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sugar 

JOURNAL 

INTERNATIONAL 

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Volume CXIV: Issue No. 1364 

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sugar 

JOURNAL 

INTERNATIONAL 


Precipitation in major crop producing areas in 

South America during June/July 2012 - see Page 534 

Regular Items 

527 Editorial comment: 

Sugar is produced in the field 

528 Sugar industry news 

537 People and places 

538 The blackboard: Inversion 

540 Biofuels news 

546 Biobased products news 

549 Trends in science and technology 

604 Meetings calendar 

604 Advertisers’ index 

focus: f BRAZIL - 

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW 

INTERNATIONAL SUGAR JOURNAL 2012, VOL. 114, NO. 1364 

August 2012 

Volume CXIV: Issue No. 1364 

Contents 

International Sugar Journal 

552 Impact of sugar cane juice 

chemical composition 

on clarification and VHP 

sugar quality 

E.P. Borges, M. Lucio Lopes and H. Amorim 

559 Advanced controls for a 

biomass boiler 

D. Moller and R. Ironside 

562 Sugarcane value chain 

crucial time: The point of view 

of its industry 

M.A. Conejero and R. Ponce 

566 On-line scale monitoring device 

D.W. Rackemann, L. Cripps, P. Chohan, 

C.P. East and W.O.S. Doherty 

572 Maple syrup production with 

sap concentrated to high levels 

by membrane separation: 

Effects on syrup chemical 

composition and flavor 

A.K. van den Berg, T.D. Perkins, 

M.L. Isselhardt, M-A. Godshall 

and S.W. Lloyd 

577 Sugarcane quarantine disease 

screening in Australia 

N. Thompson, E. Wilson and B. Croft 

584 Sugarcane productivity, soil 

health and nitrogen use dynamics 

in a bio-nutrition based multiratooning 

system under Indian 

sub-tropics 

T.K. Srivastava, K.P. Singh and R.L. Yadav 

590 Abstracts: From the proceedings 

of the 2012 Australian Society of 

Sugar Cane Technologists annual 

conference - Factory papers 

596 Abstracts: From the proceedings 

of the 2012 Sugar Industry 

Technologists’ annual conference 

Company Profile 

600 De Smet 

Engineers 

& Contractors 


525

sugar 

JOURNAL 

INTERNATIONAL 


International Sugar Journal 

IBI, Guardian House, 119 Farringdon Road 

London EC1R 3DA, UK. 

Editorial: 

Editor: Arvind Chudasama 

MSc., MAgSt. (Qld), MCLIP 

Design and Production: 

Jane Crispin 

Phone: +44 (0)20 7017 7500 

Fax: +44 (0)20 7017 7599 

Email: editorial@world-sugar.com 

Advertising: 

Business Development Manager: 

Stuart Velden 

Direct: +44 (0)20 7017 7559 

Phone: +44 (0)20 7017 7493 

Fax: +44 (0)20 7017 7593 

Email: stuart.velden@informa.com 

Marketing and circulation: 

Marketing Manager: Toby Webb 

Phone: +44 (0)20 7017 7534 

Subscriptions: 

Phone: +44 (0)20 7017 5540 

Email: agra.enquiries@informa.com 


All technical articles have been approved 

by our panel of distinguished referees. 

Other editorial material, including abstracts, 

appear at the discretion of the Editor. 

ISSN 0020-8841 

International Sugar Journal is 

published monthly by Informa UK Ltd. 

© 2012 Informa UK Ltd. Conditions of sale: 

1. All rights reserved, no part of this publication 

may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or 

transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, 

mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without 

prior written permission of the Publisher. Photocopying 

Licence: Informa UK Ltd. does not participate in a copying 

agreement with any Copyright Licensing Agency. 

Photocopying without permission is illegal. Contact the 

Marketing Department to obtain a photocopying license. 

2. All abstracting of the content for republication and sale 

must have prior permission from the Publisher. 

3. The publication must not be circulated outside the staff 

who work at the address to which it is sent, without prior 

agreement with the Publisher. 

526 

Panel of Referees 

L. Jean Claude Autrey PhD, DSc, CBiol, FIBiol, Former Director, 

Mauritius Sugar Industry Research Institute, Mauritius. 

M. Asadi PhD, Former Director of Research at Monitor (now Michigan) 

Sugar Company, USA. 

L.S.M. Bento BSc, PhD, Formerly Audubon Sugar Institute, USA. 

J.J. Bhagat Mission Director, Sugar Technology Mission, India. 

L. Bichara Rocha PhD, Senior Economist, International Sugar Organisation, UK. 

S.J. Clarke PhD, Director of Industrial Research and Development, 

Florida Crystals, USA. 

J.C. Comstock PhD, Research Leader, USDA-ARS-SAA, Canal Point, Florida, USA. 

L. Corcodel PhD, Head of Sugar Processing and Industrials Innovations, eRcane, 

Reunion, France. 

S. Davis MSc, Head: Processing Division, Sugar Milling Research Institute, 

South Africa. 

D. Day PhD, Audubon Sugar Institute, USA. 

A. DeLucca BSc, MSc, Research Microbiologist, USDA-ARS-SRRC, 

New Orleans, USA. 

S.J. Edmé PhD, Research Geneticist, USDA-ARS Sugarcane Field Station, 

Florida, USA. 

G. Eggleston PhD, Lead Scientist, SRRC-ARS-USDA, USA. 

C. Garson MEngSc, BE (Mech), Bundaberg Walkers Engineering Ltd, Australia. 

B. Glaz MSc, Research Agronomist, USDA-ARS-SAA, Canal Point, Florida, USA. 

M.A. Godshall BSc, MSc, Formerly Managing Director, SPRI, USA. 

D.K. Goel BEng (Mech), Executive Vice President, ISGEC John Thompson, India. 

M. Inkson CEng, PhD, MIChemE, FEI Director, Sugar Knowledge International, UK. 

P. Jackson PhD, CSIRO Plant Industry, Australia. 

G.L. James PhD, DIC, CBiol, FIBiol, Retired Technical Adviser - Agronomy. 

T. Johnson BS, MS, Chief Chemist and Manager of Quality Control, 

Sugarcane Growers Cooperative of Florida, USA. 

L. Jolly BAgricEcon(Hons), Senior Economist, International Sugar Organisation, UK. 

J. Joyce BEChem, MBA, Sugar Process Consultant, 

James Joyce & Associates, Australia. 

C.A. Kimbeng PhD, Asst Prof, Dept of Agronomy and Environmental 

Management, Louisiana State University, USA. 

M. Krishnamurthi PhD, Chief Executive, Sadhana Agritech Services and 

Consultancies Private Ltd, Bangalore, India. 

V. Kochergin PhD, PE Audubon Sugar Institute, USA. 

G.W. Leslie MSc, Entomologist, SASRI, South Africa. 

S.E. Lingle PhD, Research Plant Physiologist, USDA-ARS-SRRC, 

New Orleans, USA. 

P. Malein BA, MA, Head of Agriculture, Booker Tate Ltd, UK. 

G. Mantovani Professor of Industrial Chemistry, Ferrara University, Italy. 

J.A. Mariotti PhD, Director, Tucumán Experiment Station, Argentina. 

H.A. Naqvi MSc, Technical Consultant, Sanghar Sugar Mills Ltd, Sanghar, Pakistan. 

D. Nixon PhD, Agriculturist, Booker Tate Ltd, UK. 

Y-B. Pan PhD, Research Plant Molecular Geneticist, Houma, Louisiana, USA. 

L. Panella PhD, Research Leader & Research Geneticist USDA-ARS, NPA, USA. 

C. Rhoten BSc, Manager of Process Technology, 

The Almagamated Sugar Company, USA. 

M. Saska PhD, Audubon Sugar Institute, USA. 

F.W. Schenck BSc, PE Consultant, Starch Hydrolysis Products, USA. 

G. Shannon BAppSc, Extension Leader - North BSES Limited, Qld, Australia. 

F.M. Steele PhD, Assistant Professor of Food Microbiology, 

Brigham Young University, USA. 

P. Stevanato PhD, University of Padova, Italy. 

M. Suhr CEng, BS President, MS Processes Intl, LLC, USA. 

P. Thompson CEng, BSc, MI ChemE Director, Sugar Knowledge International, UK. 

J. Torres PhD, Director Agronomy Program, CENICA-A, Colombia. 

R.P. Viator PhD, Research Plant Physiologist, Houma, Louisiana, USA. 

D. Weekes BSc, CEng, MlAgrE, Senior Agricultural Engineer, Booker Tate Ltd, UK. 

W. Weiss Manager, Sugars International, USA. 

A. Wienese MScEng(Mech), Consultant, ‘Sugarwise’. 

S. Zhang PhD, Institute of Tropical Bioscience and Biotechnology, 

Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences (CATAS), China. 

INTERNATIONAL SUGAR JOURNAL 2012, VOL. 114, NO. 1364

sugar 

JOURNAL 

INTERNATIONAL 


Sugar is produced in the field 

One of the major contributory factors informing the decline of 

the sugar industry in Cuba has been the shocking decline in 

productivity with yields dropping to some 30 t/ha. With this low 

productivity, it was apparent that even with a super efficient 

processing sector, no industry can maintain its competitive edge, 

let alone be competitive, at this low base. 

The decline of the Brazilian sugar industry’s competitiveness in 

the recent past is arguably led by a drop in productivity from 

89 t/ha to 69 t/ha as a result of ratooning being extended for 

additional years (due to the combination of the lack of access 

to cheap capital following the credit crunch and high replanting 

costs of some U$2500/ha). 


For the latest sugar industry news go to: 


Editorial Comment 

In the foreseeable future, as existing cane cropping lands clock 

Zimbabwe 85 

up a few more years, the Brazilian cane production sector will Peru 123 (53-190) 

have to address the issue of yield stability. The Australian 

industry has for some years been focusing cane production 

research into yield stability. Eoin Wallis, CEO of the Bureau of 

Sugar Experiment Stations, made a pertinent observation in the 

industry’s Canegrowers magazine some two years ago. He pointed out that, along the value chain from soil cultivation right through 

to harvesting, a grower can potentially increase cane yields by some 35 t/ha by adhering to best practice at all stages. For example 

an additional 15 t cane/ha can be had from forthright control of weed, pests and diseases, another few more tonnes from 

appropriate fertilizer application, and so on. 

* 

Thailand 77.3 

Source: USDA *Values in brackets depict range 

It is apparent that cane is not as intensively managed as it should be. 

The theoretical possible yield for sugarcane is about 280 metric tons per hectare per year. Very few industries manage to achieve 

even half of this. Table 1 suggests that, at best, yields are some one third or one-quarter of the potential. It also begs the question, 

what are the underlying factors impacting the 

relatively low levels of productivity in individual countries? 

In the Philippines, due to greater efficiencies, cane growers managing over 100 ha (1%) produce 7.34 t sugar/ha whereas those 

smallholders with less than 5 ha (79%) produce on average 5.03 t sugar/ha. This suggests yield differences of over 20 t/ha. In 

India, where there are some 50 million cane growers cropping 5 million hectares, expanding cane productivity is a different 

challenge altogether. 

What is clear, and what many policy makers and donors tend to have lost sight of, is that sugar is made in the field and lost in the 

factory. Over the last 10 ten years, sugar yields in top beet producing countries in the EU have increased from 9 t to 14 t/ha, and 

efforts to expand productivity further continues. The same level of focus is clearly required in the cane sugar sector if it is to arrest 

its competitive edge. • 

Arvind Chudasama 

Table 1. Cane yields for selected countries for 2011/12 

Yield (t/ha) 

Mozambique 79.6 

Guatemala 90 

Costa Rica 61.1 

Colombia 120 

Mexico 70 

Nicaragua 102.4 

South Africa 60 

Swaziland 98 


527

528 

sugar 

JOURNAL 

INTERNATIONAL 


EU sugar quotas should be abolished in 2015 

says UK minister 

Jim Paice, Minister for 

Agriculture and Food, 

restated that UK government 

is fully behind the 

proposed abolition of EU 

sugar quotas in 2015. 

Giving evidence before the 

House of Lords Agriculture, 

Fisheries, Environment and 

Energy Sub-Committee 

today, the minister noted 

that the current government 

“dislikes quotas in 

principle”. 

While admitting that the 

“likelihood of abolition going 

ahead in 2015 is slim” bearing 

in mind that the majority of the 

EU countries do not share UK’s 

stance, Paice acknowledged 

Rise in global demand will 

necessitate increase in 

sugar production by further 

28 million tonnes by 2020. 

Speaking at the Sugar & 

Ethanol Summit focusing 

on the Brazilian industry in 

London on 28th June, L.B. 

Rocha stated that Brazil, 

India and Rest of the World 

is expected to contribute 

additional 8 mlt, 2.5 mlt 

and 17.5 mlt, respectively. 

Doubts were raised as 

to how Brazil in particular 

will be able to expand both 

cane production and sugar 

processing capacity. Regarding 

sugar production, expansion 

by 8 million tonnes will require 


that “commitment to [the 

extension of quotas] to 2020 is 

acceptable at the last resort”. 

The minister stressed that 

UK’s beet sugar industry is 

one of the most competitive 

in the world and abolition of 

quotas would in fact give it an 

opportunity to expand. He was 

“confident” that it was in the 

long term interest of both the 

beet growers and processor 

that the market was liberalised. 

Further, because of current 

quotas, UK is not self-sufficient 

in sugar. He went on to say 

that it would be better that 

“we produce our own sugar 

than import”, but are “currently 

constrained from producing our 

additional 40 new factories of 

capacity 200 tonnes each. It 

was simply not clear where the 

investment is going to come 

from. During the past year only 

two new sugar factories have 

been built. 

As for cane production, 

for the past few years cane 

productivity has dropped 

sharply from 89 t/ha to 69 t. 

Plinio Nastari, Datagro who 

spoke after Rocha stated that 

cane production will have to 

rise to between 1 billion and 

1.2 billion tonnes from the 

current of 500 million tonnes 

to meet the production target 

by 2020. He emphasised 

productivity increases will drive 

own sugar”. Whereas the likes 

of France who has significantly 

higher sugar quota, more than 

its consumption needs, “can 

export to UK”. 

One of the major casualties 

post the 2006 market reform 

has been Tate & Lyle who 

exclusively processes cane 

raw sugar at its Silvertown 

refinery in London. As a result 

of global sugar prices reaching 

30 year highs, well above the 

EU reference price, supply of 

tariff-free sugar from countries 

under the EPA/EBA (Economic 

Partnership Agreements/ 

Everything But Arms) umbrella 

dried up as they chose to sell it 

to lucrative markets elsewhere. 

Sugar production needs to increase 

by 28 million tonnes by 2020 says ISO 

the necessary expansion in 

production, but it was not clear 

as to what levels of productivity 

will be progressively achieved 

nor how will the current 

underlying production problems 

will be addressed to meet the 

desired target. 

However, Gustavo Leite, 

Executive Director of CTC, 

does suggest that programme 

of breeding new and 

developing GM (genetically 

modified) cultivars will probably 

support the increase in cane 

productivity and expansion in 

cane production needed for 

the Brazilian sugar industry to 

wrest the competitiveness that 

it has lost in recent years. • 



Industry NEWS 

With prohibitive duty of €419/ 

tonne from other countries, 

problems with access to 

supply of competitively 

priced sugar has meant that 

the refinery is currently only 

working at 60% capacity. 

The minister did 

acknowledge this as an issue, 

as the closure of the refinery 

would impact the sugar 

industries in those countries 

that supply to the refinery. With 

the exception of Mauritius, who 

has successfully invested in 

sugar refining and diversified, 

this is not an option for many 

LDC’s who “do not [produce 

sugar in] sufficient volumes to 

justify refineries”. • 

Find more 

stories on-line 

by visiting ISJ’s 

website at: 

internationalsugarjournal.com 


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530 

Industry NEWS 

A European team of 

researchers have 

discovered a gene with 

the potential to increase 

sugar beet yields. Findings 

presented in a recent 

issue of Current Biology 1 

shows how the longsought 

bolting gene B in 

the sugar beet crop could 

help seed producers boost 

cultivation efficiency by 

mitigating yield-reducing 

contaminations, and could 

also support breeders 

in their efforts to create 

new cultivars with 

larger beets. 

Flowering time in sugar 

beet is determined by the 

bolting (B) gene locus. In 

response to long days and 

prolonged exposure to 

cold temperature (termed 

vernalisation), this B gene 


causes biennial sugar beet 

to bolt and flower. In 

cultivated beet crops, both 

bolting and subsequent 

flowering can cause difficulties 

at harvest, reduce yield 

and quality, and create 

weed-beet problems in future 

beet crops if they are left to 

produce seeds. The most 

effective way to prevent 

sugar beet from bolting is 

to select bolting resistant 

varieties. This long soughtafter 

gene locus has now 

been isolated and identified 

as BOLTING TIME CONTROL 

1 (BvBTC1) through years of 

joint effort involving 10 public 

and private institutions from 

Sweden, Germany, Belgium, 

France and the United 

Kingdom. At Rothamsted 

Research - Broom’s Barn, 

strategic research into the 

effects of day-length and 

vernalisation on the initiation 

of bolting was important 

knowledge developed by 

Dr Tansy Chia and Dr Effie 

Mutasa-Göttgens (funded 

by UK Biotechnology and 

Biological Science Research 

Council (BBSRC) and British 

Beet Research Organization 

(BBRO)) who contributed 

to the consortium’s ability 

to dissect the genetics 

of flowering in sugar 

beet. Syngenta, KWS, 

SESVanderHave and Strube 

were the private companies 

also involved in this research. 

The findings demonstrates 

how BvBTC1 acts as the 

master switch in regulating 

the activation of two target 

genes, BvFT1 (a repressor 

of flowering) and BvFT2 (an 

activator of flowering) 2 . 

The discovery of BvBTC1 

now allows a targeted 

genetic approach towards 

the development of bolting 

resistant varieties by either 

exploiting GM technologies 

or by marker-assisted 

selection using BvBTC1 as 

a functional marker. 

The latter approach will 

streamline breeding 

programs for bolting resistant 

varieties as compared to 

traditional methods which 

rely entirely on the selection 

of phenotypic characteristics. 

Autumn-sown sugar beet 

varieties with the required 

resistance to bolting are now 

closer to reality. An overwintered 

beet crop can give 

a yield advantage of more 

than 26% over spring grown 

beet due to earlier maximum 

canopy cover in spring 3 . 

A thorough understanding 

of how flowering time is 

genetically controlled in 



Discovery of gene regulating flowering in sugar beet 

will probably boost yields 

High world sugar prices 

drive Agrana’s profits 

Austria’s Agrana has 

continued to improve 

its results with revenue 

and profits in the sugar 

division both gaining from 

better world prices. 

For the three months to 

May 31, Agrana said that 

revenue was up by 26.4% 

to €774.6m ($950.6m), while 

operating profit jumped 

15.1% to €70.9m. 

Of its three divisions, 

sugar was the only one to 

see strong growth in both 

of these financial indicators. 

Revenue rose 69% to 

€306.8m and operating profit 

by 60% to €21.6m. 

Better sales volumes, 

especially to industry 

and resellers, and good 

co-product revenues were 

behind the gains. 

Revenue in starch was 

flat at €192.4m but profits 

rose 7% to €22.5m as 

better prices for alternative 

sweeteners and better overall 

sales volumes just about 

made up for lower prices 

for ethanol, starch and 

co-products. 

For the fruit segment 

operating profit fell 30% 

to €12.3m despite revenue 

growth of 16% to €275.4m 

as margins remained weak. 

Difficulties in the fruit juice 

concentrates business 

should be overcome in the 

course of the year. • 

sugar beet will also aid the 

synchronisation of flowering 

time for the practical purpose 

of simplifying breeding and 

seed production. 

Commenting on the 

findings, one of the researcher 

Professor Ove Nilsson of 

Umeå Plant Centre in Sweden 

said: “The characterisation 

of the bolting gene B, now 

termed BvBTC1, and the 

finding that it has a key 

role in the regulation 

of flowering, is a major 

achievement both for the 

sugar industry and for 

flowering control research.” 

Another researcher, 

Professor Christian Jung 

from Kiel University in 

Germany, called the results 

groundbreaking, “because 

the genetic mechanism 

controlling flowering in 

sugar beet differs from all 

other plants that have been 

examined so far.” 

Original publication: 

1 Pin et. al. (2012): The role 

of a pseudo-response 

regulator gene in life cycle 

adaptation and domestication 

of beet. Current Biology. 

DOI: 10.1016/j. 

cub.2012.04.007 

References: 

2 Pin et. al. (2010): An 

antagonistic pair of FT 

homologs mediates the 

control of flowering time in 

sugar beet. Science 330, 

1397-1400. 

3 Jaggard et. al. (2009). 

Capture and use of solar 

radiation, water and nitrogen 

by sugar beet (Beta vulgaris 

L.). Journal of Experimental 

Botany 60: 1919-1925. • 


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532 

Industry NEWS 

EU Farm Commissioner, 

Dacian Ciolos, has 

defended the bloc’s sugar 

regime against rising 

criticism that it is failing 

to provide a level playing 

field between the cane and 

beet sectors, and putting 

thousands of jobs at risk in 

the former. 


At a meeting with 

concerned MEPs in Strasbourg 

in early, Ciolos claimed that 

policy decision on regulating 

the sugar market had been 

both “fair and balanced”. 

A spokesperson for the 

Commissioner recently 

indicated that the two 

different systems for cane 

and beet sugar “catered 

to two different realities”. 

But cane sugar processors 

continue to maintain that they 

are unable to source sugar 

in the quantities they need 

due to strict EU rules limiting 

preferential access. 

The point was reinforced 

by a letter signed by no fewer 



EU cane sugar refiners demand fair treatment 

Table 1. Sugar refiners in the EU 

Country Refinery Company/Holding Ultimate owner 

BG Zahar Bio** 

Devnenski Zaharen Zavod** 

Burgarski Zaharen Zavod** 

Bulgarska Zahar** 

Litex Commerce JSC Litex Commerce JSC 

Zaharen Kombinat Zaharen Kombinat Zaharen Kombinat 

Plovdiv AD** Plovdiv AD Plovdiv AD 

Zahar EAD** Zaharni Zavodi plc Zaharni Zavodi plc 

ES Azucarera Ebro AB Azucarera AB Foods (British Sugar) 

(Azucarerade Guadalete) Iberia S.L. 

FR Saint Louis Sucre S.A. Saint Louis Sucre S.A. Suedzucker 

Raffinage Tereos Tereos Tereos 

S.A. Des Sucreries et 

Raffineries D’erstein 

Cristalco Cristalco 

IT SFIR Raffineria di SFIR Raffineria di Sfir 50% / 

Brindisi s.p.a.** Brindisi s.p.a. ED&F Mann 50%* 

PT Refinarias de Acucar Refinarias de Acucar Refinarias de Acucar 

Reunidas SA** Reunidas SA Reunidas SA 

SIDUL Acucares SIDUL Acucares American Sugar 

Unipessoal Lda.** Unipessoal Lda. Refining inc 

DAI S.A.** DAI S.A. ED&F Mann / Sfir 

RO Agrana Roman 

Agrana Tandarel 

Agrana Buzau 

Agrana Romania S.A. Suedzucker 

S.C. Zaharul Liesti S.A.** 

S.C. Zahar Calarasi S.A.** 

S.C. Lemarco Cristal S.R.L.** 

Lemarco S.A. Lemarco S.A. 

S.C. Zahar Corabia S.A. Pfiefer & Langen Pfiefer & Langen 

S.C. Fabrica de zahar S.C. Fabrica de zahar S.C. Fabrica de zahar 

bod S.A.** bod S.A. bod S.A. 

S.C. Zaharul Oradea S.A. Pfiefer & Langen Pfiefer & Langen 

DK Nykøbing Sukkerfabrik Nordzucker Nordzucker 

FI Suomen Sokeri Oy Finnsugar Ltd. Nordzucker 

UK Tate & Lyle Sugars Ltd** Tate & Lyle Sugars Ltd American Sugar 

Refining inc 

*DG Competition have ordered ED&F Mann to sell their 50% stake in the Brindisi refinery, following the Suedzucker acquisition of 

25% of ED&F Mann 

** Sugar refiners who exclusively process cane sugar. 

than 62 MEPs which was 

handed to the EU’s farm chief 

in early july. 

The amount of duty-free 

sugar cane coming into the 

EU remains constrained by 

quota and supplies have 

been reduced substantially in 

recent years, they point out 

- translating into a shortage 

for the sector. As a result, 

refineries are no longer able to 

run at full capacity and 4,500 

highly-skilled jobs in eight 

member states are at risk, 

they claim. 

The campaigning MEPs say 

they will now take their case to 

EU Competition Commissioner 

Joaquín Almunia and his 

counterpart for employment, 

Lászlo Andór. 

Ciolos insisted that the 

EU executive’s only objective 

was to ensure that, in a 

system which was still not 

fully liberalised and where 

public policy tools (such as 

beet production quotas) still 

affect volumes, the market was 

sufficiently sourced. 

Stand alone refiners case 

Yet as long as the sugar 

market is subject to supply 

regulation, there must be 

parallel schemes for the 

two sugar types, industry 

representatives have 

countered. 

Ian Bacon and Gerald 

Mason, president and vicepresident 

for EU affairs at 

British-based refiner Tate & 

Lyle, told a UK House of Lords 

select committee in late June 

that cane refiners are inherently 

disadvantaged by having to 

pay an import duty to procure 

sugar outside of (limited) 

preferential quotas. 

Meanwhile, beet processors 

are protected from competition 

by quotas - but are also 


now able to compete with 

‘traditional’ refiners for access 

to cane from the world 

market. As much as 1.85 

million tonnes of additional 

cane refining capacity has 

been created since the sugar 

reforms began in 2006. 

“If national quotas remain, 

traditional cane refiners should 

also have a national quota. 

If quotas are abolished, our 

access to raw material should 

be unrestricted,” claimed 

Bacon. 

The 2006 reforms were 

based on import forecasts 

which subsequently proved 

to be over-ambitious, he 

said, as high world prices 

meant that duty-free access 

to the EU market was much 

less attractive to suppliers in 

developing countries than had 

previously been the case. 

This, coupled with 

the continuing existence 

of quotas, had led to a 

paradoxical situation whereby 

high prices translated into 

increased profits for the beet 

industry - but losses for cane 

processors. 

“The policy flaw that 

protects beet processors from 

new entrants, yet allows cane 

sugar to be refined by beet 

processers (either in beet 

factories, or as part of larger 

beet processing groups), 

allows these businesses to 

benefit from a number of anticompetitive 

cross-subsidies. 

Probably the most dangerous 

is the contradiction that 

means it is in the interests 

of beet processors to buy 

as much raw cane sugar 

as possible, at higher and 

higher prices. This achieves 

a double objective. Firstly it 

eliminates the profitability of 

dedicated cane refiners, and 

will eventually eliminate them 

as competition. Secondly, it 

ensures dramatically increasing 

profitability of beet sugar sales 

as EU white sugar prices are 

On target 


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� Compliant with ICUMSA, OIML and Australian Standard K157 

� Results for sugar content (°Z) and apparent purity (when 

combined with an Abbemat refractometer) 

forced higher due to artificially 

inflated cane sugar prices” 

pointed out Tony Bennet, Tate 

& Lyle. 

15 of the 26 cane refineries 

are business’ (see Table 1) 

who exclusively refine raw 

sugar and are not protected 

by beet ownership. This 

includes Brindisi (Italy) and 

who DAI (Portugal) who 

technically are part owned 

by ED&F Mann whom 

Suedzucker are now owners of 

25%. Therefore only 13 on the 

26 refineries have absolutely 

no beet sugar ownership. 

EU Commission hits back 

The European Commission 

has denied allegations that 

it has treated sugar refiners 

unfairly in its management of 

the EU sugar market, saying 

that persistently high world 

market prices are primarily 

to blame for the supply 

difficulties that some refiners 

have been facing in recent 

times. 

In an exclusive article 

published in Agra Europe 

in early July, Roger Waite, 

the European Commission’s 

Anton Paar ® GmbH 

Tel.: +43 (0)316 257-0 

Fax: +43 (0)316 257-257 

info@anton-paar.com 

www.anton-paar.com 

karate_A5.indd 1 19.05.11 13:57 

spokesman for agriculture and 

rural development, argues 

that the different mechanisms 

created by the Commission 

to release additional product 

to supply the internal market 

- the release of out-of-quota 

beet sugar and the reducedduty 

tenders to source 

imported cane sugar - are not 

discriminatory, but are “two 

different systems suited to two 

different realities”. 

The Commission notes in 

particular that, unlike the outof-quota 

beet sugar tender, 

there is no cont. over… 


533

534 

Industry NEWS 

EU cane sugar refiners demand fair 

treatment cont. 

pre-defined ceiling for bids 

under the refined sugar 

tender, which means that 

refiners who are successful 

in their bids for supplies are 

not liable to any pro-rata 

reductions in the volumes 

admitted. 

Waite’s article concedes 

that the loss of exclusive 

rights to imported cane 

for refining after the 2006 

reforms has created some 

difficulties for the former 

‘traditional’ refiners. But he 

notes that these companies 

received EU restructuring aid 

totalling €150 million in the 

aftermath of the reforms. 

According to Waite, 

pressure of supply such as 

Aerobelt Australia Pty Ltd 

Unit 5, 8-10 Technology Drive, 

Appin, NSW 2560, Australia. 


has been seen in recent years 

is “logical in a context of 

increasing international 

sugar prices,” given that 

Least Developed Countries 

“are free to choose to 

whom they supply”. 

“Some pressure on 

supplies... is logical in 

a context of increasing 

international sugar prices” 

He also stresses that 

privileging supplies of 

imported raw sugar over 

imported refined sugar 

would be inappropriate, 

as it would be a disincentive 

for developing countries 

wishing to move up the 

value-chain within their 

own territories. • 

Tel: +61 (0)24 631 2919 Fax: +61 (0)24 631 2915 

Email: info@aerobeIt.com.au 

Contact: Steve Kutassy, General Manager 

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Aerobelt Australia Pty Ltd has been supplying 

air-supported conveyors to the Australian market for a 

number of years, conveying products such as mineral 

sands, grains, woodchips, ammonium nitrate and soda 

ash amongst others. 

Brands: Aerobelt ® 

AerobeltTM 

www.aerobelt.com.au 



Brazil - Unseasonal rainfall may leave 

some cane unharvested, says Datagro 

Abundant rainfall over 

Brazil’s main centre-south 

sugar cane crop during this 

dry season risks some of the 

2012/13 crop unharvested 

until the next season, 

according to the Brazilbased 

consultancy Datagro. 

Many of Brazil’s cane 

mills have delayed the start 

of harvest this season, which 

officially started in April, to 

allow the crop to mature and 

yields to improve after a wet 

start to the crushing season. 

The Centre for Cane 

Technology based in Sao Paulo, 

the heart of Brazil’s sugar cane 

belt, estimates that on average 

mills were unable to crush 11 

days out of June, compared with 

being down 5 days due to rain 

in the month the year before. 

“The abundant rainfall in 

the last couple of months 

also has its downsides, such 

as: a decrease in industrial 

and mechanical harvesting 

yields, an increase in mineral 

impurities and the interruption of 

agricultural operations,” Datagro 

stated recently “Mills are now 

worrying with the prospect of 

postponing the harvest of some 

cane fields to the next crop.” 

Meteorologists anticipate 

a high probability that global 

weather patterns are shifting 

into El Nino conditions, which 

tends to mean wetter weather 

for Brazil’s cane belt. If the rains 

are stronger than normal during 

the end of the crushing season 

- October through December - 

mills could be forced to leave 

Figure 1. Precipitation in major crop producing areas 

in South America during June-July 2012 (Data refers to 

deviation from 5-year average) 

mature cane in the fields until 

the start of next season in April, 

2013. Figure 1 vividly illustrates 

the heavy rainfall received in the 

centre-south cane growing belt. 

In 2008 and 2009, mills 

were forced to leave significant 

volumes of mature cane in the 

field until the following season 

due to wet weather that had 

interrupted harvest. 

Global sugar prices have 

been supported since the start 

of June by reports of the wet 

weather and shipping delays 

at the main ports in Brazil, 

which controls about half the 

world’s trade in sugar. Mills are 

struggling to raise Brazil’s cane 

output after output plummeted 

to 494m tonnes in the centresouth 

last season, the first 

drop in the world’s biggest 

cane crop in 11 years. 

Datagro said the wet 

weather will help newly 

replanted and freshly cut cane 

fields sprout and develop for 

harvest in the 2013/14 crush. • 


C 

M 

Y 

CM 

MY 

CY 

CMY 

K

536 

Industry NEWS 

Tanzania - 5-year 

plan to increase 

sugar output 

Tanzania’s government, 

through the Sugar Board, 

has embarked on a 5-year 

plan (2011/12-2015/16) to 

increase sugar production by 

identifying additional areas 

for both large and smallscale 

sugarcane farming, 

the Minister for Industry and 

Trade, Abdallah Kigoda, told 

the National Assembly. 

Areas earmarked for small- 

scale farming include Kilosa 

and Mwaya in Morogoro, 

Kiru (Manyara), Lumuma 

(Dodoma), Peramiho (Songea), 

Liuli (Mbinga), Amani (Tanga) 

and Kintiku (Singida). 

Expansion of sugarcane 

cultivation in the country 

goes hand in hand with 

building new sugar mills, 

with Mahurunga in Mtwara 

state, Pangani in Tanga and 

Babati in Manyara, identified 

as new factory sites. • 


The Agriculture 

Committee of the House 

of Representatives on July 

12 passed its version of 

the 2012 Farm Bill on a roll 

call vote of 35-11 without 

changes to the US sugar 

program. 

The House rejected an 

amendment by Republican 

Bob Goodlatte which would 

have removed key provisions 

in the program 10-36. The 

Congressman had aimed to: 

• eliminate restrictions on 

the Secretary of Agriculture's 

ability to set import quotas, 

• return price supports to 

2008 levels, 

• repeal the Feedstock Flexibility 

(sugar-for-ethanol) Program, 

• restore USDA's authority 

to set marketing allotments 

at levels that will prevent 

government costs, as well as to 

suspend allotments if necessary. 

• set a goal for sugar stock 

Argentina - Industry agrees to 

export 100,000 t sugar 

Most of Argentina’s sugar 

mills agreed to export 

100,000 tonnes of sugar 

until August 31, said 

the President of Centro 

Azucarera Argentino 

(CAA), Fernando Nebbia, 

after a meeting between 

representatives of 22 of 

the country’s 23 mills. 

He pointed out that the 

mills which owed sugar export 

volumes last year reaffirmed 

their decision to comply 

with these shipments. The 

volume of sugar to be sent 

abroad at the beginning of 

the new 2012/13 campaign 

corresponds in part to the 

committed but non-exported 

production in 2011/12, and 

sugars of the new season, he 

levels, and 

• allow developing countries 

to voluntarily lease their sugar 

import quotas to other quotaholding 

countries, thereby 

benefiting from their quotas even 

if they cannot regularly produce 

enough sugar to fill the quotas. 

The Senate on June 20 had 

already rejected an amendment 

to end provisions from the 

2008 Farm Bill that made the 

sugar program more generous, 

but the Senate later adopted an 

amendment offered by Senator 

Saxby Chambliss from Georgia 

that would make it easier for 

the Agriculture Department 

to authorise more sugar 

imports earlier in the year. The 

Chambliss amendment, which 

would change the Agriculture 

Department’s sugar tariff rate 



USA - House Ag Committee advances Farm Bill 

without changes to sugar program 

added. Approximately 7% of 

the volume will come from 

Tucuman, while the rest will be 

exported from plantations in 

the North, namely Jujuy 

and Salta. 

Following a period of 

summer drought and early 

frosts, manufacturers estimate 

this year’s sugar output at 

2.014 mln tonnes, including 

1.184 mln from Tucuman 

and 830,000 tonnes from the 

northern provinces. In addition, 

there will be 240,000 tonnes 

of carryover stocks from the 

previous season, which is 

above the usual carryover of 

100,000 tonnes. Industry data 

show that Argentina produced 

1.945 mln tonnes of sugar in 

2011/12, tel quel. • 

Nordzucker has more 

than doubled its earnings, 

benefiting from world 

sugar dynamics that have 

lifted many in the sector. 

Revenue jumped 27% to 

€586.3m ($719.5m), while 

earnings were up by about 

160% to €89.6m in the 

three months to May 31. 

Higher prices for quota 

sugar more than offset a slight 

decline in sales volumes, 

whereas the extra revenue from 

non-quota sugar was driven by 

better volumes at lower prices. 

Notably, Nordzucker’s costs of 

materials and services jumped 

27% to €172.5m as it imported 

more sugar. 

Nordzucker said that it was 

extremely satisfied with the 

results but cautioned: “We are 

very aware that it is not only 

the European economy, but 

also the German one, that is 

weakening, and this has also 

quota decision date from April 

1 to February 1, was adopted 

by voice, a signal that senators 

had agreed in advance it would 

go through. The vote on the 

other amendment was 46-53. 

The Senate on June 13 

had also rejected another 

amendment that would have 

killed the sugar program entirely. 

The current Farm Bill 

expires on September 30 and 

the administration is under 

pressure to agree on a new 

one before the August recess. 

The Farm Bill now goes to the 

full House for consideration. 

Once approved, it will need 

to be merged with the Senate 

Farm Bill and approved in 

final form. President Obama 

must sign it into law before the 

September 30 deadline. • 

Nordzucker’s revenue increases by 27% 

been reflected in reduced sugar 

sales. This encourages us in 

our commitment to making 

Nordzucker faster, more 

streamlined and more efficient.” 

The company is looking 

forward to a good beet harvest 

this season. “Sowing began 

exceptionally early in the 2012 

beet year and laid an excellent 

foundation for long growth and 

high beet yields. Precipitation 

after sowing ensured sufficient 

field emergence. Cool and 

changeable temperatures in 

April and May, combined with 

isolated incidences of frost and 

a lack of precipitation did not 

inhibit positive development 

overall. Row closure, an 

important indicator for the 

condition of the beet, was 

observed on the first crops 

as early as the end of May. In 

mid-June development was 

extremely positive and indicated 

a good year for beet in 2012.” 


