Importance of in-line colour measurement of sugar for product quality and factory performance

Increasing demands for process control and automation in all industries, including sugar processing, have driven continuous advances in in-line monitoring systems. With the help of intelligent sensing and measuring systems, operators can now monitor each process step in detail, on-line and on-screen. Due to these developments, many processes that were previously controlled manually can now be controlled automatically. Although the most important parameter to control in the sugar factory is the quality of the final product, many factories still do not have online systems for monitoring the quality of sugar after it has left the centrifuges. Most rely, instead, on analysis of samples in the laboratory, at best every two hours. In addition, during the time samples are transferred to the laboratory and analysed, sugar may be produced that does not meet, or substantially exceeds, specifications. This paper describes the introduction of real-time colour measurements, their accuracy, and the benefits that can accrue from their use.