The direct production of white sugar in a cane sugar mill

A new process for the production of white sugar in a cane sugar mill has been developed. It has been tested in the laboratory and during two seasons on a small scale in a Louisiana sugar mill. The process does not require membrane separation and involves adsorption of color and other impurities using granular activated carbon and ion exchange resins. Chemical regeneration of the carbon is utilized, which enhances the attractiveness of the process. The paper describes laboratory work to characterize the adsorption properties and kinetics and a comparison with pilot plant data. Preliminary information is given on a possible full-scale installation in a raw sugar mill.