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Case Study on Heat and Mass Balance of Single Pan Jaggery Plant

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International Journal of Advanced Mechanical Engineering.
ISSN 2250-3234 Volume 8, Number 2 (2018), pp. 143-151
© Research India Publications
http://www.ripublication.com

Case Study on Heat and Mass Balance of Single Pan

Jaggery Plant

Sunildatta N. Kulkarni1 and Dr. Babruvahan P. Ronge2

1
Research Scholar: SVERI’s College of Engineering, Pandharpur, India.
E-mail:[email protected]
2
Professor and Principal, SVERI’s College of Engineering, Pandharpur, India.
E-mail:[email protected]

Abstract
Jaggery (also called organic sugar) is a concentrated product of sugarcane
juice that is produced in rural communities. In the last few years there has
been an increase in the exports of jaggery and higher volumes of production
are required driving this activity from a rural process with small production to
an industry seeking greater productivity. In this framework, optimization of
the use of energy becomes essential for the proper development of the process
of production and the correct performance of the involved equipment. Open
heat exchangers made of steel are used in the production of jaggery. These
heat exchangers containing sugarcane juice are placed over a flue gas duct.
The thermal energy contained in the gas is used to evaporate the water
contained in the sugarcane juice thickening the juice and after evaporating
almost all the water, a pasty crystalline yellow substance is left in the boiling
pan which becomes solid after cooling, this is the jaggery. The modelling and
simulation of heat transfer between the combustion gases and the juice is very
important in order to improve the thermal efficiency of the process. It permits
to know with a high level of detail the physical phenomena of heat transfer
occurring from bagasse combustion flue gases to sugarcane juice. This paper
presents the results of the numerical simulation of heat transfer phenomena in
the open heat exchangers and those results are compared to field measured
data.

1. INTRODUCTION
Jaggery making is the oldest cottage industry in India. Jaggery and khandsari making
crushed more than 20 to 30% of sugarcane. It is reported that 7 million-ton jaggery
was produced in 2004. Per capita consumption of jaggery and sugar is 8.1 kg and 14.2
kg respectively. It indicates that about 36% sweetener need is provided by jaggery.
144 Sunildatta N. Kulkarni and Dr. Babruvahan P. Ronge

Conventionally jaggery is produced by evaporation of water in open pan/s. Furnace is

fired using bagasse, which is residue of sugarcane, obtained during juice extraction.
Furnace heat utilization efficiency is very low, which is ~20% for single, ~30% for
two, and 35 to 40% for four pans. It also depends on number of parameters like sizes
of pan, furnace and chimney, flue gas flow patterns, orientation and air inlets, bagasse
firing practices, etc.
The increase in the jaggery production can be achieved through the construction of
new high capacity jaggery processing installations or by the modernization of the
existing ones. Another fundamental aspect of the jaggery production process is fuel
self-sufficiency, which means the amount of bagasse consumed during the jaggery
production is less than the amount of wet bagasse produced during milling. Thus,
jaggery installations are self-sufficient when there is no need to purchase more
bagasse either to use other alternative fuels in the jaggery production. Significantly,
fuel self-sufficiency helps to reduce the region deforestation and the greenhouse gases
emissions. Jaggery production modules consist of operational units where:
(i) The sugar cane passes through a milling process in order to extract their juice,
(ii) By heating and evaporation, this sugar cane juice goes through a water
extraction process with the purpose to obtain the syrup, the thermal energy
necessary is produced in a furnace,
(iii)This syrup is crystallized by mechanical agitation within a range of controlled
temperature in order to get the jaggery as a final product.

2. RELATED WORK
K. Sada Siva Rao et al., 2003, “Effeciency of Traditional Jaggery Making
Furnace”, Madras Agricultural Journal 9091-30Pp No. 184-185, Jan-March
2003.
In this paper thermal effeciency of single pan jaggery furnace was evaluated and
reported to be 14.75%.
Dr. R. D. Singh et al., “Performance Evaluation of Two Pan Furnace For
Jaggery Making”, IE(I) Journal-AG, PP.27-30, Volume-90, June 2009.
In this paper performance evaulation of two pan furnace for jaggery making
developed by IISR, Lucknow was carried out. It is reported that efficiency of the two
pan furnace is 29.3% as against efficency of single pan furnace varying from 16% to
19.7%.
Vishal R. Sardeshpande et al., “Thermal Performance Evaluation of A Four Pan
Jaggery Processing Furnace For Improvement In Energy Utilization”, Energy,
Vol.35, Pp No.4740-4747, (2010).
The jaggery making from sugarcane is one of the traditional process industries
contributing to the local employment and entrepreneurship opportunities to the rural
population. Jaggery is a condensed form of sugarcane juice produced by evaporation
Case Study on Heat and Mass Balance of Single Pan Jaggery Plant 145

