Energy & Power, Heating, Cooling & Drying

$300 million in savings go missing for sugar producers according to Alfa Laval

Phil Black - PII Editor 24/09/2010

141 1 minute read

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Plate Heat Exchangers for sugar applications

According to heat transfer specialists, Alfa Laval, sugar producers across the globe are missing out on a staggering $300 million in potential energy savings by opting for the wrong kind of heat transfer technology.

The company says that this is the level of heat energy that could be recovered from various stages of the sugar refining process.

“Sugar refining involves the continual transfer of heat to and from different juice flows throughout the process“
says Ian Forrester of Alfa Laval in the UK.

“If refiners employed Plate Heat Exchangers instead of tubular exchangers, the difference in efficiency levels (thermal efficiency is 200–300% greater in sugar applications) means that they could employ lower grade heat sources such as condensate or low pressure vapour in place of expensive steam for many parts of the process.”

Alfa Laval estimates that refiners could reduce steam needs by as much as 5%. The steam saved could be used to generate electricity to power the process and any excess sold off to other users or to the national grid. Annual sugar production across the globe is around 160 million tons. Allowing a figure of approximately $14 for each ton of steam raised and with 0.4 tons required to process each ton of sugar crop, the estimated potential for savings is $300 million.

More further information please contact;

Alfa Laval Ltd
Peter Rose, Marketing Manager
Tel: 01276 413632 Fax: 01276 413524

E-mail: general.uk@alfalaval.com