Estimation of Mean Time between Failures of a Two Tandem Mill of a Sugar Plant

When minutes of down-time can negatively impact the bottom line of a business, it is crucial that the physical infrastructure supporting be reliable. The equipment reliability can be achieved with a solid understanding of mean time between failures. Mean time between failures (MTBF) has been used for years as a basis for various maintenance decisions supported by various methods and procedures for lifecycle predictions. To quantifying a maintainable system or reliability we can use MTBF. For developing the mean time between failures model we can use make use of Poisson distribution, Weibull model and Bayesian model. In this paper we will be talking about complexities and misconceptions of MTBF and clarify criteria that need to be consider in estimating MTBF in a sequential manner. This paper sheds light on MTBF using examples throughout in an effort to simplify complexity. Keywords: MTBF, Two Tandem Mill, Sugar Mill, Reliability, Maintenance

Development of pumps with improved anti-cavitation characteristics

When considering the creation of pumps with improved anti-cavitation characteristics, the results of an in-depth analysis of the problem of pumping viscous liquids at high temperatures are presented. On the example of the technological process of evaporation of sugar syrup on a film evaporator of the latest type, the problem of the occurrence of cavitation when pumping viscous liquids at high temperatures was revealed. After analyzing the existing machines used for the specified operating conditions, critical design and operating parameters were identified that affect the appearance of cavitation. Namely, the appearance of cavitation is influenced by the reduced diameter of the impeller inlet, the diameter of the impeller inlet, the number of blades, the width of the blades and the rotor speed. To study the level of influence of these parameters, a method of physical modeling was chosen, an experimental stand was designed and manufactured. Studies have been carried out on the operation of the pump with and without a reducer. The work with a two- and three-blade inducer is analyzed, the work with an open and closed impeller, with one and two-level blade system is investigated. As a result of the analysis of experimental data, the optimal design of the hydraulic part with a three-blade reducer and a semi-open impeller with a two-level blade system was chosen. In turn, this made it possible to reduce the compression of the flow at the inlet to the impeller without loss of energy efficiency; the angles of inclination of the inducer and impeller blades were synchronized. The experience gained made it possible to design and manufacture an industrial sample of a cantilever pump with an inducer and a semi-open impeller. Thus, allowing to solve the problem of pumping thick syrup on a film evaporating unit of the Teofipol sugar plant (Khmelnytskyi region, Ukraine), with a cavitation reserve of 1.5 m.

Systemic Lexicosemantic Connections of the Adjective Rich in English

The purpose of this article is to describe the meaning of the adjective rich and its systemic connections in the linguocultural aspect. Tasks: 1) determine the lexicosemantic variants of the adjective rich; 2) identify its synonyms and antonyms; 3) compare the semes of the adjective rich presented in different dictionaries. The relevance of this paper lies in the fact that the English linguistic worldview includes a certain area associated with linguocultural ideas about wealth that is represented by the adjective rich and its synonyms and antonyms. The scientific novelty of the article lies in the fact that for the first time the semes of the adjective rich are considered in terms of linguistic worldview and the theory of mentality. The research material was selected from modern authoritative English dictionaries. The main methods used here are the method of component analysis of vocabulary definitions, descriptive method using interpretation and generalization techniques, comparative method, and elements of the linguocultural method. The analysis showed that the adjective rich in the English language has 34 semes, which can be combined into 8 thematic groups: 1) person: ‘someone/person/people’, ‘endowed’, ‘have’, ‘possessions’, ‘contain’; ‘entertainment’, ‘(highly) amusing’, ‘(highly) developed’; 2) material wealth: ‘(a lot of) money/material wealth/property’, ‘(financially) profitable’, ‘remunerative’, ‘valuable/high value’; 3) abundance: ‘lush/abounding/abundant’, ‘a high standard of living’, ‘supplied’; 4) perception: ‘colour’, smell/fragrance’, ‘sound/tone’, ‘taste’; 5) something material: ‘(natural) substance’, ‘food (with fat/oil/eggs/sugar)’, ‘plant/nutrients’; 6) resources: ‘combustion’, ‘source’; 7) evaluation: ‘attractive/magnificently impressive/pleasant’, ‘beautiful’, ‘good’, ‘(highly) productive’, ‘(highly) varied’, ‘useful’; 8) quality: ‘complex’, ‘pure/nearly pure’, ‘percentage’, ‘quality’. In addition, 26 synonyms and 4 antonyms of the adjective rich were identified.

