Affination in Sugar Refining: Purpose, Process, and Optimization
Affination is the gateway to efficient sugar refining. Often underestimated, this step plays a pivotal role in removing molasses coatings from raw sugar crystals, setting the stage for high-purity production. By blending mechanical separation with chemical insight, affination enhances color removal, reduces non-sucrose load, and improves overall yield. 1. Why Affination Matters Raw sugar crystals arrive coated with molasses—a sticky layer rich in colorants, ash, and organic compounds. Affination is designed to: Strip away surface molasses and impurities Improve crystal purity before Melting Reduce the burden on Clarification and Decolorization Enhance final product quality and recovery This early intervention prevents downstream overload and supports consistent, high-grade output. 2. How the Affination Process Works Affination involves a controlled interaction between raw sugar and a saturated sucrose syrup. The syrup softens the molasses layer without dissolving the crystals. The mixt...