DESC:FIELD
The present disclosure relates to a field of sugar manufacturing. Particularly, the present disclosure relates to a system and a process for manufacturing sugar.
DEFINITIONS
As used in the present disclosure, the following terms are generally intended to have the meaning as set forth below, except to the extent that the context in which they are used indicates otherwise.
The term “Plantation sugar” also known as plantation white sugar (PWS), or mill white sugar, hereinafter refers to white sugar commonly produced for local consumption. Plantation sugar is produced at the factory by double sulphitation process, i.e. firstly by using SO2 gas for treating mixed juice for clarification; and secondly for decolorizing the syrup. Plantation sugar is likely to have impurities, especially ash, SO2.
The term “Preparatory index” hereinafter refers to indicate the degree of cane preparation. Its determination involves measuring the Brix extraction which can be washed from ruptured cells in the prepared cane, and expressing this as a percentage extraction of the total Brix in the cane.
The term “Raw sugar” is the sugar produced in the similar way of producing PWS except for using minimal chemicals. In raw sugar processing, SO2 is not used for clarification or decolourization.
The term “Refined-grade sugar” hereinafter refers to the sugar which is produced by processing raw sugar by melting, purifying, decolorizing and recrystallizing. Refined sugar, thus is highly pure sucrose having minimal impurities especially ash and very low sulfur (below 5 ppm) and is used for human consumption in developed countries and by beverage and food processing industry.
The term “Pharmaceutical-grade sugar” refers to most pure form of sugar manufactured under Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) which is approved, or indexed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) &/or FSSC – 22000 V – 5.1
The term “Compound Imbibition” hereinafter refers to a process wherein water is added to the bagasse being fed to the last mill. The juice from the last mill is added to the bagasse coming to the penultimate mill and the juice from the penultimate mill is sent to the preceding mill and so on.
The term “milling” hereinafter refers to compressing and squeezing juice from sugarcane.
The term “milled cane” hereinafter refers to sugarcane which is obtained after milling, i.e. subjected to compressing and squeezing to extract juice from sugarcane.
The term “ICUMSA” or “International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis” hereinafter refers to color scale is used to measure the grade and quality of the sugar.
BACKGROUND
The background information herein below relates to the present disclosure but is not necessarily prior art.
The sugar industry is an important and a revenue generating agro-industry in the world. The production of sugar from the sugarcane involves two major operations i.e., processing sugarcane into a raw sugar, and thereafter processing the raw sugar into a refined sugar. However, in India, plantation white sugar (PWS) is produced and consumed widely.
Conventional processing of sugarcane into plantation white sugar involves a series of process steps, including cutting and chopping of the sugarcane, juice extraction, clarification, evaporation, crystallization, and drying.
Further, the plantation white sugar produced by a double sulphitation process is likely to have impurities, especially ash, and SO2 and hence the quality of plantation white sugar is inferior to the refined-grade sugar but superior to the raw sugar.
The conventional processes for sugar manufacturing are associated with drawbacks like microbial growth at different stages of the sugar juice processing and high energy requirement for sugar refining. Further, the double sulphitation leads to heavier fouling of the heating surfaces, increased residual sulphur, and producing higher ash content in the so obtained sugar. Further, the additional cost is required to process the plantation sugar or raw sugar obtained by the conventional methods, in order to obtain the refined sugar.
Further, in the conventionally known processes, the mud drawn from the bottom of the clarifier is filtered through a rotary vacuum drum filter and the filtrate juice/ muddy juice is then added back to the process before juice sulphitation. This adds to the impurities in the conventionally known process.
There is therefore a need to provide a system and a process for manufacturing sugar that mitigates the drawback mentioned hereinabove.
OBJECTS
Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies, are as follows:
An object of the present disclosure is to provide a system for manufacturing sugar.
Still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a system for manufacturing sugar, which is economical and user-friendly.
Still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a system for manufacturing sugar which requires less manpower.
Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a process for manufacturing sugar.
Still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a process for manufacturing sugar that is effective and requires less steam and less energy.
Still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a process for manufacturing sugar that reduces loss of sugar.
Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a process for manufacturing sugar that reduces the impurities in the obtained sugar.
Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description, which is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
SUMMARY
The present disclosure relates to a system for manufacturing sugar from sugarcane. The system comprises at least one receiving unit, configured to receive the sugarcane; a primary milling unit, configured to receive the sugarcane from the receiving unit, and further configured to squeeze the sugarcane to obtain a primary juice and milled cane; a secondary milling unit comprising a plurality of secondary mills, configured to receive the milled cane from the primary milling unit, and further configured to sequentially squeeze through a series of secondary mills to obtain secondary juice and squeezed cane; a primary heating unit and a secondary heating unit, configured to receive the primary juice and the secondary juice separately from the primary milling unit and the secondary milling unit, and further configured to separately heat the primary juice and the secondary juice to obtain heated primary juice and heated secondary juice; a primary liming and sulphitation unit and a secondary liming and sulphitation unit configured to separately receive the primary heated juice and the secondary heated juice from primary heating unit and secondary heating unit, and further configured to separately treat the the primary heated juice and the secondary heated juice with milk of lime and sulphur dioxide, to obtain neutralized primary juice and neutralized secondary juice; a primary evaporation unit and a secondary evaporation unit, configured to separately receive the neutralized primary juice and the neutralized secondary juice from the primary liming and sulphitation unit and a secondary liming and sulphitation unit, and further configured to separately heat the neutralized primary juice and neutralized secondary juice to obtain primary juice syrup and secondary juice syrup; a secondary crystallization and centrifugation unit, configured to receive the secondary juice syrup from the secondary evaporation unit, and further configured to process the secondary juice syrup to obtain a secondary sugar melt; and a primary crystallization and centrifugation unit, configured to receive the primary juice syrup from the primary evaporation unit and the secondary sugar melt from the secondary crystallization and centrifugation unit and combine to obtain massecuite, and further configured to process the massecuite to obtain sugar.
