LOVELY PROFFESTIONAL UNIVERSITY

LOVELY SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

MASTER OF BUISNESS APPLICATION

MGT 519
Operations Management

TERM PAPER
To study the procedural methodology of
production & control of the sugar industry

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Mr. Nitin Dhir Ashish Suman

Roll No. RS1904 A10
Reg. No. 10905868

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 ACKNOWLEGMENT
It is our immense pleasure to present the Term Paper on

“To Study the Procedural Methodology

of Production Planning & Central of

The Sugar Industry”

Here we would like to express our deep sense of gratitude to our

Respected faculty

Asst Proff. Nitin Dhir

For his timely guidance, valuable support and encouragement at every step of
preparing this term paper. We would also like to thank our lecturers, faculty
members and all those persons who have directly or indirectly helped
us in providing the books and amenities which have helped in
development of this term paper, without such help this
report would not have been possible.

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 CONTENTS
1. Introduction : 05
Indian Sugar Industry : 05
Global Sugar Industry : 05
2. Yeilds : 06
3. Seasonal Nature Of Production : 06
4. Setting up Sugar Factory : 07
5. Operation & mangment : 08
6. Plant layout : 10
7. Industrial Process Based Classification of Sugar : 08

8. Manufactring Process of Raw Sugar : 09

Manufactring Process : 10
Precaution to be taken during manufacturing of raw sugar : 12
9. Manufacturing Of refined Sugar : 13
10.Sequence of steps in sugar production : 18
11.Cleaner technologies : 22
12.Significance of polluted Genreted : 23

13.References : 26

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 INTRODUCTION
Indian Sugar Industry
India is the largest consumer and second largest producer of sugar in the world (Source: USDA
Foreign Agricultural Service). The Indian sugar industry is the second largest agro-industry
located in the rural India. The Indian sugar industry has a turnover of Rs. 500 billion per annum
and it contributes almost Rs. 22.5 billion to the central and state ex-chequer as tax, and excise
duty every year (Source: Ministry of Food, Government of India). It is the second largest agro-
processing industry in the country after cotton textiles. With 453 operating sugar mills in
different parts of the country, Indian sugar industry has been a focal point for socio-economic
development in the rural areas.

The industry not only generates power for its own requirement but surplus power for export to
the grid based on byproduct bagasse. It also produces ethanol, an ecology friendly and
renewable energy for blending with petrol. The sugar industry in the country uses only
sugarcane as input, hence sugar Companies have been established in large sugarcane growing
states like Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh.
These six states contribute more than 85% of total sugar production in the country; Uttar
Pradesh and Maharashtra together contribute more than 57% of total production.

Indian sugar industry has grown horizontally with large number of small sized sugar plants set
up throughout the country as opposed to the consolidation of capacity in the rest of the
important sugar producing countries, where greater emphasis has been laid on larger capacity
of sugar plants.

Global Sugar Industry

Brazil and India are the largest sugar producing countries followed by China, USA, Thailand,
Australia, Mexico, Pakistan, France and Germany. Global sugar production increased from
approximately 125.88 MMT in 1995-1996 to 149.4 MMT in 2002-2003 and then declined to
143.7 MMT in 2003-2004, whereas consumption increased steadily from 118.1 MMT in 1995-
1996 to 142.8 MMT in 2003-2004.

The world consumption is projected to grow to 160.7 MMT in 2010, and 176.1 MMT by 2015.
According to ISO, the world sugar output is forecasted to reach 145.0 MMT and consumption to
reach 147.0 MMT in 2004-2005, resulting in a deficit of around 2 MMT in 2004-2005. Further,
since October 2003, nearly 5 MMT of surplus sugar are expected to have been removed from
the world sugar balance, the stock/ consumption ratio to less than 42%.

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Yields
The yield of gur from sugar cane depends mostly on the quality of the cane and the efficiency of
the extraction of juice. The table below gives some extreme values.

High quality cane Poor quality cane

Juice per 100kg of cane 50kg 40kg

% sugar in juice 22 17

Gur per 100kg of cane 10kg 7kg

High quality cane has a good juice content with high sugar levels (20%+). Poor quality cane or
cane that has been harvested early may have similar juice content but the sugar levels will be
reduced.

