A Project Report ON PROCESS OF SUGAR MANUFACTURING (Industrial Training Report)

SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR COMPLETION OF DEGREE

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY(MECHANICAL ENGINEERING)

BATCH -2008-2012

SHRI RAM MURTI SMARAK COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (BAREILLY)

SUBMITTED BY: MOHIT SAXENA Roll No-0801440030 Batch-2008-2012 SUBMITTED TO : Er. SHAILENDRA DEVA (Head of Department-ME) Branch-Mechanical Engg.

CERTIFICATE
This is hereby declare that the project work entitled PROCESS OF SUGAR MANUFACTURING submitted by Mohit Saxena to LALIT HARI SUGAR FACTORY PILIBHIT (U.P.) for the award of the INDUSTRIAL TRAINING is a genuine record of the work carried out by them during the period of 15 JUNE, 2011 to 15 JULY, 2011. It is further certified that this project has been developed by Mohit Saxena , in original and has been the result of their personal efforts with little assistance wherever required.

Mr Project Incharge LALIT HARI SUGAR FACTORY PILIBHIT (U.P.)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

A very special thanks to Mr. ..Training incharge (LHSF PILIBHIT) for providing us with the opportunity to avail the excellent facilities and infrastructure in terms of the faculty, the computer lab, the library, and last but not the least, the ambience which served as the turning point of my career.

We are also grateful to the college for providing us with the opportunity to work with them and undertake a project of such importance.

MOHIT SAXENA B.Tech. (VII SEMESTER) S.R.M.S.C.E.T., Bareilly

DECLARATION
We hereby declare that this submission is our own work which is being presented in the project work entitled STUDY OF SUGAR MANUFACTURING in partial fulfillment of requirement for the award of the degree INDUSTRIAL TRAINING at LALIT HARI SUGAR FACTORY PILIBHIT (U.P.) is an authentic record of the work carried out by us during the period of 16/06/2011 to 15/07/2011 and that, to the best of our

knowledge and belief. It contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the aware of any other degree or diploma of the university or other institute of higher learning except where the acknowledgement has been made in the text.

MOHIT SAXENA

CONTENTS OF THE REPORT:

Abstract L.H.sugar factorys profile Sugar manufacturing Process chart The Energy Aspects Millhouse Boilerhouse Powerhouse Clarification and boiling house: Boiling and curing house Cogeneration power Molasses Challenges for sugar industry Conclusions and suggestions

INDIAN SUGAR INDUSTRY - A STRONG INDUSTRIAL BASE FOR RURAL INDIA

ABSTRACT
Indian sugar industry, second largest agro-based processing industry afte the cotton textiles industry in country, has a lion's share in accelerating industrialization process and bringing socio-economic changes in under developed rural areas. Sugar industry covers around 7.5% of total rural population and provides employment to 5 lakh rural people. About 4.5 crore farmers are engaged in sugarcane cultivation in Inda. Sugar mills (cooperative, private, and public) have been instrumental in initiating a number of entrepreneurial activities in rural India. Present paper is an attempt as to review progress of sugar industry in India, understand it's problems and challenges in context of ongoing liberalization process. Indian sugar industry can be a global leader provided it comes out of the vicious cycle of shortage and surplus of sugarcane, lower sugarcane yield, lower sugar recovery, ever increasing production costs and mounting losses. It needs quality management at all levels of activity to enhance productivity and production. Attention is required on cost minimization and undertaking by product processing activities.

MOHIT SAXENA

L.H.SUGAR FACTORYS PROFILE

L.H. Sugar Factories Ltd. is located near Tanakpur Road in Pilibhit (U.P.). Nearest Railway Station is Pilibhit at the distance of 0.5 km. The factory started its crushing operation in the year 1910. The licensed crushing capacity of the plant was 300 TPD, 650 TPD. In 1928 1300 TPD in 1932-33, 3500 TPD in 1986-87, 5500 TPD in 2001-02, 6000 TPD in 2002-03, 7200 TPD in 2004-05, 8000 TPD in 2005-06, 10000 TPD in 2006-07 and now the capacity of the plant is 11000 TPD 49522

Some important data related to L.H.S.F. is:

Cane Crushing Capacity Process Used Steam Generation Total Power Generation(installed) Normal Power Generation Avg. Exported Power Plant Consumption : 10,000 TPD : Double Sulphitation : 245 Tonnes/Hour : 46 MWH : 40 MWH : 25 MWH : 15 MWH

 Avg. Sugar Production Avg. Molasses production Avg. Press Mud Prodution

: 9000 Quintals/Day : 4000 Quintals/Day : 3500 Quintals/Day

SUGAR MANUFACTURING The History

It is thought that cane sugar was first used by man in Polynesia from where it spread to India. In 510 BC the Emperor Darius of what was then Persia invaded India where he found "the reed which gives honey without bees". The secret of cane sugar, as with many other of man's discoveries, was kept a closely guarded secret whilst the finished product was exported for a rich profit. It was the major expansion of the Arab peoples in the seventh century AD that led to a breaking of the secret. When they invaded Persia in 642 AD they found sugar cane being grown and learnt how sugar was made. As their expansion continued they established sugar production in other lands that they conquered including North Africa and Spain. Sugar was only discovered by western Europeans as a result of the Crusades in the 11th Century AD. Crusaders returning home talked of this "new spice" and how pleasant it was. The first sugar was recorded in England in 1099. The subsequent centuries saw a major expansion of western European trade with the East, including the importation of sugar. It is recorded, for instance, that sugar was available in London at "two shillings a pound" in 1319 AD. This equates to about US$100 per kilo at today's prices so it was very much a luxury. In the 15th century AD, European sugar was refined in Venice, confirmation that even then when quantities were small, it was difficult to transport sugar as a food grade product. In the same century, Columbus sailed to the Americas, the "New World". It is recorded that in 1493 he took sugar cane

plants to grow in the Caribbean. The climate there was so advantageous for the growth of the cane that an industry was quickly established. By 1750 there were 120 sugar refineries operating in Britain. Their combined output was only 30,000 tons per annum. At this stage sugar was still a luxury and vast profits were made to the extent that sugar was called "white gold". Governments recognised the vast profits to be made from sugar and taxed it highly. In Britain for instance, sugar tax in 1781 totalled 326,000, a figure that had grown by 1815 to 3,000,000. This situation was to stay until 1874 when the British government, under Prime Minister Gladstone, abolished the tax and brought sugar prices within the means of the ordinary citizen. Sugar beet was first identified as a source of sugar in 1747. No doubt the vested interests in the cane sugar plantations made sure that it stayed as no more than a curiosity, a situation that prevailed until the Napoleonic wars at the start of the 19th century when Britain blockaded sugar imports to continental Europe. By 1880 sugar beet had replaced sugar cane as the main source of sugar on continental Europe. Those same vested interests probably delayed the introduction of beet sugar to England until the First World War when Britain's sugar imports were threatened. One of the most important examples of governmental actions is within the European Union where sugar prices are so heavily subsidised that over 5 million tons of white beet sugar have to be exported annually and yet a million tons of raw cane sugar are imported from former colonies. This latter activity is a form of overseas aid which is also practised by the USA. The EU's over-production and subsequent dumping has now been subjected to GATT requirements which should see a substantial cut-back in production over the next few years.

An interactive World Map of Sugar production

Introduction
Sugar is made by some plants to store energy that they don't need straight away, rather like animals make fat. People like sugar for its sweetness and its energy so some of these plants are grown commercially to extract the sugar: Sugar is produced in 121 Countries and global production now exceeds 120 Million tons a year. Approximately 70% is produced from sugar cane, a very tall grass with big stems which is largely grown in the tropical countries. The remaining 30% is produced from sugar beet, a root crop resembling a large parsnip grown mostly in the temperate zones of the north. What we call sugar, the chemist knows as 'sucrose', one of the family of sugars otherwise known as saccharides in the grouping called carbohydrates. Carbohydrates, as the name implies, contain carbon and hydrogen plus oxygen in the same ratio as in water. The saccharides is a large family with the general formula CnH2nOn. The simplest of the sugars is glucose, C6H12O6, although its physical chemistry is not that simple because it occurs in two distinct forms which affect some of its properties. Sucrose, C12H22O11, is a disaccharide, a condensation molecule made up of two glucose molecules [less a water molecule to make the chemistry work]. The process whereby plants make sugars is photosynthesis. The plant takes in carbon dioxide from the air though pores in its leaves and absorbs water through its roots. These are combined to make sugar using energy from the sun and with the help of a substance called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is green which allows it to absorb the sun's energy more readily and which, of course, gives the plants' leaves their green colour. The reaction of photosynthesis can be written as the following chemical equation when sucrose is being made: 12 CO2 + 11 H2 O = C12 H22 O11 + 12 O2 carbon dioxide + water = sucrose + oxygen This shows that oxygen is given off during the process of photosynthesis.

