- To extract the sugary liquid from the woody sugar canes, the stems pass through rollers that crush them, squeezing out all the moisture to be collected for the next step. This process leaves a certain amount of dirt and crushed fibers in the liquid, so slaked lime is used to separate contaminants.
- The liquid squeezed from the sugar canes is then concentrated into syrup by heating the liquid in large tanks to remove excess water.
- A second evaporation process is started to form crystals. This time, the syrup is placed in large vats and water content is boiled off. To aid the crystal-forming process, granulated sugar is thrown into the vat.
- To avoid burning the sugar crystals, not all the liquid is boiled off. The mixture of crystals and a thick liquid, known as mother liquor, pass through a powerful centrifugal spinning device. The spinning force drives the liquid out, and the remaining sugar crystals are then heated and dried. This process leaves brown granulated sugar, which can be further processed to make white sugar.
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