Sugar refining costs

The refining of raw sugar by solvent extraction costs less in energy and materials and can be done in a plant that is much less expensive to operate than a conventional plant (2). 

The choice of the decolorization method depends on many factors and each refiner must analyze his own requirements. The principal factors to be considered are the cost of adsorbents, cost of process equipment, labor, water, energy, and waste disposal. Multiple treatment by several different decolorizing methods is common in the sugar industry and is an economical way of ensuring good quality. 

Where both the quicklime and the co-produced carbon dioxide can be used as raw materials (e.g., in the ammonia-soda process for sodium carbonate, the sugar beet refining process and the precipitated calcium carbonate process) it is generally economically attractive to install lime kilns on site as an integral part of the process and to accept the relatively high delivery costs of the limestone. 

FDA was asked also to consider refined sugar as a potential feed stock. On account of the high yields laboratory work is being carried out on sugar but, due to the lack of functionality of the protein product, no market yet is in sight. However, at current price levels, the cost of digestible carbohydrate automatically would require the microbial product to enter the high price end of the food protein market. 

---