Imperial Sugar has made it plain that they believe in the Sidney factory. The company has ended a four-year drought in investment at the Sidney plant by recently approving nearly $3 million for modernization and improvements for the local factory. Imperial officials will spend the bulk of the funds, or $2.5 million, on a continuous vacuum pan (CVP) which will modernize the sugar crystallization process in the intermediate boiling stage. Imperial last invested significant dollars in the Sidney plant four years ago, with the construction of the tower diffuser.

The CVP will modernize and improve existing sugar boiling methods, it will save energy, and it will give the factory crews the flexibility to operate the plant when faced with conditions of lower quality juice. Don Gorsek, district manager at the Sidney factory, explains, The continuous vacuum pan will modernize operations and will improve energy efficiency. Well recover more sugar because the CVP will help in reducing our losses to molasses.

Gorsek explains that the factory currently boils sugar using batch pans. Crews boil raw, intermediate and white sugars in batches for each of the three boiling processes. We boil sugar in batches, Lynn Powers, production manager, remarks. When we reach the desired sugar grain size, we drop the crystal/syrup mixture (fillmass) into a mixer which feeds our centrifugals, clean the vacuum pan out with steam, and then we start another batch of sugar crystallization.

The new CVP, planned for use in the intermediate boiling stage, will replace the two batch pans currently used and will allow for a continuous boil. Factory crews will make use of the two pans now used for the intermediate boiling stage. One pan will be used for the raw sugar boiling process and the other will be used in boiling (or producing) white sugar.

The continuous boil in the intermediate stage will save energy and allow for improved crystallization and efficiency. The CVP allows us to use lower vapors from our evaporators, which is an energy savings, Gorsek comments. Being continuous also gives us more boiling time and will allow us to improve our sugar recovery.

The CVP will not only save energy and provide for better sugar recovery, but it also will allow factory crews to better process varying qualities of juice. When beet piles deteriorate in storage, its harder to get the sugar, says Gorsek. In storage, when purity drops, the factory produces more sugar to molasses and less sugar to the silos. The CVP will give us the flexibility to better process beets under less than ideal conditions.

Imperial Sugar recognized the need to invest in a CVP for the Sidney factory because of the problems factory crews faced in processing the 1998 beet crop. In 1998, a warm winter caused beet piles to deteriorate more rapidly than normal. These lower purity beets restricted factory crews in their efforts to extract sugar. The installation of the CVP will greatly help crews in their efforts to extract as much sugar as possible from lower purity beets. Later in the season, especially through a warmer campaign, a CVP will make it a lot easier to handle the beets stored longest in the piles, says Powers. The CVP will give us the ability to handle non sugars better and at a higher load. The CVP will be a great benefit as quality drops during both beet storage and in warmer winters.

Factory officials expect to see the CVP installed and operational in time for the start of the 2002 campaign. The installation of the CVP will keep maintenance crews busy all summer. This huge piece of equipment will stand as high as the factory building and will include two 50 cubic meter pans. We plan to order the equipment within the next week, and install it over the summer for operations next September, comments Gorsek.

He adds, A project like this shows that Imperial Sugar is serious about the future of the Sidney plant.

Gorsek expects that within the next several years, the company will invest in a CVP for the raw sugar boiling process as well.

Cory Zentner, mechanical engineer technician, will act as field engineer for this project.

Imperial Sugar also plans to invest in two other capital projects for the Sidney factory this year. Besides the $2.5 million earmarked for the CVP, Imperial has allocated another $100,000 for additional passive ventilation for beet piles, and has set aside $85,000 to update and automate boiler controls.