Abstract
Advances in cooling technology are providing sugar beet factories with new options when it comes to the dual objective of upgrading outdated equipment and decarbonizing their existing operations. This presentation will explore the approaches that different heat exchange technologies are taking to improve producers’ operational sustainability by reducing energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and overall carbon footprint. Specifically, the discussion will focus on vertical plate-style moving bed heat exchangers (MBHEs) that are located just prior to storage or bagging. By cooling sugar indirectly via water in a closed-loop system and avoiding the use of high-horsepower fans, this near-zero emissions solution only consumes an average of 0.4 kWh/ton of sugar – a 90% reduction when compared with typical rotary drums or fluid bed coolers that require upward of ~5 kWh/ton. Other technologies to be discussed will include heat pipe heat exchangers (HPHEs), which, while decades old, has recently been providing industries such as sugar with new opportunities for waste heat recovery. HPHEs have demonstrated their economic value across a range of industries such as food processing, energy and automotive. These systems are well suited at recovering thermal energy from challenging sources such as hot and particle-laden exhaust streams. The presentation will conclude with real-world examples of how these technologies are actively decarbonizing operations worldwide.