Abstract:
Elguniedhg sugar field was first depending on a manual harvesting of the sugar cane. However, due to the high wages of the labors, a mechanical harvesting has been introduced which increases the mud and clay with the sugar cane. Therefore, the sugar content in the filter cake has increased accordingly. This study is aiming at minimizing the sugar content in the filter cake of Elguneid Sugar Factory (Sudan). Several experimental tests and observations have been conducted to analyze the filter cake from the rotary vacuum filters at various speeds. The tests are namely to determine the amount of filter cake, Pol%, moisture content, the amount of bagacillo and the non-dissolved solids in the filter cake. For the sugar contents, the obtained results showed that the Pol% of the filter cake is ranged between 1.4% to 2.6%. However, this value is much higher than the acceptable standard which must be ≤ 1.2%. Accordingly, the filters of the factory are not efficient under the current circumstances where the clay sugar content attached to the sugar cane is high. Consequently and based on the cost estimation, three proposals are thought to overcome the said problem. It is suggested to either enhance the cane washing process, or recycling the filter cake after dilution with hot water, or replacing the existing filters with new ones of high surface area.