Yields should be above 

average in Central Europe, 

Eastern Europe and Denmark 

and Sweden in particular but 

average in Lithuania and Finland. 

Nordzucker said it must be 

prepared “in case the volatility 

of sugar prices increases further 

and forecasts become more 

difficult” as well as consolidation 

in the European sugar market 

that it wants to be part of. 

On its outlook, the firm 

said: “It is currently expected 

that prices for the year as 

a whole will stabilise at the 

level reached to date, whilst 

revenues and earnings will 

exceed 2011/12 levels.” • 

Venezuela - Sugar 

expansion plan in 

abeyance 

The National Federation of 

Cane Growers (FESOCA) said 

the promise of reviving sugarcane 

cultivation through an 

aggressive investment plan 

and incentives for growers 

remains on paper, according 

to local press reports. 

FESOCA President Jose 

Ricardo Alvarez said the 

plan was concluded last year 

between cane growers and 

the government, but it was not 

announced before April 24 this 

year by the Agriculture Ministry. 

The plan includes annual 

investments of between VEF1.0 

and VEF1.5 bln ($1=VEF4.29). 

The original goal was to 

process around 6.5 mln tonnes 

of cane in 2011/12, but actual 

output is seen at only about 

5.8 mln tonnes. Production 

was pegged at 480,000 tonnes 

of refined sugar in 2011/12, 

which means about 700,000 

tonnes of raw sugar need 

to be imported to satisfy 

domestic consumption of 

around 1.3 mln tonnes. 

The government’s target is 

to produce 700,000 tonnes of 

refined sugar in 2012/13. • 


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Schenck Process as 

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537

538 

Industry NEWS 

THE BLACKBOARD 

by Raoul Lionnet Email: glionnet@bigpond.com 

Inversion 

C H O + H O g C H O + 

12 22 11 2 6 12 6 

C H O 6 12 6 

is probably the most famous 

chemical equation in sugar 

technology: sucrose (S) reacts 

with water to give equal 

amounts of fructose (F) and 

glucose (G). The reaction 

is catalysed by acids or by 

invertase. The polarisation 

changes from positive with 

S to negative at completion 

when equal amounts of F and 

G are produced. Secondly the 

amount of dissolved solids 

increases by 5.3% since one 

mole of S, or 342.3g, yields 

one mole of F and one mole 

of G, namely 360.32g. When 

inversion takes place in 

factories sucrose is lost and 

less sugar will be produced. 

The inversion of sucrose 

has been known for a long 

time. Shoemaker et al. (1974) 

mention that the reaction was 

described in 1832. Honig 

(1953) states that in 1931 

F.G. Stadler reviewed the 

literature on the kinetics of the 

reaction; he prepared what is 

now called Stadler’s Table, 

giving the rates of the reaction 

over temperatures of 50 to 

120ºC and pH values of 4.6 

to 7.2. This table is still used; 

it can be found in Bubnik et 

al. (1995). It is believed that 

the rate of this reaction has 

been studied more than that 

of any other reaction. Finally a 

classic paper by Vukov (1965) 

has been used extensively in 

recent literature. 

Chemists like to study 


the rate of reactions, 

which is covered in what is 

called “Chemical Kinetics”. 

Kinetics, from the Greek 

kineticos, to move, allows the 

determination of the overall 

rate of conversion of reactants 

to products; the dependence 

of this rate on various factors 

is studied mathematically. 

Kinetics also covers the 

study of the mechanism of 

reactions. Once the rate of a 

reaction, usually denoted by 

k, is known (Knight, 1970) the 

concentrations of reactant and 

of product can be calculated, 

for example: 

[S ] = [S ] x e t 0 

C 

M 

Y 

CM 

MY 

CY 

CMY 

K 

-kt Table 1. Effect of temperature Wong Sak Hoi (1996) using a 

at 25 Brix and pH 5.5 similar approach found higher 

losses ranging from 0.19 to 

Temp ºC % S lost per hour 0.75%. 

60 0.01 

As far as diffusers are 

70 0.04 

concerned, if it is assumed 

80 0.12 

that the juice temperature 

90 0.32 

is 85ºC, the pH 5.8 and the 

retention time 20 minutes, k 

Table 2. Effect of pH at can be estimated and used 

25 Brix at 90ºC 

in (1); then about 0.02% of 

S will be inverted. This result 

pH % S lost per hour depends very much on the 

5.0 1 

assumptions made for the 

5.5 0.3 

Table 2: Effect of pH at 25 Brix at 

conditions 

90ºC 

in the diffuser. 

6.0 0.1 

Generally the largest errors 

6.5 pH 0.03 % S lost per hour in estimating inversion in the 

5.0 1 factory are caused by sampling 

(1) 

Table 3. 5.5 Effect of Brix 0.3 at 

90ºC and 6.0 pH 5.5 0.1 

6.5 0.03 

and measuring difficulties. 

References 

where the square brackets [ ] Brix of juice % S lost per hour 

denote concentrations of S at 15 0.4 

Bubnik, Z., Kadlec, P., Urban, 

Table 3: Effect of Brix at 90ºC and pH 5.5 

D. and Bruhns, M. (1995) Sugar 

times t and zero, t being the 40 0.3 

Technologists Manual. Bartens. 

reaction time. 

65 Brix of 0.2 juice % S lost per hour Honig, P. (1953) Principles of 

15 0.4 Sugar Technology. Elsevier. 

40 0.3 Knight, A.R. (1970) 

Three factors affect the 

65 0.2 Introductory Physical Chemistry. 

rate at which S is inverted and The literature shows results Prentice Hall. 

thus lost in a classical sugar of investigations in cane 

Purchase, B.S., Blunt, R.L. and 

factory or refinery, namely: The diffusers literature and more shows particularly results in of investigations 

Chasteau de Balyon, J.C. (1984) 

Investigations of undetermined 

in evaporators. cane diffusers Purchase and et al. more (1984) particularly losses at Pongola. in SASTA, 58th 

1. Temperature: an increase evaporators. mention inversion Purchase in evaporators. et al (1984) conference. mention 

of 10ºC causes the reaction 

rate to be about 3 times 

faster. 

2. pH: at a given Brix value 

and temperature, as pH 

decreases by 1 unit the rate 

increases 10 times. 

3. Brix: as Brix increases the 

rate decreases. 

inversion In 1985 Schaffler in evaporators. et al carried In out 1985 Schaffler Schäffler, et K.J., Muzzell, D.J. 

and Schorn, P.M. (1985) An 

al a thorough carried investigation out a thorough involving investigation 

evaluation of sucrose inversion 

involving evaporators evaporators of the Kestner, of the and monosaccharide Kestner, degradation 

Fletcher and and Hulvap Hulvap types; they types; across they evaporators found in Darnall mill. 

concentrations found concentrations of G of to G be to sensitive be SASTA, indicators 59th conference. 

Shoemaker, D.P., Garland, 

of sensitive inversion. indicators The of following inversion. formula C.W. and worked Steinfeld, J.I. (1974) 

well: The following formula worked well: Experiments in physical chemistry. 

McGraw Hill. 

% mass S lost 

Vukov, K. (1965) Kinetics 

aspects of sucrose hydrolysis. Int. 

Sug. Journal 67: 

These effects can be used 

172-175. 

to estimate the amount of 

Wong Sak 

Hoi, L. and 

sucrose lost per hour when 

Tse Chi Shum, 

inversion takes place in juices. where MW is the molecular S. (1996) Estimation of sucrose 

This is shown in Tables 1, 2 weight of S or G. S losses losses in evaporators. SASTA, 

and 3. 

ranged from 0.01 to 0.14%. 70th conference. 

(( ( ⁄ 

( ) 

result depends ve 

assumptions made for 

diffuser. 

Generally the largest 

inversion in the fac 

sampling and measurin 

Refer 

Bubnik Z, Kadlec P, U 

(1995). Sugar Technolo 

Honig P (1953). 

Technology. Elsevier. 

Knight A R (1970). 

Chemistry. Prentice Ha 

Purchase BS, Blunt 

Balyon JC (1984) 

undetermined losses a 

conference. 

Schäffler KJ, Muzze 

(1985). An evaluation 

and monosaccharide 

evaporators in Darn 

conference. 

Shoemaker DP, Garlan 

(1974). Experiments 

where MW is the molecular weight of S or G. McGraw Hill. 

S losses ranged from 0.01 to 0.14%.Wong Sak 

Hoi (1996) using a similar approach found Vukov K (1965). Kinet 

higher losses ranging from 0.19 to 0.75%. 

hydrolysis. ISJ, 67 172 

Find more on-line by visiting ISJ’s website at: 

internationalsugarjournal.com 



As far as diffusers are concerned, if it is 

assumed that the juice temperature is 85ºC, 

the pH 5.8 and the retention time 20 

minutes, k can be estimated and used in (1); 

then about 0.02% of S will be inverted. This 

Wong Sak Hoi L and T 

Estimation of sucrose 

SASTA, 70 th conference 


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filtration 

drying 

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Biofuels NEWS 

Novel consolidated bioprocessing yields ethanol 

and hydrogen 

A new cellulosic biofuel 

production process developed 

by Michigan State 

University (MSU) researchers 

produces energy more 

than 20 times higher 

than existing methods. 

The findings, published 

in the recent issue of 

Environmental Science and 

Technology, showcase a 

novel way to use microbes 

to produce biofuel and 

hydrogen from lignocellulosic 

feedstocks. 

Gemma Reguera, MSU 

microbiologist, has developed 

bioelectrochemical systems 

known as microbial electrolysis 

Researchers from Ngee Ann 

Polytechnic, Singapore have 

produced a novel strain of 

yeast with improved xylose 

tolerance and metabolism 

suitable for use in the production 

of cellulosic ethanol. 

Xylose is the second 

most abundant sugar 

present in lignocellulosic 

biomass after glucose. The 

efficient fermentation of 

xylose is required to develop 

economically viable processes 

for the production of cellulosic 

biofuels. Saccharomyces 

cerevisiae is regarded as an 

industrial working horse for 

ethanol production because it 

can produce ethanol in high 

titre using hexose sugars and 

cells, or MECs, using bacteria 

to breakdown and ferment 

crop residues into ethanol. 

Reguera’s platform is unique 

because it employs a second 

bacterium, which, when added 

to the mix, removes all the 

waste fermentation byproducts 

or nonethanol materials while 

generating electricity. 

Similar microbial fuel 

cells have been investigated 

before. However, maximum 

energy recoveries from corn 

stover, a common feedstock 

for cellulosic biofuels, hover 

around 3.5%. Reguera’s 

platform, despite the 

energy invested in chemical 

have high ethanol tolerance. 

However it cannot ferment 

xylose. The yeast, Pichia stipitis, 

is one of the best naturally 

occurring xylose-fermenting 

yeasts and it can convert 

xylose to ethanol in high yield. 

However, it has low ethanol and 

sugar tolerance. This feature 

of P. stipitis has limited its use 

as an industrial strain for largescale 

bioethanol production 

from lignocellulosic biomass. 

The primary desired traits of 

an industrial strain required 

for fermenting lignocellulosic 

hydrolysate are efficient 

utilization of hexoses and 

pentoses, fast fermentation 

rates, high ethanol production. 

The researchers used the 

pretreatment of the corn 

stover, averaged 35 to 40% 

energy recovery just from the 

fermentation process. 

This is mainly due to 

the careful selection of 

fermentative bacterium 

(Cellulomonas uda) to process 

crop residues into ethanol 

efficiently and to produce 

byproducts that could be 

metabolized by the electricityproducing 

bacterium. Further, 

by removing the waste 

products of fermentation, the 

growth and metabolism of the 

fermentative bacterium is also 

stimulated. 

The second bacterium, 

process of gene shuffling 

to integrate the genomes of 

xylose tolerant P. stipitis and 

the glucose loving, ethanol 

tolerant (but xylose intolerant) 

S. cerevisiae. In the first round 

of shuffling the P. stipitis 

genome was transferred into 

S. cerevisiae. Recombinant 

strains were selected for their 

ability to grow on xylose and 

then for their ability to produce 

ethanol. In a second round of 

gene shuffling the S. cerevisiae 

genome was transferred into 

the best of these strains and 

the resulting strains tested for 

ethanol tolerance. 

Anli Geng who led this 

study explained, “We produced 

a hybrid yeast, capable of 

Geobacter sulfurreducens, 

generates electricity. The 

electricity, however, isn’t 

harvested as an output. It is 

used to generate hydrogen 

in the MEC to increase the 

energy recovery process even 

more, Reguera said. 

“When the MEC generates 

hydrogen, it actually doubles 

the energy recoveries,” she 

said. “We increased energy 

recovery to 73%.” 

Reguera’s fuel cells use 

corn stover treated by the 

ammonia fiber expansion 

process, an advanced 

pretreatment technology 

pioneered at MSU. • 

Xylose processing bioengineered yeast likely to 

advance cellulosic ethanol production 

producing bioethanol from 

xylose, which was also able to 

survive in high concentrations of 

ethanol. The main by-product of 

xylose fermentation was xylitol 

and by measuring this, along 

with ethanol production, we 

found that our hybrid was more 

efficient at using xylose and in 

producing ethanol than either 

of the parent strains. This yeast 

is only a prototype and further 

improvement is possible before 

scale up. However our results 

show that there is a future in 

recycling waste vegetation into 

bioethanol.” 

The research is reported 

in a recent issue of the open 

access journal Biotechnology 

for Biofuels. • 




India’s 2012 ethanol output to 

breach 2 billion litres 

India’s ethanol production is 

likely to increase by 29% to 

2170 million litres in 2012 

on the back of increased 

sugar production, according 

to a latest US Department 

of Agriculture (USDA) report. 

In the recent report, the 

USDA has pegged India’s 

ethanol production at 2,170 

million litres in 2012, against 

1,681 million litres last year. 

Total supply of ethanol in the 

country is expected to be 2,901 

million litres, including import of 

80 million litres of ethanol this 

year. The domestic consumption 

of ethanol is estimated to rise 

marginally by 4.5% to 2085 

million litres this year from 

1995 million litres in 2011. 

About 880 million litres of 

ethanol is likely to be used in 

manufacturing of portable liquor, 

720 million litres for industrial 

use and 400 million litres for 

blended gasoline in 2012. 

Ethanol and alcohol 

production in India depends 

largely on availability of sugar 

molasses, a byproduct of 

sugar production. 

Out of 330 distilleries in 

India, the USDA noted that 

about 140 have the capacity to 

distill around 2 billion litres of 

conventional ethanol per year 

and could meet the demand 

for five per cent mandatory 

blending of ethanol with petrol. 

In January 2003, the 

government mandated a 5% 

ethanol blend in gasoline 

through its ambitious Ethanol 

Blending Programme. The 

programme has not yet picked 

up on failure to set ethanol 

pricing formula and procedural 

delays by various state 

governments. • 

Brazil - New developments in 

the advanced and cellulosic 

biofuels sectors 

US company Blue Sugars 

(BS) is set to provide three 

Brazilian sugar mills with 

its technology by 2015. 

BS has been working with 

Petrobras since 2010 and 

the state-owned Brazilian 

oil company will install BS 

technology in one of its mills. 

Under the trial, the equipment 

will help produce around 35 mln 

litres of ethanol from 120,000 

tonnes of bagasse. Petrobras 

shipped in around 90,000 litres 

of cellulosic ethanol from Blue 

Sugars’ facilities in the US to 

supplement gasoline volumes 

supplied during the global 

Rio+20 sustainable summit 

this year. The oil refiner holds 

minority stakes in eight sugar 

mills in Brazil. 

SEE Algae Technology of 

Austria recently announced 

that it is to build a commercial 

biodiesel and bioethanol 

plant in Pernambuco state. 

Construction of the plant, which 

will use genetically modified 

algae as feedstocks, will start in 

the fourth quarter of 2013 and 

will cost around EUR8 mln to 

build. The planned capacity of 

the facility, which will be built 

together with JB of Brazil, will 

be 1.2 mln litres of biodiesel 

and 2.2 mln litres of ethanol a 

year. Once the plant, located 

in Vitória de Santo Antão, 

becomes fully operational in 

2014, the two companies will 

start construction on another 

plant in Linhares, in Espíritu 

Santo state. • 


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541

542 

Biofuels NEWS 




Fungi causing white rot in wood is likely to advance 

lignocellulosic biofuels production 

A new study - which 

includes the first largescale 

comparison of fungi 

that cause rot decay - 

suggests that the evolution 

of a type of fungi known as 

white rot may have brought 

an end to a 60-millionyear-long 

period of coal 

deposition known as the 

Carboniferous period. Coal 

deposits that accumulated 

during the Carboniferous, 

which ended about 300 

million years ago, have 

historically fuelled about 

50% of U.S. electric power 

generation. 

In addition, the study 

provides insights about diverse 

fungal enzymes that might 

be used in the future to help 

generate biofuels, which are 

currently among the most 

promising and attractive 

alternatives to fossil fuels for 

powering vehicles. 

The study, which was 

conducted by a team of 71 

researchers from 12 countries, 

appears in the 29 June 2012 

issue of Science. 

There are almost 1.5 million 

fungi species on Earth. They 

perform essential ecological 

roles that include decomposing 

organisms and serving as food 

for many insect species and 

larger organisms. 

However, only about five 

percent of fungi species have, 

thus far, been classified. 

The new study is part of an 

effort - supported by NSF’s 

Assembling the Tree of Life 

and Partnerships for Enhancing 

Expertise in Taxonomy 

programs - to resolve 

evolutionary relationships 

between fungi species, define 

the diversity of fungi, and 

explain the early evolutionary 

history of fungi. Information 

produced by this effort is 

integral to the story of life on 

earth and the evolution of its 

varied ecosystems. 

The end of a geologic era 

Coal is composed of the 

fossilized remains of plants 

- mostly lignin, which is a 

complex polymer that is an 

important component of 

the cell walls of plants and 

helps give wood its strength 

and rigidity. The study 

Figure 1. Scanning electron micrograph of wood that has 

been decayed by Punctularia strigoso-zonata 

Image: Courtesy Robert Blachette 

indicates that white rot fungi, 

which are the only types of 

microorganisms that can 

break down lignin, evolved at 

the end of the Carboniferous 

green period, and that the 

synchrony between the rise of 

white rot fungi and the close 

of the Carboniferous was no 

coincidence. 

According to the study, 

once white rot, which breaks 

down lignin via enzymatic 

activity, became an ecological 

force, it destroyed huge 

accumulations of woody debris 

that would have otherwise 

escaped decay to ultimately be 

fossilized as coal. 

So if not for the advent of 

white rot, large coal deposits 

may have continued to form 

long after the end of the 

Carboniferous period. This study 

supports a paper published in 

1990 by Jennifer M. Robinson 

that pegged the evolution 

of white rot as a potential 

contributing factor to the end 

of the Carboniferous period. 

The matrix 

Lignin exists in cell walls as part 

of a tough matrix with cellulose, 

which is a carbohydrate 

composed of sugar subunits. 

But once white rot attacks 

and destroys lignin, the matrix 

collapses, and the cellulose is 

freed - to be devoured by the 

white rot as food. 

The ability of white rot 

fungi to decay lignin may 

ultimately be used to help 

conquer what is among the 

world’s most longstanding and 

vexing problems associated 

with the large-scale production 

of biofuels: that is, obtaining 

plant carbohydrates that could 

be converted into biofuels via 

fermentation processes. 

It may ultimately be feasible 

to use white rot to break down 

lignin to release cellulose from 

cell walls, which could then 

be broken down into sugars. 

Next, the sugars would be 

fed to yeast that would be 

fermented into alcohols that 

would provide the bases for 

new biofuels. 

In addition, because 

enzymes from white rot 

fungi are able to break down 

complex organic molecules, 

they have been investigated 

for use in bioremediation 

operations that involve 

breaking down contaminants 

to remove them from the 

environment. 

Genomic comparisons 

“Our study was designed to 

reconstruct the evolution of 

lignin decay mechanisms in 

fungi, analyze the distribution 

of enzymes that enable fungi to 

break down lignin, and better 

define the evolution of the gene 

families that encode those 

enzymes,” said David Hibbett 

of Clark University, who led 

the study. 

Hibbett and his team 

focused on a large 

group of fungi known as 

Agaricomycetes, which include 

white rot fungi as well as 

mushroom species that have 

the familiar cap-and-stem 

shape. The Agaricomycetes 

group also includes brown rot 

fungi that can destroy wood by 

breaking down cellulose and 

hemicellulose, which is another 

component of cell walls - all 

the while without breaking 

down lignin (Figure 1). 

The researchers compared 

31 fungal genomes - 26 of 

which were sequenced at the 

Department of cont. over… 


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Fungi causing white 

rot in wood… cont. 

Energy’s Joint Genome 

Institute, including 12 that 

were sequenced at the DOE 

JGI specifically for the study, 

and were then annotated 

and analyzed by NSF-funded 

researchers in collaboration 

with JGI and other partners. 

“The 12 new genome 

sequences could serve as 

potential resources for industrial 

microbiologists aiming to 

develop new tools for producing 

biofuels, bioremediation or other 

products, perhaps by using 

recombinant DNA methods or 

by selecting new organisms for 

fermentation,” said Hibbett. 

“This study exemplifies the 

tremendous gains we can make 

in understanding complicated 

biologic processes such as 

lignin decomposition when we 

learn about the genealogical 

relationships of organisms,” 

said Charles Lydeard, an NSF 

program director. 

The evolution of white rot 

The study also involved 

tracking the evolution of lignindecomposing 

enzymes back 

through time. This was done 

via so-called “molecular clock 

analyses.” Such analyses are 

based on the assumption that 

genes accumulate mutations 

through evolution at fairly 

predictable rates - similar to 

the way that the hands of a 

clock advance around a clock 

at predictable rates. The ability 

to estimate these mutation 

rates enables researchers to 

trace mutations back in time 

and estimate how recently 

fungal lineages shared a 

common ancestor but then 

diverged from one another. 

Results of molecular clock 

analyses suggest that the oldest 

ancestor of the Agaricomcyetes 

was a white rot species that 

possessed multiple lignin- 

degrading enzymes and lived 

roughly 300 million years ago. 

Many surviving lineages of 

Agaricomycetes-including 

fungi species known as wooddecaying 

polypores and bracket 

fungi-produce lignin-degrading 

enzymes. “Our results suggest 

that the ability of fungi to break 

down lignin evolved only once,” 

said Hibbett. 

In addition, Hibbett said, 

“This study underscores the 

adaptability of fungi.” This 

adapatability is underscored 

by the fact that some 

Agaricomycete lineages 


have maintained their lignindegrading 

enzymes. By 

contrast, other Agaricomycete 

lineages, including brown 

rot and mycorrhizal species, 

which survive via symbiotic 

relationships with the roots of 

certain trees without decaying 

them, ultimately lost their 

lignin-degrading enzymes as 

they developed alternative 

methods of obtaining nutrition, 

said Hibbett. 

Potential payback 

The economic value of fungi 

driven by nature 

BioMCN, fi rst in second 

generation biofuels 

BioMCN is the largest second generation biofuels producer 

in the world. With a current capacity of 250 million liters of 

bio-methanol per year it is already more than sufficient to 

fulfil the entire 2010 Dutch biofuel obligation for gasoline. 

Through an innovative process, bio-methanol is made from 

crude glycerine- a residue resulting from processing vegetable 

oils and animal fats. Because bio-methanol is made from a 

residue, its renewable energy content is entitled to be counted 

twice in accordance with the Renewable Energy Directive. 

In comparison to regular methanol, bio-methanol reduces 

CO 2 emissions by 78%. 

This makes bio-methanol ideally suited to play an important 

and lasting role in the transition to sustainable transportation 

fuels with low CO 2 emissions. It can be used as a raw material 

for other biofuels and fuel additives (e.g. MTBE), and also as 

a fuel in its own right. 

BioMCN aims to expand its role as leading producer of 

second generation biofuels, and to promote the importance 

of bio-methanol as a sustainable source of energy, both in 

Europe as well as in other parts of the world. 

For more information about BioMCN and bio-methanol, 

please visit our website: www.biomcn.eu 

BioMCN, Oosterhorn 10, NL – 9936 HD Farmsum T +31 (0)596 64 77 00 

is already almost incalculable: 

Fungi currently impact diverse 

applied disciplines, including 

agriculture, medicine and 

drug discovery. The more 

scientists learn about these 

important organisms, the 

more likely they will be to 

identify additional uses for 

them that will benefit the 

economy, the environment, 

and human welfare, as well as 

to develop new ways to fight 

wood rot that, at great costs, 

kills trees and destroys wood 

structures, including homes 

and ships. • 

bio0055_CorpAd_A5_02.indd 1 15-09-11 15:56 


545

546 

sugar 

JOURNAL 

INTERNATIONAL 





Biobased Products 

NEWS 

Researchers use nanowires to power photosynthesis 

to produce high-value chemicals 

Harnessing the power of 

the sun has inspired scientists 

and engineers to look 

for ways to turn sunlight 

into clean energy to heat 

houses, fuel factories and 

power devices. While a 

majority of this research 

focuses on energy production, 

some researchers are 

looking at the potential 

uses of these novel solar 

technologies in other areas. 

Boston College Assistant 

Professor of Chemistry Dunwei 

Wang’s work with silicon 

nanowires and his related 

construct, Nanonets, has 

shown these stable, tiny wirelike 

structures can be used 

in processes ranging from 

energy collection to hydrogengenerating 

water-splitting. 

Teaming up with fellow 

Boston College Assistant 

Professor of Chemistry Kian 

L. Tan, the researchers 

Solvay recently announced 

that its Thai affiliate 

Vinythai will serve the 

vast and growing Chinese 

epichlorohydrin market 

with a new production plant 

in Taixing, China. The plant 

with an initial capacity of 

100,000 tons epichlorohydrin 

per year requires 

an investment of EUR 155 

million and should become 

operational in the second 

half of 2014. 

The Chinese epichloro- 

have taken aim at a role for 

nanowires in photosynthesis. 

Their work has produced a 

process that closely resembles 

photosynthesis, employing 

silicon nanowires to collect 

light energy to power reactions 

capable of synthesizing the 

basic compounds of two 

popular pain-killing, antiinflammatory 

drugs, they 

report in the current edition 

of Angewandte Chemie, 

the journal of the German 

Chemical Society. 

The reaction sequence 

offers an approach that 

differs from earlier attempts 

to sequester carbon dioxide 

with sunlight and solves the 

vexing problem of carbon’s 

low selectivity, which so far 

has limited earlier methods to 

the production of fuels. Tan 

and Wang report their process 

offers the selectivity required 

to produce complex organic 

hydrin market is expected 

to grow on annual basis by 

8% and represent 35% of 

total world demand in 2016. 

Epichlorohydrin is an essential 

feedstock for the production 

of epoxy resins, increasingly 

used in applications such as 

corrosion protection coatings 

as well in the electronics, 

automotive, aerospace industry 

or wind turbine industry. 

The new plant located 

in the Taixing Economic 

Development Park will 

intermediaries capable of 

developing pharmaceuticals 

and high-value chemicals. 

The process succeeds 

in taming stubborn carbon, 

which structurally resists 

most efforts to harness it for 

a single chemical product. 

Typically, refined forms of 

carbon molecules must first 

be produced to produce the 

necessary results. 

“If we can start to use 

carbon dioxide and light to 

power reactions in organic 

chemistry, there’s a huge 

benefit to that. It allows you to 

bypass the middle man of fossil 

fuels by using light to drive 

the chemical reaction,” said 

Tan. “The key is the interaction 

of two fields - materials 

and synthetic chemistry. 

Separately, these fields may 

not have accomplished this 

on their own. But together, we 

combined our knowledge to 

be based on Solvay’s 

proprietary biobased Epicerol ® 

technology. The plant will use 

as feedstock natural glycerin 

obtained as by-product from 

the production of biodiesel. 

This cost competitive and 

eco-efficient process requires 

less invested capital, has 

a 60% lower CO 2 balance 

(cradle to gate), while dividing 

the volume of chlorinated 

by-products by eight 

compared to the conventional 

propylene based process. 

make it work.” 

During photosynthesis, 

plants capture sunlight and 

use this solar energy and 

carbon dioxide to fuel chemical 

reactions. 

Tan and Wang used silicon 

nanowires as a photocathode, 

exploiting the wire’s efficient 

means of converting solar 

energy to electrical energy. 

Electrons released from the 

atoms in the nanowires are 

then transferred to organic 

molecules to trigger chemical 

reactions. 

In this case, the 

researchers used aromatic 

ketones, which when struck 

by electrons become active 

and attack and bind carbon 

dioxide. Further steps 

produced an acid that allowed 

the team to create the 

precursors to ibuprofen and 

naproxen with high selectivity 

and high yield. • 

Biobased epichlorohydrin plant to be built in China 

The Epicerol ® technology is 

protected by 1000 patent 

titles, some of them already 

granted in different parts of 

the world. 

Vinythai started smoothly 

its first 100,000 tons 

epichlorohydrin unit based on 

the Epicerol ® technology in 

Thailand on last February 2012 

and is now supplying regularly 

to the Asian market. The new 

plant will make Vinythai the 

second largest epichlorohydrin 

producer in Asia. • 


Photo by courtesy of Hägglunds. 

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548 

Biobased Products NEWS 

Biobased resins exploited for 

household applications 

DuPont Tate & Lyle 

BioProducts recently 

announced that Panasonic 

Corporation Eco Solutions 

will be incorporating 

biobased resins made with 

Susterra ® propanediol (a 

specialty glycol) for their 

new line of kitchen and 

bathroom systems. 

The new kitchen and 

bathroom systems were 

developed using Panasonic’s 

novel technology of 

compounding plant-derived 

and petroleum-derived resins. 

The resins based on plantderived, 

Susterra ® are used to 

manufacture kitchen countertops 

and bathroom ceilings. 

Susterra ® propanediol 

is certified 100% biobased 

by the US Department 

of Agriculture, making it 

attractive for companies 

seeking to add renewable 

content to their products. 

A peer-reviewed life cycle 

assessment demonstrates that 

the production of biobased 

propanediol offers significant 

environmental benefits 

including up to 40% less 

greenhouse gas emissions 

and 40% less non-renewable 

energy used in its production 

vs. petroleum-based glycols. 

Panasonic Corporation 

Eco Solutions Company, 

formed on January 1, 2012, is 

part of the Panasonic Group 

with offices in Tokyo and 

Osaka, Japan. DuPont Tate 

& Lyle Bio Products is a joint 

venture between DuPont, a 

global science company, and 

Tate & Lyle, a world-leading 

renewable food and industrial 

ingredients company. 

Toray and Gevo partner 

for biobased PET 

Toray Industries in partnership 


with Gevo signed an offtake 

agreement for bio-paraxylene 

(bioPX) produced at Gevo’s 

planned pilot plant. 

The agreement will enable 

Toray to carry out pilot-scale 

production of biobased 

polyethylene terephthalate 

(bioPET), of its fibres and 

films for the first time in the 

world. Toray also plans to 

offer samples to its business 

partners, who are the endusers, 

in 2013 for market 

evaluation. 

Gevo operates a plant 

that produces the product 

employing its highly effective 

proprietary production 

technology. 

Gevo has also succeeded 

in the synthesis of bioPX at 

the laboratory level utilizing 

conventional chemical 

processes. Since there is 

great interest in bioPET from 

end-users, Gevo has a plan to 

build a pilot plant 

for production of bioPX. 

The production of bioPET 

for end-users, however, 

requires a partner who is 

able to convert bioPX into 

bioPET. 

Using terephthalic acid 

synthesized from Gevo’s 

bioPX and commercially 

available renewable mono 

ethylene glycol (MEG), Toray 

succeeded in lab-level PET 

polymerization to produce 

fibres and films samples 

in 2011. 

With the signing of 

the offtake agreement 

between Gevo and Toray, 

the companies are able to 

integrate the supply chain to 

convert bioPX into bioPET for 

end users. Since Toray has 

the priority right to purchase 

the bioPX produced at the 

pilot plant, it will be able to 

gain a head-start in securing 

scale up technology for 

bioPET polymerization, fibers 

and films. 

Commercially available 

PET is currently produced 

from terephthalic acid 

and mono-ethylene glycol 

(MEG), both of which are 

derived from petroleum. 

Around 50 million tons of 

PET is produced worldwide 

annually for producing 

fibers, films and bottles. 

Moreover, PET, which has 

outstripped other polymers 



DuPont and Tereos partner to 

produce betaine from vinasse 

DuPont and Tereos are 

partnering to set up the 

first facility in the world 

to produce betaine from 

vinasse. 

The new dedicated 

betaine production facility 

is located within Tereos’ 

existing distillery, the biggest 

sugar beet distillery in the 

world, at Origny-Sainte- 

Benoîte (France). This site 

is the world’s largest single 

source of natural betaine 

and will be managed and 

operated by Tereos. DuPont 

in collaboration with Novasep 

Process, is responsible for 

building the process line 

which combines Danisco’s 

proprietary chromatographic 

technology with membrane 

and evaporation steps to 

produce the natural betaine. 

Natural betaine is used 

in a large variety of different 

applications across many 

markets, in particular as a 

technical additive in animal 

feed. For DuPont Industrial 

Biosciences, the natural 

betaine product Betafin ® is 

a key element supporting 

the business’ strategy of 

providing healthy nutrition 

solutions to the animal feed 

industry. The osmolytic and 

hydration functionality of 

Betafin ® provides exceptional 

value to producers by 

improving livestock intestinal 

health and reduces the 

negative impact of heat and 

disease challenges that can 

disrupt the animals’ water 

balance. 

Since the early 1990s, 

when Danisco’s pioneering 

research into the applications 

of natural betaine in animal 

nutrition clearly demonstrated 

superior value compared to 

synthetic analogs, supply 

has been outweighed by 

market demand. This opening 

in Origny will bring DuPont 

closer to meeting market 

demand by increasing 

substantially the availability 

of natural betaine from 

early 2013. 

For Tereos, this 

partnership is a unique 

opportunity to extract 

further value from a distillery 

byproduct and develop 

its industrial know-how 

through large scale 

production. This new activity 

has created 20 permanent 

jobs in the Origny sugar 

factory-distillery. • 

such as polyethylene and 

polypropylene in global 

demand, has become an 

essential polymer in our 

daily life. 

With oil resources 

dwindling and hike of oil 

price, producing PET from 

fully renewable feedstock has 

become a crucial challenge. 

Toray has been engaged in 

tackling this major issue by 

integrating polymer chemistry, 

organic synthesis chemistry 

and biotechnology. • 


sugar 

JOURNAL 

INTERNATIONAL 


Crop improvement could 

be accelerated by adoption 

of advanced techniques 

Scientists could take greater strides 

toward crop improvement if there were 

wider adoption of advanced techniques 

used to understand the mechanisms 

that allow plants to adapt to their environments, 

current and former Purdue 

University researchers say. 

In a perspective for the journal Science, 

Brian Dilkes, a Purdue assistant professor 

of genetics, and Ivan Baxter, a research 

computational biologist for the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural 

Research Service, argue that today’s 

technology could allow scientists to match 

physiological and genetic characteristics 

of plants with the soil characteristics that 

promote or inhibit their growth. Making 

those connections could reduce the time 

necessary to improve plants that are 

coping with changing environmental and 

climatic conditions. 

“Evolution has solved the problems that 

we face in terms of adapting plants to grow 

in a multitude of environments,” Dilkes 

said. “If we understand these processes, 

we'll be able to apply that knowledge to 

maintaining diversity in natural systems 

and improving and maintaining crop yield.” 

The majority of a plant’s makeup, 

besides carbon dioxide, comes from 

elements and minerals absorbed from the 


soil as the plant grows. The physiological 

and genetic mechanisms that allow plants 

to obtain iron from the soil, for instance, 

can also cause the plant to accumulate 

other elements. Understanding how those 

changes interact is an important piece of 

improving plants, Baxter said. 

“This is just a hint of the complexity 

that's out there,” said Baxter, a former 

post-doctoral researcher at Purdue who 

works for the USDA at the Donald Danforth 

Plant Science Center in St. Louis. “If we're 

going to make the necessary improvements 

in agricultural productivity, we will have to 

move forward with these techniques.” 

Much of the work done to understand 

how plants have adapted to their 

environments focuses on one gene and one 

element it controls at a time. Pinpointing one 

or more genes responsible for a particular 

trait can take years, even decades. 

Dilkes and Baxter believe a wider 

adoption of molecular phenotyping 

techniques, such as ionomics and 

genome-wide association mapping, could 

allow scientists to work with multiple 

elements and genes at once. 

“By focusing on one gene or one 

element at a time, you miss out on the 

other physiological mechanisms occurring 

in the plant,” Dilkes said. “The potential 

to broaden our understanding of these 

complex interactions and have a dramatic 

effect on agriculture is there.” 

Genome-wide association mapping 

allows scientists to find genetic 



TRENDS 

in science and technology 

associations among multiple phenotypes, 

or physical traits. The process quickly 

shows which genes may be responsible 

for the physical characteristics. 

Ionomics studies the elemental 

composition of plants and how those 

compositions change in response to 

environmental or genetic changes. 

“Experiments with thousands of samples 

are now possible,” Baxter said. “We’ve just 

started to put these things together.” 

New catalyst likely to drive 

efficiencies in fuel, chemical 

& pharmaceutical industries 

University of Minnesota engineering 

researchers are leading an international 

team that has made a major 

breakthrough in developing a catalyst 

used during chemical reactions in 

the production of gasoline, plastics, 

biofuels, pharmaceuticals, and other 

chemicals. The discovery could lead 

to major efficiencies and cost-savings 

in these multibillion-dollar industries. 

The research is to be published in the 

29 June 2012 issue of the journal Science. 

“The impact of this new discovery is 

enormous,” said the team’s lead researcher 

Michael Tsapatsis, a chemical engineering 

and materials science professor in the 

University of Minnesota College of Science 

and Engineering. “Every drop of gasoline 

we use needs a catalyst to change the oil 


549

550 

TRENDS 

molecules into usable gasoline during the 

refining process.” 

This research improves efficiencies 

by giving molecules fast access to the 

catalysts where the chemical reactions 

occur. Tsapatsis compared it to our use of 

freeways and side streets in our daily lives. 