The efficiency with which juice can be extracted from the cane is limited by the technology
used. The simple three roller crushers used by most artisanal producers will never extract more
than 50kg of juice from each 100kg of cane.Yields are also improved by careful control of the
boiling process. Boiling should be completed as rapidly as possible and the conditions kept as
clean as possible.

Seasonal nature of production

Sugarcane and sugar production is seasonal with more than 90% of sugarcane and sugar
production in the winter months of November-March. The sugarcane crushing season lasts on
an average of 100-150 days per annum depending on the region, weather, irrigation and
cultivation practices as well as cane availability, in itself a function of the prices paid to cane
growers.

Sugarcane and sugar production is partly dependent on monsoons. Higher acreage under
sugarcane in a season of normal monsoons and higher yields results in higher sugarcane and
sugar production. Both area and production of sugarcane fluctuate considerably from year to
year. This is due to variations in climatic conditions, the vulnerability of areas cultivated under
rain fed conditions, fluctuations in prices of gur and khandsari and changes in returns from
competing crops. Despite this instability, both area and production of sugarcane have increased
considerably over the past three decades. The average area of sugarcane cultivation increased
from 2.4 millionha in the early-sixties to about 4.3 million ha at present

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Setting up a sugar factory
Types of sugar factory
Service extraction All is required is a site for the crusher and a space to build the furnace.
Farmers, growers and merchants provide the raw material for processing and packaging. They
take the risk of poor preparation and problems associated with inadequate storage and
packaging. The processors charge a rate per unit of cane crushed or juice processed payable
either in cash or percentage of the output or both.

The farmers can then rent the furnace or build their own close to the crusher site and produce
syrup or jaggery, keeping control of the quality of the product. They could return to the farm
and process the juice there or could pay others to process the juice for them.

This type of system is relatively low-cost and is suited to small scale production of up to 50 TCD
in areas where cane is grown during short seasons on small plots spread out over a wide area.

Independent sugar factoryThe factory buys in sugar cane and is then responsible for all aspects
of preparation, processing and marketing the product. This type of business needs a reliable
and constant supply of cane of acceptable quality. Although the factory could grow its own
cane it is more usual for it to buy in cane from various sources including:

 direct from individual farmers/growers

 agricultural co-operatives or groups
 private traders or companies

Because the cane quality deteriorates quickly after harvest, it is important that the suppliers are
contracted to supply cane at given times. This enables the factory to work continually while
minimising the time harvested cane is allowed to stand.This type of factory is suitable for
medium scale production of between 50 and 500 TCD where cane is available all year round or
for a substantial part of the year.

Sugar estatesThe sugar estate takes control of all aspects of sugar production from growing
cane to processing and marketing. It is usual for the estate to provide the bulk of their
requirements and occasionally to contract local growers to produce certain amounts of cane for
them. The estates can be fully owned by the factory or leased from the farmers in the area. In
both cases the factory farms the land in accordance with its needs, providing all equipment,
fertiliser, pesticides and transport.Operating and managing an operation of this magnitude
requires resources such as tractors, ploughs and harvesting equipment as well as a skilled
workforce, all of which add to the cost of the process.

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Operation and management
Costs Sugar production, even at the small scale, is a complex business which requires skilled
people to manage and supervise all aspects of the production, from the collection of cane to
the delivery of sugar to the market place. If these skills are not available locally then they will
have to be brought in to set up the business and to train staff, which will add cost to the
project.

The costs involved with any sugar factory need to be taken into account. Small service
extraction factories are the cheapest option but will require a crusher, boiling pan and furnace
and some means of driving the crusher.

Although OPS is a low-cost option compared to large-scale production plants, it still requires
substantial investment. In addition, there would be costs involved with operation,
maintenance, transport and marketing.

EnergySugar production uses a great deal of energy to boil the juice as well as that required to
operate crushers and other equipment. In most cases sugar factories rely on bagasse as the
main fuel for the boiling process and care is required, especially with open pan systems, to
ensure that sufficient bagasse is available.