of moisture. Bagasse which is internally generated during juice extraction from

sugarcane is used as the fuel for evaporation in a jaggery furnace. Any efficiency
improvement in the thermal performance of a jaggery furnace leads to bagasse saving
which provides additional revenue for the jaggery manufacturer.
A procedure for thermal evaluation using mass and energy balance for a jaggery
furnace is proposed to establish furnace performance and loss stream analysis. The
proposed method is used to investigate a four pan traditional jaggery furnace in India.
The loss stream analysis indicates that the theoretical energy required for jaggery
processing is only 29% of total energy supplied by bagasse combustion. The major
loss is associated with heat carried in flue gas and wall losses. The air available for
combustion depends upon the draft created by chimney in natural draft furnaces. The
oxygen content in the flue gas is a measure of degree of combustion. A controlled fuel
feeding based on the oxygen percentage in the flue gases is proposed and
demonstrated. The traditional practice of fuel feeding rate is changed to control
feeding rate leading to reduction in specific fuel consumption from 2.39 kg
bagasse/kg jaggery to 1.73 kg bagasse/kg jaggery. This procedure can be used for
evaluation of jaggery furnaces for identification and quantification of losses, which
will help in improving thermal energy utilization.
S.I. Anwar, “Fuel And Energy Saving In Open Pan Furnace Used In Jaggery
Making Through Modified Juice Boiling/Concentrating Pans”, Energy
Conversion and Management, Vol.51, Pp No. 360–364, (2010).
In this paper the concept of fins has been used for heating purpose for improving
efficiency of open pan jaggery making furnace. Pan is the integral part of these
furnaces where boiling/concentration of sugarcane juice take place. Parallel fins were
provided to the bottom of main pan and gutter pan of IISR Lucknow 2-pan furnace.
Choice for type of fins was based on movement of flames and hot flue gases
generated due to combustion of bagasse. Fins helped in more heat transfer to the
sugarcane juice being concentrated. Considerable improvement in heat utilization
efficiency (9.44%) was observed which resulted in saving of fuel and energy
(31.34%).
The heat utilization efficiency of jaggery making furnace increased considerably by
using modified pans having fins. Modification resulted in saving of fuel and energy.
The saved bagasse can be diverted to paper and pulp industry for extra revenue
generation. Improvement in efficiency would also be helpful for quality enhancement
of the product due to less time requirement for sugarcane juice concentration in
jaggery making.
Kiran Y. Shiralkar, Sravan K. Kancharla, et.al., “Energy Improvements In
Jaggery Making Process”, Energy for Sustainable Development, Vol.18, Pp No.
36–48, (2014).
Jaggery (unrefined sugar) is produced by evaporating water from sugarcane juice in
steel pans situated over pit furnaces. While it delivers a health friendly sweetening
agent with medicinal value (Singh et al., 2008; Sahu and Paul, 1998), its performance,
both in terms of technical efficacy and financial sustenance, is being questioned. In
146 Sunildatta N. Kulkarni and Dr. Babruvahan P. Ronge

India, jaggery is produced in batch operations, of about 1 ton per day capacity.
Bagasse is used as fuel for the process. Improving the efficiency of bagasse utilization
is of interest because surplus bagasse could be used elsewhere as a fuel. If all energy
in the bagasse were used to heat and evaporate water from the juice, calculations
show the rate of bagasse consumption would be 0.65 kg bagasse per kg jaggery. Heat
losses in flue gas at 1000 K with no excess oxygen are calculated to decrease the
efficiency to 72% (0.90 kg bagasse per kg jaggery). In this study, two single-pan
jaggery units were tested where in, efficiencies varied from53-76% and 50–57%. The
higher efficiencies in each unit were obtained by blocking some of the air inlet holes
to decrease the excess air flow. The second unit has a taller chimney than the first,
which may contribute to greater air flow due to increased draft. Excess air contributes
to lower combustion temperatures, causing a decreased rate of heat transfer to the
juice. Minimizing excess air flow into the furnace is a possible strategy for increasing
the efficiency of bagasse utilization and might be implemented quite easily by placing
dampers at air inlets. This study also included tests of one four-pan jaggery unit.
Measured efficiencies were about 50%. Radiative heat transfer to three of the four
pans is calculated to be hindered substantially by a low view factor.

