Steam conditioning for the sugar industry

Steam conditioning (desuperheating) is an essential and critical part of sugar production, particularly with reference to the processing of expressed juice where critical steam temperatures are most necessary to ensure final quality. Desuperheating is a simple process that is not widely understood in principle and is much abused in its practical application and operation. The purpose of this paper is to: explain briefly the basic physical principle of steam desuperheating discuss the various types of equipment available and highlight their relevant advantages and disadvantages highlight specific applications in the South African sugar industry over the past 30 years highlight typical operational problems that have arisen and how they were overcome. This paper places users in a better position to select, operate and maintain suitable equipment on a 'total life cycle' cost basis that will suit their specific application.