COLOUR SURVEY IN PLANTATION WHITE SUGAR PROCESSING

V. S. Keskar and S. S. Nimbalkar

Maarc Labs Pvt Ltd.
Nanded Phata, Sinhagad Road, Tal. Haveli, Dist. Pune - 411 041, Maharashtra - India.

ABSTRACT

Colour analysis of sugar factory intermediates and sugar crystals was carried out in 5 sugar
factories in India by using ICUMSA Methods. Wide factory to factory variation in colour values.
was observed during four major steps in processing i. e. clariJcation, evaporation, syrup
sulphitation, pan boiling & crystallisation. The factory with optimised processing parameters with
maximum colour removal in clarijcation and syrup sulphitation and minimum colour increase
during evaporation and pan boiling was able to produce sugar of very low colour value. Data for
two weeks @om one sugar *factoryshowing wide variation in the sugar colour is presented to study
the intra factory variations in the colour during processing. It was possible to locate the stations
responsible for increase in the colour of sugar by comparing the results of two weeks. Importance
of daily measurement of colour of sugar facto~y intermediates by ICUMSA *'methodsfor improving
the quality of sugar is stressed in this paper

Ke-ywords : Process inte~mediates,colour balance, quality improvement, ICUMSA colour, colour

transfer I

LNTRODUCrION 0

Colour is an important quality parameter which determines the marketability of plantation white
sugar. The Indian sugar industry, which is the major sugar producing country in the world, is
now becoming conscious about the colour of plantation white sugar. As low'colour of sugar
always fetches good price in domestic as well as international market, sugar factories try to
improve the colour of sugar by optimising processing parameters.

ICUMSA Colour Index of sugar can give information about overall conditions of processing in
sugar factories which starts from harvesting and ends in packing of sugar. As the production of
plantation white sugar involves different stages like clarification, evaporation, syrup sulphitation, pan
boiling and crystallisation, it is necessary to check the colour with standard ICUMSA procedures
at important stations in the sugar factory.

Very few attempts have been made to measure the colour of factory intermediates in the
processing of plantation white sugar (Chellamuthu 1993, Zende et al. 1993). So far, however, a
systematic study of colour balance in Indian sugar factories using ICUMSA procedures has not
been carried out.

In this paper the data based on the colour analysis study of sugar and factory intermediates
carried out at five sugar factories producing plantation white sugar by double sulphitation process
is presented which shows wide factory to factory variation in the colour during the processing.

I Materials and Methods

A. Chemicals : AR Grade Trietllanolamine, Hydrochloric acid and Sodium hydroxide were used.
All solutions were prepared either in distilled or demineralised water available at facto~ysite.
B. Instruments : Sucroscan Colour Analysis Kit (Developed by Maarc Labs Pvt Ltd., India)
was employed for measurement of colour of sugar and factory intermediates. The kit
included a spectrophotometer (bandwidth 2 nm, wavelength accuracy of *0.5 nm and
accommodating cuvettes of 5 cm and 1 cm path length), pH meter with built in magnetic
stirrer, all glass solvent filtration assembly attached to vacuum pump and membranes with
0.45 pm pore size. An evacuated dessicator was used for de-aeration and Erma hand
refractometers for determining the RDS (Refractometric Dry Substance) of sugar solutions.

C. Methodology : Plantation white sugar samples were analysed by dissolving in TEA - HCl
buffer as per Method GS 213 - 9 (ICUMSA Method Book 1994). Analysis of colour of
Mixed Juice(M J), Clarified Juice (C J), Unsulphited Syrup (U S S), Sulphited Syrup (S S)
and A Light (A I,) molasses was done by diluting all the samples with distilled water to
about 5OBx followed by Method GS 1 - 7 (ICUMSA Method Book 1994).

D. Experimental :
a) In order to study factory to factory variations in colour of intermediates'during
processing, analysis was carried out in five sugar factories in India where double
sulphitation process is employed. Colour values obtained in ICUMSA Units fiom M J to
Sugar are plotted graphically for comparison of increase or decrease in colour at
different stages of processing.

b) Out of these five sugar factories at Rajarainbapu Patil S. S. K. Ltd. (Maharashtra)

special attention on colour analysis of processing intermediates was given throughout the
1997 - 98 crushing season. Samples of M J, C J, U S S, S S, A L molasses and
Sugar crystals were analysed once per shift by ICUMSA Methods. A typical data for
two weeks showing wide variation in colour of sugar is presented in the text.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

a) Factory To Factory Variation In The Colour During Processing : Table 1 (A) shows the
ICUMSA Colour values from M J to Sugar in five different sugar factories and Fig. 1
gives their graphical presentation. The values given in the table are averages of six readings
taken during each shift for two days. Table 2 gives statistical analysis of these readings.
Important findings of this study are summarised as follows :-

