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Energy conservation opportunities: Sugar industry in Iran

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Proceedings of the WSEAS Int. Conference on Energy Planning, Energy Saving, Environmental Education, Arcachon, France, October 14-16, 2007 120

Energy conservation opportunities: Sugar industry in Iran

SOURENA SATTARI, AKRAM AVAMI, BAHARE FARAHMANDPOUR
Internatinal Institute of Energy Studies (iies)
No. 14, Sayeh St., Valiasr Ave., Tehran, Iran
sattari@iies.net , A_Avami@iies.net, Farahmandpour@gmail.com

Abstract- Energy consumption and its impact on the efficiency and environmental issues has become
of great importance recently. Sugar is the main energy consumer among food product industry and has
an old technology. Sugar production has been one of the most energy intensive industries in Iran
during recent years since its technological infrastructure is poor and needs to be promoted. Energy
intensity and the amount of energy consumption of sugar factories have a critical situation. Sugar
factories can be categorized as three sections depend on different available raw materials such as beet,
cane, and raw sugar. This industry is the 2nd oldest industry in country that produces 1250000 ton
sugar in 2003. Energy intensity of Iranian factories is 27 GJ/ton while this index is 19.27 GJ/ton for
the average of the world and 11 GJ/ton for developed countries. Comparing the average energy
intensity of sugar industry in Iran with the world data, there are 42% saving potential for factories that
consume beet as raw material, 6% saving for cane, and 63% for raw sugar in 2002. This study, based
on conducting on-site energy audits of 36 factories in Iran during 2001-2004, discovered 2570 terra
J/year energy-saving potentials. The main reasons for this gap management problems, old machinery,
and old production technology and cane & beet sugar content. In addition there is a large gap in raw
sugar refineries between Iran and other countries.
As a result of monitoring manufacturing units in the country, the following significant results achieved
for policy makers: supporting of establishment the new higher efficient units, planning conversion the
traditional units into industrial ones, introducing new standards and developing much richer sugar
content of consuming raw material in producing plants. This paper discusses the present situation of
sugar industry from the technological point of view and related indexes, the possible solutions to the
industry, possible policies in terms of its current technologies and available standards, the impact of
policies in the whole industry situation and the role of policy makers. Saving options have been
economically and technologically evaluated and compared.
Key-words: Sugar industry, Iran, energy conservation.

1 Introduction beet is about 25% higher than that found in

The industry sector plays a significant role in sugar cane. Sugar production from sugar beet
global energy consumption. Sugar is one of the is more expensive than that of sugar cane.
most energy consuming industries. Since However, due to the financial contributions
energy production is extensively based on provided to sugar industry, and some
using fossil fuels, the environmental issues will agricultural and social benefits, sugar beet
become of great importance. The economical growing is still continuing to increase in many
and environmental issues and obligations cause countries. Sugar beet was grown in 51
the industry to move toward better design countries in 2004, with 238 million metric tons
conditions. Therefore, there is a need to pursue of production. The major producers of sugar
a new policy to force producers to undertake beet in 2004 were France, the United States,
energy-efficient practices to establish Germany, Russian Federation, Turkey,
sustainable production systems without Ukraine and Poland [1]. Both sugar beet
disrupting the natural resources. production and sugar industry have a very
Sugar beet is mainly used for human food, significant role in Iran’s agriculture and agro-
livestock feed and in industry. The two main industry regarding technological, economical
sources of sucrose (sugar) for human and social development of rural communities.
consumption are sugar cane and sugar beet. Efficient use of energy is one of the principal
About one fourth of the world’s sugar requirements of sustainable industry. Energy
production comes from sugar beet (about 40 use in food industry has been increasing in
million tons in 1999). Sugar content of sugar response to increasing population, limited
Proceedings of the WSEAS Int. Conference on Energy Planning, Energy Saving, Environmental Education, Arcachon, France, October 14-16, 2007 121

supply of arable land, and a desire for higher is contributed to industrial sector that involves
standards of living. Continuous demand in 29% petroleum products, 60% natural gas and
increasing food production resulted in 11% electricity (Figures 1).
intensive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, Other
11%
Industry
26%
agricultural machinery, and other natural Transportation
25%

resources. However, intensive use of energy

causes problems threatening public health and
environment. Efficient use of energy will Commercial
& residental
minimize environmental problems, prevent 38%

destruction of natural resources, and promote (a)

