🌾 Sugar & Distillery
Juice heating, molasses conditioning, fermentation temperature control and starch gelatinisation.
Sugar & Distillery — DSI Applications
Juice heating, molasses conditioning and fermentation temperature control
Cane Juice & Sugar Liquor Heating
In sugar mills, extracted cane juice must be heated to 70–75°C before clarification to precipitate impurities and improve filtration efficiency. DSI heaters replace or supplement multi-pass juice heaters (shell-and-tube), which are notorious for scaling and fouling. DSI systems provide the required temperature rise in a single pass, eliminate scale build-up (since juice does not contact a hot surface), and allow continuous operation without the periodic acid-cleaning downtime associated with conventional juice heaters.
Molasses Slurry Heating
Molasses is a highly viscous, dense by-product used in fermentation and animal feed. It must be heated to reduce viscosity for pumping and mixing. Primetech DSI systems have been proven in molasses service at very high capacities — the Kothari Fermentation & Biochem delivery heated molasses slurry at 35 m³/hour from 25°C to 90°C, and Vijay Anand Kraft Papers required 65 m³/hour capacity for slurry heating from 35°C to 55°C. The DSI system's ability to handle extremely viscous and abrasive media without internal fouling makes it the preferred choice over coil or plate-type heaters.
Fermentation Temperature Control
Fermenters used in ethanol production and yeast cultivation require tight temperature control — typically 28–35°C for yeast fermentation — to maximise yield and minimise by-product formation. DSI systems are used on fermenter recirculation loops to provide controlled heat addition when the fermentation temperature drops below setpoint. The PLC-controlled system modulates steam flow to maintain temperature within narrow bands across large fermenter volumes.