Historically, sugar was only produced from sugar cane and then only in relatively small quantities. This resulted in it being considered a great luxury, particularly in Europe where cane could not be grown. The history of man and sugar is a subject in its own right but suffice to say that, even today, it isn't easy to ship food quality sugar across the world so a high proportion of cane sugar is made in two stages. Raw sugar is made where the sugar cane grows and white sugar is made from the raw sugar in the country where it is needed. Beet sugar is easier to purify and most is grown where it is needed so white sugar is made in only one stage.

PROCESS CHART

SugarCane
Sugar cane is a genus of tropical grasses which requires strong sunlight and abundant water for satisfactory growth. The Latin names of the species include Saccharum officinarum, S. spontaneum, S. barberi and S. sinense. As with most commercial crops, there are many cultivars available to the cane farmer, usually hybrids of several species. Some varieties grow up to 5 metres tall. The cane itself looks rather like bamboo cane and it is here that the sucrose is stored. In the right climate the cane will grow in 12 months and, when cut, will re-grow in another 12 months provided the roots are undisturbed. A typical sugar content for mature cane would be 10% by weight but the figure depends on the variety and varies from season to season and location to location. Equally, the yield of cane from the field varies considerably but a rough and ready overall value to use in estimating sugar production is 100 tons of cane per hectare or 10 tons of sugar per hectare.

SugarBeet
Sugar beet is a temperate climate biennial root crop. It produces sugar during the first year of growth in order to see it over the winter and then flowers and seeds in the second year. It is therefore sown in spring and harvested in the first autumn/early winter. As for sugar cane, there are many cultivars available to the beet farmer. The beet stores the sucrose in the bulbous root which bears a strong resemblance to a fat parsnip. A typical sugar content for mature beets is 17% by weight but the value depends on the variety and it does vary from year to year and location to location. This is substantially more than the sucrose content of mature cane but the yields of beet per hectare are much lower than for cane so that the expected sugar production is only about 7 tons per hectare.

The World of Sugar Production : Mid 1990's

AUSTRALIA Exports: Production: Population: 4.7 million tons 5.5 million tons 19 million

Per Capita Consumption: 45 kg BRAZIL Exports: Production: Population: 6 million tons 14.5 million tons 167 million

Per Capita Consumption: 48 kg

E.U. Exports: 5.5 million tons

Extraction

There are several important aspects to extraction which involve the energy balance of the factory, the efficiency of extraction and therefore ultimately the profitability of operations:

The manager needs to process the cane as soon as possible if sugar losses are to be avoided yet needs to have a sufficient supply in storage for times when cutting and transport are stopped, whether deliberately or not. Typically, cane is processed within 24 hours of cutting; Cane preparation is critical to good sugar extraction, particularly with diffusion extraction. This is achieved with rotating knives and sometimes hammer mills called "shredders". However shredding requires extra energy and more equipment; The extraction is actually conducted as a counter-current process using fresh hot water at one end being pumped in the opposite direction to the cane. The more water that is used, the more sugar is extracted but the more dilute the mixed juice is and hence the more energy that is required to evaporate the juice; The more accurately that the mills are set [adjusted], the drier is the residual fibre and hence the less sugar remaining in the fibre;

A typical mixed juice from extraction will contain perhaps 15% sugar and the residual fibre, called bagasse, will contain 1 to 2% sugar, about 50% moisture and some of the sand and grit from the field as "ash". A typical cane might contain 12 to 14% fibre which, at 50% moisture content gives about 25 to 30 tons of bagasse per 100 tons of cane or 10 tons of sugar.

