I happened to visit a sugar factory, where I became acquainted with the process of making a familiar product - sugar.
Actually, it all starts at the entrance, where guests are first greeted by the gilded V.I. Lenin, somehow hinting with his gesture: “Tovag’ishi! Sweets are there, beyond God!
And most importantly, it doesn’t deceive. Sugar is really there, in commercial quantities.

Everyone knows that sugar cane does not grow in our country and sugar has to be extracted from beets, this not at all glamorous root vegetable.

Trucks heavily loaded with beet are driven to the acceptance point

Weigh and then unload the contents of bodies and trailers into a bunker

It should be noted that the entire production process is automated, as evidenced by the presence of various panels and consoles at all key points of the technological chain

From the bunker, the root crops fall onto a conveyor belt, which carries the raw materials underground.

It is clear that before using beets, you need to clear them of soil, tops, stuck stones, sand and other impurities - all this cannot get into the finished product in any case, but it can easily ruin the equipment. To do this, beets, following the supply path to production, pass through various straw traps, stone traps, and sand traps. For the final cleaning of beets from contaminants, the root crops pass through a beet washer.

The entire process is controlled by the operator. On the monitor on the right is a diagram of the processes taking place in the cleaning and washing area, which displays operational information. The monitor on the left displays video from a camera installed above the conveyor belt, along which the washed raw materials go to the next section.

And here is the same conveyor that the camera is looking at. Clean root vegetables are sent to the beet cutter.

The beet roots are fed into the hopper of the beet cutter and are carried into the body, where, under the influence of centrifugal force, they are pressed against the cutting edge of the knives, sliding along which the beets are gradually cut into beet chips. It’s difficult to observe the process itself, but the knives look like this:

The “degree of sugar recovery” depends very much on the quality of the chips. It must be of a certain thickness, with a smooth, crack-free surface.

The chips obtained at the previous stage are sent along a belt conveyor to the diffusion apparatus.
Inside the diffusion column there is a screw (a thing like in a meat grinder), with the help of which the chips move from bottom to top at a certain speed. Against the movement, water continuously flows through the column of chips from top to bottom. Passing through the crushed raw materials, the water dissolves the sugar in the beet chips and is saturated with it. The whole process takes place without air access and at a certain temperature. As a result of the process, sugar-saturated juice accumulates at the bottom of the column, and pulp (sugar-free beet chips) is discharged from the top of the apparatus.

Freshly squeezed pulp enters the pulp dryer. This is a huge, continuously rotating drum, inside which the pulp is dried in a stream of hot gas.

Granules of dried beet pulp are picked up by the air flow of a pneumatic conveyor and carried through pipes to a warehouse for subsequent sale - the “squeezed” beet cut is used as livestock feed.

The juice obtained during the diffusion process, in addition to the sucrose we need (that is, sugar), contains many different substances, united by the term “non-sugars”. All non-sugars, to a greater or lesser extent, interfere with the production of crystalline sugar and increase the loss of the beneficial product. And the next technological task is the removal of non-sugars from sugar solutions. Why are various physical and chemical processes used?

The juice is mixed with lime milk, heated, and the sediment is discarded. Pre-defecation, defecation (that’s right, I heard correctly and made a mistake - in Russian it’s just cleansing), saturation and many other interesting terms. At one stage, the juice is filtered in such installations

Along the perimeter of the filtration apparatus one can see glass flasks through which the juice to be purified is passed.

The resulting juice is concentrated by evaporation. The resulting syrup is boiled until it crystallizes. “Cooking” sugar is the most important operation in the preparation of a sweet product. In the photo - our guide and chief technologist at the control point of the boiling area

Before us is the heart of production - vacuum devices for boiling syrup. “Cooking” occurs in a rarefied atmosphere, due to which the syrup boils at 70 degrees Celsius. At higher temperatures the sugar will simply burn. How this happens in a frying pan :) The control panel is visible on the left. At one point, one of them screamed a siren and turned on a red flashing light, signaling the need for human intervention in the automated process. One of the workers immediately appeared and the remote control went silent with satisfaction.

You can “milk” the device a little and visually check the quality of the syrup.

The syrup on the glass slide crystallizes before your eyes. It's practically sugar!

Boiled syrup - massecuite, sent for centrifugation

In a centrifuge, all excess is separated from the massecuite and goes into a special collection under the installation. And granulated sugar crystals remain on the walls of the drum. The following photographs were taken within one minute and the sugar gap is clearly visible in them.

