Analysis and comparison of emerging sugar dissolution systems

Aim of this paper is the analysis and the comparison of three different sugar dissolution systems applied in the field of beverage processing. The typical method uses the thermal and mechanical energy in order to dissolve sugar inside a beverage: the solution with a variable quantity of sugar (in some cases more than 60° Brix) is recirculated inside the equipment with a velocity greater than 3m/s. The turbulence allows a homogeneous mix of sugar and beverage until 40°Brix in a reasonable time (less than 10s). When more than 40° Brix are needed, the use of thermal energy is required in order to reduce the time of dissolution. On the basis of these premises this paper investigates two alternatives emerging technologies and compare them to the typical method described above, with the aim to analyze the effect on the beverage and define the total cost of the systems. Ultrasonic and Controlled cavitation methods are tested on the same beverage (water + sugar), in order to analyze the behavioral changes and the energy consumption of the technology. The settings of process adopted to compare the three technologies are: product flow 15000l/h, final product 65°Brix, product inlet at 25°C, operating time 20h /day for 312 days/year, cost of energy 0,15€/Kwh. Results show that the controlled cavitation system is the most interesting technology, allowing a good mixture of sugar and beverages with some interesting effects on the final beverages. The investment and energy cost of this solution is less than the ultrasonic technology and competitive respect to the thermal traditional one.