Molasses-based Distillery Discovers the Benefits of Masterflex® Pumps

One of the largest sugar manufacturers in India set up a 30 klpd molasses-based distillery. The unit manufactures 900 KLPM of rectified spirit, 846 KLPM of ethanol, 90 KLPM of impure spirit and 15 KLPM of fusel oil.  In addition to the manufacturing of sugar, the company uses molasses (the byproduct generated from sugar production) in its distillery. The molasses produced in the factory is used as raw material in the preparation of industrial-grade alcohol/ethanol.

One of the key applications in this process is enzyme dosing in Grain Distillery liquefaction. The role of the enzyme is to break the starch into glucose. The enzyme is added to the liquefaction tank 24 hours a day. A precise volume is required to be delivered at very low but variable rates, depending on the process and size of the tank.

The sugar factory was initially using diaphragm metering pumps to deliver the enzymes but experienced leakage and blockages in the metering pump system. Transferring and dispensing highly viscous products or high-solid concentrated products can create problems, while handling shear-sensitive products can bring another set of problems. Food processors must also maintain contamination-free flow and meet stringent product quality and safety requirements while simultaneously maintaining high production rates. Efficient fluid handling and flow control with minimal downtime are paramount.

The fluid handling team recommended the Masterflex^® L/S^® Economy Variable-Speed Pump with Easy-Load^® II pump head and PharMed^® BPT thermoplastic elastomer tubing. This pump is designed to handle the toughest process applications and achieves high flow rates of up to 9.8 gallons per minute (37.1 LPM). The system offers a high degree of durability which reduces costs, downtime and improves the overall operating efficiency. The performance of the Masterflex peristaltic pump more than measured up to expectations—with a substantial reduction in service and maintenance costs, convenient batch-to-batch changeover, and reduced downtime.