36

SURVEY OF 'PAN BOILING PRACTICE IN THE

SOUTH AFRICAN SUGAR INDUSTRY.
By R M, BECHARD.
PRELIMINARY. Table 2.-Pan Equipment.
In order to clear the way for any subsequent study of pan
boiling conditions in South Africa, a questionnaire was prepared. Per Ton Sngar
Ratio of Heating Surface Hour
This was sent to all factories whose results are included in the Fac- No. to Capacity, sq. ft.
tor v of Types of Pans. . Heating c. ft.
comparative statements of laboratory returns issued by the No. Pans, HIghest. Lowest. Average. Surface, Capacity
South African Sugar Experiment Station,
The response was very encouraging; all factories but two 1 4 I. cals, 1 coil 1.44 1.33 1.36 M9,7 402,8
answered the questionnaire, and of these two one factory operates 2 4 3 fl. cals. 1 cal.
the Suchar process, and on that account did not see its way 3 2 1 in., 1 I. cal. 1.14 0.1l8 1.00 441.6 421.7
clear to separate the factory operations from those in the re- 4 4 2 st., 2 f. cals. . 1. 75 1. 02 1. 63 082,0 357,0
fl 6 5 cals., 1 coil 1. 03 1.10 1.38 442.3 393.4
finery, The other claims its technique to be so far in advance (\ ,~ 4 f. cals. 2.16 1.73 1.iJ2 772.0 402.2
of common practice, that patent rights on the methods used, are !J a 2 coils., 1 f. cal. 1. 08 1.22 1. 36 f1M.6 407.8
about to be registered, Until these are granted, the manage- 10 8 2 f., 1 fl. cals, 2,20 1.60 1.05 408.4 235.2
11 0 1 tl., 4 can. cals, ", 1. 70 1.40 1.63 939.1 070.4
ment is un willing to publish them, 12 4 2 f., 2 st. cals, 1.!JO 1. ss 1. 74 047.2 313,8
14 a 3 I. cals. 1.42 1.32 1.36 370,2 272,2
Factory No. ] operates a double carbonatation process, making 15 4 2 f" 1 Call" 1 fl. cals 2.28 1.37 1. 66 1l07.0 046.<i
about 85 per cent. high grade white sugar. The others, 16 in 17 8 1 st., 1 con., 1 f. cats .... 1. 57 1.25 1.>10 1121. 0 7f)iJ,2
all, operate a sulpha-defecation process. They make either a 18 4 8 I. cals. I coil ... 1.45 1.00 1.33 67<i,3 507.2
III 4 4 I. cals, 1.62 1.39 1.41l 817,8 546,1)
proportion of plantation white sugar or a high-grade raw of 98 20 4 4 fL, 1 in, cals. ... 1. 78 1.32 1.47 40<i,7 311.2
to 99 polarization sugar. 21 4 3 I. cals. 1 st. li. ... ... 1.58 1.47 1. :Jfl 731.0 472.4