For most small to medium-scale single or multi-pan factories producing lump sugars or syrups
there is usually sufficient bagasse. In larger multi-pan factories producing granular sugars, such
as OPS, it is often difficult to obtain enough bagasse. In these situations additional fuel is
required which may be bagasse obtained from another factory or wood. Using forced-draught
shell furnaces, as developed for OPS factories, it is possible to obtain a fuel balance for the
boiling operation (first sugar only) using bagasse.

To operate the crushers, crystallisers, centrifuges and other powered equipment, an additional
energy source is required. This may be electricity or diesel, both of which add to the total cost.
If electricity from the grid is not available then it will be necessary to generate power at the
factory. This means the installation of diesel powered generators requiring a reliable supply of
diesel fuel and engine spares.

Most VP factories are self-sufficient, producing their own electricity and heating for both the
process and the factory as a whole. With careful management and using modern, highly
efficient bagasse-fired boilers it is possible to produce more electricity than is required by the
factory. It may be possible to sell this excess electricity to the grid or other users, generating
another source of income for the factory.

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Transportation :Transport may be required to bring cane from the fields to the factory and
also to take the product to market. If motor vehicles are used then capital, maintenance and
operating costs must be added to the cost of the product. If animal powered transport is used
then hire charges and feed costs are also applicable. There may also be costs associated with
the loss of the draft animal to other duties.

MaintenanceEquipment cannot be operated effectively without proper maintenance and

repair. Engines, electric motors, crushers and permanently sited furnaces will all need routine
maintenance if they are to operate efficiently.

Crusher rollers will wear with time and require re-machining which necessitates access to a
workshop with a lathe. Usually, rolls can only be re-machined once after which they will be too
small for effective crushing. Therefore spare rolls or facilities for refacing old rolls will be
required. Other spares such as bearings and gears may also be required.

Therefore due consideration must be given to the provision of maintenance. Several options
are available to the factory:

•provide its own spares

•buy spares from local suppliers

•import from outside the region or country.

Sugar caneSuitable sugar cane must be available if a factory is to be efficiently operated.

Because of local conditions and circumstances it may not be possible to grow the best type of
cane and so a compromise will have to be made. Investigatory work can be undertaken with
local agricultural research centres or, if possible, established sugar factories which will already
have undertaken research into varieties suitable for processing. After selecting a suitable
variety it will be necessary to test it to ensure that it will succeed under local conditions.
However, introducing a new variety of cane into an area may have a number of problems
including:

•Farming practises may have to change to enable the new cane type to be grown successfully
and on a sufficient scale.

•Farmer may not wish to invest in a new variety of cane until a market is assured.

•Chemical fertiliser may be required

Most medium-scale factories will require a set minimum amount of cane each day. Because of
the rapid rate of deterioration of the harvested cane, it must be used with twenty four hours. In
addition, the growing season may be shorter than the operational period of a factory and so
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farmers may have to grow cane over a longer period to meet demand. Therefore it may be
necessary for farmers to change their farming practices to allow for a longer season and
staggered harvests.

In return the farmer will receive a guaranteed income per unit weight of cane from the factory
and can often claim part of the payment in advance. However, the factory retains quality
control and usually has the right to reduce payment if the condition of the cane falls below that
required.

Plant Layout

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 Industrial process based classification of sugar
Sugarcane is brought to the factory, weighed and sent to the milling plant. Juice is extracted in
the milling plant and heated and treated by double sulphitation process in most of the factories
in India. In this double sulphitation process, juice is heated to 75 o C and treated with lime and
sulphur dioxide (SO2). The concentrated syrup from the evaporator is again bleached by passing
SO2 through and the pH of the syrup drops down to about 5.4. It is then sent to the vacuum
pan, where the thickened syrup is boiled 3-4 times as per purity inorder to extract the sucrose
content on the crystals.

The various types of sugar include raw sugar, centrifugal sugar, white refined sugar, and non-
centrifugal sugar.

