Ultrafiltration for juice purification in plantation white sugar manufacture

This work evaluates the ultrafiltration (UF) of sugarcane juice in the prod uction of plantation white sugar. In investigations conducted on-site at a factory in western Uttar Pradesh, India, different feed streams viz, mixed juice, raw juice, rotary vacuum filtrate and clarified juice were examined. Irrespective of the feed stream, the UF permeate was significantly superio r to the conventional limed and sulphited clarified juice in terms of purit y, clarity and colour. It is recommended that the UF step be incorporated a t the mixed / raw juice stage since in addition to higher sugar recovery an d better juice quality, this would result in the elimination of juice sulph itation.