SUGAR
REFINERIES

SUGAR COLOR < 25 IU

LOW STEAM CONSUMPTION

CONCEPT TO COMMISSIONING
R
L
VRL AUTOMATION
ENGINEERING &
PROJECTS PVT LTD
RAW SUGAR HANDLING :
Uniform feeding of raw sugar is very essential to get
consistent magma formation & inflow to raw sugar
melter for stablized melt flow & brix control.
Raw sugar can be transported from the dumpers,
bags or silo and transferred into a silo using belt &
elevator conveying system and then to receiving silo
with automatic weighing mechanism.
Raw sugar conveying and weighment are automated
for uniform sugar feeding. Raw sugar measurement
is important for down steam operations and
maintaining refined sugar process control
parameters and for the calculation of yield.
RAW SUGAR MELTER:
It is horizontal cylindrical type design with vertically
mounted stirrers. It consists of 3 stirrers which are
specially designed with a moderate speed for
effective mixing and melting of raw sugar with sweet
water and obtain melt free from any residual sugar
crystals. The melting is supplemented by Sweet
water from refinery which is heated through Direct
Contact Heater with low temperature vapor. There is
no direct steam injection in our melter design. Thus,
it saves steam and at the same time eliminates
localized heating (to avoid sugar caramelization).
The Melter is provided with brix control automation
for maintaining uniform and consistent melt brix at
preset value.
MELT CLARIFIER :
The purpose of melt clarification process is to remove turbidity and color from raw sugar melt liquor by means of
flotation separation technique. Colour precipitate as required is added in the Buffer tank. Screened melt liquor is
heated in Direct Contact Heater and then sent to the reaction tank. The heated melt is treated with Phosphoric acid
and lime sucrate. This treated liquor is fed from
bo om of the Melt Clarifier. A Portion of the treated
melt is sent through a specially designed air
saturation tank wherein the liquor is thoroughly
mixed with compressed air and enters the melt
clarifier main feed inlet. Construction of the clarifier
and features adopted in the design are unique. This
ensures uniform & undisturbed raw melt in flow as
well as clarified melt take off. The scum separated
from raw melt is consistent and uniform which is
taken out of the clarifier with a slow speed scrapper
arm. The scum is discharged in to a gu er provided
on the periphery of the clarifier. The clarified liquor
is discharged in a weir box, where the melt / scum level in the clarifier can be controlled as per scum consistency.
The melt clarification system is provided with complete automation to regulate pH temperature, melt flow and
chemical dosing proportionl to melt solids. Flocculant is added to the melt liquor before it enters the clarifier. The
melt clarifier plays a vital role in down stream process and ensures throughput of refinery plant at rated capacity.
MULTI BED FILTERS :
The Multi Bed Filter (MBF) is designed to remove
any residual suspended ma ers in melt liquor. It is
essentially required for ion exchange clarification
(IER) process plants where superior refined sugar is
desired. However, many refined sugar
manufacturers also prefer to have these filters in non
IER process as well, in order to maintain be er
quality sugar. The fully automated multi bed filters
are indigenously designed by V R L . The design
features & filtration media selection play a major role
for best performance of the filter. This system
removes suspended solids which can cause fouling
of down steam process. Once the filter is fouled, the
entire backwash cycle including draining of melt, air
blowing, back flushing with clarified & filtered melt and related valves operation is automated and works without
any manual intervention.
TWO STAGE DECOLOURIZATION BY ION EXCHANGE COLUMNS :
The Ion Exchange Resin process consisting of two
stage decolourization process in series with total 6
columns. Each stage having 3 columns (2 working + 1
stand by). The plant is designed in such a way that
any two I E R columns in each stage will be in
operation while the third column is under
regeneration. The Ion Exchange process is designed
to remove anionically charged colorants from
clarified & filtered melt liquor. The plant design can
be customized to suit specific requirements. The
VRL design has proven track record of achieving
color of 150 I C U M S A for fine liquor from 550
ICUMSA inlet filtered melt. The ion exchange plant
consisting of IER columns, laterals, resin traps, resin
transfer system, regeneration system, brine preparation system with various pipelines for melt liquor, brine
solution, HCl, compressed air, hot water etc., are totally designed & manufactured by VRL. The IER system of
VRL make is working at full rated capacity of 1100 TPD, meeting all design parameters right from day one of
commissioning.
BRINE RECOVERY SYSTEM :
This is one of the essential measures to reduce top up
salt quantities and operational costs, more so to meet
the stringent pollution control norms.
The Brine recovery system consists of bag filters, iron
removal filters, acid, declorine & antiscalant dosing
systems, micron cartridge filters, nano filtration &
chemical cleaning systems. All dosing systems are
single skid mounted and are self-supported, hence
no foundation is required. The permeate (salt
ma er) from brine ecovery system is reused for brine preparation. Reject in low volumes with high coloring
ma er will be disposed.
THREE STAGE SCUM DESWEETENING :
The scum is washed in a counter flow
manner to recover sugar contained in
the scum collected from the melt
clarifier.
High degree of sanitation is important
because the scum is very conducive for
bacterial activity & the return sweet
water can quickly infect the melt liquor.
Hence it is very important to carefully
design a proper scum de-sweetening
system.
This involves three consecutive stages of
countercurrent extraction, i.e. scum flow
through the process is from 1 ᵗ to 2 ᵈ and