Wet granulated sugar unloaded from centrifuges is transported for drying

Drying unit. The drum rotates. The sugar inside the drum is blown with hot air (more than 100 degrees).

After drying, the sugar is cooled to room temperature with continuous mixing in the same installation. At this time, you can get to it from the end and open the secret hatch!

The dryer drum rotates and the sugar is poured out, cooling.

It's time to taste the finished product! Sweet!

Dried and cooled granulated sugar is fed to the sieving machine. The photo does not convey the movement, but the whole structure sways like a sieve in the hands of a grandmother :)

Upon completion of sifting, the sugar is sent for packaging.

Unfortunately, at the packaging area I was asked not to take pictures. Filming was allowed only after the end of the work shift and the conveyor had stopped.

The photo shows semi-automatic packaging bins, with packers sitting on benches next to them. A bag is taken from the stack, placed on the neck of the hopper, and the dispenser pours 50 kg into the bag. After which the conveyor belt moves, the neck of the bag falls into a “sewing machine”, which stitches the bag and then the sewn bag goes along the conveyor belt to the warehouse.

The enterprise also has an automatic packaging line, it’s almost the same thing, only there are no packers. All the action takes place in a translucent tunnel; in fact, you can only see how the machine picks up a bag from a stack, puts it on the bell of the hopper, loads a portion of granulated sugar, then sews it up and sends it to the finished product. For some reason, there were no photographs of the process. Apparently he was hypnotized by the self-moving bags :)

That's all.

p.s. The production area is very noisy, I couldn’t hear much of what was said. So if I was not accurate in describing the technology and processes, don’t blame me.

Attachments: from 3,500,000 rubles

Payback: from 1 month

In the food industry, there are several branches of production with high profitability: the products are consumed by almost all people. One of the promising areas of entrepreneurship is the production of sugar from sugar beets. Let's consider the advantages and risks of such a business and calculate the possible costs.

Business concept

According to statistical studies, any resident of our state consumes approximately 20 kilograms of sugar per year. The product is in constant demand, and if you set up sugar production as a business, it will bring high income.

More than 90% of sugar in Russia is produced from imported raw materials. Its prices are quite high.

If you use local raw materials, you can significantly benefit from the difference in selling prices.

Such production requires decent start-up capital. You need to buy expensive equipment and hire qualified workers. There are two ways to organize a business:

1. Purchase a ready-made plant. You immediately get an established production with high capacity, infrastructure and often well-developed supply channels. However, maximum caution is required, because sometimes they offer crumbling buildings with outdated equipment. To avoid getting into such a situation, use the services of a competent appraiser.
2. Buy or rent the necessary premises and assemble a production workshop yourself from a variety of machines and units. For a novice businessman, this is the most suitable way.

Products can be sold wholesale to hypermarkets, confectionery factories, catering establishments and canneries.

Additional profit will come from the sale of industrial waste: cake, molasses and molasses. They are sold to suppliers of raw materials or through trade.

What is required for implementation

The future workshop must comply with food production standards. Its area is selected based on future production volumes. On average it is 80-100 square meters. The premises are divided into the workshop itself, storage compartments for raw materials and finished products, recreation and hygiene areas for workers.

For this production the following equipment is required:

• washing;
• hydraulic conveyor;
• unit for lifting raw material;
• cake dryer;
• screw press;
• diffusion units;
• slicing machines;
• separator conveyors;
• settling tanks;
• filtration devices;
• evaporating design;
• centrifuges;
• drying and cooling devices;
• vibrating sieve and vibrating conveyor.

The line is serviced by 8 workers. In addition to them, we need a specialist in purchasing raw materials and selling goods, a storekeeper, and a cleaner.

Step-by-step launch instructions

First, the entrepreneur needs to officially register the production. The best choice is an LLC, which allows you to cooperate with large clients, which will increase financial benefits. But at first, you can register an individual entrepreneurship. Taxation system: simplified tax system (income minus expenses), OKVED 10.81.11.

You also need to obtain permits from the fire and sanitary services, certificates of product quality and production level.

Processing beets into sugar is a process that takes place in several phases:

1. Purification of raw materials.
2. Grinding. A special unit with sharply sharpened knives is used. Chopped beets are easier to process in the future.
3. Juice extraction using a diffusion unit.
4. Purification and clarification of juice. In special devices, the juice is filtered to remove sediment.
5. Condensation of juice. On the evaporation unit, the concentration of sugar in the raw material increases to 60-75%.
6. Obtaining sugar crystals. In vacuum devices, the syrup is processed and massecuite - crystallized sugar - is obtained.
7. Subsequent processing of the massecuite and separation of white sugar in a centrifuge.

