A CASE STUDY ON OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF UNITED

SUGAR MILLS LTD.

Submitted by
Washi Abdullah Bin Sharif
ID No: EV 1404060
EMBA- 4(B)

Submitted to
Dr. Nikhil R. Dhar
Professor, Department of IPE, BUET

Faculty of Business Studies

Bangladesh University of Professionals
Mirpur Cantonment, Dhaka 1216

March 28, 2015

Table of Contents
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .......................................................................................................... I
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................ II
1.0 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................ 1
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY....................................................................................................................................... 1

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY........................................................................................................................................... 1
SCOPES AND LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY................................................................................................................. 1
OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS OF TERMS ..................................................................................................................... 2

2.0 GENERAL SETTING AND NEED FOR THE PROJECT ............................................. 3

2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4

HISTORY OF THE PROJECT ............................................................................................................................................ 3

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INDUSTRY......................................................................................................................... 3
ECONOMIC RELEVANCE/CONTRIBUTION TO THE SOCIETY.................................................................................... 3
DESCRIPTION OF LOCATION ......................................................................................................................................... 3

3.0 ISSUES AND CONCERNS ............................................................................................... 4

3.1 OPERATIONS AND SYSTEMS.......................................................................................................................................... 4
3.1.1
Affination and Melting ........................................................................................................................... 4
3.1.2
Milk of Lime Preparation...................................................................................................................... 5
3.1.3
CO2 Gas Purification ................................................................................................................................ 6
3.1.4
Carbonatation ........................................................................................................................................... 6
3.1.5
Carbonated Liquor Filtration ............................................................................................................. 7
3.1.6
Mud De-sweetening Filtration ............................................................................................................ 7
3.1.7
Ion Exchange De-colorization ............................................................................................................ 7
3.1.8
Fine Liquor Concentration ................................................................................................................... 8
3.1.9
Refined Massecuite Crystallization................................................................................................... 8
3.1.10 Refined Sugar Purging, Drying and Packing ................................................................................ 9
3.1.11 Recovery System .................................................................................................................................... 10
3.2 DESIGNS ........................................................................................................................................................................ 11
3.3 PERFORMANCE ............................................................................................................................................................. 12
3.4 ENVIRONMENTAL AND SOCIAL CONCERN............................................................................................................... 13

4.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................... 13

5.0 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 13

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to express my deepest appreciation to all those who provided me the
possibility to complete this report. A special gratitude I give to our course teacher,
Dr. Nikhil R. Dhar, Professor, Department of IPE, BUET, whose contribution on in
stimulating suggestions and encouragement, helped me to coordinate in writing this
report.
Furthermore I would also like to acknowledge with much appreciation the crucial
role of the then General Manager of United Sugar Mills Limited, who gave the
permission to use all the necessary materials to complete my graduation internship
report and current Term Paper as well.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Operations management refers to the administration of business practices to create
the highest level of efficiency possible within an organization. Operations
management is concerned with converting materials and labor into goods and
services as efficiently as possible to maximize the profit of an organization.
The specific objective of this report is focused on overall operations management
practiced in United Sugar Mills Limited based on its operations, systems, designs,
performance, environmental and social concern and benefits and problems
encountered.
A sugar refinery is a refinery which processes raw sugar into white refined sugar or
that processes sugar beet to refined sugar. Raw sugar is either processed into white
refined sugar in local refineries and sold to the local industry and consumers, or it is
exported and refined in the country of destination. Sugar refineries are often located
in heavy sugar-consuming regions such as North America, Europe, and Japan. Since
the 2000s many state-of-the art sugar refineries have been built in Bangladesh.
Fresh refined sugar is produced from imported raw sugar in our sugar refinery using
the most modernized process & state-of-the-art technology. As such, Fresh Sugar
has become market leader in quality fulfilling one-third requirement of countrys
demand. Fresh Refinery Sugar is produced and packed in approved food graded pack
maintaining ISO 9001-2008 and food safety standard.
The sugar refining operation in United Sugar Mills Limited can be classified in to the
following and chronological steps, all of which involve precise and distinct set of
objectives, list of process equipment, operation procedure, control parameters,
operating guidelines:

Affination and Melting

Milk of Lime Preparation

CO2 Gas Purification

Carbonatation

Carbonated Liquor Filtration

ii

Mud De-sweetening Filtration

Ion Exchange De-colorization

Liquor Concentration

Refined Massecuite Crystallization

Refined Sugar Purging, Drying and Packing

Recovery System

There are always strong incentives for Process Management to achieve high levels of
technical performance in a sugar factory. The primary route to achieving good
technical performance is usually close control of process operations, guided by
detailed measures of factory performance.
Even though the factory is taking care to avoid pollution, some of the points like good
drainage facility, location of ETP near housing colony and general cleanliness of the
area is to be looked after. The factory can plant trees sapling in the premises showing
its concern towards environment.

iii

A CASE STUDY ON OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT OF

UNITED SUGAR MILLS LTD.

1.0

INTRODUCTION

1.1

Background of the Study

Operations management refers to the administration of business practices to create

the highest level of efficiency possible within an organization. Operations
management is concerned with converting materials and labor into goods and
services as efficiently as possible to maximize the profit of an organization.
Therefore, a study of operations management process in a specific organization or in
a specific industry is very much needed to better conceptualize it.
1.2

Objectives of the Study

The specific objective of this report is focused on overall operations management

practiced in United Sugar Mills Limited based on its operations, systems, designs,
performance, environmental and social concern and benefits and problems
encountered.
1.3

Scopes and Limitations of the Study

This paper is based on a previously accomplished report on Sugar Refining Process

at United Sugar Mills Ltd. as a part of my graduation in Chemical Engineering. Thus,
the scope of the report is to have the overall idea on:

Plant Location

Operations and Systems

Process Design

Performance

Environmental and Social Concern

Organizational Health and Safety

In preparing this assignment, I had experienced the below limitations:

1.4

Not up to date data

Time, resource and knowledge constraints

Unfavorable conditions to collect some primary data

Operational Definitions of Terms

Baum: A scale to measure density of various liquids

Brix: The sugar content of an aqueous solution
Affination: raw sugar is first mixed with heavy syrup and centrifuged to wash away
the outer coating of the raw sugar crystals
Carbonatation: It involves the introduction of MOL and carbon dioxide enriched gas
into the affinated sugar to remove impurities
Crystallization: The process of formation of solid sugar crystals precipitating from
a fine liquor solution
Decolorization: To reduce the color of brown liquor in order to produce refined
sugar that meets the required color standard
Filtration: Used to separate particles and fluid in carbonated sugar syrup
Massecuite: A suspension of sugar crystals in syrup produced in a sugar factory
Milk of lime: MOL is a milky suspension of Calcium Hydroxide particles and solution
of Calcium Hydroxide Ca(OH)2
Molasses: A viscous by-product of the refining of sugarcane or sugar beets into sugar
Raw sugar: A sucrose which is synthesized from sugar cane or sugar beet and often
comes from minimal refining process
Refined sugar: Made from raw sugar that has undergone a refining process to
remove the molasses

2.0

GENERAL SETTING AND NEED FOR THE PROJECT

2.1

History of the Project

A sugar refinery is a refinery which processes raw sugar into white refined sugar or
that processes sugar beet to refined sugar.
Raw sugar is either processed into white refined sugar in local refineries and sold to
the local industry and consumers, or it is exported and refined in the country of
destination. Sugar refineries are often located in heavy sugar-consuming regions
such as North America, Europe, and Japan. Since the 2000s many state-of-the art
sugar refineries have been built in Bangladesh.
2.2

Characteristics of the Industry

Fresh refined sugar is produced from imported raw sugar in our sugar refinery using
the most modernized process & state-of-the-art technology. As such, Fresh Sugar
has become market leader in quality fulfilling one-third requirement of countrys
demand. Fresh Refinery Sugar is produced and packed in approved food graded pack
maintaining ISO 9001-2008 and food safety standard.
2.3