P e trol e um
sustainable development as an economical products

production system. Thus, an energy-efficient 29%

and environmentally sensitive sugar beet

production program can be realized in Iran.
Sugar companies have been mainly involved in
environmental problems connected with Ele ctricity
11% Natura l ga s
traditional technology, such as the production 60%

of large masses of beet pulp, molasses and (b)

carbonation lime, and the consumption of Figure 1 Energy consumption in Iran (a), Quantities
of different energy carriers using in Iranian
energy and water [2]. Industries (b) (2004) [5]
Besides concern regarding pollution The main contributors to energy consumption
prevention, one of the issues of critical in Iranian industries are shown in Figure 2. As
relevance in the context of sustainability, is the illustrated, Food industry is 5th major consumer
consumption of energy. A massive amount of and allocates 10% of total industrial energy
energy is needed to produce sugar. The excess consumption.
of energy consumed in the sugar plant above Miner al
the energy theoretically needed should be Industr y
4% Other Refineries
lowered as much as possible. The reduction of 8% &
Chemical Petrochem
energy consumption in sugar production Products
24%
4%
usually includes improvements in those energy
Food
systems comprising power plants, multiple- products
stage evaporators and process heating 10%

equipment [3]. Environmentally friendly

technologies are becoming more and more brick
popular because of increased environmental Steel &
16%

pollution such as ethanol production process Iron

Cement
19%
using the fermentation of molasses, one of the 15%

main by-products from sugar production [4]. Figure 5 Energy consumption in different industries
The present paper will study the energy (005-006) [5]
situation in sugar production in Iran and its Food industry is one of the old industries in
role in the entire energy system. It reviews the Iran and has 8.11% of total no. of
production process available in the country and industrialized units and 16 % of total
assets the possibilities to improve the investment and 15% of employment of
efficiency and save energy based on energy industry sector in 2003. This include sugar,
auditing programs in which the basic amount conserve, beverages, edible-oil, dairy, ….
of energy required is calculated roughly and
compared to real data available from site-visit
with regards to Iranian National Standards.
Opportunities from the point of energy- and Da ir y
E d i b le O il
O the r 2%
financial- saving will be chosen in order to 10 %
9% b e ve rag e &
f r u it J u ic e
4%
promote the energy situation of each factory.
C o m po te &
co ns e r ve
4%

2 Current situation in Iran Sug e rs

26 percent of total energy consumption in Iran 7 1%

Proceedings of the WSEAS Int. Conference on Energy Planning, Energy Saving, Environmental Education, Arcachon, France, October 14-16, 2007 122

Figure 3 Portion of Energy Consumption by sub Production of sugar has been changed during
sectors (2002) [5] the last decade and has increased tremendously
Sugar is the main energy consumer in this sub due to the rapid change of human demands.
sector and has an old technology. Average fuel 1200
consumption for each ton of sugar production 1100

is about 790 liters fuel oil. Therefore, the 1000

900
necessity of energy conservation activities in 800
Iran’s sugar industry is clear. In aggregate, it

Thousand ton
700

consumes 234210 equivalent cubic meter of 600

500
fuel oil of natural gas, 29 equivalent cubic 400
meter of fuel oil of LPG, 36 unit of kerosene, 300

42511 unit of gas oil ,and 784275 cubic meter 200

100
of fuel oil. 0
Gas oil
4% 996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
Year