The present disclosure also relates to a process for manufacturing sugar from sugarcane. In the process, the sugarcane is received in a receiving unit and a predetermined amount of a first biocide formulation is sprayed and the sugarcane is fiberized to obtain fiberized sugarcane. Thereafter, a predetermined amount of a second biocide formulation is dosed on the fiberized sugarcane, for obtaining dosed sugarcane, followed by squeezing juice from the dosed sugarcane in a primary milling unit to obtain primary juice and milled cane. The milled cane is then fed to a secondary milling unit comprising plurality of secondary mills to obtain squeezed juice, and dosing a predetermined amount of at least one biocide in the squeezed juice from the at least one secondary mill of the secondary milling unit to obtain a secondary juice and squeezed cane. Separately, the primary juice is heated to a first predetermined temperature to obtain a heated primary juice. A predetermined amount of milk of lime is added to the heated primary juice to obtain an alkaline primary juice having a predetermined pH, followed by adding a predetermined amount of sulphur dioxide gas to the alkaline primary juice, to obtain a neutralized primary juice. The neutralized primary juice is thereafter heated to a second predetermined temperature to obtain a heated neutralized primary juice, followed by adding a predetermined amount of at least one flocculating agent, and clarifying for a predetermined time period to obtain a purified and clarified primary juice. The purified and clarified primary juiceis then concentrated by evaporation to obtain a concentrated primary juice syrup. Separately, secondary juice is treated following the same process steps mentioned above to obtain a concentrated secondary juice syrup. The secondary juice syrup is then boiled and crystallized to concentrate the secondary juice syrup to obtain secondary sugar melt. Thereafter, the obtained secondary sugar melt is added to the primary juice syrup to obtain a massecuites. The obtained massecuites is then boiled and crystallized followed by centrifuging to obtain the sugar.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWING
The system and the process for manufacturing sugar of the present disclosure, will now be described with the help of the accompanying drawing, in which:
Figure 1 illustrates a system for manufacturing sugar, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure; and
Figure 2 illustrates a flow chart of the various steps in the process for manufacturing sugar, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS USED IN DETAILED DESCRIPTION AND DRAWING
1000 – system
100– receiving unit
200- cane fiberizer
300 –primary milling unit
T-300 – tank for juice collection from primary milling unit
400 – secondary milling unit
400a – first secondary mill
T-400a - tank for juice collection from the first secondary mill
400b – second secondary mill
T-400b– tank for juice collection from the second secondary mill
400c – third secondary mill
T-400c – tank for juice collection from the third secondary mill
400d – fourth secondary mill
T-400d - tank for juice collection from the fourth secondary mill
301 – primary rotary screen
302 – primary heating unit
303 – primary liming and sulphitation unit
304 – primary neutralized juice heating assembly
305 – primary clarification and settling unit
306 – primary clear juice heating unit
307 – primary evaporation unit
307a – primary juice syrup sulphitation unit
308 – primary syrup tank
309– primary crystallization and centrifugation unit
310 – sugar drying unit
311 – grading unit
312 – weighing unit
313 – packaging and storage unit
401 – secondary rotary screen
402 – secondary heating unit
403 – secondary liming and sulphitation unit
404 – secondary neutral juice heating assembly
405 – secondary clarification and settling unit
406 – secondary clear juice heating unit
407 – secondary evaporation unit
119a – secondary juice syrup sulphitation unit
408 – secondary syrup tank
409 – secondary juice massecuites boiling system/ secondary crystallization and centrifugation unit
410 – secondary juice A sugar
411 – secondary juice A sugar melter
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Embodiments, of the present disclosure, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
Embodiments are provided so as to thoroughly and fully convey the scope of the present disclosure to the person skilled in the art. Numerous details are set forth, relating to specific components, and process, to provide a complete understanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that the details provided in the embodiments should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, well-known processes, well-known apparatus structures, and well-known techniques are not described in detail.
The terminology used, in the present disclosure, is only for the purpose of explaining a particular embodiment and such terminology shall not be considered to limit the scope of the present disclosure. As used in the present disclosure, the forms "a,” "an," and "the" may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly suggests otherwise. The terms "comprises," "comprising," “including,” and “having,” are open ended transitional phrases and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, modules, units and/or components, but do not forbid the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The particular order of steps disclosed in the process and process of the present disclosure is not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance as described or illustrated. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed elements.
The terms first, second, third, etc., should not be construed to limit the scope of the present disclosure as the aforementioned terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another component, region, layer or section. Terms such as first, second, third etc., when used herein do not imply a specific sequence or order unless clearly suggested by the present disclosure.
Terms such as “inner,” “outer,” "beneath," "below," "lower," "above," "upper," and the like, may be used in the present disclosure to describe relationships between different elements as depicted from the figures.
The conventional processes for manufacturing sugar are associated with drawbacks like microbial growth at different stages of the sugar juice processing and high energy requirement for sugar refining. Further, the double sulphitation leads to heavier fouling of the heating surfaces, increased residual sulphur, and producing higher ash content in the so obtained sugar. Further, the additional cost is required to process the plantation sugar or raw sugar obtained by the conventional process, in order to obtain the refined sugar.
Furthermore, in the conventionally known processes, the mud drawn from the bottom of the clarifier is filtered through a rotary vacuum drum filter and the filtrate juice/ muddy juice is then added back to the process before juice sulphitation. This adds to the impurities in the conventionally known process.
To overcome the aforementioned drawbacks, the present disclosure relates to a system for manufacturing sugar from sugarcane and a process for manufacturing sugar from sugarcane.
In an aspect, the present disclosure provides a system for manufacturing sugar.
The system comprises a receiving unit, a cane fiberizer, a series of milling units, rotary screens, juice heater assemblies, liming and sulphitation unit, clarifier or settling unit, evaporation units, syrup tanks, massecuites boiling system, sugar melter, and centrifuge units.
A system (1000), of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to Figure 1. In accordance with the present disclosure, the system (1000), for manufacturing sugar from sugarcane comprises at least one receiving unit (100), configured to receive the sugarcane. The receiving unit (100) includes a cane unloader for unloading the sugarcane, a kicker and a leveler, wherein the sugarcane is chopped.
Thereafter, the system (1000) comprises a primary milling unit (300), configured to receive the sugarcane from the receiving unit (100), and further configured to squeeze the sugarcane to obtain a primary juice and milled cane.
The system (1000) then comprises a secondary milling unit (400) comprising a plurality of secondary mills, configured to receive the milled cane from the primary milling unit (300), and further configured to sequentially squeeze through a series of secondary mills to obtain secondary juice and squeezed cane.
A primary heating unit (302) and a secondary heating unit (402), are located downstream of the primary milling unit (300) and the secondary milling unit (400) respectively, and are configured to receive the primary juice and the secondary juice separately from the primary milling unit (300) and the secondary milling unit (400), and further configured to separately heat the primary juice and the secondary juice to obtain heated primary juice and heated secondary juice.
Thereafter, a primary liming and sulphitation unit (303) and a secondary liming and sulphitation unit (403) is configured to separately receive the primary heated juice and the secondary heated juice from primary heating unit (302) and secondary heating unit (402), and further configured to separately treat the the primary heated juice and the secondary heated juice with milk of lime and sulphur dioxide, to obtain neutralized primary juice and neutralized secondary juice.
In the system (1000), a primary evaporation unit (307) and a secondary evaporation unit (407), configured to separately receive the neutralized primary juice and the neutralized secondary juice from the primary liming and sulphitation unit (303) and a secondary liming and sulphitation unit (403), and further configured to separately heat the neutralized primary juice and neutralized secondary juice to obtain primary juice syrup and secondary juice syrup.
Thereafter, a secondary crystallization and centrifugation unit (409) or juice massecuites boiling system, is configured to receive the secondary juice syrup from the secondary evaporation unit (407), and further configured to process the secondary juice syrup to obtain a secondary sugar melt.