Harvesting
Cane grows very tall in good growing regions - certainly up to 3 metres/10 feet tall - and still has some green leaves when ripe although most leaves have dried off by then. Where possible the cane is fired before harvesting to remove the dead leaf material and some of the waxy coating. The fire burns at quite high temperatures but is over very quickly so that the cane and its sugar

content are not harmed. In some areas burning is not permitted because of the nuisance value to local communities of the smoke and carbon specs that are released. However there is no environmental impact, the CO2 released being a very small proportion of the CO2 fixed with photosynthesis during growth and the improved sugar extraction meaning that less cane needs to be grown on fewer acres to satisfy the world's sugar demand. Harvesting is done either by hand or by machine. Hand cut cane -- cane cutting is a hard and dirty job but can employ lots of people in areas where jobs are scarce -- is cut at about ground level, the top green leaves are cropped off and then the stalk is bundled whole. Once a complete bundle has been assembled it is removed from the field with a light cart and may then be transferred to a larger vehicle for transport to the mill. Most machine-cut cane is chopped into short lengths but is otherwise handled in a similar way as hand cut cane. Machines can only be used where land conditions are suitable and the topography is relatively flat. In addition the capital cost of machines and the loss of jobs caused makes this solution unsuitable for many sugar estates.

Evaporation

The mixed juice from extraction is preheated prior to liming so that the clarification is optimal. The milk of lime, calcium hydroxide or Ca(OH)2, is metered into the juice to hold the required ratio and the limed juice enters a gravitational settling tank: a clarifier. The juice travels through the clarifier at a very low superficial velocity so that the solids settle out and clear juice exits. The mud from the clarifier still contains valuable sugar so it is filtered on rotary vacuum filters where the residual juice is extracted and the mud can be washed before discharge, producing a sweet water . The juice and the sweet water are returned to process. The clear juice has probably only 15% sugar content but saturated sugar liquor, required before crystallisation can occur, is close to 80% sugar content. Evaporation in a steam heated multiple effect evaporator is the best way of approaching the saturated condition because low pressure water vapours can be produced for heating duties elsewhere in the factory. The evaporator sets the steam consumption of the factory and is designed to match the energy balance of the entire site: the manager wants to avoid burning auxiliary fuel and equally wants to avoid paying to dispose of surplus bagasse. The greater the number of effects, the less steam is required to drive the first effect. Each subsequent effect is heated by the vapour from the previous effect so has to be operated at a lower temperature and therefore lower pressure.

Boiling
Physical chemistry assists with sugar purification during the crystallisation process because there is a natural tendency for the sugar crystals to form as pure sucrose, rejecting the non-sugars. Thus, when the sugar crystals are grown in the mother liquor they tend to be pure and the mother liquor becomes more impure. Most remaining non-sugar in the product is contained in the coating of mother liquor left on the crystals The mother liquor still contains valuable sugar of course so the crystallisation is repeated several times. However non-sugars inhibit the crystallisation. This is particularly true of other sugars such as glucose and fructose which are the breakdown products of sucrose. Each subsequent step therefore becomes more difficult until one reaches a point where it is no longer viable to continue. The crystallisation step itself - a "boiling" - takes place in a vacuum pan: a large closed kettle with steam heated pipes. [In practice the heating is done with a low pressure water vapour from the evaporator.] Some modern pans are continuous flow devices but most are batch devices which go through a discrete cycle and are then emptied for a new boiling. A typical cycle might be 4 hours long. The mixture of crystals and mother liquor from a boiling, called the "massecuite", is dropped into a receiving tank called a crystalliser where it is cooled down and the crystals continue to grow. This

also releases the pan for a new boiling. From the crystalliser the massecuite is fed to the centrifuges. In a raw sugar factory it is normal to conduct three boilings. The first or "A" boiling produces the best sugar which is sent to store. The "B" boiling takes longer and the retention time in the crystalliser is also longer if a reasonable crystal size is to be achieved. Some factories re-melt the B sugar to provide part of the A boiling feedstock, others use the crystals as seed for the A boilings and others mix the B sugar with the A sugar for sale. The "C" boiling takes proportionally longer than the B boiling and considerably longer to crystallise. The sugar is usually used as seed for B boilings and the rest is re-melted. Various boilers which are used here in L.H.S.F. are:

THERMAX BOILER
CAPACITY WORK PRESSURE STEAM TEMRERATURE HEATING SURFACE INSTALLATION YEAR : : : : : 45 TPH 21 Kg/cm square 340 deg C 2204 m square 1991

