A model of flow in a sugar diffuser

G. C. Hocking, S. L. Mitchell

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In the sugar industry a major component of the extraction process is a device known as a diffuser. Crushed and shredded cane is repeatedly washed by warm water as it travels along a conveyor, leaching the sugar from the cane. An important part of the efficiency of the process is the cycling of the 'used' water through the bed from downstream to upstream so that the final juice has a higher concentration of sugar, thus requiring much less energy to burn off the water. In this paper, we propose a model that allows simulation of the process to investigate the effect of variations in the properties of the cane bed, the speed of the conveyor and how to initiate the flow. It is discovered that there are several controlling factors that need to be dealt with to lead to an orderly steady process.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)984-998
Number of pages15
JournalIMA Journal of Applied Mathematics (Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications)
Volume81
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Dec 2016

Keywords

  • Industrial mathematics
  • Porous media flow
  • Sugar diffuser

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