Raw sugar: It is brown sugar, which includes molasses and various impurities at the stage
before it is crystallized. Raw sugars are produced in the processing of cane juice but only as
intermediates en route to white sugar.

Centrifugal sugar: This is raw sugar which has been crystallized and most of the molasses
spun off by the use of a centrifuge.

White sugar: In developed countries, most white sugar is sugar that has undergone one
further refining process. There are various degrees of refining and the consequent purity and
consistency of sugar crystals. As in other developing countries, most of the mill sugar produced
and consumed in India is plantation white, meaning sugar that has undergone a first stage of
refining at the mill, but which is less refined than the refined white sugar consumed in
developed countries.

Non-centrifugal sugar: This sugar is gur, which includes the molasses. It is produced by
primitive artisanal processes and mostly consumed in rural areas. In Northwestern India, mainly
in UP, there is also very substantial production of khandsari , which is a type of sugar produced
by small scale country mills with the use of a centrifuge.

Gur is not a close substitute for sugar, and is mainly consumed by low income rural people as a
food stuff rather than as a sweetening agent. Sugarcane contains 70% water, 14% fiber, 13.3%
saccarose (about 10 to 15% sucrose), and 2.7% soluble impurities. Sugar beet has a water
content of 75%, and the saccarose concentration is approximately 17 %.

Manufacturing process of raw sugar

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Production of very high polarity raw sugar The study on world sugar export market reveals that
at any given point of time, Global Tradable Surplus is about 500-600 lakh tones out of which
50% is raw sugar, 35-40% is refined sugar and 10-15% is plantation white sugar. In the year
2007-08 due to good monsoon, bumper crop of sugarcane has resulted in the huge stock of
sugar after meeting the domestic consumption. The sugar mills would have to face storage
problem, burden of interest, insurance and subdued sugar prices, financial conditions of the
sugar factories would have gravely affected. The Government therefore, allowed export of
sugar by announcing transport subsidy to sugar units. As the new sugar refineries have come
up many sugar mills turn to production of very high pol (VHP) raw sugar for the refineries.

Table VHP Raw Sugar Production

S.No Parameters VHP Raw Sugar
1 Colour (Icu) 600-1200
2 Pol % 99.0 – 99.30
3 Moisture (%) 0.10 – 0.12
4 Ash (%) 0.12 – 0.20
5 RS% 0.12 – 0.15
6 Starch (ppm) 100 – 150 max
7 Dextran (ppm) 75 max

Manufacturing process

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  To avoid bacterial contamination and to control dextran, 10-17 parts per million (ppm)
of quarternary ammonium compound base effective biocide is used,
steam/hot water washing is carried twice in a shift.
 Screening of raw juice is carried with double stage DSM screen having 0.6/0.7 millimetre
(mm) aperture.
 Mixed juice phosphate level is kept 300 to 325 milligrams per litre mg/L by addition of
phosphoric acid of A Grade.
 Raw juice is heated to 76 to 78oC
 Simple detection process is followed only by adding milk of lime 60 to 80 brix to
maintain the pH in the range of 7.2 to 7.6, juice is heated up to 102 o C to 103oC and
clarified.
 Addition of 1 to 3 ppm of mud setting and colourant is added to get brilliant colour.
 Juice or syrup sulphitation is not required.
 There massecuite boiling system is followed as that of white sugar.
 B m/c single cured seed taken for A m/c as a footing partially melted
 C m/c double cured melted
 B & C melt taken for A m/c boiling

Curing
A m/c is cured in steep cone machine of 38” x 49” machine

Time cycle of A m/c is adjusted according to quality of dropping sugar without any lumps.

Conveying
Raw sugar conveyed in sugar hoppers blowing hot and cold air.

Grading
Mesh/screen fitted on top side for separation of rotary and for other deck that is, 6,8,10 mm
mesh serves the purpose for bottom side with any type of plate having 2 mm thickness or
tarpaulin/plastic paper no difficulty is experienced at grading.

