Model and Optimisation of a Multi-Effect Evaporator of

Sugarcane Juice: Energy Consumption and Inversion

Losses
Daniela Galatro*, Elisa Verruschi, Roberto Guillen
Universidad Nacional Experimental Politcnica Antonio Jos de Sucre (UNEXPO)
Departamento de Ingenieria Quimica. Av. Corpahuaico entre Av. Rotaria y La Salle.
Barquisimeto, 03001, Venezuela.
cenipro@[Link]
A model simulation was developed using Pro II to estimate inverted sucrose rate in a
triple effect evaporator of sugarcane juice. Dextrose and Fructose VLE parameters were
included in the simulation. A set of correlations to estimate inversion sucrose rate based
on empirical data compiled from qualified references were also included in the model.
All results obtained by this sub-model were compared with experimental values and in
all cases the relative error was under 5%. A Pinch analysis was performed by a module
in Excel linked with Pro II. The minimum energy requirement of the system was
estimated based on the vapour consumption calculated by Pro II. It was possible to
reach near 20% of energy reduction, keeping the inverted sugars percentage under
specification (max. 0.2% per each effect).

1. Introduction
During evaporation, a solution of cane juice is concentrated by the addition of heat.
A sugar evaporator is a heat exchanger (tubular calandria): the steam (hot side)
surrounds the outside of the tubes and the juice to be evaporated is located inside the
tubes. In a multi-effect evaporator, water is boiled in a series of vessels. The vapour
boiled off in one vessel is used to heat the next one, except for in the first vessel, at the
highest pressure, which requires an external source of heat.
Panpae et al. (2007) explained that the monitoring of total reducing sugar (reducing
sugars plus hydrolysed sucrose) is important for the sugarcane agro-industry because it
may provide information for evaluation of the raw material and for the quality control of
the sugar manufacturing process. Sucrose inversion occurs by splitting this
disaccharide into its components dextrose and fructose. They also summarized that
inverted sugar has a high affinity with water and is the cause of making products retain
moisture. In their work, the variation of the most important process parameters of
sugarcane juice was studied and it was demonstrated that sucrose inversion is strongly
dependent on pH, temperature and solid content. Increasing solid content (lime juice),
pH, and temperature during both heating and storage at room temperature, increased the
rate of sucrose inversion.

Control of inversion losses in evaporation consists of evaluating the ratio of reducing

sugars to sucrose in the juice. Normal inversion losses in evaporation should not exceed
0.2% of sucrose as a maximum, according to Hugot (1986).
Saska (2008) mentioned that the development of general mathematical models and
simulations are commonly assisted by simulation software packages such as ASPEN,
Chemcad, HYSYS and others. He also described the software Sugars , as being
readily available to the sugar industry. However, despite the benefits of having a
software specific to sugar operation units, the software has not become widespread
because of its cost and complexity.
On the other hand, Hysys includes a workshop for a triple multi-effect evaporator of
sugarcane. Each evaporator is modelled using a flash tank. Most of the process
parameters of this work were taken from the mentioned Hysys workshop. The property
package used in the Hysys simulation was Wilson/Ideal, and only the vapour-liquid
equilibrium (VLE) for the binary mixture sucrose-water was analyzed. Dextrose and
Fructose are not included in the components database of the software.
Abderafi and Bounahmidi (1994) obtained binary interaction parameters for the Peng
Robinson, Lee-Kesler and NRTL thermodynamic method from experimental VLE data
obtained for the binary mixtures sucrose-water, glucose-water and fructose-water.
Analysis of the results of the parameters showed the Peng-Robinson model is the best in
terms of the prediction of VLE.
A model was developed with Pro II to simulate a triple multi-effect evaporator of
sugarcane juice. VLE of sucrose-water, dextrose-water and fructose-water was included
in the model, being useful to estimate the sucrose inversion rate in each effect, based on
the data obtained from qualified references.
1.1 Pinch Analysis
The first key concept of pinch analysis is setting energy targets, according to Kemp
(2007). Targets obtained by pinch analysis are thermodynamic targets, showing what
heating and cooling systems are correctly designed (heat exchanger network). In the
presented work, a Pinch analysis module was performed in Excel and linked with Pro
II to estimate the minimum energetic requirement.

2. Simulation model of the multi-effect evaporator

The chemical compounds considered in the simulation model were: water, sucrose and
the inverted sugars: dextrose and fructose. Dextrose is available in the main database of
Pro II (SIMSCI), however fructose must be set as user-defined compound, therefore all
the physical and thermodynamic data of this component were included in the software.
It was also necessary to modify the liquid-vapour equilibrium for Peng Robinson
equation of state (EOS), adding the binary interaction parameters for dextrose-water and
fructose-water. The required information is shown in the table 1.