Natural gas
23% Figure 6 Amount of sugar production during last
decade [6]
SEC is the specific energy consumption index
and is evaluated for 36 individual firms and
values are shown in Figure 7.
Fuel oil
73% 60.0

50.0
Figure 4 Fuel consumption portion in sugar industries
SEC (GJ/ton)

(2002) [5] 40.0

The leading policy of government in recent 30.0

years in order to replace natural gas instead of
20.0
fuel oil as the first consumption fuel of
industries caused a significant shift in the 10.0
energy consumption patterns in industries in 0.0
which 65% of total energy used by food 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36

factories was natural gas in 2004-2005. Figure 7 SEC index of different factories (2002) [5]
Kerosene
Due to the old machinery and inefficient use of
LPG
0%
0%
Gas oil
technologies, energy intensity of factories is
4%
much higher than the current available
Fuel oil
31%
technologies in the world.

Natural gas 50.0

65% 45.0
40.0
35.0
30.0
Internal Average
Figure 5 Quantity of energy carriers using in food Gj/ton 25.0
production (004-005) [5] 20.0 Global Average
15.0 Developed Conutries
The overall present situation of sugar industry 10.0
in Iran is as follow: 5.0
0.0
Sugar Beet Cane sugar Beet & Raw Raw Sugar
Table 1 Present energy situation of sugar factories in Sugar Refining
IRAN in 2002 [5]
Total production (ton) 591242 Figure 8 Energy intensity in sugar factories (2002) [5]
Energy intensity (GJ/ton) 27 By comparing the value of energy intensity
Saving potential in comparison 1224128 GJ index between Iranian factories and average of
with the average consumption 7.9% world, a primary estimate of achievable saving
in IRAN
Saving potential in comparison 3735175.22
potential of each firm will guide us toward
with the average consumption GJ better applied policies.
of the world 24.6 %
Proceedings of the WSEAS Int. Conference on Energy Planning, Energy Saving, Environmental Education, Arcachon, France, October 14-16, 2007 123

12000 some differences in the preparation and

extraction step. Sugar is extracted from beet in
Fuel oil saving ( cubic meter)
10000
the milling, diffusion end pressing sections
8000
while sugar is extracted from cane in the
6000 crusher and milling sections with water.
4000
Raw material Cleaning and washing
2000

0 Slicing
1
3

5
7
9
11

13
15
17
19

21
23
25
27

29
31
33
Factory
Extraction Drying
Figure 9 Energy saving potential of each factory in
terms of fuel oil saving
3 Process descriptions Carbonation lime Lime kiln Juice purification
Coke
A simplified process flow sheet for sugar
processing, as used in the case-studied sugar Fuel Evaporation
Vapor
condensation
plant, is presented in Figure 10. After
transportation, sugar beet is first cleaned and Crystallization and
washed to remove soil, stones and organic centrifugation

