Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-26
BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY
Grown to Great Proportions
in Recent Years.
MILLIONS INVESTED
PROCESS OF REDUCTION rs MOST
INTERESTING.
Business is Now ON Profitable and
Permanent Basis-The Final
Product.
MILLIONS INVESTED

mast five wears this Industry has leaped for
ward with wonderful strides until it Is now,
beyond question. ON permanent and pay
Ing basis. There are now more than
$50. 600 Invested In plants for the manu-
facture OF, this class of sugar. to say moth
/ ing of the immense sums represented In the
cultivation of the particular variety OF beet
that is best adapted for the production.
And one of the most potent advocates of.
this department is the work that has been
done In perfecting this beet. At the begin
ming of the last century the sugar beet con-
+ tanned but per cent of sugar; 1t now con-
+ tains from IA to 20 per cent. and its high
est development has been reached In the
United States from seed imported from Eu-
rope. Until very recently all of the best
seeds were imported from the mother coun-
| try but thy are now grown In large guam
titles in California, Michigan and elsewhere.
I'm the erection of factories for the man.
ufacture of beet sugar the Weather Bureau
| has co-operated with the bureau OF cnem-
istry in determining upon the most favor-
able localities by reason of their equaDle
temperature, the advice Of the bureaus De-
ing kindly taken by investors. 1t follows
that the factories are nearly all located in
belt of which Nebraska is the geographic
center, and the buildings are all of the most
substantial construction, the business being
no longer speculative, but permanent. Inc
method of extracting. sugar from beets.
though simple is a sealed book to the aver,
age person, the business having developed
so rapidly and quietly that 1t has attracted
little attention to any save those financially
interested. 1t Is most interesting, neVerthe-
less.
Storing and Washing.
Storage of the raw material plays no
small part in the economy of the business,
room having to be provided for many thou-
sands of tons of the vegetables awaiting
treatment, and the device generally used is
,-oho nod
floor, along the bottom of which extends a
canal. made of metal or masonry, reaching
from the storage place to the factory. BE-
fore the bins are filed with beets this canal
Is covered with boards, beneath which runs
a current of water.
when material is desired board Is re-
moved and the beets allowed to fail to the
stream of water, which carries them 10
their destination. The canal has double
purpose, much of the soil being removed
from the beets during their run to the
machinery, but they are given another
bath in specially designed machine be-
fore being carried to the slicng apparatus.
In the modern factory the washed beets
are weighed by an automatic SCALE and at
any time the superintendent Is able to tell
the exact amount OF material that mas
gone to the factory, and, comparing this
with the output of sugar, determine the
proportion of sugar being extracted from a
given quantity of beets.
Extracting the Sugar.
1.-The actual extraction of the sugar was
formerly done by means of pressure, out
this rather primitive method has given
way to what is known as the diffusion pro-
cess This operation is conducted in
series of a dozen or more closed metal
tanks connected by an elaborate system OF
pipes and valves. Each tank in this bat
terry has a capacity of ton or more OF
beets, and in operating it a tank Is filed
with slices of beets, that have been cut
into shape, by knives placed on revolving
disk. and the top door closed Hot water
is then admitted at the bottom until all
the space not occupied by the beets is
filled
while the water is flowing into the
first tank the second is being Filed with
beet slices, and as soon as the second tank
is filled the conveyor which brings the
slices to the battery Is adjusted to de-
liver them to third tank. and so on.
the current of slices being diverted to an
empty tank as soon as one is filed. When
the first tank is filed with liquid it Is al
lowed to flow into tank number two, and
through it into number three and so on
through the entire series as fast as they
are filed with beets and the doors closed.
The current of hot water enters tank num-
Der one continuously and the resultant
liquid passes through the system of pip ng
referred to until all but two of the tanks
of the battery filed The manipul ion
is then varied by drawing liquid from the
cell last filled into a measuring tank be-
fore the current is turned into the next
tank of fresh slices. This portion of hot
water has passed through ten or more
tanks of fresh beet slices. has approximate
ly eighth-tenths of the juice riginally con-
tanned in the beets and is called diffusion
juice.
Process of Diffusion.
1.-THE sugar is extracted from the beets
partially by a displacement of the juice by
hot water, but largely by the process OF
diffusion, the sugar disffusing from the
slices into the liquid which surrounds them.
The slices contained in the cell which
first filed have now been washed with ten
or twelve successive portions of hot water
and contain less than one-half of 1 per cent
Of sugar. This tank is then emphed in or
der to make room for more fresh slices,
the process being continuous. Every time
a tank Is filled with fresh slices and juice
and a portion of the diffusion juice drawn
off, the tank at the opposite end of the
line contains exhausted slices and is emp
tied. An elaborate process of publication
follows the extraction OF the diffusion
juice before it Is In condition for evapora-
ton for the recovery of the sugar contain
ed in 1t. Lime and carbonc acid gas are
the agents used, and both are obtained from
kiln which Is kept in operation for the
| purpose. The kiln is charged with coke
and limestone at the top and the burnt
lime Withdrawn at the bottom, the combus-
ton of the coke and decomposition OF the,
limestone forming carbonic acid gas In
large Quantities The gas Is drawn from
through the juice, which has at that time
been transferred to the carbonitation tanks
THE entire process of publication In
cludes five filtrations and two successive
treatments with lime and carbonic acid gas
and filters through which 1t Is forced re-
tain all of the pieces of pulp that may be
contained in It. After being treated with
large excess of lime carbonic acid gas IS
forced through the hot juice until the lime
Is precipitated. After filtration the clear
juice Is again treated with lime and car
bon dioxide and again filtered, then receive
ing bath Of burning sulphur, which
beaches it, again filtered and finally Il "a
ready for the evaporation.
Reducing the Liquid.
AFTER having been purified by this meth
| cd the juice is evaporated to syrup con-
tanning equal parts Of water and solid mat
ter. This evaporation Is done by multiple
effect steam heated vacuum evaporators
forming series Of pans, each OF which Is
heated by the hot juice from it's predeces-
sor. except the first. that being heated By
steam from the engine. In the first Pan the
juice boils at the atmospheric pressure,
but this pressure Is successfully reduced
until the liquid Is boiling at as nearly
vacuum as can be secured. All Of the.
operations are continuous. the juice being
pumped into the first pan while the finish