Abstract

In this research, a series of experiments were performed to evaluate the effect of the dissolved solids (brix) composition of the alkalized juice on the impurities sedimentation in the raw sugar manufacturing process. For this purpose, discontinuous sedimentation tests were carried out in graduated cylinders with industrial juices prepared at different brix. The results showed that sludge compaction and turbidity removal decreased by 5% and settling rate by 30% if the juice brix varied from 13 to 15 degrees Bx. A mathematical regression model was used to correlate the settling rate with the juice brix with excellent goodness-of-fit. This mathematical model showed that the dependence of the settling rate on the juice brix was non-linear. The settling rate was most sensitive when the juice brix varied between 10 and 14 degrees Bx, which means that small changes in brix in this range have a large effect on the clarification performance. The results provided a better understanding of this influence and constitute valuable experimental evidence as references for a better operation and operational control of this process.