The Hawaiian gazette., 1901-04-23
PROGRESS IN
SUGAR MACHINERY

Quite number Of new departures
have been made both In the engineering
and manufacturing departments OF IN,
sugar factories OF the Hawaiian Isl
.ands. In the engineering departm' mi
the greatest change consists In sub
stituting water-tube boilers In place oI
the old style tubular and tandem boil
'crs. The water-tube type is undoubt.
eddy giving good satisfaction, and FROM
experiments that we have made wit!
Arndt's patent gas Weighing apparatus
we find that the water-tube of tbs
Heine type shows better combustion
than does either the multi tubular OF
the tandem boilers.
Another change is to substitute the
Imulti-tubular in place of the tandem
boiler. This change, to the surprise 81
n great many people, is said to be IN
the right direction, or, at least, in the
sugar factories where this experiment
has been made, they claim to get better
results than they ever got with the tan
dem style OF setting.
The tandem boilers. should say, con-
sist of one multi-tubular and one flue
or Galloway boiler. set one in front of
the other, or tandem, as they are called;
and the sizes are usually about 70 in. in
diameter by Is IT. long to 70 in. diameter
and 10 TT. long. The size of the single
multi-tubular as 1t is called, Is gem
orally 70 in. in diameter and IS IT. long,
with eighty in. tubes.
| The success of the single multi-tubu-
lar boiler is largely due, l think, to
the improved or new style Of furnace.
These furnaces are of the oven shape,
or style, and are set some distance in
front of the boiler. They are also fitted
with hot air pipes, and have small flues
running along each side of the furnace.
coming out at the back of the bridge
wall The furnaces are also fitted with
both step-ladder and horizontal CRATE
bars.
Another requisite we have found for
the successful and economical burning
of bagasse Is a deep flame bed, large
fires and strong draft. The reason for
lowering the flame bed is that the gases
have a better chance to revolve, mix
and combine, and, consequently, show
better combustion. We have the
Arndt's patent gas weighing machine
constantly in use in the Kukaiau mill,
and 1t is fast coming into use all over
the islands. And much of our success
is due to the knowledge that we have
derived from this little instrument.
The Corliss engine and the steam en-
CINE Indicator are now found in nearly
every sugar mill; so we believe we get,
not only all of the available heat from
the fuel, but also use the steam in the
most economical manner. In the boiling
house the Lille quadruple effect is now
to be seen in many of the first class,
up-to- date, sugar houses.
Capitalization in motion Is also fast
growing into favor, and it is only the
extreme cost of this style of apparatus
that keeps 1t out Of a great many sugar
houses.
Superheat Qualification I have men,
toned before; but will say that this
method is still growing in favor, and,
believe. 1t will soon be found In all
of the large factories of the islands.
AT the. Kukaiau factory some expert
ments have been made with the new
style of centrifugal lining. This new
style has elongated conical holes, and
we have found that this kind of hole is
really better than the round holes. For
instance, after weighing out equal
amounts of masse cutie for each ma
chine, we found that the new style
yielded five pounds more of No. sugar
than the old style, which is certainly
great advantage.
1t is also the practice in this mill, and
in quite a number OF others, to double
press the mud. This, we think, Is quite
an advantage as the sucrose in the
cake is brought down to IL to per
cent
Sugar Boiling-At the Kukaiau mill
and a few Of the other mills, but one
grade of sugar Is made, the second
third, fourth grades being returned to
the vacuum pan. This method Is
thought to be quite an advantage:
first, because higher percentage of
No. sugar is made; second, because
higher average test is secured than can
be got by making four grades: third,
because the waste molasses Is reduced
in test many degrees below the old
method. One sugar boiler is reported
to have reduced the test to 20 per cent.
stfcrose. We have also to report the
adoption of a new style detachable link
betting, which Is said to surpass in
and durability any of the old
styles.-Geo. Osborne in the Louisiana
Planter.