“It’s faster and more efficient to use 

freeways to get where we want to go 

and exit to do our business compared to 

driving the side streets the entire way,” he 

explained. “The catalysts used today are 

more like all side streets. Molecules move 

slowly and get stuck. The efficiencies of 

these new catalysts could lower the costs 

of gasoline and other products for all of us.” 

The research team built their prototype 

of the new catalyst using highly optimized 

ultra-thin zeolite nanosheets. They used 

a unique process to encourage growth of 

these nanosheets at 90-degree angles, 

similar to building a house of cards. 

The house-of-cards arrangement of the 

nanosheets makes the catalyst faster, 

more selective and more stable, but can 

be made at the same cost (or possibly 

cheaper) than traditional catalysts. 

With faster catalysts available at no 

extra cost to the producer, production 

per manufacturing dollar will increase. 

With a higher output, it is conceivable that 

consumer costs will drop. 

This new discovery builds upon previous 

discoveries at the University of Minnesota 

of ultra-thin zeolite nanosheets used as 

specialized molecular sieves for production 

of both renewable and fossil-based fuels 

and chemicals. These discoveries, licensed 

by the new Minnesota start-up company 

Argilex Technologies, are key components 

of the company's materials-based platform. 

The development of the new catalyst is 

complete, and the material is ready for 

customer testing. 

“This breakthrough can have a major 

impact on both the conversion of natural 

gas to higher value chemicals and fuels, 

and on bio- and petroleum refiners,” 

said Cesar Gonzalez, CEO of Argilex 

Technologies. “Using catalysts made by 

this novel approach, refiners will be able to 

obtain a higher yield of desirable products 

such as gasoline, diesel, ethylene and 

propylene. At Argilex, we envision this 

catalyst technology platform to become a 

key contributor to efficient use of natural 

resources and improved economics of the 

world’s largest industries.” 


Groundbreaking stride 

in the development of 

thermoelectric power 

Researchers who are studying a new 

magnetic effect that converts heat 

to electricity have discovered how to 

amplify it a thousand times over - a 

first step in making the technology 

more practical. 

In the so-called spin Seebeck effect, 

the spin of electrons creates a current in 

magnetic materials, which is detected as 

a voltage in an adjacent metal. Ohio State 

University researchers have figured out 

how to create a similar effect in a nonmagnetic 

semiconductor while producing 

more electrical power. 

They’ve named the amplified effect 

the “giant spin-Seebeck” effect, and the 

university will license patent-pending 

variations of the technology. 

The resulting voltages are admittedly tiny, 

but in a recent issue of the journal Nature, the 

researchers report boosting the amount of 

voltage produced per degree of temperature 

change inside the semiconductor from a few 

microvolts to a few millivolts - a 1000-fold 

increase in voltage, producing a 1-millionfold 

increase in power. 

Joseph Heremans, Ohio Eminent 

Scholar in Nanotechnology, said that his 

team's ultimate goal is a low-cost and 

efficient solid-state engine that coverts 

heat to electricity. These engines would 

have no moving parts, would not wear out, 

and would be infinitely reliable, he added. 

“It’s really a new generation of heat 

engine,” said Heremans, professor of 

mechanical engineering and professor of 

physics at Ohio State. “In the 1700s we 

had steam engines, in the 1800s we had 

gas engines, in the 1900s we had the first 

thermoelectric materials, and now we’re 

doing the same thing with magnetics.” 

This research could enable electronic 

devices that recycle some of their own 

waste heat into electricity. In a computer, it 

could enable heat-powered computation, 

or, inversely, it could provide cooling. 

Researchers around the world are 

working to develop electronics that utilize 

the spin of electrons to read and write 

data. So-called “spintronics” are desirable 

because in principle they could store more 

data in less space, process data faster, and 

consume less power. And the spin-Seebeck 



effect takes the notion of spintronics a step 

further, by using heat to induce a flow of 

spin “information,” called a “spin current.” 

Great progress has been made in 

understanding how the spin-Seebeck 

effect works, but many details are still a 

mystery. Though researchers around the 

world have been able to reproduce the 

spin-Seebeck effect with some success 

since it was discovered at Tohoku 

University in 2008, a unified theory is 

lacking. And the same holds true for 

the giant spin-Seebeck effect, though 

the Ohio State researchers have several 

suggestions as to what’s going on. 

People may be familiar with the 

concept of light being made of particles 

called photons, Heremans said. Heat, too, 

can be thought of the same way, and 

scientists have a similar-sounding name 

for heat particles: phonons. 

The researchers think that they were 

able to induce a powerful stream of phonons 

inside the semiconductor. The phonons 

then smashed into the electrons and 

knocked them forward, while the atoms in 

the semiconductor made the electrons spin 

as they streamed through the material - like 

a bullet spinning in a rifle barrel. 

Roberto Myers, assistant professor of 

materials science and engineering, said 

that the key to making the experiment 

work was the choice of materials. 

The spin-Seebeck effect had 

previously only been seen in magnetic 

semiconductors and metals, but they 

looked to non-magnetic semiconductors 

instead, where there were more materials 

to choose from. They settled on indium 

antimonide, doped it with other elements, 

and then created a sample of the material 

about the size of stick of Trident gum. 

Since the material was non-magnetic, 

they needed to create a magnetic field 

around it and lower the temperature to 

polarize the electrons. 

“Those are the drawbacks - we had to 

do it at a low temperature, and with a high 

magnetic field,” Myers said. “Right now, 

it works between 2 and 20 Kelvin, which 

is about the temperature of liquid helium, 

and with an external magnetic field of 3 

Tesla, which is about the same strength as 

a medical MRI.” 

The temperature range corresponds to 

-456 to -423 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Still, when they heated one side of the 

material one degree, they detected a voltage 




of 8 millivolts (thousandths of a volt) on the 

other side. That’s three orders of magnitude 

bigger than the 5 microvolts (millionths of a 

volt) ever produced by researchers using the 

standard spin-Seebeck effect. 

New catalyst likely to 

drive efficiencies and 

pharmaceutical industries 

University of Minnesota engineering 

researchers are leading an international 

team that has made a major 

breakthrough in developing a catalyst 

used during chemical reactions in 

the production of gasoline, plastics, 

biofuels, pharmaceuticals, and other 

chemicals. The discovery could lead 

to major efficiencies and cost-savings 

in these multibillion-dollar industries. 

The research is to be published in the 

29 June 2012 issue of the journal Science. 

“The impact of this new discovery is 

enormous,” said the team’s lead researcher 

Michael Tsapatsis, a chemical engineering 

and materials science professor in the 

University of Minnesota College of Science 

and Engineering. “Every drop of gasoline 

we use needs a catalyst to change the oil 

molecules into usable gasoline during the 

refining process.” 

This research improves efficiencies 

by giving molecules fast access to the 

catalysts where the chemical reactions 

occur. Tsapatsis compared it to our use of 

freeways and side streets in our daily lives. 

“It’s faster and more efficient to use 

freeways to get where we want to go 

and exit to do our business compared to 

driving the side streets the entire way,” he 

explained. “The catalysts used today are 

more like all side streets. Molecules move 

slowly and get stuck. The efficiencies of 

these new catalysts could lower the costs 

of gasoline and other products for all of us.” 

The research team built their prototype 

of the new catalyst using highly optimized 

ultra-thin zeolite nanosheets. They used 

a unique process to encourage growth of 

these nanosheets at 90-degree angles, 

similar to building a house of cards. 

The house-of-cards arrangement of the 

nanosheets makes the catalyst faster, 

more selective and more stable, but can 

be made at the same cost (or possibly 

cheaper) than traditional catalysts. 

With faster catalysts available at no 


extra cost to the producer, production 

per manufacturing dollar will increase. 

With a higher output, it is conceivable that 

consumer costs will drop. 

This new discovery builds upon previous 

discoveries at the University of Minnesota 

of ultra-thin zeolite nanosheets used as 

specialized molecular sieves for production 

of both renewable and fossil-based fuels 

and chemicals. These discoveries, licensed 

by the new Minnesota start-up company 

Argilex Technologies, are key components 

of the company’s materials-based platform. 

The development of the new catalyst is 

complete, and the material is ready for 

customer testing. 

“This breakthrough can have a major 

impact on both the conversion of natural 

gas to higher value chemicals and fuels, 

and on bio- and petroleum refiners,” 

said Cesar Gonzalez, CEO of Argilex 

Technologies. “Using catalysts made by 

this novel approach, refiners will be able to 

obtain a higher yield of desirable products 

such as gasoline, diesel, ethylene and 

propylene. At Argilex, we envision this 

catalyst technology platform to become a 

key contributor to efficient use of natural 

resources and improved economics of the 

world's largest industries.” 

Identification of phosphate 

transporter likely to lead 

development of cultivars able 

to grow in soils with low P 

Plants cannot survive without phosphorus. 

It forms the backbone of many 

crucial molecules (such as DNA) and is 

a key player in energy transfer reactions. 

Low availability of phosphorus 

is a major environmental stress for 

plants and can lead to great losses 

in crop production. But plants can't 

make their own phosphorus; they get 

all they need at the root-soil interface, 

in the form of inorganic phosphate 

(Pi), so one way to maximise the 

amount of phosphorus in the plant is 

to turn up Pi uptake by root cells. 

Paula Duque and her research team 

at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência 

(Lisbon) have identified a new Pi 

transporter in the root cells of the tiny 

mustard plant Arabidopsis thaliana that 

acts, crucially, when Pi is scarce. Their 

findings, published online in the journal 

TRENDS 

New Phytologist, provide insight into 

how phosphate transport systems may 

be manipulated in plants to counteract 

stressful conditions and thus, potentially, 

lead to improved crop yields. 

The transporter the IGC researchers 

work with is a protein located on the 

membranes of root cells, which is consistent 

with it playing a role in the uptake of 

phosphorus from the soil. Showing its 

location in the plant was the first step in 

a detailed study of when and how the 

transporter acts. The researchers went on 

to isolate two Arabidopsis thaliana mutants, 

both of which are unable to produce the 

transporter. They found that although 

mutants and wild-type plants grow equally 

well in the presence of standard amounts 

of Pi, things look quite different when 

Pi becomes scarce: the mutant plants 

(that do not have a functional transporter) 

display smaller seedlings, smaller primary 

roots and overdeveloped secondary roots 

- characteristic features of plants suffering 

from phosphorus deprivation. 

Estelle Remy, a post-doc in the 

laboratory, describes the experiments, 

“The effects were completely reversed 

when we re-introduced the 'corrected' 

gene for the transporter into mutant 

plants. This is a strong indication that 

it is indeed lack of the transporter that 

underlies increased sensitivity to low Pi. 

Furthermore, by forcing plants to produce 

more of the transporter than usual, we 

made them more tolerant to low Pi - which 

further supports a role in phosphorus 

uptake under these conditions.” 

Says Paula Duque, “In collaboration with 

Isabel Sá-Correia's group at the Instituto 

Superior Técnico, we used yeast cells that 

carry the plant transporter to prove that this 

transporter chemically binds Pi avidly. We 

are thus confident that we have proven, 

unequivocally, that the Pht1;9 transporter 

mediates Pi uptake when Arabidopsis 

experiences phosphorus starvation. Its 

role in plants makes perfect sense: we 

know that plants respond to limited Pi by 

switching on and/or off a series of genes that 

lead, ultimately, to a balanced distribution 

of phosphorus in the plant. One of the 

processes entails triggering the production 

of membrane transporters. We now know 

that Pht1:9 (our transporter) is one of them, 

making it a potential target for manipulating 

crops that may be under environmental 

stress due to low phosphorus availability”. 


551

552 

Impact of sugar cane juice chemical composition 

on clarification and VHP sugar quality † 

Eduardo P. Borges * , Mario Lucio Lopes and Henrique Amorim 

Fermentec, Antonia Pizzinato Sturion Street 1155, Jd. Petropolis, 13420-640 Piracicaba SP, Brazil. 

* Contact author: Email: eduardo@fermentec.com.br 

abstract 

It is well known that sugar cane composition affects clarification, sugar recovery, and quality. However, not so well 

known are the levels of such variables in clarification and VHP sugar that affect quality. This research was performed 

in a sugar and ethanol plant in Brazil which crushes 4 million tons of cane per season (25,000 tons per day). Fifty 

four samples were collected in first extraction juice, limed juice and clarified juice during several weeks and also 

samples of the VHP sugar, were analyzed. The samples were analyzed for the concentration of sucrose, glucose, 

fructose, lactic acid, acetic acid, dextran, minerals, insoluble impurities, turbidity and color. Positive correlations 

were found between phosphorus and clarification efficiency and VHP sugar quality. Lactic and acetic acids, as 

well as glucose and fructose in juice, correlated negatively with sugar quality (increased color). Iron concentration 

correlated with color of the clarified juice as it may contribute to the oxidation of polyphenolic compounds and 

catalyzes the alkaline destruction of glucose and fructose. Dextran interfered in clarification and in sugar quality, 

due to positive correlation with clarified juice and VHP sugar color. Finally, it was observed that the interpretation 

Honig-Bogstra ratio can be affected by microbial contamination. Having better knowledge about the variables that 

affect clarification and sugar quality makes it possible to improve the process. 

Keywords: cane juice clarification, dextran, Honig-Bogstra ratio, organic acids, phosphate influence on sugar 

color, VHP sugar process 

Efecto de la composición química del jugo de caña de azúcar sobre la clarificación y la calidad 

del azúcar VHP 

Se sabe que la composición de la caña de azúcar afecta la clarificación, la recuperación de azúcar y la calidad. No obstante no se conocen tan 

bien los niveles de esas variables en la clarificación y en el azúcar VHP que afectan a la calidad. Esta investigación se llevó a cabo en una planta de 

azúcar y etanol en Brasil que muele 4 millones de toneladas de caña por temporada y 25000 toneladas por día. Se recogieron y analizaron cincuenta 

y cuatro muestras del jugo de primera extracción, jugo alcalinizado y jugo clarificado durante varias semanas y también muestras del azúcar VHP. En 

las muestras se determinó la concentración de sacarosa, glucosa, fructosa, ácido láctico, ácido acético, dextrano, minerales, impurezas insolubles, 

turbiedad y color. Se encontraron correlaciones positivas entre fósforo y eficiencia de clarificación y color del azúcar VHP. Los ácidos láctico y 

acético así como la glucosa y la fructosa en el jugo estuvieron correlacionados negativamente con la calidad del azúcar (aumento de color). El 

dextrano interfiere en la clarificación y afecta el índice de Honig-Bogstra. Un mejor conocimiento sobre las variables que afectan la clarificación y 

la calidad del azúcar hacen posible la mejora del proceso. 

Impacto dos componentes químicos do caldo de cana na clarificação e na qualidade do açúcar VHP 

Sabe-se que a composição química do caldo de cana-de-açúcar afeta o processo de clarificação, a recuperação e a qualidade do açúcar. Porém, 

os níveis que as diferentes substâncias químicas presentes no caldo influenciam no processo de clarificação e na qualidade de açúcar VHP ainda 

não são bem conhecidos. Desta forma, foi realizada uma pesquisa em uma usina de açúcar e álcool no Brasil que processa 4 milhões de toneladas 

de cana por safra (25.000 toneladas por dia). Foram analisadas cinquenta e quatro amostras de caldo (caldo primário, caldo caleado e caldo 

clarificado) e amostras do açúcar VHP coletados durante várias semanas. As amostras foram analisadas para a determinação da concentração de 

sacarose, glicose, frutose, ácido láctico, ácido acético, dextrana, minerais, impurezas insolúveis, turbidez e cor. Foram encontradas correlações 

positivas entre o fósforo e eficiência do processo de clarificação e qualidade do açúcar VHP. A concentração de ácido láctico e ácido acético, bem 

como de glicose e frutose no caldo, correlacionaram negativamente com a qualidade do açúcar (aumento da cor). Foi observada uma correlação 

positiva entre a concentração de ferro e a cor do caldo clarificado, visto que este metal pode contribuir para a oxidação de compostos polifenólicos 

e catalisar a destruição alcalina de glicose e frutose. A Dextrana interferiu na clarificação e na qualidade do açúcar devido a correlação positiva 

com a cor do caldo clarificado e cor do açúcar VHP. Por fim, foi observado que a interpretação do índice de Honig-Bogstra pode ser afetado pela 

contaminação microbiana. Conhecendo-se as variáveis que afetam a clarificação e qualidade do açúcar torna-se possível melhorar o processo. 



Introduction 

The cane juice clarification process is one of the most important 

steps in sugar manufacture. It consists of the removal of the nonsugar 

impurities (organic and inorganic) while preserving sucrose, 

glucose and fructose. 

There are different juice clarifications methods but, in Brazil 

the most employed is the method using milk of lime. Regarding 

the temperature, the most used is the addition of milk of 

lime at intermediate temperature (70-80ºC). However, hot lime 

clarification (100ºC) is also being used in client mills of Fermentec 

with good results. 

Although clarification is considered a simple process, many 

factors can affect the quality of the clarified juice, such as pH and 

concentrations of inorganic ions, especially phosphate, organic 

acids, colloidal materials, etc. 

In view of the large number of factors that can affect 

clarification, this research was designed to evaluate the influence 

on the clarification process of various chemical components 

present in sugarcane juice. For this, various juices from the 

process were sampled from the sugar mill and the analyzed 

parameter concentrations were correlated with the quality of 

clarified juice and the produced sugar. 

Experimental 

Samples 

The samples were collected from September to December of 

2008 in the RAÍZEN - Costa Pinto Mill, which has the capacity to 

crush 4 million tons of cane per crop season (25,000 t/day) and 

produces 1,400 tons of VHP sugar per day. 

There were a total of 17 sampling cycles being that each 

cycle consisted of the sampling of first extraction juice; limed 

juice (after the addition of milk of lime and polymer, but 

right before the clarifier); clarified juice. Samples were 

collected manually, but to obtain a representative sample, 

each type of sample was collected during a 

time window from 2 to 6 hours and at a 

frequency of 15 minutes (for a 2-hour window) 

or 30 min (for a 6-hour time window), according 

to Eggleston et al. [2002]. Each sample was first 

collected in a 500-mL container of and then 100 

mL was transferred to a bottle kept inside a 

cooler with dry ice. At the end of the collection 

period, the bottles were transferred to a freezer 

until the analysis. It should be noted that the 

retention times were reported for the sample 

collection. Altogether 54 juice samples were 

collected. 

Determination methods 

The analytical determinations were carried out as 

described below: 

1. Brix or refratometric dissolved solids (RDS) by 

the measurement of refractive Index. 


2. Mannitol, glucose, fructose and sucrose by HPAEC-PAD. 

3. Lactate, acetate, formate, pyruvate, chloride, sulfate, oxalate, 

soluble P 2 O 5 , citrate, cis-aconitate and trans-aconitate by HPIC 

with suppressed conductive detection. 

4. Total P 2 O 5 , SiO 2 , Fe 2 O 3 , Al 2 O 3 , Ca, Mg, S, Mn, Cu and Zn by 

ICP-AES after sample digestion. 

5. K by flame emission photometry after sample digestion. 

6. ICUMSA turbidity at 900 nm according to ICUMSA method 

GS7-21(1994). 

7. ICUMSA color at pH 7, according to ICUMSA method GS1/3- 

7(2000). 

8. Solid impurities, carried out as: 50 mL of juice sample was 

centrifuged for 30 min at 3500 rpm. The supernatant was 

discarded and the insoluble material was washed with water 

and centrifuged again. The supernatant was also discarded 

and the solid material was transferred quantitatively to a 

beaker previously dried and weighed. The beaker was placed 

in an oven at 110ºC for approximately 16 hours (overnight) to 

remove water and with the mass difference was calculated the 

solid impurity. 

Besides the analyses described above, dextran in sugar cane 

[Clarke et al., 1987] and ICUMSA color of VHP sugar (at pH7) were 

determined in the mill and were also correlated to clarified juice 

and sugar quality. 

Results 


on clarification and VHP sugar quality 

As described in the Experimental section, samples of cane juice 

for sugar manufacture were collected in the clarification process. 

It is noted that before sampling the operation of a clarifiers was 

Figure 1. Correlation (5% significance) between ICUMSA color of 

clarified juice and P 2 O 5 concentration in first extraction juice 

(r = -0.60492) 


553

554 



Figure 2. Correlation (1% significance) between VHP sugar ICUMSA 

color and P 2 O 5 concentration in first extraction juice 

Figure 3. Correlation (5% significance) between ICUMSA turbidity of 

the clarified juice and Bogstra Ratio of first extraction juice 

Figure 4. Correlation (1% significance) between Fe 2 O 3 concentration 

in limed juice and ICUMSA color of the clarified juice 


Fe 2 O 3 Total Limed Juice (mg/L) 

checked to verify if the clarification process 

was running appropriately for its specifications. 

Although many different analyses were carried out 

in this study, below are described the influences 

only of the key parameters that correlated to the 

quality of the clarification process of sugarcane 

juice: 

1. Influence of phosphorus (P 2 O 5 ) 

concentration 

Phosphorus is the main substance that, together 

with calcium, promotes the removal of impurities 

in the clarification by the formation of calcium 

phosphate salts, which during precipitation 

improve the settling of impurities from the juice 

[Honig, 1963]. 

In all first extraction juice samples that were 

analyzed, the P 2 O 5 concentration was below 300 

ppm, the recommended amount for obtaining 

a good clarification [Honig, 1963]. However, 

the importance of this mineral can be found 

in the correlations below, related to the color 

reduction in the clarified juice and also with the 

final product (Figures 1 and 2). The presence of 

phosphate can reduce the color formation by 

forming a complex with iron and reducing the 

availability of this metal for the reactions that 

produce colored compounds [Bento, 2008]. 

Analyzing the correlation graphs shown in 

Figures 1 and 2 it is possible to infer that each 

increase of 100 mg/L of P 2 O 5 in the first extraction 

juice will reduce 1856 ICUMSA color units in 

clarified juice and 324 units in VHP sugar. 

2. Influence of silicon and iron 

Silicon exists primarily as a constituent of many 

silicate minerals, often linked to iron, magnesium 

and calcium that are relatively insoluble. In natural 

waters, silicon can be present as mono-silicic 

acid - Si(OH) 4 - often called silica or dissolved 

reactive silicate, as well as short chains of polysilicic 

acid soluble fraction and bound to organic 

or inorganic material in suspension [Walford, 

2003]. 

According to Honig [1963], silicic acid is 

considered the most harmful inorganic non-sugar 

in sugar manufacture, influencing the process 

of sedimentation and filtration. In fact, the ratio 

of the phosphate concentration and the sum 

of the concentrations of silicic acid, iron oxide 

and aluminum oxide is the Bogstra Ratio. It is 

highlighted by Honig as a way to predict the 

behavior of juice clarification. 

As a rule, if this ratio is less than 0.15 in the 

cane juice, the clarified juice will have a poor 

quality, with more than 800 mg of suspended 


Figure 5. Correlation (1% significance) between concentration of 

monosaccharides (% glucose + % fructose on Brix basis) and ICUMSA 

color of the clarified juice 

Figure 6. Correlation (1% significance) between the concentration 

of monosaccharides (% glucose + % fructose on Brix basis) in first 

extraction juice and ICUMSA color of VHP sugar 

Figure 7. Correlation (1% significance) between concentration of glucose + 

fructose (%g/100mL) and lactate concentration (mg/L) in first extraction juice 




matter per liter. If the ratio is between 0.15 and 

0.25 the clarified juice will be cloudy and contain 

more than 500 mg per liter of suspended matter. 

If the ratio is greater than 0.25, the clarified juice 

will have satisfactory quality [Honig, 1963]. 

However, no correlation was found between 

the Bogstra Ratio and the quality of the clarified 

juice. On the other hand, excluding from statistical 

analysis samples that had high concentration 

of lactic acid (above 200 mg / L), that is, the 

most contaminated samples, a correlation was 

observed between the Bogstra Ratio and the 

turbidity of the clarified juice (Figure 3). These 

data confirm that the silicon can interfere in the 

impurities sedimentation probably due to its 

colloidal characteristic and ability to stabilize 

suspended particles. However, its interference is 

not greater than the interference of substances 

related to contamination, such as dextran, for 

example. 

Regarding iron, the higher the concentration 

of Fe 2 O 3 in the limed juice, the higher was 

the color of the clarified juice (Figure 4). The 

presence of iron can increase the color because 

it may contribute to the oxidation of polyphenolic 

compounds that result in colored compounds 

and also catalyzes the alkaline destruction of 

glucose and fructose (pH between 6 and 8) that 

form colored compounds with high molecular 

weight [Bento, 2008]. 

3. Influence of glucose and fructose 

The concentration of monosaccharides, especially 

fructose, had a high negative correlation with 

the quality of clarified juice and the VHP sugar 

quality. This can be seen in Figure 5, where the 

ICUMSA color of Clarified Juice is shown as a 

function of the sum of concentrations of glucose 

and fructose. As will be shown later, the high 

concentration of glucose and fructose found in 

some samples of first extraction juice is directly 

related to the presence of high concentrations of 

organic acids from the bacterial metabolism. 

During the evaporation process, glucose and 

fructose in the juice will accelerate the destruction 

of sucrose in the evaporators and also lead to 

the formation of organic acids, melassigenic 

substances and colored compounds [Eggleston 

and Amorim, 2006]. Figure 6 shows that the 

greater the sum of the concentration of glucose 

and fructose in the first extraction juice, the 

greater the color of VHP sugar. 

The contribution of monosaccharides to 

increase of juice or sugar color is related to: 1) the 

alkaline degradation catalyzed by the presence 

of iron (pH between 6 and 8) that may occur 

in heaters and evaporators and 2) the Maillard 


555

556 



Figure 8. Correlation (1% significance) between fructose concentration 

(% g/100mL) and acetate concentration (mg/L) in first extraction juice 

Figure 9. Correlation (5% significance) between Insoluble Impurities 

concentration and lactate concentration in clarified juice 


clarified juice and lactate concentration in first extraction juice 


reaction between monosaccharides and amine 

compounds, which mainly occurs when the Brix 

is higher than 65° (as the case of vacuum pans) 

[Bento, 2008]. 

Analyzing the correlation graphs shown in 

Figures 5 and 6 it is possible to infer that each 

increase of 1% (on a Brix basis) of glucose and 

fructose in the first extraction juice will increase 

by 557 ICUMSA color units in clarified juice and 

68 units in the VHP sugar. 

4. Influence of organic acids 

Organic acids represent a significant percentage 

of non-sugar in cane and are responsible for 

the acidity of sugarcane juice [Honig 1963]. The 

trans-aconitic acid is the main acid produced 

by sugar cane, but cis-aconitic, oxalic and citric 

acids are also found in cane sugar. Lactic, 

acetic and formic acids are also formed in some 

industrial processes, but are mainly the result 

of microbial activity and/or sugar degradation 

reactions [Zapata, 2007]. 

Among the analyzed parameters, lactic and 

acetic acids were the main substances related 

to the quality of clarified juice. In Figures 7 and 

8 is possible to observe how the concentration 

of monosaccharides in the first extraction juice is 

related to the concentration of lactate and acetate 

and consequently with bacterial contamination. 

It is interesting to note that better correlations 

were observed with fructose concentration than 

for glucose concentration, probably because 

glucose is consumed by microorganisms and 

fructose is a by product of some enzymatic 

reactions, like dextransucrase, as example. 

The organic acids hamper the clarification 

process by increasing the amount of lime required 

to adjust the pH and by competing with phosphate 

for the available calcium ions (thus increasing the 

amount of calcium needed for proper clarification). 

The calcium salts of organic acids do not 

precipitate during the clarification process and 

increase the insoluble impurities and ash of the 

final product [Honig, 1963]. This can be seen in 

Figures 9 and 10 that show a high correlation of 

lactic acid with insoluble impurities and ICUMSA 

color in clarified juice. That is, the higher the lactic 

acid concentration, the greater the amount of 

insoluble material and color compounds in the 

clarified juice that will probably follow on to other 

operations of sugar manufacture, contributing to a 

decrease in the sugar quality. 

5. Influence of dextran concentration 

In clarification, colloids may affect the 

coalescence of particulate matter, interfering 


in their coagulation and precipitation [Simpson, 1996]. With 

the growth of microorganisms, there is more production of 

undesirable colloidal materials, which has a large effect in 

clarification, probably more than any other factor [Honig 1963]. 

Deteriorated cane juice never results in a clear clarified 

juice [Honig, 1963] and this can be observed in Figures 11 

to 13, where the concentration of dextran, a polysaccharide 

formed by bacterial activity, is correlated to turbidity and color 

of clarified juice and color of VHP sugar, respectively. Dextran 

(or some substance related to dextran production) inhibits the 

precipitation of juice impurities, mainly polysaccharides and other 

macromolecules (Indigenous Sugar Cane Polysaccharide) that 

may be associated with cane pigments (phenolic compounds). 

These pigments have a tendency to include in the sugar crystal, 

impacting on their quality [Moore et al., 2002]. As can be seen in 

Figures 12 and 13, each increase of 100 mg/L (on Brix basis) of 

dextran in cane will increase 800 color units in clarified juice and 

65 color units in VHP sugar. 

Conclusion 

This study aimed to understand the main factors that influence 

the process of clarification of sugarcane juice in the production 

of VHP sugar. For this, samples from the clarification process 

were collected and analyzed for several parameters such as 

concentration of sugars, organic acids, dextran and minerals. 

It was noted during the study that the parameters that most 

influenced negatively the clarification process and quality of VHP 

sugar were the concentration of monosaccharides (glucose and 

fructose), lactic acid, acetic acid and dextran. All of them are the result 

of bacterial contamination. These parameters were correlated with 

turbidity, solid impurities and color of the clarified juice and also the 

color of the VHP sugar. Undesirable effects of these substances can 

be cited: 

1. increase the acidity of juice, hydrolysis of sucrose and 

sequestration of calcium by organic acids; 

2. formation of colored and melassigenic compounds due to 

destruction of glucose and fructose in the heaters and vacuum 

pans; and 

3. interference with the settling of impurities due to the high 

surface activity of particles of dextran. This protective colloid 

characteristic inherent to dextran should hinder the settling of 

other polysaccharides from sugarcane that may be associated 

with sugarcane pigments (polyphenols) and thus contribute to 

increasing the color of the juice and sugar. Also the dextran will 

interfere in settling other substances that contribute to turbidity, 

such as proteins, and colloidal silica in the form of calcium salts. 

Regarding phosphorus, its concentration was below the ideal 

for obtaining a good clarification in the analyzed juice samples. 

Its importance was confirmed by its positive correlation with the 

quality of clarified juice and sugar. 

Acknowledgements 

To RAÍZEN - Costa Pinto Mill for generously providing the samples, 


Born to run 

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top of its class, is low maintenance and designed 

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GEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbH 

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558 



Figure 11. Correlation (5% significance) between ICUMSA Turbidity in 

Clarified Juice and Dextran concentration (mg/L on Brix basis) in cane 


clarified juice and dextran concentration (mg/L on Brix basis) in cane 

Figure 13. Correlation (1% significance) between ICUMSA color of VHP 

sugar and dextran concentration (mg/L on Brix basis) in cane 


in particular to Mr. Rogério Satoru Tanabe and 

Mr. Pedro Ramos. 

† Winner of the Margaret A. Clarke Best Paper 

Award at the 2010 SPRI Conference on Sugar 

Processing Research. 

References 

Bento, L.S.M. (2008) Colorants through cane sugar 

production and refining. Sugar Processing Research 

Conference held in Delray Beach, Florida, USA, 2008. 

Clarke, M.A., Bergeron, J. and Cole, F. (1987) A 

rapid dextran screening test. Sugar y Azucar 82(3): 

23-24. 

Eggleston, G, Monge, A and Pepperman, A. (2002) 

Preheating and incubation of cane juice prior to liming: 

A comparison of intermediate and cold lime clarification. 

J. Agric. Food Chem. 50: 484-490. 

Eggleston, G. and Amorim, H.V. (2006) Reasons 

for the chemical destruction of sugars during the 

processing of sugarcane for raw sugar and fuel alcohol 

production. International Sugar Journal 108: 271-282. 

Honig, P. (1963) Principles of Sugar Technology. 

Amsterdam: Elsevier Pub.: 767p. 

Moore, S., Andrews, L., Godshall, M.A. and Triche, 

R. (2002) The role of enzymes in polysaccharide 

degradation in cane sugar processing. Proc. Sugar 

Processing Research Conference held in New Orleans, 

Louisiana, USA, 10-13 March 2002: 401-410. 

Simpson, R. (1996) The chemistry of clarification. 

Proc. S. Afr. Sug. Technol. Ass. 70: 267. 

Walford, S.N. (2003) A review of analytical 

procedures for the determination of silica. Sugar Milling 

Research Institute Technical Report 1925. University of 

Natal, Durban. 

Zapata, N.J.G. (2007) Aconitic acid from sugarcane: 

Production and industrial application. Thesis of the 

Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and 

Agricultural and Mechanical College. 


Advanced controls for a biomass boiler † 

D. Moller 1* and R. Ironside 2 

1 New South Wales Sugar Milling Co-Operative, Broadwater, Australia. 

2 Robert Ironside and Associates Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia. 

* Contact author: Email: dmoller@nswsugar.com.au 

abstract 

Broadwater Sugar Mill has installed a new high-pressure co-generation boiler that is able to use a wide range of 

fuel to provide steam energy for both the generation of electricity and processing sugar. The control limits for the 

steam conditions are very tight being + 10˚C at 510˚C at 72 bar pressure. Due to the wide range of fuel types burnt 

in the boiler, the control system has been modified to be able to cope with these changes while still delivering a 

constant steam pressure and temperature output. This paper discusses the introduction of an on line “calorific” 

calculator and its utilisation in the advanced control of the boiler. It has been possible, after the introduction of 

the CV corrector control loop, to change fuel from straight bagasse to straight woodchip in less than 2 min while 

maintaining smooth, automatic operation of the boiler. 

Keywords: boiler, calorific value, cogeneration, control 

Controles avanzados para una caldera de biomasa 

El ingenio azucarero de Broadwater ha instalado una nueva caldera de alta presión para co-generación que puede utilizar un amplio rango de 

combustibles para proveer energía de vapor tanto para la generación de electricidad como para la producción de azúcar. Los límites de control 

para las condiciones del vapor son muy estrechos siendo de + 10°C a 510°C y a una presión de 72 bar. Debido al amplio rango de combustibles 

que se queman en la caldera, el sistema de control ha sido modificado para poder hacer frente a estos cambios al mismo tiempo que se mantiene 

una salida a presión y temperatura constantes. Este trabajo examina la introducción de un calculador “calorífico” en línea y su uso en el control 

avanzado de la caldera. Después de introducir un ciclo de control corrector de CV, fue posible cambiar el combustible de sólo bagazo a sólo astillas 

de madera en menos de 2 minutos mientras se mantenía constante la operación automática de la caldera. 

Controles avançados para uma caldeira de biomassa* 

A usina de açúcar de Broadwater instalou uma nova caldeira de alta pressão de co-geração que é capaz de usar uma ampla gama de combustível 

para fornecer energia a vapor para geração de energia elétrica e processamento de açúcar. Os limites de controle para as condições de vapor são 

muito limitados, sendo de +10 ° C a 510° C a 72 de pressão de barra. Devido à variedade de tipos de combustível queimado na caldeira, o sistema 

de controle foi modificado para ser capaz de lidar com essas mudanças e ainda oferece uma saída de pressão e temperatura de vapor constante. 

Este artigo discute a introdução de uma calculadora on line de “poder calorífico” e sua utilização no controle avançado da caldeira. Foi possível, 

após a introdução do controle de loop CV corretor, para alterar o combustível do bagaço em tira para lascas em menos de 2 min, mantendo a 

operação suave e automática da caldeira. 

Broadwater co-generation boiler 

The Broadwater co-generation boiler was commissioned in 2008 

to operate on both bagasse-based fuel and woodchip-based 

fuel. The boiler design consists of a large, fully water-cooled 

membrane furnace coupled with a two-drum, single pass, baffleless 

convection bank. 

A two-stage pendant superheater with an inter-stage spray 

type de-superheater is used for final steam temperature control. 

The boiler is top supported with the furnace walls, steam drum 

and superheater headers suspended from the steel support 

structure, free to accommodate all expansion movements. 

The convection bank and water drum are supported by the 

steam drum. The floor supported twin traveling bottom grate 

is located directly below the furnace with a large horizontal 


expansion joint providing the gas seal while allowing for differential 

expansion. 

Gas flow through the boiler is from the furnace, through the 

primary superheater, secondary superheater, convection bank, 

secondary air-heater, economiser, and primary air-heater before 

entering the wet scrubber and exiting via the stack. 

Maximum Continuous Rating (MCR) of the boiler on the range 

of design fuels is 152 t/hr of superheated steam at 7,100 kPag 

and 520°C. 

The boiler operates as a balanced draft unit with a single, 

fixed-speed forced draft fan with inlet damper control and a 

single, variable-speed induced draft (ID) fan, with an inlet damper 

control for fine adjustment. 

Fuel is delivered to the boiler via the fuel handling system to 

five chain feeders located at the front of the furnace. Each variable 


559

560 

Advanced controls for a biomass boiler 

speed feeder is independently controlled and delivers metered 

fuel to a pneumatic distributor mounted in the front wall of the 

furnace. The average feeder speed is controlled from the output 

of the boiler master, which automatically adjusts for the actual 

feeder speed of each of the five feeders. It is also possible to 

individually bias each feeder to ensure that there is a good even 

feed of fuel to the entire boiler grate and to ensure that there is no 

piling in front of individual feeders. 

The pneumatic distributors throw the fuel into the furnace. 

Ambient air is supplied to the pneumatic distributors by the 

pneumatic distributor fan. The pneumatic distributor pressure is 

controlled using an actuated damper on the outlet of the fan 

The furnace secondary air system consists of three rear wall 

and one front wall rows of jets installed to aid combustion stability 

and maximise fuel burn-out/residence time. The secondary air 

system uses hot air from the forced draft system boosted by the 

dedicated secondary air fan. The dampers on the secondary air 

system are manually set. All fans are electrically driven. 

A distillate-fired oil burner is centrally located within the rear wall of 

the furnace to provide combustion support and allow boiler start-up. 

A horizontal wet scrubber is installed immediately upstream 

of the ID fan after the final air heater surface to remove dust 

particulates to within licence emission levels before exhausting to 

the atmosphere via a 60 m tall freestanding, refractory lined stack. 

