Plate Heat Exchangers Ideal For Sugar Refiners

Sugar producers worldwide are missing out on USD300m (GBP190m) in potential energy savings by opting for the wrong kind of heat-transfer technology, according to heat-transfer specialist Alfa Laval. The company said that this is the level of heat energy that could be recovered from various stages of the sugar-refining process. Ian Forrester of Alfa Laval in the UK said: 'Sugar refining involves the continual transfer of heat to and from different juice flows throughout the process.

'If refiners employed plate heat exchangers instead of tubular exchangers, the difference in efficiency levels [thermal efficiency is 200-300 per cent greater in sugar applications] means that they could employ lower-grade heat sources such as condensate or low-pressure vapour in place of expensive steam for many parts of the process,' he added. Alfa Laval estimates that refiners could reduce steam requirements by as much as five per cent.

The steam saved could be used to generate electricity to power the process and any excess could be sold off to other users or to the national grid. Annual sugar production across the globe is around 160 million tons. Allowing a figure of approximately USD14 for each ton of steam raised and with 0.4 tons required to process each ton of sugar crop, the estimated potential for savings is USD300m.

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