HOW SUGAR IS MADE

SUGAR IS PRODUCED
FROM PLANTS

Sugar Beets that are mostly grown

in cooler regions

Brown Sugar

Sugarcane, which are largely

grown in tropical countries
 Sugar is produced in 121 countries
 Global production now exceeds 120 Million tons a year
 Approximately 70% is produced from sugarcane; 30% from sugar
beet
 SUGAR IS SUCROSE: C12H22O11
 What we call sugar, the chemist knows as ‘sucrose’ of the
family of sugars, otherwise known as saccharides, from the
grouping called carbohydrates

 The simplest of sugar is glucose, C6H12O6

PLANTS PRODUCE SUGAR THROUGH PHOTOSYNTHESIS

 Plants take in carbon dioxide from the air through pores in leaves &
absorbs water through roots.
 These are combined to form sugar using energy from the sun & with
the help of substance called chlorophyll through the following
chemical reaction:
12 CO2 + 11 H2 O = C12 H22 O11 + 12 O2
carbon dioxide + water = sucrose + oxygen
This shows that oxygen is given off during the process of
photosynthesis.
 SUGAR FROM SUGARCANE

 Sugarcane is a genus of tropical grasses which requires strong sunlight

& abundant water for satisfactory growth, provided the roots are not
waterlogged.
 Comes in hybrids of several species with others growing up to 5 meters
tall
 The cane itself looks like a bamboo cane & it is here
that the sucrose is stored
 In right climate, the cane will grow in 12 months
and, when cut, will re-grow in another 12 months
period provided the roots are undisturbed.
 The regrown plant is called ratoon, a word derived
from Spanish (to sprout); ratoons can lasts many
cycles.
 A typical sugar content for mature cane would be 10% by
weight, depending on varieties and varies in season and in
location
 Yield per hectare varies considerably; rough estimate of about
100 tons per hectare, or about 10 tons of sugar per hectare
 Sugarcane is harvested by chopping
down the stems but leaving the roots so
that it re-grows in time for the next crop.
 Harvest time normally done on dry
season & last from as short of 2 ½
months to 11 months.
 Harvested cane is brought to the factory
normally by trucks.
EXTRACTION

IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF
EXTRACTION
 Energy Balance
 Efficiency of Extraction
 Profitability of Operations
IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF EXTRACTION
 The manager needs to process the cane as soon as possible if sugar
losses are to be avoided, yet needs to have a sufficient supply in
storage in times when cutting & transport are stopped. Typically cane
is milled within 24 hrs. of cutting.
IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF EXTRACTION
 Extraction process uses fresh hot water pumped in counter-current to
the cane. More water usage means more sugar being extracted, but
the more dilute the mixed juice becomes, hence more energy is now
required in evaporating the juice.
IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF EXTRACTION…continued
 Cane preparation is critical to good sugar extraction, hence the need
for cutting & shredding. These, however, also need extra energy and
equipment.
IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF EXTRACTION…continued
 The more accurately the mills are set (adjusted), the drier is the
residual fiber (bagasse), hence the lesser sugar remaining in the fiber.

Mill Setting illustration & 3-D models

 TYPICAL EXTRACTION PROCESS

BAGASSE
PREPARED CANE MIXED JUICE
(25 – 30 Tons / 100 TC)

 12 to 14% Fiber  15% Sugar  1 to 2% Sugar

 50% Moisture
 Sand & grit from field as
Ash
EVAPORATION

Mixed juice from extraction undergoes clarification and filtration

processes before it is evaporated into syrup.
 CLARIFICATION PROCESS
– The Mixed Juice from Extraction is
preheated prior to liming so that
clarification is optimal.
– The milk of lime, calcium hydroxide or
Ca(OH)2, is metered into the juice to
hold the required ratio and the limed
juice enter a gravitational settling
tank, clarifier.
– The juice travels through the clarifier
at a very low superficial velocity so
that the solids settle out and clear
juice exits.
 FILTRATION PROCESS
– The mud from the clarifier still
contains valuable sugar so it is
filtered on rotary vacuum
filters where the residual juice
is extracted and the mud can
be washed before discharge,
producing sweet water.
– The juice and the sweet water
are returned to the process.
EVAPORATION

 The clear juice has probably only 15% sugar content

 Saturated sugar liquor, required before crystallization can occur, is close
to 80% sugar content
 Evaporation in steam-heated multi-effect evaporator is the best way of
approaching the saturated condition because low pressure water
vapors can be produced for heating duties elsewhere in the factory
EVAPORATION

 The evaporator sets the steam consumption of the factory

and is designed to match the energy requirement of the
entire site.
– the manager wants to avoid burning auxiliary fuel
EVAPORATION

 The greater the number of effects, the less steam is required to

drive the first effect.
 Each subsequent effect is heated by the vapor from the previous
effect so has to be operated at a lower temperature and
therefore lower pressure.
BOILING

 Physical chemistry assists with sugar purification during the

crystallization process because there is a natural tendency for
the sugar crystals to form as pure sucrose, rejecting the non-
sugars.
 When the sugar crystals are growing in the mother liquor they
tend to be pure and the mother liquor becomes more impure.
 Most remaining non-sugar in the product is contained in the
coating of the mother liquor.
BOILING

 The mother liquor still contains valuable sugar of course so the

crystallization is repeated several times.
 This is particularly true of other sugars such as glucose and
fructose which are the breakdown products of sucrose.
 Each subsequent step therefore becomes more difficult until one
reaches a point where it is no longer viable to continue.
BOILING

 The crystallization step itself – a “boiling” – takes place in a

vacuum pan: a large closed kettle with steam heated pipes (in
practice the heating is done with a low pressure water vapor
from the evaporator).
 Some modern pans are continuous flow devices but most are
batch devices which go through a discrete cycle and are emptied
for a new boiling; typical might be 4 hours long.
BOILING

 The mixture of crystal and mother liquor from a boiling, called

“massecuite”, is dropped into a receiving tank called a crystallizer
where is called down and the crystals continue to grow.
 This also releases the pan for a new boiling.
 From the crystallizer the massecuite is fed to the centrifuges.
BOILING
In a raw sugar factory it
is normal to conduct
three boilings

 The first or “A” boiling produces the best sugar which is sent to the store.
 The “B” boiling takes longer and the retention time in the crystallizer is also
longer if a reasonable crystal size is to be achieved.
– Some factories re-melt the B sugar to provide part of the A boiling
feedstock, others use the crystals as seed for the A boiling and others
mix the B sugar with the A sugar for sale.
 The “C” boiling takes proportionally longer than the B boiling and
considerably longer to crystallize.
– The sugar is usually used as seed for B boilings and the rest is re-melted
STORAGE

 The final raw sugar forms a sticky mountain in the storage and looks
rather like the soft brown sugar found in domestic kitchen.
– It could be used that way, or sent to the refinery for refining.
 Because one cannot get all the sugar of the juice, there is a sweet by-
product made: molasses.
– This is usually turned into a cattle food or is sent to a distillery
where alcohol is made.
POWER & STEAM

 The steam is raised in bagasse fired boilers which usually have a

secondary fuel to accommodate imbalances in bagasse supply and
steam power demand.
 The factory designer attempts to balance the site such that there is
always sufficient bagasse to fuel the factory’s boilers.
 Balancing is done by selecting the right mix of turbine & electric
drives for major equipment & selecting the pressure of steam to give
the efficiency required.