DIFFUSION

1 Holwood Park 5 Canegate Road La Lucia Ridge Office Estate 4320

KwaZulu-Natal South Africa
PO Box 2009 Durban 4000 KwaZulu-Natal South Africa
Telephone: +27 (0)31 535 6000 Facsimile: +27 (0)31 535 6010
Internet: http://www.boschulwazi.co.za

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page No.

1. INTRODUCTION..3
2. WHY DIFFUSERS..3
3. HISTORY OF DIFFUSERS..5
4.

SOUTH AFRICAN INNOVATIONS.5

5. TYPES OF DIFFUSERS...5
5.1. SILVER RING DIFFUSER..6
5.2. F&S VAN HENGEL DIFFUSER..6
5.3. DE SMET DIFFUSER..7
5.4. TONGAAT-HULETT & BMA DIFFUSER.8
5.5. BOSCH DIFFUSER...9
6. CANE PREPARATION.............................................10
6.1. CANE KNIVES.10
6.2. SHREDDERS11
7. DIFFUSION.......................12
8. MOVING BED DIFFUSERS...13
9. JUICE PERCOLATION RATES.14
10. SIZING OF DIFFUSERS.16
11. BED SCREWS...18
12. JUICE TRAYS18
13. STAGE JUICE CIRCULATION..18
14. CLARIFIER MUD RECYCLE..19
15. DEWATERING OF BAGASSE19
16. MONITORING DIFFUSER PERFORMANCE..19

Table of Contents

Page 2 of 19

1.

INTRODUCTION
Milling has for many years been used in the cane sugar industry
word wide for the extraction of juice from cane. Whilst this
milling process has been continuously improved, it has almost
been completely replaced by diffusion in South Africa.
Diffusion is the process of removing juice from cane, bagasse
or beet by allowing the soluble substances in the cells to diffuse
through unbroken cell walls made semi-permeable by heat
treatment. This osmotic diffusion process is not practical for
cane.
The diffusion of cane requires lots of emphasis being placed on
cane preparation as well as diffuser operation.
In 1932 Maxwell compared the diffusion process for beet, cane
and bagasse and noted that it should rather be called lixiviation
when applied to cane and bagasse. However since it has long
been referred to as bagasse and cane diffusion this appellation
lives on. In the beet industry diffusion is applied to thin slices of
beet. This was found to be impractical with cane and bagasse
as a result of the problems presented when trying to slice cane
into thin segments.

2.

WHY DIFFUSERS
Cane diffusion is more efficient than milling for juice extraction
due to higher extraction, lower power consumption, lower
operating and maintenance costs and better operating flexibility.
As a result of the above any factory considering the cogeneration of electrical power for export should definitely install
a cane diffuser to increase financial income.
With the advent of continuous diffusion technology, most South
African sugar factories have replaced their mills with diffusers
for the following reasons :

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Page 3 of 19

Efficiency.
Saving on man-power.
Saving on power consumption.
Lower operating costs.
Lower maintenance cost.
Flexibility of operations.
More electrical power available for export.
The capital cost of a diffuser installation is roughly 34% 45% of that of a milling train.
The maintenance cost of a diffuser is roughly 33% 60%
less than a milling installation.
The power cost to operate a diffuser is roughly 50% of
that of a mill train.
Only one operator is required for a diffuser.
Mud can be returned to the diffuser resulting in a large
saving in the cost of transporting filter cake away from the
mill.
The diffuser can operate at a larger turn down ratio than a
mill.
Diffuser factories have more bagasse available for fuel to
generate electrical power.

The following is a graphical representation of Diffuser

performance improvements in South Africa.

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Page 4 of 19

3.

HISTORY OF DIFFUSERS IN SOUTH AFRICA

The history of modern diffusers in South Africa is as follows :

4.

The first modern diffusers were installed in 1966.

By 1974 seven diffusers were installed in South Africa.
By 1984 of the 21 extractions plants in South Africa 14
were diffusers.
Currently there are seventeen diffusers and 3 milling
trains in the South African Sugar Industry.

SOUTH AFRICAN INNOVATIONS

South African Innovations developed over the years have been
responsible for diffuser performance improvements. The
following are some of these improvements :

5.

Lifting screws to help avoid flooding.

