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In the second half of the 19th century, sugar beet started its triumphal march through the southern provinces of the Russian Empire, where it soon became a main crop in the process of the modernization of agriculture. The beet-growing agricultural enterprises were considered by the state authorities as prime examples for the use of modern technology, increasing yields and more efficient organization of labour. Entrepreneurs from the sugar beet industry were people of very different social background. Using individual educational and capital resources, they benefitted enormously from the recently discovered sugar-bearing crop. This contribution focuses on the emergence and establishment of the beet sugar industry and the associated emergence of a new agrarian elite. Petrenko outlines the spread of beet sugar production in the Russian Empire, paying particular attention to its south-western region. Focusing on the development of the beet sugar industry, her analysis sheds light on the connections between the onset of modernization and the actions of individual actors. In order to illustrate the new entrepreneurial activity, this contribution outlines the rise and fall of the two rural "beet sugar dynasties" – that of the Yahnenko and the Symyrenko families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Among the various agri-food sub-sectors, sugar production is specifically ranked among the top energy-intensive industries in which massive amounts of various fossil energy carriers are used during sugar beet processing jeopardizing the environmental sustainability of the whole industry. Among the various solutions introduced to date, using renewable energies to supply power to this industry could be regarded as a promising approach to reduce the environmental concerns faced by this sector. In such context, energy from waste could be the most favorable alternative to meet power requirements of the industry. This review paper starts with reviewing the latest situation of sugar production and sugar beet cultivation around the world. Principal sugar beet processing stages as well as different waste-to-energy (WTE) techniques are also reviewed and discussed. In order to evaluate the impacts of the proposed solution, i.e., WTE for power generation in beet sugar industry, two factories located in Iran were considered as case studies and subsequently, the implementation of a kind of waste-oriented electricity as an alternative to fossil-based electricity (conventionally consumed in the factories) was investigated. Moreover, the environmental hotspots in the sugar beet processing factories were determined for further possible improvements. Overall, it was found out that implementing renewable bioelectricity in the studied sugar factories could considerably reduce the environmental burdens; i.e., 14.11–15.41% in human health, 1.49–1.54% in ecosystem quality, 4–4.4% in climate change, and 4.18–4.87% in resources damage categories. Highlights • Latest situation of sugar and sugar beet cultivation around the world was reviewed. • Current global situation of beet sugar industry was reviewed. • Environmental impacts of using waste-oriented electricity in beet sugar factories were assessed. • Implementing renewable bioelectricity in sugar factories could reduce environmental burdens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the first half of the twentieth century, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists played a significant role in the development of the beet sugar industry in Colorado and throughout the West. Organized around a mandate to increase the size, scope and efficiency of the beet sugar industry, scientists developed research agendas that mapped onto the needs of industry. To achieve relevance, they responded to requests from Colorado beet sugar companies to solve cultivation quandaries. As the scope of USDA research grew alongside expanding budgets, state-sponsored researchers collaborated with beet sugar refiners, manufacturers of agricultural chemicals and machinery and researchers at land grant colleges. However, despite growing influence throughout the period under analysis, state power in the sugar beet fields was characterized more by decentralization and diffusion than centralized strength. State-sponsored scientists within both the USDA and Colorado Agricultural College, as well as researchers within the beet sugar industry frequently moved in and out of one another's employ, shared research space and conducted joint projects. However, regardless of research project, the Western beet sugar industry supplied the agenda for state-supported science to follow. By examining the role of state-sponsored science in the beet sugar industry of Colorado and the West, this article shows that federal power in the West rose to the degree that it was willing to supply the research needs of industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exponential rise in energy demand vis-à-vis depletion of mineral oil resources has accelerated recovery of bioenergy from organic waste. In this study, a laboratory-scale anaerobic (An)/aerobic (Ar) system comprising of expanded granular sludge bed (EGSB) reactor coupled to an aerobic sequential batch reactor (SBR) was constructed to treat beet sugar industrial wastewater (BSIW) of chemical oxygen demand (COD) 1665 mg L while harnessing methane gas. The EGSB reactor generated methane at the rate