Economic Relevance/Contribution to the Society

Raw sugar import is on the rise thanks to a new opportunity to export the product
after refining, particularly to countries where Bangladesh enjoys duty-free access. A
government notice issued on October 29 ended a two-year ban on sugar export. The
government, however, has tagged conditions with the export of sugar, in a bid to keep
price level of the commodity stable in the local market. Refineries exporting
processed sugar which were imported in the raw form will have to incorporate a 10
percent value addition to their export prices, according to a government gazette
notification.
2.4

Description of Location

Locating of business involves large & relatively permanent investment. If the site
selection is not done properly, all the money spent on factory building, machinery &
their installation will go in waste & the owner has to suffer great loss. Therefore, the

site for factory should be selected very carefully. While selecting a site it is necessary
to consider technical, commercial, & financial aspects & then select a site that may
provide maximum profit.
Considering plant location as a vital factor, United Sugar Mills Limited established
their plant at Meghnaghat, Narayanganj and at the bank of Meghna River. Locating
its plant in such a sub-urban area, the plant enjoys all the advantages of a sub-urban
site. The best privilege they enjoy is the easy and low-cost transportation of raw
materials (they import brown sugar from Brazil) and final products (in the brand of
Fresh sugar).

3.0

ISSUES AND CONCERNS

3.1

Operations and Systems

The sugar refining operation in United Sugar Mills Limited can be classified in to the
following and chronological steps, all of which involve precise and distinct set of
objectives, list of process equipment, operation procedure, control parameters,
operating guidelines.
3.1.1 Affination and Melting
Objectives:

To remove the color from Raw Sugar down to 1,500 IU

Operation Procedure in Flow Diagram:

3.1.2 Milk of Lime Preparation

Objectives:

To continuously supply the desired milk of lime (MOL)

requirement for the Carbonatation process of the refinery station

Operation Procedure:

Hydrated lime from the storage room is manually fed into bucket
elevator and discharged to the inlet hood of the rotary lime slaker

The concentrated lime slurry overflows from the slaker to

stationary screen to separate grits and other solid particles and
then to the milk of lime preparation tank

The concentration of milk of lime is adjusted in this tank to 10

Baum by diluting with water

3.1.3 CO2 Gas Purification

Objectives:

To remove the ashes and other solid particles from the flue gas

To provide continuous supply of cleaned CO2 gas free from traces

of corrosive oxides of sulfur to the Carbonatation station

Operation Procedure:

Flue gas from boiler chimney is made to pass through a cyclone

dust separator to separate any solid contained in it

Flue gas in the cyclone is sprayed with water to assist in removing

the impurities and to reduce its temperature

After the cyclone, flue gas pass through gas scrubber to further
remove the impurities and to reduce its temperature

Before leaving the scrubber, flue gas is sprayed with soda ash
solution to neutralize traces of sulfur oxides

The cool and clean flue gas is extracted and compressed by

compressor and send to carbonatation station

3.1.4 Carbonatation
Objectives:

To reduce the color of raw melt liquor down to 500 IU or lesser

To enhance the formation of calcium carbonate precipitate that

would adsorb the coloring matter from the remelt liquor

To produced carbonated liquor at final pH of 8.3-8.5 that will filter

easily in the pressure filters

Operation Procedure:

From the raw melt receiving tank, the liquor is pumped to the
liquor-liming unit.