During the production process, in addition to sugar, molasses, cake and filter cake are formed. The first product can be used in the production of alcohol, citric acid, and animal feed. Fertilizers are made from the filtered sediment. The cake is used as a basis for the production of mixed feed. All this can serve as an additional source of profit.

Financial calculations

Before starting production, all preliminary calculations must be included in the business plan. With proper planning, you can avoid serious mistakes when starting out.

Starting capital and monthly expenses

The bulk of the initial investment will go towards purchasing a production line and purchasing raw materials. If you plan to open an enterprise with a daily productivity of about 100 tons, you need to contribute at least 10,000,000 rubles to the cost of purchasing equipment. A mini-factory in its basic configuration costs about 1,200,000. But it will not “lift” more than 10 tons per day.

In addition, it is necessary to take into account the following expenses (in rubles):

• paperwork – 50,000;
• rental of premises for the first month – 10,000;
• workers' wages for the same period – 150,000;
• purchase of raw materials (at an average price of 5,000 rubles per ton) – 2,000,000;
• expenses for purchasing a cash register and online accounting – 30,000;
• transport and unforeseen expenses - 40,000;
• website creation and advertising campaigns – 20,000.

In total, at the start, an entrepreneur needs to have 3,500,000 rubles. Monthly expenses will include additional purchase of raw materials, rent, salaries, transportation and unforeseen expenses. They will amount to at least 1,000,000 rubles.

How much can you earn and payback period

Granulated beet sugar in wholesale costs an average of 35 rubles per kilo. If 10 tons of products are produced daily, then 22 shifts per month yield 220 tons of sugar. If you manage to sell everything and avoid losses, then you will gain 7,700,000 rubles. With a competent approach to the supply of raw materials and sales, the enterprise can pay for itself in one month.

Advantages and possible risks

Business in the production of sugar has both pros and cons. The main disadvantage is that a small plant will have to be opened in places where the raw material is grown, otherwise you can go broke on transportation costs.

Additionally, you can master the production of refined sugar in the form of cubes or shaped sweets in the form of stars, hearts, and circles. Sugar figurines are also used as confectionery decorations.

The production of sugar from beets is a highly profitable business. If you organize the operation of the enterprise and are able to sell the products, the profit will be very decent.

Sugar production is the prerogative of large factories. After all, the technology is quite complex. Raw materials are processed on continuous production lines. As a rule, sugar production enterprises are located in close proximity to sugar beet growing areas.

Product Description

Sugar is essentially a pure carbohydrate (sucrose) that tastes sweet and pleasant. It is well absorbed and ensures normal functioning of the body (visual and hearing acuity, an important nutrient for brain cells, takes part in the formation of fats). Abuse of the product leads to the development of diseases (caries, excess weight, etc.).

Raw materials for production

Traditionally, in our country, this product is made from Sugar production requires large volumes of supplies of raw materials.

Beets are a member of the goosefoot family. It grows for two years, the crop is resistant to drought. During the first year the root grows, and then during the second year the stem develops and flowers and seeds appear. The mass of the root crop is 200-500 g. The mass fraction of hard tissue is 75%. The rest is sugar and other organic compounds.

Beet harvesting occurs over 50 days. At the same time, factories operate on average 150 days a year. To provide sugar production plants with raw materials, beets are stored in so-called heaps (large heaps).

Sugar beet storage technology

The beets are laid in layers in piles on previously prepared areas. If the storage technology is violated, the beets will sprout and rot. After all, root vegetables are living organisms. A characteristic of germination is the index of the ratio of sprouts to the mass of the entire fruit. In conditions of elevated temperature and high humidity, beets begin to germinate already on the fifth day of storage. In this case, the beets, which are located in the upper part of the pile, germinate most intensively. This is an extremely negative phenomenon that leads to a decrease in the efficiency of sugar production. To minimize losses from germination, the tops of the fruits are cut off during harvesting, and the harvest itself in piles is treated with a special solution.

It is important to store the fruits in piles carefully, trying not to damage them. After all, damaged areas of the fetus are a weak point that is affected first of all, and then healthy tissue.

The development of bacteria is significantly influenced by temperature and humidity levels. If you maintain the recommended air composition and temperature of 1-2 °C, then the decay processes slow down (sometimes they do not develop).

The beets that arrive for storage are extremely contaminated (soil, grass). Dirt impairs air circulation in the pile and provokes rotting processes.

Beet yield

One of the most important tasks is to increase the yield of sugar beets. It depends on many factors. Sugar production directly depends on the volume of harvest, as well as on the technological quality of the raw materials.

