Carbonatation

Carbonatation is a process used in the manufacture of white sugar for purification, or clarification, of sugar juices. Various carbonatation methods have been developed for specific purposes, but the basic principle is the same: the process involves addition of lime, calcium oxide, to sugar juice followed by bubbling of carbon dioxide through this mixture. A precipitate of calcium carbonate forms that entraps suspended impurities within its crystalline structure and adsorbs soluble impurities onto its surface. Filtration then removes the precipitate, leaving a clearer, purer juice for evaporation.