4 REFINING OF RAW SUGAR

What is raw sugar ?

Why sugar refining is required?

What are the major processing steps used for sugar refining?
 REFINING OF RAW SUGAR
Definition
 Raw sugar as the name applied the sugar crystals obtained from the juice of sugar
cane or sugar beet plants.
Why refining of raw sugar is required ?
 Cane sugar refining is the production of high quality sugars from re-melted raw cane
sugars
 Refining the sugar crystals give a higher purity than raw sugar. Cane sugar refining is
the production of high quality sugars from re-melted raw cane sugars.
 Refining starts with washing the sugar with warm, almost saturated syrup (to loosen
the molasses film) followed by separation of the crystals from the syrup in a
centrifuge and a washing step with hot water. The washed raw sugar is then melted
 Cont...
 Due to raw sugar contains

 reducing sugars (glucose and fructose)

 inorganic ash (mainly calcium and potassium salts) and

 other organic matter which includes gums, amino acids and color components,

essentially from the cane.

 These impurities must be removed from the sucrose during refining

Why glucose and fructose are regarded as impurities in sugar refineries?

 Ans;-due to the difficulty in crystallizing them from solution. Strict process control,

particularly of pH, must be maintained to avoid loss of sucrose in processing

through its chemical hydrolysis to the unwanted sugars glucose and fructose.
 Cont…
 The major objectives of the refiner is:
 To remove color
 To reduce the quantity of non-sucrose components in the product
 To remove insoluble solids in the raw sugar
 CONT…
 A four major step used for raw sugar refining process are:

 Step 1 – Affination

 Step 2 – Defecation/Clarification

 Step 3 - Char filtration

 Step 4 – Crystallization
 Step 1- Affination
 The first step is called affination, a French word meaning refining.
 The purpose of affination is to remove as much of the molasses film surrounding
the raw sugar crystals as possible, prior to the sugar being dissolved for further
processing.

 The process involve mingling a saturated sugar syrup, called affination syrup,
with the sugar under controlled conditions, prior to removing the liquid in
centrifugal.

 The centrifugal machine utilizes the considerable gravitational force at the

periphery of a basket spinning at high speed.

 This means minimum contact time between wash water and sugar, thus reducing
the amount of sugar dissolved in this process.
 The impure syrup is recycled but an excess is produced.
 This material contains recoverable sugar and is processed separately in the
boil out section of the refinery.
 Recovered boil out sugars are returned for re-melting with the washed
sugar.
Melter
 The affinated sugar is dissolved with hot condensate to a liquid
concentration of approximately 72º Brix at 75ºC prior to defecation.
 The impurities are concentrated into molasses which can be regarded as a
final by-product. The "washed" or "affined" sugar is then dissolved,
utilizing "sweet" water from parts of the refinery process.
 At this stage the melted liquor is temperature and density controlled. The
liquor is screened to exclude fibrous material
 Careful control of its temperature and liquid content are critical:

 too much liquid leads to excessive dissolution of the relatively

pure sugar crystals;

 too little liquid leads the coating will not be washed off, nor
will the liquid phase spin off the crystals;

 too low a temperature leads the coating will not soften and
wash off, nor will the liquid phase spin off the crystals;

 Too high a temperature leads extra colour will form as sugar

degrades;
 Step 2-Defecation/Clarification
 Approximately 40% of the remaining colorants are removed in the
clarification step.
 There are two alternative types of defecation/clarification processes
in use in cane refineries.
 carbonatation

 phosphatation

 In carbonization, milk of lime (calcium hydroxide) is added to the

heated liquor, and boiler flue gas, containing CO2, is bubbled
through the mixture.
Ca (OH)2 + CO2 → CaCO3 + H2O
• The chemical reaction occurs under controlled conditions and as
the calcium carbonate precipitate is formed it includes and
occludes organic impurities such as:
 gums
 amino acids
 color components mentioned earlier, removing them from
the sugar syrup
• The carbonization process is carried out in two stages to obtain an
optimum quality precipitate for filtration, i.e. a suitable size and
distribution of precipitate particles.
a. Filtration
b. PH control
 Cont …
 Eighty to ninety percent of precipitation is sought in the first stage.
 The second stage is controlled by the measurement of the pH of the
solution which is important throughout the process and ensures
complete precipitation of the lime
pH control
 The pH of factory liquors is of considerable importance. Below pH7
sucrose is hydrolyzed to the reducing sugars glucose and fructose,
while above pH9, alkali destruction of sugars occurs and colored
components are formed.
Filtration
 The calcium carbonate precipitate, including the impurities, is now
removed in a pressure filtration stage using polypropylene filter
cloth as supporting media and utilizing the calcium carbonate as a
filter aid.
 The filter mud is later subjected to water washing to remove sucrose residue and
this mud is a waste material.

 Sweet sugar recovered by washing the mud is used for melting in an earlier stage.

Phosphatation involves addition of lime (CaO) and phosphoric acid (H3PO4 or

P2O5) to the melt liquor which results in formation of a calcium phosphate
precipitate.

 Color bodies adsorb onto the calcium phosphate precipitate and are removed
during the subsequent clarification and filtration.

 Polymers are added to aid in the formation of a precipitate floc which is more
easily filtered
The mechanism of separation in phosphatation is fundamentally
different from Carbonatation.

