A new 750 cm3 pilot test rig based on the “isochoric pressure method” was designed and commissioned for the hydrate measurements to concentrate sucrose solutions. The reactor included an improved agitation system and enabled sampling of the sucrose solutions. The experimental method was validated be performing dissociation measurements for the CO2 + water system. Gas hydrate kinetic and sampling data were measured for the CO2 + sucrose solutions at sucrose concentrations between (12–60) oBrix, within the temperature range of (274.65–276.15) K and at pressures up to 3.70 MPa. Results showed that sucrose is a kinetic inhibitor. The data were modeled to obtain hydrate formation rate, storage capacity, gas consumption and apparent rate constant. Stage‐wise concentration measurements were performed with reactor conditions at 274.65 K, 3.70 MPa and 130 rpm mixer speed with liquid sample withdrawal. A final sucrose product of approximately 60 oBrix was obtained.

Hydrate dissociation conditions were studied for the CO2/refrigerant + sucrose/fructose/glucose solution systems as a continuation of previous work into alternate separation technologies for the sugar manufacturing industries. Experimental data were measured following the isochoric pressure method for the CO2 + sucrose/fructose solution systems. The refrigerants studied for the modeling purpose were R410a, R507, R134a, and R22 using literature data. The pressure and temperature ranges for the experimental data measured here were (1.80–4.10) MPa and (276.6–282.6) K, respectively, with solutions measured in the composition range between 0 to 0.40 mass fraction sucrose and fructose. Several models following the Van der Waals–Platteeuw solid solution theory were developed to predict the hydrate dissociation conditions of CO2/fluorinated refrigerant in the presence of sucrose/fructose/glucose solutions. The modeling results provide a satisfactory representation of the experimental data, with AARD(P) % model errors in the overall range between 0.03% and 4.40%.

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Sugar cane juice concentration via evaporation is the traditional method, though the downside in this technique is the product loss due to sucrose inversion. Gas hydrate separation is an emerging technology applied in desalination, carbon capture, and in this study, for concentrating fruit juice by trapping the water in the form of crystalline cages. A 750 cm 3 hydrate reactor was used for hydrate formation experiments to concentrate the sugar cane juice, with a sampling of the concentrate to determine the final solids content. Hydrate formation experiments showed the successful concentration of a 0.12 mass fraction feed to approximately 0.56 mass fraction using four batchwise concentration stages. A comparison of the energy usage between the evaporation train as used in sugar factories and a single batch hydrate formation stage, to concentrate a 0.12 mass fraction feed to 0.30 mass fraction showed an energy reduction of approximately 20% for the hydrate method.