JUICE CLARICATION USING OKRA MUCILLAGE AS A NATURAL ALTERNATIVE

FLOCCULANT TO SUGAR INDUSTRIES.

A CASE STUDY AT KAKIRA SUGAR LIMITED, JINJA

BY
ACUO OLIVER MARY
REG NO: 16/U/4927/CHD/PD

SURPERVISOR: MR ODONGO OBBO

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY IN

PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE A WARD OF A
BACHELORS DEGREE IN CHEMICAL AND PROCESS ENGINEERING OF KYAMBOGO
UNIVERSITY.
DECEMBER 2019
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
This proposal is concerned with testing the effectiveness of the okra mucilage as a natural
flocculant in juice clarification at Kakira sugar limited.
1.1 Background Information
The exclusion of impurities (consisting of both soluble and insoluble non sugar compounds)
from cane sugar juice by clarification is a necessary part of the process of raw sugar manufacture
Mixed juice is a complex mixture of various components, not only extracted from cane plant itself, but
also brought in as extraneous matter. The clarification of mixed juice is commonly referred to as simple
defecation process in which heat and lime are used to produce a clear juice suitable for further
processing. The availability in the composition of juice as a result of deferring Geographical location,
cane variety and seasonal influence as well as the condition to which cane is subjected during harvest
and transport, however, complicate this simple process and there is no universal method for producing
a good quality clear juice. Furthermore, the chemical reactions which occur have been made more
complex by use of a variety of clarification aids. Each factory is therefore essentially unique and adopts a
system of clarification based on a simple defecation process with modifications usually determined by a
combination of research and experience.

Several liming systems have been developed over the years. They include, cold liming, hot liming,
intermediate liming and fractional and double heating, but which is commonly utilized in South Africa is
a method of hot liming. The juice is heated to 100 to 1040C and the milk of lime is added to give a ph. of
between 7.4 and 8 such that the clear juice obtained after settling has a ph. of between 6.9 and 7.3.
Processing of drought cane has necessitated some factories liming closer to ph. 8 to reduce turbidity
problems. A good quality lime is very important and is normally characterized by an available calcium
oxide content of 85 to 90 and a moisture, SiO 2, Fe2O3, Al2O3, MgO and carbonate levels of approximately
2 each (Chen and Chou, 1993a)

In Australian cane sugar milling industry, the clarification process is best described as
defecation. This process is based on addition of lime saccharate (i.e. lime dissolved in sugar
syrup) to heated juice at about 76 0 C in order to raise the ph. to between 7.8 to 8.0 such that the
clear juice obtained after settling has a ph. of 6.9 and 7.3. This is followed by secondary juice
heating of limed juice under pressure to approximately 103 0 C inorder to reduce the viscosity of
juice and flashing to remove air bubbles. The de- aerated juice then enters the clarifier. At this
stage the juice contains insoluble calcium salts formed from the reaction between free calcium
ions supplied by the lime saccharate and inorganic phosphates from the cane sugar juice. These
precipitated calcium phosphate micro floc particles aid in the removal of suspended matter from
the clear juice in the clarifier. To increase on the settling rate of the calcium phosphate micro floc
particles and improve the efficiency of the separation of the liquid- solid system, an anionic
flocculant (a high molecular weight copolymer of acrylamide (AAm) and sodium acrylate) is
added to the juice.
The attachment of an AAm- sodium acrylate copolymer to micro floc particles may proceed by
any of the three mechanism: (a) attraction of the negatively charged acrylate groups to positive
charges on the surface of the micro floc particles.; (b) attraction of the negatively charged
acrylate groups to the dipositive ionic ‘’ bridges’’ (e.g. Ca 2+ ), which are adsorbed to negative
charges on the micro floc particles; and (c) hydrogen or dipole bonding between the AAm
groups and the micro floc particles. In cane sugar juice, although binding of the micro flocs
proceeds primarily by calcium bridging of the charged acrylate group, it is possible that the other
two mechanisms may be important under the same conditions.
In Brazil two method of clarifying sugar cane juice predominates simple defecation, in which
juice sulfurdioixide is added before treating with and heating to obtain white crystals sugar.
Some mills use phosphate as well as obtaining even lighter juices with greater elimination of the
colloids and quicker decanting (KOBLITZ, 1998). For coagulation to occur, the medium must be
alkaline and produced by the medium or by the presence of the alkalizing agents such as calcium
oxide, calcium hydroxide, sodium carbonate. When added to juice, such reagents modify the ph
and together with the effect of temperature, form precipitates which remove impurities
(KOBLITZ, 1998). It is difficult to establish an optimum ph for the clarification process, but it is
known that the simple application of lime (freshly made up to a ph range between 7.5 and 8.5
can produce satisfactory clarification (SOUZA, 1998).
At Kakira sugar limited, a number of synthetic water soluble polymers bearing various trade
names, have come into general factory use. The action of these polyelectrolytes is to produce a
secondary flocculation. Generally, a good flocculant should improve flocculation, increase
settling rate, reduce mud volumes and most importantly, increase the clarity of the clear juice.
The most successful flocculating materials for the raw sugar industry are the particularly
hydrolyzed polyacrylamides shown below.
The molecule is a combination of acrylamide and sodium acrylate, and important property is its
degree of hydrolysis given by the ration 100Y/(X+Y) as a percentage, where X and Y are the
mass percentages of the two components.
[CH2......CH......]X.....[CH......CH]Y