3. CASE STUDY WORK FOR JAGGERY PLANT

Jaggery processing is a small-scale industry in many states of India. Jaggery is being
used as a sweetener since ancient days. Sugarcane-based jaggery production is one of
the oldest processing industries. Sugarcane cultivation is carried out in around 4
million hectares of land in India and its production has been between 230 and 300
million tones in past several years. Jaggery (locally termed as Gur in India) and raw
sugar (Khandsari in India) production from sugarcane juice are among the major agro
processing industries. Present scenario of sugarcane-based industry indicates that
about 70% of cane is utilized for sugar making, 20% for jaggery and khandsari and
remaining is for sowing, feed and juice extraction for direct consumption.
Technically jaggery is a condensed form of a sugarcane juice, generally present in the
solid state at ambient temperature. Jaggery is a traditional unrefined non-centrifugal
sugar consumed in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. It is a
concentrated product of cane juice and can vary from golden brown to dark brown in
color. It contains 65e85% sucrose, 10e15% reducing sugars, 3e10% moisture and the
remaining (in traces) made up of other insoluble matter such as fat, proteins, minerals,
iron and phosphorus. Hence, jaggery possesses nutritive properties of high order and
is often called as medicinal sugar. Jaggery production mainly involves juice extraction,
evaporation of water from the juice, stirring of condensed juice, granular formation
and molding to solid state. A jaggery processing plant mainly requires mechanical and
thermal energy for processing. Mechanical energy is mainly used for cane crushing,
for which bullock driven crushers were used in olden days. Since last fifty years,
electric motor and direct drive diesel engine are used as the mechanical drive for
crusher.
Case Study on Heat and Mass Balance of Single Pan Jaggery Plant 147

In jaggery processing, juice is condensed in open pan by evaporation of water.

Thermal energy for evaporation is provided by combustion of bagasse, which is a
biomass generated during sugarcane crushing. Generally, all the bagasse generated
during crushing is consumed (after drying) for evaporation of juice. In case of
insufficient bagasse for thermal energy, other biomass like cotton stalk and soybean
stalk is used. This calls for collection and transportation of biomass leading to
inconvenience and increased cost of jaggery production. Shortage or no saving of fuel
is very common with these furnaces due to low heat utilization efficiency.
Bagasse can be an input to many industrial processes as well as heat source (due to
high calorific value and low ash content) and thus has market value. So any saving of
bagasse can be a source of additional income to jaggery manufacturers. Thus it is
important to operate the jaggery furnace efficiently to achieve the jaggery processing
in the minimum quantity of bagasse for economic benefits. The traditional furnace
included ordinary masonry bricks cemented with earth clay and a vertical chimney of
rectangular cross-section, without any brickwork at the bottom or fire grate. Improved
furnace was designed with use of firebrick with refractory cement and a chimney of
circular cross section of optimum height to create sufficient draft. Improved chimney
also included sliding dampers for draft control, firing platform for easy feeding of
bagasse, fire grate for mixing of air with fuel. The specific bagasse consumption in
traditional furnace was about 2.24 kg/kg jaggery which was improved to 1.96 kg/kg
jaggery. performance evaluation of improved two-pan furnace in comparison with
single pan furnace.
The second pan (termed as gutter pan) in the improved furnace is installed in the flue
gas path of the first pan (termed as boiling pan). Other improvements were air
preheating and installation of stepped grate. The study reports an improvement of
furnace efficiency from 16% for single pan traditional furnace to 29% for improved
furnace. The Conducted performance trials with evaporation of water in a two-pan
furnace with and without external fins on flue gas heating side. His study reports
increase in the furnace efficiency from 20% to about 29% with the inclusion of fins.
All these studies have reported experiments for the gross furnace performance and
there are no loss stream quantifications for furnace. There are no methods reported &
suggested for operational practices for improvement in heat utilization of existing
furnace. It is observed that bagasse available after juice extraction falls short of the
demand for the furnace operation, in majority of jaggery furnaces. An energy
performance study is conducted for a single pan jaggery furnace located near
Radhanagari, about 30 km from Kolhapur, India. This paper reports the performance
study with details about energy utilization in the furnace. This jaggery furnace
performance evaluation includes the mass and energy balance with loss stream
analysis. This is used to identify and evaluate the losses that can be avoided. Some
methods for improving design and operation are also discussed.
Jaggery plants are generally constructed by local artisans. It mainly consists of an
underground furnace, like an open pan cooking stove, (bigger version of a biomass-
based cooking stove) with a pan mounted on to it for evaporating the juice. The
148 Sunildatta N. Kulkarni and Dr. Babruvahan P. Ronge

