During the concentration of sugarcane juice, there is continuous deposition of nonsugar impurities on the
surface of evaporator units. Because the scale deposit has a low thermal conductivity, its accumulation impairs
heat transfer and eventually renders the process uneconomical owing to reduced throughput. Calcium oxalate
is the main intractable scale formed in factories that process sugarcane. It is not removed by conventional
chemical cleaning methods. This paper describes studies on the apparent solubility product of calcium oxalate
in the presence of sugar and calcium and magnesium ions at different temperatures and pH's. A solubility
product model was obtained that states that the apparent solubility product of calcium oxalate decreases with
increasing temperature and sugar concentration, but increases with increasing pH. The model was able to
predict calcium oxalate solubility changes in raw sugarcane factory processes, indicating that the apparent
solubility product of calcium oxalate declines rapidly through the evaporator set. The results also indicated
that calcium oxalate solubility is increased in the presence of calcium and, in particular, magnesium ions.