Cane sugar crystallization

Crystallization takes place in a vacuum boiling pan. Thick juice or syrup is fed to the vacuum pans and evaporated until saturated. Seed crystals are added during a strike to grow sugar crystals. The process is continued until a specified crystal size has been reached.

Supersaturation is the driving force of crystal growth, and the speed of crystallization depends on this multivariable function of several parameters. If the supersaturation drops outside its limit, the crystals will stop growing and might even melt. If the supersaturation level rises too high, new crystals will form spontaneously. Spontaneous nucleation results in poor quality crystals of irregular shape and size (fines and conglomerates) which require reprocessing.

The efficiency of the factory, the quality of the sugar product, the capacity of the plant, and the thermal balance all depend on the operation and control of the vacuum pans to produce a high-quality massecuite.

Cane sugar crystallization

Download the application note to learn how Vaisala Polaris Process Refractometer and Zutora SeedMaster-4, a unique, 4th generation crystallization transmitter and seeding device:

• Enables good quality sugar yield without fines or conglomerates
• Allows for accurate, in-line, and real-time monitoring of supersaturation and crystal content over the complete process of crystallization
• Allows for implementation of control of automatic or manual seeding
• Measures accurately and continuously Brix of juice and syrup disregarding crystals, bubbles, or undissolved particles
• Collects strike history data
• Captures massecuite parameter data
• Provides feed-forward control for capacity optimization.

The note also includes recommended Vaisala Polaris Process Refractometer installation points for the best performance.

Download our application note in PDF by filling in the form.

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