Defoamers for Distilleries and Sugar Refineries
During the production process of the sugar industry, the sugar liquid is mixed with the air under the
influence of factors such as stirring, flow and transportation, and it is easy to produce a large amount of foam.
The generation of foam often causes the sugar liquid tank to rise and cause material loss.
At the same time, more foam also affects the transportation of the sugar liquid, resulting in difficulty in operation.
In the evaporation and crystallization section, the thick foam slows down the evaporation and crystallization speed of water, increases energy consumption, and affects the economic benefits of the sugar factory. Therefore, it is very important to eliminate and suppress the formation of sugar liquid foam.
The methods for eliminating foam generally include mechanical physical defoaming method and chemical defoaming method. Due to the advantages of time-saving, labor-saving, less investment and quick results, the defoaming methods currently used in sugar production are basically defoaming agents.
General requirements for defoamers for sugar
As antifoaming agent for sugar production, like other industrial antifoaming agents, the following conditions should generally be met:
- The surface tension is relatively low;
- it is insoluble in the defoamed medium;
- it has a certain degree of affinity with the defoamed medium;
- it can be quickly dispersed in the defoamed medium, has good chemical inertness, and there is another very important-
- It is the issue of health and safety that requires products to be non-toxic. Sugar is a food product.
- The defoamers should be added to the sugar liquid and must meet the hygienic requirements of food additives.
Types of antifoaming agents for sugar
In the production of sugar beet sugar, the defoamers used by most manufacturers is soybean oil, or scraps in the production of fats and oils, while the production of sugar cane sugar in the south uses red oil powder and Taikoo oil. The defoaming effect of these antifoaming agents is not very good, and the dosage is also large, because of hygiene and safety issues, it has been gradually eliminated.
The following introduces commonly used antifoaming agents for sugar:
1. Sucrose fatty acid ester defoamers
Sugar fatty acid ester is an internationally recognized food additive with good safety. It can be used as a food emulsifier and as a cooking aid.
2. Polyglycerol fatty acid ester
This is also a safe and non-toxic food additive. Adjusting the HLB value of the product is very important for sugar defoamers. This is a preferred variety for sugar factories that ferment molasses to produce alcohol.
3. Polyether defoamers
Polyether defoamers are widely used in sugar factories, and have very good foam inhibition, but the breaking ability is slightly worse. Use the method of dropping in advance in the feed liquid. Do not wait for the foam to rise high. Take measures
4. Silicone defoamers
Silicone defoamers have low surface tension, good chemical inertness, low solubility in the medium, and fast defoaming. They are very promising types of defoamers. Currently, it is widely used in many industries, but silicones have a certain inhibitory effect on yeast culture, so it is necessary to compare more when choosing silicone defoamers.
5. Products with multiple defoamers or additives
This type of product is compounded with a variety of antifoaming agents or additives, which is intended to take advantage of different defoaming ingredients to increase the effectiveness of the shortcomings, making the advantages of the product more comprehensive,
3. Defoaming mechanism of antifoaming agent for sugar
There are two main factors that can foam and stabilize the foam:
- The medium has surface activity (low surface tension)-foaming effect;
² Strong surface film viscosity and solution viscosity-can play a role in foam stabilization.
In the actual production of sugar cane sugar, the processes that need to be added with defoamers generally include neutralization tanks, clear juice tanks, syrup tanks, evaporation tanks and crystallization tanks. Since the sugar juice has undergone filtration, flocculation and precipitation separation processes,
The impurities in the juice are gradually reduced, but the viscosity of the juice is getting larger and larger. This means that on the issue of foam production, in the early stage of production, there are many impurities in the sugar liquid and high surface activity is the main contradiction.
It should also be pointed out that the foam in the neutralization tank is relatively strong. This is because the addition of alkaline substances and some acidic neutralization in the sugar solution are prone to foam. At the same time, some soaps are generated to enhance the surface activity of the sugar solution. . In addition, due to the differences in natural conditions in different regions, the composition of sugar cane is different in different regions, and the problem of defoaming cannot be fixed. The sugar cane received in different periods has different degrees of further acidification due to oxidation and further changes in the active ingredients of sugar cane juice. This has caused differences in the production of foam in different production periods, so the use of defoamers also requires selectivity.
In summary, the anti-foaming agent for sugar can not be simply considered which kind of anti-foaming agent is good. The most suitable anti-foaming agent should be selected according to the actual production situation, such as the anti-foaming agent in the early stage of production The agent should pay attention to low surface tension, good dispersion and fast bubble breaking. In the later stages of the syrup box and crystallization tank, it is necessary to comprehensively consider whether the product has the ability to reduce the viscosity of the syrup, and he has a great influence on the defoaming effect in the later stage. At the same time, improving the viscosity of the syrup has a positive significance for accelerating the rate of evaporation and crystallization, increasing productivity, and increasing economic benefits.
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