Defecator

Defecator 

in the sugar industry the apparatus for purifying the sugar-beet juice with the aid of lime. Defecators work on either periodic or continual action. The latter are more common. They are used for preliminary and basic defecation. A small quantity of lime (0.2-0.3 percent) is added to the juice in the preliminary defecation boiler, in order to create optimum conditions for the coagulation of protein and colloidal substances. Basic defecation is the introduction of about 2-3 percent lime (from the mass of the beet) in order to create an excess of lime; during further treatment with carbonic acid gas, or saturation (adsorption purification of the juice), the excess lime goes into solution. Depending on the construction of the boilers, preliminary defecation can involve many or only one boiler; the latter type are vertical (single- or multi-chambered) or horizontal. In vertical defecation the juice is conducted upward, whereas in horizontal defecation it begins at one end. Continuous action defecation uses a vertical cylindrical accumulator with an agitator inside.