Design and implementation of a very short retention time LLT filtrate clarifier

作者：Grimaldo S A^*; Kochergin V

来源：International Sugar Journal, 2015, 117(1394): 106-113.

• juice clarification
• filtrate clarifier
• LLT clarifier
• low residence

Filtrate juice from clarifier underflow is recycled to the main clarifier and accounts for 15 to 20% of mixed juice produced in a raw sugar factory. This recirculation leads to increased sugar inversion and reduction in clarifier performance and, consequently, has an impact in the sugar quality. Previous attempts at process development of filtrate clarification have not resulted in commercial applications due to long retention times of the filtrate clarifiers, complex operations, and insufficient quality of the clarified filtrate obtained. A filtrate clarification pilot plant using a very short retention time clarifier with Louisiana Low Turbulence (LLT) Technology (10 minutes based on clear juice residence time) was designed and tested during the 2012 Louisiana sugarcane harvesting season. The LLT technology, successfully used for mixed juice clarification, was utilized. The results show that when clarified filtrate and the clear juice of the main factory clarifiers were mixed in a proportion of 1:5, no significant difference was found between the clarified juice and this mixture. Additionally, the suspended solids removal achieved in the filtrate clarifier was as high as 95% and the color of the clarified filtrate was lower than the clear juice color. Finally, the results of the study suggest that a full scale implementation of this technology can avoid the undesirable recirculation of filtrate by using a simple process, with high throughput and small footprint.

• 出版日期2015-2