ENTRAINMENT LOSSES IN BAROMETRIC

TOWERS

Submitted by:

Arnold C. Dolendo
BH Superintendent

ENTRAINMENT LOSSES IN BAROMETRIC TOWERS

The presentor, Engineer Rommel Oliveros recently finished a short course on
Sugar Processing at Louisiana State University, USA.
His introduction states that, studies have recently done to quantify the sugar
losses in Evaporator body condensers. These studies verify what has been
observed in sugar mill cooling systems over the years, sugar carry over. The ranges
of sugar losses per ton cane ranges from 0.10 lb to 8.57 lb, indicating that losses
can be controlled. Besides, direct sugar losses, the carryover causes treatment
problems in the cooling towers, ranging from biological control to corrosive damage
to the towers.
The studies found during visual inspection of the cooling towers over the years
found:

Excessive foaming in the cooling tower waters

Complaints from facilities that the concrete basins of the cooling towers

are corroding
Cooling tower water with pH of 3.8-4.2.
Cooling tower water with sugar pol of 7.0
Corrosion of materials within the cooling tower.
Disproportionate use of sodium hypochlorite to adjust the pH of the

cooling tower.
Corrosion of the cooling water piping.
Excessive algae growth, preventing heat exchange.
High BOD in discharge water.

These can all be attributed to sugar entrainment from the barometric towers
coming from pans and evaporators. Sucrose detection using Biochemistry Sucrose
Analyzer with Alpha N at 0 reading has an equivalent of 26 ppm level of
entrainment. And this is found at #2 evaporator condensate attained.
This water generally sent to the boilers as make-up water, and, as it is heated, is
theoretically free of sugar. The condenser water from the last effect of evaporator
(#4 body) is sent directly to the cooling system by means of the barometric towers.

The barometric tower in a sugar plant (raw sugar mill, beet factory and refinery)
operates as follows:
1. Syrup is boiled in #4 evaporator or pan at 26 inHg of vacuum, between 124
F - 130F.
2. Vapors leave the vessel to the barometric tower (condenser).
3. There are essentially two types of condensers, the multi-tray condenser
(incorporating a number of disc and donut trays down which the water
cascades) or a rain type condenser (a single perforated plate is used to
disperse the water).
a. When the water comes in contact with the vapor (steam), the
steam condenses to water. This reduction of volume (volume is
reduced from 1650:1) creates the vacuum.
b. The incondensable gases are expelled from the condenser, vented
at the top.
4. The heated water goes down the barometric leg (must be at least 33 feet in
length to overcome the vacuum) to a water seal tank from which it is pumped
to the cooling towers.
5. The water is pumped to the cooling tower, cooled and recirculated to the
barometric tower.
Several differences within the system must be noted:
1. Condenser water being returned to the cooling tower contained with
condensate for vapor, basically pure water. The volume of this water is
greater than the vapor discharge within the cooling tower. Therefore, the
cooling tower is continually discharging or dumping water. The water will not
cycle up and therefore conductivity will never increase. The system can
almost said to be a once through system.
2. Sugar is carried over with the condensate. Most of the time it is in small
amounts but sometimes it can be excessive causing discoloration of the
water and extreme foaming. The sugar, as it deteriorates, forms acid which
can lower the pH of the recycled water.
Specific example from five mills in Louisiana, at an average sugar lost of 1.80 lb
per ton cane, a mill grinding 10,000 tons per day would have losses of 9 tons of
sugar. In closed cooling water systems (those having cooling towers) in Louisiana,
the numbers reflect even higher sugar entrainment/carry over. Some of this can be
attributed to the recycling of the water and the concentration of the sugars due to

this cycling up process. With sugar contamination at these elevated numbers, the
cooling water will become acidic, dropping the pH of the water to below 4.0 pH. This
will lead to corrosion of the structure including the cement basin.
A cooling tower is the perfect growth medium for microorganisms. The
temperature is warm, the environment is oxygenated and the sugar forms the ideal
food source. Algae and microorganisms can prevent proper distribution of the water,
preventing designed heat exchange. In the cane growing areas, where ambient
temperatures are extreme, this loss in heat exchange can directly affect factory
process by reducing condensing in the barometric towers and reducing the vacuum
in the evaporators and pans. This increases the amount of steam/fuel needed for
factory operation. Because it takes longer to boiler at higher temperatures, color is
likely to form and increased inversion will lead to sugar losses.
In some cases, the algae growth has reached such weights that the cooling
tower structures have been compromised and the structures have collapsed. This is
due to the negative combination of the corrosion of the structure and the weight of
the algae.
It is interesting that some factories seem to have the problem under control
while others are sustaining large losses. This would tend to indicate that the
problem is one of the process operation. It is essential that the management
maintain guidelines for the cooling system to control the sugar losses. An
achievable goal should be to reduce the current average loss of 1.8 lb/ton cane to
0.1 lb/ton cane as achieved by two Louisiana factories. A program must be
established to monitor the cooling systems for sugar entrainment and once
identified, treat the causes of the contamination and not the symptoms.
An entrainment program for the cooling system might consist of:
1. Continual monitoring and inspection of the cooling water (once through and
tower operation). A routine, and preferably continuous, monitoring system for
measuring entrainment losses is highly recommended. Several factories
experienced periodic spikes in entrainment. Entrainment losses from
evaporator, vacuum pan and filter condensers are all subject to periodic high
levels of entrainment.
a. There should be no foaming within the cooling system.
b. Should foaming appear, trace the cause back to the cause and
formulate a plan to eliminate further occurrences.

c. High levels of sugar in many condensate and condenser water

streams can be readily determined accurately using a two-decimal
polariscope.
2. Visually inspect the cooling towers for algae growth.
a. Should algae appear, take steps with your water treatment
specialist to eliminate the growth while it is small.
b. Find out if sugar carryover is a cause.
3. Maintain a comprehensive cooling system water treatment program.
4. Engineering modifications.
a. High levels of sugar in the condenser water at several factories
indicate that improved entrainment separators would be highly cost
effective.
Sugar entrainment/ carryover is a perpetual problem in a sugar mill. It must
be monitored and minimized not only to minimize the direct sugar losses, but to
prevent process problems and damage to factory equipment.