Special Issue - 2018 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
PECTEAM - 2K18 Conference Proceedings
Environmental Impacts of Sugarcane Industry –
A Case Study on Kurungulam Mills in
Thanjavur, India
1
A. Latha, 2 Mahisha Vardhini.V, 3 R. Monisha,4 Bala Shobika. B.
S.
1,2,3,4
Department of Civil Engineering,
Panimalar Engineering College, Chennai-123
Abstract— Sugar industries are a backbone to Indian industrial
development. It also generates employment to rural population.
end of May or June.
The effluents are major environmental problem in sugarcane
industries. The effluents generated in mostly organic having small A. Sugar Manufacturing Process
quantity of inorganic material. The major discharges are waste Define abbreviations and acronyms the first time they are
water, bagasse, pressmud and molasses. Owing to its nutrient used in the text, even after they have already been defined in
enrichment, the byproducts of sugarcane are analyzed for full the abstract. Abbreviations such as IEEE, SI, ac, and dc do not
utilization of wastage in sugar industry. The treated is used for
have to be defined. Abbreviations that incorporate periods
irrigation purposes, the bagasse is used to generate electricity and
paper production and press mud or filter cake is used as manure should not have spaces: write “C.N.R.S.,” not “C. N. R. S.” Do
and molasses is used for distillery . The objective of this study to not use abbreviations in the title unless they are unavoidable
discuss the Environmental problem related to sugarcane industry. (for example, “IEEE” in the title of this article).
Index Terms— Bagasse, Pressmud, Wastewater, Molasses,
Distillery
I. INTRODUCTION
Sugar is one of the essential articles of daily food for the
masses and its importance as a part of balanced diet cannot be
ignored. It is so sweet that it’s every day use brings sweetness
in the life of public. According to our holy scriptures in the
past feast was used to be broken with sugar cane juice, but now
sweetness is depleting from the same juice. Seeing the fully
grown up crop of sugar cane the farmer either repent or is
obliged to fire the same. Cane area is continuously increasing,
yet despite the record production of sugar cane farmers and
mill owners are cursing for their misfortune with their
arguments. The sugar industry ranks second among the major
agro based industries in the country next only to cotton textiles.
Sugar industry not only occupies a unique place on the
international map, but also a significant role in the national
economy. It is rightly said that sugar was produced and The clarifier sludge is further filtered through filter presses
consumed in India at a time when the words was not aware of and then disposed off as solid waste. The filtrate is recycled to
it. India primarily being an agriculture country requires the the process and the entire quantity of clarified juice is treated
growth and expansion of those industries, which are based on by passing Sulphur dioxide gas through it. Color of the juice is
agriculture. completely bleached out in the process. It is then sent to the
II.AREA OF STUDY vacuum pan where the thickened syrup is boiled for three to
The study was done by a comprehensive study through four times as per purity in order to extract the concentrated and
primary data collection and secondary literature survey for cooled successively to obtain more than one crops of crystals.
secondary data collection. First of all the study area was The final liquor, called ’Molasses’, which is still very rich in
selected and a reconnaissance survey took place. Aringar Anna sugar content is sold to various distilleries. The separated
sugar mill is in Kurungulam, T hanjavur, Tamilnadu, India. crystals are passed on to hopper conveyors where hot and
Here sugar is refined by double sulphitation process which cooled air is passed through the crystals. Finally finished
means adding SO2 gas. As per COINDS/8/1980-81 of Central product is bagged and stored in godowns.
Pollution Control Board (CPCB), this factory is classified on
the basis of crushing capacity as medium unit-2500T/D. The
period of operation of sugar mill is from early November to the
Volume 6, Issue Published by,
Special Issue - 2018 International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT)
ISSN: 2278-0181
PECTEAM - 2K18 Conference Proceedings
B. Effluent Water Treatment Molasses is applied in many food or non-food processes
In this factory effluent treatment plant is handle a quantity of because of high content of nitrogenous compounds,
700cu.m/day with an inlet of B.O.D of 900mg/lit. The treated carbohydrates and its sweet taste. Molasses is traditionally
effluent will be around 100 to 200mg/lit. Water points were used in fermentation technologies to produce ethanol, so it is
plugged inside factory and judicious use of water is done inside mainly send off to distilleries. Then it is used for
factory. The raw effluent is allowed by gravity through channel manufacturing medicines in pharmaceutical industries. And it
to the oil trap where it shall be retained for 1 hour. During this is also used by chocolate industry.
