The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1914-12-25
Mill EFFICIENCY
AND ENGINEERING
Improvement IN Mil Balance viii
Cut Cost Of Sugar
Production

The discussiohs at the recent meet
ing Of the planters association have
aroused spirit Of rivalry between the
mill experts and the agricuiturists.
Each claims that the greatest posi-.
biIities towards increased profits in SUI
gar production lie along his own es.
pecial field Of endeavor.
pr. r. 5. Norris and other members
Of the experiment station star stated
during the meeting that crop improve
ment holds greater possibilities for the
planters than mill Improvement, or mo
difcptiops in boiling house practises
Alonzo Gartley has taken up the ead-
gels for the engineers and chemists,
claiming that mill inventions which
Increase extraction and diminish waste
are in the long run more profitable be-
cause they work In two directions, in.
creasing the yield as ressed in
pounds Of sugar in the bag aud decreas-
ing the cost Of putting it there.
! A Difference Of Opinion
Each uses the same evidence hut ar
riyes at different conclusions. The age
riculturists say that because life as ex-
/, pressed by the growing cane plant is
an unknown factor Therefore there are
greater pos abilities in improving yields
| through plant selection, plant breeding
nd soil treatment to produce better
| grcwinr conditions.
On the other hand the engineers say
that because the living cane must al.
ways yield unSolyable problems the
greatest gains will come in those feds
where the laws Of cause and effect
/ work with precision. Given certain mn
varying formulate the engineer and the
chemist apply known rules and secure
Nmathematieally correct and definite re-
suits.
An advance once made in engineer
| ing Practise is never lost, they say.
whereas an iniprovemeRt ~ the yield
] Of slcrose in the cane itself is not eapa.
bic Of absolute duplication. Further
more gains in the mill work are not de.
pendent on the human equation. !,
A three per cent Increase In mill cx-
traction may yield an eight per cent
gain por unit Of cost. An eighs Rer
cent gain iu total cane per acre on the
Othci hduu 10 hOAo iidbtci w iHcfVooe
the unit Of cost per pound Of sugar IN
the bag.
Mr.. Gartley states that the largest
actual or tangible profits made in re-
cent years have come through properly
balancing the mill and boiling house
equipment, building up where the equip
ment was weak, describing units OF
manufacture whore there was an over
supply. The engineer with an inven
tioh to sell has had far too much ingn
ence in mill construction. What il
needed now by the sugar industry as 4
whole is an engineering staff that arc
trained to study effects from the stand
point Of engineering efficiency, or bal
ance. A consulting engineer loses his
( usefulness when he becomes welded ia
the idea that optimum results can only
be obtained from the use of one par.
ticuIar type Of machinery, and especial
~ il the enplaeement Of that particular
type Of apparatus in sugar mill IL "a
adj to bis own remuneration
Mr.. Gartley states that scientific
study Of the mills on large number
OF Hawaiian plantations has resulted ID
the discovery Of amazing weakness and
under-equipmcnt in plants supposedly az
near the ideal Of sugar producing Ell
cheney as il is possible to build them.
Some mills had too little boiler eapa-
city for economical steam production
Others lacked CHARTERS, centritugals,
crystal GERS and pans. Some mills were
found to be beavily overloaded with
machinery and we're spending money to
do work that was entirely useless.
He compares d sugar mill TO chain
which is DO stronger than its weakest
link, or TO a city water main built Of
piping Of varying diameter--its deliv-
cry capacity limited by the diameter OF
its smallest section. The possession OF
. batteries Of imposing looking machin'
cry, no matter how efficient the indi.
yidpal units may be, docs not neces-
sarily prove that sugar is being manu-
featured at the lowest possible cost,
The capacity Of a sugar mill is limit.
ed by the maximum capacity of Us
weakest unit.