LIPI BOILER
CAPACITY WORK PRESSURE STEAM TEMRERATURE HEATING SURFACE INSTALLATION YEAR : : : : : 20 TPH 21 Kg/cm square 345 deg C 1026 m square 1998

WIL BOILER
CAPACITY WORK PRESSURE STEAM TEMRERATURE HEATING SURFACE INSTALLATION YEAR : : : : : 45 TPH 45 Kg/cm square 445 deg C 2106 m square 2001

SISTON BOILER
CAPACITY WORK PRESSURE STEAM TEMRERATURE HEATING SURFACE INSTALLATION YEAR : 120 TPH : 67 Kg/cm square : 525 deg C : 5359 m square : 2007

The Energy Aspects

The steam is raised in bagasse fired boilers which usually have a secondary fuel to accommodate imbalances in bagasse supply and steam or power demand. The factory designer attempts to balance the site such that bagasse is neither left over nor insufficient: any secondary fuel costs money and a large surplus of bagasse may cost money to dispose. Balancing is done by selecting the right mix of turbine and electric drives for major equipment and selecting the pressure of the steam to give the efficiency required. In many cases this does not recognise the full energy value of the bagasse and is therefore wasteful in an overall sense. Today, more and more factories are considering power export as another by-product of sugar production. To do this they are improving the efficiency of their thermodynamic cycles and converting equipment drives to optimise power output. Factories are frequently in very undeveloped places and have no connection to an external power supply. This requires special techniques to start the factory and means that any breakdown in the power house impacts on the entire neighbourhood. Wives soon tell their husbands what happened to dinner when their spouses lost power! Sucrose extraction from beets is easier than with cane for several reasons of which keeping quality and diffusion characteristics are the two most important.

Stored correctly, beet will keep for several weeks after harvesting without substantial loss of sucrose content. It is generally harvested or stored on the farm and delivered to the factory up to 48 hours before harvesting. In countries with very cold winters, however, this can be a much longer time with large ventilated piles kept at the factory to avoid process disruptions caused by an inability to harvest or transport the crop. The beets need protection from frost and from overheating in the piles but as a biennial plant it expects to survive over winter in order to come to life in spring and grow to seed. Unlike cane extraction, it is important to avoid rupturing the cells of the beet because the sucrose is readily diffused out of whole cells and extraction can therefore be achieved preferentially. This results in a high purity juice without a lot of the cell material and other non-sugars found in cane juice. The slicing is therefore done with sharp knives which cut a V section slice of 4 to 5 mm thickness. The slices, known as cossets in some parts of the world, look somewhat like "potato sticks". A typical raw juice from diffusion will contain perhaps 14% sugar and the residual pulp will contain 1 to 2% and a total of 8 to 12% solids.

Pressing
The spent slices are de-sweetened in large screw presses where a variable pitch screw pushes the pulp at ever increasing pressure through a perforated, usually conical tube. The juice flows away and the pressed pulp, at around 70% moisture content, discharges from the end of the tube. Molasses is often added to the pressed pulp before drying in order to provide a higher sugar content animal feed. Typically 2 tons of pressed pulp and 0.4 tons of molasses are dried to make 1 ton of dried pulp at 10% moisture content. The dried pulp is then extruded into pellets

to increase the density of the product and make it easier to store and handle. The drying process is energy intensive, using about 1/3 of the total factory fuel consumption. Generally driers are large rotating drums with air at 600 to 900 C used to drive the water out of the pulp. Some new driers use steam so that the water driven off can be used as heat in the sugar manufacturing process.

Carbonatation
Carbonatation is achieved by adding milk of lime [calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2] to the liquor and bubbling carbon dioxide through the mixture. The gas, which is obtained from the manufacture of the lime in the first place, reacts with the lime to form fine crystalline particles of calcium carbonate which occlude the solids. To obtain a stable floc, the pH and temperature of the reaction are carefully controlled. Beet factories use much more lime than cane factories, some 1 to 3% of CaO on beet is used. The filtration is undertaken with rotary leaf filters where the liquor is pumped from the outside of the leaf to the middle where the clear liquor is collected or in a clarifier where settling occurs. As the layer of floc builds up in a leaf filter it increase the pressure drop across the system until the filter is effectively choked and taken off line for cleaning. The clarifier is run continuously however. The lime mud that is collected from either method is still wet with sugar liquor so it is de-sweetened by slurrying with water - the resultant sweet water is used elsewhere in the process - and re-filtering it to a mud with 50% or less moisture. The mud is then dumped or used as lime on fields. The efficiency of the factory depends substantially on the use of multiple effect evaporation, as with the raw cane sugar factory. It is even more important for the beet factory because there is no surplus fibre available to porvide fuel for the power house. The