time, oil and other floating matter shall float on the surface
which will be removed frequently. E. Noise Pollution Reduction
The overflow from oil trap enter into collection tank. Milk The noise is created due to machine running. So, the
of lime is added in the collection tank to neutralize and also workers wear high quality earplugs or ear muffs to protect their
raise the pH to 7.5 to 8. Here it is allowed for 9 hrs to be ears and their hearing. The sound is not reaching outside the
retained. It is pumped uniformly into anaerobic tanks where factory.
reaction takes place and B.O.D is reduced to an extent of 30%.
Normally 30 to 50 Kg of cow dung is added or seedling. Daily F. Air Pollution
2 kgs of urea and 1 kg of diammonia phosphate is also added Air pollution is one of the major problem in all industries.
as nutrients. After keeping for 30 hrs. inanaerobic tank,it is Here they installed 2 fly ash aerators in their boiler chimneys.
allowed by gravity to aerobic tank,where it is aerated. Oxygen The analytical report received from the Tamilnadu pollution
is essentials for the sustenance of micro-biological activity. control board reveals their aerators are working perfect
Here oxygen is supplied for 2 numbers of fixed aerator, which G. PRODUCTION ON FACTORY
is driven by electric motors. Here 90% B.O.D is reduced and Sugarcane fed into the cane feeder= 100%= 2500T/D
the agitated mass is allowed to settle in the secondary clarifier. Sugar producing = 65%=1625T
To produce a high quality effluent, biomasses separated from Electricity production=400T
the liquid stream. This together with thickening is Bagasse = 25%=550T
accomplished in secondary clarifier. Paper production=150T
Molasses =4%=100T
Pressmud =3%=75T
III. CONCLUSION
A. By products like Molasses, Bagasse,and Press mud earn
revenue to the sugar industry. None of the process streams
involved in sugar manufacturing generate toxic effluents, and
henceforth they can be used for irrigation purpose at lower
concentrations. As discussed most of the solid waste generated
is utilized by other industries; hence, solid waste disposal is not
a big problem for sugar industry.
A part of sludge from the bottom is pumped to sludge drying REFERENCES
bed, where sludge is separated and the clear filtrate is collected [1] Ahmad S, Mahmoud TA (1982) “Wastewater from a sugar refining
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The remaining part of sludge is re-cycled into anaerobic tank. benefits of bagasse derived electricity and fuel ethanol on a life-cycle
The overflow from the secondary clarifier will treated effluent. basis”. Energy Policy Vol. 34, pp.2654-2661.
It is used in the own factory farm. To improve the effluent [3] Contreras AM, Elena R, Maylier P, Langenhove HV, Dewulf J (2009)
“Comparative life cycle assessment of four alternatives for using by-
treatment plant, they have settled an agency for erection and products of cane sugar production”, J Clean Prod Vol.17,pp.772-779.
commissioning of 2 aerators additionally. By this arrangement, [4] Kolbe AS, Sarode AG, Ingale SR (2009) “Study of effluent from
the water will be 100% fit for irrigation purposes. sugarcane industry”. Sodh Samiksha Mulyankan Vol. 2, pp.303–306.
[5] http://www.indianmirror.com/indian-industries/sugar.html
[6] http://www.environmentalpollution.in/waste-management/sugar-
C. Bagasse Utilisation industry-process-description-and-wastewater-treatment/2846
The pulp expelled after extraction of juice is called
‘Bagasse’. The wet bagasse with 50% moisture content is
carried to the boiler house by bagasse carrier. It is able to
generate about 2kg of steam per kg on wet basis itself. With
the efficient boiler usage, the factories save about 10-20%
bagasse. And the bagasse has a calorific value of 1917 kcal kg
and therefore is used as a fuel for steam generation in sugar
mills. This factory producing 3MW. The remaining electricity
were utilized by TNEB.
D. Molasses Utilisation
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