The beet sugar factory of the future

2021 ◽  
pp. 391-405
Author(s):  
Jan Maarten de Bruijn

The beet sugar industry is facing several challenges for the future. The climate change is requiring a transition from the traditional fossil fuel to a greenhouse gas neutral energy source. The available possibilities for this purpose will be outlined in this paper. The recent EU sugar market reform has markedly increased the competition between sugar companies and the resulting lower sugar price has a significant impact on the profit margin of sugar production. In order to keep up with these challenges it is key to make an appropriate use of the available opportunities to improve the cost-efficiency of sugar beet processing. The different means to advance the sugar business are better asset utilization, continuous process improvement, introducing innovative process technologies and further developing a sugar factory into a biorefinery with a further valorisation of (co-)products and wherein synergy is obtained between different on-site process operations. Why and how these different available tools can improve the competitiveness of sugar factories will be discussed in detail. A proper combination and choice of the suggested changes and opportunities will enable sugar factories to get prepared for the future.

1990 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rigoberto A. Lopez

The objective of this article is to estimate historical economic surpluses for the subsectors involved in the U.S. sugar market. Annual producer and consumer surpluses were computed based on a five-equation model and 1958–87 data. In the last decade, the welfare position of cane- and beet-sugar producers has been roughly maintained, the domestic consumer surplus and the export quasi-rents to foreign countries have both declined, and quasi-rents of the corn-sweetener industry now surpass those that accrue to the cane industry and are about the same as those of the beet-sugar industry. Some policy implications are discussed.


2020 ◽  
pp. 363-379
Author(s):  
Rudolf Schick

The economic situation of the European sugar industry is currently very tense. The expected introduction of a climate-neutral mode of operation by 2050 will require considerable investment in the coming decades. This will further strengthen the cost advantages of the cane sugar industry, which, in contrast to the beet sugar industry, has for many years been obtaining most of its energy requirements from the renewable fuel bagasse. In order to remain competitive with the cane sugar industry, further reductions in production costs are necessary. As it is hardly possible to increase efficiency through technological improvements, the most promising measures to reduce production costs will be to further increase the processing capacity of the individual factories and possibly extend the campaign. Using a simplified mathematical model, the influence of transport costs, labour costs and constant costs on the optimal capacity of beet sugar factories is investigated. The lowest production costs for white sugar are used as an optimality criterion.


2015 ◽  
pp. 692-696
Author(s):  
Remi Aubry ◽  
Laurence Gasnot

A study was carried out in six beet sugar factories in France during the 2012/13 sugar campaign. The objective was to assess the optimal dosage of formaldehyde solutions at specific process stages and in different existing factory set-ups in order to obtain the desired effect on microbial populations, without interference with the quality of the products. In addition harmlessness regarding consumer health was to be demonstrated. A series of experiments was conducted resulting in new data allowing refreshment of common knowledge and references existing regarding the use of formaldehyde solutions in the sugar industry. The effectiveness and convenience for controlling microbiological activity in beet sugar manufacture was assessed. Formaldehyde reduces sugar losses and protects in-process products without harming their further use, such as for ethanol production.


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