Sugar is a sweet crystalline substance obtained from various plants, especially sugar cane and sugar beet, consisting essentially of sucrose, and used as a sweetener in food and drink.
Effects of Uncontrolled Humidity
Refined sugar is fed via belt conveyers to sugar bins or hoppers. At this point the sugar is at about 48°C with moisture content approximately 0.035% of its weight. This sugar, however, has to be cooled to about 38°C to 40°C before it can be packaged. If cooled by the conventional method, the cooling process takes about 12-36 hours during which condensation takes pace on the bin ceiling. This results in lumping of the top layer and deterioration in quality.
Causes of Uncontrolled Humidity
Various factors are responsible for increasing moisture in the atmosphere
- Presence of water body ( as water required for production).
- Sucrose extraction process releasing a large amount of vapor in the environment air.
- Presence of small electricity generation units within the factory premises.
General Recommendation
Relative Humidity during Sugar Storage Areas should be maintained at 20% RH at 24°C (75°F)
Bry-Air Solution
Bry-Air Desiccant Dehumidifiers have been able to solve many ‘moisture’ problems during storage and packaging of sugar. Bry-Air Dehumidifiers remove moisture from the air, through a process of continuous physical adsorption, thus preventing condensation.
Bry-Air Desiccant Dehumidifiers can effectively maintain the most stringent humidity conditions required for sugar storage and packaging since they are capable of maintaining RH as low as 1% or even lower at a constant level, regardless of ambient conditions.
Also, the dry air from the dehumidifier is pre-cooled before being blown into the storage bin, which cuts down the cooling time.
Bry-Air has a large range of standard as well as engineered Dehumidifiers which are packaged to ensure dry packaging of sugar whether in sachets or in cubes.