Table 1 (A) : Colour balance in the processing of 5 sugar factories

,'
Colour Factory
1 2 3 4 5

Mixed Juice (IU) 16312

Clear Juice (IU) 5221
Unsulphited Syrup (IU) 5310
Sulphited Syrup (IU) 4625
Sugar (IU) 47
% Decrease in Clarification 67.99
% Increase in Evaporation 1.70
% Decrease in
Syrup Sulphitation 14.81
Colour Transfer Factor 0.0102
 Table 1 (B) : Standard deviation for observations in Table 1 (A)

Factory No. M J C J U S S S S Sugar

1. 1,120 80 93 , 113 5.3 ,

2. 1,350 217 315 235 7.1
3. 970 154 110 327 8.9
4. 1,440 305 412 5 17 4.6
5. 1,289 972 630 715 12.5

Table 2 ): Variations in colour of clear juice during 20 hours

Colour of Clear Juice (IU) Range of

Sugar Colour
(IU)
0 hrs. 4 hrs. 8 hrs. 12 hrs. 16 hrs. 20 hrs.
-
Factory A 9212 9522 9190 9592 9316 9420 110 - 115

Factory B 8449 10826 7111 6235 7315 8906 74 - 120

-
Fig. 1 Factory to factory varlatlons In colour of lntermedktes and sugar
I

Fig. 1 a (Factory No. 1 ) Fig. I b ( Factory no. 2

25.W
Well Controlled Process Poor EvaporeUon

5.m w 4

MJ CJ US5 6s Sugar MJ w uss ss Sugar

x I00 x 100

Flg. I c ( Factory No. 3 )

25,MW
Pwr Evaporation
20.m 8 Pan Boiling

5.m

MJ CJ USS SS Sugar
XIW

~ l g1. d ( Factory NO. 4 ) Fig. 1 e ( Factory No. 5

Poor ClarificaUon &Pan Boiling,

2 15,m !15.m
10.W

MJ CJ US5 SS Sugar MJ CJ USS SS Sugllr

X I00 x 100
i) Raw or Mixed Juice : Colour of mixed juice depends on different factors like maturity and
variety of sugarcane, time lag between harvesting and crushing, harvesting conditions (burnt
or green) and method of cane preparation followed in sugar factory. The colour of mixed
juice varied in the range of 15,972 IU to 24,713 IU in these five factories.

ii) Clear Juice : The colour of clear juice depends upbn quality and optimum dosing of lime,
pH control, temperature of SO, gas and its uniform flow, phosphate content of mixed juice,
reaction time in juice sulphitation tank, temperature of wash water for filter cake and
retention time in clarifier. Table 1 (A) reveals that about 60 - 70 % of the colour of mixed
juice is removed in the stage of clarification (Factory No. 1 to 4). Factory No. 5 had a
poor clarification system in which only 48.51 % colour was removed.

Table 2 and Fig. 2 give the data obtained from two factories showing variations in the
colour of clear juice in 20 hours and corresponding colour range of sugar produced. It is
evident that the steady colour of clear juice ensures the production of sugar with uniform
colour.

-
Fig. 2 Variations in colour of clear juice during
20 hours

12000

Iloo0

5 loo00
W
2
2
I

2
9
0 .
9ooo
8
5
S 8ooo
8

7000

6000 I
HOURS
 Unsulphited Syrup : The difference between colour of clarified juice and unsulphited syrup
reflects the increase in colour intensity during evaporation process. Due to heat, colour
formation takes place in juice during evaporation giving rise to caramalisation, sucrose
inversion and melanoidin formation. The nature and amount of colour formation in
evaporators is mainly related with iron content of the clear juice (Honig 1963). Therefore, it
is necessary to check the iron content of the clear juice when increase in colour is
abnormal during evaporation. When the evaporation is conducted rapidly with perfect juice
circulation and controlled temperature, the colour formation can be maintained at minimum
level which was observed in Factory No. 1 (Fig. 1 a). Maximum colour increase in
evaporation (19.98%) was observed in Factory No. 2 (Fig. 1 b).

iv) Sulphited Syrul~: In second sulphitation colouring matters are additionally bleached with
sulphur dioxide. If A light molasses is recycled in syrup the effect of decolourisation at this
stage is highly reduced. Colouring matters present in A light molasses can not be further
bleached with SO,, resulting in ineffective and irregular syrup decolourisiition. In such cases
only negligible colour reduction or some times even rise in colour takes place as observed
in Factory No. 2 (Fig. 1 b). Under these conditions it is difficult to produce low and
uniform coloured sugar unless colour and quantity of recycled intermediate is critically
maintained. Maximum colour reduction (21.57 %) in syrup sulphitation stage was observed
in Factory No. 5 (Fig. 1 e).

