The development and evaluation of an on-line sugar purity meter for use in a low grade continuous centrifugal

Abstract

There are two process operations in the sugar factory that directly affect the recovery of sugar from evaporated syrup, namely crystallisation (boiling) and centrifugal operation. Successful automation of the vacuum pans (boiling) has been implemented using brix (total dissolved solids) control, but to date on-line measurement of continuous centrifugal performance has not been successfully accomplished in South Africa. The purpose of this investigation was to continue the preliminary work performed by Tongaat Hulett Sugar in developing a purity meter for the measurement of sugar purity (sucrose content) in a continuous centrifugal. This instrument would provide the centrifugal operator with a reliable tool to perform on-line measurement of sugar purity and would also facilitate the automation of the centrifugal