BEET SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

Cotton and Guy Rorabaugh, statistician, research director and research chemist for the Holly Sugar Corporation; M. Wintzell, Technical Director of the Swedish Sugar Corporation; Allan Woods, superintendent of the Union Sugar Company; R.

TECHNICAL ACCOUNTING AND PROCESS CONTROL Sugar Accounting

Diogcnes, Martial, PIs.utus, Cicero, Suetonius, and Columella all made some mention of the beet. The interest of the French in these ventures was forced, as they were then embroiled in the Napoleonic Wars and the English blockade cut them off from their usual import of 'West Indian cane sugar'.

Figure 1-1. Napoleon's efforts to establish the beet-sugar industry made him the target of much ridicule

HISTORY 3 and that six experimental stations be established for the instruction of the

Other individuals who played an important role in the development of the new industry were Dr. Some of the machines for their factory came from Germany, and some were made by H.

HISTORY 11 and direct consumption sugar was made from the start. In the campaigns

In the interval from 1871 to 1888, seven small beet sugar factories started and failed again: in Brighton, California. Attracted by the many opportunities, he came around the corner to California in the early fifties.

30 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

It bought machinery in Germany and set up a factory in Coaticook, Quebec, with a daily capacity of 200 tons.

32 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

HISTORY 33 contracts will be signed to work the factory at full capacity for the first

The four companies were Ontario Sugar Co., Ltd. from Berlin (now Kitchener), where a factory of SOO tons capacity was built with machinery moved from Benton Harbor, Michigan; Dresden Sugar Co., Ltd. from Wallaceburg, where a factory with a capacity of 600 tons was built; and Wiarton Beet Sugar Manufacturing Co., Ltd. of Wiarton, where a factory was built 'with a capacity of 350 tons of slices per day. The Wiarton factory was closed after two seasons and the machinery moved to Santa Ana (New Delhi) California; the Dresden factory was dismantled in 1904 and the machinery moved to Janesville, Wisconsin, and the Berlin factory was idle until reorganization.

34 BEET-SUGAR TEOHNOLOGY Table 1·2

HISTORY Table 1-2 (Continued)

The sugar beet is a member of the goosefoot family (Chenopodiaceae) along with beetroot, spinach, pork, lamb's quarter and Russian thistle. The sugar beet is grown by the farmer, very often with the advice and help of the processor.

Figure 2-1. Root system of the beet plant.

THINNING

Application before planting can be carried out from several weeks until the day of planting. Side dressing applications can be made at the time any nitrogen fertilizer would be applied, but the ideal time.

52 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

GROWING SUGAR BEETS 53 cient water penetration in the higher portions of the field. If flat planting

54 BEET·BUGAR TECHNOLOGY

56 BEET-BUGAR TECHNOLOGY

58 BEET-SUGAR TEOHNOLOGY

If the rate of water penetration into the soil is high, and the furrows are too long, a large amount of water will be lost through deep percolation at the. Two or three times the required amount of water can be used if the furrows are too long (see Fig. 2�27). Adjustments to the unit head can often be used to achieve a more uniform depth of penetration, as well as to regulate the amount of water added to the soil with each irrigation.

60 BEET·SUGAR 1'ECHNOLOGY HARVESTING *'

Next came the riding plow or "Colorado Lifter/' driven by the various types of tractor shifters or tractor-mounted lifters. Mechanical loaders that picked beets by hand became popular during the late thirties, except in California, where doddy fields prevented that they are used. In 1940, a Pueblo, Colorado producer, Claude Walz, built a homemade topcoat and windrow machine, which was the forerunner of the John.

Figure 2-29. After harvesting the beets, European growers are obliged to store them beside their own fields in straw-covered "clamps"

GROWING SUGAR BEETS 63 state university experiment stations, but they also purchased harvesters in

64 BEET-SUGAR 1'ECHNOLOGY

GROWING SUGAR BEETS

GROWING SUGAR BEETS 67 grasses and weeds in the spring when they come out of hibernation, and

68 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOWGY

GROWING SUGAR BEETS 69 the intermountain states winged females, in the fall, fly to narrow-leaved

70 BEET-SUGAR TEOHNOLOGY

72 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOOY

GROWING SUGAR BERTS 73 should give more information concerning the efficacy of soil treatment for

GROWING SUGAR BEETS 75 The severity of curly top damage is associated with the stage of growth

76 BEET-BUGAR TEOHNOLOGY

Loss of lOBS from this type of rot can be prevented by proper soil leveling, improving water infiltration and avoiding overwatering. It is distinguished from otber root rot by the abundance of white cottony mycelium or fungus-like mold on root surfaces, and by the presence of numerous brown to dark brown mustard-seed-like sclerotia that form on roots and in the soil. . The disease can develop from a chronic infection of young seedlings or from the invasion of the beet root by the fungus at a later stage of growth.