Sugar Crystals : Pan boiling and crystallisation are the final stages in processing in which
sugar crystals are grown and separated from mother liquor. Proper design of pans, boiling
period, quality of seed, careful separation of molasses and sugar crystals, uniform washing
of crystals are the major parameters required to be controlled for production of low colour
sugar. Poor pan boiling and crystallisation can be detected by comparing colow of sulphited
syrup and sugar. Efficiency of pan boiling and crystallisation process can be judged by
calculating colour transfer. Donovan and Williams (1993) have defined colour transfer in
refineries as the crystal colobr divided by the colour of syrup from which it was boiled.
Table 1 (A) shows that the colour transfer factor was about 0.01 in factories with good
pan boiling (Factory No. 1 and 2) and it was increased upto about 0.015 in factories with
poor pan boiling (Factory No. 3 and 5).

Thus the colour of sugar is ultimately the result of the overall efficiency at various stages
of processing and if these parameters are optimised through maximum colour reduction in
clarification, minimum colour formation during evaporation, best possible colour reduction in
syrup sulphitation and careful pan boiling, sugar of very low colour can be produced (Fig.
1 a).

Intra-factory variation in the colour during processing : Table 3 includes the colour
analysis data from Rajarambapu Patil S. S. K. Ltd. for two weeks which shows that the
changes in processing parameters affect the colour of final product. The weekly average of
colour values is graphically presented in Fig. 3. The variations in colour of factory
intermediates and sugar crystal during two weeks were as follows :-
 0
MJ CJ USS SS Sugar x 100

Fig.3 : Variations in colours of intermediates and sugar at Rajarambapu Patil S.S.K. Ltd.

i) In the first week of the study the clarification process was good as seen by average
72.44 % colour reduction from M J to C J while in the second week due to poor
clarification the average colour reduction was only 51.04 %. The reason behind the
poor clarification process was identified as unsatisfactory quality of lime used in the
process during this period.

ii) In first and second week the average colour increase in evaporation process, was 3.76
% and 6.62 % respectively indicating only slight dolour increase in evaporators.

iii) In the second week the colour of unsulphited syrup was 5,975 IU was higher than
during the first week. This may be attributed to the high colour of C J in the
second week. In this factory the practice of recycling A light molasses in the syrup
is followed. The average colour of A light molasses was 11,996 IU in the second
week as against 3,787 IU in first week. This resulted in increase in the colour of
syrup by 6.11 % even after sulphitation in the second week as against 4.08 % colour
reduction in the first week.

iv) It becomes evident from Table 3 that the colour transfer factor was 0.0170 in the
first week and 0.0152 in the second week. According to Donovan and Williams
(1993) the colour of feed syrup has an important effect on colour transfer and at
lower colour of syrup the colour transfer is higher. The results obtained in this study
are in agreement with the above findings.
 v) The average colour of sugar produced in the first week was 84 IU as against 181
IU in the second week. Inspite of vast difference in the sugar colour in two weeks
the average ratio of colour of sugar to colour of C J remained constant indicating
that under uniform processing conditions the sugar colour depends mainly on the
colour of clear juice (Table 3). Thus with regular measurements of colours of
intermediates in sugar processing it was possible to detect the changes in processing
and to locate the stations where corrective measures were taken. In this way by
maintaining proper processing conditions Rajarambapu Patil S. S. K. Ltd, could
produce plantation white sugar of 45 IU in season 1997 - 98.

CONCLUSIONS

e Regular colour analysis of sugar factory intermediates like mixed juice, clear juice,
unsulphited syrup, sulphited syrup and sugar is helpful in locating the stations responsible for
/
increase in the colour of sugar.

e For accurate results it is necessary to analyse all sugar factory intermediates exactly as per
ICUMSA methods.

e Under uniform processing conditions the colour of sugar crystal mainly depends on the
colour of clarified juice.

e Colour transfer data may also be fitted to sugar factories producing plantation white sugar
which gives useful information about pan boiling.

