checked to ensure its efficient and the main parts to be checked are:
-
 Centrifugal basket wall thickness.
 Centrifugal basket walls drainage holes’ diameters.  Cracks or wear in the basket
walls.
 Checking the basket corrosiveness and spraying it inside and outside walls with
anticorrosive agents.
 Removing the backing and working screens for inspection.
 Cleaning the basket thoroughly to remove all attached particle remains.

2. Screens
During the scheduled maintenances batch centrifugal basket screens are also checked to
ensure if: -
 The backing screen is free from damage, and effective cleanliness of the screen to check
if it is worn out already so as to replace the it or not.

48
 The working screen is not scratched or cracked for efficient drainage of the syrup through
the holes.
3. Checking the centrifugal indicators.
Centrifugal indicators connections are well checked during the long time breakups to
ensure that they are well connected and are able to function proportionally to the specific
measure.
4. Bearing arrangement.
During longer time down periods SKF bearings are also checked out to ensure that the
bearings are free from corrosion. Silver Weibull instructions for bearing system are as
shown below: -
 Checking that there is no water in the oil when toppling up the oil especially at the end of
maintenance processes.
 Run the oil mist unit for twenty-four hours at the end of maintenance.
 Lubricate the veering by running the oil mist about an hour every third and fourth day
while rotating the centrifugal by hand,
 Always use fresh oil during down time period i.e., oil should not be recycled.
5. Air treatment/ oil mist lubrication checkup. This is conducted for ensuring the following:
-
 Pressure governor is adjusted to 6bar,
 Filer emptied of water,
 Proper function of compressed air filter,
 Proper function of the compressed air gauges,
 Governor for oil mist adjusted to 0, 7-1 bar,
 Emergency tank non-return valve operational,
 All screw thoroughly tightened,
 All pipe coupling thoroughly tightened, etc.
6. Washing system.
Washing system is checked for the purpose of ensuring: -
 Wash pipe filter movement is smooth,
 Ensuring that wash nozzles give correct distribution,
 Ensuring that wash pipes are undamaged and hung vertically,

49
  Washing system valves are well closed,
 Wash hose and connections have no leakages and air marks,  Ensuring good
wash valve actuators operational, etc.
7. Charging and discharging valves.
All charging and discharging valves are checked for the purpose of ensuring that: -
 they are undamaged,
 They are well tightened to the specific position,
 Regulating the opening of feeding and discharging,
 Main gate actuator stops at chosen opening,  Ensuring opening and closing
movement.

3.6 Ordering and repairing of parts.

As far as the type of centrifugal is designed and installed by the SILVER WEIBULL, the
ordering of parts should be directed under the Silver Weibull spare parts to obtain correct
fitting and quality.

When ordering spare parts from Silver Weibull the following data should be specified: -

1. Centrifugal type
2. Centrifugal number,
3. Part designation,
4. Part number,
5. Drawing number,
6. Item number on the drawing.

Note; There are special forms which are recommended by SILVER WEIBULL when
ordering part.

An example of the form is shown below:

50
Table 2: Silver Weibull form for ordering replacement part
Centrifugal Type Centrifugal Part Part Drawing Item
Number Designation Number Number number on
Drawing

SW-150/E 2465 Oil mist 29061- 640214-100 5

lubricator 380054

3.7 Conclusion
Generally, it has been observed that batch centrifugal encounter frequent faults during the
operation due to a number of unfavorable conditions hence strong checkup is required to
be done daily.
Below are daily checkups which should be conducted by an operator before the operation
as recommended by (Weibull, 2004).
(i) Basket should be checked to ensure that its components are undamaged.
(ii) Bearing system is undamaged and supplied with oil mist.
(iii)Main gate actuator stops at chosen opening and the drip gate is not leaking.
(iv) The discharging system is undamaged.
(v) The charge indicator is functioning properly.
(vi) The charge indicator is functioning properly.
(vii) The bottom cover and bottom cover actuator are in position.
(viii)Air treatment unit is undamaged, that one oil drop is allowed to drop per second.
(ix)Pneumatic valve bank and electric connection cabinet box door is closed.
(x) All pneumatic pipes are undamaged.
(xi)The washing system is free from damage such that the wash pipe lifter moves
smoothly, all wash nozzles give correct distribution and that the wash pipe tight in
closed position.