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 Figure 3-6: Clarification Process in Raw Sugar Manufacturing

Clarification Process in Raw Sugar Manufacturing

Precautions to be taken during the manufacturing of raw sugar

 Supply of clean, fresh cane to keep dextran within the limits
 Elimination of maximum suspended bagacillo
 Mill sanitation
 pH of limed juice and clear juice to avoid distraction of reducing sugars
 Phosphate level is to be maintained 300-350 ppm
 Production of hard uniform grain having equal size in the range of 600-1200 micron.
 Viscosity is to be reduced by utilizing hot water condensate at the end of strike of A.B. &
C m/c boiling.
 Drying and cooling of raw sugar is strictly followed.

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 Process Flow Chart of Three Stage Boiling System

Manufacturing of refined sugar

There are 10 discrete stages of the refining process with various options available at each stage:

 Raw sugar delivery

 Melting
 Clarification
 Filtration
 Decolorization
 Ion exchange resin column

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 - Melt concentration
- Brine recovery system
 Scum desweetening
 Crystallization
 Centrifugation
 Drying, storage and packaging
 Recovery house (Raw sugar house would be as recovery house)

A. Raw sugar delivery

In raw sugar handling the mechanized system is advisable as it would help in reducing the loss
of sugar handling from port to factory. The present sugar handling systems are crude, labour-
intensive, expensive and time consuming as well as losses are high.

B. Raw sugar melting and screening

Raw sugar from raw sugar centrifugal machine will be conveyed to the melter through a screw
conveyer. This raw sugar will be melted in a specially designed horizontal melter with sweet
water received from the decolorization station and hot water with controlled brix. Double
screened melt will be pumped to the buffer tank for clarification.

C. Ion exchange resin process brief

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For the production of refined sugar, decolorization of the melt is required through ion exchange
resins. Two stage decolorizing process for this particular application is recommended. In this
process, the decolorization is effected by passing the clear melt through a styrene based resin.

The resin, after completing the duty cycle, which is normally of 16-24 hrs, is desweetened by
back flushing vigorously with hot, soft water to disperse the bed and to remove any suspended
matter which may have collected during the duty cycle.

Regeneration is carried out with 10% sodium chloride solution having 2% concentration of
sodium hydroxide.

Operation sequence:

 Sweeten on
 Service run
 Sweeten off
 Back wash
 Regeneration
 Displacement
 Descaling

i. Melt concentration

The fine liquor is concentrated in the evaporator to brix 74-76° to save energy and to maintain
the product quality by stabilizing the brix of the evaporated fine liquor. A thin-film falling film-
type double effect evaporator would be used for concentration of fine liquor. Typically the
heating surface of each falling film would be around 500 m2.

ii. Brine recovery system

This recovery process is based on the concentration of COD and colouring material in the
retentate, while smaller molecules such as sodium chloride, sodium hydroxide, and water can
easily cross the membrane (permeate).

In this recovery system, organic spiral - wound NF membranes are being used with high
concentration factor of effluent. The spiral-wound membranes are much cheaper to tubular
type. In this process each effluent from caustic brine regeneration is processed in a cross-flow
filtration skid equipped with spiral nano-filtration membranes. Under a pressure of 20 bars, the
spent brine would be highly purified to give a new load of recovered brine, which would be
used for the next regeneration cycle.

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The membranes are easy to clean and the efficiency of resin regeneration with nano- filtration
brine would be about 70-80% and it can be further increased by installing brine concentrator.

D. Scum de-sweetening station

Flotation scums, being a suspension of tricalcium phosphate floe, floated off impurities and air
bubbles in concentrated sugar liquor, form a complex system. The separation of floe and
impurities from the solution inorder to recover sugar presents a number of difficulties. These
often make the operation costly, either in actual expense or through loss of sucrose in the
course of the recovery treatment.

The problems encountered in treatment of scum for sugar recovery arise out of the slimy and
gelatinous character of the floe and the impurities occluded in it. These characteristics
adversely affect the two basic methods-filtration and centrifugal separation - that have been
available for the purpose.

The three stage scum desweetening process followed by specially designed pressure filtration is
an advanced and proven process of extracting the sugar from the scum. The process flow is
clearly illustrated in the Figure .