Boiler feed-water is sourced from the de-aerator / feed-water 

tank located at the front of the boiler. Two, fully redundant, 

electrically driven boiler feed pumps lift the water from the 

basement to the steam drum via the finned economiser. 

The combustion challenge 

This boiler uses a wide range of fuels. During the crushing season 

the main fuel is bagasse, whereas in the non-crush period the 

main fuel is stockpiled wood-chip based fuel. As the feeders are 

volumetric based feeders, there is a wide range in the “calorific 

density” of these fuels. In this context the “calorific density” is 

the heating value of the fuel per unit volume. The volume-based 

definition is essential to relate to the volume-based feeders. 

Woodchip-based fuel has a higher calorific density than 

bagasse-based fuels. Similarly, the actual calorific value of the 

different fuels can vary greatly with little difference in density. 

When operating on a single homogeneous fuel, it is easy to tune 

the systems on the boiler to operate stably and efficiently. It would 

also be possible to save these settings so that next time this fuel 

type is being burnt, these settings could be used. However, due to 

large variations in the fuels, the control system for this boiler has to 

Table 1. CV corrector operation 


cope with a continuum of biomass-based fuels with a wide range of 

moisture levels. It is also possible, due to the configuration of the fuel 

handling systems, for these fuel types to change in a timeframe of 

less than two minutes. This can happen while in-loading woodchip 

during the season while there is a crushing stoppage. 

The control systems that need to be able to respond to these 

changes include the feeder speed, air to fuel ratio, and pneumatic 

distributor pressure control. 

Calorific measurement 

Fuel type CV corrector Maximum feeder Boiler master Actual feeder 

value speed (r/min) output % speed (r/min) 

Bagasse 1.0 1000 100 1000 

Dry wood 0.3 300 100 300 

Bagasse + wood 0.7 700 100 700 

Bagasse 1.0 1000 50 500 

Dry wood 0.3 300 50 150 

Bagasse + wood 0.7 700 50 350 

Direct calorific measurement is time consuming and difficult. 

Similarly, any secondary measurement would still require a 

significant amount of direct calorific analysis in order to keep 

within calibration. 

But what is calorific value? “The heat of combustion (ΔH c 0) 

is the energy released as heat when a compound undergoes 

complete combustion with oxygen under standard conditions” 

(Anon., 2010). There is a very simple way to get an indication 

of the calorific value (CV) by looking at the energy in the steam. 

Given that the normal operation for this boiler is at a fixed steam 

pressure and temperature, due to the required inlet conditions of 

the turbine, the energy in the steam is proportional to steam flow. 

When energy output is compared to energy input (the feeder 

speed), the result is an indication of the calorific density of the 

fuel. At Broadwater, automatic adjustment for calorific value is 

done in a control loop called the CV corrector. 

Before the comparison can be made between the fuel flow and 

the steam flow, they must be converted to the same units. The unit 

chosen was percentage of the maximum continuous rating (% MCR). 

The CV corrector is a control loop that seeks to match the 

process variable (steam flow % MCR), to the fuel flow (as a % 

MCR from the boiler master output), by varying the manipulated 

variable (CV corrector). The way in which the CV Corrector is able 

to manipulate the process variable is by adjusting the maximum 

feeder speed. Note that the actual feeder speed is still controlled 

from the output of the boiler master control. The effect of this can 

be seen in Table 1. 

As both the process variable and the set value are moving 

independently, the tuning of this loop is slow, which is enough to 

respond to the changes in fuel rather than a tighter control which may 

also respond to other influences such as changes in steam demand. 

In this way an extra control loop, using no additional equipment 

or measurement, is able to automatically compensate for changes 

in the calorific density of the fuel. 

As the boiler master control loop is controlling the steam 

pressure, and the CV Corrector is matching 

the steam flow to the boiler master output, 

the two control loops are not in conflict with 

one another. However, care must be taken 

to ensure that the primary response is the 

boiler master with the secondary response 

being the CV corrector. Combined, these 

control loops are able to react to a change 

from straight bagasse to straight woodchip 

within 2 minutes. 

The CV corrector has three immediate 

useful benefits: 


1. It allows the boiler master to use its full range of output to 

control the boiler over a wide range of fuel types. 

2. This value is a direct indication of the “calorific density” of the 

fuel and thus of fuel quality. 

3. Once there is a measure of fuel quality / calorific density it can 

be used to control some other parameters on the boiler. 

PD air control 

Pneumatic distribution (PD) air is the cold air that is added into 

the fuel stream to “throw” the fuel in the boiler. If the fuel is lighter 

(i.e. bagasse) then the PD pressure should be reduced so that 

the bagasse is not thrown to hit the rear wall. As the density of 

the fuel increases (i.e. the percentage of woodchip increases) 

the PD pressure is increased to ensure that the heavier fuel is 

thrown further to the rear of the furnace to allow sufficient time 

for complete combustion. 

The CV corrector is used to control the PD pressure to ensure 

optimum spreading of the fuel over the grate. Lower CV corrector 

values (0.3) are indicative of heavier wood particles so the PD pressure 

is increased. As the CV corrector moves to the normal bagasse range 

(from 0.3 to 1.0), the PD pressure is reduced to control the spread 

of lighter material. When the CV corrector increases above 1.0, it 

indicates poorer wet fuel and so the PD pressure is increased to 

ensure that the wet material is thrown toward the rear of the furnace 

to allow maximum time for the material to burn. 

Other control features of the boiler 

Secondary air control 

The secondary air is controlled in this boiler by two methods: 

• changing the secondary air pressure 

• changing the setting of the manual dampers outside the boiler. 

By changing the distribution of secondary air, the location of 

the fireball can be changed, which will assist in control of steam 

temperature over a wide range of steam flows. Changing the 

distribution of heated air between under grate and secondary air 

controls the location of the total air entering the furnace. 

The manual damper settings have been adjusted so that the 

majority of the secondary air enters the lower half of the furnace. 

The bottom front and the bottom rear dampers are fully open, 

whereas the rear middle is 50% open and the rear top is fully 

closed. When secondary air is used in this boiler it creates an area 

of very high turbulence close to the grate. In addition to lowering 

the location of the fireball, away from the superheater tubes, it also 

assists in burning away any material that has built up on the grate. 

The secondary air pressure is controlled by looking at the interstage 

de-superheater spray valve position. If the de-superheater 

spray valve is greater than 25% open, it indicates the steam 

temperature is becoming too high. The secondary air pressure 

increases, putting more secondary air into the furnace, reducing 

the amount of under-grate air entering the furnace in order to 

maintain the same total air flow into the furnace. By introducing 

additional secondary air, replacing under-grate air, it has the 

effect of lowering the fireball, taking it further away from the 

superheater tubes, and thus reducing the steam temperature. 


Boiler total air control 

Before the CV corrector was introduced into the boiler control, 

the air to fuel ratio was a significant problem for the operation of 

the boiler. All of the variations in the calorific density of fuel were 

compensated by changes in the boiler master. This meant that 

for the same heat input (or steam output) the boiler master might 

operate at 20% on woodchip and 60% or more on bagasse. 

As the air to fuel ratio was proportional to the boiler master, 

when the fuel changed from bagasse to woodchip, air was cut 

back by two thirds. This cut back resulted in poor combustion, 

dark smoke with higher emission levels, and problems with the 

fuel not burning because of insufficient air. 

With the CV corrector in operation, the control system 

operates at the same % MCR on the boiler master for all 

ranges of fuel calorific values. The air to fuel ratios are now 

significantly more stable, which has resulted in a greatly improved 

automatic operation of the boiler, resulting in less manual 

operator intervention. 

Oxygen trim 

Oxygen trim is also a control loop that trims the air to fuel ratio by 

looking at oxygen level at the furnace exit. In the total air control 

loop, within operating ranges, the amount of air is determined by 

stoichiometry to give a small amount of excess air. This level of 

excess air is then trimmed (controlled) using the actual furnace 

exit oxygen to control a multiplier (that ranges from 0.8 to 1.2) of 

the stoichiometry suggested airflow. 

The control also allows for a small oxygen bias to be included 

into the calculation. This bias is set by the operators to maintain 

complete combustion with minimum excess air. In practice, it 

is necessary to operate at a higher excess air when on straight 

woodchip than is required while operating on straight bagasse. 

The actual multiplier set point for the oxygen trim also changes 

depending upon the firing rate of the boiler to allow sufficient air 

to keep the fireball stable at all operating ranges. 

Conclusions 

The addition of a simple control loop, using measurements that 

already existed, has resulted in turning a boiler that required 

significant manual intervention during a change in fuel to a boiler 

that is able to respond to fuel changes automatically. The CV 

corrector also provides a direct, immediate indication of fuel 

quality, as well as being a useful tool to assist in the control of 

other boiler parameters. Although not directly relevant to boilers 

that only burn one fuel type, any boiler that burns fuels of different 

calorific values will benefit from the addition of this control loop. 

† This paper was presented at the 2011 Australian Society of Sugar 

Cane Technologists annual conference and is published here with 

the agreement of the Society. 

References 

Advanced controls for a biomass boiler 

Anon. (2010) Calorific value definition. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ 

Heat_of_combustion (accessed 22 December 2010). 


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Sugarcane value chain crucial time: 

The point of view of its industry 

Marco Antonio Conejero 1 and Rafaela Ponce 2 

PwC Agribusiness Research & Knowledge Center, Av. Antonio Diederichsen, no. 400, 22o. Andar, 

Ribeirão Preto - SP, Brasil 14020-250. 

1 Tel: +55 16 2133 6694 Email: marco.conejero@br.pwc.com pwc.com.br 

2 Tel: +55 16 2133 6666 Email: rafaela.ponce@br.pwc.com pwc.com.br 

abstract 

The sugarcane industry is facing a crucial time at this moment in Brazil. Relevant issues related to agricultural and 

industrial production as well as trade and Governmental policies, are being discussed in a problematic scenario. 

In this sense, in order to identify the main points of view of the stakeholders involved in this industry, a survey was 

conducted to clarify this debate. The survey has approached financial, economic, labor, logistic, infrastructure, tax 

issues as well as public policies and the necessity of government actions. This article presents an overview of the 

survey final results and a range of challenges that the sugarcane should face now and in the next years. 

Keywords: competitiveness, public policies, sugarcane, survey, value chain 

Momento crucial para la cadena de comercialización de la caña de azúcar: el punto de vista de la industria 

La industria de la caña de azúcar está enfrentando un momento crucial en Brasil en la actualidad. En un escenario problemático se están discutiendo 

puntos relevantes vinculados con la producción industrial y agrícola así como el comercio y las políticas gubernamentales. En este sentido, para 

identificar los puntos de vista principales de los sectores interesados comprometidos en esta industria se ha llevado a cabo un relevamiento a fin 

de esclarecer este debate. El relevamiento ha abordado lo financiero, económico, trabajo, logística, infraestructura, temas impositivos, así como 

políticas públicas y la necesidad de acción por parte del gobierno. Este artículo presenta un resumen de los resultados finales del estudio, y un 

rango de los desafíos que debe enfrentar la caña de azúcar en el presente y en los años venideros. 

Um momento de reflexão para cadeia produtiva da cana-de-açúcar: a opinião do setor 

O setor sucroenergético vem passando por um momento crítico no Brasil. Importantes questões relacionadas à produção agrícola e industrial, 

assim como políticas comerciais e governamentais, vêm sendo discutidas neste cenário problemático. Nesse sentindo, com a finalidade de 

identificar os pontos de vista de todos envolvidos nesta cadeia, uma pesquisa foi desenvolvida para clarear este debate. A pesquisa abordou 

questões financeiras, econômicas, trabalhistas, logísticas, de infraestrutura, assim como políticas públicas e a necessidade de atuação do Governo. 

Este artigo apresenta um panorama dos resultados finais da pesquisa e os desafios que o setor sucroenergético deve enfrentar no momento e nos 

próximos anos. 

Introduction: The survey 

In the period concerning March, 20th and May, 10th of 2012, 

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), in a partnership with the 

National Center of the Industries of the Sugar, Ethanol and 

Biofuels Sector (CEISE Br) and the website Sucrotrends, has 

conducted a survey to find out some points of view of the 

current situation of the sugar and ethanol sector in Brazil. 

PwC was responsible for elaborating the questions, analyzing 

the data and presenting the final results, CEISE Br has 

promoted the survey between its partners and helped in the 

final presentation, while Sucrotrends website has made the 

questionnaire available in the internet, compiling afterwards 

the results obtained. 


As the proposal of the survey was to capture the feelings 

and opinions of the people closely involved to the sector, the 

following questions were elaborated to guide it: “Which makes 

the Brazilian sugar and ethanol sector a success? What are 

the concerns about the future of this sector? Which are the 

successful and the worrying factors that exist in this sector?” 

In order to bring more detailed results, the questions had 

different formats such as Likert scale (e.g. completely agree, 

completely disagree) or ordinal scales (e.g. which factor is the 

most important?) and brought into discussion the main issues 

for agricultural and industrial production together with the 

commercialization of sugar, ethanol and bioelectricity. 

Although at a first glance it seemed that there were few 

respondents - about 120 - when analyzing their profile (Figure 


1) it was possible to conclude that the people that attended 

to the survey were straightly related to the sugar and ethanol 

sector: 40% were service providers (consultants, salesmen, 

researchers, professors), 24% mill employees, 11% were from 

industries that provide equipment to the mills and 3% were 

sugarcane producers. When asked about their position in their 

companies, 56% answered that they were in a management 

position such as president, director or manager, 27% were in 

staff positions and 11% were service providers. 

Findings 

Starting the analysis with the results of the questions related to 

the agricultural production (Figure 2), in this issue, 60-80% of 

the respondents classified as important factors that influence 

Figure 1. Profile of the respondents of the survey 

Source: PwC, CEISE Br e Sucrotrends (2012). Elaborated by PwC Agribusiness Research & Knowledge Center. 

Figure 2. Main results of the survey in the agricultural production 





in the success of this activity the productivity of sugarcane 

fields, the quality of agricultural operations, the quality of 

sugarcane when arriving in the mill and the average age of the 

fields. Then, when the question was more focused and invited 

them to point out which factor between the others was the 

most important, the agricultural productivity was the first one, 

with 23% of the answers, followed closely by the quality of 

agricultural operations, with 19% of the votes. 

When talking about the limiting factors in the sugarcane 

production, the issues mentioned were the shortage of skilled 

labor, the low rate of renewal of sugarcane fields - this related 

to the lack of credit in this sense, and the oscillation of prices 

of inputs and final products. This last factor was chosen as the 

most worrying by 28% of the interviewees. In the second place, 

with 15% of answers was the renewal rate and then, with 14% 

of votes, the lack of skilled 

labor. 

Now, focusing in the 

industrial production (Figure 

3), for 50-75% of the 120 

interviewees the quality 

control in the industrial 

plant is the most important 

thing to make this activity 

successful. Inside this are 

subjects related to industrial 

efficiency, control of losses, 

monitoring of the quality of 

sugarcane and, one more 

time, the lack of skilled 

labor. Among these factors, 

the industrial efficiency was 

chosen as the most relevant 

by 32% of the respondents. 

Also in industrial 

production, the worrying 

factors noticed in the 

sector by 40-50% of the 

interviewees were the sector 

indebtedness, the logistics 

infrastructure in the country, 

the availability of skilled labor 

and the professionalization 

of the sector. When the 

question about the most 

limiting factor was asked, 

these three factors appeared 

again and represented 63% 

of the votes. In the first 

place, according to 24% 

of the respondents, is the 

sector indebtedness, which, 

as a consequence, can 

lead to the other factors 

mentioned above. 

Following the links of 

the sugar and ethanol value 

chain, the last section of 


563

564 



Figure 3. Main results of the survey in the industrial production 


Figure 4. Main results of the survey in the commercialization and logistics of sugar, 

ethanol and bioelectricity 


the survey was the commercialization of sugar, ethanol and 

bioelectricity (Figure 4). At this point, the most common 

answers mentioned the relationship of distributors and clients, 

the implementation of Good Practices of Corporate Governance 

and the management of the prices of final products. In the next 

question, the utilization of practices of Corporate Governance 

was pointed as the most important factor for 32% of the 

respondents of the study and, the sum of the votes of this 

topic together with the management of final prices and the 

relationship with distributors and clients accounted for 75% of 

the answers. 

Trying to go deep in the subjects surrounding each of the 

final products - sugar, ethanol and bioelectricity (Figure 5) - the 

answers concerning the limiting factors in commercialization 

were specific for each one. In this way, for sugar production, 

the most mentioned factor that can limit the expansion of the 

sector is the exports logistics, cited by 40% of the people. The 


other three important issues 

noted are all connected with 

international trade: global 

demand (27%), international 

prices oscillation (22%) and 

the competition with other 

countries (11%). 

In the case of ethanol, the 

focus of the respondents was 

the Brazilian market and, in 

this sense, the most limiting 

factors in their point of view 

were the existing taxation of 

ethanol (26% of interviewees), 

the gasoline prices (20%) and 

the internal demand (15%). 

Other subjects remembered 

by the respondents were the 

existence of international 

barriers, that difficult exports 

and the high concentration of 

fuel distributors in Brazil. 

The last product analyzed 

was the bioelectricity, in which 

the situation that concerns 

the respondents the most, 

about 33%, is the formation 

of market prices. Then, the 

other worries mentioned 

are linked with the need of 

investments in this part of 

the chain, for example, there 

are issues such as the lack 

of credit for the expansion 

of cogeneration capacity and 

the difficulties to access the 

electricity grid. 

Conclusions: The 

current and future 

challenges 

Considering the analysis of all the answers obtained, the 

conclusions (Figure 6) showed some challenges this industry 

has to face. The great part of the topics classified as important 

by the respondents were, in their opinion, connected to the 

necessity of government actions specific for the industry. 

It is important to mention that this kind of observation 

was made in all the links of the sugar and ethanol value 

chain, from agricultural and industrial production until the 

commercialization. In common, the solicitations include the 

availability of credit for increasing the investments in the 

renewal of fields and the improvement of the policies regarding 

the prices formation - more evident in the ethanol and 

bioelectricity cases. 

In addition, in this topic, other point mentioned is the latent 

need of the intervention of the government to help in the 

reduction of the indebtedness of the companies of the sector. 


Figure 5. Most worrying factors for the sugar, ethanol and bioelectricity market growth 


Some commentaries mentioned that, although there have 

been some movements of the government to offer financial 

resources, there is a lack of actions in the direction of making 

this money really available for the companies. The explanation 

for this is that the financial entities require guarantees that the 

sector cannot give. 

In the vision of the respondents, the implementation of 

policies in order to revert the situation currently experienced 

Figure 6. Main challenges for the sector according to the survey 





by the sector is also 

linked with the necessity 

of creation of programs 

to stimulate the 

competitiveness of the 

Brazilian agribusiness 

industry as a whole. This 

includes the investments 

to improve the logistics 

infrastructure in the 

country and the creation 

of programs focused 

in the qualification and 

training of labor force. 

Additionally, are required 

investments and public 

policies to empower the 

productive potential of 

the inputs industries such 

as machinery, fertilizers 

and agrochemicals. 

The action of the 

government is also very demanded in the ethanol market, which 

nowadays suffers with the competition with the incentives given 

to the gasoline. A first step to solve this problem would be the 

reduction or elimination of the taxes that currently incur in ethanol 

but not in gasoline. This could stimulate the consumption of this 

type of fuel in Brazil and, consequently, improve the growth 

of the industry. The same kind of thinking could be applied in 

the bioelectricity sector, 

which has been suffering 

with low prices, as in 

the energy auctions it 

is compared with other 

sources with lower costs. 

Although the public 

efforts are necessary, it is 

important to emphasize 

the significance of the 

actions in the corporate 

environment, too. Some 

examples for this are 

the implementation of 

practices of Corporate 

Governance in the 

management and the 

constant utilization of 

tools of control in the 

industrial processes. 

The use of this kind of 

strategies can lead to the 

professionalization of the 

sector, which can prepare 

the companies not only 

to face the market in a 

more competitive way, 

but also to be worthy to 

ask for changes. 


565

566 

On-line scale monitoring device † 

D.W. Rackemann, 1* , L. Cripps 2 , P. Chohan 3 , C.P. East 1 and W.O.S. Doherty 1 

1 Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. 

2 Tully Sugar Limited, Tully, Australia. 

3 Maryborough FNQ Sugar Services Pty Ltd, Tableland, Australia. 

* Contact author: Email: d.rackemann@qut.edu.au 

abstract 

Developments in evaporator cleaning have accelerated in the past 10 years as a result of an extended period of 

research into scale formation and scale composition. Chemical cleaning still provides the most cost effective method 

of cleaning the evaporators. The paper describes a system that was designed to obtain on-line samples of evaporator 

scale negating the need to open up hot evaporator vessels for scale collection. This system was successfully 

implemented in a number of evaporators at a sugar mill. This paper also describes a recent experience in a sugar 

factory in which the cleaning procedure was slightly modified, resulting in effective removal of intractable scale. 

Keywords: chemical cleaning, fouling, heat exchangers, scale monitoring 

Dispositivo en línea para monitorear el sarro 

Los desarrollos en la limpieza de los evaporadores se han acelerado durante los últimos diez años como resultado de un extenso período de 

investigaciones sobre la formación y composición del sarro. La limpieza química aún provee el método más efectivo en costo para limpiar los 

evaporadores. Este trabajo describe un sistema diseñado para obtener muestras en línea del sarro de los evaporadores evitando la apertura de 

los recipientes calientes del evaporador para recolectar sarro. Este sistema fue puesto en marcha exitosamente en varios evaporadores en un 

ingenio azucarero. Este trabajo también describe un caso reciente en una fábrica de azúcar en la cual el procedimiento de limpieza fue ligeramente 

modificado teniendo como resultado la remoción efectiva de un sarro resistente al tratamiento. 

Dispositivo de monitoramento on-line de escala 

A evolução na limpeza do evaporador acelerou nos últimos 10 anos como resultado de um longo período de investigação para composição de 

escala e formação de escala. A limpeza química é o método mais eficaz de limpeza dos evaporadores. Este estudo descreve um sistema que foi 

concebido para obter amostras on-line de escala do evaporador, eliminando a necessidade de abrir os tubos de evaporador quente para coleta 

de escala. Este sistema foi implementado com sucesso em um número de evaporadores em uma usina de açúcar. Este artigo também descreve 

uma experiência recente em uma usina de açúcar, em que o procedimento de limpeza foi ligeiramente modificado, resultando em uma remoção 

eficaz de escala intratável. 

Introduction 

During juice evaporation, the heating surface area of sugar mill 

evaporators becomes increasingly scaled as a result of the 

deposition of inorganic and organic impurities. With increasing 

scale deposition the rate that heat can be transferred across 

the evaporator tubes is diminished and the net effect is a 

reduction in the capacity to concentrate juice to acceptable 

brix values. To maintain a nominated cane crushing rate, 

the No. 1 evaporator (i.e. first effect) calandria pressure will 

increase over the crushing cycle so as to provide a larger 

temperature difference across the evaporator set. However, 

once the low pressure steam valve to the first effect is fully 

opened, the operation rate for the set will decline due to 

increased scaling. 

As the performance of the evaporator station generally 

dictates crushing rate and factory stops, improving the production 

capacity of the evaporator station will have a positive impact 

on the factory’s overall productivity. The production capacity/ 

throughput of the evaporator station can be maximised through a 

number of strategies including: 


• Reducing the rate of scale formation through improved 

clarification performance. The aim of the clarification stage is 

to obtain clarified juice with minimum amounts of non-sucrose 

impurities, as the impurities that are not removed contribute to the 

amount of scale formed in the evaporators. 

• Monitoring the heat transfer coefficient (HTC) of individual 

evaporators allows the juice operating levels to be controlled and 

optimised. 

• Effective removal of scale. The evaporators’ heating surfaces 

should be devoid of scale so that no nucleation sites are available 

to accelerate scaling in the subsequent juice processing period 

and hence impact on HTC. This is achieved through the use of 

an effective chemical cleaning program. Knowledge on scale 

composition provides useful information that can be used to 

identify an effective chemical cleaning program. 

Other factors that impact on evaporator station performance 

are scale composition and intensity associated with cane 

quality and weather effects. There appears to be a seasonal 

influence on the rate of scaling and an in-season effect as scaling 

rates appear to be higher late in the season (Crees et al., 1992). 


Figure 1. A cross sectional view of the evaporator scale probe 

Many sugar factories are now involved in cogeneration of 

power in order to increase their product base, and thus become 

more economically stable by relying less on raw sugar. As a 

result, reducing the amount of steam used by the factory is 

necessary which invariably increases the bleeding of vapour from 

evaporators to heaters and pans. To maintain constant vapour 

bleeding from an evaporator station, the HTC across the station 

should be at a high and constant value so that the temperature of 

bleeding vapour available for heating is adequate. 

Cleaning regimes adopted in the industry for evaporator 

vessels have changed over the years as technology has changed 

and the sugar industry has moved to continuous crushing. The 

industry has moved from mechanical brushing to the use of 

caustic soda (alone), to the use of caustic soda, sulfamic acid and 

ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) for specific vessels and to 

MCC3000 

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the use of special chemical 

formulations. For a sugar 

mill to effectively clean an 

evaporator set throughout 

the season, a better 

understanding of the types 

of scale and distribution 

through the set is required. 

This paper describes 

a system designed to 

obtain on-line samples of 

evaporator scales. It also describes how a sugar mill improved 

chemical cleaning procedures to remove intractable scale. 

Evaporator scale monitoring 

a Smart Eye 

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phone: +33 (0) 442 977 700 

On-line scale monitoring device 

Sugar factories attain an indication that the amount of scale 

deposited in an evaporator set is affecting the crushing rate, 

and must stop and clean the evaporators, from the following 

observations: 

• unacceptably high levels of evaporator supply juice in the tank 

• unacceptably high levels of liquor in tanks for evaporators and pans 

• low liquor brix 

• reduced steam flow rates and hence reduced amount of 

condensate 

• HTC trending towards low values. 

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567

568 


Scale sampling probes 

Timely analysis of evaporator scale would assist in the identification 

of the best cleaning formulation for effective scale removal, 

minimising chemical cleaning costs, downtime and production 

rate. Obtaining samples of scale during the crushing season is 

difficult as, even when a mill stops for chemical cleaning, the heat 

present in the vessels prevents human access. 

Consequently, scale samples are normally obtainable during 

a factory breakdown or at the end of the season. In 1996, Dr 

Doherty and colleagues at James Cook University, Townsville 

constructed a mechanical device which enabled scale samples 

to be collected during cleaning or maintenance stops without the 

need to wait for the vessels to cool to working temperatures. 

This device is only suitable for Roberts’ evaporator tubes and 

requires an operator with a measure of skill to effectively remove 

scales from the tubes. The whole operation takes some time 

because it requires the manhole of the evaporator to be opened 

and the operator to wear additional personal protective equipment. 

Recently an evaporator probe was designed and constructed 

to collect scale samples from sugar mill evaporators. The probe 

was designed so that it could be removed when needed (without 

requiring the evaporator vessel to be opened) and the scale deposited 

on the probe surface collected by mechanical means. The surface 

temperature of the probe was maintained close to that of the calandria 

within the evaporator vessel by external heating and control. A 

schematic diagram of the evaporator probe is shown in Figure 1. 

The evaporator probe was constructed from a 500 mm length 

of 44.45 mm diameter evaporator tube. This ensures that there is 

no difference in thermal conductivity between the calandria tubes 

and the probe. The tube was sealed at one end and was fitted into 

a machined stainless steel 2’ × 11/4’ reducing bush at the other. 

Pythagoras ceramic tube of 20 mm diameter was then wound 

with nichrome resistance wire to produce the heater element. 


The heater element was wrapped with fibrefax insulation and 

a residence temperature detector (RTD) element was fitted to 

the external surface of the insulation about half way along the 

element. The heater element was then inserted into the probe. 

The heater was powered with 24 V AC and the power to the 

probe was controlled to keep the probe surface temperature as 

measured with the internal RTD the same temperature as the LP 

steam or the vapour in the headspace of the previous vessel. 

The temperature profile of the probe, monitored over numerous 

weeks, was within 0.5 to 1°C of the calandria vapour temperature 

set point. This is to negate any impact that temperature differences 

will have on the type of scale deposited (Doherty and Wright, 

2004; Gill, 2002; Shames El Din et al., 2005). 

Results on scale monitoring during 2008 

and 2009 seasons 

Analysis of 2008 season scale 

Table 1. Visual characterisation of scale samples deposited on probes during 

middle of the 2008 season 

Effect no. Visual and tactile characterisation Scale components 

1 Dark chocolate scale with a coarse texture. Hydroxyapatite and organic matter. 

However, on the probe prior to removal, the The coarse nature of the scale 

scale had an almost ‘waxy’ consistency. indicated the presence of silica. 

2 Dark chocolate powder with a coarse texture. Hydroxyapatite, silica and 

organic matter 

4 Light to medium brown scale. Calcium oxalate and amorphous silica 

5 Light coloured scale. This probe contained Amorphous silica and calcium 

the largest amount of scale. oxalate 

Table 2. Scale composition (wt%) of samples collected from the probes at 

Tully Sugar Mill during the middle of the 2008 crushing season 

Component Effect no. 

1 2 4 5 

Amorphous silica 65 25 52 85 

Hydroxyapatite 18 40 21 10 

Iron oxide 1 16 2 None 

Calcium oxalate Trace None 21 6 

Organic matter 16 19 4

Table 3. Scale composition (wt%) of samples collected from the probes at Tully Sugar Mill 

at three times during the 2009 season 

Analysis of 2009 season scale 

At the start of the 2009 season, Tully Sugar Mill experienced 

reduced scale formation and the only measureable quantities of 

scale were deposited and collected from the No. 4 evaporator’s 

probe. In the middle of the season there were noticeable increases 

in scale intensity and scale samples were collected from Nos. 3, 4 

and 5 evaporators’ probes. There was a large amount of scale on 

the Nos. 4 and 5 probes relative to the No. 3 probe. Tully Mill staff 

observed a large amount of black polymeric material in the No. 3 

vessels, which was not readily noticeable on the No. 3 probe. This 

black polymeric material was collected after chemical cleaning 

and analysed by micro-elemental analysis and found to have a 


protein content of 6.6% 

whereas the protein 

content on the probe 

was found to be

570 


Figure 3. HTCs of evaporator vessels at Tableland Sugar Mill during 2011 season when 

the Mill was experiencing intractable scale 

are Roberts’ evaporators. The factory uses direct contact heaters 

for primary and secondary juice heating. The evaporator supply 

juice is not preheated before entering the first evaporator vessels 

and is typically at 97°C. 

During the 2011 season, the Mill was unable to effectively 

remove scale deposited in the Nos. 1B and 3 evaporators 

using their normal cleaning procedure. As such, scale samples 

from these evaporators where sent to Queensland University of 

Technology, Brisbane for analysis in order to determine why the 

cleaning program used by the Mill was no longer effective. 

On the basis of X-ray powder diffraction and X-ray fluorescence 

data, No. 1B scale contained 54% hydroxyapatite (Figure 2), 

16% amorphous silica, 4% iron oxide and 26% organic matter. 

The scale from No. 3 evaporator contained 39% hydroxyapatite 

(Figure 2), 20% amorphous silica, 3% iron oxide and 38% organic 

matter. The results therefore indicated that scales from No. 1B 

and No. 3 evaporators contain similar components, though the 

proportions of these components are different. From the results, 

it was not evident why the cleaning regime used by the Mill was 

unsuccessful. XRD and XRF are destructive techniques and only 

provide the overall chemical information of a scale deposit. No 

information on the existence of layers or on the composition of the 

scale surface can be derived using such techniques. 

Recently East et al. (2010) have used scanning electron 

microscopic methods in combination with X-ray powder diffraction 

to identify the composition of scale surfaces. Applying a similar 

approach to the scale samples from Tableland Mill, it was found 

that a layer of silica (strongly associated with hydroxyapatite) 

covered the surface of the scales. So it was concluded that the 

formation of this layer resulted in the ineffective cleaning of the 

evaporators at Tableland Mill. 

In the cleaning process at Tableland Mill, sulfamic acid, 

Rhodine 130 (inhibitor) and caustic soda/EDTA formulation are 


used in the cleaning of the 

evaporator set. The normal 

cleaning process involves 

adding acid into the No. 4 

evaporator and circulating 

via a dedicated service line 

to the No. 1A evaporator 

(vessel level kept constant 

at 90% to keep plates 

submerged during boiling) 

and then sequentially 

through the set (all Roberts’ 

vessel levels initially set 

at 65%). The heating time 

typically employed is ~70 

min at a temperature of 

80–90 °C maintained under 

full vacuum and with the 

boiling action considered 

as moderate. The operating 

levels in the Roberts’ 

vessels are ramped down 

(commencing approximately 

midway through the acid 

boil) to a final level of ~45%. 

This procedure results in very dilute acid solution (

vessel trials over several cleaning cycles. An on-line evaporator 

probe for collecting scale samples may have assisted Tableland 

Sugar Mill in determining a more effective cleaning protocol in a 

more timely manner. 

Conclusions 

An on-line scale sampling device has been designed and 

implemented in a number of evaporators at a sugar mill. The 

device represents an additional tool to Mill staff to determine the 

preferred chemical cleaning program in a timely fashion. 

Scale samples taken over a number of seasons have shown 

that the proportion of the scale components can vary significantly 

from season to season, and so may require slight changes in the 

chemical cleaning program. 

Recent experience at another sugar factory found slight 

modifications to the cleaning procedure were required to allow 

the effective removal of intractable scale atypical to the factory. 

Acknowledgments 

Sugar Research Development Corporation, Tully Sugar Mill 

Ltd and Maryborough FNQ Sugar Services Pty Ltd, Tableland 

are acknowledged for supporting this work. Mr Neil McKenzie 

of Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane is also 

acknowledged for designing and manufacturing the on-line 

evaporator scale probes. 




References 


Crees, O.L., Cuff, C., Doherty, W.O.S. and Senogles E. (1992) Examination 

of the evaporator scales for the far northern regions of the sugar industry. 

Proceedings of the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists 14: 238-245. 

Doherty, W.O.S. (2000) Chemical cleaning of sugar mill evaporators. 

Proceedings of the Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists 22: 

341-346. 

Doherty, W.O.S. and Wright P.G. (2004) A solubility model for calcium 

oxalate formation in a sugar mill. Proceedings of the Australian Society of 

Sugar Cane Technologists 26: 519-526. 

East, C.P., Doherty, W.O.S., Fellows, C.M. and Yu H. (2010) 

Characterisation of sugar juice heat exchanger tube deposit. Surface and 

Interface Analysis 43: 1231-1239. 

Gill, J.S. (2002) Inorganic mineral scale control in sugar evaporators 

using scale inhibitors. In ‘Advances in crystal growth inhibition technologies’. 

(Ed. Z. Amjad) pp 187-196 (Kluwer Academic Publishers: New York). 

Rackemann, D.W., Doherty W.O.S. and East C.P. (2011) Development 

of descriptor tools for the characterisation of Australian sugar mill 

evaporator scale. International Sugar Journal 113: 44-51. 

Shams El Din, A.M., El-Dahshan, M.E. and Mohammed R.A. (2005) 

Scale formation in flash chambers of high-temperature MSF distillers. 

Desalination 177: 241-258. 

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INTERNATIONAL Veco ad 180 x 130.indd SUGAR 1 JOURNAL 2012, VOL. 114, NO. 1364 

www.internationalsugarjournal.com 23-05-11 09:46 

571

572 

Maple syrup production with sap concentrated to 

high levels by membrane separation: Effects on syrup 

chemical composition and flavor 

A.K. van den Berg 1,* , T.D. Perkins 1 , M.L. Isselhardt 1 , M-A. Godshall 2 and S.W. Lloyd 3 

1 Proctor Maple Research Center, The University of Vermont, P.O. Box 233, Underhill Ctr., VT 05490, USA. 

2 Sugar Processing Research Institute Inc., 1100 Robert E. Lee Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70124, USA. 

3 United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Southern Regional Research Center, 

1100 Robert E. Lee Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70124, USA. 

*Contact author: Email: Abby.vandenBerg@uvm.edu Tel: +1 802 899 9926 Fax: +1 802 899 5007 

abstract 

Concentration of maple sap by membrane separation to greater than 20 °Brix prior to thermal evaporation could 

significantly increase the profitability of maple syrup production by reducing fuel costs and increasing the yield 

of high-value, light-colored syrup. However the effects of this practice on the overall quality of maple syrup, 

particularly on the unique flavor characteristics which underlie this sweetener’s high economic value, are unknown. 

The objective of this study was to determine if the chemical composition and flavor of syrup produced from sap 

concentrated to 21.5 °Brix differed significantly from those of syrup produced from the same sap concentrated to 

8 °Brix, the level currently utilized by maple producers. Maple syrup produced from sap concentrated to 21.5 °Brix 

was significantly lighter in color than syrup produced simultaneously from the same sap concentrated to 8 °Brix 

(p < 0.02). However, there were no other significant differences observed in the properties, composition, or 

perceived flavor of the two types of syrup. The results indicate that producing syrup with sap concentrated to 21.5 

°Brix does not significantly impact syrup quality, and thus that this is an acceptable practice producers can use to 

increase the profitability of maple syrup production. 

Keywords: evaporator, maple sap, maple syrup, membrane separation, sugar maple 

Producción de jarabe de arce con savia llevada a altos niveles de concentración mediante separación 

por membrana: efectos sobre la composición química y el sabor del jarabe 

La concentración de la savia de arce mediante separación por membrana hasta más de 20°Brix, previo a la evaporación térmica, puede significar un 

aumento significativo en la rentabilidad de la producción de jarabe de arce reduciendo los costos de combustible y aumentando el rendimiento de 

una jarabe de alto valor y baja coloración. Aun se desconocen los efectos de esta práctica sobre la calidad total del jarabe de arce, particularmente 

en sus singulares características gustativas sobre las que se basa el alto valor económico de este endulzante. El objetivo de este estudio fue 

determinar si la composición química y el sabor del jarabe producido con savia concentrada a 21,5° Brix diferían significativamente de los 

producidos con la misma savia, concentrada a 8° Brix, nivel utilizado habitualmente por los productores de arce. El jarabe de arce producido con 

savia concentrada a 21,5° Brix fue de color significativamente más claro que el producido simultáneamente con la misma savia, concentrada a 8° 

Brix, (p < 0,02). No obstante, no hubo otras diferencias significativas observadas en las propiedades, composición o sabor percibido entre los dos 

tipos de jarabe. Los resultados indican que producir jarabe con savia concentrada a 21,5° Brix no impacta significativamente sobre la calidad del 

jarabe y que, en consecuencia, es una práctica aceptable que los productores pueden utilizar para aumentar la rentabilidad de la producción de 

jarabe de arce. 

