Location: Sugarbeet Research
Project Number: 3060-21000-045-024-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jun 1, 2024
End Date: Dec 30, 2025
Objective:
In objective 1, a sugar beet extraction system which include press water recycling will be designed, fabricated, and tested to mimic industrial extraction process. In objective 2, freshly, frozen, and aged sugar beets from three American Crystal Sugar locations will be collected and evaluated for microbial population and taxonomy at the different process conditions. In objective 3, a factorial experimental design will be conducted to optimize the disinfection effect of glutaraldehyde, BetaStab, and Oxamine during the diffusion system designed in objective 1. Meanwhile in objective 4, the press water will be sterilized using non-chemical techniques like ozonation will be test before being recycled to the diffusion process. The quality of the press pulp will also be evaluated. The response variables of these objectives will be microbial count, refractometric dissolve solid (RDS), and sugar content. The proposal is relevant to beet processing, storage, and refining, with a priority on optimization of sugar extraction process disinfection and maximum sugar recovery.
Approach:
To mimic the sugar beet processing industrial diffusion condition, a pilot scale batch and continuous process will be fabricated for objective 1. For objective 2, locally harvested fresh sugar beet, completely frozen beet, and aged beet will be collected from the American Crystal Sugar in Moorhead, MN and Grand Forks, ND locations at mid-November, mid-January and mid-March, respectively. For objective 3, presence of the lactic acid bacteria responsible for producing gums, aerobic mesophiles, and thermophilic bacteria will be investigated followed by their quantification both in the diffusion juice and in the press water from the pilot scale diffuser in objective 1. To evaluate the effectiveness of different sterilization techniques to treat the press water, the press water will be subjected to filtration, ozonation and pulsed electric fields methods for objective 4.