First of all, the technological qualities of cultivated beets depend on the seeds used. Modern technologies make it possible to control biological and other characteristics. Seed quality control can significantly increase the yield per hectare of sown area.

The method of cultivating beets is also important. A significant increase in yield is observed with the so-called ridge cultivation method (the increase in yield ranges from 15 to 45% depending on the climatic characteristics of the region). The essence of the method is as follows. In autumn, special machines create ridges, thanks to which the soil actively absorbs and accumulates moisture. Therefore, in the spring the soil ripens quite quickly, creating favorable conditions for sowing, growth and development of fruits. In addition, beets are much easier to harvest: the soil density of the ridges is relatively low.

It is curious that this technology was proposed by the Soviet scientist Glukhovsky in the distant 20s of the last century. And relatively recently, the method was introduced in advanced countries.

Despite its great effectiveness, this technology has not found wide application. The reason for this is the lack and high cost of special equipment. The production of sugar from beets therefore has prospects for development and reaching a new technological level.

Beetroot must be harvested before frost sets in. Deliveries of dug beets to enterprises can be carried out on an in-line basis or in a flow-transshipment method. In order to reduce sucrose losses during long-term storage at transshipment depots, the fruits are covered with straw.

Manufacturing process

The average sugar production plant in Russia is capable of processing several thousand tons of raw materials (sugar beets). Impressive, isn't it?

Production is based on complex chemical processes and reactions. The bottom line comes down to this. To obtain sugar crystals, you need to isolate (extract) sucrose from raw materials. Then the sugar is separated from unnecessary substances and a ready-to-use product is obtained (white crystals).

Sugar production technology consists of the following operations:

• cleaning from dirt (washing);
• obtaining chips (shredding, grinding);
• sucrose extraction;
• juice filtration;
• thickening (moisture evaporation);
• boiling the mass (syrup);
• separating molasses from sugar;
• drying sugar.

Sugar beet washing

When raw materials arrive at a sugar production plant, they end up in a kind of bunker. It can be located both underground and outside. A powerful, directed jet of water washes the sugar beets out of the hopper. Root crops fall onto a conveyor, during the movement of which the raw materials are preliminary cleaned of all kinds of debris (straw, grass, etc.).

Grinding root vegetables

The production of sugar from beets is impossible without grinding them. The so-called beet cutters come into play. The output is thin strips of sugar beets. In sugar production technology, the way the pieces are cut is very important: the larger the surface area, the more efficiently the sucrose is separated.

Sucrose extraction

The beet chips are fed via a conveyor into diffusion devices with a screw. Sugar is separated from the chips with warm water. The chips are fed through the auger, and warm water flows towards it, which extracts the sugar. In addition to sugar itself, water also carries along other soluble substances. The process is quite effective: the resulting pulp (as beet chips are called) contains only 0.2-0.24% sugar by mass fraction. Water, saturated with sugars and other organic substances, becomes cloudy and foams heavily. This liquid is also called diffusion juice. The most complete processing is possible only when the raw materials are heated to 60 degrees. At this temperature, the proteins coagulate and do not separate from the beets. Sugar production does not end there.

Purification of diffusion juice

It is necessary to remove the smallest suspended particles of beets and dissolved organic matter from the liquid. Technologically, it is possible to remove up to 40% of by-products. Anything that remains accumulates in the molasses and is only removed at the final stage of production.

The juice is heated to 90 °C. Then it is treated with lime. As a result, proteins and other substances that are in the juice precipitate. This operation is performed on special equipment within 8-10 minutes.

Now you need to remove the lime. This process is called saturation. Its essence is as follows: the juice is saturated with carbon dioxide, which enters into a chemical reaction with lime, forming calcium carbonate, which precipitates, absorbing various pollutants. The transparency of the juice increases and it becomes lighter.

The juice is filtered, heated to a temperature of 100 °C and re-saturated. At this stage, deeper purification from impurities is carried out, after which the juice is again sent for filtration.

The juice must be decolorized and thinned (made less viscous). For this purpose, sulfur dioxide is passed through it. The juice produces sulfurous acid, a very strong reducing agent. Reaction with water leads to the formation of a certain amount of sulfuric acid with the release of hydrogen, which, in turn, clarifies the juice.

After rough and pure saturation, the output is 91-93% of the original volume of high-quality, bleached juice. The percentage of sucrose in the resulting volume of juice is 13-14%.