Produção de xarope de bordo com concentração de sap a altos níveis de separação por membrana: 

efeitos sobre a composição química de xarope e o sabor 

Concentração de seiva de bordo por separação por membrana para maior que 20 ° Brix antes à evaporação térmica podem aumentar 

significativamente a rentabilidade da produção de xarope de bordo, reduzindo os custos de combustível e aumentando o rendimento do xarope 

de alto valor e de cor clara. No entanto, os efeitos desta prática na qualidade global de xarope de bordo, especificamente sobre as características 

de sabor, que eleva o valor económico deste adoçante, são desconhecidos. O objetivo deste estudo foi determinar se a composição química e o 

sabor do xarope produzido do sap concentrado para 21,5 ° Brix difere significativamente daqueles produzido a partir do sap concentrado para 8 ° 

Brix, o nível atualmente utilizado pelos produtores de maple. O xarope produzido a partir de sap concentrado para 21,5 ° Brix foi significativamente 

mais leve na cor que o xarope produzido simultaneamente com SAP concentrado para 8 ° Brix (p 0,02). No entanto, houve outras diferenças não 

significativas observadas nas propriedades, composição, ou sabor dos dois tipos de xarope. Os resultados indicam que produção de xarope com 

sap concentrado para 21,5 ° Brix não afeta significativamente a qualidade do xarope, sendo uma prática aceitável que produtores podem adotar 

para aumentar a rentabilidade da produção de xarope de bordo. 



Introduction 

Maple syrup is a sweetener that is highly valued for its 

characteristic flavor and aroma properties. It is produced by 

concentrating the sap harvested from maple trees (Acer spp.), 

which is approximately 2 °Brix, to 66.9 °Brix primarily through 

thermal evaporation in evaporators specialized for maple syrup 

production. This concentration step requires a large input of 

energy in the form of evaporator fuel (typically oil or wood), and 

is often a main factor limiting the profitability of maple syrup 

production (Stowe et al., 2006). For this reason many producers 

utilize membrane separation processes to concentrate the sap 

prior to thermal evaporation. This can result in a significant 

reduction in the total energy costs of maple syrup production, 

and thus an increase in its overall profitability. For instance, 

concentration of sap to just 8 °Brix eliminates nearly 75% of the 

water that must otherwise be removed by thermal evaporation 

(Perkins and van den Berg 2009). 

Membrane separation processes have been used in the 

maple industry since the 1970’s, but have gained much wider use 

during the past two decades. The practice is widely accepted 

in the maple industry, as several studies have demonstrated 

that concentration of sap to the current levels used in the 

industry (between 8 and 12 °Brix) does not significantly impact 

the properties, quality, or flavor of the maple syrup produced 

(Morselli et al., 1982, van den Berg et al., 2011). However, in 

response to rising evaporator fuel prices and an overall desire to 

increase the profitability of maple syrup production, some maple 

producers now concentrate sap to much higher levels, between 

18 and 25 °Brix. The effects of this practice on the quality of the 

maple syrup produced are unknown. As most of the flavor and 

aroma compounds that develop in maple syrup originate from 

nonenzymatic browning reactions during thermal evaporation 

(Perkins and van den Berg 2009), the resulting reduction in the 

thermal processing required to concentrate sap to maple syrup 

density could significantly impact syrup properties, particularly 

through reductions in flavor development. The increases in 

profitability and energy efficiency that result from this practice 

are acceptable only if the characteristics which underlie maple 

syrup’s high economic value and desirability to consumers are 

not negatively affected. Therefore, the objective of this study 

was to determine if the chemical composition and flavor of syrup 

produced from sap concentrated by membrane separation to 

a very high sugar concentration differ significantly from those 

of syrup produced from the same sap concentrated to a lower, 

industry standard level. The results will help determine whether 

concentrating maple sap to higher than current standard levels 

is an acceptable method for maple producers to use to increase 

the profitability and energy efficiency of maple syrup production. 

Materials and methods 

Maple syrup production experiments 

Maple syrup production experiments were conducted in the Maple 

Production Research Facility at the University of Vermont Proctor 

Maple Research Center in Underhill Center, Vermont, USA. In 

general, during each trial of the experiment maple syrup was 


produced simultaneously from the same maple sap concentrated 

by membrane separation to either 8 (current industry standard) or 

21.5 (higher than standard) °Brix. 

For each trial of the experiment, a common source of maple sap 

(~2 °Brix) was concentrated sequentially by membrane separation 

to generate 1100 L each of 8 and 21.5 °Brix sap concentrate 

using a CDL separation unit (Les Équipements d’érablière CDL, 

Saint-Lazare-de-Bellechasse, Québec, Canada) equipped with 8 

× 40 in Mark I nanofiltration membranes (Dow FilmTec, Midland, 

MI, USA). At optimal temperature (12°C), this unit produces 8 

°Brix sap concentrate at a rate of approximately 5600 L/h, and 

21.5 °Brix sap concentrate at a rate of 1100 L/h, with a membrane 

pressure between 2.6 and 2.8 MPa. Maple syrup was then 

produced simultaneously with the two levels of concentrated sap 

using two standard oil-fueled maple evaporators (Dallaire Model 

Deluxe, size 3 × 10 ft, Les Équipements d’érablière CDL, Saint- 

Lazare-de-Bellechasse, Québec, Canada). Both evaporators 

were equipped with automatic sap level regulation and syrup 

draw-off devices and were configured to process sap as similarly 

as possible, with equal oil burner and exhaust draft settings. 

Following standard industry practice, the average liquid depth 

was maintained at equal levels (2.5 cm) in the back pans of both 

evaporators, and at a slightly higher level (5.1 cm) in the front 

pans of the evaporator processing sap concentrated to 21.5 °Brix 

compared to the evaporator processing sap concentrated to 8 

°Brix (3.8 cm). The adjustment of boiling depth with increasing 

sap concentration is a necessity to avoid scorching and ensure 

the safety of processing. Each evaporator was supplied separately 

from a tank containing one of the two treatments. During each 

trial, the evaporators were started simultaneously and run 

continuously until the supply of available sap material for each 

was exhausted (approximately 3 h). All syrup produced with 

each treatment after the first 1.5 h of processing was collected 

separately. After processing was complete, the syrup produced 

with each treatment was filtered to remove suspended solids. If 

necessary, an equivalent amount of water was added to the syrup 

produced with each treatment in order to adjust the final syrup 

density (by an amount no greater than 2 °Brix) to 66.9 °Brix (± 1.0), 

the State of Vermont legal minimum syrup density. All samples 

were kept frozen until subsequent analyses. Separate trials of 

the experiment were conducted on five individual days during the 

2009 maple production season. 

It should be noted that following standard maple industry 

practices, during each trial of the experiment the new sap material 

for each treatment was processed with the liquid remaining in 

the evaporator from the previous trial. In addition, the chemical 

composition of maple sap naturally varies during the production 

season. Thus, each trial did not represent true replication, 

and appropriate statistical methodology was employed in data 

analysis to account for this. 

Sample analyses 

Maple syrup production with sap concentrated 

to high levels by membrane separation… 

The color, pH, electrical conductivity, inorganic mineral, 

carbohydrate, and volatile flavor compound contents were 

determined for each syrup sample produced during the 

experiments. Sensory evaluation experiments were also 

conducted. 


573

574 



Physiochemical properties 

Maple syrup color was determined by measuring the percentage 

of light transmittance at 560 nm (± 1%) with a Spectronic Genesys 

8 UV-VIS spectrophotometer (Thermo Electron, Waltham, MA, 

USA) using glycerol as a 100% transmittance standard. Electrical 

conductivity (μS cm -1 , ± 0.005%) and pH (± 0.01) were determined 

with an Accumet XL60 meter using an Accumet epoxy body 

electrical conductivity cell and an Accufet XL solid-state pH 

probe, respectively, both equipped with automatic temperature 

compensation (Fisher Scientific, Fair Lawn, NY, USA). 

Inorganic minerals 

To determine the composition of inorganic mineral elements 

in each syrup sample, 0.5 g of each sample was digested 

with 10 mL concentrated nitric acid for 15 min at 190°C and 

2.1 MPa pressure. Digested samples were then analyzed for 

aluminum, boron, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, 

phosphorous, potassium, sodium, sulfur and zinc contents (mg 

kg-1, ± ~5-15%) by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission 

spectroscopy (ICP-AES) with a PlasmaSpec 2.5 (Leeman Labs, 

Hudson, NH, USA). 

Carbohydrates 

The composition of sucrose, glucose and fructose (total percentage, 

± 1%) in each syrup sample was determined by high-performance 

liquid chromatography (HPLC) using a 1525 binary pump and 2410 

refractive index detector (Waters, Milford, MA, USA). An Aminex 

HPX-87K column (300 × 7.8 mm, Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA) was 

used at 75°C with a mobile 

phase of 0.2 mM potassium 

phosphate at a rate of 

0.6 mL min -1 . Glucose 

and fructose values were 

summed to calculate the 

total invert sugar content of 

each sample. 

Volatile flavor compounds 

The composition of 

volatile flavor and 

aroma compounds in 

each syrup sample was 

determined by solid-phase 

microextraction (SPME) 

and gas chromatography 

time-of-flight mass 

spectrometry (GC-TOF- 

MS) using a method 

modified and adapted 

for maple syrup from one 

previously developed for 

sugar (Batista et al., 2002) 

and as described by van 

den Berg et al. (2009a). 


MS data were acquired and analyzed by Chroma-TOF software 

(Leco Corp., St. Joseph, MI, USA). Compound identification was 

made by library match with the Palisade Complete 600K library 

(Palisade Corporation, Ithaca, NY, USA). Total relative quantities 

(± ~10-20%) of volatile flavor compounds in each sample were 

expressed as peak area counts. Peak area counts for compounds 

identified with this method are considered semi-quantitative (Batista 

et al., 2002), and can be used to express and compare relative 

quantities of compounds identified in the syrup samples analyzed. 

Sensory evaluation 

Triangle tests were conducted to determine if an overall difference 

could be detected in the flavor of maple syrup produced 

simultaneously with the same sap concentrated to 8 and 21.5 

°Brix. Individual tests were conducted for each pair of syrup 

produced during the first four trials of the experiment following 

the procedures described by Meilgaard et al. (2006). Twenty-eight 

adult panelists with experience tasting and grading maple syrup 

were selected. Panelists were separated by cardboard partitions 

under fluorescent light during administration of the test. The 

sample presentation order was randomized for each panelist, and 

opaque sample bottles were used to eliminate any influence of 

syrup color on the panelists’ perceptions. Pairs were considered 

different (p < 0.05) if 15 of the 28 panelists positively identified the 

odd sample (Meilgaard et al., 2006). 

Statistical analyses 

Data were compiled and analyzed using SAS System software 

version 9.1 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA). Statistical assumptions 

Table 1. Chemical composition and properties (mean ± standard error of mean) of maple 

syrup produced simultaneously from the same sap concentrated to either 8 or 21.5 °Brix 

Treatment 

Parameter measured 8 °Brix 21.5 °Brix Probability 

level p 

Light transmittance (%) 34.1 ± 6.5 45.2 ± 4.3 0.02 

Conductivity (μS cm-1 ) 222.7 ± 18.6 235.3 ± 14.8 0.18 

pH 6.9 ± 0.1 7.1 ± 0.1 0.26 

Calcium (mg kg-1 ) 1027.5 ± 170.3 861.5 ± 139.8 0.30 

Iron (mg kg-1 ) 5.1 ± 1.4 2.9 ± 0.7 0.29 

Magnesium (mg kg-1 ) 143.6 ± 21.9 128.6 ± 23.0 0.15 

Mangenese (mg kg-1 ) 19.7 ± 10.41 12.8 ± 5.3 0.13* 

Potassium (mg kg-1 ) 2137.6 ± 93.7 2142.3 ± 82.7 0.90 

Sulfur (mg kg-1 ) 18.8 ± 3.2 15.5 ± 3.4 0.19 

Zinc (mg kg-1 ) 3.6 ± 0.1 3.6 ± 0.2 0.79 

Sucrose (%) 65.6 ± 0.4 64.9 ± 1.1 0.53 

Glucose (%) 3.0 ± 0.2 3.2 ± 0.3 0.60 

Fructose (%) 2.1 ± 0.2 1.6 ± 0.2 0.12 

Total invert sugar (%) 5.1 ± 0.2 4.8 ± 0.4 0.49 

Volatile flavor compounds 5.0 × 106 ± 4.5 × 105 5.0 × 106 ± 6.3 × 105 (peak area count) 

0.97 

p values for paired student’s t-tests comparing mean values for the two treatments (n = 5). 

* Indicates mean comparison made with Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests. 


of normality were verified using Shapiro-Wilks tests. For each 

parameter, a Paired Student’s t-test was used to test the 

null hypothesis that means were equal in the syrup produced 

simultaneously from the same sap concentrated to either 8 or 

21.5 °Brix. Nonparametric Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests were used 

when the assumption of normality was not met. 

Results and discussion 

Syrup properties and chemical composition 

Maple syrup produced with sap concentrated to 21.5 °Brix was 

significantly lighter in color than the syrup produced simultaneously 

with the same sap concentrated to only 8 °Brix (Table 1). Although 

the average difference in percent light transmittance between 

each syrup pair was only 11.1% (± 2.8%), in three of the five 

syrup pairs this resulted in the syrup falling within different grade 

classes (Perkins and van den Berg 2009). Color development in 

maple syrup results predominantly from nonenzymatic browning 

reactions that occur during heat-driven evaporation (Perkins and 

van den Berg 2009). Thus, the difference in color may simply 

reflect the smaller amount of thermal processing required to 

concentrate the 21.5 °Brix sap to maple syrup density. Indeed, 

syrup was produced with the 8 and 21.5 °Brix treatments at rates 

of 35.2 (± 1.2) and 112.7 (± 4.0) liters per hour, respectively. 

Color is one of the four criteria on which maple syrup is graded 

and, together with flavor, is a primary determinant of syrup’s 

economic value: light-colored syrup is generally more valuable 

than darker syrup (Perkins and van den Berg 2009). Maple syrup 

naturally varies in color from light amber to dark brown, and 

individual producers’ crops span this entire range during each 

production season (Perkins and van den Berg 2009). Thus, these 

results suggest that concentrating sap to higher than standard 

levels could increase the total value of a producer’s crop by 

increasing the proportion of light-colored syrup produced. 

The production of lighter-colored syrup represents a positive 

impact of this practice on syrup quality. Other changes, however, 

particularly any substantial deviation from the established 

composition or properties of maple syrup, would constitute an 

unacceptable effect on syrup quality. However, although color 

differed, there were no other significant differences detected in the 

chemical composition or properties of syrup produced with sap 

concentrated to either 8 or 21.5 °Brix (Table 1). In addition, for all 

parameters analyzed the values observed for syrup produced with 

the highly concentrated sap were within published ranges for the 

composition of pure maple syrup (Stuckel and Low 1996, Perkins et 

al., 2006, van den Berg et al., 2006, Perkins and van den Berg 2009). 

Of the 12 inorganic elements assayed, seven (Ca, Fe, Mg, Mn, K, S, 

Zn) were found in the syrup samples above the detection limit of the 

instrument, each in similar quantities in both types of syrup (Table 

1). Likewise, the electrical conductivity of syrup, often indicative of 

dissolved mineral content, did not differ in syrup produced with the 

two treatments (Table 1). The average pH of the syrup produced with 

both levels of concentrated sap was near neutral and did not differ 

significantly between the two treatments (Table 1). The carbohydrate 

composition also did not differ significantly between the treatments; 

similar quantities of sucrose, glucose, fructose, and total invert sugar 

were present in both types of syrup (Table 1). These results are 


consistent with those of a previous study which also found minimal 

differences in the composition and properties of syrup produced 

from sap material at different sugar concentration levels (van den 

Berg et al., 2011). Together these results indicate that producing 

syrup from sap concentrated to higher than standard levels does not 

significantly alter the chemical composition or properties of maple 

syrup, and thus that the practice does not detrimentally affect syrup 

quality in this manner. 

Syrup flavor 



Flavor is another of the four criteria on which maple syrup is 

graded, and the unique, characteristic flavor profile of maple 

syrup is one of the primary properties for which this sweetener is 

highly desired and valued by consumers. As discussed previously, 

flavor, along with color, also determines syrup’s overall economic 

value. It is thus critical to establish that this practice does not 

yield detrimental effects on the flavor of maple syrup. Processing 

such highly concentrated sap substantially reduces the amount 

of thermal processing required to reach syrup density, and thus 

the heat-driven reactions which result in the majority of flavor 

and aroma development in syrup could be affected. To examine 

the impact of this practice on syrup flavor, we analyzed the 

flavor of the syrup produced simultaneously from the same sap 

concentrated to either 8 or 21.5 °Brix in two ways: by measuring 

the relative quantities of volatile flavor and aroma compounds in 

the syrup, and by conducting sensory evaluation experiments. 

The relative quantity of volatile flavor and aroma compounds 

did not differ significantly between syrup produced simultaneously 

from the same sap concentrated to 8 and 21.5 °Brix (Table 1). These 

results suggest that producing syrup from highly concentrated 

sap does not significantly affect the overall development of flavor 

in maple syrup. However, it is important to note that the total 

quantity of volatile flavor compounds is not always indicative of 

the perceived level of flavor, as many of the compounds present 

in the samples might not contribute significantly to the overall 

flavor profile of maple syrup (Belitz et al., 2004), and some 

phenolic compounds important to maple syrup flavor, such as 

vanillin, are not detected by this analytical method (Potter and 

Fagerson 1992, Kermasha et al., 1995). These data also do not 

reveal information about possible off-flavors that may be present, 

as very few compounds specifically associated with off-flavors 

in maple syrup have been identified (Perkins and van den Berg 

2009, van den Berg et al., 2009b). Thus, it was also necessary 

to conduct sensory evaluation experiments to more thoroughly 

assess the impact of this practice on maple syrup flavor. 

Triangle tests were conducted to determine if overall differences 

could be perceived in the flavor of syrup produced simultaneously 

from the same sap concentrated to either 8 or 21.5 °Brix. We 

hypothesized that if producing syrup from highly concentrated sap 

significantly affected flavor, then panelists would detect an overall 

difference in the flavor of the syrup produced simultaneously with 

the two treatments. However, panelists failed to detect differences in 

the flavor of syrup produced simultaneously from sap concentrated 

to 8 and 21.5 °Brix for any of the four pairs tested (Table 2). The 

number of panelists who correctly identified the odd sample was 

close to the critical value of 15 for two of the pairs tested, and indeed 

the results for the test of the pair produced on March 17 would be 


575

576 



Table 2. Number of correct responses (odd sample 

positively identified) in triangle tests conducted with 

28 panelists to determine if differences in flavor were 

detectable between pairs of maple syrup produced 

simultaneously from the same maple sap concentrated 

to 8 and 21.5 °Brix during four trials of the syrup 

production experiment. The flavor of each pair was 

considered significantly different (p < 0.05) if 15 of the 28 

panelists correctly identified the odd sample in the trio 

Experiment trial Number of correct responses 

1 14 

2 8 

3 13 

4 10 

considered statistically significant at the α = 0.10 level (Meilgaard et 

al. 2006). This suggests that this practice may have some effect on 

syrup flavor, but one that is minimal enough to render it quite difficult 

to perceive. Thus, these results suggest that producing syrup from 

highly concentrated sap did not significantly affect the perceived 

flavor of syrup and, taken together with the results of volatile 

compound analysis, indicate that this practice does not significantly 

impact syrup flavor to the detriment of overall syrup quality. 

Conclusions 

The objective of this study was to determine if producing maple syrup 

from sap concentrated to higher than standard levels significantly 

impacts maple syrup quality by determining whether the chemical 

composition, properties, or flavor of syrup produced from highly 

concentrated sap differed significantly from that of syrup produced 

from the same sap concentrated to a lower, industry standard level. 

Maple syrup produced from sap concentrated to 21.5 °Brix was 

significantly lighter in color than syrup produced simultaneously from 

the same sap that had been concentrated to 8 °Brix. However, there 

were no other significant differences in the chemical composition or 

properties of syrup produced with the two levels of sap concentrate. 

The composition of the syrup produced from highly concentrated 

sap was also within the established ranges for pure maple syrup. 

In addition, sensory evaluation experiments indicated there was no 

difference in the perceived flavor of syrup produced simultaneously 

from the same sap concentrated to either 21.5 or 8 °Brix. These 

results indicate that producing syrup with sap concentrated to very 

high levels by membrane separation does not have any greater 

impact on syrup quality than producing syrup with sap concentrated 

to more moderate, industry standard levels. 

Producing syrup from highly concentrated sap greatly reduces 

the amount of energy-intensive thermal evaporation required to 

achieve maple syrup density, and in doing so substantially reduces 

the total time and cost, and increases the overall profitability of 

maple syrup production. In addition, maple purity laws greatly 

limit the techniques that can be employed at any point during the 

production process to augment the characteristics of the syrup 

produced. Any process such as this which facilitates an increase 

in the production of more economically valuable, light-colored 

syrup without violating these regulations is highly desirable 


and will further increase the overall profitability of maple syrup 

production. Thus, the results suggest that producing syrup with 

sap concentrated to levels much higher than industry standards is 

an effective way maple producers can increase the efficiency and 

profitability of maple syrup production without violating maple 

purity laws or negatively impacting syrup quality. 

Though in this study no significant differences in syrup 

composition or flavor were detected between syrup produced with 

sap concentrated to 8 and 21.5 °Brix, it remains unknown whether 

simply concentrating sap with membrane separation produces 

changes in sap chemistry that result in the production of syrup with 

significant differences from the syrup produced from the same, 

unconcentrated sap. A subsequent study will address this question. 

Acknowledgements 

This work was supported by United States Department of 

Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension 

Service (USDA CSREES) grant 2008-34157-19186. The authors 

would like to thank Ben Dana, Douglas Edwards, Marianne 

McKee, and Brian Stowe for their assistance with this research. 

References 

Batista R.B., Grimm, C.C. and Godshall, M.A. (2002) Semiquantitative 

determination of short-chain fatty acids in cane and beet sugars. J. Chromatogr. 

Sci. 40: 127-132. 

Belitz, H.-D., Grosch, W. and Schieberle, P. (2004) Carbohydrates. Food 

Chemistry, 3rd ed. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Germany: 245-341. 

Kermasha, S., Goetghebeur, M. and Dumont, J. (1995) Determination of 

phenolic compound profiles in maple products using high-performance liquid 

chromatography. J. Agric. Food Chem. 43: 708-716. 

Meilgaard, M., Civille, G.V., and Carr, B.T. (2006) Overall difference testing. 

Sensory Evaluation Techniques (4th ed). CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL.: 63-104. 

Morselli, M.F., Whalen, M.L., Baggett, K.L. and Sendak, P.E. (1982) Quality 

of syrup produced from sap concentrated by reverse osmosis (RO). Maple 

Syrup J. 6: 18. 

Perkins, T.D., Morselli, M.F., van den Berg, A.K. and Wilmot, T.R. (2006) 

Maple chemistry and quality. North American Maple Syrup Producers Manual, 

2nd ed. (Eds. Heiligmann, R.B., Koelling, M.R. and Perkins, T.D.). The Ohio State 

University, Ohio, USA.: 294-300. 

Perkins, T.D. and van den Berg, A.K. (2009) Maple syrup - production, 

composition, chemistry, and sensory characteristics. In Advances in Food and 

Nutrition Research (Ed. S.L. Taylor) 56: 103-144. Academic Press, San Diego, 

CA, USA. 

Potter, T.L. and Fagerson, I.S. (1992) Phenolic compounds in maple syrup. 

Phenolic Compounds in Food and Their Effects on Health 1. (Eds. Huang, M.T., 

Ho, C.T. and Lee, C.Y.). Am. Chem. Soc., Washington, DC.: 193-199. 

Stowe, B.W., Wilmot, T.R., Cook, G.L., Perkins, T.D. and Heiligmann, 

R.B. (2006) Maple syrup production. North American Maple Syrup Producers 

Manual, 2nd ed. (Eds. Heiligmann, R.B., Koelling, M.R. and Perkins, T.D.). The 

Ohio State University, Ohio, USA.: 119-156. 

Stuckel, J.G. and Low, N.H. (1996) The chemical composition of 80 pure 

maple syrup samples produced in North America. Food Res. Int. 29(3-4): 

373-379. 

van den Berg, A.K., Perkins, T.D. and Isselhardt, M.L. (2006) Sugar profiles 

of maple syrup grades. Maple Syrup Digest 18: 12-13. 

van den Berg, A.K., Perkins, T.D., Isselhardt, M.L., Godshall, M.A. and 

Lloyd, S.W. (2009a) Effects of air injection during sap processing on maple 

syrup color, chemical composition and flavor volatiles. Int. Sugar J. 111: 37-42. 

van den Berg, A.K., Perkins, T.D., Godshall, M.A., Lloyd, S.W. and Isselhardt, 

M.L. (2009b) Metabolism off-flavor in maple syrup Part I: Identification of the 

compound responsible for metabolism off-flavor. Maple Syrup Digest 21A(1): 

15-80. 

van den Berg, A.K., Perkins, T.D., Isselhardt, M.L., Godshall, M.A. and 

Lloyd, S.W. (2011) Effects of producing maple syrup from concentrated and 

reconstituted sap of different sugar concentrations. Int. Sugar J. 113: 35-44. 


Sugarcane quarantine disease screening in Australia † 

Nicole Thompson 1* , Elizabeth Wilson 1 and Barry Croft 2 

BSES Limited 1 Indooroopilly, 2 Woodford, Australia. 

* Contact author: Email: nthompson@bses.com.au 

abstract 

Foreign sugarcane germplasm is an important source of genetic variation for the breeding programs of the 

Australian sugarcane industry; however there is a risk of importing exotic diseases in the germplasm. To minimise 

this risk, BSES (Bureau of Sugar Experiment Stations) has an AQIS approved Post Entry Quarantine Facility (PEQF) 

in Indooroopilly to import and export sugarcane into and out of Australia. Since 1999, BSES has imported 528 

varieties from 20 countries and exported Q varieties to 18 countries as more than 750 bundles of setts. Imported 

varieties spend two years in quarantine for disease screening, treatments and close observation for any biosecurity 

threats. Released varieties are micropropagated for distribution to the BSES breeding program. Exported varieties 

are tested for their freedom from endemic diseases before being sent to partner organisations. This paper describes 

the procedures for importing and exporting sugarcane, diseases of concern to the Australian sugarcane industry, 

the screening procedures used, and the future directions of BSES PEQF. 

Keywords: diagnostic, import/export, procedures, quarantine, sugarcane 

Cuarentena de la caña de azúcar en Australia para la detección de enfermedades 

El germoplasma de caña de azúcar extranjero es una fuente importante de variación genética para los programas de mejora de cultivos de la 

industria azucarera de Australia, aunque existe un riesgo de importar enfermedades exóticas en el germoplasma. Para minimizar este riesgo, el 

BSES (Oficina de las Estaciones Experimentales de Azúcar) posee unas Instalaciones para la Entrada Post Cuarentena (PEQF), aprobadas por AQIS 

en Indooropilly, para la importación y exportación de caña de azúcar hacia y desde Australia. Desde 1999, BSES ha importado 528 variedades 

desde 20 países y ha exportado variedades Q a 18 países como más de 750 grupos de esquejes. Las variedades importadas pasan dos años 

en cuarentena para detectar enfermedades, para tratamientos y cuidadosa observación para controlar cualquier amenaza de bioseguridad. Las 

variedades eximidas son micropropagadas para su distribución al programa de mejoramiento de cultivos de la BSES. Las variedades a ser 

exportadas son examinadas para asegurarse que no poseen enfermedades endémicas antes de enviarlas a organizaciones asociadas. Este trabajo 

describe los procedimientos para importar y exportar caña de azúcar, las enfermedades de relevancia para la industria azucarera australiana, los 

procedimientos de detección utilizados y las orientaciones futuras de la BSES PEQF. 

Rastreio de quarentena de doenças de cana na Austrália 

Germoplasma de cana estrangeira é uma importante fonte de variação genética para os programas de melhoramento da indústria de cana de 

açúcar australiana; no entanto, há um risco de importação de doenças exóticas na germoplasma. Para minimizar esse risco, BSES (Bureau of 

Sugar Experiment Stations) tem uma facilidade de quarentena de pós entrada aprovada pela AQIS (PEQF) para importação e exportação de cana 

de açúcar dentro e fora da Austrália. Desde 1999, o BSES importou 528 variedades de 20 países e exportou variedades Q para 18 países, com 

mais de 750 conjuntos de pacotes. Variedades importadas passam dois anos em quarentena para rastreio de doenças, tratamentos e observação 

atenta para quaisquer ameaças de biossegurança. Variedades lançadas são micropropagadas para distribuição para o programa de reprodução 

de BSES. Variedades exportadas são testadas para liberação em relação a endemias antes de serem enviados para organizações parceiras. Este 

documento descreve os procedimentos para importação e exportação de cana de açúcar, doenças de interesse para a indústria de cana de açúcar 

australiana, os procedimentos de triagem utilizados e os rumos futuros da BSES PEQF. 

Introduction 

Foreign sugarcane germplasm is an important source of genetic 

variation within the breeding programs of the Australian sugarcane 

industry, with 21 of the last 50 Q varieties released having at least 

one foreign variety as a parent (Piperidis et al., 2008). In order to 

use foreign germplasm it must first be imported through the Post 

Entry Quarantine Facility (PEQF) at BSES Indooroopilly. 

Foreign germplasm introduction into Australia is a potential 

source of exotic diseases and is therefore strictly controlled by 


the Federal Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 

(DAFF). Import permits are required for all introductions of 

Saccharum species into Australia, and these stipulate a period 

in an authorised PEQF where the cane is inspected, tested for 

its freedom from diseases and treated as per the import permit. 

Since 1999, BSES has imported 528 varieties with preference 

given to smut-resistant and, more recently, high-fibre varieties. 

An analysis of the performance of imported varieties in Australia 

was reported by Piperidis et al. (2008). That paper revealed 

that the main use for imported varieties is as parents in the 


577

578 

Sugarcane quarantine disease 


crossing program, with a small percentage of imported varieties 

progressing through to Final Assessment Trials. 

BSES works with several federal and state agencies to import 

Saccharum spp. germplasm. Biosecurity Australia (BA) undertakes 

science-based risk assessments and provides quarantine policy 

advice to protect Australia’s animal and plant health status and natural 

environment (Anon., 2010a). Australian Quarantine Inspection Service 

(AQIS) manages quarantine controls at the borders to minimise the 

risk of exotic pests and diseases entering the country (Anon., 2010b). 

Import permits have conditions set by BA and are issued by AQIS. 

AQIS also inspects all PEQF to ensure their compliance with federal 

guidelines and has the authority to release plants from quarantine 

once they have passed PEQ. In addition to the PEQF, BSES has 

AQIS authorised laboratories and staff members to deal with 

all imported material. The current procedures for importing and 

exporting germplasm at the BSES PEQF are explained below. 

Import procedure 

Figure 1 is a flowchart showing the current import procedure for 

sugarcane. The importation of cane is generally a two-year (or 

two growth cycle) process. When cane arrives into Australia it is 

inspected by AQIS for insects and other obvious signs of disease. 

The cane is given an Order into Quarantine to the BSES PEQF 

where it is unpacked, cut into single eye-setts, given a hot-water 

treatment of 50˚C for 30 minutes and planted into soil-free potting mix. 

During the two-year quarantine period, informal inspections 

are carried out weekly, and more thorough inspections are done 

approximately four times per year by experienced sugarcane 

pathologists and technicians. Any unusual symptoms are noted 

and, if a disease is suspected, are followed up immediately with a 

molecular diagnostic test. 

Disease screening procedures 

Molecular methods are used in conjunction with inspections to 


ensure that all cane released from the quarantine nursery is free 

from pests and diseases (Figure 1). Table 1 shows the diseases 

and causal organisms that are tested for while material is growing 

in the PEQF (see Ricaud et al., 1989 and Rott et al., 2000, for 

thorough background reviews of all diseases listed below). 

Endemic pathogens 

Pathogens present in Australia are not classified as quarantineable 

by BA and AQIS; however some diseases are notifiable pests 

under state government legislation (e.g. Fiji leaf gall; see next 

page). In addition, strain differences have been observed (most 

notably sugarcane mosaic virus; see next page) so thorough 

testing is done for all known pathogens. 

Fiji leaf gall 

Fiji leaf gall is caused by the Fiji disease reovirus (FDV) and 

can cause serious losses in susceptible varieties. This virus 

is prevalent in parts of the Pacific Ocean and Southeast 

Asia region including Fiji, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, 

Philippines, Malaysia and Australia (Smith, 2000). This virus 

can be readily identified by leaf symptoms, and reverse 

transcription polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) is used to 

screen all consignments received in the nursery. There is some 

pathogen variation in FDV, so the primers were designed for 

a conserved region of the FDV genome (Smith and Van de 

Velde, 1994). FDV is transmitted in Australia by a planthopper 

(Perkinsiella saccharicida) and it is important to ensure that the 

glasshouses are insect-free to prevent spread of this disease 

in the unlikely event that an infected plant was identified. All 

imports and exports are screened for FDV. FDV is under active 

control in Australia and is a notifiable pathogen in Queensland. 

It is currently restricted to northern New South Wales and Rocky 

Point mill area in Queensland and has never been recorded 

north of Proserpine (BSES, 1999, p 14; Magarey, 2006). 

Table 1. Diseases that are tested for in the Post Entry Quarantine Facility at BSES Limited 

Disease Causal organism Diagnostic * Reference † 

Fiji leaf gall Fiji disease reovirus (FDV) RTPCR Smith and Van de Velde, 1994 

Ratoon stunting disease Leifsonia xyli ssp xyli bacterium ELISA and PCR Croft et al., 1994; Pan et al., 1998 

Leaf scald Xanthomonas albilineans bacterium PCR Wang et al., 1999 

Mosaic Sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV); ELISA (Agdia PathoScreen Langeveld et al., 1991; Smith 

Sorghum mosaic virus (SrMV) Potyvirus ELISA kit) and and Van de Velde, 1994; Alegria 

RTPCR et al., 2003; Geering et al., 2004; 

Chatenet et al., 2005; Thomas, J.E. 

(QDEEDI, unpublished) 

Streak mosaic Sugarcane streak mosaic virus (SCSMV) RTPCR and ELISA Chatenet et al., 2005 

Phytoplasmas White leaf phytoplasma; PCR Dellaporta et al., 1983; Deng and 

Grassy shoot phytoplasma Hiruki, 1991; Schneider et al., 

(Green grassy shoot) 1995; Tran-Ngyuen et al., 2000 

Streak Sugarcane streak virus (SSV); PCR Rybicki and Hughes, 1990; James 

Maize streak virus (MSV) James et al., 2004 

Ramu stunt Ramu stunt virus PCR Braithwaite et al., 2007 

Yellow leaf Sugarcane yellow leaf virus RTPCR and tissue blot Schenk et al., 1997; Comstock 

(SCYLV) et al., 1998; Girard et al., 2010 

* † RTPCR: Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; ELISA: Enzyme-Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay; PCR: Polymerase Chain Reaction; Reference for diagnostic tests used 

PCR: Polymerase Chain Reaction; † Reference for diagnostic tests used 


Figure 1. BSES post entry quarantine import pathway 

*LHWT is prescribed 

AQIS treatment 

Ratoon stunting disease (RSD) 

RSD is caused by the bacterium Leifsonia xyli subsp. xyli and has 

been intercepted in the nursery on a number of occasions due to its 

prevalence in all cane-growing areas of the world and the lack of any 

external symptoms (Davis and Bailey, 2000). All imported varieties 

are tested for RSD by taking an extract of xylem contents from stalks 

when the cane is 10-12 months old. The samples are tested with an 

enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA, Croft et al., 1994) or 

direct observation of the bacteria using phase-contrast microscopy 

(for review see Gillaspie and Teakle, 1989). If there is any doubt the 

samples can also be screened by PCR (Pan et al., 1998). RSD is 

not a quarantineable disease as specified by AQIS but BSES has 



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strict procedures to prevent its spread to experiment stations and 

breeding plots. Any variety that tests positive for RSD is maintained 

for a third year in quarantine, is hot water treated at 50˚C for 3 hours 

(long hot water treatment: LHWT) in two consecutive years and is 

only released when the variety tests negative in two consecutive 

years. All exports are also screened for RSD. 

Leaf scald 

Leaf scald is caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas albilineans 

and symptoms include white pencil lines on the leaves, chlorosis 

and side-shooting. The disease often has a latent phase when 

no symptoms are seen and this makes detection in quarantine 

difficult. Leaf scald is found throughout all sugarcane-growing 

areas of the world and has a wide host range, being able to 

infect many other grasses (Rott and Davis, 2000). The bacterium 

is found in the xylem and in the white pencil-line stripes on the 

leaves, which are diagnostic symptoms of this disease (Ricaud 

and Ryan, 1989). The xylem extracts of all imported varieties are 

tested for leaf scald at the same time as for RSD. The extract is 

plated onto selective bacterial media and then screened by PCR 

for the presence of X. albilineans (Wang et al., 1999). X. albilineans 

is not a quarantineable pathogen, and any positive canes would 

be subjected to a third year of quarantine (as described for RSD), 

but no intercepts have been recorded in recent years. Unlike 

RSD, LHWT alone is not efficient at eliminating the bacteria, so 

the treatment includes soaking the cane for at least 40 hours in 

ambient running water which is followed by a LHWT as described. 

