Microwave measuring technology for the sugar industry.

Abstract

Nowadays the dry substance of sugar syrup and massecuite is measured online using the most advanced microwave measuring technology. The correlations for water content and dry substance allow for accurate control of concentration, Brix content and density in all areas of sugar production. This permits a continuous measurement during the complete crystallisation process, both in the solution and the magma phase. This report explains the measuring effect and signal analysis of microwave measurement systems and illustrates the user benefits, resulting in very good process control. Solutions are proposed for typical application problems such as incrustation, abrasion, purity dependencies and the recognition of breaks between crystallisation processes using the Micro-Polar Brix measurement system. Results acquired with different sensors in various processes and applications are presented. Besides the accurate and reliable measurement of all products from sugar beet or sugarcane, a high value is placed on simplicity, low maintenance and easy calibration to ensure optimised process control and cost. The automatic calibration feature, which requires no additional PC, is demonstrated.