ARLENE JOY L.

PASQUIN

ChE 141

NOVEMBER 25, 2016

Plant Overview
Universal Robina Corporation is known to be the home of the best raw and refined sugar
in the country. In more than twenty years of existence, the corporation was still able to maintain
its competitiveness in producing good quality products. To be able to understand how this
company existed and coped up with the challenges, a little overview will be narrated on this

paper.
In April 1967, fifteen Ilonggos, most of which are sugar planters, bound themselves to
found an incorporation which could mill and produce sugar as products, thus the birth of Passi
(Iloilo) Sugar Central. The said sugar central took two years in the making as it started in 1968
and completed in early 1970. The sugar central covers an approximately 28 hectares of land in
Brgy. Ulang Juan, San Enrique, Iloilo. Right after the construction, the sugar mill started
grinding its first crop and begin its commercial operation employing 450 workers in the mill.
During the calendar year 1983- 84, the sugar mill produces the highest volume of production in
Panay. It reaches its highest production with 731, 446.10 picul levels.
In October 2007, Universal Robina Corporation took the management of the sugar
milling company and started milling on October 22, 2007. Their dream was to be the biggest and
most- preferred producer and supplier of sugar- cane products in the Philippines and be a strong
player in the ASEAN region.
The mill operates in a five to six months duration and usually starts grinding on
November and ends up in April or May depending on the volume of the cane available to be
grinded. It operates 24 hours a day in six ay period and one day shutdown per week. During the
times when the cane supply is low or so- called as off season the machines used in the plant is

cleaned by contractual workers. As part of the maintenance of the machines, damaged parts are
being replaced to avoid any unexpected shutdowns during the next milling season. The original
cost of the mill was $19.37 million.
Plant Processes and Equipment
As the URC tries to reach its goals, the production of sugar products from the mill also
starts to grow. On the average, the central produces an estimated 6,000 piculs of raw sugar
(brown) daily out of the 4,500 tons cane processed per day as its equivalent. The plant boasts its
almost complete equipment and facilities. The plant operates the production of raw sugar starting
from the delivered canes from sugar planters. It then passes through a weigh bridge to measure
the weight of the canes. The measurement of the weight is done by subtracting the weight of an
empty truck from the weight of the truck which contains the canes. After weighing, the canes are
unloaded to the feeding table while others are piled in the cane yard for the next batch. From the
feeding table, canes are being dumped into the auxiliary cane conveyorforcanpeti.Duhg ,saowrtefkvn.iTh sco40bladetnwiryhmcovetxnsfkiurhzdc.Teotnvsai60blIhwpedrougntszcimalrbefothsuicjxan.
After shredding the cane, it will be conveyed to the first mill extraction. The URC sugar
plant has four mills. Canes are macerated with water at low temperature for the first two mills
and then followed by the hot water on the third and fourth mills. During this stage, a by- product
is produced and called as Bagasse. This by product is used as fuel for the boilers to generate
power for the plant. After this stage, raw juice will also be produced and then pumped to the
surge tank and then to the radius scale and finally to the radius tank where lime is added to
coagulate the undesired particles. The pH level is also adjusted to an acidic range of 7.8 8.2. It
will be heated to about 220 degree Fahrenheit and then pumped to the clarifiers. During this
stage, the juice is clarified using a strainer and a mud will be scraped from the strainer. The mud
produced is called the filter cake and is used as fertilizer for the farmers.
Once the juice is already clarified, it will then be processed in the evaporator where the
water is separated from the syrup. It uses a quadruple effect and the syrup produced has a 62- 70
Brix. Evaporation is found to be the most critical station having a vapor pressure of 12- 14 psi.
The syrup produced from the evaporators are then transferred to the vacuum pans to further
process the syrup.

Massacuite from the vacuum pans are then transferred to the centrifugal baskets for
separation of molasses from sugar crystals. This sugar crystals are the final product and is also
known as the Raw Sugar. From the process house, the final product is then bagged into 50 kg
per sack and then stored in a warehouse for distribution to other URC plants, Nestle and Del
Monte. The resulting product is an ISO certified.
The plant also uses a semi- automatic control system which is monitored by one person
per shift and has one air- conditioned control room found near the clarifier. In addition to the
processes and station, they also have the treatment facilities where the wastewater are being
treated. The treatment area is composed of three digestion tanks, two aeration tanks, and a
holding tank. Fertilizers such as NPK 12 S and 4 S are used to treat the wastewaters.
The processing plant is composed of 57 employees with 6 Chemical Engineers. Since the
plant runs 24 hours a day, three shifts is being done. The number of employees is observed to be
smaller in comparison with the number of employees before. This is due to the fact that the
machines are now being used, therefore lesser manpower is needed.
The use of bagasse for energy generation reduces the expenses of the company because it
can supply its own electricity from the by- products. Furthermore, the company is expecting to
generate more to provide street lights for the community surrounding the plant. As part of their
help in the community, the filter cake produced during the process is given for free to the farmers
who are willing to accept it.

Cane Carrying Trucks

Source: URC, 2016

Weigh bridge
Source: URC, 2016

Mills
Feeding Table
Source: URC, 2016
Source: URC, 2016

Pin Hole Grate

Boilers
Source: URC, 2016

Heaters
Source: URC, 2016

Syrup ClarifierCentrifugal Baskets

Source: URC, 2016
Source: URC, 2016

Vacuum Pans
Source: URC, 2016

Sugar
Warehouse

Turbine
Generator Set
Source: URC,
2016

Bagasse
Source: URC, 2016

Evaporators
Source: URC, 2016

Quality Assurance
Department

Plant Tour Experience

A plant tour is a vital experience to every Chemical Engineering Students. It covers the
deficiencies of the school in terms of equipment models and process involvements. Through this
activity, the students learn and visualize the different activities in a chemical processing plant.
This help them in understanding the different theories discussed in class and experiencing the
environment inside a plant. Furthermore, this plant tour gives a sneak peek of the world after
graduation. This gives them an idea on what a chemical engineering does. This also introduces
the students to different problems a plant could face like equipment deterioration and pressure
fluctuations and how these problems are being taken care of.
TELL me and Ill forget, TEACH me and Ill remember, INVOLVE me and Ill
learn
-

Ben Franklin