E. Crystallization - refined massecuite boiling

Table : Process brief of Crystallization of Refined Sugar

Inlet Clarified, filtered, decolorized Liquor

Colour 150 – 200 IU

Brix 60 – 62 deg

Purity 99+

Outlet Refined Sugar

Grades of refined sugar would be EEC-I, EEC-II 85 mill white sugar.

Process description
It is the process in which sugar is crystallized from concentrated fine liquor obtained by water
evaporation under vacuum; the operation is carried out under vacuum to prevent the sugar
from burning or decomposing by heat and to obtain the crystals of the adequate size.

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The most-effective decolorization is achieved by crystallization. Crystallization occurs in a
saturated/supersaturated solution, which also means that crystals are always surrounded by a
liquid phase.

Color is removed by crystallization, assuming the syrup separation is executed well. For high
quality massecuites like A and refined sugar, color removal is at least 90%, but can go as high as
97.5-98%. Lower purity massecuites like B & C exhibits less color removal of 95- 95.5% and up
to 80% (75 - 80%) respectively.

Back boiling or mixed boiling system will be followed for producing refined sugar of single
quality. When the boiling is complete around 89 brix; pan is dropped into crystallizer and cured
in batch centrifugal machine. This cured sugar is dried and cooled into drier before weighing &
bagging.

F. Centrifugation
Centrifugation requires greatest attention as it ensures the effective crystallization. Inadequate
mode of operation, badly cleaned screens, and mal-adjusted washing nozzles to mention a few
of the key parameters of centrifugal work can destroy good results obtained in crystallization.

Drying, storage and packaging

These three steps should not be forgotten. They have little or nothing to do with color removal
but more with secondary color formation and/or sugar contamination. This aspect is necessary
for hygienic handling of the sugar as a human food.

The sugar comes out humid from the centrifugal process. It is then dried in a rotary dryer a
large rotating drum where the sugar dries upon coming into contact with the air. The dry and
cooled refined sugar passes over a vibrating screen to separate lumps of sugar, which may be
formed during the drying and cooling process. After this, it is transported by belt conveyor/
hopper and elevator to the top of the conditioning sugar silos where the sugar is separated by a
set of vibrating screens. The screened sugar is sent to the silos as per the grain size
classifications.

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Process Flow Diagram of Raw Sugar Refining

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Recovery house
The recovery house is the ‘dirty’ end of the sugar refinery where, as the name implies, the
refiner tries to recover as much as possible of the sugar in any residual liquors before rejecting
them as the molasses. Maximum sugar must be recovered from runoffs to get the optimum
yield of the refinery. Series of boiling and other processes are followed to get the maximum
sugar out of those liquors, and producing at the end, a thick material called sugar syrup and
used in cattle feed preparations. The yield performance of any sugar refinery depends upon
the performance of the recovery house.

Advantage achieved in raw sugar production over to the white sugarto the
process point of view
 Rise in recovery percent cane by 0.63%
 Capacity utilization is increased by 6 to 8%
 Sulphur is not used in the process
 reduction in lime consumption by 58%
 Scale formation rate is very low and soft in nature
 Reduction in molasses % cane by 0.6-0.9 %
 Massecuite % cane is reduced by 5 to 6%

Sequence of steps in sugar production

Beet and cane sugar production processes are similar. Both involve reception, cleaning,
extraction, juice clarification, evaporation, crystallization centrifugation, drying, storing, and
packing stages as illustrated in Figure 3-9. Beet and cane sugar manufacturing are typically
located adjacent to the sources of raw materials to reduce costs and transportation time, and
to ensure fresh raw material.

A. Reception of beet and cane

Beet and cane are unloaded from the transportation vehicles after a sample has been taken for
assessment of sugar and dirt content. The beet production line runs continuously at full
capacity, whereas the sugarcane production line usually has to stop every 14 days
(approximately) to facilitate removal of encrustations on heating surfaces. Cane and beet
processing facilities typically have substantial areas to stock enough raw materials to facilitate
continuous production.