Thereafter, primary crystallization and centrifugation unit (309) is configured to receive the primary juice syrup from the primary evaporation unit (307) and secondary sugar melt from the secondary crystallization and centrifugation unit (409) and mix to obtain massecuite, and further configured to process the massecuite to obtain a sugar.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the obtained sugar is thereafter dried in at least one sugar drying unit (310). Thereafter, the sugar is graded in at least one grading unit (311). The graded sugar is then weighed in a weighing unit (132) and packed and stored in the packaging and storage unit (313).
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the system (1000) further comprises at least one dosing unit (500) fitted within the system on at least one location such as before at least one receiving unit (100), after at least one receiving unit (100), before at least one fiberizing unit (200), after at least one fiberizing unit (200), before primary milling unit (300), after primary milling unit (300), before secondary milling unit (400), and after secondary milling unit (400), at the input and output of a first secondary mill (400a), a second secondary mill (400b), a third secondary mill (400c), and a fourth secondary mill (400d).
In accordace with another embodiment of the present disclosure, the at least one dosing unit (500) of the system (1000) is fitted within the system (1000), before the at least one receiving unit (100), after the at least one receiving unit (100), before the at least one fiberizing unit (200), after the at least one fiberizing unit (200), and after the secondary milling unit (400), at the output of a second secondary mill (400b), a third secondary mill (400c), and a fourth secondary mill (400d).
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the system (1000) further comprises at least one fiberizing unit (200), configured to receive the sugarcane from the receiving unit (100), and further configured to fiberize the sugarcane for feeding the fiberized sugarcane to the primary milling unit (300).
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, in the system (1000), the primary milling unit (300) comprises at least one mill; and the secondary milling unit (400) comprises a plurality of mills. The secondary milling unit (400) has the first secondary mill (400a), the second secondary mill (400b), the third secondary mill (400c), and the fourth secondary mill (400d), wherein the milling units are arranged to receive milled cane from the primary milling unit (300) and sequentially squeeze the cane and transfer the cane from the first secondary mill (400a) to the fourth secondary mill (400d), and receive hot water at the fourth secondary mill (400d) to obtain juice and sequentially transfer the juice from the fourth secondary mill (400d) to the first secondary mill (400a) to obtain secondary juice.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the system (1000) further comprises a primary rotary screen (301) and a secondary rotary screen (401) configured to separate bagasse from the primary juice and the secondary juice. In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the rotary screens configured with a mesh filter having mesh in the range of 0.15 to 0.35 mm are used.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the system (1000) further comprises a primary clarification and settling unit (305) and a secondary clarification and settling unit (405), configured to clarify the obtained juice. In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the clarifier is at least one selected from the group consisting of a Dorr clarifier, a Graver clarifier, a Bach clarifier, a RapiDorr clarifier, a Lamella clarifier, a Louisiana clarifier and/or short time retention clarifier.
The system (1000), of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to Figure 1.
Sugarcane is received and unloaded onto at least one receiving unit (100) which includes a cane unloader for unloading the sugarcane, a kicker and a leveler, wherein the sugarcane is chopped. Thereafter, at least one first biocide formulation (having rapid action – ability to kill 90% microbes in 1 minute) is dosed continuously from at least one dosing unit (500) on the chopped sugarcane to control almost 90% of the microbes and inhibit the growth of microbes so as to minimize the deterioration of the sugar in the sugarcane by microbes. The dose of the first biocide formulation depends on the cane quality and other factory conditions. In an embodiment, the first biocide has a concentration, typically, in the range of 2 ppm to 15 ppm.
Thereafter, the dosed sugarcane are conveyed to a fiberizer (200) which is configured to fiberize the dosed sugarcane to obtain a fiberized sugarcane. The fiberized sugarcane is then fed to a primary milling unit (300) which includes at least one mill configured for squeezing the juice, and squentially to a secondary milling unit (400), comprising a plurality of mills. In the primary and the secondary milling units, at least one juice collecting tank is configured with every mill for collecting the obtained juice. At least one second biocide formulation (rapid acting – having ability to kill 90% microbes in 10 minutes) is added to at least one tank continuously from at least one dosing unit (500), to control about 90% of the microbes, including the microbes capable of growing at higher temperatures. In one embodiment, the second biocide is added to the last mill in conjunction with the washing water. In another embodiment, the biocide is added in at least one juice collection tanks ( T-400a, T-400b, T-400c and T-400d).
In one embodiment, the milling operation comprises a primary milling unit (300) and a plurality of secondary milling unit (400) includes four mills (400a, 400b, 400c, and 400d) arranged in series and corresponding juice collection tanks ( T- 400a, T-400b, T-400c and T-400d) respectively. The fiberized sugarcane from the fiberizer is fed to the primary mill (300). The juice squeezed and extracted in the primary mill (300) is primary juice and is collected in a primary juice tank (T-300) and the milled cane from the primary mill (300) is thereafter fed to a secondary milling unit (400) for further processing. In accordance with the embdiments of the present disclosure, the concentration of the primary juice is in the range of 19 Brix to 20 Brix. In an exemplary embodiment, the concentration of the primary juice is 19.5 Brix.
The consecutive mills are configured to receive the milled cane from the preceding mills. Each mill (400a, 400b, 400c, 400d) is connected to a separate juice collecting tank (T-400a, T-400b, T-400c, T-400d). The juice from the secondary mill (400) is secondary juice and is collected in a secondary juice tank (T-400) and processed separately.
The milling unit is operated by the compound imbibition process, wherein hot water is added to the milled cane being fed to the last mill. In an embodiment the hot water fed to the last mill is a steam condensate. The juice from last mill is added to the bagasse (squeezed cane) coming to a penultimate mill and the juice from the penultimate mill is sent to a preceding mill and so on. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the temperature of the hot water is in the range of 50 oC to 80 oC. In an exemplary embodiment, the temperature is 50 oC.
In an embodiment, the hot condensate having a predetermined temperature is fed to the fourth secondary mill (400d) to assist the squeezing of the juice from the milled cane received at the fourth secondary mill (400d) to obtain a diluted juice.
Thereafter, the diluted juice from the fourth secondary mill (400d) is then collected and is fed to the third secondary mill (400c) for squeezing of more concentrated juice from the milled cane of the fourth secondary mill (400d). Similarly, the juice obtained from the third secondary mill (400c) is fed to the second secondary mill (400b). As the juice approaches the first secondary mill (400a), the concentration of the juice increases; on the contrary, the milled fibers have the maximum juice content at the first secondary mill (400a) and the minimum juice content at the fourth secondary mill (400d) due to squeezing of the milled fibres in the successive mills. In an embodiment, the conentration of the secondary juice is in the range of 10 Brix to 12 Brix. In an exemplary embodiment, the concentration of the dilute juice is 10.5 Brix.
