SUGAR AND SWEETENERS

APPLICATION NOTE 1.02.04

CANE SUGAR CRYSTALLIZATION

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CANE SUGAR SYRUP

Typical end products
Sugar and syrup for sweetening soft drinks, beer brewing, preserves,
Application
beverage, sweets, liqueurs, ethanol, etc.
Chemical curve: R.I. per BRIX at Ref. Temp. of 20˚C The thick juice or syrup is fed to the vacuum pans and
evaporated until saturated. Crystallization is initiated
by adding (or seeding) fine sugar crystals to the pan,
or strike. The crystals start to grow, and the process
is continued until the crystals reach the specified size.

The resultant mixture is known as massecuite (raw

sugar crystals and molasses). The sugar crystals
are separated from the molasses by centrifugation
and are then washed with hot water to remove any
adhering syrup.

Control of crystallization

Introduction Crystallization can only take place if the solution is

supersaturated. Supersaturation is a multivariable
Crystallization is the final stage in a cane sugar mill function of several parameters of the liquid phase
and it refers to the formation of the sugar crystals from only (syrup or mother liquor). Crystals can grow only if
the concentrated syrup. supersaturation is higher than 1.0.

Crystallization takes place in vacuum boiling pans. No single instrument can provide on-line data on
These vacuum pans are the heart of the sugar supersaturation. Conventional sensors used to
manufacturing plants. The efficiency of the factory, the monitor crystallization provide data of a single
quality of the sugar product, the capacity of the plant massecuite parameter only.
and the thermal balance, all depend on the operation
and control of the vacuum pans to produce a high However, two sensors can provide information on the
quality massecuite. important massecuite parameters. These sensors are
not influenced by other process parameters:

Sugar and Sweeteners | Cane Sugar Process

 SUGAR AND SWEETENERS
APPLICATION NOTE 1.02.04
CANE SUGAR CRYSTALLIZATION

www.vaisala.com

1. Process Refractometer. The refractive index The SeedMaster SM-3 provides the following tasks:
technology is successfully used for selective
concentration measurement of the liquid phase over 1. Electronic data capture on massecuite parameters.
the complete crystallization strike.
2. On-line calculation and transmission of massecuite
2. A sensor for measurement of the total solids content parameters for the advanced control of sugar
(brix of the massecuite). crystallization with control system.

Control of supersaturation is critical to the final 3. Organization and storage of strike history data
outcome of the strike. The number of crystals should archive.
remain constant from the seeding until the end of the
strike. If the supersaturation drops outside its limit, 4. Advanced communication with the control system.
the crystals will stop growing and might even melt. If
the supersaturation level rises too high, new crystals 5. Automatic seeding of the vacuum pans.
will form spontaneously. Spontaneous nucleation
results in poor quality crystals of irregular shape and 6. Serves as user interface for the pan and control
size (fines and conglomerates) which require re- system operators.
processing.
The refractometer is installed directly into the
Instrumentation and installation crystallizer. The measurement is accurate and reliable
and the prism remains clean because of crystal
Vaisala K-PATENTS® SeedMaster SM-3 is a unique friction. Typical measurement range in this application
third generation crystallization transmitter and seeding is 65-90 Brix.
device to be used with the Process Refractometer.
The SM-3 allows for accurate in-line and real-time Control of crystallization with the refractometer
monitoring of supersaturation and crystal content increases productivity, reduces the need for crystal
over the complete process of crystallization, and re-processing and guarantees a high-product quality.
implementation and control of automatic or manual
seeding. The SM-3 can be connected to one or
two Process Refractometers and to one or two
crystallizers.

Instrumentation Description
SeedMaster SM-3 for multiparameter sugar crystallization monitoring and automatic
seeding.

Crystallization transmitter and seeding device is used with the Process Refractometer PR-23-GP.
It allows for accurate in-line and real-time monitoring of supersaturation and crystal content over
the complete strike, and implementation and control of automatic or manual seeding.

Process Refractometer PR-23-GP is an industrial refractometer for crystallizers. Installation

through a flange connection and Counter flange adapter -AP for vacuum pan installations.

Prism wash system The integral prism wash system helps to avoid crystals’ deposit or scaling on the prism surface.
with warm water Prism wash system components are a refractometer with integral water wash nozzle mounted at
the refractometer probe, a warm feed water source (hot condensate), and an Indicating transmitter
with build-in relays for driving the water valve and controlling the wash.
Measurement range Refractive Index (nD) 1.3200 – 1.5300, corresponding to 0-100 Brix.

