January 2011 - No. 25
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Factories are currently aiming for maximum sugar recovery levels in response to increasing prices on international markets. One profitable plant investment strategy with a very rapid payback period is to boost a factory's C-station crystallizer capacity by installing one or more Fives Cail vertical crystallizers, usually in conjunction with a Fives Cail massecuite reheater. A number of factories have been able to achieve an improvement of more than four units in their final molasses purity through such an investment and as a consequence they have recovered their investment costs in a matter of months. |
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Compared to traditional horizontal units,
vertical crystallizers provide significant benefits such as: • larger volumes and smaller footprint • possibility of outdoor installation • higher cooling surface to volume ratios • a better ability to handle highly viscous massecuite. However, large vertical crystallizers present some significant design challenges as well. A good design needs to have robust construction of the heating surface, stirrer and drive units coupled with good heat transfer characteristics and uniform massecuite flow patterns. This requires that careful attention be paid to the design and configuration of the cooling tube and stirrer arm. Meanwhile, the use of modern planetary gearboxes and variable frequency controlled motor drive units can provide added benefits to boost both performance and reliability. Fives Cail vertical crystallizers incorporate all these design features and are specifically designed to efficiently handle the extremes of massecuite viscosity expected in the sugar cane industry. |
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More than 90 Fives Cail vertical crystallizers are currently in operation worldwide.
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