Sugar mills employ steam boilers to create energy and heat during various stages of the production process, such as the crystallisation process. The sugar syrup is converted into sugar crystals throughout this procedure. The energy efficiency and reliability of the boilers can be improved by optimising their performance for this required heat and electricity.

When I ran into Emerson’s Scott Pettigrew in town last week, he told me about a sugar mill boiler combustion improvement project he recently finished. He had gone to the mill to do a field survey and a combustion test on their solid fuel boiler. Bagasse (dry, fibrous crushed sugarcane stalks) and wood waste fuel were used in this boiler.