78 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY By-PRODUCT UTILIZATION*

GROWING SUGAR BEETS 83 Barges should be clean and dry before loading, to minimize factors causing

This is sometimes done by paying all growers in an area a rate determined by the seasonal average of the factory tape analysis. Determining the crown and the dirt tar in this case is only useful to adjust the price between beet growers, according to the condition of the beet at the time of entry. � where most of the dirt and debris is removed, caught in a hopper and weighed and the weight recorded.

THE TARE LABORATORY 85 tare material. Then the first net weight minus the weight of tare material

THE TARE LABORATORY 87 Random errors will average out in a large number of samples, and, there�

88 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

Likewise, no beets, when caught in the pan, should jump out and fall away. Likewise, once caught in the pan, no beets should be discarded, as this tends to happen. Since the top beets come off the truck first, the first beets tend to be cleaner and the last beets dirtier than average.

Figure 3-4. The dirt tends to accumulate on the side. of the belt nearest the truck

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THE TARE LABORATORY 91 higher sugars and higher dirt tare. (3) Normal beet respiration will result

92 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

The beet pan is placed on the sale and the weight is recorded and recorded on the analysis ticket. 34;The washing machines consist of rotating sheet iron drums--something like long concrete mixers-and the sink is a spray pro. After the washing machine is full, it is tipped into the washing position and the water is turned on.

Figure 3-7. The Great Western Sugar Co. beet washer.

THE TARE LABORA1'ORY 97 damping. The Bates balance is somewhat more sensitive, and the design of

THE TARE LABORATORY 101 laboratory for three campaigns, and has polarized over 200,000 samples

102 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

The unusual mildness of last winter caused the beets in one part of the pile to warm up and their sugar content was hampered. The disadvantages of wide poles are; it is difficult to remove "hot spots" when they develop, and the natural ventilation of the pile, discussed below, is impeded. Moreover, it is subjected to microbiological attack, the result of which is the loss of sugar in the stored beet.

Figure 4�2. Factory receiving bin, with beets conta.ining an unusually large amount of trash, about to be unloaded

106 BEET.SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

STORAGE OF BEETS 107 not thoroughly understood. Dry air will cool beets by evaporative cooling,

STORAGE OF BEETS 109 pile should have a better average speed of air movement in it due to thermal

Fort and Stout10 have shown that blanching beets on the surface of a pile reduces the temperature of the beets standing just below the surface. These well-known facts led Stout and Fort13-1S of the United States Department of Agriculture, M. The reader is referred to the literature at the end of the chapter for a historical review of the development.

STORAGE OF BEETS 111

114 BEET-SUGAR TEOHNOWGY

STORAGE OF BEET l 15 ment for thermometer wells which will give a good record of temperatures in the heap. The tubes are 6 feet long and are forced into the stack to a depth of 5 feet from the top. This is overcome in practice by placing a heavy canvas over the end of the duct, when air is not forced into the pile.

Figure 4-12. Electrical control units for ventilation installation. The boxes are suitable for use out of doors

STORAGE OF BEETS

Scientific Journal Series, Paper No. 34; A Preliminary Report on the Effect of Temperature and Beet Conditions on the Respiration and Loss of Sugar from Beets in Storage, "Proc. Sugar Bee' Technol., Fifth Ann. A., "Comparative Composition of Different Parts of the Sugar Beet Root, " Proc. Two repl'e." Identical types of equipment used for this purpose are the "potato chain," illustrated in Figure 5-1, and the Rienks screen, illustrated in Figure 5-2. ,.

124 BBET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

This action automatically and steadily flushes the beet from the downstream side of the pile into the bank, and on its way to the factory. Water should not be run through any type of embankment until it is ready to be brought to the factory for liquid beets, as sugar will be lost through diffusion of sugar from the beets into the water. After all, sugar from the beet is lost by diffusion to the Hume water, but at the same time, beet will absorb water and increase in weight, esp.

