INFORMATION
How to Get More Sugar Out of Your Beets
In modern sugar factories, the sugar house is where the margin is won or lost. Small issues in crystalliser timing, centrifuge loading, or strike receiver levels don’t stay local — they cascade. The result is bottlenecks, energy spikes, and lost tonnes of sugar.
Most plants still rely on batch crystallisation with manual scheduling or basic rule-based logic. Skilled operators are forced to constantly balance:
When to start the next strike
How much buffer remains in the strike receivers
How many centrifuges can safely run
How to avoid starving the dryer or overfilling the system
On quiet days, this is manageable. During real campaigns with fluctuating syrup purities, cleaning stops, and unplanned trips, it becomes firefighting. More interruptions. More stress. Less sugar.
A New Operating Model: Predictive, Not Reactive
At Sucrosphere, we see a clear shift across the industry. Sugar houses are moving from “best-effort” manual control to predictive, model-based scheduling.
Our Digital MPC Crystallisation Scheduling Package uses Model Predictive Control (MPC) and real-time plant data to plan hours ahead rather than react moment to moment.
The focus is straightforward:
More sugar through existing crystallisers and centrifuges
Fewer stops, overloads, and bottlenecks
Smoother, more stable operation for the whole team
Instead of operators constantly tweaking timing, the system proposes — or automatically applies — optimal strike start times and centrifuge loading. Operators shift into a supervisory role: monitor, validate, fine-tune.
What the Sucrosphere Package Delivers
Sucrosphere’s solution is built on three layers that work together to stabilise and optimise the sugar house.
Crystalliser Scheduler MPC
Predicts crystalliser behaviour and discharge times. Calculates strike start timing to keep centrifuge loading within an optimal band and avoid bottlenecks.
Centrifugation MPC
Keeps strike receiver levels within limits, anticipates cleaning or maintenance windows, and stabilises the feed to downstream equipment.
Crystallisation SFC Layer
Controls each batch to ensure efficient, consistent crystal growth and product quality, using online measurements and anomaly detection.
All insights are visualised on a clear HMI. Operators see both the planned trajectory and the live situation. Nothing is hidden — no black boxes.
The Impact in Numbers
Across beet factories operating around 10,000 t/day, and assuming:
Sugar price: 450 €/t
Steam: 40 €/MWh
Power: 100 €/MWh
the Sucrosphere Crystallisation Scheduler & MPC delivers:
+0.2 to +0.5% more sugar throughput through existing assets
Fewer emergency stops and overload situations
2.5–5% lower specific energy demand through smoother operation
This results in 0.2–0.45 €/t beet in combined benefit. For a typical campaign, that equates to 200,000–450,000 € directly to the bottom line — with no major hardware upgrades.
Plug In, Don’t Rip Out
The Sucrosphere platform integrates with your existing DCS/PLC via standard interfaces and can be rolled out gradually:
Start in advisory mode, where the scheduler suggests actions.
Move to closed-loop MPC once the team is confident.
Scale from one crystallisation station to the entire sugar house.
No big-bang change. Just smarter operation of the assets you already have.
Ready for Your Next Campaign?
If your last season felt like constant firefighting, it’s a sign the scheduling challenge has surpassed what manual methods can handle.
With Sucrosphere’s Digital MPC Crystallisation Scheduling Package, factories can:
Turn batch crystallisation into a predictable, high-throughput process
Increase sugar tonnage without new equipment
Reduce specific energy use and CO₂ footprint
Make operations calmer, clearer, and more resilient
Curious how this would look in your plant? Share a small slice of historical campaign data, and we’ll prepare a first business case tailored to your factory.