Evaporation of moisture

It is produced in two stages using special equipment. To produce sugar at the first stage, it is important to obtain a thick syrup with a dry matter content of 65-70%. The resulting syrup undergoes additional purification and is again subjected to an evaporation procedure, this time in special vacuum devices. It is necessary to obtain a viscous thick substance with a sucrose content of 92-93%.

If you continue to evaporate the water, the solution becomes supersaturated, crystallization centers appear and sugar crystals grow. The resulting mass is called massecuite.

The boiling point of the resulting mass is 120 °C under normal conditions. But further boiling is carried out in a vacuum (to prevent caramelization). In conditions close to vacuum, the boiling point is much lower - 80 °C. At the stage of evaporation in a vacuum apparatus, this mass is “alloyed” with powdered sugar. What stimulates crystal growth.

Separating sugar from molasses

The sugar mass is fed to centrifuges. There the crystals are separated from the molasses. The liquid that is obtained after the sugar crystals are separated is green molasses.

The mesh of the centrifuge drum traps them, which are treated with hot water and steamed for the purpose of bleaching. In this case, the so-called white molasses is formed. This is a solution of sugar and the remains of green molasses in water. White molasses undergoes secondary processing in vacuum devices (to minimize losses and increase production efficiency).

Green molasses goes into another apparatus for boiling. As a result, a so-called second massecuite is obtained, from which yellow sugar is already obtained. It dissolves in the juice after the first cleaning.

Drying sugar

The sugar production cycle is not yet complete. The contents of the centrifuge are removed and sent to dry. After the centrifuge, the moisture content of the sugar is approximately 0.5% and the temperature is 70 °C. In a drum-type dryer, the product is dried to a moisture content of 0.1% (this is largely ensured by the residual temperature after the centrifuges).

Waste

The main waste from sugar production from sugar beets is pulp (the so-called shavings of the root crop), feed molasses, and filter-press dirt.

Pulp accounts for up to 90% by weight of raw materials. Serves as good feed for livestock. Transporting pulp over long distances is unprofitable (due to high humidity it is very heavy). Therefore, it is purchased and used by farms located near sugar production plants. To prevent pulp spoilage, it is processed into silage.

In some sugar production, the chips from sugar beets are pressed (up to 50% of the moisture is removed) and then dried in special chambers. As a result of this processing, the mass of pulp, ready for consumption for its intended purpose and transportation over long distances, is no more than 10% of its original mass.

Molasses - feed molasses - is obtained after processing the second massecuite. Its volume is 3-5% of the weight of the feedstock. It consists of 50% sugar. Feed molasses is an important component in the production of ethyl alcohol, as well as in the production of animal feed. In addition, it is used in yeast production, in the production of citric acid and even medicines.

The volume of filter-press dirt reaches 5-6% of the mass of non-processed raw materials. Used as fertilizer for agricultural soils.

Production of refined sugar

The production of refined sugar is usually located at the sugar factories themselves. Such factories have special workshops. But refined sugar can also be produced by third-party organizations that purchase granulated sugar from factories. According to the method of production, refined sugar can be cast or pressed.

The sequence of technological operations in the production of refined sugar is as follows.

Sugar is dissolved in water. The thick syrup is processed to remove various coloring substances. After purification, the syrup is boiled in a vacuum chamber, and the first refined massecuite is obtained. In order to eliminate yellowness, ultramarine is added to the vacuum chamber (0.0008% by weight of the syrup, no more). The boiling process itself is similar to the boiling process when producing sugar.

The refined massecuite needs to be whitewashed. A thick mass is formed (mush with a moisture content of 3%, no more), which is pressed. The result is refined sugar that takes the form of a press. To obtain refined sugar in the form of heads, the massecuite is poured into appropriate molds. At the bottom of the mold there is a special hole through which the remaining solution flows out. Wet refined sugar is dried with hot air until the moisture content decreases to 0.3-0.4%. Then all that remains is to wait until the pieces of sugar have cooled, cut (if necessary) and pack.

Sugar production technology is a multi-level chain that consists of several stages:

Washing and cleaning raw materials from impurities;
- obtaining beet chips;
- production of diffusion juice and its purification;
- obtaining syrup;
- release of sugar from syrup;
- processing of sugar mass into granulated sugar;
- packaging and storage of the finished product.

Washing and cleaning

When impurities are present, they make up up to 12% of the total mass, and in addition to soil and tops, the impurities may include stones and even some metal objects. All this must be separated from the useful part of the fruit. To wash beets, a drum beet washer and a water separator equipped with traps for impurities are used. Proper cleaning will help avoid breakdowns of subsequent sugar production equipment.