Mosaic 

Mosaic on sugarcane can be caused by members of the potyvirus 

family including sugarcane mosaic virus (SCMV) and sorghum 

mosaic virus (SrMV) (see Grisham, 2000; Rott et al., 2008). These 

two viruses are closely related and can be transmitted by aphids, 

planting material and by mechanical inoculation. There are many 

strains of SCMV that have been reported worldwide, and in 

Australia SCMV-A is found in the southern districts of Queensland. 

Strain A is considered to be mild and is controlled in Australia 

by quarantine and the use of resistant varieties. No other strains 

of SCMV have been found in Australia and all imported varieties 

are tested for mosaic. The symptoms of mosaic are a pattern 

of contrasting shades of dark and light green on the leaves of 

susceptible varieties. A diagnostic test for this group of viruses 

needs to be flexible enough to pick up strain variation in the virus 

but still specific for the potyvirus family. BSES uses a commercially 

available ELISA kit (PathoScreen General Potyvirus ELISA Kit, 

Agdia, USA) for initial screening of all germplasm entering Australia. 

If a positive result is observed, the varieties are subjected to a 

combination of more specific RTPCR tests which can determine if 

the virus is SCMV-A (not quarantineable); another strain of SCMV; 

or SrMV (both quarantineable pathogens) thus giving us valuable 

information to provide our variety exchange partners and to AQIS. 

If a quarantineable strain/species of mosaic is detected in imported 

cane, AQIS is notified and the varieties will be destroyed. Mosaic 

is under active control in Queensland and varieties infected with 

non-quarantineable strains (i.e. SCMV-A) would also be destroyed. 

BSES intercepted mosaic in a consignment of foreign cane in 


2008 and is working with the originating country to ensure new 

consignments are disease free. 

Exotic pathogens 

The following diseases are not found in Australia. If these 

diseases are detected in PEQ, AQIS is notified and steps are 

taken to minimise the threat to the industry. 

Streak mosaic 

Sugarcane streak mosaic virus (SCSMV) causes symptoms 

identical to mosaic (described above) and is widespread 

throughout much of Indonesia, India, Pakistan and Southeast 

Asia (Hema et al., 2008). There are many aspects of the biology 

of this disease that are unknown, and research is currently being 

conducted in many countries to obtain a better understanding 

of its epidemiology and importance. SCSMV was previously 

known as SCMV strain F; however serological and molecular 

sequence analysis showed substantial difference between SCMV 

and SCSMV, suggesting that it should be recognised as a new 

genus within the Potyviridae (for review see Hema et al., 2008; 

Xu et al., 2010). The RTPCR detection method has been recently 

optimised to use the Poty1 primer for RT (JE Thomas, QDEEDI, 

pers. comm.) followed by PCR with the STR2 and STR5 primers 

(Chatenet et al., 2005) to screen any plants coming from Asia. 

Phytoplasmas 

Phytoplasma diseases of sugarcane are widespread throughout 

many countries in Asia. These diseases include sugarcane white 

leaf, sugarcane grassy shoot and sugarcane green grassy shoot 

diseases (see Rott et al., 2000 for review). The symptoms of 

these diseases vary, but include profuse tillering of ratoon crops 

and severe yield losses in susceptible varieties. The leaves can 

remain green (green grassy shoot), be white (white leaf) or the 

tillers can be very slender and chlorotic/yellow (grassy shoot). 

Phytoplasmas are difficult pathogens to work with because they 

are unculturable outside of their hosts and are generally found in 

very low concentrations. PCR is the most widely used method 

for detection and classification of phytoplasmas and there are 

several generic PCR primers available (see Weintraub and Jones, 

2009 for review). These primers can be used in combinations to 

determine the presence or absence of phytoplasmas. In addition, 

specific primers are available for white leaf and grassy shoot 

phytoplasmas (Deng and Hiruki, 1991; Schneider et al., 1995; 

Tran-Nguyen et al., 2000). Combinations of general and specific 

primers are used to screen all varieties coming from Asia. 

Streak 

Sugarcane streak can be caused by sugarcane streak virus (SSV, 

various strains) or maize streak virus (MSV). These viruses are 

members of the Geminiviridae and have single-stranded circular 

DNA genomes. Streak is present throughout many African countries 

and in parts of Asia (Rott and Peterschmitt, 2000). The symptoms 

include many small spots or streaks on the leaves of the susceptible 

varieties. The disease is transmitted by leafhoppers of the species 


Cicadulina and can cause serious losses in susceptible varieties 

(for review see Bock and Bailey, 1989; Rott and Peterschmitt, 

2000). Streak viruses can infect a wide range of other grasses and 

cause losses in other crop species including corn and millet. PCR 

can be used to detect the presence of geminiviruses, and BSES 

uses both general and specific primer combinations to detect any 

variants of the genomes (Rybicki and Hughes, 1990; James et al., 

2004). There have been many new reports of geminiviruses in Asia 

and new primer sets are being analysed for their use in PEQF. All 

imports from Africa are tested for MSV and SSV and if cane was 

to be imported from Pakistan or India it would also be tested for 

this disease. 

Ramu stunt 

Ramu stunt is a disease of sugarcane only found in Papua New 

Guinea. The leaf symptoms of this disease are variable but 

include irregular chlorosis, reduced internode length, and infected 

stools can die out completely. It is transmitted by a leaf hopper 

(Eumetopina flavipes) and evidence suggests that this disease 

is caused by a virus (Braithwaite et al., 2007). An RTPCR based 

diagnostic test has been developed which can be used on both 

the insect vector and leaf samples (Braithwaite et al., 2007). This 

diagnostic test will be used to screen varieties that have been 

recently imported from Papua New Guinea. 

Other diseases 

There are a number of diseases for which diagnostic tests are 

available, but they are not currently implemented in Australia. 

Sugarcane yellow leaf disease (YLD) causes losses in many 

other sugarcane-growing areas of the world, but it is considered 

a minor disease in Australia. Sugarcane yellow leaf virus is the 

causal agent of YLD and diagnostic assays including leaf blot 

(Schenk et al., 1997) and RTPCR (Comstock et al., 1998) are 

available. (Testing for this disease by RTPCR was implemented in 

2012 using the method of Girard et al., 2010). 

Red leaf mottle is a disease of importance in India and parts 

of Africa and is caused by peanut clump virus (PCV). PCV is 

transmitted by a soil fungus Polymyxa graminis (Rott and Chatenet, 

2000). If cane was to be imported from countries that have this 

disease an RTPCR diagnostic test would need to be developed. 


Treatment of imported material 

At the end of one growth cycle, if the cane has been tested for and 

found free from the diseases listed in Table 1 and found to have 

no suspicious disease-like symptoms on regular inspections, then 

one stalk from each import is chosen for harvest. This stalk is cut 

into one-eye setts (OES) and treated by soaking in running water at 

ambient temperature for 40 hours followed by 3 hours in 50˚C water 

(cold soak, long hot water treatment, CS-LHWT). This treatment is 

important for the control of bacterial diseases (as discussed above) 

and is the prescribed treatment from AQIS. The treated OES are 

then planted into soil-free potting mix in a clean glasshouse and 

kept under observation. At the completion of this treatment, a Post 

Entry Quarantine Report is submitted to AQIS and the varieties 

are given a Final Release from AQIS quarantine. The varieties are 

maintained in the glasshouse until they are mature and it is the 

treated canes (or derivatives of) that are released from Indooroopilly 

Quarantine to the BSES breeding program. 

Over the past two years the import procedure has been 

modified from Piperidis et al. (2008) to include a micropropagation 

phase. This begins when a variety has been granted a Final Release 

by AQIS. Tops are initiated into tissue culture approximately 

four months after CS-LHWT and are micropropagated to 

approximately 200 plantlets. These plantlets are sent directly into 

some pathology resistance screening trials (e.g. Fiji leaf gall and 

mosaic resistance trials at Woodford BSES) and to most BSES 

stations for propagation. This step is expected to reduce the time 

from import to trial by at least two years (M. Cox, pers. comm.). 

In addition, all varieties are added to the DNA fingerprinting and 

plant breeding databases for future reference. 

Export procedures 



BSES exports sugarcane varieties for a number of reasons, 

including variety exchange, disease resistance screening trials for 

exotic pests and diseases, and commercial contract. BSES works 

closely with AQIS to ensure that all phytosanitary conditions 

are met and the appropriate certification is gained before any 

varieties leave Australia. 

Regulations differ for each country to which varieties are 

exported. In order to send sugarcane varieties to foreign countries, 

an import permit issued by the plant protection agency of that 

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country is generally required. BSES is obliged to meet the criteria 

of the import permit, which generally includes a declaration that 

the plant is free from all important pests and diseases, and may 

impose a quarantine period before export. 

To meet the criteria of import permits, BSES maintains 

a selection of varieties in an insect-free glasshouse facility. 

The varieties for export include recently released Q varieties, 

a selection of older varieties and some advanced clones. All 

varieties in the export collection have been tested for and found 

free from endemic diseases using the methods described. In 

addition, the cane is CS-LHWT and replanted every second year. 

Requested varieties need to be treated exactly as stated on 

the Import Permit of the issuing country. If no specific treatment 

is requested, BSES uses best-practice for exporting (Frison and 

Putter, 1991). This involves cutting the cane into 2- or 3-eye setts, 

stripping off all leaf material, treating the cane with a SHWT (short 

hot water treatment, 52˚C for 30 min) and dipping into a fungicide 

(e.g. 0.1% copper oxy-chloride) and insecticide (e.g. 0.1% 

Carbaryl) for 1 min each. The setts are dried, the ends sealed in 

paraffin wax and three setts are selected, labelled and bundled 

for transportation. AQIS conducts an inspection of the setts and 

issues a Phytosanitary Certificate. The Phytosanitary Certificate, 

Import Permit and any other documentation are included with 

the setts to be sent to the requesting country. BSES exports 

germplasm as setts all year round to up to 10 countries per year. 

Future directions 

Import and export of germplasm remains a high priority for the 

Australian sugarcane industry as new traits and increased genetic 

diversity are always desirable. The demand for new/different ways 

of importing germplasm is expected to increase, with an ever 

reducing timeframe between import and release being desired. It 

should be noted that BA and AQIS determine the length of time a 

variety is held under quarantine, and BSES works closely with these 

federal agencies to minimise this time without increasing the risk of 

disease introduction. Below are two topics that are considered by 

BSES Quarantine to be of importance into the future. 

Greater use of tissue culture in the PEQF: There has been 

interest from partner organisations to import and/or export 

germplasm as sugarcane plantlets instead of setts. Import 

conditions in Australia for tissue culture plantlets are identical to 

those for setts (Figure 1). Tissue cultured plantlets were imported 

in 2009 but the primary containers holding the plantlets were 

breached during shipping and the consignment subsequently 

destroyed. However, we believe that this problem can be 

overcome and expect that tissue culture plantlets will be imported 

in the near future. Exporting Q varieties as tissue culture plantlets 

remains an option, but as the demand is not high the maintenance 

of all Q varieties as tissue culture plantlets is not economical. 

Importation of seed: Sugarcane seed has been previously 

imported into Australia for particular projects (Foreman et al., 

2007), but is not done routinely due to space and cost. The 

procedure for importation of seed had been determined by BA, 

however because it is not currently listed on the AQIS import 

conditions database (Anon., 2010b) the current procedure is 


unknown. It is likely that the procedures would be similar to 

that of Foreman et al. (2007); however the quarantine plot at 

Charters Towers is no longer available as it is being used for 

domestic quarantine. We envisage that seed will be imported 

for discreet projects rather than as an ongoing method of 

variety exchange. 

Acknowledgments 

Thanks to the BSES Biosecurity team, in particular Dr K. 

Braithwaite for diagnostic test developments. Thanks also to Dr 

A. Geering and Dr J.E. Thomas of QDEEDI for their help regarding 

potyvirus detection methods. And special thanks to the BSES 

Molecular Breeding team of Dr P. Lakshmanan for tissue culture 

micropropagation of imported clones, in particular to Ms X. Wang 

for coordinating the team. 




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medium for the detection of Xanthomonas albilineans, the causal agent of leaf 

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Sugarcane productivity, soil health and nitrogen use 

dynamics in a bio-nutrition based multi-ratooning system 

under Indian sub-tropics 

T.K. Srivastava * , K.P. Singh and R.L. Yadav 

Indian Institute of Sugarcane Research, Lucknow - 226 002, India. 

* Contact author: Email: tapendrakapil@yahoo.com 

abstract 

In a field experiment during 2003-2008 sugarcane cv. Co Se 92423 (Saccharum spp. complex hybrid) was 

supplied with 10 tonnes/ha each of farmyard manure, vermicompost, bio-gas slurry or sulphitation press mud, or 

recommended NPK rate of 150:60:60 kg/ha. At the end of the experiment, significant increase in soil organic carbon 

(0.62 to 0.67 %), soil nitrogen (0.069 to 0.082%) and water infiltration rate (5.7 to 5.9 mm/hr) were observed with 

organic manures, compared with initial 0.32% organic carbon, 0.039% soil nitrogen and 4.1 mm/hr infiltration rate. 

Bulk density decreased to between 1.23 t and 1.24 t/m 3 with organic manures compared with the initial value of 1.4 

t/m 3 . Addition of 10 t/ha of the organic manures over the years produced similar cane yield as the recommended 

NPK rate for both plant and four ratoon crops. Crop removal of nitrogen with sulphitation press mud application 

(284.6, 166 and 137.4 kg/ha in first, third and fourth ratoon) matched with those of recommended NPK (278.5, 172.6 

and 143.6 kg/ha, respectively). A positive nitrogen balance up to 43.4 kg/ha was recorded with the addition of 

organic manures compared with 25.9 kg/ha for NPK. Except for vermicopost, benefit: cost ratio for the other organic 

manures were similar to NPK for both plant and ratoon crops. 

Keywords: bio-resources, economics, multi-ratooning, productivity, soil health, sugarcane 

Productividad de caña de azúcar, salud del suelo y dinámica del uso del nitrógeno en un sistema de 

rebrote múltiple sobre la base de bio-nutrición en India subtropical 

En un experimento de campo durante el período 2003-2008 se le suministró a la caña de azúcar cv. Co Se 92423 (Saccharum spp. híbrido complejo) 

10 ton/ha de, a cada uno, abono, vermicompost, lodo de biogás o lodo de la prensa de sulfitación, o una proporción recomendada de NPK de 

150:60:60 kg/ha. Al final del experimento, se observó un aumento significativo del carbón orgánico del suelo (0,62 a 0,67 %), nitrógeno del suelo 

(0,069 a 0,082 %) y tasa de infiltración de agua (5,7 a 5,9 mm/hr), con abonos orgánicos, comparado con un carbono orgánico inicial de 0,32%, 

nitrógeno inicial del suelo de 0,039% y una tasa de infiltración de 4,1 mm/hr. La densidad total disminuyó a un valor entre 1,23 t a 1,24 t/m3 con 

abonos orgánicos comparado con el valor inicial de 1,4 t/m3. La adición de 10 t/ha de abonos orgánicos a lo largo de años produjo un rendimiento 

de caña similar a la proporción de NPK recomendada, tanto para la planta como para cuatro cosechas de rebrote. La captación de nitrógeno con la 

aplicación de barro de la prensa de sulfitación (284,6, 166 y 137,4 kg/ha en el primero, tercero y cuarto rebrote) igualó a la de NPK recomendado 

(278,5, 172,6 y 143,6 kg/ha, respectivamente). Se registró un balance positivo de nitrógeno de hasta 43,4 kg/ha con la adición de abonos orgánicos 

en comparación con 25,9 kg/ha para NPK. Con excepción del vermicompost. la relación beneficio:costo para los otros abonos orgánicos fue similar 

a NPK tanto para las cosechas de la planta como para rebrote. 

Produtividade da cana, saúde do solo e dinâmicas de bio-nutrição que usam nitrogênio em um 

sistema baseado em multi-soca sob sub-tropicos indianos 

Em um campo de experimental, durante 2003-2008 a cana CV. Co Se 92423 (híbrido complexo da Saccharum spp.) recebeu 10 ton/ha de estrume, 

composto Vermi, bio-gás ou lama de de sulfitação, ou taxa de NPK de 150:60:60 kg/ha. No final do experimento, um aumento significativo no 

carbono orgânico do solo (0,62 a 0,67%), nitrogênio do solo (0.069 para 0.082%) e taxa de infiltração de água (5,7 a 5,9 mm/hr) foram observados 

com estrumes orgânicos, em comparação com a inicial 0.32% de carbono orgânico, 0,039% de nitrogênio do solo e taxa de infiltração de 4.1 

mmhr. A densidade reduziu entre 1.23 t e 1,24 tm3 com estrumes orgânicos em comparação com o valor inicial de 1,4 tm3. A Adição de 10 t/ha 

dos estrumes orgânicos ao longo dos anos produzido rendimento da cana similar com a taxa NPK recomendada para ambas as plantas e quatro 

culturas de ratoon. A remoção de nitrogênio com aplicação de lodos de sulfitação (284,6, 166 e 137,4 kg/ha na primeira, terceira e quarta soca) 

condizeram com os de NPK recomendada (278,5, 172.6 e 143,6 kg/ha, respectivamente). Um balanço positivo de nitrogênio até 43,4 kg/ha foi 

registrado com a adição de adubos orgânicos comparado com 25.9 kg/ha de NPK. Com exceção ao composto vermico, o benefício: relação de 

custo para os outros estrumes orgânicos foram semelhantes a NPK para culturas de plantas e soca. 



Introduction 

Sugarcane cultivation in Indian sub-tropics is characterized by 

raising of as many number of ratoons as possible owing to its 

low cost of production, early ripening and higher sugar content 

compared with plant crop (Yadav, 1986). Ratoon crops however, 

seldom receive proper care and inputs due to being considered 

a free crop by majority of farmers poor in resources. Such a 

approach for a long duration (4-5 years) production system like 

this often leads to significant deterioration in soil health in terms 

of nutrient mining, depleted soil organic carbon, poor microbial 

activity and soil compaction and aggregate stability (Singh et 

al., 2007). Continuous use of higher doses of chemical fertilizers 

(as recommended 150 kg N for plant crop and 187.5 kg for 

each ratoon) on the other hand raise the cost of production 

so high that renders the system unprofitable. As recurring 

reduction in returns obtained from applied inputs has been 

found to be associated with poor soil organic carbon content 

(< 0.40%) of the sandy loam soils prevalent in the sub-tropical 

north India (Dawe et al., 2003), application of organic manures 

such as animal manures, sugar factory by products, compost 

to replenish soil organic matter and improve soil structure 

and fertility is being increasingly favoured. A growing number 

of experiments show that use of organic manures leads to 

improved soil quality and more biological activity in soil than is 

the case with conventional farming (Droogers and Bouma, 1996). 

The improved soil organic matter content leads to improved 

exchange capacity of the soil complex and minimizes the losses 

of nutrients on one hand and protects the environment on the 

other. However, there is need to assess the effect of various 

organic manures on nitrogen availability and uptake vis-à-vis 

soil health, sugarcane productivity and its profitability on a 

long term scale as encountered under multi-ratooning system. 

Keeping these points in view, the present study was undertaken 

to assess the efficacy of different organic manures on sugarcane 

plant-multi ratoon production system in terms of its effect on 

nitrogen availability, uptake, soil microbial activity, soil physical 

properties, sugarcane yield and economics. 

Materials and methods 

Field experiments were conducted during 2003-8 at Lucknow 

(26°56’N, 80°52’E and at 111 m above mean sea level). Soil of 

the experimental site was sandy loam (13.3% clay, 24.5% silt 

and 62.3% sand) in texture. It had initial bulk density of 1.40 t/ 

m 3 , aggregate size (>0.25 mm) 15.2% and infiltration rate 4.1 

mm/h. The soil analyzed was low in organic carbon (0.32%), with 

pH 7.7, EC 0.24 dS/m, available N 230 kg/ha, available P 21.5 

kg/ha and exchangeable K 217.9 kg/ha, soil microbial biomass 

carbon (SMBC) 47.6 mg CO 2 -C/kg soil/day and soil microbial 

biomass nitrogen (SMBN) 3.76 mg NH 4 -N/kg soil/day. Average 

annual rainfall is 976 mm and nearly 80% of the total rainfall is 

received through the south-west monsoon during the months of 

July to September. The average monthly minimum temperatures 

fluctuates from 6.9 to 8°C in January and from 25.9 to 28°C in 

May. The respective maximum temperatures range from 21.2 to 

23°C in January and 39.0 to 40.6°C in May. 

Six treatments viz., control (zero nutrient application), 10 


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586 

Sugarcane productivity, soil health 

and nitrogen use dynamics… 

Table 1. Physical properties, organic carbon and total soil N as influenced by different treatments at the end 

of plant-multi ratoon system 

Treatment Bulk Water stable Infiltration Soil organic Total soil 

density (t/m 3 ) aggregate rate (mm/h) carbon (%) nitrogen (%) 

>0.25 mm 

mean wt. 

diameter (%) 

Control 1.39 15.5 4.2 0.36 0.041 

NPK (150:60:60 kg/ha) 1.40 15.5 4.5 0.45 0.056 

Vermicompost (10 tonnes/ha) 1.24 17.9 5.7 0.62 0.069 

Farmyard manure (10 tonnes/ha) 1.24 17.8 5.7 0.65 0.077 

Biogas slurry (10 tonnes/ha) 1.24 17.7 5.7 0.63 0.068 

Sulphitation press mud (10 tonnes/ha) 1.23 18.3 5.9 0.67 0.082 

SEm ± 0.03 0.14 0.09 0.04 0.005 

C.D. (P = 0.05) 0.12 0.45 0.30 0.12 0.015 

t/ha each of vermicompost, farmyard manure, biogas slurry 

and, sulphitation press mud and NPK (150, 60, 60 kg/ha) 

were randomized within a block and replicated four times. 

All the resources were manually applied to field every year. 

Vermicompost, farmyard manure, biogas slurry and sulphitation 

press mud contained 1.5, 0.5, 1.2 and 1.5% N; 0.5, 0.27, 1.2 

and 0.75% P and 0.8, 0.25, 1.01 and 0.5% K, respectively. 

The average cost (in Rs/ton) of different bio-resources during 

the period of investigation was 100, 150, 250 and 1000 for 

farmyard manure, biogas slurry, sulphitation press mud and 

vermicompost, respectively. The cost of application remained 

same for all the bio-resources at Rs600/ha (four man days at 

Rs150/day) for the applied quantity (10 tonnes/ha) incorporated 

at the final stage of land preparation before planting. Sugarcane 

(cv. Co Se 92423) was planted in rows 75 cm apart using 3- 

budded setts in first week of March, 2003. Sugarcane plant 


crop was harvested from ground level on February 15, 2004 and 

immediately ratoon initiation was done. Four consecutive ratoon 

crops were taken from the same field. 

Soil samples were collected using a tube type soil auger at 

commencement of the experiment and after completion of each 

crop cycle (plant crop and subsequent ratoons). The processed 

samples from each plot were analyzed separately for total soil N 

by the Kjeldahl method (Jackson, 1973), and available nitrogen 

by the alkaline permanganate method (Subbiah and Asija, 

1956). Phosphate was extracted with 0.5 M sodium bicarbonate 

solution (pH 8.5) and determined in the extract colorimetrically 

with the blue colour method (Jackson, 1973). Exchangeable 

potassium was extracted with ammonium acetate solution and 

determined by flame photometer (Jackson, 1973). Bulk density 

of soil, initial and at harvest was measured using core sampler 

and mechanical analysis was done following International Pipette 

Table 2. Microbial activity and nitrogen availability at grand growth stage as influenced by different treatments 

Treatment SBMC (mg CO 2 –C/kg soil/day) SMBN (mgNH 4 -N/kg soil/day) Available (N kg/ha) 

P R 1 R 2 R 3 R 4 P R 1 R 2 R 3 R 4 P R 1 R 2 R 3 R 4 

Control 50.0 88.1 68.7 105.3 136.9 1.3 1.8 2.7 3.5 3.5 228 196 164 153 130.1 

NPK 

(150:60:60 kg/ha) 

55.5 93.0 88.0 125.3 146.7 2.1 2.3 2.5 2.7 2.2 275 270 268 279 255.9 

Vermicompost 

(10 tonnes/ha) 

76.2 107.4 113.6 175.9 224.9 1.6 3.2 5.5 7.5 7.5 263 265 266 280 260.3 

Farmyard manure 


73.3 107.4 103.5 175.9 215.7 1.7 2.7 4.0 7.3 7.3 246 259 260 277 250.5 

Biogas slurry 


66.3 103.4 106.8 175.9 195.5 2.9 3.2 4.4 5.8 5.9 249 257 261 271 250.9 

SPM 

(10 tonnes/ ha) 

65.3 93.3 136.8 186.2 244.4 2.1 3.5 4.5 7.7 7.7 280 288 290 307 273.4 

SEm ± 1.81 1.73 3.29 3.45 3.03 0.1 0.1 0.17 0.2 0.02 6.13 6.3 6.0 5.19 6.03 

C.D. (P = 0.05) 5.65 5.21 9.72 10.30 10.15 0.4 0.3 0.5 0.5 0.6 18.4 19.1 18.03 15.61 18.12 

SMBC - Soil microbial biomass carbon; SMBN - Soil microbial biomass nitrogen; SPM - Sulphitation press mud; 

P - Plant crop; R 1 - Ratoon I; R 2 - Ratoon II; R 3 - Ratoon III; R 4 - Ratoon IV 


Method and aggregate size distribution by wet sieving method. 

Infiltration was measured in-situ using double ring infiltro-meter. 

All biological measurements were performed within 30 days 

of sampling and before any measurement soil moisture was 

adjusted at 60% of water holding capacity and samples were 

re-incubated for two days at 28°C. Soil microbial biomass 

carbon and nitrogen (SMBC and SMBN) were determined using 

chloroform fumigation extraction method. 

Results and discussion 

Effect on soil health 

The application of organic manures resulted in the improvement 

in soil physical properties such as water stable aggregates, bulk 

density and water infiltration rate when the soil was sampled 

at harvest of fourth ratoon ,whereas, there was no or little 

change in these properties in control plots or where NPK was 

applied. Plots supplied with organic manures showed decline 

in bulk density from 1.40 to 1.23 t/m 3 . Similarly, water stable 

aggregates (>0.25 mm) increased from 15.2% to 18.3% with 

organic manures, along with significant improvement in water 

infiltration rate from 5.7 to 5.9 mm/h compared with 4.2 and 4.5 

mm/h under control and fertilizer applied plots, respectively, 

against the initial 4.1 mm/h (Table 1). Improvement in soil 

physical properties with the addition of organic manures is 

attributed to the role of organic matter in granulation of 

soil properties that encourages a porous condition resulting 

in low bulk density and increased spaces per unit volume 

help enhance water infiltration rate in to soil. Granulations 

of soil particles under various organic manure treatments is 

corroborated by the increase in mean weight diameter of water 

stable aggregates too. 

The application of organic manures significantly increased 

the organic C content of the soil (Table 1). Plots supplied 

with sulphitation press mud had the highest (0.67%) organic 

C content, while the control plots had the lowest (0.32%). 

This may be attributed to the huge biomass addition through 

underground stubbles of sugarcane crop (30% of the total 

biomass production). Plots supplied with NPK through chemical 

fertilizers recorded organic C of 0.45%. Increase in soil organic 


C due to application of sulphitation press mud has also 

been reported by Dee et al. (2003) under sugarcane growing 

conditions that previously witnessed loss of soil organic 

matter under conventional agriculture. Similarly increased total 

nitrogen content of soil with the application of organic manures 

varied from 0.069 (vermicompost) to 0.082% (sulphitation 

press mud) was evident compared with the initial value of 

0.039%. NPK application increased total soil nitrogen to 

0.056%. Soil enrichment in terms of organic carbon and total 

nitrogen with the application of organic manures increased soil 

microbial activity leading to accumulation of microbial biomass 

nitrogen and reduced losses through leaching and volatilization 

owing to slow release of nutrients from bio-manures (Gill and 

Brar 2005). 

Microbial activity and available nitrogen 



Table 3. Nitrogen uptake (kg/ha) by sugarcane plant and subsequent ratoon crops under various treatments 

Treatment Nitrogen uptake (kg/ha) 

Plant crop Ratoon I Ratoon II Ratoon III Ratoon IV 

Control 147.0 119.7 90.7 82.0 62.2 

NPK (150:60:60 kg/ha) 306.9 278.5 191.8 172.6 143.6 

Vermicompost (10 tonnes/ha) 212.7 271.5 171.9 158.6 130.1 

Farmyard manure (10 tonnes/ha) 184.0 213.3 153.2 142.8 130.4 

Biogas slurry (10 tonnes/ha) 199.5 229.1 159.8 148.0 128.5 

Sulphitation press mud (10 tonnes/ha) 227.7 284.6 177.4 166.0 137.4 

SEm ± 3.03 4.05 2.6 2.4 2.07 

CD (P = 0.05) 10.1 12.14 7.7 7.3 6.2 

Soil microbial biomass carbon was significantly higher with 

organic manures than in control plots and those receiving NPK 

fertilizer (Table 2). A continuous increase in microbial biomass 

carbon was also observed over the years under the treatments 

receiving organic manures. The highest microbial activity during 

the grand growth stage was observed with vermicompost 

in the plant and first ratoon (76.2 and 107.4 mg CO 2 -C /kg 

soil/day), however second ratoon onwards the highest soil 

microbial biomass carbon (136.8, 186.2 and 244.4 mg CO 2 -C/ 

kg soil/day for second, third and fourth ratoon, respectively) 

was recorded with addition of sulphitation press mud, followed 

by the treatments receiving vermicompost, biogas slurry and 

farmyard manure (103.5 - 113.5 in second ratoon, 175.9 in third 

ratoon and 195.5 - 224.9 mg CO 2 -C/kg soil/day in fourth ratoon). 

Supply of nutrients through chemical fertilizers caused only 

88.0, 125.3 and146.7 mg CO 2 -C/kg soil/day at grand growth 

in second, third and fourth ratoons, respectively. Increase in 

soil microbial biomass carbon (50, 88.1, 68.7, 105.3 and 136.9 

mg CO 2 -C/kg soil/day in plant, first, second, third and fourth 

ratoons, respectively) over the initial (47.6 mg CO 2 -C /kg soil/ 

day) was also recorded in the control plots. Organic manures 

act as substrate for microbial activity and provide congenial 

conditions for their growth which may explain the gradual 

increase in soil microbial biomass carbon over the years under 


587

588 



Table 4. Balance sheet of crop removed and available nitrogen in soil at the end of sugarcane plant-multi 

ratoon system 

Treatment Soil nitrogen pool (kg/ha) N removed by Actual balance in Net gain or loss at 

crop (kg/ha)** soil at harvest of harvest of 4th ratoon 

Initial N added* Total 4th ratoon (kg/ha) (kg/ha) 

Control 230 - 230 501.6 130.1 - 99.9 

NPK (150:60:60 kg/ha) 230 750 980 1093.4 255.9 + 25.9 

Vermicompost 

(10 tonnes/ ha) 

230 750 980 944.7 260.3 + 30.3 



230 375 605 823.2 250.5 + 20.5 

Biogas slurry 


230 700 930 864.9 250.9 + 20.9 

Sulphitation press mud 


230 750 980 993.2 273.4 + 43.4 

* N added includes plant crop +1st ratoon +2nd ratoon +3rd ratoon +4th ratoon ** N removed includes plant crop +1st ratoon +2nd ratoon +3rd ratoon +4th ratoon 

Table 5. Cane yield, commercial cane sugar (CCS) and benefit: cost (B:C) ratio as influenced by different treatments 

Treatment Cane yield (tonnes/ha) CCS (tonnes/ha) B:C ratio 

P R1 R2 R3 R4 P R1 R2 R3 R4 P R1 R2 R3 R4 Control 53.0 46.3 41.9 37.6 35.0 6.1 5.4 4.3 3.9 3.8 0.8 1.3 1.0 0.9 0.8 

NPK 

(150:60:60 kg/ha) 

76.1 78.2 71.7 66.0 64.3 8.9 8.8 8.9 8.2 8.1 1.2 2.1 1.8 1.9 1.7 

Vermicompost 


76.7 77.7 70.4 64.6 64.3 9.0 9.0 8.5 8.0 8.0 0.3 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 



70.9 70.7 68.3 63.3 63.0 8.2 8.0 8.7 8.1 8.0 1.2 2.1 1.9 1.9 1.8 

Biogas slurry 


71.9 70.4 66.6 63.5 63.2 8.5 8.0 8.7 8.1 8.0 1.2 2.1 1.8 1.9 1.8 

Sulphitation press 

mud (10 tonnes/ ha) 

75.3 77.9 72.5 67.4 67.3 8.9 8.8 8.8 8.4 8.5 1.2 2.3 1.9 2.0 1.9 

SEm ± 2.17 2.70 2.35 2.13 1.52 o.29 0.33 0.34 0.34 0.33 - - - - - 

C.D. (P = 0.05) 6.51 8.03 7.10 6.41 4.60 0.90 0.95 1.01 1.03 1.02 - - - - - 

P - Plant crop; R 1 - Ratoon I; R 2 - Ratoon II; R 3 - Ratoon III; R 4 - Ratoon IV 

regular application of organic manures. 

The application of organic manures also significantly 

increased soil microbial biomass nitrogen compared with the 

application of NPK and control throughout the plant and four 

ratoon crops. As with microbial biomass carbon there was 

gradual build up of microbial biomass nitrogen up to fourth 

ratoon under all the treatments, except in the NPK treatment 

where it reduced after third ratoon. At the end of the fourth 

ratoon, soil enrichment in terms of microbial biomass nitrogen 

was highest with press mud (7.7 mg NH 4 -N/kg soil/day), closely 

followed by vermicompost (7.5 mg NH 4 -N/kg soil/day) against 

the initial content (3.76 mg NH 4 -N/kg soil/day). Significantly 

higher microbial biomass nitrogen with organic manures over 

that with recommended NPK rate (2.2 mg NH 4 -N/kg soil/day ) 

and control (3.5 mg NH 4 -N/kg soil/day) indicate immobilization 

of nitrogen by microbial population which act as a reserve pool 

to effectively meet the crop requirement for longer periods as 

in multi-ratooning system. This is corroborated with the similar 

trend recorded for soil available nitrogen. The highest soil 

available nitrogen at the grand growth stage of the plant as well 

as four ratoons was estimated with sulphitation press mud (280, 


288, 290, 307 and 273.4 kg/ha for respective crops) followed 

by the application of NPK (275, 270, 268, 279 and 255.9 kg/ha). 

This signifies that the organic manures, in particular the press 

mud, effectively and adequately meets the nitrogen requirement 

of sugarcane crop during grand growth phase known for rapid 

biomass accumulation and hence nitrogen requirement. 

Nitrogen uptake and its balance in soil 

Uptake of nitrogen by sugarcane plant and ratoon crops 

was significantly affected due to various treatments (Table 

3). Nitrogen uptake was highest with the application of NPK 

(306.9 kg/ha) and lowest in the control (147 kg/ha) in the plant 

crop. Corresponding values for the organic manures were as 

follows; sulphitation press mud (227.7 kg/ha), vermicompost 

(212.7 kg/ha), biogas slurry (199.5 kg/ha) and farmyard manure 

(184 kg/ha). In all the subsequent ratoons, except second 

ratoon, addition of sulphitation press mud resulted in similar 

nitrogen uptake (284.6, 166 and 137.4 kg/ha for first, third and 

fourth ratoon, respectively) as that with the application of NPK 

(278.5, 172.6 and 143.6 kg/ha for first, third and fourth ratoon). 


This suggests that the addition of sulphitation press mud 

adequately meets the nitrogen requirement of sugarcane crop 

in a multi-ratooning system. This may be attributed to its faster 

decomposition making the availability also of all the essential 

plant nutrients compared with other organic manures. 

Besides, the application of organic manures on five 

consecutive sugarcane crops resulted in enhancement of soil 

nitrogen as indicated by actual soil nitrogen balance at the 

harvest of fourth ratoon (Table 4). Over the years total nitrogen 

removal by sugarcane under the NPK rate was 1093.4 kg/ 

ha against meager 501.6 kg/ha in control. Of the manures, 

sulphitation press mud recorded 993.2 kg/ha removal followed 

by vermicompost (944.7 kg/ha). After adjusting the nitrogen 

removal against initial and added quantity of nitrogen the 

highest gain of 43.4 kg/ha was recorded with sulphitation press 

mud followed by vermicompost (30.3 kg/ha). Positive nitrogen 

balance (25.9 kg/ha) was also there with the application of NPK. 

However, the control plots recorded a negative balance (-99.9 

kg/ha) at the end of the crop cycle. Soil nitrogen enrichment was 

higher with organic manures than NPK application. This likely 

to be due to the slow release of nitrogen from organic manures 

and availability of nitrogen in sync with the crop demand (Gill 

and Brar 2005). Similar soil enrichment through organic manures 

has also been reported by Singh et al. (2007) in a plant- single 

ratoon system. 

Cane and sugar yield and economics 

Highest plant cane yield (76.7 tonnes/ha) was obtained with 

addition of vermicompost which was not significantly different 

from the application of NPK (76.1 tonnes/ha), whereas the 

control yield was 53 tonnes/ha (Table 5). Effectively, cane yields 

from the applications of organic manures and NPK were similar, 

both with the plant crop and ratoons. 

Commercial cane sugar yield was also similar in treatments 

receiving organic manures and NPK fertilizer. The sugar yield 

range amongst these treatments in plant and ratoon crops was 

8.0 t to 9 t/ha (Table 5). Sugar yields were lowest in the control 

plots (3.8-6.1 t/ha). 

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profit distributed over cost of cultivation, indicated that with the 

exception of vermicopost, B:C ratio values were similar for the 

other organic manures and NPK fertilizer (Table 5). 

It may be concluded that the application of 10 t/ha of 

sulphitation press mud, vermicompost, biogas slurry and 

farmyard manure are as effective as recommended NPK 

fertilizer rate in producing economic yields through both the 

plant and ratoon cropping. It needs to be stressed though while 

the organic manures applied were though found cost effective 

in India, this may not be the case in other sugarcane growing 

countries as the cost of manures and their application vary to 

a great extent. 