Table 1: Physical and thermodynamic parameters included in the simulation

Tc, K Pc, atm
VDV ROG, mm MW
Std.
[Link]
Density,
parameter,
kg/m3
(cal/cc)0.5
-7
Sucrose
805.95 26.54 0.369 7.90 6.55 x 10 342.30 1514.4
8.75
-7
Dextrose 884.61 47.53 2.208 4.84 4.75 x 10 180.16 1490
10
Fructose 884.35 47.67 2.210 4.84 4.75 x 10-7 180.16 1490
10
Tc, Pc, were taken from Adberafi and Bounahmidi (1994).
VDV and ROG of Fructose were assumed same as Dextrose (Pro II database).
MW of Fructose is the same as Dextrose.
Where:
* Tc and Pc: Critical properties (temperature and pressure).
* : acentric factor.
* VDV: Van der Waals parameters.
* ROG: Radius of Gyration.
* MW: Molecular weight.
The binary interaction parameters for Peng Robinson were taken from Adberafi and
Bounahmidi (1994).
The process flow diagram of the simulation is shown in the Figure 1.

Figure 1: Process Flow Diagram for the Sugarcane Evaporator

The multi-effect evaporator was simulated using Pro II using three stages or effects. The
evaporator consists of six operations: three effects modelled as flash tanks (unit
operation Flash 1, 2 and 3) and three coolers (1, 2 and 3). The stream FEED (50 kg/h)
is a liquid mixture of sucrose (30% wt) and water (70% wt) at 101.30 kPa of pressure.
The heat used in the first effect is the heat calculated in the steam heat exchanger 1. The
cooler 1 transforms saturated steam into condensate. The heat required in the next two
stages is taken from the heat generated from the condensers 2 and 3 respectively.
Coolers 2 and 3 condensate the outlet vapour stream of each flash (V1, V2 and V3 into
C1, C2 and C3, respectively). The temperature of flash 2 and 3 is fixed and is equal to
the temperature of the condensate C2 and C3 minus 3 C, respectively. The liquid

separated from each flash is sent to a Stream Calculator unit in order to separate the
inverted sucrose from the sucrose. The inverted sucrose produced in the first stage is
sent to the reactor (conversion type), where it is converted into dextrose and fructose
(50:50) and is mixed with the sucrose juice to produce a stream which is sent to the next
stage of evaporation. The simulation is analogue for stages 2 and 3. The flow rate of
inverted sucrose and pH is calculated by the following expressions, based on the data
compiled by Chi Chou (2000) and Hugot (1986):
pH = (0.0326T + 2.1613)%INV-0.067

(2)

T < 105 C: %INV=(0.0165%S-0.6387)T+0.0991ln(%S)-0.4751

T 105 C:
10% S %INV=3E-05T4 - 0.0155 T3 + 2.6459 T2 - 200.59T + 5697.1
20% S %INV=1E-05T4 - 0.0061T3 + 1.0343T2 - 77.624T + 2184
30% S %INV=-7E-06T4 + 0.0033T3- 0.5793T2 + 45.493T 1333.6
40% S %INV=-1E-05T4 + 0.0047T3 0.8271T2 + 64.7T + 1890
50% S %INV=-1E-05T4 + 0.0061T3+ 1.0834T2 + 84.567T 2465.7

(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)

Where:
* T is temperature in C.
* % S: Weight percentage of sucrose (composition).
* %INV: Weight percentage of inverted sucrose per hour.
These correlations represent the percentage of inverted sucrose per hour in the
evaporation system. This percentage depends on the temperature and pH in each effect.
The correlations were obtained through Excel (trend-line tools, chart option), and all
of them have a correlation coefficient r > 0.998. These equations were included in the
statement of the Calculator 1 (Pro II).
The convergence was fixed by a controller that iterates until it reaches the concentration
of 13% wt of water in the final juice (specification), varying the steam flow rate.
Solving the energy integration problem to minimize the utility consumption (heat flows)
in the system was done by using Pinch analysis, according to Corts et al. (2010). An
integrated Excel spreadsheet is used to import the input (hot and cold streams) from
the simulation and it gives back an output with the main curves where the minimum
energetic requirements are estimated from.