In accordance with the present disclosure, the second biocide formulation is an aqueous formulation and is added to at least one mill or may be added in portions into more places (mills) or in juice collection tanks or last two or three mills for killing the microbes. The addition or dosing of the second biocide formulation depends on the cane quality and the environmental factors. Typically, the concentration of biocide in the second biocide formulation is in the range of 2 ppm to 15 ppm. In an embodiment in accordance with the present disclosure, it is added in the last mill in the plurality of mills in the series.
Thus, the juice collected from the first secondary mill (400a) (secondary juice) is collected in a secondary juice tank (T-400a) and the juice collected from the primary mill (300) (primary juice) is collected in a separate primary juice tank (T-300) and further processed separately.
The primary juice from the primary juice tank (T-300) is then fed to a rotary drum filter or a rotary screen (301), configured to remove the large pieces of the bagasse present in the juice. The rotary drum filter or a rotary screen has a mesh size in the range of 0.15 mm to 0.35 mm to separate the larger particles of the bagasse from the juice by filtration.
The primary juice is weighed and then fed to a first heating unit (302) configured to heat the primary juice at a second predetermined temperature. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the juice is heated in three stages: in the first heating stage, the juice is heated from a temperature of 35°C to 45°C, in the second heating stage, the juice is heated from 45°C to 55°C, and in the third heating stage, the juice is heated from 55°C to 75°C.
Thereafter, to the heated juice (after the third heating stage), a milk of lime is added to increase the pH of the juice in the range of 7.5 to 8 to obtain an alkaline juice. At least one reagent is optionally added to the milk of lime. Quantity of the reagent is typically 0 ppm to 20 ppm. In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the reagent is selected from the group conisiting of poly-aluminum chloride, ferric alum, polymeric cationic or anionic or nonionic flocculent. In an exemplary embodiment, the pH of the alkaline juice is 7.5.
The alkaline juice is then fed to a primary liming and sulphation unit (303), wherein the alkaline juice is treated with sulphur dioxide (SO2) for neutralization such that the pH of the juice reduces to 6.9 to 7.0 to obtain a neutralized juice. The neutralized juice is thereafter fed to a second heating unit (304), wherein the temperature of the juice is increased to a temperature in the range of 75°C to 104°C.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the juice is heated in three stages: in the first heating stage, the neutralized juice is heated to a temperature up to 75°C, in the second heating stage, the juice is heated from 75°C to 90°C, and then in the third heating stage, the juice is further heated from 90°C to 104°C.
The heated neutralized juice is then fed to a primary clarification and settling unit (305) by adding a suitable flocculent and / or color precipitant, wherein the heated neutralized juice is clarified for a time period in the range of 10 minutes to 3 hours. In an embodiment, during clarification, a first dose of 7.5 ppm of highly cationic water soluble amine polymer is added to improve clarification and reduce the color of the juice. The mud accumulated in the clarifier is then passed through a rotary vacuum filter and the juice extracted from the mud is sent back to the process via feeding it in a secondary liming and sulphitation unit (403).
In another embodiment the filtrate juice is optionally treated by addition of the first biocide formulation having a concentration in the range of 0.5 ppm to 5.0 ppm. Thereafter, a second dose of 5 ppm of highly cationic water soluble amine polymer is added to improve the property of the end product (sugar) to eliminate impurities at the time of crystal formation in the crystallization step. After 2 hours to 4 hours of the addition of the biocide formulation, a purified and clarified syrup is obtained.
Separately, the secondary juice is weighed and then fed to a secondary heating unit (402) configured to heat the secondary juice at a temperature in the range of 65°C to 75°C. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the secondary juice is heated in three stages: in the first heating stage, the juice is heated from a temperature of 35°C to 45°C, in the second heating stage, the juice is heated from to a temperature of 45°C to 55°C, and in the third heating stage, the juice is heated from a temperature of 55°C to 75°C.
To the heated juice (after the third heating stage), milk of lime is added to increase the pH of the juice in the range of pH 7 to pH 7.8 to obtain an alkaline juice. At least one reagent is optionally added to lime. In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, quantity of at least one reagent is in the range of 0 ppm to 20 ppm. In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the reagent is at least one selected from the group consisting of poly-aluminum chloride, ferric alum, polymeric cationic or anionic or nonionic flocculent. In an exemplary embodiment, the pH of the alkaline secondary juice is 7.1.
Thereafter, the alkaline juice is fed to the secondary liming and sulphitation unit (403), wherein the alkaline juice is treated with sulphur dioxide (SO2) for neutralization such that the pH of the juice reduces to a pH range of 6.9 to 7.0 to obtain a neutralized juice. The neutralized juice is then fed to a secondary juice second heating unit (118), wherein the juice is heated to a temperature in the range of 68°C to 104°C.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the juice is heated in two stages: in the first heating stage, the juice is heated from 68°C to 85°C, in the second heating stage, the juice is heated from 85°C to 104°C.
The heated neutralized juice is then fed to a secondary juice clarification and settling unit (405) by adding a suitable flocculent and/ or color precipitant, wherein the heated neutralized juice is clarified for a time period in the range of 10 minutes to 180 minutes. In an embodiment, during clarification, a first dose of 5 ppm of highly cationic water soluble amine polymer is added to improve clarification and reduce the color of the juice. The mud accumulated in the clarifier (405) is then passed through a rotary vacuum filter and the juice extracted from the mud is sent back to the process via feeding it in the secondary liming and sulphitation unit (403). In another embodiment the filtrate juice may be treated by addition of the first biocide formulation on cane. The concentration of the first biocide in the biocide formulation is in the range of 0.5 ppm to 5.0 ppm. Thereafter, a second dose of 5 ppm of highly cationic water soluble amine polymer is added to improve the property of the end product (sugar) and eliminate impurities at the time of crystal formation in the crystallization step. After 2 to 4 hours, a purified and clarified syrup is obtained.
The purified and clarified syrup thus obtained from the secondary juice is sent to secondary syrup supply tanks, and further sent to secondary crystallization and centrifugation unit (409) to obtain secondary juice raw magma. This secondary juice raw magma is further melted in a secondary juice sugar melter (411) and further to a pan to obtain secondary juice sugar melt.
The so obtained secondary juice sugar melt is thereafter added to the primary juice syrup obtained from the primary evaporation unit (307) to obtain a massecutie.
The obtained massecutie is thereafter fed to a primary crystallization and centrifugation unit (309) to crystallize the massecutie and centrifuge to obtain sugar.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the obtained sugar has the following characteristics:
• Colour in the range of 28 IU to 46 IU, when ICUMSA measured by GS-2/3-10 process;
• Moisture in the range of 0.0269 % to 0.0271 %;
• Polarization in the range of 99.95 % to 99.91%;
• Ash content in the range of 0.0134 % to 0.0138 %, when ICUMSA measured by GS-2/3/9-17 process;
• Sulphur dioxide in the range of 2.1 mg/kg to 2.62 mg/kg, when ICUMSA measured by GS-2/1/7/9-33 process.