to 3 ᵈ clarifier, while the hot water flows from 3 ᵈ to 2 ᵈ and to 1 ᵗ clarifier.
The scum & water are thoroughly mixed together by a mixing tank agitator to produce a homogeneous
solution. This solution then flows by gravity into clarifier. Prior to solution entry into the clarifier, air &
flocculants are added. Line saccharate is dosed if required to maintain pH.
The high brix sweet water will be extracted from 1 ᵗstage clarifier and flows by gravity to the sweet water
tank at melting station. When 3 ᵈ stage clarification step is reached, the final desweetened scum is
discarded. This system is fully automated, entirely designed and manufactured by VRL.
TWO STAGE MELT CONCENTRATOR :
As part of steam savings, V R L
devised a double effect evaporator for
concentrating the decolorized fine
liquor coming from refinery. The
Falling Film Evaporator is of tubular
type construction designed to handle
high concentration melt liquor boiled
with low temperature vapor. There is
no hydrostatic head and operates at
minimum Delta T in this design. Due
to negligible retention time, the
inversion loss is almost nil & due to
low temperature boiling the color
pickup during concentration is bare
minimum. Specially designed by
VRL to increase the concentration of
fine liquor from 60⁰ brix to 72⁰ brix
which can be adjusted to suit down
stream process requirements. This
will enable steam savings at refinery
pan boiling and enhance pan capacity.
VERTICAL CONTINUOUS VACUUM PAN(VCP) :
VRL make VCP is of cylindrical shaped
multi chamber construction. All
compartments are arranged one above the
other. The ratio of heating surface (meter
square) to volume (cubic meter) is provided
liberally for improved exhaustion. The Top
most compartment receives the seed
magma & liquor at the center of the down
take. Partially boiled massecuite from top
compartment is continuously fed to
compartment below & finally reach bottom
most compartment. Brix of massecuite
inside the Pan is gradually raised and
maintained by adding crystal free liquor in
all chambers at the center of the down take.
Multi chamber construction facilitates the
use of different vapors for different
chambers contributing to steam economy.
Use of mechanical circulator with variable
frequency drive for each chamber, results in
homogenous mixture of massecuite,
yielding uniform crystal size and improved evaporation rate. 'W' shaped bottom saucer ensures proper
circulation & eliminates dead pockets. Each calendria is provided with entrainment catching
arrangement. Modular compartment facilitates cleaning of any chamber, even when the pan is in
continuous operation. The pan is automated with Distributed Control System (DCS) for trouble free
operation. Based on VRL expertise in instrumentation & controls, every operation right from feeding of
seed, liquor, Brix of massecuite inside pan, vapor feed, condensate extraction, vacuum control etc, is
monitored precisely and controlled by DCS.
HORIZONTAL CONTINOUS VACUUM PAN (HCP) :
VRL make horizontal continuous vacuum pan is carefully designed considering the following features:
The pan profile & positioning of heating elements within the pan play an important role in efficient
circulation of the massecuite. Further the circulation is aided by jigger steam of non-choking type. This is
designed by VRL and is performing excellently well. Patent is applied for "Jigger Steam" as it is first of its
kind. The continuous pan consists of vertical tubes which boils at low temperature vapor (3rd effect
vapor) with excellent exhaustion. The poly baffle ensures effective entrainment separation. The
massecuite flows in plug flow pattern with a circulator at last compartment where final tightening takes
place prior to discharge. The pan is fully automated for consistent output conditions such as uniform
throughput, brix, crystal size, crystal yield & exhaustion.
BATCH CENTRIFUGAL MACHINES :
Flat bottom plough discharge Batch Centrifugal
Machines provided are fully automatic with DC
or AC motors with suitable Drives & PLC based
automatic controls from VRL.
Centrifugal machine consisting of SS basket,
monitory casing, top cover, discharge chutes &
molasses separator, pug mill gate assembly with
butterfly valve, supporting structure, DC/AC
motor, PLC-HMI based control panel are
carefully designed to give trouble free
performance for quality sugar output.
Higher gravity factor ensures effective purging
o f m a s s e c u i t e , o p t i m i z e s wa s h wa t e r
consumption & run-off quantity, ensures uniform and improved quality sugar. Effective separation of heavy &
light run-off molasses avoids recirculation of sugar and helps in process balance.
Other benefits are Saving in power cost due to energy efficient drives, Minimum space requirement, Fully
assembled machine construction and Reduced maintenance & operating cost.
ROTARY SUGAR DRYER CUM COOLING UNIT :
It is a combination of sugar drying & cooling
units. To ensure better convection drying of
sugar, the hot drying air moves counter
current to feed of sugar, while cooling air
travels counter current to the discharging
sugar. The hot air is introduced at the middle
of drum. The drying & cooling air are
withdrawn together through the dust
collector.
The specially profiled sugar lifters fitted
inside of periphery will lift the sugar & drops
gently to cover entire section to form sugar
curtains & the counter current air flow through these sugar curtains, ensures better heat transfer & moisture
removal and also avoid caking of sugar. The drum is rotated at very slow speed to avoid abrasion to sugar crystals.
R
L
VRL AUTOMATION ENGINEERING & PROJECTS PVT LTD
UNIT : I
A-170, 4TH CROSS, 1ST STAGE,
PEENYA INDUSTRIAL ESTATE,
BANGALORE - 560058
PH: 080-28399360, 28393650 FAX: 91-80-28379077
E-MAIL : info@vrlengineering.com
UNIT : II
NO.27, ANTHARASANAHALLI,
ST
1 PHASE, INDUSTRIAL AREA,
NH 4, TUMKUR, INDIA
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