process flow diagram for jaggery plant is presented in Figure No.1. There are two
types of jaggery furnace, single pan furnace and multiple pan (three to four pans)
furnace. In a single pan furnace all jaggery making processes like sensible heating,
chemical addition, impurity removal, evaporation etc. are carried out in single pan as
a batch process while in a multiple pan furnace above jaggery making processes are
carried out in three to four pans in a semi continuous mode.

Figure No.1 Process Flow Digram for Jaggery Plant

Mass balance (also called as material balance) is an application of conservation of

mass to the analysis of physical systems. By accounting for material entering and
leaving a system, mass flows can be identified which might have been unknown, or
difficult to measure without this technique. Mass balance for a jaggery furnace can be
presented as in equation.
(Mass of juice + Mass of bagasse + Mass of combustion air + Mass of chemicals +
Mass of Okra Juice) = (Mass of flue gas + Mass of water evaporated + Mass of
jaggery + Mass of ash + Mass of floating residue)
The above equation gives the gross mass balance for the control volume which can be
divided into two non-interacting streams, namely juice processing and fuel
combustion streams. The mass balance for sugarcane juice processed is presented by
equation which can be used to estimate the moisture evaporated from the juice.
mjuice + mchem + mokra = mjag + mevap + mfr
1190.34+7+8=270+879.84+55.5
Where mjuice = mass of juice per batch (kg); mjag = mass of jaggery produced per
batch (kg); mevap = mass of moisture evaporated per batch (kg); mfr = mass of floating
residue per batch (kg); mokra = mass of Okra juice per batch (kg); mchem = mass of
chemicals per batch (kg).
Case Study on Heat and Mass Balance of Single Pan Jaggery Plant 149

The mass balance of the combustion of bagasse is presented in equation.

mbagasse + mair = mflue + mash

Where mbagasse = mass of bagasse per batch (kg); mair = mass of air for
combustion per batch (kg); mflue = mass of flue gas produced per batch (kg); mash =
mass of ash produced per batch (kg).
The mass of flue gas is estimated based on stoichiometric calculations, taking into
account species balance for combustion products.
Energy balances are used to quantify the energy used or produced by a system.
Energy balances are used in the examination of the various stages of a process, over
the whole process. The energy balance for the control volume is presented in equation.
Rate of energy from bagasse = (Rate of energy for juice heating + Rate of energy for
juice evaporation + Rate of energy carried in liquid jaggery + Rate of energy carried
in flue gas + Rate of energy in wall loss + Rate of heat loss in ash + Rate of heat loss
in un-burnt fuel)
The theoretical minimum energy required for the jaggery processing is presented in
equation
Qjag = mjuice × Cjuice × (Tevap – Tamb) + mevap × hfg + mjag × Cjag × (Tstri – Tevap)
Qjag= 1190.34×4.187(100-28) + 879.84×2256.6 + 270×4.187(103-100)
Qjag = 2347683.072
Qjag =2.34×10⁶
where Qjag = minimum quantity of energy required for jaggery processed per
batch (kJ); mjuice = mass of juice per batch (kg); Cjuice = specific heat of juice per batch
(kJ/kg K); Tevap = temperature of evaporation of moisture (ᵒC); Tamb = ambient
temperature (ᵒC); mevap = mass of moisture evaporated per batch (kg); hfg = latent heat
of evaporation (kJ/kg); mjag = mass of jaggery produced per batch (kg); Cjag = specific
heat of jaggery per batch (kJ/kg K); Tstri = striking temperature of jaggery (ᵒC).