Figure 5-3. Beets are conveyed from the dry hopper by belt.

128 BEET�SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

Since 8 involves a calculation, values for it have been computed, and are given in Table 6-l

CN, c' and CH, the sugar concentrations in the cosets at the top and bottom of the cell adjacent to the last cell can be calculated, at the time it becomes the last cell, from equation (12). Let be the ratio of the liquid in a cell to the liquid inside the cassettes in the cell. The ratio of liquid flowing through the last cell (for liquids and extraction) to the liquid inside the cassettes in the cell will then be n' + n, of which n' was already in the cell and n was fresh water.

Figure 6-7. Cross-sectional elevation of a Robert cell, showing valves and juice flows

162 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

Thus, the flow of cassettes is countercurrent to the juice from cell to cell, but simultaneously in each cell. They are connected at the bottom by a short third cylinder for transferring cassettes and juice from one vertical cylinder to the other. In America will be known 8.S Superior Vertical Diffuser, according to its manufacturer's representatives.

164 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOWGY

The cassettes enter the top of the shorter tower and are forced down through the tower and over to and up the second tower, leaving as pulp at the top. The diffusion water supply enters the top of this second tower and flows by gravity, counting.

Figure 6-19. Diagra.m of Hildebr&lldt continuous diffuser.

166 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

Weman6!i of the Swedish Sugar Corporation has thoroughly investigated this subject and has shown that the presence of microbiological attack is most easily demonstrated by the pH values found in the diffuser cells. One of the first results of the bacterial attack is the formation of acids, which immediately lowers the pH. The problem is more apparent with continuous diffusers because: Ca) many contain large open spaces in which bacteria can easily multiply, (b) the large number of cells and often prolonged residence times in some.

Figure 6-20. Typical pH-cell graphs for a diffuser. CA) Normal. (B) Showing evidence of bacterial attack

168 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

Most current dispensers use this principle only partially, due to the physical difficulty of passing liquid through counter-moving cassettes, and still obtain reasonable cell fills and currents. In most of today's cell types of continuous dispensers, the liquid and cassettes both move, generally in opposite directions, but simultaneously within each cell. At a time, (t/N), cassettes are continuously removed in the next cell, while liquid is continuously removed in the previous cell.

BEET SLICING

THE DIFFUSION PROCESS 171

172 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

80 installed so that all knife edges are exactly the same distance from the axis of rotation. In this case, it is better to join the knives perpendicularly, which will split all the panels that come through the increased opening due to incr. The joints are usually at an angle of 82°, and when ordinary b •• ts are cut, this is a slight bevel, resulting in the lower or dividing side of the knife.

174 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

British Sugar Corp., Ltd., Superintendents Con£. Rodgers, T" -Analysis of Present Day Continuous Diffusion Processes, British Sugar Corp. A., unpublished data, Spreckels Sugar Co. Sugar Beet TechnoL, Sixth Gen. Dobler, L., and Gyori Szeszgyer es Finomito R. Of the many substances proposed for the purification of sugar-beet juice, only lime and carbonic acid have found general use. This necessity that the physical properties of the precipitate be such that it can be easily eliminated is far more important to the factory than the juice purification itself, and the present knowledge is therefore sufficient: it is generally known how to handle the purification to achieve. Due to the relative shortness of the operating campaigns, the periods when beets and beet juices of normal composition are available for experiments and research are very short.

178 BEET-SUGAR TECHNOLOGY

FUNDAMENTAL CHEMISTRY 179 of the theoretical baae of juice purification as is at present possible, There are very few papers in the literature of value in this respect, which relate directly to each other. In alkaline, boiled and carbonated juices, they act as buffers, affecting the pH-alkalinity ratio of the juices. Dark colored products ms.y are formed, by reaction of their amino groups with the CO of the re.

Figure 7-2. Structural COnDgur&tiOD. of sucrose, �ucopyranoByl�-fructofuranoside

184 BEET-SUGAR TE(JHNOLOGY

Degradation products of lower molecular weight, produced in the beets or during the liming of the juices, appear to affect the crystallization of sucrose and to form turbidities in white sugar solution. These are practically eliminated by lime, but if originally present in the form of salts, they are likely to increase the amount of lime salts. Truss is used in the sugar industry in the form of milk of lime - a suspension of Ca(OH) 2 in water.