Sugar beet extraction plants

For decades, BMA is recognised as the world leader in developing, designing and constructing continuously operating vertical sugar beet extraction plants. BMA's sugar beet extraction plants are among the most efficient plants on the market, both in terms of technology and heat economy.

The extraction tower, now without bottom screens, but with side screens only, offers substantial advantages with regard to reliability, minimisation of infections, maintenance and repairs. This new concept offers an extended range and allows BMA extraction plants to reach beet slice rates of up to 17,000 mt/d in one single unit.

BMA's continuously operating vertical BMA extraction plants are employed for extracting sugar from beet cossettes. Processing the cossettes through a countercurrent cossette mixer and an extraction tower yields a raw juice characterised by high purity, high dry substance content and low temperature. Sterile operation, without air contact, minimises infections and sugar losses.

The BMA beet extraction plant has two main components accomplishing different technological tasks:

  • Countercurrent cossette mixer for thermal denaturation of the cells, heat exchange between incoming cossettes and outgoing juice, and defoaming.
  • Extraction tower for solid/liquid extraction of sucrose from the beet cells by the countercurrent principle.

 Both components - countercurrent cossette mixer and extraction tower - are interconnected by a piping system and pumps and thus operate as one single unit.

Features and advantages of BMA sugar beet extraction plants

  • experience from more than 360 extraction plants in almost all sugar beet processing countries in the world
  • small space requirements
  • system allowing long distances between countercurrent cossette mixer and extraction tower
  • outdoor installation of extraction tower even under extreme weather conditions
  • very high operational reliability
  • very high flexibility to adapt to operating conditions and cossette quality (with processing rates between 65 and 120% of rated capacity)
  • option of combining a countercurrent cossette mixer with two or more extraction towers, or one tower with a number of countercurrent cossette mixers
  • production of "cold" raw juice, thus substantially reducing heat requirements
  • extremely low extraction losses at low juice draughts
  • processing of Königsfeld, Goller or sliced cossettes
  • optimum defoaming in countercurrent cossette mixer
  • largely sterile operating conditions thanks to short critical temperature zone in the mixer's heat exchanger compartment and a defoamer cycle including part-stream sterilization
  • amply dimensioned screen areas for smooth juice discharging
  • gentle cossette treatment
  • no local cossette overscalding
  • exhausted pulp with 10 - 11 % dry substance content
  • complete press water recirculation
  • minimum maintenance and servicing requirements

Available sizes

Beet slice rate Extraction tower CC cossette mixer
nominal
[t/d] diameter [m] diameter/length [m]
4,000 6.5 4.2 / 7.0
5,000 7.0 4.7 / 8.0
6,000 7.6 5.2 / 8.0
7,000 8.2 5.6 / 8.0
8,000 8.9 6.0 / 8.0
9,000 8.9 6.0 / 8.0
10,000 9.6 6.7 / 8.5
11,000 10.6 6.7 / 8.5
12,000 10.6 7.5 / 9.5
13,000 12.0 7.5 / 9.5
14,000 12.0 8.2 / 10.0
15,000 13.6 8.2 / 10.0
16,000 13.6 9.0 / 11.0
17,000 13.6 9.0 / 11.0