matter from the beet. Cleaned and sliced beet

is supplied to the extraction unit where raw Molasses storage Sugar storage

juice is extracted. The subsequent pulp is

Figure 10 Schematic of Sugar production process
dewatered by mechanical pressing, followed White sugar is produced from raw sugar in the
by thermal drying to produce dried pulp. Dried following process
pulp is pelleted by the addition of molasses, in
Mixer
order to ensure cost-effective storage and
transport. The extracted raw juice is purified
Separator Ion exchange tower
using lime-milk in order to remove non-sugars.
During the purification process, the Solution tank Filtration
carbonation slurry produced is concentrated in
thickening filters. The rest is further Adding lime Evaporato
concentrated to carbonation lime using rotary
drum filters and/or filter presses. 1st Filtration Crystallization
Further processing takes place in a multiple-
stage evaporator, which is of special Bleach Centrifugation
importance for sugar processing, because
medium-temperature vapors are generated and 2nd Filtration
used for extraction, juice heating, Figure 11 Schematic of production of white sugar
crystallization and other operations requiring from raw sugar
heat. The vapor needed to heat the first stage The energy demand in sugar processing is
of evaporator is supplied from a boiler house. determined by four interlinked energy-
Concentrated thick juice from the last intensive process stages: extraction, juice
evaporator stage is supplied to the multi-stage purification, evaporation and crystallization.
evaporating crystallization, where the dry solid The energy system is composed of a boiler
content of the solution or the crystal house, multiple-stage evaporator, and a process
suspension (magma), consisting of sugar heating subsystem.
crystals and the mother liquid, is increased. A multiple-stage evaporator system is used in
Crystallized sugar is recovered from the syrup sugar processing, in order to improve energy
by centrifugation, in screen-basket centrifuges. efficiency. The crystallization process was
The mother syrup of the last crystallization found to be the biggest energy consumer of
stage is called molasses. White sugar, which vapor extracted during evaporation.
leaves the centrifuges, is dried and stored in
silos, waiting to be packed.
The process for the sugar production from cane
is very similar to the above process and there
Proceedings of the WSEAS Int. Conference on Energy Planning, Energy Saving, Environmental Education, Arcachon, France, October 14-16, 2007 124

Filteration of raw sugar Fuel cost in total final sugar price in Iran
despite of low fuel price is about 4.7% whereas
Others
Utility
12%
3%
Solver
15%
corresponding value for European countries,
Dryer
5%
which pay higher international price for their
fuel is about 2.9%.
Evaporator
Due to the low internal price of energy, the
and
Crystallization
energy consumption is huge and no logical
65% behavior control the increasing trend.
Currently, the government passed a rule and
(a) applied a financial mechanism which pushes
the factories to reduce their energy
Production of sugar from cane consumption level. Factories that consume
Others more energy than the determined index by the
15%
government must pay 20 percent extra for
price of energy usage. The Energy Standard
for the sugar from the point of electrical and
Crystallization
Evaporator thermal specific energy consumption is more
55%
30% rigid and may be categorized as: high energy
intensive, medium energy intensive and low
(b)
energy intensive processes. The government
Figure 12 Energy required by different process laws compelled the factories to consider these
sections standards.
4 Energy Auditing methodologies Therefore, the government can apply a multi
Energy audits are the most comprehensive step program in order to reach the final desired
approaches to improving an existing system's target (the average index of the world). Four
energy efficiency. During 2004-2006, energy steps can be arranged in which each provide a
audits of sugar production units have been definite saving potential. In the first step, the
conducted in Iran. These audits can identify determined index can be equal to the average
specific opportunities for improving energy energy intensity of the all factories in the
efficiency and promoting the process country. This will provide the government 16.3
efficiency. The energy auditing team does their percent of energy saving equivalent to
job in two levels: primary and final auditing. financial saving of 19.7 million $ in FOB
At first, they study the historical consumption prices. More than 40 percent of factories must
trends and technological information of the change the process in order to reach the
factory; identifying the potential of saving specified goal. The second applied index will
opportunities roughly and preparing the be 150% of the average of total world which
primary report. In the final stage they measure has 27 percent of energy saving, equivalent to
the electrical and thermal characteristics', plan 35.6 million $ and more that 70 percent of
the necessary experiments, calculate the factories are covered in this step. In the third
intensity according to national standards for level, the index can be reduced to 125 percent
sugar energy usage. They provide mass and of the average of total world and this will bring
energy balance in different sectors, identify us 38 percent of saving, equivalent to 45.9
waste streams and find the solution in order to million dollar. 90 percent of all firms have to
descend these wastes. Finally, the possibility adapt their technological process in order to
studies and economical calculations are done reach this index. Finally, the energy intensity
and the final report will be prepared. of all factories must reach to the current
average intensity of the world. This step has 54
5 Results and Discussion percent of energy saving potential equivalent
In Iranian factories, energy intensity of sugar to 65.2 million $. It can be easily seen that all
production are 34.6, 49.8, 24.7, and 10 GJ/ton units have a deviation from the current index
respect to different production processes like of the world.
sugar beet, cane sugar, beet & raw sugar, and
raw sugar refining respectively. Thus, the The main reasons for this gap management
average energy intensity among all factories is problems, old machinery, and old production
27 GJ/ton. technology and cane & beet sugar content. In
Proceedings of the WSEAS Int. Conference on Energy Planning, Energy Saving, Environmental Education, Arcachon, France, October 14-16, 2007 125

