Development and evaluation of a pilot scale bagacillo removal system from juice

At the sugar factory the extracted juice contains fine fibres i.e., bagacillo from the shredded sugar cane. Several issues exist when bagacillo passes through the heating and clarification process, including reducing the capacity of the installed clarifier, blockages in heaters and reduced fugalling efficiency and sugar quality.

This project developed and evaluated the use of a 200 micron pilot scale rotary juice screen to remove bagacillo from juice. This screen size is much finer than that currently used.  Approximately 80% of the bagacillo was removed with no observable blockages of the fine screen. The removal of bagacillo from juice significantly improved clarification performance and is expected to significantly increase the capacity of installed clarifiers.  Other processing problems would be overcome through the use of the finer screen.