RATE OF THROUGHPUT.
Average capacity per ton sugar hour ." ... <i48,1 435,3

The first question required both the average and the peak of Under the heading "types of pans": "cal." means a calandria pan and "coil"
milling and sugar production rates. With this were to be in- means a coil pan; "f." means flat, "fl." means floating, "con." means conical, "st."
cluded the average and peak boiling house recovery, means stepped-in, "in." means inclined tube plate, and "st. li." means the new type
of so-called stream-lined pan,
Unfortunately, most of the factories did not" realise that the
boiling house recovery asked for, was that obtained while peak The largest pan in operation has a heating surface of 3,500
production was being maintained, and gave the peak boiling sq, It. and a working capacity of 1,620 cubic feet of massecuite.
house recovery, No doubt this omission was primarily due to
loose wording of the questionnaire, It is possible, however, to The 17 factories are equipped with;-
correlate high production rate and variations in recovery from 40 calandrias with flat tube plate.
the answers given, The answers to this question are summarised 7 calandrias with conical plate,
thus ;-
6 floating calandrias.
Table I.-Rate of Throughput and Recovery. f> stepped calandrias,
2 inclined tube plates.
Tons of Cane per Hour, Tons of Sugar per Hour. Boiling 1 calandria with stream-line construction.
House
Factory Pcak Peak Recoverv 5 coil pans,
No. Average. Peak. per cent. Average, Peak. per cent. Average".
Mean. Mean. It is evident that some factories have ample capacity, pro-
vided, of course, that supply of injection water, vacuum pumps
1 ]27.0 135.5 106.7 14.90 15.90 106.7 89.36 and steam are adequate, Capacities of others (more particularly
2 71. 8 76.1 106.1 8.04 9.30 115.6 87.15 as regards the least elastic, viz., heating surface) are, however;
3 12.7 - - 1. 66 - - 89.43 altogether too low. especially where the equipment has not been
4 61. 6 65.9 106.9 7.06 7.92 112.2 89.27 studied with a view of obtaining a high circulation rate, or
5 125.8 131. 6 104.6 15.0 - - 89.79 where the ratio of heating surface to capacity is less than 1.50
6 90.6 93.2 102.9 10.07 11.43 113.5 88.24 sq, ft. heating surface per cubic foot capacity,
9 27.7 29.6 106.9 3.36 3.91 116.4 89.09
10 73.5 76.5 104.1 8.29 9.36 112.9 87.55 The highest ratio is found in a pan of heating surface of
Jl 80.6 82. ] 101.9 8.70 9.50 109.2 85.20 1,400 sq. ft. and capacity 550 c. ft. this ratio being 2,55; while
12 102.5 108.5 105.9 11.44 13.34 116.6 88.14 the lowest was found in a small pan with flat tube plate which
14 71. 2 73.8 103.7 8.52 9.54 112.0 89.08 has a ratio of only 0.98.
15 38.2 38.5 100.8 4.30 4.60 106.9 86.77
17 22.1 23.1 104.5 2.47 2.65 107.3 88.88 PAN BOILING METHODS.
18 35.0 37.2 106.3 4.14 4.80 115.9 89.30
19 30.0 32.5 108.3 3.20 3.50 109.4 83.13 Graining.-One factory seeds by means of the sugar from
20 37.7 39.0 103.5 4.50 5.00 111.1 90.60 third rnassecuites. These again are seeded in the general way,
21 44.1 47.0 106.8 5.61 6,36 113.4 89.84 Three factories claim to seed with sugar dust, the quantity
per 100 cubic feet of finished massecuite being between 5 and
The numbers of the factories are identical with those used by the Experiment 8 grams of fine sugar. This would mean a crystal growth of
Station in the Annual Summary. approximately 220,000, which appears optimistic,
PAN BOILING EQUIPMENT. Including these three, thirteen factories in all use fine sugar
as an accelerant to graining. Some shock with syrup after
The next question asked for the following details of the dusting,
pans: number in use, construction, area of heating surface and
cubic capacity. From this data the square feet of heating sur- Two factories shock with syrup, one of which after mingling
face and the cubic feet of capacity per ton sugar produced per with blanket,
hour were calculated, The highest, lowest and average ratio of
heating surface, to that of capacity, was also worked out and One factory grains by the waiting method, while another one.
are given in the next summary, whose reply is not tco clear, appears to do the same,
 Feeding of Pane-s-The methods of feeding the pans, which can It is significant that the variants Nos. 2 and 3 are practised by
be either continuous or by repeated "drinks," appear to be well factories which produce low purity exhaust molasses.
divided in equal proportions. It is fairly evident, however, that Crystallizers.-In operation there are ;-
those with better boiling house recoveries favour the continuous
method. 5 Lafeu ille.
152 Herisson coil equipped.
Masseeuites made.- 8 other types water-cooled.
1 factory works 2 massecuites and no jelly. 1 Werkspoor.
4 factories work 3 massecuites and no jelly. 140 ordinary air-cooled type.
5 factories work 2 massecuites plus jelly.
7 factories work 3 massecuites plus jelly. Capacities vary from 728 c. ft. of water-cooled types to 4,248
c. ft. of air-cooled per sugar hour, the equipment being fairly
Those factories producing jellies all boil the raw molasses from well distributed amongst the various grades of massecuites.
their lowest grained massecuiteto string proof. Water-cooling is seldom if ever practised on low grades, though