Production of sugar from sugar beets - obtaining beet chips

In accordance with sugar production technology, in order to produce syrup, beets must be crushed. Chopping beets is the process of turning them into shavings on beet cutters, which, using diffusion knives mounted on frames, cut the fruit into small pieces. A chip thickness of 1 mm is the optimal thickness for further processing.

Inside the body of the beet cutter, the fruits rotate with the help of a snail, which, under the influence of centrifugal force, presses the fruits against the cutting edge of the knives. In the process of sliding along the stationary knives, the beets turn into chips, which, passing between the knives, end up in a container for further processing. Of all the equipment for sugar production, beet cutters require the most difficult cleaning using compressed air, and periodic replacement of knives.

Production of diffusion juice

The process of extracting sucrose from beets using sugar production technology is quite primitive - beet chips are soaked in hot water in industrial diffusers, which softens its fibers and releases juice. If you use cold water, the protein compounds in the cells of the chips will significantly slow down the process of obtaining juice.

Typically, several diffusers are used in series to produce more concentrated juice. For further processing, the diffusion juice must be cleaned of beet chips that have become useless. The mixture of juice and shavings is placed in pulp traps, where filtration occurs.

Diffusion juice, even cleared of fruit residues, remains a complex multicomponent composition, which, in addition to sugar, also contains protein, pectin, amino acids, and so on. Using vacuum filters and saturators, the process of purifying sugar syrup from impurities is carried out.

Release of sugar from syrup

The sugar syrup obtained after clarification of the juice contains too much water (up to 75%), which is removed in an evaporator, obtaining a syrup containing up to 70% solids. After this, according to sugar production technology, using a vacuum apparatus, the syrup is thickened to a dry matter content of 93.5%, obtaining massecuite, which, after undergoing the crystallization process, will become ordinary sugar.

Sugar crystallization is the final stage of the sugar production process.

The massecuite obtained from vacuum devices is sent to a centrifuge, where it crystallizes, after which it is dried with hot air and sent through a vibrating conveyor to a drying and cooling unit, after which it is sorted using a vibrating sieve.

Despite the rather long technological chain, most of the equipment for sugar production has a fairly simple principle of operation. The simple principle of operation of individual devices facilitates both maintenance and repair of all types of necessary equipment, which makes it possible to produce sugar on an industrial scale at a fairly low cost.

Characteristics of products, raw materials and semi-finished products. Sugar is almost pure sucrose (C 12 H 22 O 11), which has a sweet taste, is easily and completely absorbed by the body, and contributes to the rapid restoration of expended energy. Sucrose is a disaccharide that, under the action of an acid or enzyme, is broken down into glucose and fructose (invert sugar). Sucrose can be in two states: crystalline and amorphous. By chemical nature, sugar is a weak polybasic acid, which produces compounds with oxides of alkali and alkaline earth metals - saccharates.

Invert sugar is hygroscopic due to fructose. It protects jam from sugaring, slows down the process of bread becoming stale, and protects confectionery products (marmalade, marshmallows, marshmallows, fudge, etc.) from drying out.

Sucrose is highly soluble in water, and its solubility increases with increasing temperature. In solutions, sucrose is a strong dehydrator. It easily forms supersaturated solutions, in which crystallization begins only in the presence of crystallization centers. The rate of this process depends on temperature, solution viscosity and supersaturation coefficient.

The starting materials for producing sugar are sugar beets and sugar cane. Due to the higher yield of sugar cane compared to sugar beets, about 2 times more sugar is obtained from each hectare of its crops, although the sucrose content in sugar cane stalks is slightly less than in sugar beets.

The sugar industry produces the following types of sugar:

Granulated sugar is a bulk food product of white color (without lumps), having a sweet taste without foreign tastes and odors (with a moisture content of no more than 0.14%, sucrose no less than 99.75%, metal impurities no more than 3 mg per 1 kg of sugar , with dimensions greater than 0.3 mm);

Liquid sugar is a liquid food product of light yellow color, sweet in taste, without foreign tastes and odors (with a sucrose content of at least 99.80% for the highest category and at least 99.5% for the first category, with a dry matter content of at least 64%));

Refined sugar - lump pressed sugar, refined granulated sugar and white refined powder, sweet in taste, without foreign tastes and odors (containing sucrose not less than 99.9%, reducing substances not more than 0.03%, moisture not more 0.2%).