Tracer tests to check percolation rates.
Lights and windows to visually check the cane bed.
Adding water to the press water roller as ballast reducing
megasse moistures.
Understanding the need for good cane preparation.
Understanding the effects of juice recirculation, imbibition
rates, diffuser temperature and cane residence time.

TYPES OF DIFFUSERS
Various types of diffuser designs have been tried and tested
over the years. Experience with different types of diffusers over
the years has resulted in only the moving bed diffusers
surviving.

DDS (beet type) - contra-rotating scrolls.

Saturne - rotating vertical annular diffuser.

Silver Ring radial moving screen.

F&S van Hengel type - multiple inclined conveyors.

BMA, Tongaat-Hulett moving bed fixed screen.

De Smet moving bed fixed screen

Bosch chainless moving bed.

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Page 5 of 19

5.1

Silver Ring Diffuser radial moving screen

The Silver Ring diffuser was fitted with a radial moving
screen and bagasse extraction screws.

5.2

F&S van
conveyors

Hengel

Diffuser

Multiple

inclined

The F&S diffuser consisted of multiple inclined conveyors

which were difficult to maintain and prone to choking.

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Page 6 of 19

5.3

De Smet moving bed with a fixed screen

This diffuser has a moving screen supported on multiple
strands of chain. It requires double the amount of screen
because the return screen is inoperative. The screen
design is fragile and for this reason heavy loading of the
press water roll is precluded.

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5.4

Tongaat-Hulett & BMA moving bed fixed screen.

These diffusers are fitted with fixed screens over which
the cane is dragged by multiple chains and slats. This
type of fixed screen diffuser handles high soil canes better
and this is believed to be as a result of the disturbance
that takes place at the screen and cane interface

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Page 8 of 19

5.5

Bosch - chainless moving bed diffuser

The Bosch diffuser is fitted with a hydraulically driven
walking floor which is a new innovation that has solved
many of the problems experienced with other designs.

Bosch chainless diffuser showing the walking floor and bed screws.

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Page 9 of 19

Bosch chainless diffuser showing the walking floor hydraulic drive

cylinders

6.

CANE PREPARATION
It is well accepted in South Africa that in order to achieve good
extraction, diffusers require properly prepared cane with a
preparation index (PI) 90%. This implies that 90% of the cane
cells have been mechanically ruptured. Most South African
factories are fitted with the same type of preparation equipment,
just not in the same configuration.
The cane preparation equipment consists mainly of cane knives
and shredders. The configuration and installed power of these
components vary from factory to factory.
6.1

Cane knives
Cane knife sets vary in size, speed and absorbed power
and used for the following duties :

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Page 10 of 19

Light duty knives to feed a vertical shredder.

Leveller knives to level out cane in a carrier.
Primary knives to do the initial cutting in a carrier.
Main cane knife.

Absorbed power varies considerably for these cane knife

sets with a leveller at 6kW/ton fibre per hr and a main
knife set absorbing up to 27kW/ton fibre/hr.
6.2

Shredders

Shredders have undergone extensive development in

South Africa with the two main types being :

Heavy duty shredder with a vertical feed. This

shredder is normally fed with knifed cane.
Heavy duty horizontally whole stick shredder.

Absorbed power on these shredders ranges between 40

and 50kW/ton of fibre/hr. In order to achieve a PI of 90%
the tip speed of the hammers in these shredders needs to
be around 90 m/sec. The horizontal shredder is claimed to
produce longer fibres and less fines which is better for
diffuser performance.
Particular attention must be paid to the condition of the
cane knives and shredders in order to achieve good
diffuser performance.
Worn hammers, cane knives and washboards results in
an immediate drop in PI which in turn effects diffuser
extraction.

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Page 11 of 19

Heavy duty shredder with knife feeder

7.

DIFFUSION
Cane preparation is the most important variable affecting the
extraction of juice from the cane in a diffuser. Intensive
preparation makes the sucrose containing juice more readily
accessible to the extracting liquid
The volumetric throughput of cane through the diffuser is
governed by the diffuser bed height, diffuser width, speed of the
diffuser and the packing density of the cane in the diffuser. The
size of the diffuser in relation to the throughput has a
considerable affect on the extraction. The longer the residence
time for cane in the diffuser the higher the extraction will be.
This volumetric throughput is also related to a screen area.

