Case Study: Sugar Refinery - Garlock 3-D Seal

The customer’s sugar crystallizer agitator was not performing properly with the PTFE compression packing that was installed. To crystallize sugar, the syrup is heated to evaporate the water content. This is best done under a vacuum to allow lower process temperature, thereby significantly reducing the chance of discoloring (burning) the crystals. The system was designed to use compression packing to seal the area where the shaft entered the crystallizer. The packing was allowing air to enter the system, thereby increasing the chance of spoiling a batch.