Book Description

This book is devoted to the problems of identifying the potential for, designing and implementing, energy-saving measures in beet sugar factories. As the sugar industries in various countries differ considerably with respect to the economic conditions for factory operation and the level of technological development, the problem range is very broad. It may include the elimination of faulty or unreliable auxiliary equipment, or the introduction of simple improvements in vapour distribution schemes, in factories operated in countries where the need for efficient energy utilization has not really been very urgent until now. On the other hand, there are sugar factories in some other countries where considerable achievements have been made in energy saving but where further progress may still be possible if more advanced engineering problems are solved.The author takes an interdisciplinary approach to its subject aimed at demonstrating how the energy demand of a sugar factory can be affected by the interactions between a number of factors, namely: layout and parameters of the energy conversion and distribution processes; layout and parameters of the sugar manufacturing process and by-processes; characteristics of the equipment and control systems; completeness and accuracy of the energy monitoring systems. The book consists essentially of three parts. In Chapters 1 to 3, some theoretical background is given and engineering principles for creating efficient energy conversion and utilization subsystems in sugar factories are reviewed. The second part - Chapters 4 to 7 - discusses recent developments in these areas and their importance to energy conversion and utilization in sugar factories. The presentation is illustrated with suitable practically-oriented examples based mostly on the author's experience gained from nine years working with an engineering company specializing in the design, erection and modernization of sugar factories, as well as five years of consulting and research for the sugar industry. Short examples are presented in Chapters 1, 2, 3 and 7, while in the third part of the book (Chapters 8 and 9) summaries are given of real-life design analyses of energy subsystems of sugar factories, characterized by different levels of sophistication of the energy economy.The book thus provides a systematic review which will be helpful to managers and technologists in sugar factories where the problem may arise of choosing the most appropriate set of measures that best fit the factory's unique needs. It can also be used in university-level courses on the energy economy of sugar factories, and will be of interest to design engineers and specialists engaged in research in the area.