References 



Dawe, D., Dobermann, A., Ladha, J.K., Yadav, R.L., Lin, B., Gupta, 

R.K., Lal, P., Panaullah, G., Sariam, O., Singh, Y., Swarup, A. and 

Zhen, Q.X. (2003) Do organic amendments improve yield trends and 

profitability in intensive rice systems? Field Crops Research 83: 191- 

213. 

Dee, M.B., Haynes, R.J. and Graham, M.H. (2003) Changes in soil 

acidity and the size and activity of the microbial biomass in response to 

the addition of sugar mill wastes. Biology and Fertility of Soils 37: 47-54. 

Droogers, P. and Bouma, J. (1996) Biodynamic versus conventional 

farming effects on soil structure expressed by simulated potential 

productivity. Soil Science Society of America Journal 60: 1552-1558. 

Gill, M.S. and Brar, L.S. (2005) Conservation Agriculture - Status 

and Prospects. Eds. Abrol, I.P., Gupta, R.K. and Malik, R.K. HAU, Hisar- 

Haryana: 64-71. 

Jackson, M.L. (1973) Soil Chemical Analysis, Prentice-Hall of India 

Pvt, LTD, New Delhi Rai, M.M. 1995. Physical properties of soils. 

Principles of Soil Science, 3rd edition, Macmillan, India. 

Singh, K.P, Archna Suman, Singh, P.N. and Srivastava, T.K. (2007) 

Improving quality of sugarcane-growing soils by organic amendments 

under sub-tropical conditions of India. Biology and Fertility of Soils 44: 

367-376. 

Subbiah, B.C. and Asija, G.L. (1956) A rapid procedure for the 

estimation of available nitrogen in soils. Current Science 25: 259-260. 

Yadav, R.L. (1986) Sustaining ratoon cane yields with efficient N 

management practices. Fertilizer News 3: 17-22. 

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589

590 

From the proceedings of the 

2012 Australian Society of Sugar 

Cane Technologists annual 

conference - Factory papers 

Milling 

An enhanced mill extraction model 

O.P. Thaval and G.A. Kent * 

Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. 

* Contact author: g.kent@qut.edu.au 

An enhanced mill extraction model has been developed to calculate mill 

performance parameters and to predict the extraction performance of a milling 

unit. The model takes into account the fibre suspended in juice streams and 

calculates filling ratio, reabsorption factor, imbibition coefficient, and separation 

efficiency using more complete definitions than those used in previous 

extraction models. A mass balance model is used to determine the fibre, brix 

and moisture mass flows between milling units so that a complete milling train, 

including the return stream from the juice screen, is modelled. Model solutions 

are presented to determine the effect of different levels of fibre in juice and 

efficiency of fibre separation in the juice screen on brix extraction. The model 

provides more accurate results than earlier models leading to better understanding 

and improvement of the milling process. 

The effect of mill orientation angle on bagasse moisture content 

G.A. Kent 1* , D.J.K. Auppila 2 and N.J. Mckenzie 1 


2 Sucrogen Limited, Victoria Mill, Ingham, Australia. 


This paper describes an experimental investigation to explore a concept designed 

to reduce the moisture content of bagasse. It takes advantage of gravity to 

separate juice from bagasse by feeding bagasse upwards into the nip of the mill 

while juice drains downwards under gravity. The investigation found that orienting 

the feed to a mill upwards does reduce bagasse moisture content and that the 

benefit is expected to be greater than two units of moisture. While an advantage 

was found in orienting the feed up to 50° above the horizontal, no extra benefit 

was found in increasing the angle higher (up to 60° was explored) and so a 50° 

orientation was identified as the preferred angle for this design concept. 

Reducing bagasse moisture 

G.A. Kent 


g.kent@qut.edu.au 

This paper describes the development and testing of a novel mill design to 

reduce the moisture content of bagasse. It takes advantage of gravity to separate 

juice from bagasse by pushing bagasse upwards while juice drains downwards 

under gravity. The potential of the design to reduce bagasse moisture 

content has not been adequately established. The prototype mill had limited 

power available that prevented typical delivery nip compactions from being 

achieved. Tests conducted did show a reduction in bagasse moisture but that 

moisture reduction is less than expected under ideal conditions. Work on the 

mill design has ceased, at least for the foreseeable future. The design does have 

potential to reduce bagasse moisture content but presents some engineering 

challenges to establish a reliable, low maintenance design alternative. 

Purification 

Optimisation of process parameters for the removal of hydroxycinnamic 

acids in sugar solutions 


D.M.T. Nguyen and W.O.S. Doherty 

Sugar Research and Innovation, Centre for Tropical Crops 

and Biocommodities, 


danny1.nguyen@qut.edu.au 

Colour is one of the most important parameters in sugar quality and its presence 

in raw sugar plays a key role in the marketing strategy of sugar industries 

worldwide. This study investigated the degradation of a mixture of colour precursors 

using the Fenton oxidation process. These colour precursors are caffeic 

acid, p–coumaric acid and ferulic acid, which are present in cane juice. Results 

showed that with a Fe(II) to H 2 O 2 molar ratio of 1:15 in an aqueous system at 

25°C, 77% of the total phenolic acid content was removed at pH 4.72. However, 

in a synthetic juice solution which contained 13 mass % sucrose (35°C, pH 5.4), 

only 60% of the total phenolic acid content was removed. 

Clarification 


ABSTRACTS 

Preliminary studies on the flotation clarification of mixed juice 

B.P. Lavarack * and R.A. Casanovas 

Mackay Sugar Limited, Mackay, Australia. 

* Contact author: b.lavarack@mkysugar.com.au 

This paper reports on both the design and operational aspects of a dissolved air 

flotation clarifier designed for waste water treatment but applied to the clarification 

of mixed juice. Preliminary results are given for the dissolved air flotation 

clarification of mixed juice at both bench top and pilot plant scale. Dissolved air 

flotation clarification has the benefits of reduced capital cost and simplified operation; 

however the process is constrained by high temperature requirements. High 

starch removals are possible when mixed juice is clarified at low temperatures of 

60ºC. Sand and other high density particulates in the mixed juice feed are difficult 

to float and tend to accumulate on the bottom of the flotation clarifier. These 

require a removal mechanism for the successful operation of the flotation clarifier. 

Secondary processing of the clarified juice is required to remove protein and other 

scale-causing impurities for the process to be practical. 

Characterisation of sugarcane juice particles that influence the 

clarification process 

C.C.D. Thai * and W.O.S. Doherty 

Sugar Research and Innovation, Centre for Tropical Crops 

and Biocommodities, 


* Contact author: c1.thai@qut.edu.au 

Problems associated with processing whole sugarcane crop can be minimised 

by removing impurities during the clarification stage. As a first step, it is important 

to understand the colloidal chemistry of juice particles on a molecular level 

to assist development of strategies for effective clarification performance. This 

paper presents the composition and surface characteristics of colloidal particles 

originating from various juice types by using scanning electron microscopy with 

energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy 

(XPS) and zeta potential measurements. The composition and surface 

characteristics of colloidal juice particles are reported. The results indicate 

that there are three types of colloidal particles present, viz. an aluminosilicate 

compound, silica and iron oxide, with the latter two being abundant. Proteins, 

polysaccharides and organic acids were identified on the surface of particles in 

juice. The overall particle charge varies from -2 mV to -6 mV. In comparison to 

juice expressed from burnt cane, the zeta potential values were more negative 

with juice particles originating from whole crop. This in part explains why these 

juices are difficult to clarify. 


Energy economy 

Refinery vacuum pan energy efficiency optimisation 

N.J. Hicks * and M. Clarke 

Harwood Mill and Refinery, Harwood, Australia. 

* Contact author: nhicks@nswsugar.com.au 

As part of Harwood Mill and Refinery’s energy efficiency opportunities (EEO) 

program process improvements have been implemented at the Refinery to 

optimise the consumption of energy and water in the refinery pans. Limited 

refined sugar grading capacity exists within the factory and this has required 

intense focus on accurate vacuum pan boiling to achieve tight control of 

refined sugar grain size and regularity. Previous pan control included a constant 

temperature slurry graining and ‘check’ process that used significant 

quantities of water to control the supersaturation of the pan contents and 

achieve the required grain specification. The improved ‘vacuum-checking’ 

process controls supersaturation with minimal use of water by manipulating 

the content’s temperature by adjusting and regulating the vacuum in the head 

space. While this concept is certainly not new, this paper gives an insight into 

the history of pan boiling at Harwood Refinery, and the effective implementation 

of this concept into normal operations. Calculations predict an annual 

energy saving of approximately 34TJ (equivalent to about 2,500 t of coal each 

year assuming 50% thermal efficiency) and water saving of 13,320 t across 

the pan stage based on an annual refined sugar production output (RSO) of 

220,000 t. 

Tools and techniques to make managing your energy efficiency 

opportunities effort easy 

S. Scott 

NSW Sugar Milling Co-Operative Limited, Harwood Mill, 

Harwood Island, Australia. 

sscott@nswsugar.com.au 

In 2006 the Australian Government introduced a mandatory program for businesses 

purchasing and utilising more than 0.5 petajoules (PJ) of energy p.a. 

The Energy Efficiency Opportunities (EEO) scheme was designed to target 

250 of the 1,000,000 Australian companies that consume 60% of the nation’s 

energy. Even the smallest sugar mill or refinery would substantially exceed the 

0.5 PJ p.a. threshold due to the energy released from the burning of bagasse. 

Consequently the complexities of the EEO Act and its attendant Regulations 

are an obligation for all sugar mills and corporations, who find themselves 

gathered into the same fold as large and well-resourced companies like 

BHP, Alcoa, Rio Tinto and similar entities within the Australian business 

environment. Finding the time, personnel resources and money to adequately 

discharge their regulatory obligations has proved challenging for most sugar 

milling corporations in the first 5-year cycle of the EEO program. This paper 

seeks to share some handy insights and tools developed within the NSW 

Sugar Milling Co-Op and demonstrate how small enterprises typical of those 

within the Australian sugar industry might establish formal, auditable systems 

to manage this complexity in such a way as to aid the verification process 

mandated under the regulations. 

Predicting the effects of bagasse depithing operations on 

boiler combustion performance 

A.P. Mann * and I.M. O’Hara 

Queensland University of Technology, Australia. 

a.mann@qut.edu.au 

The sugar industry is pursuing diversification options using bagasse as a feedstock. 

Depithing, the removal of the smaller bagasse particles, is an integral 

part of the manufacturing processes for bagasse by-products such as pulp 

and paper. There are possible environmental and economic benefits associated 

with incorporating depithing operations into a sugar factory. However there 

have only been limited investigations into the effects of depithing operations 

on a sugar factory boiler station. This paper describes a modelling investigation, 

using the lumped parameter boiler design tool BOILER and the CFD code 

FURNACE, to predict the effects of pith, depithed bagasse and mixed bagasse/ 

pith firing on the efficiency, fuel consumption and combustion performance of 

a typical sugar factory boiler. 


ABSTRACTS: From the proceedings of the 2012 

Australian Society of Sugar Cane Technologists 

annual conference - Factory papers 

Machinery and equipment 

Maintenance effectiveness and efficiency 

N.J. Hicks * and S.J. Scott 

NSW Sugar Milling Co-Operative, Harwood Mill and Refinery, Australia. 

nhicks@nswsugar.com.au 

In 2009 an initial paper was presented to the ASSCT (Peppernell et al., 2009) 

reporting on the implementation of a change management strategy focusing 

on maintenance improvement. That paper reported on the implementation of 

the first three elements of a 5-point strategy. This paper builds on the initial 

work and covers the development and progression into stages 4 and 5 of the 

maintenance strategy. Stage 4 is maintenance effectiveness (doing the right 

maintenance at the right time) and stage 5 is maintenance efficiency (lowest 

cost maintenance for optimum effect). In particular, this paper examines the 

development, implementation and effectiveness of root cause failure analysis 

(RCFA), plant criticality analysis and reliability centred maintenance (RCM) as 

means of developing predictive and preventative maintenance programs. 

Performance of WDT fugal at Marian Mill 

C. Muddle 1* , R. Broadfoot 2 , G. Eastaughffe 3 and R. Treloar 3 

1 Mackay Sugar Limited, Queensland, Australia. 


3 WDT (Engineers) Pty Ltd, Brisbane, Australia. 

* Contact author: c.muddle@mkysugar.com.au 

WDT engineers installed an experimental low speed continuous centrifugal for 

processing high grade massecuites in 2003. The fugal has undergone numerous 

modifications to improve performance. Trials in 2011 established that the 

fugal is able to produce Brand 1 quality sugar at 50 t/h and 35 t/h for A and B 

massecuites respectively. This paper gives a brief description of the installation 

at Marian Mill and details the results of several investigations on the fugal. 

Results of purity rise, massecuite rate and sugar quality are presented as well 

as visual assessment of product sugar. Some minor changes to operation are 

planned which are expected to increase the throughput rate of the fugal to 60 

t/h for A massecuite and 40 t/h for B massecuite. Purity rise is expected to be 

consistently below two units. 

All improvement is change but not all change is improvement 

S.J. Scott 

NSW Sugar Milling Co-Operative Limited, Harwood Mill, 

Harwood Island, Australia. 

sscott@nswsugar.com.au 

In 2006, the engineering team at the NSW Sugar Milling Co-Operative (Co-Op) 

Harwood Mill and Refinery began the process of examining their effectiveness, 

with the aim of better utilising existing personnel resources to strengthen their 

ability to deliver value to the Co-Op by way of growing their LIMS (Scott, 2008): 

growing their focus on Leadership; growing their focus on Improvement; growing 

their focus on Maintenance; growing their focus on Systems. An initial paper 

was presented to the ASSCT (Peppernell et al., 2009) reporting on progress with 

the focus on maintenance and how the first 3 parts of a 5-point strategy were 

being implemented to drive the improvement of this element. Gaining control 

of the maintenance effort was the critical first step to unlock the potential 

within the team to expand their improvement focus towards a broader range of 

leadership, improvement and systems initiatives. This paper looks briefly at the 

development and progression into stages 4 and 5 of the maintenance strategy 

but primarily reports on how the strategic management approach has operated 

to release potential from within the existing team to achieve other positive 

outcomes encompassing: occupational health and safety (OHS), employee 

engagement, continuous improvement (CI), energy efficiency opportunities 

(EEO), and systems development. 

Developments in highly stressed large boiler ID fans 

L.G. Santarossa 1* , D. Lyons 1 , J. Mewing 2 and R. Thompson 3 

1 Sucrogen - Cane Products, Townsville, Australia. 

2 John Mewing Engineering Services, Cardwell, Australia. 


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3 AirEng, Melbourne, Australia. 

* Contact author: lsantarossa@sucrogen.com 

A history of induced draft (ID) fan failures in the Invicta Mill 320 t/h No. 3 

bagassefired boiler instigated a complete review of the fan installation. These 

issues have been exacerbated by heavy carry-over from poor performing wet 

collectors preceding the fan. Traditional materials (e.g. Bisalloy 80) cannot clear 

heavy carry-over due to the plate surface finish and corrosion of the impeller 

surfaces. This can be alleviated to some extent by surface coatings, but these 

degrade, are high maintenance and not as effective as a polished stainless steel 

surface. The review included: developing a performance specification for the 

actual boiler fan installation instead of the original manufacturers specification 

and identifying that the actual duty requirement was different to the original 

specification; the material specification for a fan impeller behind a wet collector 

due to recurring maintenance and operational issues which culminated in 

selecting SAF2205 as the most appropriate compromise for the duty; the impeller 

design requirements to comply with the fatigue limits of a lower strength 

material than the material used in the fan impeller that was being replaced. 

Significant FEA work was required to ensure that this design eliminated further 

maintenance and expense on this historically troubled item of plant. This work 

culminated in delivering a 16.5 t fan impeller and shaft, which is the largest 

SAF2205 fan impeller for the Australian sugar industry. The fan impeller has 

a novel ‘scythe’ type centre plate to reduce inertia and improve wear performance. 

The impeller blades were polished to a five micron surface finish to minimise 

ash build-up and to reduce the need for boiler outages for maintenance 

cleaning of the impeller due to out-of-balance effects of the build-up. 

Investigation into a low-cost wagon bearing failure 

prevention system 

A.J. Craig * and P.F. Britton 

Sucrogen Limited, Ingham, Australia. 

* Contact author: acraig@sucrogen.com 

The majority of Australian cane processing factories utilise a rail network and 

rolling stock (i.e. locomotives and cane wagons) for the transport of sugar 

cane to the factory. Rolling stock derailments are a significant problem within 

these transport systems, creating major safety, environment and financial risks 

to businesses. A significant proportion (in some seasons up to 10%) of these 

derailments was caused by wagon axle bearing failures. Like most rolling element 

bearings, the wagon bearings exhibit random failure modes and failure is 

therefore unpredictable based on service interval. This paper investigates the 

use of various condition monitoring methods with respect to identifying a cost 

effective method for on-line bearing monitoring for cane wagon bearings. With 

Hot axle box detection having been considered before in the Australian sugar 

industry (Everitt, 1987; Everitt et al., 1997), a number of constraints to the successful 

use of this technology at this time limited its overall capabilities. Through 

a review of bearing failure theory and identification of the failure lead indicators, 

a system was designed. The system design was realised as a prototype system 

for evaluation as a measurement and data management tool for integration with 

a wagon identification system. Experimental trials were conducted to evaluate 

the system components’ suitability for the application and to determine the 

expected success in developing the system further. The ultimate aim was to 

achieve a low-cost, stand alone, on-line derailment prevention system that 

can integrate with current business systems and the rolling stock operational 

environment. 

Polymer mud scraper assembly 

R.G. Attard 1* , W. Neilsen 1 , B. Refalo 2 and G. Meyer 2 

1 Mackay Sugar Limited – Racecourse Mill, Australia. 

2 Consolidated Plastics & Epoxy Pty Ltd, Australia. 

* Contact author: r.attard@mkysugar.com.au 

The mud scrapers on the three rotary mud filters at Racecourse Mill are of 

varying designs and scraper lengths with no adjustments to scraper angle. The 

scraper frames are also fabricated from mild steel and are prone to excessive 

corrosion due to the hot wet environment. As the pivot points and scraper 

blades wear, the blade angle presented to the screen changes and compromises 

the efficiency of the scraper and its ability to scrape the mud from the 

filter drum. This can lead to excessive blinding of the filter screen and a loss in 

effective filter area, which increases mud loss. The scraper blades are difficult 

to access and require the filter to be shutdown when changing blades. To over- 


come these problems the filter scrapers need to be a standard size and design 

and made from a non-corrosive material and be fully adjustable to optimise 

the blade angle presented to the screen. In collaboration with Consolidated 

Plastics & Epoxy a polyethylene mud scraper frame was designed, fabricated 

and installed on No. 3 filter at Racecourse Mill. This paper outlines the design 

considerations of operator safety, reduced screen blinding, low maintenance 

and operational experiences with the new mud scraper assembly. 

Computational dynamic analysis of a fugal floor structure 

S.N. Thompson 1 , D.J. Kauppila 1* , P.F. Britton 2 and M.J. Van Blerk 1 

1 Sucrogen, Victoria Mill, Ingham, Australia 

2 Sucrogen, Macknade Mill, Ingham, Australia 

* Contact author: dkauppila@sucrogen.com 

Sucrogen Victoria mill is at the mid-point of a high-grade fugal replacement 

strategy. Installation of a second Titan 1900 fugal was completed in the 2011 

maintenance season. Installing this machine required the fabrication of a new 

section of elevated, structural flooring. During commissioning trials and into 

the 2011 crush, significant levels of vibration were apparent in the new floor 

structure. An in-house computational dynamics analysis of the structure was 

completed to determine the critical mode shapes and associated natural 

frequencies. This work was undertaken by a Sucrogen graduate mechanical 

engineer under the supervision of Sucrogen Herbert district Reliability 

Engineers. The computational modelling and design revision work is complete 

and subsequent structural modifications will be in place for the 2012 crush. This 

paper reviews this body of work and presents engineering recommendations to 

assist with the design of dynamically loaded, elevated steel platforms. 

Instrumentation 

A spatial display incorporating a real-time alarm and warning 

system for cane train operations 

J. Markley 1 , P. Everitt 2* and S. Strong 3 

1 Farmacist Pty Ltd, Australia. 

2 iScape Pty Ltd, Australia. 

3 Mackay Sugar Ltd, Australia. 

* Contact author: p.everitt@iscape.com.au 

Mackay Sugar has for many years used a system called pcEMB in the traffic 

office to aid traffic officers in maintaining train separation. The pcEMB is a mimic 

of the train track layout and is used to generate a clearance for a train along 

a section of track. The pcEMB integrates with another system called Vehicle 

Tracking Collision Advisory System (VTCAS). Both systems were developed by 

CSR with VTCAS being a series of additional software components that, among 

a number of other things, generates and issues alarms and warnings to trains 

that move outside their designated clearances. Following several significant 

incidents and near misses combined with failed attempts to introduce alarms 

and warnings into the system while using pcEMB and VTCAS, Mackay Sugar 

embarked on a program to develop TrackSafe. This paper describes the development 

of TrackSafe, a geographic map based system that uses GPS location 

information from trains to display current train locations on a computer screen 

in the traffic office. The system monitors train clearances and issues warnings 

or alarms if trains move outside their area of clearance. The paper also details 

the development of alarms and warnings that are simultaneously displayed on 

the TrackSafe map within the traffic office and the TrackSafe screens within the 

train cabs. It also highlights the operational issues encountered during the first 

full year of rollout and describes the solutions that have been implemented to 

overcome the majority of issues. 


D.W. Rackemann 1* , L. Cripps 2 , P. Chohan 3 , C.P. East 1 and W.O.S. Doherty 1 


2 Tully Sugar Limited, Tully, Australia. 

3 Maryborough FNQ Sugar Services Pty Ltd, Tableland, Australia. 

* Contact author: d.rackemann@qut.edu.au 

Developments in evaporator cleaning have accelerated in the past 10 years 


as a result of an extended period of research into scale formation and scale 

composition. Chemical cleaning still provides the most cost effective method 

of cleaning the evaporators. The paper describes a system that was designed 

to obtain on-line samples of evaporator scale negating the need to open up hot 

evaporator vessels for scale collection. This system was successfully implemented 

in a number of evaporators at a sugar mill. This paper also describes 

a recent experience in a sugar factory in which the cleaning procedure was 

slightly modified, resulting in effective removal of intractable scale. 

Importance of in-line colour measurement of sugar for product 

quality and factory performance 

T. Diringer * and B.C. Nielsen 

Neltec A/S, Bevtoft, Denmark. 

* Contact author: tdi@neltec.dk 

Increasing demands for process control and automation in all industries, including 

sugar processing, have driven continuous advances in in-line monitoring systems. 

With the help of intelligent sensing and measuring systems, operators can now 

monitor each process step in detail, on-line and on-screen. Due to these developments, 

many processes that were previously controlled manually can now be 

controlled automatically. Although the most important parameter to control in the 

sugar factory is the quality of the final product, many factories still do not have 

online systems for monitoring the quality of sugar after it has left the centrifuges. 

Most rely, instead, on analysis of samples in the laboratory, at best every two 

hours. In addition, during the time samples are transferred to the laboratory and 

analysed, sugar may be produced that does not meet, or substantially exceeds, 

specifications. This paper describes the introduction of real-time colour measurements, 

their accuracy, and the benefits that can accrue from their use. 

A new approach to automatically producing schedules 

for cane railways 

M. Masoud, E. Kozan and G.A. Kent * 



The scheduling of locomotive movements on cane railways has proven to be 

a very complex task. Various optimisation methods have been used over the 

years to try and produce an optimised schedule that eliminates or minimises 

bin supply delays to harvesters and the factory, while minimising the number of 

locomotives, locomotive shifts and cane bins, and also the cane age. This paper 

reports on a new attempt to develop an automatic scheduler using a mathematical 

model solved using mixed integer programming and constraint programming 

approaches and blocking parallel job shop scheduling fundamentals. The 

model solution has been explored using conventional constraint programming 

search techniques and found to produce a reasonable schedule for small-scale 

problems with up to nine harvesters. While more effort is required to complete 

the development of the full model with metaheuristic search techniques, the 

work completed to date gives confidence that the metaheuristic techniques will 

provide near optimal solutions in reasonable time. 

A desktop study of mill roller life prediction using cumulative 

fatigue damage theory 

S.N. Thompson 1 and P.F. Britton 2* 

1 Sucrogen Limited, Victoria Mill, Ingham, Australia. 

2 Sucrogen Limited, Macknade Mill, Ingham, Australia. 

* Contact author: pbritton@sucrogen.com 

Failed roller shafts cause major problems for sugar mills in terms of downtime and 

lost production. Due to the typically catastrophic nature of these failures, associated 

equipment such as brasses, mill cheeks, pinions and tail-bars can also be 

damaged as a result of the primary roller failure. Therefore, it is logical to determine 

which rollers are most likely to fail so that failure can be mitigated. The tracking 

of in-service mill rollers to manage non-destructive testing (NDT) programs and 

failures is by no means a new concept. In this case, a desktop study has been 

conducted that is based on predicting the relative life of in-service roller shafts 

using the Miner’s rule cumulative fatigue damage theory. Using SRI literature and 

mill operating parameters, peak alternating bending stress levels were determined 

for each roller position within a candidate 5-mill train. Tonnage and mill speed data 

were utilised to identify the rates of ‘stress cycling’ at each mill roller position over 


the history of existing in-service mill roller shafts. For each mill roller shaft currently 

in use, the service history (i.e. durations spent at different positions in the milling 

train) was then used to determine the ‘usage’ of theoretical fatigue life. The result 

was a relative measure of failure likelihood for use in maintenance strategy development 

into the future. The focus of this paper is on describing the development of 

the numerical tool and comparing its life predictions with those made purely upon 

length of service. In addition, the concept of extending the tool to develop location 

strategies for optimising mill roller service life is discussed. 

Real-time cane transport scheduling 

Arthur Pinkney 

CQ University, Mackay, Australia. 

a.pinkney@cqu.edu.au 

Real-time scheduling addresses the operational (as opposed to the planning) 

scheduling problem. The most significant difference between operational and 

planning scheduling is that operational scheduling must handle disruptions to 

the system, such as mill and harvester stoppages and locomotive delays, as 

they occur throughout the day. The real-time scheduling system (RTSS) introduced 

in this paper addresses the question asked by traffic officers repeatedly 

throughout the day: “There are this many bins in the mill yard and this many 

at the harvesters, what should I do with the locomotive that’s now in the mill 

yard?’ RTSS then combines these purpose-built locomotive runs to produce 

a complete, efficient cane transport schedule. RTSS models both the harvest 

and transport of cane. Its runs are designed to keep the mill crushing, keep the 

harvesters working, and complete the daily collections and deliveries. 

Byproducts 




A preliminary study into the environmental and economic 

consequences of a sugar factory depithing operation 

T.J. Rainey * , A.P. Mann, C.H. Bakir and I.M. O’Hara 


* Contact author: t.rainey@qut.edu.au 

Bagasse stockpile operations have the potential to lead to adverse environmental 

and social impacts. Dust releases can cause occupational health and safety 

concerns for factory workers and dust emissions impact on the surrounding community. 

Preliminary modelling showed that bagasse depithing would likely reduce 

the environmental risks, particularly dust emissions, associated with large-scale 

bagasse stockpiling operations. Dust emission properties were measured and 

used for dispersion modelling with favourable outcomes. Modelling showed a 

70% reduction in peak ground level concentrations of PM10 dust (particles with 

an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm) from operations on depithed bagasse 

stockpiles compared to similar operations on stockpiles of whole bagasse. 

However, the costs of a depithing operation at a sugar factory were estimated 

to be approximately $2.1 million in capital expenditure to process 100,000 t/y of 

bagasse and operating costs were 200,000 p.a. The total capital cost for a 10,000 

t/y operation was approximately $1.6 million. The cost of depithing based on a 

discounted cash flow analysis was $5.50 per tonne of bagasse for the 100,000 

t/y scenario. This may make depithing prohibitively expensive in many situations 

if installed exclusively as a dust control measure. 

Mixing and drying mud and ash at Tully mill 

F. Plaza 1* , A. Booth 2 , A.P. Mann 1 and G.A. Kent 1 


2 Formerly of Tully Sugar Limited, Tully, Australia. 

* Contact author: f.plaza@qut.edu.au 

Disposal of mud and ash, particularly in wet weather conditions, is a significant 

expense for mills. This paper reports on part of a process to pelletise mud and 

ash, aimed at making mud and ash more attractive to growers across entire mill 

districts. The full process and the re-constituting and centrifuging rotary vacuum 

filter mud part of the process were described in two papers to the 2011 conference. 

The component described in this paper involves aspects of mixing mud and 

ash with subsequent drying using boiler exit gas. The mud material needs to mix 


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easily with boiler ash and the mixture has to feed easily into and be pneumatically 

conveyed by a flue gas dryer. The performance of a pilot flue gas dryer for drying 

mud and ash was evaluated. The mud and ash mixture was found to dry much 

faster than final bagasse, provided the mud and ash material was broken up into 

individual particles. A previously developed computer model of bagasse drying was 

updated to take into account the smaller particle size of the mud and ash mixture. 

This upgraded model predicted the performance of the pilot flue gas dryer well. 

Modelling of the mechanical behaviour of heavily 

over-consolidated bagasse 

F. Plaza 


f.plaza@qut.edu.au 

A better understanding of the behaviour of prepared cane and bagasse, and the 

ability to model the mechanical behaviour of bagasse as it is squeezed in a milling 

unit to extract juice, would help identify how to improve the current process, for 

example to reduce final bagasse moisture. Previous investigations have proven 

that juice flow through bagasse obeys Darcy’s permeability law, that the grip of 

the rough surface of the grooves on the bagasse can be represented by the Mohr- 

Coulomb failure criterion for soils, and that the internal mechanical behaviour of 

the bagasse is critical state behaviour similar to that for sand and clay. Current 

Finite Element Models (FEM) available in commercial software have adequate 

permeability models. However, no commercially available software seems to 

contain an adequate mechanical model for bagasse. The same software contains 

a few material models for soil and other materials, while the coding of hundreds of 

developed models for soil and other materials remains confidential at universities 

and government research centres. Progress has been made in the past 10 years 

towards implementing a mechanical model for bagasse in finite element software 

code. This paper builds on that progress and carries out a further step towards 

obtaining an adequate material model. The fifth and final loading condition outlined 

previously, shearing of heavily over-consolidated bagasse, is outlined. 

Co-products 

Moisture uptake and tensile properties of starch-sugar cane 

fibre films 

W.N. Gilfillan 1* , P.A. Sopade 2 and W.O.S. Doherty 1 

1 Sugar Research and Innovation, Centre for Tropical Crops and 

Biocommodities, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. 

2 Centre for Nutrition and Food Sciences,Queensland Alliance for Agriculture 

and Food Innovation,University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Australia. 

* Contact author: bill.gilfillan@student.qut.edu.au 

There is an increasing need for biodegradable plastics because they are environmentally 

friendly and can replace petroleum-based non-degradable plastics which 

pollute the environment. Starch-derived films reinforced with sugar cane bagasse 

fibre, which are biodegradable, have been prepared and characterised by gravimetric 

analysis for moisture uptake, X-ray powder diffraction for crystallinity, and tensile 

testing for mechanical properties. Results have shown that the addition of bagasse 

fibre (5 wt%, 10 wt% or 20 wt%) to either (modified) potato starch (Soluble starch) 

or hydroxypropylated maize starch reduced moisture uptake by up to 30% at 58% 

relative humidity (RH). Also, the tensile strength and the Young’s Modulus increased 

up to 63% and 80% respectively, with the maximum value obtained with 5 wt% 

fibre at 58% RH. However, the tensile strain of the films significantly decreased by 

up to 84%. The results have been explained based on the crystallinity of the films 

and the intrinsic properties of starch and bagasse fibres. 

A review on the production of levulinic acid and furanics 

from sugars 

D.W. Rackemann * and W.O.S. Doherty 

Sugar Research and Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, 

Brisbane, Australia. 

* Contact author: d.rackemann@qut.edu.au 

Sugarcane products represent an abundant and relatively low cost carbon 

resource that can be utilised to produce chemical intermediates such as 

levulinic acid and furanics. These chemicals can be easily upgraded to commodity 

and specialty chemicals and biofuels by high yielding and well established 


technologies. However, there are challenges and technical hurdles that need 

to be overcome before these chemical intermediates can be cost-effectively 

produced in commercial quantities. The paper reviews production of levulinic 

acid and furanics from sugars by homogeneous mineral acid catalysts, and 

reports on preliminary studies on the production of these compounds with 

environmentally friendly biodegradable sulfonic acids. The yields (>50% of theoretical) 

of levulinic acid, formic acid and furfural obtained with these organic acids 

are comparable to that of sulphuric acid currently used for their production. 

The potential for centralised second generation hydrocarbons 

and ethanol production in the Australian sugar industry 

J.C. Meyer 1 , P.A. Hobson 2* , F. Schultmann 1 

1 Institute for Industrial Production, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 

Germany. 

2 Centre for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities, Queensland University of 

Technology, Brisbane, Australia. 

* Contact author: p.hobson@qut.edu.au 

A major economic hurdle for the viability of second generation biofuel production 

is the highly dispersed nature of biomass feedstocks and the associated 

costs of recovery and transport to a biofuel production facility. The sugar 

industry is unique in that the processing of cane into sugar results in a highly 

localised and relatively abundant source of biomass fibre for bioelectricity and 

biofuel production. Despite this localised abundance few Australian mills produce 

bagasse in quantities sufficient to achieve the economies of scale required 

for commercially viable biofuel production. In addition most mills are situated in 

regions which are relatively remote from major fuel distribution and population 

centres. This paper explores the potential for significant cost reductions through 

industry-wide factory-based energy densification and transport of bagasse and 

trash for large scale centralised biofuel production. Energy densification by 

pelletisation of raw and of torrefied bagasse is compared with unprocessed 

bagasse in terms of the associated impacts on transport and centralised biofuel 

production costs. Enzymatic hydrolysis with dilute acid pre-treatment and 

Fischer-Tropsch (FT) technologies are assumed for the production of ethanol 

and hydrocarbons respectively. Costs associated with centralised biofuel production 

based at processing plants in Brisbane and Townsville are considered. 

The overall lowest costs (on an energy basis) in this study are reached for a 

sub-scenario in which FT fuel is produced from torrefied and pelletised bagasse 

and trash located at Townsville at final fuel costs of 48 A$/GJLHV (1.6 A$/L of 

hydrocarbon fuel). The lowest cost ethanol production scenario is observed for 

a centralised plant using unprocessed bagasse and trash at Townsville with 

final costs of 49 A$/GJLHV (1.0 A$/L of ethanol). A Monte Carlo analysis was 

undertaken to quantify the impact of uncertainties associated with inputs used 

in calculating unit biofuel production costs. It was found that a deviation from 

the base case costs is more likely to occur for FT fuel production, which is 

especially sensitive to export power price and capital investment parameters. 

Management 

Investing wisely towards asset management excellence to 

assure reliable assets are consistently effective 

P. Townson 1* and D. Van Der Berg 2 

1 Sucrogen Cane Products, Townsville, Australia. 

2 Sucrogen Cane Products, Plane Creek Mill, Sarina, Australia. 

* Contact author: ptownson@sucrogen.com 

Sucrogen, along with the rest of the Australian sugar industry has long endured 

the struggle to remain competitive in an environment of increasing labour and 

material costs and ageing assets. The maintenance regime and minimal capital 

expenditure from at least 1999 to 2006 seriously neglected our assets, resulting 

in low asset reliability and effectiveness. In such an asset intensive business, we 

needed a sustainable asset management and capital strategy to deliver reliable 

assets that are consistently effective in the short and long term. Sucrogen has 

implemented an effective capital program since 2007 and, at the same time, 

made a commitment to improving asset management practices and behaviours. 

The asset management and capital strategies have significantly improved factory 

availabilities and maintenance cost effectiveness, which, together, contribute 

to assuring Sucrogen continues to be a safe, reliable, low cost producer of 

sugar products and renewable energy. 


WORLD SUGAR 

OUTLOOK 2012 

Analysis and overview of the sugar, sweetener etener and biofuels industries 

Why you should purchase World Sugar Outlook 2012... 

• Identify areas for future development and investment with sugar industry fundamentals 

• Spot new trends with expert articles on sugar and alternative sweetener markets 

• Gain a full understanding of your industry through technical papers and opinion led articles 

• Access and download information on key global players in your industry saving you time with the 

new online sugar directory 

INDUSTRY FUNDAMENTALS FOR 2012 

Sugar market’s return to surplus may exert pressure on prices 

– S. Uhlenbrock 

Southern hemisphere gains weight in ranking of international 

Sugar corporations – C. Berg 

Drivers and barriers for industrial biotechnology – G. Festel 

NEW TRENDS IN THE SUGAR AND ALTERNATIVE 

SWEETENER MARKETS 

Organic sugar: Niche commodity in the mainstream market 

– S. Gudoshnikov 

High intensity sweeteners continue to grow strongly – L. Jolly 

Sugar and health: What does the science really tell us? – A. Boyd 

High sugar prices push HFS production to record levels – C. Berg 

BEYOND SUGAR – CARBOHYDRATES AS FEEDSTOCK 

FOR THE FUEL AND CHEMICAL INDUSTRY 

Not just sugar? – G. Fox 

First fuels, now carbohydrates – carbohydrates versus 

hydrocarbons in the chemical industry - B. Wippler 

OPTIMISING SUGAR PRODUCTION 

Raw sugar quality from a refi ner’s perspective 

– T.M. Jansen 

Optimising imbibition in a sugar mill with cogeneration 

– S.D. Peacock and M.A. Cole 

ONLINE WORLD SUGAR DIRECTORY 

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global players in your industry. 

You will save valuable research time by having 

the ability to search and download details by 

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Available free of charge with a 

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order separately by visiting 

www.informaprofessional.com/ 

sugaroutlook

596 

From the proceedings of the 

2012 Sugar Industry Technologists’ 

annual conference 

Introduction 

The foregoing list is supplemented with comments from Ahmed 

Vawda, Exec Director, Product & Technology, United Sugar Company. 

Purification 

New developments in decolourisation using activated carbon 

that reduce operating costs and improve efficiency 

Phillip Blundell, John Warner and Chris Bryant 

Jord International Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia. 