of 235 mL/g COD added, with considerably higher than previously reported methane content of 86 %. Meanwhile, contaminants were successfully reduced in the combined An/Ar system, realizing a removal rate of more than 71.4, 97.3, 97.7, and 99.3 % of organic matter as total phosphorus, total nitrogen, biological oxygen demand (BOD), and soluble COD, respectively. Microbial community analysis showed that the bacterial genus Clostridium sp. and archaeal genus Methanosaeta sp. dominated the EGSB reactor, while Rhodobacter sp. dominance was observed in the SBR. The obtained experimental results indicate that the integration of expanded granular sludge bed and sequential batch reactor in treating BSIW obtained competitively outstanding performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Among developing countries Pakistan has highest demand of sugar i.e., 25 kg per capita per annum. Cane and beet are two major sources of sugar production in Pakistan. Sugarcane production in the country could meet only 75% demand of existing sugar mills. Present study looks into the prospects of sugar beet production especially in water scarce areas to bridge the demand gap and scrutinize the issues and constraints in commercial production of sugar beet. Trends were analyzed using existing published statistics. Water requirement of sugarcane is almost three-fold of the sugar beet. Sugar beet will not put pressure on water resources if cultivated on commercial scale. The government is in favor of beet sugar but sugarcane mill owners are reluctant to encourage sugar beet cultivation due to some technical barrier. Beet growing experiment at different sites of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) and Sindh have revealed encouraging results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of turbidity is a frequently observed phenomenon in beet sugar manufacturing, particularly in thick juice. The presence of small dispersed turbidity-causing particles can have a direct impact on the consumer's perceivable quality of white sugar containing products. Therefore, this work aims to characterize those turbidity-causing particles and elucidate the mechanism of their formation. Samples from various European beet sugar plants were collected during different sugar production periods. The turbidity of white sugar is found to be mainly related to small calcium oxalate particles (0.45-1 µm). Their occurrence is obviously related to the presence of calcium and oxalate. However, the analysis presented documents that beyond the levels of these ions, other factors like storage time, the change of environment due to microbiological processes as well as simple processing steps have a profound effect on turbidity levels. The results confirm that also at an industrial scale calcium oxalate dihydrate precipitates from concentrated sucrose solutions despite the fact that calcium oxalate monohydrate is the most stable form. In summary our analysis of turbidity at an industrial scale marks a starting point for any further turbidity reduction approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beet fiber is a fibrous by-product of the beet sugar industry. Efficient production of arabino-oligosaccharides (AOs) and feruloylated arabino-oligosaccharides (FA-AOs), which are AOs esterified with ferulic acid, from beet fiber was investigated. Under hydrothermal conditions at a reaction temperature from 160°C to 180°C for a reaction time of 5–15min, solubilization of the beet fiber occurred in the range of 58–63wt%. In the soluble fraction, galactose and arabinose as well as their oligomers have been detected. It is notable that various characteristic glycosides, which consist of ferulic acid and AOs or galacto-oligosaccharides (GOs), were obtained from the arabinan or galactan side chains of the pectin present in the beet fiber. The total yield of AOs and FA-AOs reached 84% at 160°C for 12min, which was determined as arabinose units contained in the beet fiber. Almost all the ferulic acid present in the beet fiber was recovered as ferulate esters of oligosaccharides such as AOs or GOs via hydrothermal treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study were to evaluate the energy consumption of inputs and outputs used in the sugar beet production system and to determine the relationship between energy inputs and yield in Iran. To achieve these objectives, data were collected from 153 sugar beet farms selected using a random sampling method. The total energy input was 42,231.9MJha−1, and approximately 29% and 22% were from total chemical fertilizers and irrigation water, respectively. Approximately 57% of the total energy inputs used in sugar beet production was direct energy, while the remaining 43% was indirect. Econometric assessment indicated that energy inputs of human labor, machinery, diesel fuel, total chemical fertilizers, farmyard manure, electricity, and irrigation water made significant contributions. Human labor (0.36) and machinery (0.22) energy were found to have the highest impacts on sugar beet production. Direct, indirect, renewable, and non-renewable energy forms had positive impacts on the output level. Economic analysis indicated that the total cost of sugar beet production was $2896.5ha−1. Energy use efficiency was 13.4, while the benefit-to-cost ratio was 1.3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The key issue in achieving a high extent of biodegradation of beet molasses vinasse is to establish the conditions for the assimilation of betaine, which is the main pollutant in this high-strength industrial effluent. In the present study, aerobic batch biodegradation was conducted over the temperature range of 27–63°C (step 9°C), at a pH of 6.5 and 8.0, using a mixed culture of bacteria of the genus Bacillus. Betaine was assimilated at 27–54°C and the pH of 8.0, as well as at 27–45°C and the pH of 6.5. The processes where betaine was assimilated produced a high BOD5 removal, which exceeded 99.40% over the temperature range of 27–45°C at the pH of 8.0, as well as at 27°C and the pH of 6.5. Maximal COD removal (88.73%) was attained at 36°C and the pH of 6.5. The results indicate that the process can be applied on an industrial scale as the first step in the treatment of beet molasses vinasse. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This work reports on a modification of the standard Quentin method by the use of Ca2+- enriched brine obtained by electrodialysis (ED) treatment of thin juice to regenerate the Ca2+ form of the resin used to remove of K+ and Na+ in mother liquor B. Results showed that after the ED treatment was carried out under the best operating conditions (voltage of 1.17V/Cell and recirculating flow rate of 70l/h), BK001 resin was regenerated within 3.6h with a Ca2+ exchange capacity of 53.9mg CaO per ml wet resin. The ED treatment removed 61.3% of conductive ashes in the thin juice, and its purity was increased from 90.0% to 92.3% while continuously treating thin juice under the optimal conditions. The modified method has potential to improve the sugar yield in beet sugar industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Electrochemical treatment of simulated beet sugar factory wastewater was studied as an alternative treatment method for the first time in literature. Through the preliminary batch runs, appropriate electrode material was determined as iron due to high removal efficiency of chemical oxygen demand, COD, and turbidity. The effect of operational conditions, applied voltage, electrolyte concentration and waste concentration on COD removal percent and initial COD removal rate were investigated through response surface methodology, RSM. In the set of runs, highest COD removal and COD initial removal rate were realized as 86.36% and 43.65mg/Lmin, respectively, after 8h at the applied voltage of 12V, 100% waste concentration with 50g/L NaCl. Treatment conditions were optimized by RSM where applied voltage was kept in the range, electrolyte concentration was minimized, waste concentration, COD removal percent and COD initial removal rate were maximized at 25°C. Optimum conditions at 25°C were estimated as 12V applied voltage, 100% waste concentration and 33.05g/L electrolyte concentration to achieve 79.66% and 33.69mg/Lmin for COD removal and COD initial removal rate, respectively. Kinetic investigations denoted that reaction order of electrochemical treatment reaction was 1.2 with the activation energy of 5.17kJ/mol. These results support the applicability of electrochemical treatment to the beet sugar factory wastewater as an alternative advanced wastewater treatment method with further research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper investigates the possibilities of attaining zero-waste emissions in the case of sugar production. The case-studied sugar plant located in Slovenia reflected a typical plant, using traditional sugar production from beet. An investigation of the possible use of waste and by-products from sugar processing was carried out, in order to approach zero-waste from beet sugar processing. The sugar production process was simulated and optimization was carried out concerning energy utilization. Consumption of energy in the chosen sugar plant was lowered by simultaneous optimization of the evaporation and crystallization process. Changing the fuel type used in the case-studied sugar plant (replacement of heavy fuel oil with natural gas) produced a significant decrease in air emission. Opportunities in the sugar industry have been discovered for adapting to new market conditions through the optimization of combined sugar–ethanol production. The two proposed options have been economically and environmentally evaluated and compared. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents a methodology for the development of distributed process simulation using OPC (OLE for Process Control). The distributed components operate as OPC servers enclosing continuous simulations developed with the simulation language EcosimPro. The paper presents the problems related to data interchange and synchronisation in real time and the solutions adopted and gives results about the performance of OPC in this kind of applications. The methodology has been applied to a large process simulator of a beet sugar factory used for control room operator training. This includes a process simulation operating in a network of six computers, a SCADA system for operation on the process, an instructor console and the corresponding software for real time communication and synchronisation. The main advantages of this approach are: (i) independence of the development of the simulation from the communication mechanisms, (ii) access to the simulations by a wide range of applications, due to the standard provided by OPC, (iii) use of low cost conventional equipment and (iv) support for large scale simulations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]