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Page 12 of 19

The quantity of imbibition and the diffuser temperature also play

an important role in the extraction. Large amounts of imbibition
water results in steeper gradients of concentration in the bed
with a beneficial effect on the rate of extraction. The velocity of
the liquid flowing past the cane particles also affects the rate of
mass transfer.
Fibre packing density in the bed affects the juice percolation
rate through the bed. In practice packing densities vary
between 70 and 80 kg/m. Over preparation of some cane
varieties can result in percolation velocity problems.

MOVING BED DIFFUSERS

As a result of only the moving bed diffuser having survived the
test of time this course will deal only with moving bed diffusers.
This is a continuous counter current, stage based, juice
extraction device. As per the schematic diagram below, juice is
pumped into the moving bed of prepared cane. The moving
cane bed is supported by a screen which has stage trays and
pumps below it. The juice percolates through the vane bed and
drains into the juice tray below. This juice is then pumped
forward creating the counter current.
The de Smet diffuser has a moving screen which is supported
by a series of chains. The BMA and Tongaat-Hulett diffuser has
a stationary screen across which the cane is dragged.
The Bosch Chainless Diffuser supports the cane bed on a
series of moving screens which run lengthwise along the
diffuser. These screens are moved by hydraulic cylinders in
such a fashion as to form a walking bed. The big advantage of
the Bosch Chainless Diffuser is that there is no expensive chain
and headshaft to maintain as these components form a large
portion of the overall cost of the diffuser.

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Page 13 of 19

The discharge of cane from the end of this type of diffuser is by

a slow rotation kicker which discharges the cane into a carrier
below the diffuser discharge end.
The preferred feed arrangement into the diffuser is a dry feed
using a horizontal slat conveyor across the diffuser at right
angles to the direction of travel. The underside of this carrier is
a mitre plate which can be adjusted to ensure that the infeed of
cane results in a flat even bed of cane in the diffuser. Sufficient
head room must be allowed between this infeed carrier and the
top of the cane bed in the diffuser.
NOTE!
The diffuser cane bed must be flat and even in order to
achieve good results

9.

JUICE PERCOLATION RATES

It is important to differentiate between percolation rate and
percolation velocity. The percolation velocity is the downward

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Page 14 of 19

velocity of the liquid as it moves down through the cane

particles and is expressed in m/min. The percolation rate is the
superficial liquid velocity or the rate that the liquid is applied to
the bed surface expressed as m/min/m

As can be seen from the above schematic diagrams if the bed

is moving too fast or too slow the juice will either recycle or
bypass the stage. If the bed of cane is moving too slowly, part
of the liquid which should have come out in stage T will come
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Page 15 of 19

out in stage T-1. This is known as bypassing. This bypassing

will result in poor diffuser extraction.
If on the other hand if the horizontal velocity is increased or if
the percolation rate is reduced then the same liquid which
should have percolated out in T is carried past and finds its way
into T+1. This is known as recirculation and if left unchecked,
could continue up to the point where juice flow exceeds the
juice percolation rate of the bed and flooding starts. The best
diffuser extraction normally takes place at the point just before
flooding takes place but needs to be managed.
In some diffuser designs, the stage sprays are fitted with
deflectors to help manage this situation by allowing the position
at which the juice contacts the bed to be moved to suit the
situation in the bed. Initially the intention was to automatically
control spray deflectors to allow the diffuser to run at maximum
recycle. This was to be achieved by measuring the liquid level
in the bed and using this signal to position the spray deflector.
As of yet no one has been able to successfully measure this
liquid level.
10.

SIZING OF DIFFUSERS
This course is not intended make diffuser designers out of the
delegates attending but to rather share an understanding of
what is required for the correct sizing of a diffuser. The
dynamics of the juice and cane flow in the diffuser would
require a complete course with input from a specialist with
knowledge of tracer tests etc.
The following
comparisons:

CONFIDENTIAL

are South African averages for

diffuser

Screen area 11m/ton of fibre/hr for extraction of 97.5%

Screen 3CR12 plate with holes of between 6 and 12mm
and open area of 40%.
Bed Depth 1.1m to 1.6m average 1.4m.
Fibre packing density 80kg/m.
Bed speed 0.7m to 1m.
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party without the prior written approval of Bosch Ulwazi (Pty) Ltd.
Page 16 of 19

Scalding juice flow 300% on fibre.