3. Results
Pro II results are shown in table 2 and 3.
Table 2: Stream properties
Stream
FEED
STEAM
Rate, kg/h
50.000
12.223
Temperature, C
101.324 130.418
pH
Pressure, kPa
101.300 274.000

EVAPORATED JUICE
17.242
89.022
6.20
26.617

Table 2: Stream flow rates

Stream
FEED
Sucrose, kg/h
15.000
Water, kg/h
35.000
Dextrose, kg/h
Fructose, kg/h
-

STEAM
12.223
-

EVAPORATED JUICE
14.9742
2.2419
0.0128
0.0128

The required steam flow rate to reach a juice concentration of 13% wt. of water was
12.2 kg/h.
Inverted sugars increase with the decreasing of pH, thus in the third effect the flow rate
of dextrose plus fructose is 0.0256 kg/h, which is greater than the first and second
effect. This amount of inverted sugars represents a 0.15%, less than the maximum
percentage recommended of 0.2%, hence the pH control is important to minimize the
sucrose losses. The pH drop between effects is usually 0.2. In this case, the pH drop
between the second and third effect was 0.24.
The evaporation rate was 11.8 kg/h (effect 1), 10.3 kg/h (effect 2) and 10.7 (effect 3).
The amount of sugar (sucrose + dextrose + fructose) in the evaporated stream of each
effect was not significant (<0.0021% wt in the third effect).
All results obtained by this sub-model were also compared with experimental values
and in all cases; the relative error was less than 5%.
A total of 8 hot and 3 cold streams were analyzed for the energetic thermal exchange
analysis: Feed stream, inlet and outlet vapour stream, condensed flows and evaporator
streams. Possible options of streams thermal combinations are shown in the composites
curves (figure 2). The overlapping of the hot and cold streams indicates the maximum
heat recovery of the process (or minimum utility requirements). The minimum
temperature different was set as 10 C (limit to establish the pinch point).
CompositeCurves

130
120
110

Temperature,C

100
90
80
70
60
50
40
0

200

400

600
Heat,kW

800

1000
Hot

1200
Cold

Figure 2: Pinch Analysis Composite Curves

The Pinch point was estimated at 114 C. The minimum hot utility decreased from 8.4
to 6.7 kW (approximately -20 %), which means that there is an additional vapour
consumption of 20% in the process that can be improved by using the new energetic
configuration. The recalculated inversion loss using the new energetic configurations
does not exceed 0.2%.

4. Conclusions
A simulation model was developed using Pro II to estimate inverted sucrose rate in a
triple effect evaporator of sugarcane juice. This model was linked with a Pinch analysis
spreadsheet in order to improve the energetic configuration of the heat exchanger
network (vapour consumption).
The liquid-vapour equilibrium for Peng Robinson EOS was modified in order to add the
binary interaction parameters for dextrose-water and fructose-water.
A set of correlations were obtained to estimate the percentage of inverted sucrose per
hour in the evaporation system, as a function of the temperature and pH in each effect.
These correlations were obtained through Excel and all of them have a correlation
coefficient r > 0.998.
An additional vapour consumption of 20% in the process was estimated by Pinch
Analysis. This consumption can be improved using the proposed energetic
configuration. The re-calculated inversion losses using this new configuration did not
exceed 0.2 % (recommended value).
The combination of process simulation (using a rigorous thermodynamic) and pinch
analysis improve the energetic configuration of this heat exchanger network in terms of
vapour consumption and inversion losses.

References
Abderafi, S and Bounahmidi, T 1994, Measurement and modeling of atmospheric
pressure vapour-liquid equilibrium data for binary, ternary and quaternary mixtures
of sucrose, glucose, fructose and water components. Fluid Phase Equilibria, 9, 337
351.
Chi Chou, C, 2000, Handbook of Sugar Refining: A Manual for the Design and
Operation of Sugar Refining Facilities, Wiley-Blackwell, United States.
Corts, M Verelst, H and Gonzales, E, 2010, Energy integration of multiple effect
evaporators in sugar process production, paper presented to the 19th International
Congress of Chemical and Process Engineering, Prague, 28 August 1 September.
Hugot, E, 1986, Handbook of Cane Sugar Engineering, Elsevier, Amsterdam, the
Netherlands.
Hysys workshop, 2000, Getting Started. <[Link]> accessed 15.07.2009
Kemp, I, 2007, Pinch Analysis and Process Integration, A User Guide on Process
Integration for the Efficient Use of Energy, Elsevier, Netherlands.
Panpae K, Jaturonrusmee W, Mingvanish W Nuntiwattanawong, C, Chunwiset, S.,
Santudrob K and Triphanpitak, S, 2007, Minimization of sucrose losses in sugar
industry by pH and temperature optimisation. The Malaysian Journal of Analytical
Sciences, 12, 3, 513 519.
Saska, M, 2008, Modeling Boiling House Operations with SuperPro Designer :
Effects of Final Molasses Recycle and Double Magma Boiling, Sugar Journal,
December, 12 17.