greater the number of effects, the less steam is required to drive the first effect. Each subsequent effect is heated by the vapour from the previous effect so has to be operated at a lower temperature and therefore lower pressure. In is not unusual to see 6 and sometimes 7 effects in a beet factory although many cane factories only have 3 or 4 effects.

Decolourisation
Granular activated carbon is the modern equivalent of "bone char", a carbon granule made from animal bones. Today's carbon is made by specially processing mineral carbon to give a granule which is highly active but also very robust: it can withstand the mechanical abrasion that results from transporting it around the plant. The carbon is used in the process in very large columns, perhaps 10 or more metres high. The sugar liquor, at about 65% dry solids, is pumped through 2 columns in series. Because of limitations in distributing the liquor across the width of large columns it is quite normal to split the total liquor flow into three or more parallel streams, each of which passes through a pair of columns. The first column of the pair has been in use for some time while the second column is fresher. When the carbon in the first column reaches is practical limit of absorption, that column is switched out of line, the second column becomes the first column and a column with fresh carbon becomes the second column. In a typical refinery with say 3 streams of liquor, a column will come off line every three days so any one column has a life of 18 days of which 9 are hard working in the first column position. Decolourisation with granular activated carbon typically achieves 90% effectiveness: a 1200 colour liquor entering the system will depart at about 120 colour.

MILLHOUSE:
Mill house is the cane crushing unit which consists of cane carrier, cane cutter having cutting knives, milling tandem, bagasse carrier and conveyor. Cane feeding to the cane carrier is done by unloaders and feeder table. As the cane carrier moves, the cane kicker evens out cane load in the cane carrier and then two sets of cane knives cut the cane into small pieces. This process of cane cutting is called 'cane preparation. These cane pieces then, pass through different mills and the juice is extracted. The mills are driven by D.C.motors. The residue which comes out of the mill after extraction of juice is called bagasse. Various milling units used in LHSF are : Mill GRPF Mill GRPF Mill GRPF Mill GRPF Mill GRPF 500kwatt d.c., 1000kw d.c. 522kwatt dc. o 900kwatt variable frequency drive hydraulic drive 900kwatt v.f.d. 400h.p hydraulic drive o 900kwatt v.f.d 500kwatt v.f.d o 900kwatt v.

BOILERHOUSE:
Boiler generates steam by burning the bagasse. The steam is used in powerhouse, boiling house, curing house. The steam required by the Sulphitation process varies from 42 - 45 % on cane crushed per hour.

POWERHOUSE:
The high pressure steam generated by the boiler is utilized for production of power by the turbo-alternators. The power produced is used for captive needs and the surplus power is exported to the government grid. The low pressure steam that comes out from the turbo alternator is utilized for boiling the extracted juice.

CLARIFICATION AND BOILING HOUSE:

The juice extracted by the mills is measured by juice flow system. The measured juice is heated in juice heater in two stages. First the juice is heated by the vapours from fourth and third bodies of evaporator in different heaters. This heating is called primary heating. The heated juice is treated with milk of lime and sulphur-di-oxide to coagulate maximum impurities and sent for secondary heating. The secondary heating is done with vapours from second body of evaporator and vapours from the first body or exhaust steam. The treated juice is passed to clarifier, where in clear juice is removed from the top and settled mud at the bottom is separated. To extract sugar from the mud, it is taken to vacuum filter in which juice and filter cake are separated. Juice is taken back to process and the mud is disposed as solid waste. Clear juice from clarifier is taken to evaporator for evaporating its water content. First body is heated by exhaust steam, and other bodies by the vapours of the previous body. The total water evaporated in the evaporator is 75-80 % percent. The juice after evaporation is called as syrup. This syrup is normally of 60 % solids of its total weight. The syrup is then sulphited in syrup Sulphitation tower.