51
 4.0 OTHER POTENTIAL SUB-SECTIONS AT THE SUGAR INDUSTRY
4.1 Water treatment plant
Water treatment is an important part of any industry because it is the one from which all water
required within and around the factory is received and processed to remove all unwanted
materials before using for different activities. At Kagera Sugar Limited water treatment plant
comprises two water basins/ponds which receive water pumped underground from the river
Kagera which is about 3km from the factory.

The main functions of water ponds are: -

 They allow much of the sand and debris to naturally settle out of the water before
it is pumped to the water treatment plant.
 These ponds serve as the recycling unit for the water recycled from the process
unit after discharging from the cooling tower.

After receiving the water from the river treatment processes takes place so as to produce water
for different functions within and outside the industry.

Places where water is supplied to from the water treatment plant include: -

 Firefighting water, this water is taken directly from the water basins before
treating.
 Village raw water, this is the water pumped to plantation areas for garden
irrigation activities
 Drinking water, refers to the water treated and pumped to residence places for
domestic uses.
 Process water, this is the water treated and pumped to the process house for
different process uses such as imbibition flow in mills.
 Boiler water, this is the water treated and pumped to the boiler house and used as
boiler feed water which is used for production of steam which is an essential
component for production activities to take place.

52
4.1.2 Water treatment processes
After receiving water from the source (river, lake or ocean) different processes are carried out in
which different chemicals are added so as to turn the dirty source water into clean water.
Through these processes all inorganic and organic matters suspended in the water are removed
and safe water for further uses is obtained.

Below are the common water treatment procedures: -

1. Chemical coagulation
Raw water is mixed with chlorine dioxide which is an oxidant used to break down
naturally occurring organic matters such as decaying leaves and other plant materials.
At Kagera Sugar Limited a chemical coagulant known as Aluminum sulfate is added
and used as the primary coagulant. This is done along the way as the water is flowing
toward the water clarifier in the coagulant chamber which is made in such a way that
the water flows and pass through a small opening and bounces on the walls of the
chamber to insure effective mixing of the chemical.
2. Flocculation
The coagulated water then flows into the flocculation chamber where flocculant
chemical is added to enhance formation of flocs by the small coagulated particles.
The flocculant chemical introduces particles with different ions from those carried on
the water colloids or particulates, this results into attracting of the opposite charged
ions and deposition of particles on the floc surface hence forming larger settleable
particles for ease removal by sedimentation and filtration.
3. Sedimentation
This is the major unit operation in water treatment, the flocculated water flows to the
sedimentation chamber or basin commonly known as a water clarifier which is the
large circular basin containing a stirrer. The stirrer rotes throughout a very small
speed in order to avoid disturbance of the water. The purpose of sedimentation is to
remove suspended solids (particles) that are denser or heavier than water so as to
reduce the particulate load on the filters.
4. Filtration

53
 Filtration is the process of passing water through materials such as coal, sand or other
granular substance to remove particulate impurities that were not removed during
sedimentation process. At Kagera Sugar sedimentation is done in two filter tanks
which contain filter cake made of small stones layer sand layer and the garnet layer at
the bottom part all known as filter beds.
5. Disinfection
The water that is collected from the bottom of filters is then considered as portable
and is collected in the clear wells, and from them it is pumped to different places for
uses such as process plant and villages for domestic use.
Before the water leaves the clear wells under the water treatment plant chlorine is
added to kill micro-organisms present in the water.

54
 References
Doherty, S. (1999). An overview on the chemistry of clarification of cane sugar juice.
Proc.Australia: Sugar cane technology.
Hugot, E. (1986). Hand Book of Cane Sugar Engineering. New York-Tokyo: Amsterdam.
Meade, G. (1963). Cane Sugar Hand Book. New York: Wiley.
Rein, P. (2007). Cane Sugar Engineering. Berlin: Verlag Dr. Albert Bartens KG.
Weibull, S. (2004). Batch centrifugal general maintenance and operation manual. Sweden:
Silver Weibull.

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