Sugar and Sweeteners | Cane Sugar Process

 SUGAR AND SWEETENERS
APPENDIX 1
SUGAR CRYSTALLIZATION: MASSECUITE
SOLIDS CONTENT AND MOTHER LIQUOR
CONCENTRATION
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BEET SUGAR, CANE SUGAR

Introduction accompanying non-sugars, the water content (and,
consequently, solids content) is the major parameter,
This note explains the methods and calibration which determines the dielectric properties of the
procedure for measuring successfully the massecuite medium. As an output the microwave probes provide
solids content and mother liquor concentration in density or solids content of the massecuite.
sugar vacuum pans over the entire crystallization
process. Both parameters need to be measured and Particularities of the crystallization
controlled, as they influence the quality of the sugar process
crystals.
Varying process conditions present a challenge to
Massecuite solids content, or total sugar content, is measuring massecuite solids content accurately.
typically determined using e.g. microwave measuring Process medium changes during different production
technology whereas mother liquor concentration phases from liquid to massecuite and consists of
(dissolved sugar) is measured with a refractometer. both liquid and crystals. Generally, calibrating the
The common measurement scale is Brix. massecuite solids content meter can be quite easy
either for the liquid phase or for massecuite phase, but
Refractometer not for both. This means that the massecuite solids
content sensors cannot solely produce reliable results
Vaisala K-PATENTS® Process Refractometer is as they do not cover the whole processing range.
successfully used for selective measurement of
liquid phase over the complete crystallization strike. For accurate results, the calibration must cover the
Due to the unique digital principle, the refractometer full range from pure liquid to the point where Vol.
measures the true concentration of the mother liquor, 55 % of the massecuite is crystals. However, if the
without being influenced by the sugar crystals or vacuum pan is also equipped with a refractometer, the
bubbles in the pan. Moreover, the refractometer does calibration difficulties can be mostly avoided.
not require re-calibration.
In the beginning of the strike the process medium is
Massecuite solids content meter pure liquid. At this point the refractometer and the
massecuite solids content meter should give the same
A microwave sensor can measure only the total solids measurement value (Figure 1).
(liquid and undissolved solids phase). Microwave
probes are based on the measurement of attenuation The crystals are introduced only after the pan has been
and phase shift of microwave radiation. Both are seeded. After seeding the massecuite solids content
related to the length travelled by the radiated signal, increases as the crystal content increases, whereas
and the density and dielectric characteristics of the refractometric concentration stays rather constant
medium. (±3 Brix). Improved accuracy in massecuite solids
measurement can be achieved when a refractometer
Phase shift is the result of decreasing speed of is combined with a microware sensor. Moreover, a
propagation. Due to the fact that water has a high refractometer can offer calibration reference value
dielectric constant compared to sugar and the

Sugar and Sweeteners | APPENDIX

 SUGAR AND SWEETENERS
APPENDIX 1
SUGAR CRYSTALLIZATION: MASSECUITE
SOLIDS CONTENT AND MOTHER LIQUOR
CONCENTRATION
www.vaisala.com

for the massecuite solid content meter at the seeding be taken in the beginning of the strike when there is
point. only liquid present in the vacuum pan. Only a small
BIAS adjustment might be needed to match the
The recommended control practice is to use a refractometer and the production laboratory.
refractometer to measure the concentration from
the beginning of the strike until the seeding point. Typically, the massecuite solids content meter needs
The refractometer provides accurate and repeatable regular calibration and calibration checks. The best
seeding. calibration result is typically achieved when the
microwave density meter is calibrated on a narrow
Calibration procedure range for either liquid sugar or massecuite. In vacuum
pans the recommended calibration practice is to
The Process Refractometer is factory calibrated calibrate the microwave density meter from seeding
according to International Commission for Uniform point to the end of the strike, which means that the
Methods of Sugar Analysis (ICUMSA) Brix table. reference samples should be taken at the seeding
The factory calibration should be verified against point, end of the strike and one sample in between
the production laboratory when commissioning the (minimum three samples).
instrument. The laboratory reference values should

Figure 1. Refractometer and massecuite solids content measurement trends before and after calibration. The liquid
concentration and massecuite solids content should be the same before seeding. After seeding they separate as the crystals
start to grow.

Table 1. Example of calibration table.

Sample LAB (Mass. Refractometer Microwave Difference refractometer Difference microwave/

Sol.Cont) (Concentration) (Mass.Sol.Cont) - LAB nuclear -LAB
1 77.6 77.5 78.5 -0.1 +0.9
2 79.5 (seeding) 79.4 80.9 -0.1 +1.4
3 85.6 78.5 86.3 - +0.7
4 90.5 77.9 91.3 - +0.8
Table 2. Example of calibration table after calibration procedure. Refractometer offset adjustment +0.1 Massecuite solids
meter offset adjustment -0.9.

Sample LAB (Mass. Refractometer Microwave/nuclear Difference Difference microwave/

Sol.Cont) (Concentration) (Mass.Sol.Cont) refractometer - LAB nuclear -LAB

1 77.6 77.6 77.6 0.0 0.0

2 79.5 (seeding) 79.5 80 0.0 +0.5
3 85.6 78.5 85.4 - -0.2
4 90.5 77.9 90.4 - -0.1

Sugar and Sweeteners | APPENDIX