BOILING AND CURING HOUSE

Sulphited syrup is taken to pan floor for making sugar crystal. Three massecuites boiling systems is normally adopted, in which, A, B and C Massecuites are boiled. A-massecuites is formed by boiling syrup, sugar melt ,A light molasses and on B-single cured sugar as seed. This AMassecuite is boiled till it attains the required size of sugar crystal and it is dropped into crystallizers and cooled. After exhaustion of sugar in solution, the A massecuite is passed on to the centrifugals for separating sugar crystals from the massecuite. The separated 'A' sugar is bagged after drying.A-Light and A-Heavy molasses are pumped to pan floor and are used for making A- and B-Massecuite respectively B-Massecuite boiled in B pans is dropped into B- Crystallizers and then it is cured in B-Centrifugal machines. B-heavy molasses and B-single cured sugar are obtained separately. B-single cured sugar is used as seed for A massecuite. B-heavy molasses is used for making C-Massecuite in

C-pans. C-Massecuite is dropped into C-Crystallizers where it is cooled. C-Massecuite is then taken to C-fore worker centrifugal machines for curing. Final molasses and C-single cured sugar are obtained. 'C' Single cured sugar is again cured in another centrifugal machine in which Cdouble cured sugar and C-light molasses are obtained. C-light molasses are taken to pan floor and is used in making C-Massecuite. C-double cured sugar is melted and is used in making 'A' Massecuite. Sugar discharged from 'A' Machine is dropped on to grass hopper conveyors. By passing hot air in hoppers the sugar is dried and taken to grader in which powder and roris are separated. The required grade sugar is bagged.

COGENERATION POWER
Cogeneration involves the use of high pressure Boilers for producing steam and Turbo generators for generating power. The high pressure steam passes through the turbine and generates power. The low pressure steam from the turbine is used in the processing of sugar. This process of utilization of steam for generating power and for processing of sugar is called cogeneration.

This cogeneration plant is the first plant in India to install Air cooled condensers instead of water cooled condensers for its turbines. Even though the Air cooled condensers incur a much higher investment cost than

the water cooled condensers, it is environment friendly and they totally eliminate the use of water. This is an important environment feature given the scarcity of water in the region and a positive step towards water conservation.

MOLASSES
The history of the Word molasses ( Melasse in German and Dutch) is not mentioned in Etymological dictionaries since it is quite definitely and clearly derived from the Romanic languages. The term molasses is applied to the final effluent obtained in the preparation of sugar by repeated crystallization.The amount of molasses obtained and its quality (composition) provide information about the nature of the beets (local conditions of growth and effects of the weather) and the processing in the sugar factory, such as the efficiency of the juice clarification, the method of crystallization during boiling, and the separation of the sugar crystals from the low-grade massecuite. If the concept molasses is to be strictly defined it is necessary to distinguish between theoretical and practical molasses. The theoretically final molasses is a mixture of sugar, nonsugars and water, from which no saccharose crystallizes under any conceivable physical and technically optimum conditions, with no regard to time. If relatively more favourable conditions for crystallization are maintained (low water content, low temperature, long crystallization time, thin layers of the syrup film) the crystallization might be so extended that with intensive centrifugation of the molasses a quotient (Q) of 49 would be attainable. Q represents the percentage of sugar in the total solid content of the molasses. The lower the purity or purity coefficient, the more closely a syrup approaches theoretical molasses. Unusual specimens of molasses, produced in experimental studies, have quotients from 45 to 50. The practically obtainable molasses is the end syrup from which, with maintenance of the technical conditions promoting crystallization, no significant additional amounts of saccharose can be recovered by further concentration. In this sense molasses with purity quotients above 64 are no longer true molasses they are crystallisable syrups. The objective of the sugar industry is to produce molasses whose purity is as low as possible. Commercial molasses ordinarily have a quotient around 60, i.e. approximately 48 % sugar is present in molasses whose solids