Coloured components in sugar are commonly removed by adsorption on activated 

carbon or ion exchange resin. Each alternative has features that attract advocates 

all of whom strive to maximise the difference between the benefits gained by 

removing coloured components from sugar and the cost to operate and install 

the required process. In this paper we review recent developments in the design 

of decolourising systems that use activated carbon. These include improvements 

in the manufacture of the carbon itself; improvements in regeneration that 

have reduced energy consumption and emissions to atmosphere.The relative 

advantages of pulse bed and fixed bed systems are discussed, together with the 

impact on plant design and operating cost with particular reference to the low colour 

sugars now available to most refineries. Traditional fuel sources for the regeneration 

of carbon are reviewed against biogas as an alternative/supplementary fuel source. 

Furthermore heat recovery techniques are also reviewed that improve operating 

costs ensuring carbon remains technically and economically attractive. Operating 

and capital cost estimates are given. 

Comments: A technical report reviewing recent developments in the 

design of decolourising systems that use activated carbon. Good solid 

data for interested persons interested in GAC systems. 

A novel approach to raw cane sugar refining using ion exchange 

and chromatography 

Mike Kearney 1 , Tim Pryor 1 , Larry Velasquez 1 , Alan Hieb 2 and Chris Schulze 3 

1 2 Amalgamated Research, USA. Amalgamated Sugar Company, USA. 

3 ESCON GmbH, Germany. 

A new process for refining VHP and VLC raw cane sugar has been developed. 

Because the process utilizes a sequence of ion exchange and chromatographic 

technologies, the refined sugar has naturally lower ash content and microbial 

count as well as favourable organoleptic qualities. Overall recovery for the 

process is approximately 97% without the need for a recovery house. All critical 

steps of the process have been pilot tested extensively, providing confidence 

for scale-up to commercial size equipment. This paper will discuss the unit 

operations involved, energy, water and chemical requirements along with the 

science behind the ion exchange and chromatography unit operations. 

Comments: Cutting edge technology that could be a game changer in the 

future. This paper reports on a new process for refining raw cane sugar 

using ion exchange and chromatographic technologies. 

Handling unacceptable levels of starch in raw sugar - one 

refiner’s solution 

Jeffrey C. Robinson, Quality Management, American Sugar Refining, Inc, USA. 

The negative impact on cane sugar refining of excessively high levels of starch 

in raw sugar is fairly well known and has been debated over time. The topic of 

starch in raw sugar has been the subject of numerous technical publications, 

including several previous SIT technical papers on raw sugar quality. Today’s 

high cost of energy can easily result in a noticeable increase in refinery operating 

costs and lost efficiency when raw sugar starch levels exceed 250 ppm. Costly 

compromises are often made in the processing operation as the refiner typically 

experiences filtration difficulties while attempting to achieve an expected desired 

throughput at this (and higher) level of starch. For nearly a year, detailed technical 

and operating cost data was obtained during the time unacceptably high starch 



ABSTRACTS 

cargoes were processed at one of ASR’s carbonatation refineries. Concurrently, 

an investigation was undertaken to find a simple, rapid, correlated quantitative 

test method for starch measurement since no standard method was in use 

throughout the international sugar industry. As a result, ICUMSA method GS1- 

17, The Determination of Starch in Raw Sugar by the SPRI Rapid Starch Test 

(2004), was selected as our standard method. The objective of this effort was 

viewed as the basis for a potential raw sugar starch penalty which would be 

designed to recover the out of pocket increased costs while processing such 

problematic raw cargoes. Our previous efforts to discourage specific raw sugar 

suppliers from providing high levels of starch in raw sugar were not successful. 

Out of the necessity to remain competitive in the marketplace, we concluded 

the optimum solution was to develop and implement a purchase price penalty 

based on a raw sugar starch threshold level of 250 ppm. This paper describes 

the cause and effect process undertaken by ASR to define in economic terms 

the negative impact of high starch content raw sugar in processing, including 

details regarding measurements and the test method chosen. The outcome of 

this initiative resulted in the adoption of a progressive purchase price penalty 

for raw sugar exceeding 250 ppm via the SPRI Rapid-Starch method (ICUMSA 

method GS1-17), effective for raw sugar purchase contracts effective on 10/1/11. 

Comments: This paper documents ASRs efforts to standardize starch 

analysis and to put in penalties to incentivize raw sugar suppliers to reduce 

starch at source. 

Investigation of cane sugar colour under beet sugar 

co-process conditions 

F. van Noord 1 , E. Poiesz 2 , M. Oomen 2 , A. Wittenberg 1 

1 Suiker Unie, the Netherlands. 2 Cosun Food Technology Centre, the Netherlands. 

To handle increased amounts of VHP cane sugar with coprocessing in the Dutch 

beet sugar factories an investigation started to manage the colour in the process 

to keep the refined sugar within specification. Small amounts of VHP cane sugar 

can be coprocessed in a beet sugar factory without colour problems in the refined 

sugar that has to meet an EG2 specification. It is not known how the colour 

components and precursors of raw cane sugar behave under the circumstances 

and conditions of a beet sugar process. Expectations are that increasing amounts 

of cane sugar will lead to colour problems of the refined sugar. Suiker Unie uses 

process models to optimize the processing in its factories. In the process steps 

the colour reduction and the formation of colour from beet under temperature and 

time is a part of the process models. For the process models the colour formation 

could be expressed in Arrhenius equations. These equations at the different 

stages of the syrups in the process are known for the sugar beet operation. 

A study has focused on the reduction of colour of raw cane sugar in the beet 

process and the formation of colour of processed raw cane sugar syrups. The 

colour formations of the cane sugar syrups have been expressed in Arrhenius 

equations for raw cane sugars of different origin. 

Comments: As more and more beet factories handle cane raw sugar, the 

colour handling issues have arisen and so also the need to understand how 

the colour pre-cursors and colour components behave. This paper sheds 

more light on this subject using mathematical models. 

Comparison of IEX versus GAC for sugar liquor decolourisation 

in a raw sugar refinery 

Günther Ahring, Frank Robert Emeis and Stefan Pfau, IPRO, Germany. 

The main steps of white sugar production in refineries are melting of raw sugar, 

usually two steps of purification of raw melt, filtration of decolourized remelt, 

concentration and crystallisation of fine liquor are. This paper concentrates 

on the second purification step: The decolourisation of raw sugar melt after 

clarification and filtration. One typical treatment step employs resin filled 

Ion Exchange columns (IEX) to reduce the colour in the sugar liquor by ion 

exchange and adsorption. The alternative process step is using Granular 

Activated Carbon (GAC) in pulsed bed adsorption columns to decolourize the 

sugar liquor based on adsorption. This paper / presentation compares the 

installation of an IEX plant including the on site regeneration of resin against a 

GAC plant including on site carbon regeneration, concerning space demand, 

investment costs, operating costs, performance and environmental aspects in 

a VHP raw sugar refinery. 


Comments: This paper compares the installation of an IEX plant. It has 

excellent data on foot-print demand, investment costs, operating costs, 

performance and environmental aspects in a VHP raw sugar refinery. 

Adapting a beet factory to refine raw sugar 

Carsten Irmer, Putsch GMBH, Germany. 

The refining of raw sugar in existing sugar beet factories after the regular 

campaign has become more popular to increase the white sugar output. Even 

the processing of a mixture of both cane and beet juices during the regular 

beet sugar campaign or afterwards with stored thick juice has already being 

practiced. Whereas the sugar house equipment can be used with almost no 

changes, the juice purification and the filtration need to be customized. The 

carbonatation principle is also applicable for the purification of the cane sugar 

melt. The filtration can be performed in conventional two steps or as direct 

PKF filtration eliminating the thickening filters. In combination with an improved 

process control system (DCS) numerous advantages and further savings 

can be achieved. The paper presents different possibilities for improved and 

economical raw melt purification (carbonatation, filtration and decolourisation) 

by using already existing equipment in combination with new technology. 

Comments: With the increase in raws processed at beet factories, this 

paper paper presents different possibilities for improved and economical 

carbonatation using existing equipment in combination with new technology. 

A new and improved deep bed filter process for the sugar industry 

Nirmal Hasrajani, T&L Process Technology Ltd, Thames Refinery, London UK. 

Since its introduction to the industry in the mid 1980’s, TLPT’s TALO Deep Bed 

Filter (DBF) has met with resounding success in phosphatation refineries. The TALO 

DBF serves as a security filter after a phosphatation clarification process to protect 

the decolourising adsorbent media (e.g. bone char, granular activated carbon 

(GAC ) or ion exchange resins) from potential floc from phosphatation clarifiers. 

Some of the features that have contributed to its success include a high flux rate 

(9.2 m 3 /m 2 /h), nil sweetwater generation and near-negligible operating cost. With 

recent trends towards the move to refine Vey High Pol (VHP) raws, decolourising 

adsorbents process systems can require regeneration because of the cumulative 

build-up of suspended solids over longer cycles rather than the colour loading. 

Through pilot trials, TLPT have investigated a combination of alternative filtration 

media for use in the DBF to address this growing trend by producing filtered liquor 

that has a lower level of suspended solids than the existing media combination. 

The paper will discuss the criteria used in the selection of the materials which were 

trialled, the results, the limitations of the pilot trials and equipment and an analytical 

method used to determine the level of suspended solids. 

Comments: The paper documents the past performance of DBFs and new 

studies on trying to improve performance. It concludes that the current 

design is still very good and no major changes are expected in the near 

future. 

Crystallization 

Investigation of color transfer during crystallization of raw and 

beet sugar blends 

V.Kochergin 1 , A.Wittenberg 2 , F. Van Noord 2 , S.Goudeau 1 , I.Tishechkina 1 

1 Audubon Sugar Institute, Louisiana, USA. 2 Suiker Unie, Netherlands. 

Increased imports of raw sugar into Europe call for investigation of alternative 

refining opportunities. It had been proven that relatively small (10-15%) ratios 

of VHP sugar can be co-processed with thick juice with good results using 

existing infrastructure of a beet sugar factory. However, proper integration 

and optimization of raw sugar processing into beet sugar production requires 

additional knowledge of color transfer and quality of sugar that could be 

obtained by crystallization of blended raw cane sugar and beet syrup mixtures. 

Various blends of raw sugar, beet thick juice and partially purified refinery syrups 

have been subjected to crystallization in Audubon Sugar Institute pilot vacuum 

pan. Several seeding procedures and supersaturation control formulae were 

evaluated. Affinated and non-affinated samples of raw sugar were analyzed 

using standard ICUMSA procedures. Crystal size distribution during boiling 

was monitored by laser diffraction crystal size analyzer. Significant differences 

were observed during pan boiling at higher concentrations of cane syrup in the 

blend, where it was more difficult to achieve the required crystal size. Different 

supersaturation levels may be required to successfully boil sugar of the desired 

size. In general, higher color transfer is expected for larger proportions of cane 

sugar in the blends. 


Comments: Increased imports of raw sugar into the beet industry has been 

seen recently. This paper shows the effects on colour at various dosages 

and provides useful data for others who chose to blend raw sugar into the 

beet process. 

Design and evaluation of a full control program for sucrose 

crystallization based on soft sensor approach. 

Osama Zein El-Abdein El-Sherbeeny, United Sugar Company, Egypt. 

Ozein@savola.com 

Derivation of a set of formulas that are used to get solubility and supersaturation 

coefficients curves of pure and impure sucrose whereby the standard parameters 

values of sucrose solubility and supersaturation, seed temperature and brix, end 

point temperature and brix needed for sucrose crystallization are set up for the 

integrated control of the process along with using another sets of formulas that 

control liquor feed and crystallization rates according to the required quality and 

batch time were described and discussed. The main advantages are the auto 

scientific selection of all crystallization parameters needed (by only input of: 

feed liquor purity, grain size and crystallization time need) for level /brix curve 

based on safe limits of supersaturation and achievement of the required batch 

time for quality needed. Further it invites control and monitoring of the all strike’s 

parameters such as sugar quantity, massequite quantity, level, brix and purity, 

syrup brix, purity, and supersaturation, crystal content, crystal size, evaporated 

steam quantity. In addition to the above it predicts the amount of wash water 

required for centrifuging process as well as the purity of both sugar and syrups 

after separation (wash and green syrups). Overview of crystallization of both 

refined and recovery sugars at the United Sugar’s refinery, and the next stage of 

implementation at R1 vacuum pan and findings from simulation were presented. 

Comments: This highly academic paper deals with formulas that are used 

to boil batch pans. It also strays on new ground, where it predicts the 

amount of wash water required for centrifuging process as well as the 

purity of both sugar and run-offs. 

Energy economy 

ABSTRACTS: From the proceedings of 

the 2012 Sugar Industry Technologists’ 


The use and advantages of air cooled vacuum steam 

condensers in sugar refining applications. 

Phillip Blundell, Talagadadivi Gourinath and Dean Reeves 

Jord International Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia. 

Air cooled heat exchangers provide a viable alternative to water cooled 

condensers for condensing pan and evaporator steam,especially when water is 

scarce or expensive or cooling tower blow-down disposal present a problem. 

For vacuum steam condensing, air has been used as the cooling medium 

for many years in the power industry. The use of air cooled vacuum steam 

condensers in the sugar industry however is only a recent event. Although a 

condensing condition of about 0.18 bar (absolute) is common in both industries, 

those condensers employed in the sugar industry experience different criteria 

and require significant design modifications to those condensers used by the 

power industry. Air cooled condensers consist of heat exchanger tubes which 

are finned externally , usually with aluminium fins, made into flat bundles, with 

air flow forced or drawn over them by axial flow fans. These bundles can be 

assembled in horizontal or A-frame configurations and the relative merits are 

discussed. Jord has recently installed such air cooled condensing systems in 

new sugar refineries in Egypt, Algeria and Israel and more are currently under 

construction. The operating experience, capital cost, power consumption and 

important design considerations of these installations are discussed. 

Comments: A technical report demonstrating the use and advantages of 

air cooled vacuum condensers in sugar refining applications. 

Powerhouse efficiency for beginners - learning from a process 

engineer’s experience of audits of power houses in the domino 

brands group 

George Carter, Redpath Sugars, 95 Queens Quay East, Toronto, Ontario, 

M5E 1A3, Canada. 

In the last five years, energy improvements at Redpath Sugar have been almost 

exclusively been achieved by process improvements. These have been reported in 

previous SIT papers and have been effective in reducing the energy consumption of 

the refining process. However less focus has been placed on the steam and power 

generation in the power house itself. In 2012 planned audits of the power house in 

each of the seven sites in the Domino Brands group has given this process engineer 


597

598 

ABSTRACTS: From the proceedings of 

the 2012 Sugar Industry Technologists’ 


an opportunity to begin to fill a long-standing gap in his knowledge. This paper 

is a review of the personal learning from the audits at each site from a process 

engineer’s perspective and how this learning can be applied at sugar refineries 

throughout the industry. This paper includes a review of many key aspects of the 

power house efficiency including; water purification and quality, boiler blowdown, 

condensate returns, boiler efficiency, turbine efficiency, power house-process 

interaction, steam traps, insulation, air compressors, CO 2 compression for 

carbonatation and start-ups and shutdowns. Throughout, the focus is on simple 

checks that can be carried out with little time or capital investment. Although none 

of the ideas presented are new to the industry the aim of this paper is to serve as a 

summary of the recent learning which in its simplest form can be used as a checklist 

for a power house audit in any sugar refinery equipped with one. 

Comments: This paper is a review of the audits at several ASR sites. It 

demonstrates the BACK TO BASICS approach in power house efficiency 

including; water purification and quality, boiler blow-down, condensate 

returns, boiler efficiency, turbine efficiency etc. 

Machinery and equipment 

New approaches in centrifugal design 

Dirk Meyer; Reinhold Hempelmann, and Silke Stiegert, BMA Braunschweigische 

Maschinenbauanstalt AG, P.O. Box 3225, 38022 Braunschweig, Germany. 

Centrifugals rank among the key equipment in the sugar production process 

and it is quite rightly expected that they should meet the highest requirements 

regarding efficiency, even under strong workloads. When selecting a new 

centrifugal, the following criteria are important for decision-making: (a) the 

optimum sugar quality depending on the individual requirements, (b) the 

maximum yield, (c) a high throughput together with the lowest possible power 

consumption, (d) a low use of washwater, and e) simplicity of operation and 

maintenance. For the development of a centrifugal it is thus equally important 

to combine these aspects in an optimum way, and to ensure a safe and 

stable process. To meet steadily increasing customer requirements and to 

further optimise an already highly developed product, new design approaches 

are needed. As a worldwide leading manufacturer of centrifugals, BMA has 

accepted this challenge and developed a new, standard-setting batch-type 

centrifugal. As an outstanding design feature, the innovative basket design 

based on the latest proven calculation methods is to be mentioned, which 

allows expect a significantly longer service life of the basket. In addition, the 

basket allows higher throughputs based on its volume and contributes to a 

smoother running of the centrifugal; this in turn makes the process safer, also 

when difficult massecuites are to be processed. Further important innovations 

that lead to optimised efficiency include a discharger working without a 

vertical movement axis, and a simple but very effective syrup separation unit. 

A significant amount of a centrifugal’s life cycle costs are caused by regular 

maintenance. During development of the new centrifugal, BMA attached great 

importance to simplifying the mechanical system, for example, by reducing 

the number of components. This has helped minimise not only the amount of 

maintenance and thus the costs and downtimes, but also the risk of failure.This 

paper presents the most important innovations of the centrifugal and reports on 

the experiences made with the first installations. 

Comments: BMAs new E series flag ship showing the advantages in 

maintenance and boasting the improved basket with elliptical holes. 

Improvement of a sugar refinery 

A.S. Vawda, United Sugar Company, Saudi Arabia 

Avawda@savola.com 

The expansion of the United Sugar refinery in Jeddah in 2007 necessitated 

a complete redesign of the evaporator, pan and melter stations. Key to the 

success was the implementing of vapour bleeding to drive the continuous pan 

in particular. The thermal redesign of the refinery has been a great success and 

the benefits have exceeded expectations. Overall energy efficiency and capacity 

have improved. The “front heavy” evaporator has played a crucial role as a syrup 

concentrator, a vapour bleeding utility as well as a generator of condensate. This 

paper discusses the design philosophy conceived to meet various operational 

requirements. The paper also explores the options for future expansions that 

would extend the benefits enjoyed thus far. The following subjects are covered: 

The role of the evaporator station; Equipment design and selection; Quadrupling 

the heat transfer area of the first effect; The use of V1 and VII for heating duty; 

The challenges of extracting clean condensate; Options for future expansions; 

Exploring vapour recompression; Instrumentation and control. 

Comments: This paper documents the evaporator’s role during the last 


expansion, provides performance feedback and plots the course for the 

next expansion. 

Instrumentation 

A refiner’s experience with on-line colour measurement 

José Chorão, RAR - Refinarias de Açúcar Reunidas, Portugal. 

jmc@rara.pt 

Colour of washed white sugar is a key parameter of sugar quality. To remain 

within a customer’s specified limits, sugar is very often over-washed in 

centrifugals, with the consequent increase in refining costs. In 1999 a Neltec 

ColourQ automatic colorimeter was installed for monitoring the on-line colour 

measurement of wet sugar after the centrifugals. Until 2007 this system was used 

for indication purposes only, the operators changing manually the water spraying 

time. A reduction in color variability, and an average color closer to the target 

value was achieved. In 2007 an automatic water spraying system was installed; a 

further decrease in variability, and a closer average colour to the target value was 

obtained. A spreadsheet model of the refinery was used to evaluate the benefits 

of the system. Model parameters were determined experimentally, and savings in 

water and steam were computed for the whole refining process. 

Comments: Very good practical report on the benefits of colour monitoring 

and control. 

Total control of sugar production plants in 2020. Trends and 

reality on what is ahead 

Bernd Langhans, Siemens AG, Germany. 

Based on the assumption that every investment is made in order to achieve a 

predefined target, this paper provides a comprehensive overview of the related facts, 

which may help to find a clear strategy to meet the ongoing trends and to be ahead 

of them in the best case. The paper is focused on the investment into electrical & 

instrumentation & control (EIC) technology and the directly related services. The 

target for 2020 shall be an integrated sugar based production site which uses natural 

raw materials to produce sustainable food, byproducts and energy with the highest 

efficiency and to the world leading quality and sustainability standards. 

Comments: A glimpse of the future when computers take over every single 

facet of the manufacturing process. 

Sustainability 

Benefits to a sugar business of developing a robust 

sustainability strategy 

Allan Dobbie and Grant Ritchie, Sucrogen Sweeteners Group 

Sustainability is defined by the World Commission on the Environment and 

Development as “development that meets the needs of the present without 

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. 

This is generally accepted within business as creating a balance between 

people, planet and profit.The evidence continues to mount that the consumer 

expects businesses to operate in a sustainable manner. However sustainability 

is not only a licence to do business but is a pre-requisite to growth (World 

Economic Forum 2008). In an era where the western world places increasing 

pressure and legislation on initiatives to fight obesity our industry must remain 

relevant and communicate the benefits of sugar in the food chain. This paper 

describes how the Sucrogen Sweeteners group has developed a robust and 

well communicated sustainability strategy with a clear goal and a focus on 

its businesses, its products and its community. Discussion supported by 

case studies will demonstrate that this process has identified the inherent 

environmental sustainability within the sugar industry along with further 

opportunities to develop environmental, product and community initiatives that 

are aligned with good business/sustainable practices. The paper also discusses 

the value of communication to demonstrate to the consumer the importance the 

sugar industry plays in communities and environmental stewardship and hence 

the importance of sugar in today’s food chain. 

Comments: Very interesting paper for the new century. Looks at 

sustainability, obesity and communication with the public at large, in an 

ever increasing regulated world. 


600 

De Smet 

Engineers & Contractors 

De Smet Engineers & Contractors 

(DSEC) is a privately held limited liability 

company incorporated in Belgium in 

1989. It operates as a general contractor, 

specializing in the agro-industrial field 

where it is a fully-integrated world class 

provider of engineering, procurement 

and construction services. 

It provides the industry with 

services ranging from project 

management (EPCM - Engineering, 

Procurement and Construction 

Management or “For and on Behalf” 

operations) to full turnkey construction 

(EPC - Engineering, Procurement and 

Construction) combining excellence in 

execution, safety, cost containment, 

experience and reliability with 

particular care towards energy saving 

and sustainability. 

DSEC is in a position to provide 

Investors, Banks, Lenders and Credit 

Insurance Companies with a single point 

responsibility set-up that includes design 

and engineering, equipment supply and 

construction services with guaranteed 

performances under one contract. 

Its one stop shopping package can 

also include financial engineering and 

assistance to projects development. 

Fields of activity 

With a general philosophy of integrating 

process intelligence and project 

management skills, DSEC focuses only 

on a set of industries part of the Natural 

Resources Processing Chain using 

technologies that are fully mastered by its 

teams of engineers, including: 


COMPANY 

PROFILE 

The Sugar based industry: 

• Sugar plants (from beets or cane) as 

well as raw sugar refineries, 

• Bioethanol plants (using beets, cane 

and cereals as raw material), 

• Biochemical facilities that are using 

sugar as a source of carbon, 

• Sugar diffusion units through its 

proprietary design of world renowned 

DE SMET diffuser. 

The Oils & Fats industry: 

• Oilseeds crushing and refining as 

well as fats modification plants, 

• Biodiesel stand-alone plants, 

• Vertically integrated biodiesel 

production facilities. 

The production of Energy 

from Biomass: 

• Biomass boilers islands, 

• Cogeneration plants (Combined 

Heat and Power - CHP) 

Cristanol 40 TPH 43 barg biomass boiler

Geographical markets 

DSEC has no restriction in terms 

of geographical markets. Its 

competitiveness will, however, 

be stronger in places where local 

engineering and project management 

skills are scarce in its field of activities 

or not familiar with the overall project 

responsibility concept. 

DSEC has worked in more than 

40 countries. It has historically been 

very active in the Middle East and 

Africa with of course a large number 

of references in Belgium and Europe in 

general. Large scale project have also 

been successfully undertaken in South 

America. 

New offices have recently been 

open in Brazil and Argentina to tackle 

sugar and ethanol projects on the Latin 

American continent. 

Contractual set-up flexibility 

The variety of investments models and 

contexts drove DSEC to provide a wide 

range of contractual set-up with a view 

of meeting both investors and lenders 

interests. Maximum flexibility in the split 

of scope and liabilities between DSEC 

and its clients are therefore proposed, 

ranging from pure engineering activities 

to full turn-key contracts. All of them 

can apply on greenfield or extension 

and revamping projects and have a 

common goal: Responding to our 

customers needs. 

Engineering and 

Technical Assistance 

DSEC can provide basic engineering 

and technical audits to help investors 

assessing their project feasibility by 

providing an adequate project concept 

along with reliable CAPEX and OPEX 

estimates. The contracting of such 

services, also defined as Front End 

Engineering Development (FEED) has 

indeed proven to be the best way to 

highlight all project potential risks and 

to define the most appropriate 

technological set-up. 

Detailed engineering can also be 

supplied by DSEC to clients having 

enough internal resources to manage 

and execute their own project. 


Danisco betaine plant 

Yemen company for Sugar Refining 

Project Engineering 

and Management 

Combined Engineering, Procurement 

and Construction Management services 

(EPCM) will be considered once the 

investor is ready to place direct orders to 

suppliers and sub-contractors. DSEC’s 

role will then consist in the full execution 

of the project for and on behalf of the 

investor, providing him with all the 

necessary tools to successfully achieve 

his project with a minimum of internal 

so that he can concentrate on his 

production commitments. 

Full Turnkey Construction 

Engineering, Procurement and 

construction services (EPC) is the best 

way DSEC can eliminate construction 

COMPANY PROFILE: 

DeSmet Engineers & Contractors 

risks by providing the guarantees that will 

be required by lenders, banks as well as 

by Export Credit Agencies in any project 

finance structure namely: 

• The plant technical performance, 

• The on time completion of the plant, 

• All within a pre-established budget. 

Here also, DSEC’s flexibility and 

adaptability to clients requirement will 

open the door to several alternatives like 

partial turkeys where the client will take 

direct responsibility on the portion of the 

work job where his own experience can 

be utilised or EPCM+ ® schemes where 

construction risks are covered by DSEC 

even though supplies and construction 

services are directly contracted by the 

client based on DSEC’s indications. 

Even in a turnkey contract, full 


601

602 

COMPANY PROFILE: 

DeSmet Engineers & Contractors 

Makeni Addax Bioenergy site works in Sierra Leone 

transparency can possibly be achieved 

thanks to open book purchasing 

procedures and “pain and gain” sharing 

formulas so that initial contingencies can 

be limited and jointly monitored in the 

best interest of the project. 

Innovation and IP protection 

DSEC is well-versed in conceiving and 

developing industrial plants from client’s 

R&D’s department basic concept where it 

provides its large expertise in engineering 

and unitary operations know-how so 

that optimum designs can be applied to 

the production facility while protecting 

client’s Intellectual property (IP). 

This is how DSEC designed and built 

several inuline production facilities for two 

of the world major players in the field. 

It is also thanks to DSEC’s ethic and 

respect of technology suppliers’ IP that 

DSEC had the opportunity to undertake 

complete projects involving world class 

suppliers of the ethanol industry such as 

Katzen, Praj and ICM. 

Safety 

One of DSEC’s core values and 

fundamental business strategy is its 

constant pursuit of safety. Both for DSEC 

and its clients, the maintenance of a 

safe construction site is a key business 

driver. In the areas in which DSEC 

provides its services, it has delivered 

and continues to deliver excellent safety 

performance and safety record. It is 


DSEC’s conviction that a safe job site 

decreases risks on a project site, assures 

a proper environment for its employees 

and enhances their morale, reducing 

project cost and exposures and generally 

improving client relations. DSEC believes 

that its safety record is one of its 

strong features. 

Current projects around 

the world: 

> DSEC is completing the equipment 

supply of a 2,000 TPD sugar refinery in 

Hodeyda - Yemen for the Hayel Saeed 

Anam Group while starting the turnkey 

construction of another refinery with 

capacity of 1,000 TPD expandable to 

2,000 TPD in Algeria for Grande Raffinerie 

Oranaise de Sucre (GROS). Later is 

featuring a new concept of expansion so 

that the final configuration will provide 

optimum equipment selection, lay-out 

and performances as if it would have 

been planned for the final capacity from 

the very beginning. 

> A 40 TPH - 43 barg biomass boiler 

is being currently commissioned for 

Cristanol in France. 

> DSEC is managing the full construction 

of a 1 million ton cane per year distillery 

in Sierra Leone for Addax Bioenergy with 

activities shifting now drastically from our 

head quarter to the plant site. 

> In the cereal ethanol field, DSEC is 

providing its unique EPCM+ ® concept to 

Asociación De Cooperativas Argentinas 

(ACA) for the construction of a 125,000 

m³/year corn distillery so that it shall 

provide the investor with guaranteed 

time schedule budget and performance 

around the selected process that will be 

integrated by DSEC. 

> DSEC is also working for several cane 

ethanol producers to define the most 

appropriate set-up for providing them 

with an add-on to their existing facility 

so that they will be able to process corn 

while cane is not available to the factory. 

> It is worth reminding that DSEC has 

recently successfully commissioned two 

large scale ethanol and three biodiesel 

production facilities in Europe as well as 

a betaine production unit for Danisco in 

cooperation with Novasep. 

DE SMET S.A. 

ENGINEERS & CONTRACTORS 

Waterloo Office Park 

Drève Richelle 161, Bâtiment O 

Bte 32, B-1410 Waterloo 

Belgium 

Tel: +32 (0)2 634 2500 

Fax: +32 (0)2 634 2525 

Email: info@dsengineers.com 

www.dsengineers.com 


MAINTAINING GROWTH AND GENERATING INNOVATION IN THE BIOFUELS SECTOR 

THE EVENT FOR THE GLOBAL 

BIOFUELS BIOFUELS INDUSTRY: 

INDUSTRY: 

With 70+ speakers, 700+ delegates from 

45+ countries, 40 different sessions, social events 

and structured networking over 4 days and a 

15 year track record of delivering the highest quality 

content and opportunities 

THIS WILL BE YOUR MOST USEFUL 

4 DAYS IN 2012 

Meet the top decision makers from around the world, in 

one place at one time. Don’t miss out on the event where 

the international biofuels executives meet for the biggest 

week of trade and business in the year 

Get The Latest Insights From International Industry Leaders 

MORE CEOS & 

BUSINESS HEADS: 

Come to where the real global 

leaders meet, network and 

join top-level discussion 

on the hottest commercial, 

technological and political 

factors shaping the industry 

Hear From Active Investors Bringing Next Generation Solutions To The Biofuels Market 

Pre Conference Workshop Pre Conference Renewable Chemicals Day Pre Conference Ethanol Plant Visit 

Monday 5 November 2012 

ETHANOL PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY 

WORKSHOP 

Optimise Your Ethanol Operations, Quality Control 

And Boost Yield Maximisation 

4 DAYS OF MEETINGS AND 

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES: 


RENEWABLE CHEMICALS DAY 

Examining Feedstock Fit And Market Opportunities For 

Renewable Chemicals 


SÜD-CHEMIE CELLULOSIC ETHANOL 

PLANT VISIT 

A Unique Opportunity To See The Largest German Plant For The 

Manufacture Of Cellulosic Ethanol From Agriculture Waste Materials 

MORE MARKETS MORE INSIGHTS EVEN MORE NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES 

Sponsors 

Hans van Steen 

Head of Unit, DG Energy 

EU Commission 

Yue Guojun 

Assistant President 

COFCO, China 

Gabriel Sustaita 

Business Development Manager 

CIA Azucarera Los Balcanes S.A, Argentina 

Eric Sievers 

CEO 

Ethanol Europe, Hungary 

John May 

Managing Director 

Stern Brothers & Co, USA 

Claude J. Stoufs Senior 

Investment Manager 

Capricorn Venture Partners, Belgium 

Mike Dwyer 

Director, Global Policy Analysis Division 

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

Patrick Woodyatt 

Senior Ethanol Trader 

ADM, Brazil 

Olivier Macé 

Head of Global Strategy and External Affairs 

BP Biofuels 

Bernhard Dahmen 

Head of Grain and Co-Products Department 

CropEnergies, Germany 

Simon Mitchell 

Director Strategy and Business Development 

Sugar and Ethanol, Bunge, UK 

Bob Dinneen 

President and CEO 

Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), USA 

Meet Producers From Around The World 

Gunter Festel 

Founder & CEO 

FESTEL CAPITAL, Switzerland 

Nicholas C Ashby 

Chief Executive Officer 

Celadon Capital (M) Sdn Bhd, Malaysia 

João Norberto Noschang Neto 

Manager of Technology Management 

Petrobras Biocombustível, Brazil 

Shunaid Qureshi 

CEO 

Al-Abbas Sugar Mills and Distilleries Ltd 

Pakistan 

Andre Koltermann 

Head of Strategic Research and Development 

Süd-Chemie AG, Germany 

Christian Morgen 

General Manager 

Inbicon International, Denmark 

Register online: www.web.agraevents.com 

Phone: +44(0)20 3377 3658 Fax: +44(0)20 3377 3659 Email: registrations@agra-net.com 

Agra Conferences, P O Box 406, By� eet, KT14 6WL, United Kingdom 

15TH 

ANNUAL 

2012 

GAIN VITAL 

INDUSTRY INSIGHTS 

AND NETWORK WITH DECISION- 

MAKERS FROM AROUND THE WORLD 

Supported by 

5-8 

November 2012 

Hilton Munich Park Hotel 

Germany 

Frank Seyfried 

Head of Group Research, Battery 

and Fuels, Volkswagen AG, Germany 

Michael Schmidt 

CEO , BP Europa SE 

Head of Country, BP Deutschland 

Peter Kebati 

CEO and Managing Director 

Mumias Sugar Company Ltd 

Kenya 

Bernard Chaud 

Director , Biofuels Projects 

Tereos, France 

David Douay 

Business Manager EMEA 

INEOS Bio SA, Switzerland 

Paolo Carollo 

Executive Vice President 

Chemtex International Inc., USA 

For Sponsorship and Exhibiti on 

opportuniti es please contact 

Sarah Harding 

email: sarah.harding@informa.com 

or telephone on +44 (0)20 7017 7566.

604 

Meetings Calendar 

15-17 August 2012 

South African Sugar Technologists’ Association 

85th Congress - Durban, South Africa 

Email: sasta@sugar.org.za 

www.sasta.co.za 

28 August - 1 September 2012 

Fenasucro & Agrocana - Sertãozinho 

São Paulo, Brazil 

Contact: Multiplus Eventos 

Tel: +55 16 2132 8936 

www.reedmultiplus.com.br 

3-4 September 2012 

46th Annual Convention of Pakistan 

Society of Sugar Technologists 

- Karachi, Pakistan 

Contact: Muhammad Pervez Akhtar 

Tel: +92 47 765 2806/07 

Email: pervez.akhtar@shakarganj.com.pk 


ATALAC-TECNICAÑA - Cali, Colombia 

Tel: +57 2 6653 252/6654 123 

Email: tecnicana@tecnicana.org 

www.tecnicana.org/htm/congreso/2012/ 


Annual Convention of The Sugar Technologists 

Association of India - Hyderabad, India 

Contact: Anil Shukla Tel: +91 11 6464 5069/72 

Email: office@staionline.org 

www.staionline.org 

16 October 2012 

Sugar Trade Outlook Seminar - London, UK 

Tel : +44 (0)20 3377 3658 

Email registrations@agra-net.com 

www.web.agraevents.com 

Aerobelt Australia Pty Ltd 534 

Anton Paar GmbH 533 

BetaTec Hopfenprodukte GmbH 581 

BioMCN 545 

BMA AG Cover IV 

Bosch Projects (Pty) Ltd 535 

Bosch Rexroth AG 547 

De Smet Engineers & Contractors Cover I 

Fenasucro & Agrocana, Brazil 2012 599 

Fives Cail Cover II 

F.O. Licht’s World Ethanol & Biofuels 2012 603 

F.O. Licht’s World Sugar Outlook 2012 603 

FPE Global Ltd 583 

GEA Westfalia Separator Group GmbH 557 

International Sugar Journal Subscriptions Cover III 


16-18 October 2012 

European Forum for Industrial Biotechnology 

and the Biobased Economy 2012 

- Dusseldorf, Germany 

Contact: Stephen Frier 

Tel: +44 (0)1372 802 006 

Email: sfrier@smithers.com 

www.efibforum.com 

5-8 November 2012 

F.O. Lichts World Ethanol and Biofuels 2012 

- Munich, Germany 

Tel : +44 (0)20 3377 3658 

Email registrations@agra-net.com 

www.web.agraevents.com 

27-28 November 2012 

Sugar crops - Unleashing growth potential 

21st International Sugar Organisation Seminar 

- London, UK 

Contact: Birgit Myrie 

Tel: +44 (0)20 7513 1144 Fax: +44 (0)20 7513 1146 

Email: exdir@isosugar.org 

www.isosugar.org 

3-5 February 2013 

American Sugarbeet Growers Association 

Annual Meeting - San Diego, California, USA 

Tel: +1 202 833 2398 

Email: info@americansugarbeet.org 

www.americansugarbeet.org 

For the latest updates visit: 


27 February - 2 March 2013 

The 37th Biennial Meeting of the American 

Society of Sugar Beet Technologists 

- Anaheim, California, USA 

Contact: Lucy Heltzel Tel: +1 303 832 4460 

Email: aa@bsdf-assbt.org 

www.bsdf-assbt.org/assbt/assbt.htm 

Index of advertisers 

ISSCT 2013 544 

Iteca Socadei SAS 567 

Kemira Water Solutions bv 543 

Licht Interactive Data 589 

Mahle Industrial Filtration Benelux bv 585 

Mausa SA 539 

Novasep Group Bound Insert 

Praj Industries Ltd 541 

Siemens AG 529 

Silver Weibull Sweden AB 579 

SKIL - Sugar Knowledge International Ltd 549 

Stork Veco bv 571 

T&L Process Technology 537 

Western States Machine Co, the 531 


“The most cited technical journal in the sugar industry” 

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To enquire about advertising in ISJ, 

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How you will benefi t from an ISJ subscription: 

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