CO2 compressor 1 set is started and send the gas to Carbonators

Limed liquor from liming tank flows to the first carbonatation tank
where CO2 gas is introduced to form CaCO3 precipitate
automatically, the set point for pH =10.5

The carbonated liquor overflows to second ,third carbonators for

further treatment of CO2 gas by automatic control and set point at
9.5 and 8.3

Carbonated liquor from the third vessel overflows and collected in

carbonated liquor tank

3.1.5 Carbonated Liquor Filtration

Objectives:

To separate the liquor from all the precipitated and coagulated

Impurities formed during the carbonatation process

Operation Procedure in Flow Diagram:

3.1.6 Mud De-sweetening Filtration

Objectives:

To recover as much sugar as possible from the sweet sludge

To produce sweet water free from suspended impurities and

turbidity

Operation Procedure:

Sweet sludge is pumped to the filter press for filtering

Dried filter cake is discharged into screw conveyor and sent to mud
bin for temporary storage

From the bin, filter cake is discharge to truck for disposal

3.1.7 Ion Exchange De-colorization

Objectives:

To further reduce the color of brown liquor in order to produce

refined sugar that meets the required color standard

Operation Procedure:

The Decolorization process involves sweetening of Brown Liquor

2, partial draining of sweet water, backwash, regeneration and
rinsing to yield Fine Liquor.

3.1.8 Fine Liquor Concentration

Objectives:

Reduce boiling time, increase pan capacity, reduce color formation

in vacuum pans

Reduce steam consumption and improve overall thermal economy

of the refinery

Greater condensate recovery

Operation Procedure:

Fine liquor from decolorization station is pumped to 1st effect

evaporator and heated by exhaust steam

The partially concentrated liquor from 1st effect transfers to the

2nd effect because of vacuum difference and undergoes further
concentration. The heating medium is vapor from the 1st effect

The concentrated liquor from the 2nd effect is extracted and

pumped to storage tank in the pan floor station for use in refined
sugar boiling. The concentration of liquor leaving the second effect
is controlled by automatic brix controller that controls the rate of
concentrated liquor withdrawal from the second effect

3.1.9 Refined Massecuite Crystallization

Objectives:

To produce maximum quantity of standard quality refined sugar

from fine liquor and molasses

To separate the resulting sugar crystals from molasses

Operation Procedure:

Concentrated fine liquor from overhead storage tanks is charged

into the vacuum pans for crystallization

Previously prepare sugar slurry is injected to form sugar crystals

The resulting crystals are developed by boiling up with fine liquor

From strike receiver, the massecuite is discharged to feed

distributor for feeding to centrifugal machines

Massecuite is spun in the centrifugal to separate the sugar crystals

from molasses

The resulting sugar crystals are discharged into a screw conveyor

and sent to sugar dryer

The resulting molasses (R-1 run off) is collected in a receiving tank,

diluted with hot water to dissolve the sugar grains and pumped to
pan floor for boiling into R-2 massecuite

Boiling procedure for boiling R-2, R-3 and R-4 massecuite is the
same as in boiling R-1 massecuite except that R-1 R-2 and R-3
molasses are used respectively instead of fine liquor.

The last crop of molasses (R4) is sent to raw sugar boiling while
the wet sugar from the centrifugals is sent to sugar dryer

Vacuum in the vacuum pans is maintained by continuous

condensation of vapor by surface condenser and extraction of noncondensable gasses by vacuum pumps.

3.1.10 Refined Sugar Purging, Drying and Packing

Objectives:

To reduce the moisture content of refined sugar from centrifugal

to meet the quality standard for refined sugar

To reduce the temperature of refined sugar to ambient

temperature in order to prevent caking during storage

To pack the resulting sugar at air tight sugar bags

Operation Procedure:

Wet refined sugar from centrifugal is discharged to screw conveyor

for feeding to bucket elevator

Elevator discharges them to buffer bin for uniform feeding to the

pre-dryer

Partially dried sugar is discharged into a vibrating screen to

separate the sugar lumps formed during pre-drying

From vibrating screen, sugar is discharged to dryer/cooler to

further reduce its moisture content and to cool down to ambient
temperature

Sugar lumps separated by vibrating screen is collected in a funnel,

sprayed with hot water and sent to lump sugar melter

The dried and cooled sugar passes through a weighing scale to

determine the amount of refined sugar production

Weighed refined sugar is sent to storage bin by means of belt

conveyor. Each grade of sugar is stored in separate compartment

Each grade of sugar is discharged to a blending conveyor

proportionately depending on the target color of blended sugar

3.1.11 Recovery System

Objectives:

