Design. Fabrication and Experimental Performance Evaluation of a Mechanized Close Chamber Muscovado Crystallizer Equipped with Horizontal Axis Double Flight Ribbon Blade Agitator

A Mechanized Close Chamber Muscovado Crystallizer equipped with Horizontal Axis Double Flight Helical Ribbon Blade Agitator was designed, fabricated, and was used to convert massecuite (sugar syrup) at 120º C into muscovado sugar. Its chamber has a capacity of 10 liters enough to accommodate one batch of a traditional open pan muscovado production. A variable Frequency Drive (VFD) was used to run the agitator on three different rotational speeds (40 RPM, 60 RPM,80 RPM), and the sugar samples produced were sent to Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) laboratory for evaluation of its physicochemical properties. Results of the testing showed that samples from the 60 RPM provided the highest Polarization (79.24%), lowest Moisture Content (6.05%), and lowest Reducing Sugar (2.69
^%
). Results were tabulated and compared also to the product of the manual crystallization process. It was then concluded that the Mechanized Close Chamber Muscovado Crystallizer Equipped with A Double Flight Helical Ribbon Blade Agitator running at 60 RPM could be used in the crystallization of the muscovado sugar. It has an advantage compared to the traditional process in terms of the moisture content reached, the number of needed operators, space requirements, and safety.