Modeling Effects of Non-homogeneous Mixing on the Performance of Sugar Cane Milling Process

Abstract

Sugar cane milling process consists of several mills operating in a tandem. Input to the process is sugar cane, and outputs are final bagasse and mixed juice. An objective of the process is to maximize the extraction of sucrose from sugar cane, which may be accomplished by mixing bagasse entering the second and subsequent mills with either recycled juice from the following mills or imbibition water. An important factor affecting the performance of the sugar milting process is how well bagasse is mixed with recycled juice or imbibition water. In this paper, a model has been developed to simulate the operation of sugar mills. In addition to mass balances of fiber, dissolved solids, and water, this model takes into account non-homogeneous mixing between bagasse and recycled juice or imbibition water. This model is used to investigate how homogeneous mixing affects brix extraction, final bagasse moisture and mixed juice concentration, all of which are important performance parameters of the sugar milling process.