Thermal integration analysis and improved configuration for multiple effect evaporator system based on pinch analysis

Pinch analysis for a sugar plant production capacity 4000 TCD has been carried out to reduce its energy consumptions. The plant has ten evaporators that can be configured to several multiple effect evaporators. It has been running with five-effect evaporator (quintuple) scheme. To maximize energy utilization within the plant, three multiple effect evaporator schemes were evaluated. They are triple effect evaporator, quadruple effect evaporator, and quintuple effect evaporator as the benchmark. The result shows that the quintuple effect evaporator yields the highest energy efficiency by about 10%. Options to achieve such target is to use low pressure steam only for the first effect and to use steam bleeding from the first effect to heat a tertiary juice heater. With this proposed scenario, sugar dryer, wash water RVF unit and wash water HGF unit no longer need external steam for its operation.

Entomopathogenic Fungi Tested in Planta on Pepper and in Field on Sorghum, to Control Commercially Important Species of Aphids

Given the aphids high reproductive capacity, assessing their biocontrol by using entomopathogenic fungi is crucial; to determine their potential, fungi were tested in planta and in field conditions. Significant decrease of Myzus persicae (Sulzer) population was observed in planta after applying Beauveria bassiana (strain 7R), Trichoderma gamsii (strain Z) or Metarhizium brunneum (strain Meta Br1) at 1 × 107 or 1 × 108 conidia/mL on pepper plants. Significant differences of aphids’ populations were detected between fungus concentration and control (F = 68.743, df = 6.980, P <0.001), where M. brunneum at 1 × 108 conidia/mL reduced aphids population close to zero. At 20 °C, dead aphids’ mycosis by B. bassiana and T. gamsii was 78% and 84%; at 25 °C was 83% and 88%; and at 30 °C was 75% and 79%, respectively. Mexican PTG4 and commercial GHA B. bassiana strains were tested in field (treating seeds with 1 × 106 conidia/mL) against the Melanaphis sacchari (Zehntner) aphid populations, on naturally infested sorghum plants. Results showed that plant germination and emergence were not affected, whereas yield (grams of sugar/plant) was significantly higher among treated compared with untreated plants. The aphid population decreased in plants from PTG4 treated seeds; indeed, this treatment had a significant positive effect on the flowering index, whereas the stem fresh weight and juice volume was significantly increased among plants from GHA treated seeds. Taken together, tested strains can be used as a tool to control aphids’ population on several crops such as pepper and even increase the yield in sorghum.

Representatives of the sugar industry of the Russian Empire at the World's Fair in Paris in 1900

Nineteenth-century world exhibitions were platforms to demonstrate technical and technological changes that witnessed the modernization and industrialization of the world. World exhibitions have contributed to the promotion of new inventions and the popularization of already known, as well as the emergence of art objects of world importance. One of the most important world events at the turn of the century was the 1900 World's Fair in Paris. Participation in the World's Fair was not the first experience of this kind of activity for sugar growers in the Russian Empire. Most of them were members of the Kyiv branch of the Russian Technical Society, which in turn took the most active part in the work of blighty and international industrial exhibitions, receiving high awards. The main sugar enterprises were concentrated on the territory of modern Ukraine in the possession of several large companies owned by Tereshchenko, Kharitonenko, Khanenko, Brodskyi, Simirenko, Yakhnenko and others. The Russian sugar industry occupied a prominent place at the World's Fair in Paris in 1900, as its share in world sugar production was 17%, and the area of beet crops, it was ahead of all other countries (in 1900 sugar beets were sown 548,796 hectares). The exposition testified to this powerful development of the industry. At the World's Fair in 1900, Russia's sugar industry was housed in the Palace of Agriculture and was represented in the pavilions by well-known sugar firms, such as the Department of Land (Timashiv Beet Sugar and Refinery), I. H. Kharitonenko and his son; brothers Lazar and Lev Izrailevich Brodskyi; O. N. Tereshchenko, heirs of F. A. Tereshchenko; the Tereshchenko brothers, the Botkin brothers (Novo-Tavolzhanskyi sugar factory); joint-stock companies of sugar and refineries: “Constance”, “Germanov”, “Gmina Lyshowiche”; E. A. Balasheva (Mariinskyi Sugar Plant of Kyiv Province), H. H. Balakhovski (Mariinskyi beet-sugar and refineries of the Kursk province). A characteristic feature of the sugar industry was that they mainly represented family businesses based on strong family ties, ethno-cultural and religious values. In addition, they intertwined the functions of owners and managers. Thus, the author tries to analyze the participation of representatives of the sugar industry in the World's Fair in 1900 and define the role of exhibitions as indicators of economic development, to show the importance and influence of private entrepreneurs, especially from Ukraine, on the sugar industry and international contacts.