To recover as much sugar as possible from green molasses and last

run-off from refined sugar boiling

Operation Procedure:

Recovery of sugar from green molasses and last refinery run-off is

carried out by employing the three massecuite boiling system

A-Massecuite is boiled from B-magma produced from Bmassecuite boiling, last refinery run-off and excess green molasses
from affination station

The resulting A-massecuite is purged in batch type centrifugal to

separate the A-sugar crystals from molasses

A-sugar produced is sent to melter together with affined sugar. Amolasses produces is sent to pan floor and use for boiling Bmassecuite

B-massecuite is boiled from C-magma produced from C-massecuite

boiling and from A-molasses produced from purging A-massecuite

B-massecuite is purged in continuous centrifugal. B-sugar

produced is mingled with hot water to form B-magma, pumped to
pan floor and used for boiling A-massecuite. B-molasses is also
pumped to pan floor and used for boiling C-massecuite

C-massecuite is boiled from C-seed, which is produced by graining

from excess green molasses, and then builds up with B-molasses

C-massecuite is cured in the crystallizer for at least 48 hours before

purging in continuous centrifugal to allow the crystals to grown
and exhaust the mother liquor from sugar

After curing, C-massecuite is purged in continuous centrifugal. Csugar produced is mingled with hot water to produced C-magma,
pumped to pan floor and used for boiling B-massecuite. Molasses

10

produced is called final molasses and comes out of process as byproduct

3.2

Designs

11

A typical process design of United Sugar Mills Limited.

3.3

Performance

There are always strong incentives for Process Management to achieve high levels of
technical performance in a sugar factory. The primary route to achieving good
technical performance is usually close control of process operations, guided by
detailed measures of factory performance.
A critical area that often does not get sufficient attention is that of equipment and
process design coupled with the need for proper maintenance. There are many
constraints (e.g. financial, mechanical, space and construction) as well as a lack of
skill and/or technical knowledge which can all contribute to placing limits on the
performance that is possible from a particular factory. Identifying and correcting
issues of design and maintenance that adversely affect process performance usually
requires close attention to detail combined with sufficient technical knowledge.
Some very good performance indicator for such kind of industry are as follows:

Look carefully and try to make sense of what you see

You should always know where you are and the way to get back to where you
ought to be

Always put things back where they belong

Try not to make a mess in the first place

Always clean up after yourself

Be in the right place at the right time

Make sure you know how to balance (and not wobble) particularly in
dangerous places

If you want to get stuff safely from one place to another, carry it carefully and
use the right container

Some things need to be well mixed to be at their best

Its best if its not too hot, not too cold, but just right

Its best if its not too big, not too small, but just right

Dont take it out of the machine until you are sure it is properly finished

12

3.4

Environmental and Social Concern

The environmental impacts arising from these processes are:

Filter cake from the carbonatation process

Chemical effluent (brine solution) from the ion exchange process

Coal as the fuel source results in the release of sulphur dioxide (SO2) and
particulate matter (dark smoke)

Boiler ash

Factory general effluent (boiler blow-downs, storm water runoff)

Sugar dust

Noise and odor

4.0

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Even though the factory is taking care to avoid pollution, they should give more
attention to some extents, such as, good drainage facility, location of ETP near
housing colony and general cleanliness of the area etc.
The factory can plant trees sapling in the premises showing its concern towards
environment.

5.0

REFERENCES

Operations Manual of United Sugar Mills Limited

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_refinery
http://gulfbusiness.com/2015/02/new-sugar-refinery-start-operations-saudiarabia-end-2017/#.VRalL_mUe5I
http://books.google.com.bd/books/about/Handbook_of_Sugar_Refining.html?id=L
acV6eM2NXMC&redir_esc=y
http://www.meghnagroup.biz/meghna-group-csr-activities.php
http://gurumia.com/tag/bangladesh-sugar-refiners-association-bsra/

13