The Sugar Technology Division plays vital role in the economics of a sugar industry. Technical education, training, guidelines in R & D activities are provided to the employees to increase the profitability of the sugar industries in Karnataka. After the extraction of the juice from the sugarcane the juice is being sent to the Manufacturing Section where it is clarified to get clear juice from impurities. Then it is sent to evaporator section where it is concentrated by evaporating the excess water. This concentrated juice called syrup is sent to the Pan Boiling Section where it is crystallized to the maximum purity leaving the minimum non sugar in the mother liquor. After Pan Boiling the crystals alongwith mother liquor is treated in the crystallizers to complete the crystallization process and then the mass is centrifuged to separate the molasses from the crystals. The separated crystals are dried, cooled and bagged in gunny or polythene bags and sent to godowns. This division plays a very important role in extracting the maximum sugar in the form of crystals with a short period with minimum sugar loss during processing by consuming a minimum steam so that the factories will get more profit. The quality of sugar plays an important role to keep it in the godown for a long time or to compete in the local or international market to fetch higher price. During the process there is a loss of sugar through filter cake, through entrainment, molasses and inversion. Therefore a Technologist should extract the maximum sugar present in the juice with minimum loss in the boiling house so that the factory will get higher profit. This division is responsible for designing the cost of production of sugar. This division helps the factories to control different losses occurring during process so as to enable to crystallize more sugar in the form of required size crystals by consuming lesser chemicals and steam.

• The main aim of the Sugar Technology Division is to provide technical education and training to the sugar factory personnels so as to enable them to do better in practical in the field of Juice Clarification, Evaporation, Crystallization, Centrifuging, Sugar Grading and bagging etc.
  
  
• In addition to education and training this division is going to render an appropriate technical advice to sugar factories for improving technical performance with regard to capacity utilization, reduction in losses, production of quality sugar and conservation of energy.
  
  
• The Division is also going to give suggestions to factories on alteration, modifications, modernization and expansion.
  
  
• The technical staff of this division during season are going to visit all the running factories to conduct technical efficiency performance study so that the factory can do better. They will discuss the problems faced by the factories on the spot and will give solutions immediately to rectify the problems.
  
• The division will also engage in analyzing the quality of sugar for various parameters including the ICUMSA colour of sugar so as to enable the factories to produce quality sugar which will fetch higher price.
  
  
• This division has devised a simple equipment namely ‘Sugar Color Comparator’ using which the produced quality of sugar can be easily compared with the previous hour’s sugar or previous year’s sugar or sugar of the same shift or different lot sugars kept inside the godown so that the factory can judge the quality of sugar easily as the ICUMSA colour measurement using the Spectrophotometer is a costly and time consuming one.
  
  
• This division is engaged in the preparation of technical performance of monthly manufacturing reports (RT7(C). After observation of technical performances it is giving suggestions to improve the efficiency and is sending the study report immediately to the respective factories so as to enable them to do better in the next month. Many factories including private are utilizing this service and getting benefits.
  
  
• Similarly all the factories are sending their final manufacturing reports i.e. RT8(C) for review of technical performance. The technical review performance of each factory after preparation is sent to the respective factories so as to do better in the next crushing season.
  
  
• In addition to the preparation of technical review a comparative statement of performance of all factories in Karnataka are also prepared and sent to factories to compare their efficiencies with other factories. This will help them to do better than other factories in future.
  
  
• This division is conducting annual technical performance review meetings by inviting the representatives from each factory in which the reason for poor performance are discussed and suggestions for improvements are given.
  
  
• The division is giving technical information whenever required by the individual factories whenever the factories are approaching. e.g. Standard specifications fixed by Government of India, standard specification for refined and raw sugar, centrifugal curing time, raw sugar manufacturing etc.
  
  
• The division has helped some of the needed sugar factories, technical assistance in doing the overhauling work efficiently and to start the factory in time.
  
  
• The services of this division has been utilized by Department of sugar in conducting efficiency studies in the purchase of modern equipments, renovation etc.
  
  
• This division is helping to improve the technical efficiencies by sending technical information through circulars and booklets.
  
  
• The division is attending seminars, conferences etc. and informing the latest technologies observed in the seminars and conferences and conveying to the sugar industries in Karnataka so as to enable them to follow the same.
  
  
• The division has prepared and submitted research articles in the South India Sugarcane and Sugar Technologists’ Association of India, Invention and intelligence (a unit of National Research and Development Corporation), International Society of Sugarcane Technologists (ISSCT) etc.
  
  
• The factories are seeking the help of this division for conducting interviews for selection of technical hands for their Manufacturing Department.
  
  
• Recently a private sugar mill has requested the division to conduct a technical performance of their factory so as to do better. The division in addition has asked to study the possibility of achieving the maximum capacity of the plant so as to make arrangements for the supply of cane accordingly.
  
  
• The factories started utilizing the service of the division for revamping and modernization etc.
  
  
• The division is helping the needed factories in the analysis of ICUMSA colour of sugar.
  
  
• Many factories started seeking technical suggestions and information from this division .
  
  
• This division is making arrangements for the establishment of R & D lab and library for sugar technology
  
  
  

  Highlights of performance of Karnataka Sugar Mills for the season 2012-13
  Cane Crushed (MTs)		32895744
  Sugar Produced (MTs)		3410267
  Recovery (%)		10.36
  Sl.No.	Parameters	Name of the sugar factory	Highest	Name of the sugar factory	Lowest	Average
  1	Recovery % cane	Venkateshwar Power Projects Ltd., Bedkihal	12.15	Pandavapura SSKN, Pandavapura	7.61	10.23
  2	Pol % cane	Venkateshwar Power Projects Ltd., Bedkihal	14.10	Shamnur Sugars Ltd., Dugavati	10.09	12.37
  3	P.J. in Brix %	Halasiddhanath SSKN, Nippani	20.36	Parry Sugars Ltd., Haliyal	15.25	18.41
  4	P.J. in purity	Krishna SSKN, Athani	86.32	Chamundeshwari Sugars Ltd., Bharatinagar	78.41	82.47
  5	F. M. Brix	Hemavathi SSKN, Srinivaspura	93.26	Soubhagyalaxmi Sugars Ltd., Hirenandi	82.59	88.32
  6	F. M. Purity	Bhavani Khandasari Sugars Ltd., Baroor	36.41	Shamnur Sugars Ltd., Dugavati	29.67	32.63
  7	Total losses	Soubhagyalaxmi Sugars Ltd., Hirenandi	2.95	Satish Sugars Ltd., Hunshyal	1.81	2.15
  8	Fibre % cane	Soubhagyalaxmi Sugars Ltd., Hirenandi	15.30	Shamnur Sugars Ltd., Dugavati	12.74	13.8
  9	Imbibition % cane	Renuka Sugars Ltd., Munnoli	261.65	Hiranyakeshi SSKN, Sankeshwar	175.45	217.04
  10	R.M.E.	NSL (Tungabhadra), Desnur	96.45	Pandavapura SSKN, Pandavapura	89.95	94.92
  11	RBHR	Venkateshwar Power Projects Ltd., Bedkihal	91.93	Sadashiva Sugars Ltd., Nainegalli	87.27	90.53