addition, it has been investigated that there is a 9 Replacing old technologies with new,
large gap in raw sugar refineries between Iran efficient ones: replacing motors in the
and other countries. mills, CO2 and cane pumps, steam
Beside this achievable potential there some furnace, water pump, and dryers to reach
short term to mid term options that can be maximum efficiency, using ejectors
applied in individual factories with low instead of vacuum pumps, Convert shell
investment cost and high rate of return. These and tube evaporators into plate and
solutions are investigated by energy auditing frame ones.
teams in all factories. Following the present 9 Installing Monitoring and control
methodology, they determine 561176336.3 equipments
cubic meter of natural gas thermal saving 9 Improving insulation: including valves,
annually equivalent to 11700 million dollars pipes and tubes, and other connections.
per year and 23220627.15 KWh/year electrical
saving equivalent to 1.2 million dollars 9 Heat recovery: from furnaces,
annually in 17 plants. evaporators, and boiler stacks.
5.1 Electrical saving potential 9 Improving combustion process: exact
The major consumers of the electricity are adjust of furnace performance, install
motors and drivers. Using controllers on the gas analyzer on the output gas stream
fan's speed, appropriate use of electrical from boiler, install flow meters to
motors, and also utilizing high efficient motors calculate the input water to the boiler,
will result in significant electrical saving. The correct the ratio of fuel to air at the inlet
amount of electrical savings is shown in the of the furnace
following figure.
9 Increasing the efficiency of evaporators:
18000000
16000000
adding the additional facilities to
14000000 increase the evaporator's efficiency,
12000000
Increase the stages, Increase the
KWh/year

10000000
8000000
6000000
concentration and temperature of input
4000000 solution to first stage, Vacuum the last
2000000
0
section of evaporators, correct the piping
system for steam
r
n

cy
n

er
g

ry
r

ty

r
ye
o
io

ti o

te
in

at ogy
In c e

ri v

ve
en
ci
at

og

Dr
st

or

ea
la

pa
or

an

co
&D

ci
bu

ol

He ol
t

eh
so

9 Using high efficient electrical motors

i
ap

ca

ffi
rm

on
hn

re
n
m

or

Pr

ch
tE
ev

M
fo
co

ec

ify

ot

te
gh
er
t

M
od
w

e
tp

Hi

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m
ne

en

9 Modify capacity
la
ng

ai
m

av
ci

u ip
la

of
eq
p
Re

e
of

us

9 Installing pre heaters for the input juice

t

nt
en

ei
em

fic
ov

and air
Ef
pr
In

Figure 13 Electrical saving potential 9 Modifying dryers

5.2 Thermal saving potential 9 Improvement of performance of other
The major form of energy used in sugar plants equipments: recycle the condense water
is the thermal energy. The following potential to the boiler, avoid the steam leakage,
are found in the sugar factories: Correct the operation of pumps and
180000000
electro motors.
160000000
Due to the huge usage of steam applying
140000000
cogeneration of heat and power which
Cubic meter of natural gas

120000000

100000000
typically incorporates a steam boiler and a
80000000 steam turbine will lead to reduce the waste.
60000000

40000000

20000000
5.3 Identification of utilization
0
possibilities for waste and by-products
capacity

