LOCATION: MALAYAN SUGAR MANUFACTURING

DATE: 1ST NOVEMBER 2010

TIME: 9.00 am – 12.30 pm

OBJECTIVE: To Study about the Cooling Process and Crystallization of the

Sugar.

Our group, ACIR 072M went to the third company that is Malayan
Sugar Manufacturing (MSM) in Penang. We departed from our hotel at
8.30am. Unfortunately, the weather was not very good with heavy rain at
Gurney Hotel. But at Penang Bridge, the rain was stop.

We arrived to our destination at 9.05am. The Assistant General

Manager, Mr. Tan Siew Tong had welcomed us to MSM with good greeting.
Then, we were invited to the meeting room for the briefing of the company.

They showed some corporate video for us and gave us a simple

introduction about the company. Malayan Sugar Manufacturing is under
FELDA Holdings that was handled by the government. Before that, they were
under Robert Kwok. They had another 2 branches that is in Johor Bahru and
Sg. Buloh. They were also co-operated with Kilang Gula Felda Perlis (KGFP).

This company is producing 3 000 tones daily and half million tones
annually. They were many type of sugar such as coarse, fine, icing and
others. They also exported their product to overseas like Indonesia,
Singapore, New Zealand and etc. Their sugar will classified with type of sugar
like P1, P3, PXX, Icing, P3H and etc. The difference of the sugar is only the
size.

We started our visit to their factory at 9.45am. We were guided by

Operating Manager, Mr. Zahri and Electrical Engineer, Mr. Lim. The process
start with:-
1. Raw Sugar Delivery
Raw sugar delivered by ocean vessels is transferred to lighters and brought
to MSM jetty. This raw sugar was imported from Brazil and Australia. A crane
and excavator equipped with grab buckets are used to unload raw sugar
from the lighters onto belt conveyors. The conveyors transport the sugar to
the warehouse for storage. The capacity of the warehouse is 90 000 tones.
2. Affination
In the first step of refining operation, raw sugar crystals are mixed with raw
syrup to soften and remove the crystal outer coatings of impurities. The
crystals are then separated from the syrup and hosed with hot water in a
centrifuge. This process is called “affination”.

3. Carbonation
We did not go to the carbonation plant but we were simply brief by Mr. Lim
about the process. The washed sugar discharged from the centrifuge is
dissolved in a premelter to form melted liquor. The melted liquor is pumped
to the carbonator where lime and carbon dioxide are added to form a
precipitate of calcium carbonate which traps most of the impurities.

4. Filtration
The carbonated precipitate together with the impurities are removed by
pressure filtering through the first and second side filters leaving behind
“clear liquor”.

Filtration station consists of the followings:

a. First stage filtration : Rotary drum filters
b. Second stage filtration : Sweetland filters
c. Polishing filtration : Sweetland filters
5. Ion Exchange Resin
Further colour removal is achieved by pumping the clear liquor through
towers containing ion exchange resins (IER). The colour-causing components
in the liquor are adsorbed onto the resin surfaces and left-behind.

6. Polishing Filtration
To ensure that no solid impurities get carried forward in the process, the
“decoloured liquor” undergoes a final filtration stage in the polishing filters.

7. Evaporation
The treated liquor, now called “fine liquor” is ready for crystallization.
However, it must first be concentrated by having its excess water content
removed.
8. Crystallization
The concentrated fine liquor leaving the evaporators is subsequently boiled
in a vessel known as a vacuum pan. Fine sugar crystals are used as
“seed”. The crystals are grown to the required size by adding more
liquor. When they are large enough, the mixture of crystal and syrup is
discharged from the pan.

Temperature max: 40 °C
Pressure: 6 bar
Volume: 269 L

Chiller capacity: 175 RT

Air temperature: 29 °C
Water temperature: 34°C
9. Vacuum Pan
1. Refined Pans (white sugar): Batch Pan, Vertical Crystallization Tower (VKT)
2. Recovery Pans (brown sugar): Batch Pan and Vertical Crystallizer

Temperature: 143°C
Pressure: 3 bar
Capacity: 60 tones
Heating Surface: 300 m2

Second Vacuum Pan:-

This vacuum pan, they are using Heat Exchanger.
Temperature: 40°F, 275 °F
40°F, 173°F

Vertical Crystallization Tower Capacity: 900 tones per day

This VKT faster operate compare to other vacuum pan.

10. Screening
The refined sugar crystals are then dried, cooled, sieved and stored in
storage bins.
They change every 3 weeks.
11. Packing & Delivery
From the storage bins, the sugar is transported by conveyor belts to the
packaging area and packed into various grades or transferred into the silo
for sugar delivery by bulk containers.

For filling and packaging they are using clean room. They are automatic seal.
The noise level 85 dBA
Warehouse:-
Temperature: Ambient air (36°C)

Gallery