CONTROL CALCULATIONS FOR FACTORIES PRODUCING BOTH SUGAR AND ALCOHOL

FOLLOWING the lead of the sugar industry in Brazil and the realities of the oil markets, the cane sugar industry in Australia may soon be moving to the large scale production of anhydrous ethanol fuels from substrates other than final molasses. This paper introduces some of the concepts involved in the analyses and factory balances for total reducing sugars (TRS), and details the calculations of TRS equivalents for the various sugar and ethanol grades which may be produced. The approved conversion constants for ethanol density, theoretical yields of sugar and ethanol and for other relevant relationships are presented. All such material is taken from the 2003 edition of the STAB (Brazil) publication by Antonio Carlos Fernandes. The formulations and equations given there are based on experience acquired during 27 years of work in the Brazilian Centre of Technology, Copersucar. The paper is presented in the hope that it will make a contribution to the development of the sugar/ethanol sector in Australia, in the way that the referenced STAB publication has done in Brazil.