Efficiency
Replacing

Insulation

Dryer

Efficeint use
combustion

Monitoring
evaporator

of equipment

Motor&Driver
modify

of available

recovery
Preheater
Inprovement

Hight

Heat
new

Several possibilities exist for utilizing waste

from the sugar production process by the
Figure 14 Thermal saving potential
Proceedings of the WSEAS Int. Conference on Energy Planning, Energy Saving, Environmental Education, Arcachon, France, October 14-16, 2007 126

selection of solutions that offer energy saving the contained water, fertilizer or nutrients, to
potentials. grow autotrophic plants.
One of the soil utilization options would be the Carbon dioxide, a by-product from the steam
production of marketable soil substrates by boiler, could be pumped into the greenhouse
composting it with other agricultural waste where it would be utilized by the plants rather
products. Dewatered soil can be sold primarily than being released into the atmosphere. It can
to the landscaping industry and it is ideal for also be used as carbonation gas for purifying
shrub planting, seeding or turf laying. All the juice.
separated soil can be used in productive
applications. However, some of it must be 6 Conclusion
returned to agricultural land in order to Energy minimization in the sugar plant is one
replenish stocks. Stones are also received with of the most important issues within the context
the crop. The case-studied plant recovers the of sustainability. The aim of this study was to
stones and uses them for civil engineering, determine energy situation in sugar industry in
road repair and construction applications. Iran and the possible energy and financial
The organic matter can be used for the direct saving potentials. Energy auditing is a
production of compost or for animal feed in powerful tool, which has been successfully and
the form of silage. Beet pulp remaining after effectively used in the design and performance
the extraction of sugar can be used for direct evaluation of energy-related systems.
animal feed or could be dried alone or The main conclusions drawn from present
combined with molasses. study may be summarized as promoting
Dried pulp in the form of pellets is mainly used recycle economy, facilitating technological
as animal feed. A small portion of beet pulp is progress, reduce consumption, and protect the
being used as a fibrous ingredient for human environment. Applying standards will help the
consumption. Some proposals have also been industry to reduce energy costs in coming
made to partly replace the cellulose from trees years too.
in paper production, using dry beet pulp. Beet
pulp cannot be used as a direct substitute for References
wood since it has lower cellulose and lignin [1] Agriculture and Biotechnology Strategies
contents. However, instead of completely Inc.(AGBIOS). GM Database crop plant Sugar
replacing the cellulose from trees with beet beet 2005.
pulp, it could be employed as an ‘‘organic See also: http://www.agbios.com/dbase.php
filler’’. The paper, which obviously cannot [2] Vaccari G, Tamburini E, Sgualdino G,
reach a whiteness comparable with that of Urbaniec K, Klemes J. Overview of the
paper obtained from pure cellulose, can, environmental problems in beet sugar
however, be normally utilized for printing, processing: possible solutions. J Clean Prod
photocopies, etc. 2005;13:499-507.
In the sugar industry, approximately 90% of [3] Urbaniec K, Zalewski P, Zhu XX. A
molasses is used for fermentation. Molasses is decomposition approach for retrofit design of
also suitable as livestock feed because of its energy systems in the sugar industry. Appl
sugar and crude protein contents. Therm Eng 2000;20: 1431-1442.
Carbonation lime is mostly used in agriculture [4] Sobo_can G, Glavi_c P. Optimization of
for soil pH correction, significantly reducing ethanol fermentation process design. Appl.
the volume of limestone that would otherwise Therm. Eng. 2000;20:529-543.
be mined and crushed for agriculture and other [5] www.ifco.ir
lime markets. Most recently, lime has also [6] www.isfs.ir
been used for mushroom production.
Hot water from the sugar plant could be
carried to greenhouses to maintain
temperatures for growing vegetables. Thus, hot
water that would otherwise be destined for
cooling towers can thereby put this low-grade
heat to a productive use. Wastewater from the
case-studied sugar plant can be disposed off by
sprinkling or surface irrigation to make use of

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