AGKWOWLEDGEMEm

Authors are thankful to Mr. Jayantrao Patil, M. L. A. for his encouragement during the study at
Rajarambapu Patil Sugar Factory and Mr. Gawade, Lab Chemist for his co-operation in the
analysis work. Thanks are also due to Mr. Antaryalni Parida, Chief Sugar Technologist, Sugar
Technology Mission, Govt. of India for his valuable suggestions.

REFERENCES

Chellamuthu, M. (1993) Is it possible to produce refined sugar in a plantation white sugar

industry'? In : Proceedings of the All India Seminar on Meastires to bring Indian sugar at
par with international standards ns per ICUMSA, New Delhi, India, 1993 / STAI, New
Delhi pp -
73 78.

Donovan, M, and Williams, J. C. (1993) The factors influencing the transfer of colour to sugar
crystals. In : Proceedings of the 1992 Sugar Processing Research Conference, New Orleans,
Louisiana / SPRI, Inc. pp. 31 - 48.

Honig, P. (1963) The Chemistry of evaporation process. In : Principles of Sugar Technology Vol.
-
III. Pieter Honig (Ed.) / Elsevier Pulblishing Company Amsterdam - London New York pp.
105 - 181.

ICUMSA Method Book (1994) The Detennination of Raw Sugar Solution Colour: Method
GS 1-7.

Method GS 213-9.
ICUMSA Method Book (1994) The Determinntion of White Sugar Solution COIOIAI:
Zende, A. A., Londhe, M. B., Bhosale. R. N. and Pendse, S. B. (1993). Plantation White Sugar
production in India with reference to ICUMSA colour. In : Proceedings of the All India
Seminar on Measures to bring Indian sugar at par with international standards as per
ICUMSA, New Delhi, India, 1993 / STAI, Ncw Delhi pp. 11 - 26.

BALANCE DE COLOR EN EL PROCESAMlENTO DE AZUCAR BLANCO DE

PLANTACION

Por
V S Keskar y S S Nimbalkar
MAARC Labs S.A.
Nanded Phata, Sinhagad Road, Tal. Haveli, Dis(, Pwlle - 411 041, Maharasl~tra,India
RESUMEN

Se realizo el analisis de color de intermedios de la fdbrica azucarera y cristales de azucar en 5

fabricas azucareras en India utilizando metodos de ICUMSA. Se observo mucha variation en
valores de color entre las fabricas durante cuatro pasos mayores en procesamiento, es decir,
clarificacion, evaporacion, sulfitacion de meladura, coccion en tachos y cristalizacion. La fhbrica
con parametros optimizados de procesamiento con eli~llinacionmaxima de color en clarificacion y
sulfitacibn de meladura y aumento minilno de color dlirante evaporacion y coccibn en tachos fue
capaz de producir azucar de valor de color muy bajo. Se presentan 10s datos de dos semanas de
una fabrica azucarera mostrando amplia variation en el color de azucar con fin de estudiar las
variaciones en color durante el procesamiento entre las fabricas. Fue posible colocar las estaciones
responsables para el aumento en el color del azucar lnediante una comparaci6n de 10s resultados
de 10s dos semanas. En esta ponencia se destaca la iiilportancia de medir diarianiente el color de
10s intermedios de las fabricas azucareras por metodos de ICUMSA para mejorar la calidad de
azucar.

Palabras claves: Intermedios del proceso, balance dcl color, mejoramiento de caliclad, color de
ICUMSA, transferencia de color.

BILAN CQULEUR EN SUCRERlE POUR, LA PRODUCTION DU SUCRE

"PLANTATION HITE"

V.S. Keskar et S.S. Nimbalkar

F&suMk
On a mesure la couleur a travers le process dans 5 sucreries Indiennes. Les variations entre
sucreries sont grandes quant on compare les differenis ateliers, par exemple la clarification'
l'evaporation, la sulphitation du sirop et la cristallisatiotl. Les sucreries avec des ateliers efficients
ou la couleur est bien enlevee, produisent des sw,rcs de couleur tr6s basse. On presente les
resultats d'une sucrerie avec de gralldcs variatiolls de couleur dans le sucre, pour etudier la
couleur en sucrerie elle nGme. On a pu cerner le probleme. finalement on insiste sur la nicessite
de mesurer la couleur frdquemment.