Influence of technological modes on changes in the composition of beet pulp during its processing at the Borinsky sugar plant

The description of the technological scheme of the granulation site at the Borinsky sugar plant is given, with an analysis of the work of the main types of technological equipment to identify problem areas of production. It is established that the use of such a promising press as the one of the Babbinni company allows you to get pulp with a humidity of 68-76 %. To dry it in a drum dryer to a humidity of 11–13%, 170 m3 of natural gas is consumed per 1 ton of pulp. The technological process of obtaining granulated beet pulp includes pressing the initial beet pulp with an initial humidity of 85–90% to a humidity of 68–76 %; drying the pressed pulp with a heat carrier at a temperature of 110–140 °C for 90–120 minutes to a final humidity of 11–13 %; cleaning pellets from metal-magnetic impurities; granulating the pulp (the diameter of the pellets is 10 mm); cooling pellets to a temperature of 30–35 °C; fractionation of pellets into large and small fractions; weighing and shipping granulated beet pulp to the warehouse of finished products. The technological modes influence analysis of beet pulp pressing, drying and granulating processes at the Borinsky sugar plant showed the need to introduce a second stage of pressing to further reduce the moisture content in the pressed pulp. Obtaining pressed pulp with a lower moisture content will significantly reduce the energy consumption for moisture evaporation in the drum dryer. Reducing the duration of the heat drying process of pressed beet pulp in a drum dryer will significantly increase the nutritional value of the granulated beet pulp produced.

Successful implementation of plate heaters and evaporators in the sugarcane industry

A few years ago, the Ledesma sugar company (Argentina) started an investment process with the aim of increasing the milling capacity from 14,000 to 24,000 t/d (tonnes cane/day). The sugar plant began to install plate heat exchangers and plate evaporators as an alternative to the traditional tubular equipment. Information was collected on the installation, operation and maintenance parameters during more than 15 years, during both the harvesting and off-season. Some of the results obtained in comparison with tubular equipment and with data for plate equipment in the literature were: Heaters: heat transfer coefficients similar to those quoted in the literature for heating limed juice and 80% higher for clarified juice heating, shorter cleaning time (8–10 h reduced to 4 h), shorter maintenance times but higher costs in spare parts than expected; Evaporators: 15–30% higher heat transfer coefficients, 30–40% higher specific evaporation rates, shorter cleaning times (18–24 h reduced to 5 h), 20% less surface area per t/d, but higher cost of spare parts than expected.

Soft computing for availability optimization of a crushing system of sugar plant using PSO

PurposeIn this paper, the objective is to perform mathematical modeling to optimize the steady-state availability of a multi-state repairable crushing system of a sugar plant using the evolutionary algorithm of Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO). The system availability is optimized by evaluating the optimal values of failure and repair rate parameters concerned with the subsystem of the system.Design/methodology/approachMathematical modeling of the multi-state repairable system is performed to develop the first-order differential equations based on the exponential distribution of the failure and repair rates. These differential equations are recursively solved to obtain the availability under normalizing conditions. The availability of the system is optimized by using the PSO algorithm. The results obtained by PSO are validated by using the Genetic Algorithm (GA).FindingsThe availability analysis of the system concludes that the cane preparation (F1) is critical of the crushing system and the optimized availability of the system using PSO is achieved as high as 87.12%.Originality/valueA crushing system of the sugar plant is evaluated as it is the main system of the sugar plant. The maintenance data associated with failure and repair rate parameters were analyzed with the help of maintenance records/logbook and by conducting personal meetings with maintenance executives of the plant. The results obtained in the paper helped them to plan maintenance strategies accordingly to get optimal system availability.