B. Washing and extraction of cane

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Traditionally, cane has been burned in the field before transport to processing facilities to
remove any leaves from the cane stalk. The current trend is to harvest green unburned cane,
returning leaves to the field where the crop residue promotes soil conservation.

Extraction of the sugar juice is achieved with roller mills which press out the juice. The remains
of the cane stalk is called bagasse, which contains cellulose fiber. This is mostly used in the
process facility as fuel for energy supply. Where fuel is available from another source, the
bagasse may be used for further processing in the cellulose industry. Cane juice extraction may
also be achieved by a diffusion leaching process, which can result in higher rates of extraction
with 50% lesser energy consumption than a mechanical mill.

C. Washing and extraction of beet

Washing of sugar beet is water-intensive and washwater is typically recirculated. During

washing, soil, stone and leaves are separated from the beet. Separated stone can be used, for
example, as gravel for the construction industry. Disintegration of the beet is accomplished by
cutting into slices (cossettes). The juice is extracted by a diffuser, where the slices are mixed
with hot extraction water to form a sugar solution, known as ‘diffusion juice’. The spent beet
cossettes in the beet pulp are then pressed and dried to produce animal feed.

Sugar Manufacturing Process

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D. Sugar refining

The refining of sugar involves affination (mingling and centrifugation), melting, clarification,
decolorization, evaporation, crystallization, and finishing. Decolorization methods use granular
activated carbon, powdered activated carbon, ion exchange resins, and other materials.

E. Clarification, evaporation, and crystallization

The juice resulting from the extraction process is clarified by mixing it with milk of lime, after
which it is filtered to remove the mud. In beet-based sugar production, the lime is produced
from limestone, which is combusted in a specially designed lime kiln. The main outputs are
burnt limestone and carbon dioxide (CO 2). The burnt limestone is used to generate milk of lime
and the CO2 is also added to the liquid in a process called carbonation. Because large quantities
Comparison of Sugar Manufacture from Cane and Beetof milk of lime and gas are

needed, this is a continuous

process. These substances are added to the juice and, in the process of carbonation, bind other
components, such as protein, to the lime particles. The lime is then filtered, resulting in lime
sludge, and dried for use as a soil conditioning agent in agriculture. The resultant clear solution
of juice is called ‘thin juice.’

Although the carbonation process gives good results, it is rarely used in the cane industry
because of the investment required and a general lack of the main raw material, limestone.
Cane processing facilities typically purchase ready-made burnt limestone powder and use this
to generate milk of lime. After clarification, the thin juice has a sugar content of approximately
15%. Concentrations greater than 68% are needed to allow sugar crystallization, and this is
achieved through evaporation. Water is removed from the thin juice in a series of evaporating
vessels until syrup with a dry matter content of 68–72% is obtained. This thick juice is further
evaporated until sugar crystals form, and the crystals and the accompanying syrup are then
centrifuged to separate the two components. The final syrup, which contains 50% sugar, is
called molasses.

Sugar crystals are then dried and stored (e.g. in silos). Molasses is the most important by
product of the sugar production. Molasses can be used as cattle fodder or as raw material in
the fermentation industry. To facilitate the use of the molasses, which is generated in rela

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tively high volumes, sugar factories may be combined with distillation plants (see below). The
basis for the distillery can be sugar juice, molasses, or a combination of these products.

E. Distillery

An associated distillery may employ batch or continuous fermentation, followed by distillation,

to produce ethanol with a purity of 95%. This ethanol can be used in other industries or further
processed and blended with gasoline. Waste from the distillation process is known as vinasse
or spent wash. Anaerobic digestion of this waste is used to produce biogas, which can be
utilized for the production of boiler fuel for the distillery or to fuel combined heat and power
engines. Remaining waste can be returned to agricultural fields and / or used in the
Material Balance for 100 Tonnes Sugar Unit
composting of organic solids
emanating from processing.

Cleaner technologies

Based on the site visits and study; the following technologies may be classified as
cleanertechnologies for sugar waste management.