In accordance with the embdoiments of the present disclosure, the primary juice is processed to obtain the heavy molasses and the secondary juice sugar curing are mixed to produce a common massecuites. This common massecuites is double cured and is used for both massecuites as per required proportion.
In an embodiment, the sugar obtained using the present system has a quality which matches with the grade of pharmaceutical industry requirements for a pharmaceutical grade sugar, and also the grade of the refined grade sugar.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the obtained sugar is thereafter dried in at least one sugar drying unit (310). Thereafter, the sugar is graded in at least one grading unit (311). The graded sugar is then weighed in a weighing unit (132) and packed and stored in the packaging and storage unit (313).
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the clarifier is at least one selected from Dorr clarifier, Graver clarifier, Bach clarifier, RapiDorr clarifier, Lamella clarifier, Louisiana clarifier and/or short time retention clarifier.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first biocide is at least one selected from sodium salts of alkyl cyanodiethyldithiocarbamates and potassium salts of alkyl cyanodiethyldithiocarbamates. In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure the amount of sodium salt of alkyl cyanodiethyldithiocarbamates and potassium salts of alkyl cyanodiethyldithiocarbamate is in an amount in the range of 25 % w/w to 50 % w/w preferably 40 w/w; in combination with amine based, polymer based, phosphate based, phosphonate based, organo sulphur based, quinine based chelating / sequestrating / penetrating compound in an amount in the range of 0.01 % w/w to 5 % w/w; and 0 to 10 parts of a foaming or a non-foaming type dispersant/chelating agent formulated to kill about 90% microbes in one minute.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the second biocide is at least one selected from the group consisting of sodium salts of alkyl cyanodiethyldithiocarbamates and potassium salts of alkyl cyanodiethyldithiocarbamates. In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure the amount of sodium salt of alkyl cyanodiethyldithiocarbamates and potassium salts of alkyl cyanodiethyldithiocarbamate can be in an amount in the range of 25 % – 50 % w/w preferably 40 % w/w, and 0 to 10 parts of a foaming or a non – foaming type dispersant/chelating agent formulated to kill about 90% microbes in ten minutes.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the biocide used for mill sanitation is at least one selected from the group consisting of chlorine-based quaternary ammonium compounds, iodine-based quaternary ammonium compounds, hydrogen peroxides, peroxyacetic acid, chlorine dioxide, Na/K methyl dithiocarbamate in combination with ethyl dithiocarbamate.
In an embodiment, amine polymer includes an aqueous solution of polymer active matter of 20 to 60% made by reacting coconut amine (cocoamine and coco alkyl amine) / alkyl amine having varying carbon chain in the range of C-7 to C- 22, dimethyl amine with epi-chlorohydrin or other such polymerizing initiator and optionally adding color precipitants and / or flocculants.
The system of the present disclosure described hereinabove has several technical advantages such as the reduction of impurities in the obtained sugar, as compared to the sugars obtained from the conventional systems. The system is also user friendly, requires less manpower and hence is cost-effective. Further, the system minimizes pollution and hence is eco-friendly.
In another aspect, the present disclosure provides a process for manufacturing sugar.
In the process, in the first step, the sugarcane is received in a receiving unit (100) and a predetermined amount of a first biocide formulation is sprayed on the sugarcane. Thereafter, the sugarcane is fiberized to obtain fiberized sugarcane. The fiberizing of the sugarcane is performed to obtain sugarcane fibers without extraction of juice.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the concentration of biocide in the first biocide formulation is in the range of 2 to 15 ppm.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first biocide is at least one selected from sodium salts of alkyl cyanodiethyldithiocarbamates and potassium salts of alkyl cyanodiethyldithiocarbamates. In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, greater than 90% microbes are killed due to the spraying of the biocide.
In the second step, a predetermined amount of a second biocide formulation is dosed on the fiberized sugarcane to obtain dosed sugarcane. The dosed sugarcane is then squeezed in a primary milling unit (300) to obtain primary juice and milled cane.
In the third step, the milled cane obtained from the primary milling unit (300) is fed to a plurality of secondary milling units (400) to obtain secondary juice and squeezed cane.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, the milling operation comprises a primary milling unit (300) and a plurality of secondary milling unit (400) comprising of four mills (400a, 400b, 400c, and 400d) arranged in series. The dosed sugarcane is fed to the primary mill (300). The juice squeezed and extracted in the primary mill (300) is primary juice and is collected in a primary juice tank tank (T-300) and the milled cane from the primary mill (300) is fed to a secondary mill (400) for further processing. Hot water is fed to the last mill (400d) and the juice from last mill (400d) is collected in tank (T 400d). A predetermined amount of at least one biocide is added to the collected juice and thereafter, the juice is added to the milled cane coming to a penultimate mill (400c) to obtain a concentrated juice and collected in tank (T 400c). Again a predetermined amount of at least one biocide is added to the collected juice and thereafter and the juice from tank (T 400c) is sent to preceding mill (400 b). After the collection of juice from mill (400 b), the juice is collected in tank (T 400b), and a predetermined amount of at least one biocide is added and thereafter the juice is fed to mill (400a).
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the concentration of biocide in the second biocide formulation is in the range of 2 to 15 ppm.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the second biocide is at least one selected from sodium salts of alkyl cyanodiethyldithiocarbamates and potassium salts of alkyl cyanodiethyldithiocarbamates.
In the fourth step, the obtained primary juice and secondary juice is separately heated to a first predetermined temperature to obtain a heated primary juice and a heated secondary juice.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the first predetermined temperature is in the range 65°C to 75°C. In an embodiment, the first predetermined temperature is 73 °C.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure, the heating of obtained primary juice and the obtained secondary juice to a first predetermined temperature is performed in at least three stages. The heating in the first stage is performed to achieve a temperature of the heated juice in the range of 35 oC to 45 oC. The heating in the second stage is performed to achieve a temperature of the heated juice in the range of 45 oC to 55 oC. The heating in the third stage is performed to achieve a temperature of the heated juice in the range of 55 oC to 75 oC.
In the fifth step, a predetermined amount of milk of lime is separately added to the heated primary juice and the heated secondary juice to separately obtain an alkaline primary juice and an alkaline secondary juice having a predetermined pH, followed by adding a predetermined amount of sulphur dioxide gas to the alkaline primary juice and an alkaline secondary juice, to obtain primary neutralized juice and secondary neutralized juice.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the milk of lime further comprises at least one reagent selected from the group consisting of poly-aluminum chloride, ferric alum, polymeric cationic, anionic flocculent, and nonionic flocculent.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the quantity of at least one reagent is in the range of 0 ppm to 20 ppm with respect to the total amount of milk of lime.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the pH of the alkaline primary juice is in the range of 7.5 to 8.5. In an exemplary embodiment, the pH is 7.8.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the the pH of the alkaline primary juice is in the range of 7.0 to 7.8. In an exemplary embodiment, the pH is 7.1.
