Secondary raw materials for sugar production and directions for its processing

Abstract

The article is devoted to a review of literature data on the problem of environmental safety of sugar production. The main types of waste generated during sugar production are considered. Some areas of processing and disposal of sugar production waste, such as beet pulp, filter cake, molasses, beet tailings, and wastewater, are given. Beet pulp is mainly dried and used to manufacture feed for farm animals. It can be used to obtain powdered semi-finished products in the food industry and the production of fertilizers. Filtration sediment is used to improve the quality of the soil-biotic complex of leached chernozem. Molasses is also a byproduct of sugar production, containing about 50% sucrose. Therefore, it becomes advisable to extract sugar from molasses, subject to economic benefits. Inexpensive and uncomplicated methods for removing sugar from molasses include lime separation, precipitation of sucrose using acetic acid, and barite and strontium methods for extracting sugar from molasses. Wastewater from sugar factories can be used for irrigation. However, given that the sugar beet processing season does not coincide with the growing season, to irrigate fields with wastewater, it is necessary to build unique storage ponds, settling tanks, and pumping and irrigation systems, which require additional costs. Another type of waste is generated when sugar beets are processed: beet tailings. This type of waste is usually used to obtain additional sugar or feed farm animals. The tailings are collected on a rotary beet catcher, passed through a sorting classifier, and sent for processing. The fine fraction is sent with the pulp for dehydration or to pulp pits for feeding livestock.