 In phosphatation the principal mechanism is flocculation whereas

carbonatation acts mainly by inclusion of impurities within the
calcium carbonate crystals

 Phosphatation relies on the formation of a floe formed by the

addition of lime and phosphoric acid, which with the addition of
flocculants, captures fine colloidal matter and is separated by
flotation with dissolved air
 Comparison of carbonization and phosphatation

carbonization phosphatation

Capital cost Capital intensive; larger filter area Cheap requirement

require

Operating cost low High due to cost of

chemical
Color removal 40-50 consistent 20-30 more dependent on
sugar quality
Ash removal Higher lime usage precipitates Little ash removal
more calcium salts

Waste produced Large quantity of cake produced Solid waste quantity small
 Cont...

carbonization phosphatation

maintenance Gas pumps to maintain low maintenance

Liquor clarity excellent Requires bed or pressure filtration before

decolorization
 Step 3 - Char Filtration
 The relatively pure honey colored liquor from the filtration stage, "raw liquor",
is then subjected to final decolourisation by contact with bone charcoal.

 The bone char consists of active carbon on a calcium phosphate skeleton.

 It has a high surface area and the unique ability to absorb color and inorganic ash
impurities from the sugar.

 Following the de-colorization cycle the bone char is revivified first by water
washing, to remove inorganic impurities, and then heating in the absence of air
to 650 OC to volatilize organic impurities.

 The decolorized ’fine liquor’ is now ready for the final refining and recovery
step, which is achieved by crystallization in vacuum pans.
 Step 4 - Crystallization
 Crystallization is not only a means to convert the sucrose to a more usable form,
but also an important refining step, since pure sucrose tends to crystallize out of
the solution, leaving most of the impurities in the associated syrup.

 The process is carried out under a reduced pressure of 75 - 90 kPa to allow a

reduced boiling temperature (60 - 70 Oc), so avoiding the further formation of
color compounds.

 Fine liquor is concentrated until it is super-saturated then stage is shock-seeded

by the addition of a small quantity of sucrose to give spontaneous nucleation of
fine sucrose crystals.
 CONT…
 The crystals thus formed are grown under automatically controlled conditions
until the desired final grain size is achieved.

 The pan contents, known as massecuite, are then discharged to receivers prior to
separation on automatic centrifugal machines.

 The sugar thus recovered is then dried and graded prior to packing, the syrup
being recycled for three further recoveries boiling.

 The final syrup is used as the starting material for other sugar products, such as
soft brown sugar, coffee crystals, golden syrup and treacle.
fig. Flow sheet of the cane sugar refining process
 Process descriptions
Sugar Receiving
 Some refineries are attached to cane mills while others are stand alone facilities.

 In a stand alone sugar refinery, raw sugar will arrive in bulk by barge, rail or trucks
for unloading into the raw sugar warehouse.

 The raw sugar will undergo metal and debris removal and large lumps will be
crushed prior to transfer to the mingler to begin re-melting and refining.
Affination

 The raw sugar is mixed with a saturated syrup and then centrifuged to extract the
crystals. Surface impurities (molasses) dissolve in this syrup and are removed.

Melter

 The sugar from 'affination' and 'recovery' is stirred and dissolved in hot water to
the correct concentration, whilst strainers and brushes remove 'foreign objects'.

 The affinated sugar is dissolved with hot condensate to a liquid concentration of

approximately 72º Brix at 75ºC prior to defecation

Defecation/Clarification

 There are two alternative types of defecation processes in use in cane refineries,
carbonatation and phosphatation:
Filtration

 The clarified juice from carbonization or phosphatation contains suspended solids

which would plug the interstitial spaces and blind the pores of decolorization resin,
bone char or carbon.

 Pre-coat vacuum filters, pre-coat pressure filters, deep bed multimedia filters or
some combination of these are used to produce a filtered syrup which will flow
through the decolorization columns without causing a pressure buildup.

Decolorization

 Several techniques can be used for removing color from the sugar juice and they
are subject to continuous developments. The main ones are Activated carbon,
Polymeric media and Bone char
Evaporation
• Liquor from decolorization has a value between 60 and 65, and should be
evaporated up to about 75 o brix ahead of pans, to improve steam economy.
• Evaporation is generally carried out in at least double with use made of vapor bled
from evaporators as appropriate to minimize steam usage
• The raw sugar was melted to 72° Brix to lower the viscosity for filtration and
decolorization, but requires a much higher Brix to achieve a supersaturated sugar
concentration for crystallization in the vacuum pans which are effectively single
effect evaporators.
• Multiple effect evaporators are used to improve steam economy
while raising the Brix from 68° Brix (after dilution) to approximately 80° Brix.
Crystallization
• The solution is boiled under vacuum and the crystal growth monitored to produce
particular sizes of crystal.

Centrifugal Machines:
• solution of mother syrup and crystals is then spun in Centrifugal Machines leaving
the White Sugar Crystals which are then washed and the mother syrup is further
used to produce Golden Syrup and lower grade moist sugars.

Drying and Cooling

• The Processes of drying and cooling refined sugar, the applicable theory and
the equipment used are all the same as for raw sugar.
• wet sugar is Dried in a current of hot air.
PACKAGING:
• After grading, the Dry Granulated Sugar is packeted for the
domestic market, and bagged for the commercial market.