Industrial uses
of Molasses
Industrial uses
Molasses is used in a number of industrial applications where both its binding and beneficial biological properties have been effectively and innovatively utilised.
Due to its unique characteristics it works effectively as a binding agent, a high energy feedstock and as a source of vital nutrients
Bioremediation is a process that typically involves the clean-up of hazardous contaminants in the soil or water, by the use of micro-organisms.
The process may involve the introduction of new micro-organisms to a site or adjustment of environmental conditions to increase the population of the naturally occurring microbes already present.
A common example is using microbial activity to remove unwanted mineral nitrogen compounds, such as ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.
Molasses is a very good feed stock for these micro-organisms, as it contains readily available energy in the form of sugars and a variety of micro-nutrients essential for microbe survival.
Sugar Cane Molasses and it’s related co-product liquids provide a valuable source of macro nutrients that can be blended to produce a variety of effective and economic liquid fertiliser solutions.
The nutrients in these liquids help to promote healthy plant growth and enhance levels of beneficial soil micro-organisms.
In comparison to the more traditional manufactured fertilisers UM can supply liquids which are an attractive alternative to plant growers.
The Steel industry produces a significant amount of waste, in the form of dusts or sludges, which are too fine to handle without further processing.
Binding this waste together into briquettes produces valuable steel products and reduces plant operating costs. Cane molasses mixed with lime is an ideal binder for producing steel briquettes, which are both environmentally and physically acceptable.
When coal is mined, a lot of fine particles are produced. These have little use, unless a binding process is undertaken to combine them together into a briquette.
Molasses is commonly used as the binder for coal briquettes in both the domestic and industrial sectors, as it does not release pollutants on burning.
Cane Molasses gives a consistent and stable performance as a binding agent for easier, safer and more efficient handling of fine carbon powder.
This is used to reinforce and colour pneumatic tyre rubber; in addition to being employed in printing pigments, sugar refining and other chemical processes. An absence of impurities that are found in alternative products, coupled with consistent specific gravity, makes UM cane molasses the ideal carbon black binder.
Anaerobic digestion is the process in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen to produce biogas and digestate.
Biogas can be then used to produce heat and electricity while the digestate can be used as a fertiliser. Molasses can be used as a high energy feedstock in this process as it provides a readily available source of added carbohydrates that stimulate and increase the level of microbial activity.
