Role Of Stainless Steel In Sugar Industry
06 October, 2018
Stainless steel is considered to be one of the most exceptional inventions in the history of mankind. Stainless steel stands apart from the rest of the metals due to its versatility in industries, in urban products and in domestic use. At Suncity Sheets Pvt. Ltd., we manufacture stainless steel pipes, coils and sheets which can be turned into usable items for your home, industry or kitchen.
Stainless steel is a kind of metal alloy made from the combination of steel and other metals like nickel and chromium. The composition of the metal alloy used in stainless steel determines the grades which can vary from low to high which refers to quality, durability, and also temperature resistance.
Problems in Sugar Industry
Traditionally, equipments in the Sugar industry are made from mild steel which has resulted in corrosion, becoming a major factor to be addressed in the sugar industry. Some other issues include:
#1 Coloring in Sugar: It is estimated that about 20-25 kg equivalent of Fe2O3 is mixed in sugarcane juice for every 1000 tons processed through sulphitation process (Source: P Honig, Principles of Sugar Technology Part-I). This is a source of corrosion, giving a dark colour to the sugarcane juice, resulting in loss of whiteness.
#2 24×7 manufacturing: Continuous manufacturing gives less time for maintenance of equipments during the season. Corrosion occurs during the off-season due to atmospheric oxidation of mild steel equipment. During restarting, most of this rust is transferred to Sugar which needs re-melting to reduce wastage.
#3 Hygiene: The tanks and equipment fabricated from the mild steel is not conducive to hygiene and the resultant sugar fails to get a good price in highly competitive market.
The above-given reasons leading to corrosion has become a major challenge in the world and needs to be tackled in order to avoid economic losses. It is time to switch to stainless steel. Listed below are the range of equipments which will benefit from the use of appropriate grade of stainless steel. Pipes, coils and sheets made at Suncity Sheets Pvt. Ltd. can be further used to manufacture the following products.
- Cane carrier side plates
- Cane carrier chain links
- Rake type intercarrier, Wear Pads troughs and rakes
- Mill imbibition piping
- Donnely chutes
- Juice pump body and impellers (up to sulphited juice pump)
- Mill juice gutters
- Whirler tanks, screened juice and unscreened juice tanks
- Bagasse carrier trough
- Raw juice lines
- Clarifier mud scrapers
- Juice sulphiter
- SO2 gas pipeline
- Rotary vacuum filter filtrate lines and tanks
- Juice heater covers
- Juice heater condensate lines
- Vacuum crystallizer top dome
- Pan and last evaporator vapor lines
- Condensate lines for an evaporator
- Molasses gutters
- Partition plates inside continuous centrifugal
- Centrifugal basket ribs
- Hopper trough and base plates
Benefits of using stainless steel in the sugar industry are:
- Resistance to heat
- Resistance to corrosion
- Sturdiness
- Ability to withstand shock and abrasion
- Durability
- Prevents contamination
- Low maintenance
- Can withstand dents and scratches even in aggressive operating conditions
- Can withstand heavy wash downs using chemicals or other detergents
- Is inert to alkalis and acids