In the sixth step, the primary neutralized juice and the secondary neutralized juice is then separately heated to a second predetermined temperature to obtain a primary heated neutralized juice and secondary heated neutralized juice. Thereafter, a predetermined amount of at least one flocculating agent is added to the heated neutralized primary juice and heated neutralized secondary juice, and clarifying for a predetermined time period to separately obtain a purified and clarified primary juice and purified and clarified secondary juice.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the second predetermined temperature is in the range of 75°C to 95°C. In an exemplary embodiment, the second predetermined temperature is 90°C.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the heating of obtained primary juice is performed in at least three stages. The heating in the first stage is performed to achieve a temperature of the heated juice in the range of 75 oC to 76 oC. The heating in the second stage is performed to achieve a temperature of the heated juice in the range of 75 oC to 90 oC. The heating in the third stage is performed to achieve a temperature of the heated juice in the range of 90 oC to 104 oC.
In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the secondary juice is heated in two stages: in the first heating stage, the juice is heated from 68°C to 85°C, in the second heating stage, the juice is heated from 85°C to 104°C.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the flocculating agent is at least one selected from the group consisting of cationic water soluble amine polymer and flocculent.
In the seventh step, the purified and clarified primary juice and the purified and clarified secondary juice is then concentrated by evaporation to obtain a concentrated primary syrup and concentrated secondary syrup.
In the eighth step, the concentrated secondary juice syrup is boiled separately and crystallized followed by centrifuging to obtain a secondary sugar melt.
In the ninth step, the obtained secondary sugar melt is added to the obtained primary juice syrup obtained in the seventh step to obtain a massecuite.
In the tenth step, the obtained massecuite is then boiled and crystallized followed by centrifuging to obtain the desired grade of sugar.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the predetermined time period is in the range of 10 minutes to 150 minutes.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the biocide for mill sanitation is at least one selected from the group consisting of chlorine-based quaternary ammonium compounds, iodine-based quaternary ammonium compounds, hydrogen peroxides, peroxyacetic acid, chlorine dioxide, Na/K methyl dithiocarbamate in combination with ethyl dithiocarbamate.
In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, the compressing of the fiberized sugarcane is performed in at least five stages. The juice extracted in the first stage is collected and further processed separately as a primary juice, and the juice obtained in the second stage is collected and further processed separately as a secondary juice. The inventors of the present disclosure have surprisingly found that by collecting and processing the primary and the secondary juices separately, a pure sugar is obtained, the specifications of which match the pharmaceutical grade sugar. There is a drastic reduction of impurities due to the separate processing of the primary and the secondary juices, which inturn makes the further processing simpler. Further, the remelting of the entire amount of the obtained sugar and recrystallization of the same for purification is avoided due to the separate processing of the primary and secondary juices, making the process economic. Furthermore, the obtained mud from the clarifiers is further vacuum filtered to obatain a filtrate which is purged back into the process. In the process of the present disclosure, the temperatures maintained while processing of the secondary juice are comparatively less, therefore, the losses occurring are minimized. Thus, there is a comparatively higher sugar in an economic mannerwhile maintaintaining the quality of the obtained sugar.
The process of the present disclosure described hereinabove has several technical advantages such as a reduction in the loss of sugar due to microbial activities, reduction of impurities in the obtained sugar, as compared to the sugars obtained from the conventional processes. Further, in the present disclosure, the critical threshold value of the pH of the juice is in the range of 7.5 to 8.5. Hence, comparatively a lower amount of milk of lime is required.
Further, in the process of the present disclosure, sulphur dioxide required for the neutralization of the juice is also low; hence, the SO2 value in the so obtained crystallized sugar processed from the syrup obtained from the process, of the present disclosure, contains substantially lower amounts of sulphur. In the processing of the secondary juice, the pH of the alkaline juice is maintained in the range of 7.0 to 7.8, therefore, the the amount of SO2 required for neutralization is comparatively very less. Thus, the process of the present disclosure is eco-friendly.
Thus, the process in the present disclosure overcomes the shortcomings of the double sulphitation process. In the present disclosure, the temperature to which the juice is heated is comparatively lesser and hence the process is more energy-efficient and hence cost-effective and minimizes pollution.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Individual components of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment but are interchangeable. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the present disclosure, and all such modifications are considered to be within the scope of the present disclosure.
The present disclosure is further illustrated herein below with the help of the following examples. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practised and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of embodiments herein. The following experiments can be scaled up to industrial/commercial scale and the results obtained can be extrapolated to industrial scale.
Experimental details:
Example 1: Manufacturing of sugar in accordance with an embodiment the present disclosure.
Sugarcane was received in a receiving unit (100) and a 7.5 ppm concentration first biocide formulation was sprayed on the sugarcane and fiberized. A 7.5 ppm concentration second biocide formulation was dosed on the sugarcane fibers, followed by compressing for extracting juice from the dosed sugarcane fibers. The juice from the primary mill (300) was collected and processed separately as primary juice. The juice from the secondary mill (400) was collected and an intermediate addition of 7.5 ppm concentration second biocide formulation was done and the obtained juice was fed to the penultimate mills and processed separately as secondary juice. The primary juice was then heated to a 72oC to obtain heated juice. A milk of lime was added to the heated juice to obtain an alkaline juice having a pH of 7.5, followed by adding sulphur dioxide gas to the alkaline juice, to obtain neutralized juice. The neutralized juice is then heated to 104 oC to obtain a heated neutralized juice, followed by adding a flocculating agent, and clarifying for 2.5 hours to obtain a purified and clarified juice. The purified and clarified juice is then concentrated by evaporation to obtain a concentrated primary syrup. Separately, secondary juice was processed following the same process steps as primary juice, except for maintaining the pH of the alkaline juice to 7.1 to obtain a concentrated secondary juice syrup. The obtained secondary juice syrup was then crystallized to obtain a secondary sugar melt. The secondary sugar melt was then added to the obtained primary juice syrup to obtain a massecuites. The massecuites was then boiled and crystallized to obtain sugar.
The obtained sugar was analyzed. The following results were obtained:
Table 1: Example 1 - Sugar analysis report:
Sr No Parameters Unit Results Units/ specifications
1 Granulation S - 30
2 Colour IU 46 ICUMSA By GS-2/3-10 process
3 Moisture % 0.0269 % On Drying Process
4 Polarization % 99.95 % Polari meter Process
5 Ash Content % 0.0138 % ICUMSA By GS-2/3/9-17 process
6 Sulphur Dioxide mg/Kg 2.62 mg/Kg ICUMSA By GS-2/1/7/9-33 process
Thus, it is very evident from the table that the sugar obtained by the process of the present disclosure has characteristics matching with the characteristics of the pharmaceutical grade sugar. Thus, a pure quality sugar is obtained.
