Application of Ultrasonication to Factory C Molasses to Improve Viscosity, Sucrose Crystallization, and Extraction
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1
Louisiana Tech University, United States
Extracting sucrose from molasses is a delicate and economically important process to raw sugar mills. The target product, crystallized sucrose, must be effectively separated from molasses which, in a series of three subsequent extractions, is increasingly loaded with natural sugarcane and processing impurities that challenges this industrial objective. Because of the impurity load in the final extraction (C molasses), the recoverable sucrose crystals are too small and it is cost prohibitive to warrant a fourth extraction. This is primarily because the chemical structure of water, sucrose, and the known impurities in molasses are hydrogen bonded to each other, which keeps the sucrose molecules from forming large crystals and the water molecules spaced far apart. As a result, factory processors observe a dramatic increase in viscosity and a reduced production throughput, which is already variable depending on the quality of sugarcane crushed upstream. In this study, the use of probe ultrasonication was evaluated as a technique to disrupt the molecular interactions responsible for increased viscosity and decreased sucrose recovery since this technology has successfully been used to modify the physicochemical properties of other foodstuffs. Preliminary results confirm that <10 min sonication (60% amplitude) decreases the viscosity of the C molasses by ≤32% by reducing the –OH hydrogen bonding. These results show promise that integrating sonication during sugar manufacture can improve the quality of the factory molasses and indirectly increase sucrose recovery by improving downstream viscosity and reducing thermal energy contributions. More studies on the application of sonication on upstream products is now warranted.
Acknowledgements
American Sugar Cane League
Alma Sugar Plantation
Enterprise Sugar Plantation
Keywords:
Viscosity,
Sonication,
Molasses,
Raw sugar,
Sugar boiling,
Sugar manufacture,
Sugar yield
Conference:
National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) 45th Annual Conference , Orlando, Florida, United States, 17 Sep - 20 Sep, 2018.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Analytical Chemsitry
Citation:
Morris
WB and
Cole
M
(2019). Application of Ultrasonication to Factory C Molasses to Improve Viscosity, Sucrose Crystallization, and Extraction.
Front. Chem.
Conference Abstract:
National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) 45th Annual Conference .
doi: 10.3389/conf.fchem.2018.01.00025
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Received:
10 Oct 2018;
Published Online:
17 Jan 2019.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Marsha Cole, Louisiana Tech University, Ruston, Louisiana, 71272, United States, cole@latech.edu