lndustry NEWS
www.internationalsugarjournal.c-
Company News
Nick Jones, MD,
Schenck Process UK
Three materials handling
companies merge
Three of the leading
companies in the bulk
materials handling and
processing business
have joined together to
provide a bigger and
better service for both
existing and new clients.
Doncaster based Clyde
THE BLACKBOARD
pH
pH is central to cane sugar
technology. The reasons for
this are simple: sucrose (S)
breaks down to fructose (F)
and glucose (G) at acidic
pH's (Vukov, 1965); F and
G degrade at alkaline pH's
to form acids and coloured
compounds (Van der Poel
et al., 1998). 8oth reactions
need to be prevented as
far as possible during
processing.
pH deals with acidity
and alkalinity. In 1923 J.N.
Bmnsted and T.M. Lowry,
independently developed
the theory that an acid is a
proton donor while a base
accepts a proton (Ebbing,
1996). An acid/base reaction
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458
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Process and Stroud based
Redler have both become part
of the multinational Schenck
Process group, whose UK
base was previously located
in Stockport. Now all three
companies are under one roof
at Doncaster's Lakeside.
"Al/ three companies are
specialists in their fields,"
said Managing Director Nick
Jones, "and by bringing them
together we 're now ab/e to
offer clients an unrival/ed
service, essentially creating
a one-stop shop for process
technologies to meet the
needs of a wide range of
industrial sectors."
"The merger means we
can now supply products
from nine different brands
across the Schenck Process
Group, allowing us to create
bespoke packages which no
other company can match.
Put simply," Jones continuad,
is therefore a proton transfer
as shown by Equation 1:
HCI + Hp -> Hp + Cl (1)
where HCI, the acid, donates
a proton to water, the base.
Equation 2 shows that water on
its own has a similar reaction:
H2 0 + Hp -> H, +OH (2)
where one water molecule
is the acid and another the
base. Now however the
reaction is reversible and
equilibrium is reached. We
can calculate an equilibrium
constant, Kw, at a given
temperatura, say 25C:
Kw = [conc. H,J x [conc. OH]
= 1x10' (3)
"we make processes work
and can respond to the needs
of al/ kinds of businesses,
from light industries such
as food processing and
pharmaceuticals to heavy
industries such as cement and
steel. And we're increasingly
working within the power
industry as it shapes up to
the challenge of the changing
needs of the 21st century."
The company is going
from strength to strength
and is certainly bucking the
recession with its turnover
increasing from 1::26 million
last year to a remarkable
predicted turnover of over
1::45 million this year.
Recently, Martn Thomson
joined Schenck Process UK to
become Director of the Light
Industries lntemational Business
Segment. Based at the Head
Office in Doncaster, Martn
is responsible for the sales
We note that equation
3 does not restrict the
concen-trations of H30 or
of OH: lt only stipulates
that the product must be
1x1 o'.
Also, at equilibrium
the two concentrations are
equal. Experimentation
shows that the concentration
of H30 can vary over a
considerable range, e.g.
from 1Q2 to 1010 moles per
litre, during a titration. lt is
difficult to deal with such
numbers in graphs or in
texts. S. S0rensen in 1909
(Spencer & Meade, 1945)
expressed the concentration
of H, elegantly with a
simple scale, namely:
pH = -log 10[H,J
INTERNATIONAL SUGAR JOURNAL 2012, VOL. 114, NO.
!
0 10
development of the complet
portfolio of products and e
services of the UK group and
lreland in the key market sectors
of Food, Plastics, Chemicals
and Pharmaceuticals.
R"M'"
Thomson
Director,'
Schenck
Process UK
Schenck Process UK is
based in Doncaster, and is
a fully owned subsidiary of
Schenck Process GmbH,
Darmstadt, Germany. The
Schenck Process Group is one
of the world's leading suppliers
of products and services for
weighing, feeding, conveying
and filtration processes with
over 3,200 employees and
with 33 locations worldwide.
Thus, if [H,] is equal
to 1.0 x 1Q3 moles per litre,
then:
pH = 3.00
S0rensen worked for the
Carlsberg Laboratory, a well-
known Danish institution.
Carlsberggroup.com states
that the name "pH" basically
means "the power of
hydrogen".
P.W. Atkins (1994)
that the lower the pH the
greater the concentration
of H,. Secondly, pH can
be negative; in a 2.0 molar
aqueous solution of HCI, pH
= -log1D(2) or -0.30. At
the pH of water is equal to
7 but, as temperatura risas
the equilibrium shown by
 to: For the latest sugar industry news go to:
1m www.internationalsugarjournal.com
Equation 2 moves to the
right; experimentation shows
that after equilibrium at
S 80C the pH now decreases
to 6.3, indicating that the
concentration of H 3 0 has
increased as expected.
Spencer & Meade state
that in the 1920's and
30's, pH was measured
colorimetrically with an
indicator and buffers of
known pH values using
the same indicator. Colour
comparators and test
papers were also used.
In 1928 W. Ostwald and
others invented electrical
instruments to measure
pH; glass electrodes then
9 followed. Developments took
S place rapidly and affordable,
electric pH meters were
available by 1940.
Schaffler (1987)
investigated the effect
of temperatura on the
pH of cane sugar juices
and syrups. He gives
two observations: The
temperatura effect is greater
in liquors with high pH's; the
neutral pH at 25C is 7 but
at 1oooc neutrality is at a
pH of 6.1. This agrees well
with the theory. Schaffler has
measured the change in pH
with temperatura, dpH/dt, in
mixed juice, syrup and clear
juice. The results obtained on
samples from many factories
are summarised below:
pH at dpH/
25oC dt
Mixed juice 5.11 -0.002
Syrup 6.19 -0.008
lS Clear juice 7.16 -0.014
363 INTERNATIONAL SUGAR JOURNAL 2012, VOL. 114, NO. 1363
These findings highlight
the difference between a
clear juice pH measured at
25C in the laboratory (7.16),
and the pH of the same
juice at temperaturas close
to 1oooc (6.11) measured
in the plant for controlling
the clarification process.
The clear juice is close to
neutrality in both cases.
As was the case with poi
and Brix, here again with
pH there is more to it than
expected.
References
Atkins P.W. (1994) Physical
Chemistry. Oxford University
Press, 5th Edition.
Ebbing D.D. (1996) General
Chemistry. Houghton Miffling,
5th Edition.
Schaffler K.J. (1987).Estimation
of pH of sugar cane juices at high
temperaturas. Proceedings South
African Sugar Technologists
Association 61: 14-16.
Spencer G.L. and Mead e
G.P. (1948) Cane Sugar
Handbook. John Wiley and Sons,
Bth Edition.
Van der Poel P.W., Schiweck H.
and Schwartz, T. (1998) Sugar
Technology. Bartens.
Vukov, K. (1965) Kinetics
aspects of suerosa hydrolysis.
lnternational Sugar Journal 67:
172-175.
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