content is 80%. (Q denotes purity quotient of molasses; S is sugar content; T represents dry substance.) Efforts to understand and master the conditions leading to exhausted molasses are as old as the sugar industry itself. Since the formation of molasses and the problems of crystallization of sugar are closely related, a clear understanding of the influences of the nonsugar substances on the crystallization of the saccharose from aqueous solutions simplifies the study of the formation of molasses. The many studies along these lines can be divided fundamentally into two categories. (i) Mechanical theory of molasses formation This old theory is based on the decrease in the rate of crystallization which depends on the speed with which the dissolved sugar molecules are transported out of the liquid on to the crystal surface as well as on the rate at which they are built into the crystal lattice. (ii) Chemical theory of molasses formation This theory is based on the mutual solubility influences in the system: water sugar, salts or non sugar components. In many studies of the influence of the non sugar components on the solubility of sucrose, pure substances or mixtures of pure substances have been employed, but they did not always correspond to the complicated relationships prevailing in molasses. The use of ion exchangers made it possible to start these investigations directly on molasses. It has been found that nitrogenous materials have practically no effect with respect to the sucrose solubility; potassium and sodium have considerably stronger molasses-producing properties than calcium and lithium. Because of the economic significance of the composition of final molasses there is great permanent interest in the sugar industry in being able to calculate beforehand the amount of molasses that may be expected, i.e. at the time of delivery and processing of the beets.

Molasses is a viscous by-product of the processing of sugar cane, grapes or sugar beets into sugar. The word molasses comes from the Portuguese word melao, which ultimately comes from mel, the Latin word for "honey".[1] The quality of molasses depends on the maturity of the sugar cane or sugar beet, the amount of sugar extracted, and the method of extraction. Sweet sorghum syrup is known in some parts of the United States as molasses, though it is not true molasses.

CHALLENGES FOR SUGAR INDUSTRY

India ranks first in sugar consumption and second in sugar production in world but it's share in global sugar trade is below 3%. Indian sugar industry has been facing raw material, and resource as well as infrastructural problems. Globalization has brought a number of opportunities but at the same time posed certain challenges before sugar industry. Most of sugar units in India utilize production capacity below 50%. Low capacity utilization and inadequacy of raw material led to closer of 100 sugar factories in India. Mounting losses and decreasing networth of sugar factories have been responsible for sickness of sugar industry. Sickness in sugar industry has reached to an alarming proportion. Indian sugar industry has been cash striven for decades. Low cash inflow due to piling stocks leads to serious financial crisis and finally to closing sugar factories. Sugar prices have been a political issue rather than economical issue. Many a times it worsens economy of sugar factories. The main concern of sugar industry in India is fluctuations in sugarcane production due to inadquate irrigation facilities, lower sugarcane yield, and frequent droughts in tropical and sub-tropical areas where sugarcane is grown ona large scale. In addition, sugarcane yield has been lower (59 Mts per hectare). Sugar recovery is also lower in comparison with other sugar manufacturing countries. This leads to escalation of production costs and weakness competitive edge of the industry. Most of sugar mills in India are having daily sugarcane crushing capacity of 1250 tonnes. These mills cannot have economies of scale so they have to incur high production costs. Indian sugar industry is characterized by high production costs. Therefore, daily crushing capacity should be extended to 2500 tonnes. Obviously, industry has a great challenge of existence in global market. In recent years, sugarcane production in India has decelerated to a great extent due to water and power shortage. Special attention is needed to be given on water resource management. All the area under sugar cultivation should be brought under drip irrigation to conserve water as well as fertilizers. Adequate and regular power supply to sugarcane growers and sugar factories would increase production andproductivity. To enhance share of Indian sugar industry in global trade, quality and quantity of sugar needs to be enhanced.

CONCLUSION & SUGGESTIONS

Sugar industry is the second largest agro-based industry in India. Sugar factories, particularly cooperative sugar factories in Maharastra and other states have been instrumental in building confidence among rural people and strengthening industrial base in rural India. In the era of globalization, sugra industry needs more competitive edge which can be given by way of modernization, enhancing productivity, and manufacturing excellent quality sugar at competitive prices. It needs quality management at every level of activity to enhance its performance. The need of the hour is to liberalize industry from clutches of unprofessional people. Most of the sugar units do not have byproduct utilization plants. Projects based on bagasses and molasses should be initiated. Ethanol, alochol, and paper projects have tremendous scope for development in India. In future, 10-15% ethanol may be allowed to be blended with petrol. Bagasses based power generation projects installed adjacent to each sugar factory would fulfill need of power. Research programme should be undertaken in area of sugarcane cultivation, enhancing sugarcane productivity, and sugar recovery. Sugarcane prices should be fixed on basis of sugar recovery. Attention is to be given on manufacturing quality sugar as per international standards at competitive prices.