The document discusses automation opportunities in sugar processing plants. It describes how automation can help optimize processes like cane feeding, milling, crushing rate control, boiler efficiency, evaporation, and continuous pan boiling. Automating control of key variables like drum boiler levels, mill extraction rates, and pan brix levels can help reduce losses, maintain quality, and improve overall plant efficiency while not necessarily reducing manpower. The document also provides several case studies of mills where automation has increased cane crushing capacity, reduced bagasse moisture and pol, and lowered energy use.

1. The Sugar Process:
Automation or Optimization
THEAUTOMATORS

2. The Sugar Process
 Continuous Flow Process
 Highly Regulated Operating Conditions
 Seasonal Operation
 Limited Resources
 Budgetary Limitations
 Personnel Limitations
 Remote Locations
 New Challenges
 Shrinking Margins due to Globalization
THE AUTOMATORS

3. Is Automation Needed?
 Example 1
The Drum Level in a 2.4MPa 80TPH boiler can be
controlled manually. However, the risk of losing control is
high and the cost of instruments for this loop is too small
compared to the damage caused by the loss of control.
It is, therefore, better to automate this action.
 Example 2
Starting and stopping of the Screened Juice Pumps in
the Mill House can be done manually. The cost of
isolating valves at the suction and delivery sides of the
pumps is too high to justify automating this action.
THE AUTOMATORS

4. Why Automate?
 Reduce Losses
 Capacity
 Energy
 Materials
 Mechanical Failures
 Maintain Quality
 Unbiased Analyses
 Independence from Manual Skill
 NOT TO REDUCE MANPOWER
THE AUTOMATORS

5. Suggested Optimizations
 Mill House
 Cane Feeding (Capacity Enhancement)
 Milling and Imbibition (Extraction Improvement)
 Crushing Rate Optimization (Process Balance)
 Boilers and Steam Management
 Heating, Clarification and Evaporation
 Raw Pans (Batch or Continuous)
 Brix/Super-saturation Control in Batch Pans
 Brix and Boiling Rate Control in Continuous Pans
 Remelting and Refining
 Powerhouse (Load-shedding)
THE AUTOMATORS

6. Control Systems
 Discrete Controllers and Recorders
 Low Cost in case of Few Loops
 Poor Analysis Tools
 Difficult to Maintain
 PLC / Multi-Loop Controllers + SCADA
 Availability and Maintainability Issues
 Good for Machine Level or Area Wide Control
 Distributed Control Systems
 Easy to Implement and Maintain
 Suitable for Plant Wide Control
THE AUTOMATORS

7. MILL HOUSE
 Starting point of the Sugar Plant, providing:
 Juice to the Process House
 Bagasse to Boilers (at low moisture/ sugar traces)
 Exhaust Steam to the Evaporators
 Irregularities in the Mill House mean
 Boiler and Steam Pressure Disturbance
 Evaporation Process Mismanagement
 Low or Poor Crushing for hours
 High Maintenance Costs
 Reduced Extraction
 Reduced Energy Efficiency
THE AUTOMATORS

8. Mill House Automation ResultsYear Plant Setting Achievement
1997/
98
Shahtaj Shredder with 2 Cutters, 5 Mills Capacity enhanced to 11,000 from 8,500
Pol down to 1.8
2003 JDW-1A Shredder with 3 Cutters, 6 Mills Capacity enhanced to 8,500 from 6,500
2004/
05
JDW-1B Shredder with 3 Cutters and
Motorized Pressure Feeders on Mill
1/Mill 6
Never operated Manually.
Capacity 14,000 TCD
2006 JDW-2 Fibriser, 5 Mills Capacity enhanced to 10,000 from 7,000
2007 Al-Abbas Fibriser, 5 Mills, 1 on Motor Capacity enhanced to 7,500 from 5,500
Pol down to 1.6
2008 JDW-3 Shredder with 2 Cutters, 6 Mills Never operated Manually.
Capacity 15,000 TCD
2011 Noon Shredder with 2 Cutters, 4 Mills Capacity enhanced to 9,000 from 7,000
2013 Khairpur Shredder with 2 Cutters, 4 Mills Capacity enhanced to 7,000 from 5,000
2015 Chaudhry Shredder with 2 Cutters, 5 Mills Capacity enhanced to 10,000 from 9,000
Pol down to 1.6
2015 Sheikhoo Unigrators with 2 Cutters, 7 Mills, 3
on Motor
Capacity enhanced to 16,000 from 13,500
Pol down to 1.8
THE AUTOMATORS

9. CANE FEEDING
THE AUTOMATORS

10. CANE FEEDING: Advantage
 Enhancement of Crushing Rate—up to 15%
 Regulation of Bagasse Supply to Boilers
 Improvement in Mill 1 Extraction
 Reduction in Damage to Mechanical
Assemblies of Mill 1, Cane Carries, Shredder
and Cutters
 Regular and lowered Energy Consumption at
the above devices
THE AUTOMATORS

11. MILLING
THE AUTOMATORS

12. MILLING: Advantage
 Improved Extraction at all Mills
 Reduced Bagasse Moisture and Pol
 Maintained Overall Extraction Results at
Variable Crushing Rates
 Reduction in Damage to Mechanical Assemblies
of Mills, Inter-carriers, and Pumps
 Sustained Steam Consumption at Different
Crushing Rates
THE AUTOMATORS

13. Crushing Rate Optimization
 Under Crushing
 Loss of Production
 Energy Losses
 Over Crushing
 Saturation in Boiling House
 Increased Steam Demand
 Boiler Inefficiencies
 Millhouse Stoppages
 Loss of Production
 Energy Losses
 Equipment Damages
THE AUTOMATORS

14. THE AUTOMATORS
Crushing Rate Optimization

15. Other Optimizations in Sugar Plant
 Boilers
 Efficiency Enhancement
 Pressure Stability
 Evaporators
 Steam Economy
 Syrup Brix Improvement
 Continuous Pan
 Uninterrupted Brix control for B & C Sugar Boiling
 Correlated Molasses and Massecuite flows for regular Vapor consumption
 Minimal Water Addition
 Sugar Refinery
 Remelter Stabilization
 Maintained pH Control
 Deep Bed Filters
 Batch Pan
 Reduced Strike Time
 Manual Washing
THE AUTOMATORS

16. THE AUTOMATORS
Boiler: 20~25 BAR Steam Class

17. THE AUTOMATORS
Mill House: Milling Control

18. THE AUTOMATORS
Evaporators: Falling Film

19. THE AUTOMATORS
Continuous Pans: C Sugar