 Segregation of concentrated and dilute waste streams and adopt

– “Composting” for concentrated wastes and

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 – Stabilization ponds for dilute wastes.
 Anaerobic Digestion/ Anaerobic lagoon/Anaerobic filter as primary treatment
followed single stage aeration.
 Anaerobic pond + Facultative pond + aerobic pond
 Equalization tank + Monthly washing Holding Tank + Single/ two stage aeration +
clarifier.

(NOTE: In all the above cases oil & grease trap (preferably mechanical), Screen and ‘V’ notch or
continuous flow recorder is a must)

Significance of Pollutants Generated

Environmental issues in sugar manufacturing projects primarily include the following:

 Molasses
 Wastewater
 Solid waste and by-products
 Emissions to air

Molasses
Final molasses is produced in the last steps of operation of separation of sugar from the mother
liquor in centrifuges. It has been found that average production of molasses is 4.2% of the cane
crushed. But there is quite a large fluctuation in this. Molasses has very high pollution
characteristics.

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Wastewater

Prevention strategies for wastewater management

Recommended wastewater management includes the following prevention strategies:

 Segregate non-contaminated wastewater streams from contaminated streams

 Reduce the organic load of wastewater by preventing the entry of solid wastes and
concentrated liquids into the wastewater stream
 Implement dry pre-cleaning of raw material, equipment, and production areas before
wet cleaning
 Allow beet to dry on field if possible, and reduce breakage during collection and
transport through use of rubber mats and lined containers. Use dry techniques to
unload beet
 Fit and use floor drains and collection channels with grids and screens or traps to reduce
the amount of solids (e.g., beet parts) entering the wastewater to prevent direct runoff
to watercourses, especially from tank overflows.

Process wastewater treatment

Techniques for treating industrial process wastewater in sugar industries include:

 preliminary treatment for separating floating, settleable solids, oil & grease
 flow & load equalization
 sedimentation for suspended solids reduction using clarifiers
 biological treatment, typically anaerobic followed by aerobic treatment, for reductio of
soluble organic matter (BOD)
 biological nutrient removal for reduction in nitrogen & phosphorus
 chlorination of effluent when disinfection is required
 dewatering and disposal of residuals; in some instances composting or land application
of wastewater treatment residuals of acceptable quality may be possible

Solid waste and by-product management

Sugar industry activities generate large quantities of organic solid waste and by-products (e.g.,
leaves from cane or beet, molasses from the final crystallization, press mud or cachaza, bagasse
fiber from the cane, mud and soil arriving at the plant with the raw material, and lime solids
from the juice clarification). The amount of waste generated depends on the quality of the raw
materials themselves and on the initial cleaning in the field.

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Emissions to air
Air emissions in sugar manufacturing are primarily related to particulate matter generated from
bagasse-fired steam boilers, dust from unpaved access roads and areas, and sugar drying or
packing activities. In addition, odour emissions are generated from beet processing activities
and storage facilities.

Air pollution from sugar industries

The burning of bagasse produces particulate like unburnt fibers, carbon particles, and ash and
gaseous pollutants like oxides of nitrogen, water vapour and other compounds of the
particulate waste, the heavier particles slowly settle down in the surrounding area. Such dust
fall leads to the problem of cleaning, reduction in property value, effect on vegetation, etc

Air pollution control equipment

At present; most of the industries have installed multicyclones. These equipment may not
satisfy the emission standards prescribed by the State Boards as 150 mg/Nm 3 to 350 mg/Nm3. It
is therefore suggested to replace the Multicyclones with

1. Wet-Scrubbers (Sugar Units without Co-generation)

2. Electrostatic Precipitator (Sugar Units with co-generation

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REFRENCES
Websites

1. http://www.sugarindustry.com/introduction.htm
2. http://www.trivenigroup.com/sugar-information/sugarcane-production-
centers.html
3. http://www.appropedia.org/Sugar_Production_from_Cane_Sugar_
%28Practical_Action_Technical_Brief%29
4. http://164.100.194.13:8080/ssdn1/jspfiles/doc/Sugar.pdf
5. www.scribd.com
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar
7. http://www.cd3wd.com/cd3wd_40/vita/grapejuc/GIF/UGJX6.GIF

Books

1. Operationa Mangment By Stevenson

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