Example 2: Manufacturing of sugar in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Sugarcane was received in a receiving unit (100) and a 7.5 ppm concentration first biocide formulation was sprayed on the sugarcane and fiberized. A 7.5 ppm concentration second biocide formulation was dosed on the sugarcane fibers, followed by compressing for extracting juice from the dosed sugarcane fibers. The juice from the primary mill (300) was collected and processed separately as primary juice. The juice from the secondary mill (400) was collected and an intermediate addition of 7.5 ppm concentration second biocide formulation was done and the obtained juice was fed to the penultimate mills and processed separately as secondary juice. The primary juice was then heated to a 75oC to obtain heated juice. A milk of lime was added to the heated juice to obtain an alkaline juice having a pH of 7.4, followed by adding sulphur dioxide gas to the alkaline juice, to obtain neutralized juice. The neutralized juice is then heated to 104 oC to obtain a heated neutralized juice, followed by adding a flocculating agent, and clarifying for 2.25 hours to obtain a purified and clarified juice. The purified and clarified juice is then concentrated by evaporation to obtain a concentrated primary syrup. Separately, secondary juice was processed following the same process steps as primary juice, except for maintaining the pH of the alkaline juice to 7.3 to obtain a concentrated secondary juice syrup. The obtained secondary juice syrup was then crystallized to obtain a secondary sugar melt. The secondary sugar melt was then added to the obtained primary juice syrup to obtain a massecuites. The massecuites was then boiled and crystallized to obtain sugar.
The obtained sugar was analyzed. The following results were obtained:
Table 2: Example 2 - Sugar analysis report:
Sr No Parameters Unit Results Units/ specifications
1 Granulation S - 30
2 Colour IU 28 ICUMSA By GS-2/3-10 process
3 Moisture % 0.0271 % On Drying Process
4 Polarization % 99.94 % Polari meter Process
5 Ash Content % 0.0134 % ICUMSA By GS-2/3/9-17 process
6 Sulphur Dioxide mg/Kg 2.61 mg/Kg ICUMSA By GS-2/1/7/9-33 process
Thus, it is very evident from the results that the obtained sugar meets the specifications of a pharmaceutical-grade sugar.
Example 3: Manufacturing of sugar in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Sugarcane was received in a receiving unit (100) and a 7.5 ppm concentration first biocide formulation was sprayed on the sugarcane and fiberized. A 7.5 ppm concentration second biocide formulation was dosed on the sugarcane fibers, followed by compressing for extracting juice from the dosed sugarcane fibers. The juice from the primary mill (300) was collected and processed separately as primary juice. The juice from the secondary mill (400) was collected and an intermediate addition of 7.5 ppm concentration second biocide formulation was done and the obtained juice was fed to the penultimate mills and processed separately as secondary juice. The primary juice was then heated to a 75oC to obtain heated juice. A milk of lime was added to the heated juice to obtain an alkaline juice having a pH of 7.3, followed by adding sulphur dioxide gas to the alkaline juice, to obtain neutralized juice. The neutralized juice is then heated to 104 oC to obtain a heated neutralized juice, followed by adding a flocculating agent, and clarifying for 2.75 hours to obtain a purified and clarified juice. The purified and clarified juice is then concentrated by evaporation to obtain a concentrated primary syrup. Separately, secondary juice was processed following the same process steps as primary juice, except for maintaining the pH of the alkaline juice to 7.2 to obtain a concentrated secondary juice syrup. The obtained secondary juice syrup was then crystallized to obtain a secondary sugar melt. The secondary sugar melt was then added to the obtained primary juice syrup to obtain a massecuites. The massecuites was then boiled and crystallized to obtain sugar.
The obtained sugar was analyzed. The following results were obtained:
Table 3: Example 3 - Sugar analysis report:
Sr No Parameters Unit Results Units/ specifications
1 Granulation MII - 30
2 Colour IU 38 ICUMSA By GS-2/3-10 process
3 Moisture % 0.0270 % On Drying Process
4 Polarization % 99.91 % Polari meter Process
5 Ash Content % 0.0136 % ICUMSA By GS-2/3/9-17 process
6 Sulphur Dioxide mg/Kg 2.4 mg/Kg ICUMSA By GS-2/1/7/9-33 process
TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS
The present disclosure described herein above has several technical advantages including, but not limited to, the realization of a system for manufacturing sugar that:
• requires less manpower and a user-friendly system ;
• minimizes pollution during manufacturing;
• requires less steam and less energy; and
• is cost-effective.
a process for manufacturing sugar that:
• reduces loss of sugar due to microbial activities, and reduces the impurities in the obtained sugar;
• comparatively requires a lower amount of milk of lime, thus the overall consumption of natural resources required for the production of milk of lime are inturn reduced, making the process environment friendly;
• produces sugar containing a substantially lower amounts of sulphur.
Throughout this specification the word “comprise”, or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.
The use of the expression “at least” or “at least one” suggests the use of one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as the use may be in the embodiment of the invention to achieve one or more of the desired objects or results. While certain embodiments of the inventions have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Variations or modifications to the formulation of this invention, within the scope of the invention, may occur to those skilled in the art upon reviewing the disclosure herein. Such variations or modifications are well within the spirit of this invention.
The numerical values given for various physical parameters, dimensions and quantities are only approximate values and it is envisaged that the values higher than the numerical value assigned to the physical parameters, dimensions and quantities fall within the scope of the invention unless there is a statement in the specification to the contrary.
While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the specific features of the preferred embodiment, it will be appreciated that many additional features can be added and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiment without departing from the principles of the disclosure. These and other changes in the preferred embodiment of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the disclosure and not as a limitation. ,CLAIMS:WE CLAIM:
1. A system (1000) for manufacturing sugar from sugarcane, said system comprising:
i. at least one receiving unit (100), configured to receive the sugarcane;
ii. a primary milling unit (300), configured to receive the sugarcane from said receiving unit (100), and further configured to squeeze the sugarcane to obtain a primary juice and milled cane;
iii. a secondary milling unit (400) comprising a plurality of secondary mills, configured to receive said milled cane from said primary milling unit (300), and further configured to sequentially squeeze through a series of secondary mills to obtain secondary juice and squeezed cane;
iv. a primary heating unit (302) and a secondary heating unit (402), configured to receive said primary juice and said secondary juice separately from said primary milling unit (300) and said secondary milling unit (400), and further configured to separately heat said primary juice and said secondary juice to obtain heated primary juice and heated secondary juice;
v. a primary liming and sulphitation unit (303) and a secondary liming and sulphitation unit (403) configured to separately receive said primary heated juice and said secondary heated juice from primary heating unit (302) and secondary heating unit (402), and further configured to separately treat the said primary heated juice and said secondary heated juice with milk of lime and sulphur dioxide, to obtain neutralized primary juice and neutralized secondary juice;
vi. a primary evaporation unit (307) and a secondary evaporation unit (407), configured to separately receive said neutralized primary juice and said neutralized secondary juice from said primary liming and sulphitation unit (303) and a secondary liming and sulphitation unit (403), and further configured to separately heat the neutralized primary juice and neutralized secondary juice to obtain primary juice syrup and secondary juice syrup;
vii. a secondary crystallization and centrifugation unit (409), configured to receive said secondary juice syrup from said secondary evaporation unit (407), and further configured to process said secondary juice syrup to obtain a secondary sugar melt; and
viii. a primary crystallization and centrifugation unit (309), configured to receive said primary juice syrup from said primary evaporation unit (307) and said secondary sugar melt from said secondary crystallization and centrifugation unit (409) and mix to obtain massecuite, and further configured to process said massecuite to obtain said sugar.
