What Stainless Steel For Cane Juice?

You may have different options for various components e.g tanks, pumps stainless or plastic, some won't have options e.g. presses;

Which components in particular are you seeking best / alternatives - tanks, piping, machines, pumps, sensors ?

SS 316 L will be fine

for the application stated - use 316L . . . . passivate the surfaces to enrich them with Cr if required . . . if the problem is more acute then a higher Mo content composition like 317L may be used . . .

T304L is quite alright. The real problem that has caused pitting in 304 is cleaning with the wrong type of cleaner, often with HCl. Common error when the previous tubing was copper ! But the stainless can disappear in hours. So so long as you take care of cleaning your system without using HCl you ought to have no problem.

what is meant by previous tubing was copper?

How quickly the rollers should be cleaned after taking the juice? can they be left without a rinse for an hour, a day?

Sorry. I have been out of this industry a while. For your application 304 or 304L should do. The mention of "previous tubing" is that when previous users of Cu Tubing in vacuum pans and so on (i.e. in real sugar mills) changed over to stainless steel, they sometimes kept using the old cleaner HCL which quickly destroyed the stainless. Not in your case as your is literally a duct through which the mildly acidic juice will pass.

your answer seems to be quiet better however, there is 1 thing i don't get. why not to use 304? my intention is to crush the sugar cane stalk, juice will bath the rollers each time canes are crushed, juice wont be staying there, in other words, rollers will not be dip or continuously in contact with the juice, they will be in contact for the maximum of 5 or 8 minutes during the whole session. So do u think 304 will be enough for that duration or will it begin to leach its ingredients away?

Why not 304?

Check this out....

http://www.mendeley.com/research/biocorrosion-stainless-steel-grade-304l-ss304l-sugar-cane-juice/

thats a good link..i have read it earlier. but the question is...is the environment same with the rollers pressing the cane on miniature juicer? the situation mentioned in the research refers to a factory environment where the juice goes through multiple stages and sections...one Indian research has supported using SS 204 Cu for crushing the canes. crushing is one thing, collecting is another, then there is a contact time as well...how will u sum up all???

i guess, passivation is for removing iron not enriching the metal with chrome/ or can it be so?

Are you talking about Hard chrome process in which any iron is coated with chrome heavily?

Even Haste alloy - C can also be used. But it is very expensive

Dr. B S Sridhar

what is haste alloy and C?? what is their cost?

If you mean "Hastelloy" it is a high performance alloy used when you have necessity of a high corrosion resistance to acids. There are 20 or more grades and the cost could be anywhere from 5 to twenty times the cost of SS 316 L

Haste alloy is for non food stuff....didn't see any reference to edible usage.Can u show me any??

Hastelloy for non food stuff??

I dont agree to that..

Many of the times its the commercial part...

When you can get it done with SS316 L, why to go for an MOC which is 10 times costlier??

Plastics. Polyethylene ("polythene").

have u ever seen a plastic roller for sugar cane pressing? I have not. I don't have an info about using plastic. will it hold the acidic juice or begin to leach?besides plastics have to lead free and PBS (or BPS) free too, to be consider edible.

I gather there is acid resistant grade in 304 variety. It should be much cheaper than 316L or Hastalloy.

can u mention its exact grade?

You should contact your local food hygiene dept at the council etc, they will have details of local and national regulations. Normally, metal must be coated as it can be toxic.

The grade of SS is relevant to any pressure issues, but you will have to be certified for production of foodstuffs and pass health and hygiene inspections. Failure to do this could land you in serious trouble if you let anyone but yourself eat the stuff. Also, if you use metal and you are sealing it, you will need to pasteurize it for long storage. Why not use glass jars?

regards

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cookware_and_bakeware
maybe this help.