good results have been reported when preliminary cooling
One factory works back the final massecuite sugars into a followed by reheating prior to curing has. been tried. In general,
syrup magma to seed first and second massecuites. however, observations are that the high viscosities found in this
One factory remelts almost all the sugar from the final masse- country make it essential that the time factor be allowed for in
cuite so as to raise the p.roportion of the first massecuite. the lower grades of massecuites. The water-cooled crystallizers
have been beneficial in the case of the higher grade massecuites
All factories build their last massecuite from a footing of with their lower viscosities, thus increasing the crystallizer
grained syrup, which is then fed by molasses from the imme- capacity.
diately higher class so as to obtain the lowest purity possible Massecuite Dilution.-In almost all cases massecuites are
from the combination. The majority use the smallest quantity diluted during the cooling in the crystallizers. Water (through
of grain that will cover the heating surface, sprinklers and otherwise) and molasses of approximately the
All but one factory build the second massecuite from a footing same purity of the mother liquid are used.
of grained syrup built up from molasses of the preceding higher Blowing-down of Pans.-The practice.of blowing-down of
grade. In the case of those working second massecuites, the pans with steam is general. In one or two cases the "injection"
wash from all magmas is used. is isolated and afterwards used for pan feeding, with good results
One factory is believed to build the 'second massecuite from reported; in other cases the injection simply goes to the crys-
wash of mixed magmas, which is grained with dust plus a little tallizers.
syrup admixed, the whole boiling being done almost entirely Jelly Tanks.-Twelve of the 17 factories boil jelly from the
out of wash. It is perhaps significant that this factory has for molasses from low-grade grained massecuites.
some years led in excellence of boiling house recovery.
Few factories appear to have adequate capacity, since the
Of the 11 factories which work a third massecuite, few operate cooling time varies from two weeks to several months. It is
on pure syrup, which in this country has a very high purity. considered that a cooling period of from 6 to 8 weeks is required.
It is preferred to reduce the purity of the syrup by boiling back
a certain amount of wash from mixed magmas. Centrifugals.-Foreworhers. Only one battery of 48in. machines
is in operation, the majority being 42in. for higher grade and
Most factories work a relatively low brix of syrup ranging 36in. to 30in. for lower grade massecuites.
from 47 to 58, but most at a range of 54. This comparatively
low range is found more practical, as higher densities coupled Various types of drives are in use, but belt drives from a
with higher purities crystallize too rapidly to allow good control shaft driven by a high-speed steam engine or a motor are most
of crystal building. common. Direct electric drives are also in use, as also are the
hydraulic types.
Molasses Working.-Only two factories do not dilute, all fac-
tories heat, some being more particular than others in' limiting Almost all foreworkers are of the self-dumping conical bottom
the temperature to 65/67C., whilst some heat even higher. type: no mechanical ploughs are reported to be in service.
Only three factories settle after liming to neutral point plus When white sugar is produced each grade of massecuite is
heating and dilution. handled separately. Ordinarily there is enough first massecuite
to .make a factory's quota of white sugar, and second and third
The final brix of the treated molasses ranges from 55? to 75. massecuites are cured and bagged as raws.
Circulation Water in Pans.-Eight factories employ circulation
water for promotion of crystal growth, and find its use particu- For final low-grade massecuites the 30in. high-speed machine
is mostly favoured, although one or two factories have the
larly valuable during graining stages in clearing up unwanted
crops in the final stages of the low grade massecuite. larger type of 36in. or 42in.
One factory applies a discharge of water and molasses to ease Capacities vary according to type of equipment-speed and
striking, which is of course not circulation water. size of machines. The average appears to be 0.9 machine of
42in. at 900 r.p.m. for fore workers per ton of sugar per hour,
Eight do not employ circulation or movement water; three which equals 1.4 machines of 36in. at 1,100 r.p.m.
factories apparently are not aware of the practice.
The following is the inventory of the machines in the 17
Boiling Control Instruments.-Only five factories make use of factories under review ;-
these instruments, of which only one continuously on all pro-
ducts. All instruments are of the electrical conductivity type, Foretoorkers,
and all users report advantages, particularly in detecting poor First Second Third
pan circulation and faulty construction. Diameter. Massecuite. Massecuite. Massecuite.

