MechChem Africa April 2018

⎪ Minerals processing, metallurgy and materials ⎪

By focusing on multi-disciplinary projects that integrate engineering technology and project management, Bosch Projects provides specially tailored solutions for diverse industries, including sugar, power utilities and materials handling, as well as commercial and industrial projects. SRT sugar silo commissioned in Thailand

B oschProjects, with over 55 years of service in the global sugar sector, offers a comprehensive service en- compassing strategic planning and feasibility studies, sugar technology develop- ment, project structuring and funding, plant design and engineering, design and supply of sugar processing equipment, project delivery, operational support and training. “An important part of our company’s service to the sugar industry is in equipment design. TheBoschProjects team, whichworks closely with sugar growers, millers and refin- ers around the world, has a thorough under- standing of current trends in the industry and is able to identify exactlywhereopportunities exist, for future improvements inmechanical design,”explainsNeilduPlessis,businessman- ager, Sugar Equipment, BoschProjects, part of theBoschHoldingsGroup. “The company has developed advanced equipment designs by combining the latest technologies andmanu- facturing trends, whilst retaining the “tried and tested/proven technology” principles favoured by the sugar industry. “By modernising the design of equipment to optimise efficiencies and enhance perfor- mance, the cost of sugar processing is re- duced, productivity is improved, maintenance requirements minimised and the service life of every system is significantly extended,” Du Plessis adds. A recent milestone for Bosch Projects, in conjunction with its technology partners in Thailand, was the development of a new short retention time (SRT) refined sugar conditioning silo, designed to significantly reduce conditioning time and capital invest- ment expenditure. The first installation of the Bosch Projects SRT silo –which commencedmid-2017 in the western cane growing region of Thailand and was commissioned at the beginning of 2018 – was designed to process 35 tons of refined sugar per hour. Granular white sugar leaving a refinery requires conditioning to prevent lumping and caking in the final packaged product. The major advantage of this new SRT silo process over conventional conditioning of refined sugar is the reduced residence time of 16 hours, compared to the standard period of between 65 and 72 hours. This new SRT silo, which is completely automated for continuous output of con-

ditioned sugar to the packing station, com- prises a sugar infeed conveyor system, dual air conditioning plant and blowers, four silos, a silodischarge elevator anda systemfor dust extraction. The short retention time conditioning process, which operates in a batch sequence, makes use of three or four equally sized smaller silos. As one silo is beingfilled, onewill be discharged and simultaneously, two silos will be undergoing conditioning phases that are staggeredbyeight hours.With the correct scheduling, this arrangement permits the silo to operate continuously, with two condition- ing phases and two material transfer phases active at any one time. The key to SRT success is in the humidity and volume of air, which is introduced during theconditioningphase.Theairpassesthrough afiltration systembeforebeingde-humidified to a specific value and then transfers into the duty blowers. Downstream of the blowers, the air is cooled before being independently introduced into the two silos which are in the conditioning phase. Bosch Projects provides a wide range of sugar equipment designs through its in- ternational partners in South East Asia, the USA, India, Brazil and directly to its clients for various prestigious projects in global

Bosch Projects, in conjunction with its technology partners in Thailand, has developed a new short retention time (SRT) refined sugar conditioning silo to process 35 tons of refined sugar per hour. sugar producing regions. Bosch Projects designs and supplies a full range of equipment from the front-end cane preparation and juice extraction plants through toprocessing, refining andpackaging solutions. The Bosch Projects team works closely with its technology partners and various fabricators, to ensure manufacture of all equipment adheres to stringent international quality standards and exact design specifica- tions. The company has an extensive network of offices inAfrica, SouthandCentral America and the United Kingdom. q

The key to SRT success is in the humidity and volume of air, so the HVAC room of Bosch Projects’ SRT sugar conditioning silo comprises three blowers and two air conditioning units.

April 2018 • MechChem Africa ¦ 35