2. The system (1000) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system comprises at least one dosing unit (500) fitted within the system (1000) on at least one location consisting of before said at least one receiving unit (100), after said at least one receiving unit (100), before said at least one fiberizing unit (200), after said at least one fiberizing unit (200), before said primary milling unit (300), after said primary milling unit (300), before said secondary milling unit (400), and after said secondary milling unit (400), at the input and output of a first secondary mill (400a), a second secondary mill (400b), a third secondary mill (400c), and a fourth secondary mill (400d).
3. The system (1000) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system further comprises at least one fiberizing unit (200), configured to receive the sugarcane from said receiving unit (100), and further configured to fiberize the sugarcane for feeding the fiberized sugarcane to said primary milling unit (300).
4. The system (1000) as claimed in claim 1, wherein
a. said primary milling unit (300) comprises at least one mill; and
b. said secondary milling unit (400) comprises a plurality of mills,
wherein said secondary milling unit (400) has a first secondary mill (400a), a second secondary mill (400b), a third secondary mill (400c), and a fourth secondary mill (400d), wherein said milling units are arranged to receive milled cane from said primary milling unit (300) and sequentially squeeze the cane and transfer the cane from said first secondary mill (400a) to said fourth secondary mill (400d), and receive hot water at said fourth secondary mill (400d) to obtain juice and sequentially transfer said juice from said fourth secondary mill (400d) to said first secondary mill (400a) to obtain secondary juice.
5. The system (1000) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system further comprises a primary rotary screen (301) and a secondary rotary screen (401) configured to separate bagasse from said primary juice and said secondary juice, said rotary screen configured with a mesh filter having mesh in the range of 0.15 to 0.35 mm.
6. The system (1000) as claimed in claim 1, wherein said system (1000) further comprises a primary clarification and settling unit (305) and a secondary clarification and settling unit (405), configured to clarify the obtained juice, said clarifier is at least one selected from the group consisting of a Dorr clarifier, a Graver clarifier, a Bach clarifier, a RapiDorr clarifier, a Lamella clarifier, a Louisiana clarifier and/or short time retention clarifier.
7. A process for manufacturing sugar from sugarcane, said process comprising the following steps:
a. receiving the sugarcane in a receiving unit (100) and spraying a predetermined amount of a first biocide formulation, followed by fiberizing to obtain fiberized sugarcane;
b. dosing a predetermined amount of a second biocide formulation on said fiberized sugarcane, for obtaining dosed sugarcane, followed by squeezing juice from said dosed sugarcane in a primary milling unit (300) to obtain primary juice and milled cane;
c. feeding said milled cane to a secondary milling unit (400) comprising plurality of secondary mills to obtain squeezed juice, and dosing a predetermined amount of at least one biocide in said squeezed juice from said at least one secondary mill of said secondary milling unit (400) to obtain a secondary juice and squeezed cane;
d. separately, heating said primary juice to a first predetermined temperature to obtain a heated primary juice;
e. adding a predetermined amount of milk of lime to the heated primary juice to obtain an alkaline primary juice having a predetermined pH, followed by adding a predetermined amount of sulphur dioxide gas to said alkaline primary juice, to obtain a neutralized primary juice;
f. heating said neutralized primary juice to a second predetermined temperature to obtain a heated neutralized primary juice, followed by adding a predetermined amount of at least one flocculating agent, and clarifying for a predetermined time period to obtain a purified and clarified primary juice;
g. concentrating said purified and clarified primary juice by evaporation to obtain a concentrated primary juice syrup;
h. separately, treating secondary juice by said steps (c) to (g) to obtain a concentrated secondary juice syrup, followed by boiling and crystallizing said to concentrated secondary juice syrup obtain secondary sugar melt;
i. adding said secondary sugar melt obtained in step (h) to said primary juice syrup obtained in step (g) to obtain a massecuite; and
j. boiling and crystallizing said massecuite, followed by centrifuging to obtain said sugar.
8. The process as claimed in claim 7, wherein
a. the milk of lime in said step (d) further comprises a reagent, said reagent is at least one selected from the group consisting of poly-aluminum chloride, ferric alum, polymeric cationic, anionic flocculent, and nonionic flocculent, the quantity of said reagent is in the range of 0 ppm to 20 ppm with respect to the total amount of milk of lime; and
b. said flocculating agent in said step (e), is at least one selected from the group consisting of cationic water soluble amine polymer and flocculent.
9. The process as claimed in claim 7, wherein said first predetermined temperature is in the range 65°C to 75°C, and said second predetermined temperature is in the range of 75°C to 95°C.
10. The process as claimed in claim 6, wherein in said step (c), heating of said primary juice and said secondary juice is performed in at least three stages, wherein
• heating of the juice in the first stage is performed to achieve a temperature of in the range of 35 oC to 45 oC;
• heating of the juice in the second stage is performed to achieve a temperature of in the range of 45 oC to 55 oC; and
• heating of the juice in the third stage is performed to achieve a temperature of in the range of 55 oC to 75 oC.
11. The process as claimed in claim 7, wherein the pH of said alkaline primary juice is in the range of 7.5 to 8.5, and said alkaline secondary juice is in the range of 7.0 to 7.8 for secondary juice.
12. The process as claimed in claim 7, wherein said predetermined time period is in the range of 10 minutes to 150 minutes.
13. The process as claimed in claim 7, wherein the concentration of biocide in said first biocide formulation and said second biocide formulation is in the range of 2 to 15 ppm.
14. The process as claimed in claim 7, wherein in step (e), heating of said primary and said secondary juice is performed in at least three stages, wherein
• heating of the juice in the first stage is performed to achieve a temperature of in the range of 75 oC to 76 oC;
• heating of the juice in the second stage is performed to achieve a temperature in the range of 75 oC to 90 oC; and
• heating of the juice in the third stage is performed to achieve a temperature of in the range of 90 oC to 104 oC.
15. The process as claimed in claim 7, wherein said first biocide and said second biocide is at least one selected from group consisting of sodium salts of alkyl cyanodiethyldithiocarbamates and potassium salts of alkyl cyanodiethyldithiocarbamates.
Dated this 27th day of July, 2022

_______________________________
MOHAN RAJKUMAR DEWAN, IN/PA – 25
of R.K.DEWAN & CO.
Authorized Agent of Applicant

TO,
THE CONTROLLER OF PATENTS
THE PATENT OFFICE, AT CHENNAI