The control of low grade massecuites particularly benefits 48in. 5

from its use.' No success, however, is claimed for conductivity 42in. 12 :32 14
chart duplications, and it seems certain that there is no possi- 36in. 21 25 24
bility of automatic pan boiling methods until pan construction 30in. 9 28
and other requirements are improved. .
Boiling Cycles.-Pan boiling practice appears to have three Afterworkers.
main variants. Diameter.
32in. 12 for first massecuite only.
No.1 variant allows for further boiling from the original grain
and a variation of quantity of molasses according to purity 36in. 125 for general duty.
range, predetermined for the massecuite. 30in. 151 for general duty.
 38

Pan J. Pan 2. Pan 3.

Syrup
Sugar
k!' Dust
/ Syrup
k' Feed
35% to Footing
Molasses 2.
Y
tt!" Syrup
35% to Footing Masseculte 3

o Syrup
~
Syrup
z I('
to 85% cap.
to 50% cap.

Massecuite I.
Massecuite 2.

Pan 2. Pan 3.
Pan L

~
~~ Syrup to 85% ~sugar Dust
z~
u
~<
Foo~ing to 45/50%
Circulation water
continuously
<,e" 35% Footin. g
Molasses 2
<u.. Molasses 1
>w tt"
C'4Z . / Circulation Massecuite 3
o0 C water
z~
0
~w~
Massecuite 2.
Massecuite I. Sugar Exhaust
Molasses.

Pan I. Pan 2. P~lO 3.

Syrup. Wash
~
I-~ Sugar dust It(" Syrup.
zO
<b
~< to 35% Footing e" Sugar dust.
<u.. Circulation
>w e" water.
,."z
Molasses 2
o0 Itt" Syrup It!'
~Wash.
z~
0

