Saint Louis University

Chemical Engineering Department

Barrio San Miguel, Tarlac City, Tarlac

February 2, 2016

I. INTRODUCTION
A. Mission/Vision
Bringing peace and prosperity to the countryside.
Connecting Farmers to the rest of the world while connecting the world to our
Farmers.
One Farmer, One Hectare One Community at a time.
B. Company Profile
Central Azucarera de Tarlac (CAT) is one of the leading integrated sugar mills
in the country with a refinery, distillery, and carbon dioxide plant in Tarlac City. It
was incorporated on January 19, 1927 wherein the sugar cane milled is sourced
within the Tarlac district and nearby towns of Pampanga. Central Azucarera de Tarlac
traces its roots from a tobacco plantation, its lands awarded to the Compaa General
de Tabacos de Filipinas under royal grant from the Spanish throne during the Spanish
occupation. The Tabacalera, as the company was more popularly known, concentrated
its operations in Manila when the tobacco monopoly was abolished in 1881. The
company's governing body sent Seor Lope Gisbert to find fertile areas for
development and he recommended the land surrounding the railroad that extended
from Manila to Dagupan. This land was acquired in 1907 after a long and tedious
process. It was registered as Hacienda Luisita, after Doa Luisa, the wife of the
founder of the Tabacalera.
Jos Cojuanco, Sr. (father of former president Corazn Aquino) led a group of
Filipino investors in the negotiations for the purchase of both Hacienda Luisita and
Central Azucarera de Tarlac from the original Spanish owners in 1957, and Cojuanco,
Sr. succeeded on 9 April 1958. The company that this purchase bore is known as Jos
Cojuanco & Sons Organisations, and it expanded the Azucarera's products to include
molasses, liquid carbon dioxide and yeast, and its operations to selling sugar to both
domestic and international markets.

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Chemical Engineering Department

II. PRODUCTS AND BY-PRODUCTS

A. Products
The sugar canes milled by the Luisita Sugar are sourced within the district
of Tarlac and nearby towns of Pampanga.
1. Raw and Refined Sugar
The Companys sugar mill and
refinery has a capacity of 7,200 tonnes
cane and 8,000 50-kg bags per day
respectively. The sugar cane is initially
processed to produce sugar of which 31%
represents the companys mill share, 69% belongs to the planters. Most of the raw
sugar produced is further processed in the refinery to produce refined sugar. For
the refining process, tolling fees are collected from customers upon withdrawal
of refined sugar from the Companys warehouse. In addition to raw and refined
sugar, the mill and refinery produces molasses, a by-product. The molasses
produced in the mill is likewise shared between the mill and the planter using the
same sharing ratio while the refinerys molasses production is solely owned by the
refinery.
The mills raw sugar sales and the refinerys tolling fees represents about
58% and 23% respectively, of the Companys total operating revenue for the last
three years. The raw and refined sugar produced is generally sold to industrial
users thru traders. The company normally operates for about 5 to 6 months while
the refinery, about 8 to 9 months.
B. By-Products
Besides from the main products of the company, which are the raw sugar
and the refined sugar, they also produce a by-product during the main production
process. During the separation of the sugar from the juice molasses are produced
as a side product.

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Chemical Engineering Department

1. Alcohol
The combined captive molasses of the mill and refinery is processed
further in the distillery to produce alcohol. The distillery has a production capacity
of about 65,000 gauge liters per day. The various types of alcohol regularly
produced and sold are rectified spirits (purified alcohol), absolute alcohol and
denatured alcohol. These alcohol products are sold to various reputable distillers
of wine, manufacturers of alcoholic beverages and the small portion goes to
producers of pharmaceutical products. In addition to alcohol sales, tolling fees are
also earned from various distillers whose molasses are processed by the distillery.
The distillery normally operates for about 4 to 5 months of the year in tandem
with the refinery operations.
2. Carbon Dioxide (Dry Ice)
The slops from the distillery are captured by the carbon dioxide plant to
produce liquid carbon dioxide also in tandem
with the distillery. The plant has a capacity
of 30,000 kilos per day and normally
operates for about 4 to 5 months of the year.
Carbon Dioxide sales account for about 3%
of the Companys total revenues in the last
three years. The carbon dioxide produced is usually sold to industrial users.
C. Process Flowchart
The overview of the production of raw sugar from sugar cane is shown on
the next figure. The sugar canes washed with water, shredded, chopped and
crushed during the first stage of the process. The second stage would be the
cleaning and filtering part. Then, the filtered cane juice will be subject to a broiler
until the desired consistency is reached. It will pass through more process until the
part of centrifugation to obtain the raw sugar product.