Features of production and consumption of finished products. All sugar factories in Russia operate a standard scheme for producing granulated sugar from sugar beets with continuous desugarification of beet chips, pressing of pulp and return of pulp press water to the diffusion plant, lime-carbon dioxide purification of diffusion juice, three crystallizations and refining of yellow sugar of III crystallization. Sugar beet roots contain 20...25% dry matter, of which the sucrose content ranges from 14 to 18%. Sucrose is extracted from beets by diffusion. The resulting diffusion juice contains 15... 16% dry matter, of which 14... 15% sucrose and about 2% non-sugars. To get rid of non-sugars, the diffusion juice is purified with lime (defecation) followed by removal of its excess with carbon dioxide (saturation). To reduce color and alkalinity, filtered juice of II saturation is treated with sulfur dioxide (sulfitation). Condensation of the juice is carried out in two stages: first, it is condensed in an evaporator to a dry matter content of 55...65% (at the same time, sucrose has not yet crystallized), and then, after additional purification, the viscous syrup is condensed in a vacuum apparatus to a dry matter content of 92, 5...93.5% and get a massecuite. The finished massecuite I crystallization is centrifuged, obtaining sugar crystals and two outflows. Granulated sugar is unloaded from a centrifuge with a moisture content of 0.8... 1% and dried with hot air at a temperature of 105... 110 ° C to 0.14% (for bulk storage, the mass fraction of moisture in granulated sugar should be 0.03 ...0.04%).

The recommended intake of sucrose is 75 g per day, including sugar found in other foods. Currently, there are 95 beet sugar factories in Russia, processing 280 thousand tons of beets per day. The sugar beet harvesting period lasts 40...50 days. per year. The average production capacity of one plant is 2.84 thousand tons of beet processing per day with a sugar extraction rate from beets of 72%.

St adiy of the technological process. The process of producing granulated sugar at beet sugar factories consists of the following stages:

Supplying beets and cleaning them from impurities;

Obtaining diffusion juice from beet chips;

Diffusion juice purification;

Condensation of juice by evaporation;

Cooking massecuite and obtaining crystalline sugar;

Drying, cooling and storing granulated sugar.

Characteristics of equipment complexes. The line begins with a set of equipment for preparing beets for production, consisting of a beet lifting unit, a hydraulic conveyor, a sand trap, a top trap, a stone trap and a water separator, as well as a beet washing machine.

The leading set of equipment of the line consists of a conveyor with a magnetic separator, a beet cutter, scales, a diffusion unit, a screw press and a pulp dryer.

The following set of equipment includes filters with heating devices, preliminary and main defecation devices, saturators, settling tanks, sulfitators and filters.

The most energy-intensive set of line equipment is an evaporation unit with a concentrator, as well as vacuum devices, mixers and centrifuges.

The final set of equipment of the line consists of a vibrating conveyor, a drying and cooling unit and a vibrating screen.

The machine and hardware diagram of the production line for granulated sugar from sugar beets is shown in Fig.

Rice. Machine and hardware diagram of the production line for granulated sugar from sugar beets

Design and operating principle of the line. Sugar beets are supplied to the plant from borage or from a pine field. It is transported via a hydraulic conveyor to the beet pumps and rises to a height of up to 20 m. Further movement of it to carry out various operations of the technological process occurs by gravity. Along the length of the hydraulic conveyor 1 (Fig.), straw traps 2, stone traps 4 and water separators 5 are installed sequentially. This technological equipment is designed to separate light (straw, tops) and heavy (sand, stones) impurities, as well as to separate conveyor and washing water. To intensify the process of collecting straw and tops, air is supplied to recess 3. Sugar beets after water separators enter washing machine 6.

The washing machine is designed for final cleaning of beets (the amount of stuck soil during manual harvesting is 3...5% of beets, and during mechanized harvesting with combines - 8...10%).

The amount of water supplied to the beet washing depends on the degree of its contamination, the design of the machine and on average is 60... 100% of the beet weight. Broken off beet tails, small pieces and small root vegetables (only 1...3% of the beet weight) fall into the wastewater of the hydraulic conveyor and washing machine, so the conveyor-washing water is first sent to a separator to separate the beet tails and pieces from them, which after processing they are transferred to the conveyor belt 14.

Washed sugar beets are irrigated with clean water from special devices 7, lifted by an elevator 8 and supplied to a conveyor 9, where an electromagnet 10 separates metal objects that accidentally fell into the beets. Then the beets are weighed on scales 11 and sent from the hopper 12 to the beet cutting machines 13. The chips must be smooth, elastic and without pulp, lamellar or diamond-shaped in section, 0.5... 1.0 mm thick.

Beet chips from the grinding machines are fed into the diffusion unit 15 using a 14 belt conveyor on which a conveyor scale is installed.