Massecuite 1 Massec:uite 2.
Massecuite 3.
\

39

SUMMARY. required, especially in raw sugar work, for the purpose of boiling
Boiling house equipment and technique of the South African massecuites to a prescribed purity, which of course is essential
Sugar Industry has been reviewed. in an organized boiling scheme. Nevertheless, the fact remains
that this is bad practice; it is wasteful in pan capacity, since
Wide variations are recorded in pan, crystallizer and cent.ri- the speed of boiling is reduced and, incidentally, a loss of avail-
fugal capacities, the indications are that 600 sq. ft. heating able sugar results. .
surface to 400 c. ft. capacity are required per ton of sugar made
per hour. Webre' gives his observations that it is quite common practice
to boil 7 or 8 feet above the top tube place, which, together
Pan technique consists generally of grain production by with the 4 feet length of tube, makes II to 12 feet under the
shocking with sugar dust and building up massecuites with surface. At normal vacuum on top the theoretical temperature
syrup and molasses of predetermined purity to the required at 12 feet below is 200F. No boiling takes place at this depth.
standard. Destruction of crystals and under-saturation takes place, the
Pan control instruments are not in general use and the use extent of which depends largely on the pan operator and the
of circulation or movement water is gradually being accepted. design of the pan itself. The pan thermometer shows only the
The system of blank boiling of low grade molasses is still much average temperature resulting upon the balance. of the tern-
in evidence. peraturesof the explosions. In localized spots: however, varia-
Herisson coil-equipped crystallizers are in common use tions in temperature up to 50F. have been observed.
throughout the industry, but the cooling of low grade masse- These points are of supreme importance in 'the judging of a
cuites is not favoured. Crystallizer capacities vary widely. It pan's performance. It is interesting to recall that Mr. Bechard
would appear as if approximately 1,000 c. ft. of water cooled himself made observations on comparative yields from masse-
plus 2,000 c. ft. of air cooled capacity per ton of sugar per hour cuites boiled by two separate pans of identical design, the work
would fill our normal requirements. of one being consistently better than the other.
As regards centrifugals, the South African practice seems to Yet another point follows, namely, the system and layout of '
prefer the smaller diameter machine, and the requirements are the condensing plants, the air line, water line and steam supply.
approximately as follow :- There can be no doubt that the central condensing system,
0.9 machines of 42in. diameter or with or without the separate condensers, has many disadvantages.
1.4 machines of 36in. diameter as foreworkers, and Continuous density recorder on the outflow from the last pot
2.0 machines of 36in. diameter or of 'In evaporator will reveal large variations due to fluctuations
3.0 machines of 30in. diameter as afterworkers, in steam pressure and condenser water supply, especially where
The development of high-speed curing together with preheating the one pipe supplies all the condensers,
of massecuite has not made much headway in this country, Continuous cuitometer records on low purity massecuites
although those -who have introduced the moving heating coil in boiling over a long period in a pan coupled up to the same
the centrigufals mixers speak highly ofthe results obtained. vacuum pump as quick boiling high grade pans, demonstrate
the tremendous obstacles placed in the way of such a pan main-
ADDENDUM. taining its equilibrium. It is obvious that, where several pans
and the evaporator are coupled to the same air and water line,
By G. BOOTH. and especially where one pan at time of concentrating for grain
It is to be hoped that in the not too distant future this survey has an evaporating rate up to and exceeding 171bs. of water per
will develop into an opportunity to have all individual factory square foot of heating surface, the other pans, particularly at
installations examined for capacities and efficiencies. An analysis an average thermometer temperature of 130F., are simply
of the questionnaire points out the necessity for this. One having a bad time. They stop working, the massecuite becomes
cannot but be impressed by the wide variations existing in pan slack and undersaturated,
designs and capacities per ton of cane crushed or sugar made. The limited use of the cuitometer control and movement (or
. In particular, as Mr. Bechard has indicated, in calculating circulation) water in our factories is a matter for surprise, con-
the ratios of heating surface to volume of completed massecuite, sidering the publicity these aids to pan boiling have received
and more especially in comparing the diameter of the centre these past ten years. The use of movement water, especially at
well with the pan diameter, this lack of uniformity in pan graining time, is "as old as the hills,"
design is obvious. Attention might be drawn to Alewyn's articles! on the use of
In the past pans and evaporators were sold on area of heating movement waters. It is interesting to record that the variant
surface and not on performance. Recent years, however, have No, 2 in Mr. Bechard's survey was tried with much success in one
brought new ideas, which now compel the question whether our Natal factory after private communication with Alewyn in Java.
older types of calandria should not be rebuilt so that increased The method was eventually adjusted only because of the difficulty
circulation and, in consequence, increased capacity may be of maintaining the massecuites equilibrium during the constant
obtained. interruptions inherent in a central condensation system as
referred to above. Shortage of crystallizer capacity was also a
Tromp" quotes the case of a I, 200 c. ft. capacity 12 ft. diameter drawback. The .scheme, however, marks a definite advance on
pan having-a central down take of only 3 ft. diameter. The ascend- the orthodox ideas where the plant and layout are suitable for
ing tubes (418 by 5in. diameter by 4ft. long) provided a free area its addition, and Mr. Bechard'S remarks on the excellence of the
of 7,600 sq. in. and the downtake area was only 1,017 sq. in., thus boiling house recovery of the factory that practices this or a
the circulation going down had to be seven times as fast as the similar method are to be noted.
upgoing, with consequent impaired circulation efficiency. Tromp
further mentions a modern pan whose proportion of face tube These points are contributed to Mr. Bechard's paper because
area to area of downtake is about 2.1 : 1. Walter E. Smith of the best way of recognising its importance is to broaden the
Hawaii'' also stresses this point in discussing designs, giving the scope of the work. As already mentioned, our Association hopes
ratio of central well to diameter up to 50 per cent. The propor- that some day it will be in the position to open up an intensive
tion of heating surface to volume is also surveyed. study on the economy and efficiency of our vacuum pans and
methods employed. The term "undetermined losses" is anathema
In Natal pans this figure is fairly constant, being about to all conscientious technicians, and many of these losses can
I c. ft. of capacity to about 1.5 sq. It. heating surface, although surely be attributed to faulty pan designs, inadequate condensing
one factory reports 1 to 2.54, This may be a special design. systems and also, of course, to operating methods that are
Another point of importance is the ratio of graining volume capable of improvement.
to total massecuite volume.
References.
So far as can be observed, most of our pans are out of balance
judged by modern design, in that the graining volume occupies Alewyn, W. F. (1\)33): Simple Method 01 Boiling Alter-product Sugars, and
1
too much space in the pan, the result being that the pan is Further Notes on Boiling After-product Sugars. I.S.]., 35, 352, 465.
2 Smith, Walter E. (HJ35): Vacuum Parr Design and Operation. I.S.]., 37,20.
boiled far too high before striking. 3 Tromp, L. A. : Machinery and Equipment 01 the Cane Sugar Factory, Norman
Rodger.
This extra capacity to over fuJI mark (fixed by the chief Webre, Allred (1935): Temperatures in V~c~um Pans. Proc. Int. Soc. 01
factory operator and invariably over the maker's mark) is Sugarcane Tech" 536.
 40

