A look at technological and technical tower extraction trends

Tower extraction has become the state-of-the-art technology for extracting sugar from cossettes. Sugar yield and plant economy are factors that have made this technology prevail over other extraction methods. In particular for high throughput rates per extraction line, tower extraction plants are unrivalled. The possibilities to reduce the energy consumption during extraction are shown using the example of a technologically leading European sugar producer. Thanks to the installation of large extraction plants in the sugar factories of Schweizer Zucker AG at Frauenfeld and Aarberg, the extraction losses and also the raw juice draft could be reduced significantly. Based on the records of the campaigns from 2000 to 2014, the paper reports on results of the operation of a modern tower extraction plant. In the more recent past, there has been a trend towards longer beet campaigns, and sugar factories are increasing their capacities due to economic reasons. Depending on the project conditions, various extension concepts are coming into effect. Special emphasis has to be placed on future-oriented material selection.