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Chemical Engineering Department

Figure 11 Raw Sugar Production Process from Sugar Cane

III. ENVIRONMENTAL AND ENERGY ASPECTS

Central Azucarera de Tarlac (CAT) is committed to implement and continuously
improve a consistent Environmental Management System (EMS) that help minimize the
negative impacts of their operations to land, air, and water; and to provide a clean, safe,
and healthy environment for the reciprocal benefit of its employees, stakeholders, and the
community where they operate. They strive for continuous improvement of sustainable
development by developing, placing and continuously improving effective controls and
procedures to conserve energy, water and other raw materials. Implementation of reduce
water consumption and other supporting programs has also been spearheaded to prevent
depletion of water resources. They as well encourage the implementation of re-using and
recycling materials to reduce environmental impact down to a minimum. The waste water
produced is filtered and purified then it is recycled throughout the plant for their
operation.
CAT also seeks to prevent pollution at its source, reduce solid-liquid waste
generated

at

their

facilities

and

establish
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and

support

pollution-prevention

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Chemical Engineering Department

procedures/programs that prevent, if not minimize, adverse effects of activities and/or

conditions to its employees and to the environment. All chemical wastes are ensured to be
treated before disposal to prevent harsh impact to the environment and to the employees.
Furthermore, they are committed to complying with all relevant national and local
environmental laws, rules and regulations.
The company aim to regularly monitor and improve means to control air
emissions, land and water discharges to assure compliance. CAT also encourages
employees from all levels to actively participate and support all programs of protection of
human health, occupational safety, and protection of the environment that improve
productivity and reduce incidence of work accidents.
Central Azucarera de Tarlac is also a learning community, focusing on training
and education. They have built its strong community ties, and creating an industry and
giving back to the community, to mother earth through Medical and Dental Missions,
Tree Planting, and Blood Letting drives around and within San Miguel, Tarlac City.
The company also creates farming communities composed of people who know
sugarcane farming and support the industry. Their strength is anchored on the sustainable
development of the communities where they operate. As such, sugarcane farming
provides food on their table, education for their children, shelter for their family, and
other needs. They create value and make people want to be part of the community and
make them part of something big of a bigger whole enjoying rapport among themselves.
IV. ROLES OF A CHEMICAL ENGINEER
Chemical engineers in Central Azucarera de Tarlac are usually assigned as
Process Supervisors on either the raw and refined sugar manufacturing department or in
the alcohol and carbon dioxide manufacturing department. They are mainly responsible
for checking processes by performing engineering analysis and studies and also they
interact with line operators on issues concerning the process. They as well lead a task
force or project requiring regular interaction with line employees. The chemical engineers
in the plant also implement corrective measures concerning their process and they create
and test new product designs and formulate manufacturing specifications.
Also, they are assigned in the quality control department to ensure that the sugar
being manufactured meets the certain quality standards which would then be ready and
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Chemical Engineering Department

safe to sell. They also engage on waste water treatment wherein they maintain the quality
of treated waste water so that impurities are removed before it can be reused and would
avoid contamination in their product.
V. OBSERVATION AND RECOMMENDATION
Being included in the fieldtrip itinerary, Azucarera de Tarlac made us realize one
thing, that is, sugar may look clean but when you witness how is it produced and
processed may change your perspective in making some of your foods taste sweet. As we
went to this company for our field trip, we observed the whole process of sugar making.
From the first stage up to the very last stage, that is packaging. I can say that this whole
process is unclean and not sanitized. Needless to say, that is the reason why they are not
ISO certified.
The said company supports communities composed of people who know
sugarcane farming and of the related agriculture. They grow and process canes naturally
and with the minimum use of fertilizers that may have negative feedback to the
environment and into the consumers of the said sugar products. Also, they establish good
relation to their people because they are aware that people are their most treasured assets
and source of their competitive advantage. The owners of the company establish a very
comforting relation to their laborers. Farmers are called planters, customers or even
partners and the company ensures that they do their best to make them globally
competitive.
The factory is of a product type layout wherein resources are arranged
sequentially, based on the routing of products. The machines are arranged according to
the needs of the product from the very first stage until to the last stage of process. The
company is also accommodating since they were very open to answer questions from the
students. The company accepts On the Job trainees for chemical engineering students and
other fields, and students from other courses. For us to have a better understanding of the
processes involved in their manufacturing area the company divided us into groups and
we went around the plant by batches.
Safety of the guests is a major concern that must be addressed because most of the
stairs needs additional guardrails especially that we have to climb high in order to witness
the processes happening in the manufacturing area. Students must also take extra
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Chemical Engineering Department

precautions when having a tour around the plant since some parts of the way are slippery.
When inside the plant, it is recommended that personal protective equipment must always
be used to ensure personal safety.
With regards to the staff that toured us around the factory, he speaks inaudibly to
us because of the noise coming from machines and therefore I suggest that before the
tour, they should give students flyers beforehand. The flyers may contain the important
processes, equipment and brief discussion about the whole sugar making process making
it easier for us to have an overall view on the process.
VI. APPENDIX
A. Documentation
The following pictures were taken by me within the duration of our tour
inside the Luisita Sugar, however, documentation during the process is prohibited
so limited photos were taken only as a proof of my presence during the tour.

Figure 12 A truck of sugar cane ready to be milled

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Chemical Engineering Department

Figure 13 Hourly samples retrieved from the actual process

B. Bibliography
Anonymous. (2016, October). Company Policies. Retrieved from Luisita
Sugar: http://luisitasugar.com/corporate-governance/companypolicies/
Anonymous. (2016, October). Our Business. Retrieved from Luisita
Sugar: http://luisitasugar.com/about-us/our-business/

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