Energy supplied for jaggery process is by combustion of bagasse and can be

expressed as
Qbagasse = mbagasse × CVbagasse
Qbagasse = 445.5 × 18000
Qbagasse = 8019000 KJ
Where Qbagasse = quantity of heat supplied per batch (kJ); mbagasse = mass of
bagasse used as fuel in a batch (kg); CVbagasse = calorific value of bagasse (kJ/kg).
150 Sunildatta N. Kulkarni and Dr. Babruvahan P. Ronge

The energy loss associated with jaggery processing is presented in equations

Qloss = Qbagasse – Qjag
Qloss = 8019000 – 2.34×10⁶
Qloss= 5671316.928 KJ
Where Qloss = quantity of heat lost per batch (kJ).
Qloss = Qflue + Qwall + Qash + Qunburnt
Qwall = quantity of wall losses per batch (kJ); Qash = quantity of heat lost in ash
per batch (kJ); Qunburnt = quantity of heat lost in un-burnt fuel due to incomplete
combustion per batch (kJ).
There are losses associated with jaggery processing in the pan namely the convective
& radiative heat loss from the pans surface (uncovered by juice), heat loss due to
transfer of hot juice from one pan to other and heat loss during stirring of the juice
(due to dipping of cold stirrer). These losses are negligible and difficult to quantify
hence these are considered as a part of wall losses.
The energy loss from the flue gas and ash can be estimated using following equations
Qflue = mflue × Cflue × (Tflue – Tamb)
Where Qflue = quantity of heat lost through flue gases per batch (kJ); mflue =
mass of flue gases per batch (kJ); Cflue = specific heat of flue gases (kJ/kg K); Tflue =
temperature of flue gases (ᵒC); Tamb = ambient temperature (ᵒC).
Qash = mash× Cash × (Tash – Tamb)
where Q ash = quantity of heat lost through ash per batch (kJ); m ash = mass of
ash per batch (kJ); C ash = specific heat of ash (kJ/kg K); T ash = temperature of ash
(ᵒC); Tamb = ambient temperature (ᵒC).
𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡
Thermal efficiency = 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡
2.34×10⁶
= 801900
=0.2918
Thermal efficiency =29.18%

4. CONCLUSION
In the above case study results, we have considered average value of three sets of
readings taken from plant. From above information estimated thermal efficiency of
the plant is 29.18%.Performance improvement areas for the single pan jaggery plant
can be concluded considering thermal efficiency in this work. Through the
aboveresults, we can conclude that some of the areas are there which can be further
improved – like bottom surface of pan, interlining of furnace. heat loss due to flow of
gases is much more as compare to other surface loss that can be minimum by using
Case Study on Heat and Mass Balance of Single Pan Jaggery Plant 151

more or better insulatingmaterial, as to trap this heat in it to allow more evaporation of

water.

REFERENCES
[1] K. Sada Siva Rao et al., 2003, “Effeciency of Traditional Jaggery Making
Furnace”, Madras Agricultural Journal 9091-30Pp No. 184-185, Jan-March 2003.
[2] Dr. R. D. Singh et al., “Performance Evaluation of Two Pan Furnace For Jaggery
Making”, IE(I) Journal-AG, PP.27-30, Volume-90, June 2009.
[3] Vishal R. Sardeshpande, D.J. Shendage&Indu R. Pillai, “Thermal Performance
Evaluation of A Four Pan Jaggery Processing Furnace For Improvement In
Energy Utilization”, Energy, Vol.35, Pp No.4740-4747, (2010).
[4] S.I. Anwar, “Fuel And Energy Saving In Open Pan Furnace Used In Jaggery
Making Through Modified Juice Boiling/Concentrating Pans”, Energy
Conversion and Management, Vol.51, Pp No. 360–364, (2010).
[5] Kiran Y. Shiralkar, Sravan K. Kancharla, et.al., “Energy Improvements In
Jaggery Making Process”, Energy for Sustainable Development, Vol.18, Pp No.
36–48, (2014).
[6] Kiran Y. Shiralkar, Sravan K. Kancharla, et. al., “Energy improvements in
jaggery making process”, Energy for Sustainable Development, Vol.18, Pp No.
36–48, (2014).
[7] Lakshmi PathiJakkamputiMohan Jagadeesh KumarMandapati, “Improving the
performance of jaggery making unit using solar energy”, Recent Trends in
Engineering and Material Sciences, Volume 8, Pages 146-150 (September 2016)
 152 Sunildatta N. Kulkarni and Dr. Babruvahan P. Ronge

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