This acrylamide-based polymer assists in the removal of the interfering impurities of the
products such as colour, turbidity and ash. However, this input may be retained in the sugar
crystals when used in excess which brings negative impacts on human life. In addition, these
synthetic flocculants are expensive and they require great care during its preparation. In this
sense therefore, it’s necessary to replace the current polymers with the products extracted from
natural sources, in this case okra that presents a protein named mucilage that is anionic and
promotes the proper flocculation of the impurities.
Clarification purpose
The purpose of the clarification is to remove suspended matter providing a clear of minimum
turbidity, color and low calcium content. The most common method of clarification method in
sugar factories today is defecation. This involves the addition of lime to the raw juice which
forms flocs that trap suspended matter (Rein, 2007).

1.2 Problem statement

Clarification of juice in sugar factories is one of the essential unit operation. The existing
chemical flocculant in many of the factories are synthetic in nature accompanied with a variety
of limitations. First of all, these synthetic flocculants (polyacrylamide) are imported expensively
hence increased cost of production. Therefore, the production of natural bio flocculant is
urgently needed as an alternative to chemical flocculants because it is ecofriendly, nontoxic and
biodegradable, inexpensive and easily available. Its applications are directly related to the
improvement of quality of life for underdeveloped communities by creating market for okra
growers.

1.3 Objectives
1.3.1 General objective
To test for the effectiveness of okra mucilage in juice clarification process.
1.3.2 Specific objective
1. To harvest and extract the okra mucilage
2. To examine the flocculating time and check the clarity of juice
3. To quantify the right amount of the bio flocculant to be used for the clarification process.
1.4 Research questions
1. What are the properties of okra mucilage that makes it essential for juice clarification?
2. What is the settling time required for complete clarification process?
3. What quantity of the bio flocculant is required for complete juice clarification?
4. Describe the flocculating process using okra mucilage as the flocculant?
1.5 Scope of the study
The study will be based on the okra flocculant in juice clarification and it will be conducted at
Kakira sugar laboratory using different machines and equipment to examine the flocculating
time, clarity of juice and the quantity of the bioflocculant that will be needed for juice
clarification and these will be done in a period of three months.
1.5.1 Significance of the study
The study will provide evidence to the upcoming and already existing sugar factories on the
natural alternative flocculant for juice clarification, thus if the bioflocculant is effective, the
companies cost of production will reduce since the okra flocculant is cheap and available. The
study will provide knowledge and background to the academicians about juice clarification
process using okra flocculant.
1.5.2 Justification
There is need for okra flocculant in sugar factories because of the following reasons;
1) It is less expensive thus reduces on the cost of production.
2) It’s available and easily adopted.
Chapter three.
Materials and methodology
Raw materials and reagents for okra extraction
 Fresh mature okra stalk
 Distilled water
 Double layer muslin cloth
 Ethanol
 Calcium chloride
Equipment
 Motor and pestle
Procedure for okra extraction
The fresh green mature lady’s finger (okra) stalk will be cut in to 1cm pieces, macerated with
water (1:10w/v) in a motor and a pestle, will be allowed to stand for 6 hours at ambient
conditions followed by filtration through layer muslin cloth. The mucilage in the supernatant or
filtrate will be flocculated by ethanol (50;50 v/v), manually separated and washed with acetone
to remove green pigments. The white mucilage obtained will be air dried over calcium chloride
and ground to powder.
Raw materials and reagents for juice clarification
 Okra flocculant
 Mixed juice
Equipment
 250ml beakers
 Stirrer
 Scum scrapper
Procedure for juice clarification
Study area
The study will be carried out at Kakira sugar limited. The laboratory is well equipped with all the
necessary requirements and reagents for juice clarification.
Study design
The cross sectional laboratory based study will be carried out from December 2019 to August
2020 from KYAMBOGO university chemistry laboratories and Kakira sugar laboratory. Okra
mucilage will be obtained by solvent extraction and used in the study.
Sampling
Sampling collection and preparation
REFERENCES
Chen, JCP and Chou, C (1993a). The Cane Sugar Handbook. 12th edition, John Wiley and Sons,
Inc. Chapter 5, p 111.