Modeling and Optimization of the Sugar Extraction Process

In this work, a mathematical model is first developed for the sugar extraction process under steady state conditions. The process takes place in a vertical tower in which hot water and beet cossettes are entered counter currently and the juice is enriched with sugar. The amount of sugar extracted and also the amount of sugar loss at the exit would be increased by an increase in the tower length, the beet residence time or the amount of fresh water consumed. However, this would lead to an increase in the amount of non-sugars within the extractor which is highly undesirable and requires much more in operating costs. To avoid this, the tower length and beet residence time should be at their optimal values in addition to draft, which is the percent ratio of raw juice extracted to the beet processed. This study determines these optimal values in a way to minimize the total operating costs based on the mathematical model using the genetic algorithm method. The results of this study can be used as a framework to optimize the performance of industrial extractors.

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