The Honolulu republican. [volume] (Honolulu, T.H.) 1900-1902, 1900-07-07
UTILITY OF BAGASSE FUEL
INTERESTING COMMENTS BY LOU.
IsIANA PLANTER.
Some OF the Details of Recent Discus.
sion by the Sugar Asso-
citation.

The Louisiana Planter has published
some interesting supplemental COM
ments upon the utilization of bagasse
as fuel which subject was very fully
discussed in the Louisiana Sugar Plan
ters' Association The following are
the Planters comments:
I'VE desire, however, to bring out
some of the more salient points of TIE
discussion. Three of these were quite
conspicuous. Mr.. R. c. Comeaux ad-
verted TO the fact that he had used ba-
gasse directly under the boilers in place
of coal and had done this without any
driving process other than the degree of
dryness obtained by reasonably good
extraction and at times a delay of 4
few hours between the time that the
bagasse was produced and the time
that it was burned under the boilers.
It is a well-known fact that for zoe
years sugars have been male in the
tropics with no other fuel than the ba-
gasse of the cane used in sugar-making.
It has hitherto been necessary, how
ever, to dry this bagasse il the sun,
in order to make ii desirable fuel. and
the amount of labor requisite 10 carry
the bagasse out to the drying places
and to return IL to the furnaces has
II -
earnest efforts to invent apparatuses
that should burn the bagasse as il
came directly from the mills.
In the tropics the dry bagasse was
for many years, and in most cases is
still, fed into the furnaces just as We
do. or as coal would be fed into the
same furnaces. II is consumed on
CRATE bars and directly under open
trains, where the cane juice is thus
boiled, or directly under the steam
boilers where steam is used for evapor-
alton, and also under the steam boil
ers that drive the mill engines.
MIR. Comeaux has found that he
could burn bagasse IN this way with
what seemed 10 be complete success,
but his work OF this kind was generally
done when his sugar house was not in
full operation. His conclusions, based
upon his own experience, were that
bagasse could be successfully burned in
the furnaces found ordinarily under
boilers by feeding 1t in evenly ever the
CRATE bars as other fuel would be fed.
The next point brought out as we
think with striking clearness, by Mr..
E. L. Stream. was the value CT external
furnaces for burning bagasss rather
than to have them directly under the
boilers. These external furnaces.
known generally as Dutch ovens. have
been used for more than half q CEN
tary everywhere in burning refractory
fuels A half a century ago the reger-
beratory or air furnaces were almost
exclusively used for melting iron. Cast
iron melts at about $500 f. Ii is well
known that the interior of our hagasse
furnaces becomes coated with glass. or
melted silica. the sand OF the sugar
cane making 1iis CLASSY eosssins which
requires temperature Of about ssea
r. Mr.. Stream. IN building the bagasss
furnaces al the Creamery central sugar
house. built them with lower crowns
than usual, the arch. we think, stand
ing about IA feet above the level Of the
CRATE bars. AS proven by the air fur
mace melting iron. and By the bSgasss
furnace melting or producing glass.
these high temperatures can Se reached
in such furnaces, but they ricst be ex-
ternal TO The boilers and made with
arches OF refractory material. ordinar-
ily IRE brick.
In tho burning Of hagasse. sawiust.
and tan bark, 20 which these furnaces
have been adapted. there is rarely less
than 50 per cent Of water n the fuel
thus burned. When this fuel Is con-
sumed at low initial temperature.
aax eherrY RIA. or 1890 r. or bright