Study of Sugarcane Juice Clarification with Additives by Continuous Centrifugation

Abstract

The quality and yield of sugar influenced by the raw material and the operational stages. The main objective of treatment of the broth is to eliminate unwanted particles in sugarcane that increase equipment wear and incrustations, reducing productivity. The procedure used in the clarification defines the type of sugar produced. Initially chemical additives are used with subsequent heating which favors decantation, necessitating effective control so that the impurities are effectively removed and do not influence the subsequent steps. This work evaluated the clarification of the sugarcane juice by caleation, addition of phosphoric acid in different concentrations and continuous centrifugation, through the physic-chemical parameters. Analyzes were pH, °Brix, turbidity, conductivity and ICUMSA color. It adopted for the experimental results a factorial planning 2² (STATISTICA 7.0) to evaluate the statistical representation and interaction between independent and dependent variables. They compared to the means by Tukey's test (p < 0.05) and to evaluate the level of association between the dependent variables studied was adopted Pearson's correlation coefficient (R), through analysis of variance (ANOVA) and by the F test. The results of the physic-chemical analyzes that indicated the best operating conditions that caused greater reduction of color and turbidity was point 5 (90^?C and 150 ppm of phosphoric acid). In the statistical planning, the color reduction did not present statistical significance and the turbidity was statistically significant, making it possible to present the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the correlation coefficient. The model fits well with the experimental data regarding turbidity reduction, that is, the model is statistically significant at the 95% confidence level for the studied range.