Sucrose Extrraction from Sugar Cane

Who brought sugarcane to the Caribbean?

The Dutch (1625)

Shredder

Sugarcane is harvested, transp to a factory, cleaned and then cut into small pieces by a shredder

Crushers

Pieces are crushed in crushers and water is sprayed on them(for dissolving the sugar that is present). this produces cane juice/fibre or bagasse.

What happens to the bagasse?

It is taken to the boiler furnance where it is used for heat supply for the boilers

Precipitation

Cane juice(it is acidic/has impurities) enters the clarifier(where precipitation occurs). It is heated and calcium hydroxide is added for neutralization od acids. Impurities will precipitate out

What happens to the impurities?

They are converted into larger insoluble particles.

Filter

The juice goes into a filter, where continuos filtration occurs to remove the insoluble impurities. This producers factory mud and clarified juice.

What happens to the factory mud?

It is returned to the fields for further use