Mr. WOUTERS wanted to know whether it would not be Mr. VIGER said he could not agree with Mr. Booth that no
possible to use sodium carbonate instead of lime for neutralising chemicals should be added to molasses. There was a big drop
molasses. in pH from syrup to molasses, and lower grade molasses might
become so acid as to cause inversion. Two years ago he was
Mr. BOOTH said that very few factories ever attempted to asked to do the pH of molasses from a certain factory; the
neutralise molasses. A few gave the molasses for the final boiling undetermined losses had increased to a high level. The manage-
a small drink of lime in the pan; but he did not believe in adding ment was rather surprised to find the pH so low. He thought it
any alkali to molasses. In fact, the tendency in recent years had necessary to add a small quantity of trisodium phosphate to
been not to add any chemicals to molasses. molasses. In normal times the cost of this chemical was not
excessive, the amount used was very small, therefore the in-
Mr. RAULT regretted that cubic feet of individual masse- creased manufacturing cost would be negligible. The use of
cuites per ton of cane were not given. Tons of sugar actually trisodium phosphate in molasses gave good results because it
bagged per hour did not give a true indication of pan work, consolidated the alkalinity.
especially where a lot of remelting had to be resorted to in mak-
ing white sugar. He would have liked to see a record of the cubic Mr. BOOTH agreed with Mr. Rault that cubic feet of masse-
feet of individual massecuites boiled per ton of cane or per hour. cuites referred to the ton of cane was a valuable figure,
Mention was made of a 48-inch battery of centrifugals. These but as many factories did not have this information it was
machines were in use at Natal Estates, but they were not very omitted.
satisfactory, as it was found that they did not cure the sugars
dry enough. During the war it might be difficult to get crys- In regard to adding chemicals to molasses, the practice' of
tallizers; but he thought the days of making jelly boilings liming molasses was now practically abandoned, although some
were past. Ours was one of the few countries which still per- chemists add a little lime water to their low grade massecuites
sisted in this inefficient method of crystallization, which could whilst in the pan to guard against a drop in pH.
not be controlled and was dependent on time of cooling and
luck for results. Water-cooling for last massecuitesshould not Referring to pan steamings, Mr. Booth gave his opinion that
be condemned without further experimentation. At Natal to isolate steamings into a special tank, with all its attendant
Estates.. working admittedly with a rather higher purity product fittings, was not worth while, although admittedly a certain
of less viscosity than that of sulphitation factories, excellent amount of resolution of sugar took place when running steam-
results were obtained. At Ewa, in Hawaii, water-cooling of low ings into the crystallizer. The best method was to guard against
massecuites had been very favourably reported upon and no excessive steaming. A surprising amount of time and steam
false grain was noticed with massecuites of less than 60 purity. could be wasted in this operation.
Water-cooling increased crystallizer capacity.