Sugar dissolved in the beet root juice is extracted from the cells by countercurrent diffusion, in which the chips enter the head part of the unit and move to the tail part, releasing sugar by diffusion into the salting water moving towards the extractant. From the end of the tail part of the unit, shavings with a low concentration of sugar are discharged, and the extractant, enriched with sugar, is discharged as diffusion juice. From 100 kg of beets, approximately 120 kg of diffusion juice is obtained. The pulp is removed from the diffusion units by conveyor 16 to the workshop for pressing, drying and briquetting.

The diffusion juice is passed through a filter 17, heated in a device 28 and sent to the preliminary and main defecation apparatus 27, where it is purified as a result of coagulation of proteins and dyes and the precipitation of a number of anions that produce insoluble salts with calcium ion contained in lime milk (lime solution ). Lime milk is introduced into the juice using dosing devices.

The defecated juice is fed into the first carbonation boiler 26, where it is further purified by adsorption of soluble non-sugars and especially coloring substances on the surface of particles of fine sediment CaCO 3, which is formed when carbon dioxide is passed through the defecated juice. The juice of the first saturation is fed through a heater 25 into a gravity settling tank 24. In the settling tanks, the juice is divided into two fractions: clarified (80% of the total juice) and a thickened suspension supplied to vacuum filters 23.

The filtered juice of the first carbonation is sent to the second carbonation apparatus 22, where lime is removed from it in the form of CaCO3.

The juice of the second saturation is fed to filters 21. Sugar production juices have to be filtered several times. Depending on the purpose of filtration, various process schemes and filtration equipment are used.

Filtered juice from filter 21 is fed into the sulfitation boiler 20. The purpose of sulfitation is to reduce the color of the juice by treating it with sulfur dioxide, which is obtained by burning sulfur.

The sulfated juice is sent to the filter station 19, and then transported through heaters to the first housing of the evaporation station 18. Evaporation units are designed to sequentially thicken the purified juice of the second saturation to the concentration of a thick syrup; at the same time, the content of dry substances in the product increases from 14... 16% in the first building to 65... 70% (condensed syrup) in the last. Fresh steam enters only the first building, and subsequent buildings are heated by juice steam from the previous building. The heating surface area of ​​the evaporation station of a sugar factory with a capacity of 5000 tons of beets per day is 10,000 m2.

The resulting syrup is sent to the sulfitator 29, and then to the filtration station 30. The filtered syrup is heated in the heater 31, from where it enters the vacuum apparatus of the first product 32. The syrup is boiled in the vacuum apparatus until supersaturation, sugar is released in the form of crystals. The product obtained after boiling is called massecuite. It contains about 7.5% water and about 55% crystallized sugar.

The syrup is boiled in periodically operating vacuum devices. The massecuite of the first crystallization from the vacuum apparatus enters the receiving massecuite mixer 33, from where it is sent to the distribution mixer, and then to the centrifuge 34, where, under the influence of centrifugal force, sugar crystals are separated from the intercrystalline liquid. This fluid is called the first edema. The purity of the first outflow is 75...78%, which is significantly lower than the purity of massecuite.

To obtain white sugar from a centrifuge, its crystals are washed with a small amount of hot water - whitened. During whitening, part of the sugar dissolves, so a runoff of higher purity comes out of the centrifuge - the second runoff.

The second and first outflows are fed into a vacuum apparatus for the second (last) crystallization, where a massecuite of the second crystallization is obtained, containing about 50% crystalline sugar. This massecuite is gradually cooled to a temperature of 40 ° C while stirring in massecuite mixers - crystallizers. In this case, some additional sugar crystallizes. Finally, the massecuite of the second crystallization is sent to centrifuges, where molasses is separated from sugar crystals, which is a waste of sugar production, since obtaining sugar from it by further thickening and crystallization is unprofitable. Yellow sugar of the second crystallization is refined by the first runoff, the resulting massecuite is sent to a distribution mixer and then to a centrifuge. The resulting sugar is dissolved and the juice enters the production line.

White sugar discharged from centrifuges 34 has a temperature of 70 °C and a humidity of 0.5% when whitening with steam or a humidity of 1.5% when whitening with water. It enters the vibrating conveyor 35 and is transported to the drying and cooling unit 36.

After drying, granulated sugar is supplied to the weighing belt conveyor 37 and then to the vibrating sieve 38. Lumps of sugar are separated, dissolved and returned to the grocery department.

Commercial granulated sugar enters silos 39 (long-term storage warehouses).