Stage juice flow 120% on fibre.
Percolation rate 0.1 to 0.2 m/m/min.
Stage juice temperature - 85C.
Scalding juice temperature - 90C.
Retention time of cane in the diffuser 60 to 80 min.
Retention time of the juice in the bed 15 to 25 min.
Imbibition rate 300% to 350%.

The following is a rough estimate to establish the dimensions of

a diffuser for 300 TCH with a fibre content of 16% :
Start with specifying the screen area required. This is a function
of the fibre throughput and the required 11m/ton of fibre/hr. The
aspect ratio of width to length plays little role in the efficiency of
the extraction. This ratio depends more on cost with the diffuser
length of the diffuser not exceeding 65 m.
The screen area required =
=

TCH x 0.16 x 11
528 m

Width of the diffuser

528 / 65
8.1 m Use an 8 m wide diffuser

=
=

From the above we have established that in order to process

300 TCH with a fibre content of 16% we would need a diffuser
65 m long and 8 m wide.
Knowing the packing density of 80 kg/m and a bed depth of
1.4 m a few simple calculations can be done to establish the
cane bed speed and retention time in the diffuser.
The rest of the design is more detailed and is the property of
the manufacturing company.

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Page 17 of 19

11. BED SCREWS

Initially diffusers were fitted with a press water clarifier to
remove the fines which were being extracted from the megasse
by the dewatering mill returning to the diffuser. These fines
would plug up the surface of cane bed in the diffuser causing
percolation problems. By fitting bed screws into the bed to
disturb it in the area where the press water was being returned
it was found that it was no longer necessary to have a press
water clarifier.
Bed screws are now common in diffusers with the screws being
between 300 and 400 mm in diameter. The power required to
drive the screw is 7 kW.
12.

JUICE TRAYS
The recent trend in modern diffusers is to have no more than 12
trays for good extraction.
The juice trays below each stage must be adequately sized to
hold all of the juice from the stage above it should the mill stop.
This equates to roughly 6 kg of juice per kg of fibre.

13. STAGE JUICE CIRCULATION

The uniform distribution of the pumped stage juice is very
important. Uneven distribution will result in uneven percolation
through the cane bed.
The distribution of stage juice in the diffuser is done by either an
overflow weir fitted to a launder or a spray pipe fitted with
nozzles and a spray deflector. Most launders are fitted with
drains which require regular purging.
If a pressurised spray is used then care must be taken in the
design of the nozzles to ensure even flow through the nozzles
which will result in even distribution of the liquid across the bed.
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Page 18 of 19

14.

CLARIFIER MUD RECYCLE

The clarifier underflow mud should be returned to the diffuser at
the point where the mud brix and the diffuser juice brix are
almost the same.
In order to ensure that the mud return does not plug the bed it
should be returned to the diffuser just ahead of the first set of
bed screws in the diffuser. The recycling of mud is being carried
out at a number of mills with no adverse affects on the
percolation.

15. DEWATWATERING OF BAGASSE

The megasse leaving the diffuser should be sufficiently
dewatered to have a moisture content of 80%. This can be
improved by adding water to the press water roller to increase
the ballast.
Because of the large amount of liquid to be removed from the
megasse and the high temperature it is very important to pay
lots of attention to the operation of the dewater mills. Without
maintaining very rough rollers the mills would slip which will
immediately result in an increase in bagasse moistures.
Because of the large amount of liquid, dewatering is generally
done in two stages, with two mills or a light duty dewatering
device followed by a mill.
16.

MONITORING DIFFUSER PERFORMANCE

In order to monitor the performance of the diffuser it is
necessary to carry out an hourly check on the flowing :

CONFIDENTIAL

Bagasse moisture. establish a moisture proifile.

Pol % bagasse.
Stage juice brix establish a brix profile
Stage juice temperatures establish a temperature profile
Stage cane bed level.
Liquid level in the bed.
Signs of flooding.
Spray position.
Choked spray nozzles or choked weirs.
Bed must be uniform and level.
Any information contained herein is to be treated as confidential and may not be divulged to any other
party without the prior written approval of Bosch Ulwazi (Pty) Ltd.
Page 19 of 19