Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1916-12-05
Advances in Methods of Sugar Production Detailed to
PLanfers Association in Its Annual Gathering Today
MODERN PRACTISE ON MECHANICAL
SIDEOF SUGAR PRODUCTION GIVEN

TO by the Honolulu Iron Works Com.
pany on account OF its simplicity in
construction and positiyeRess OF hold,
ing the cap in position
The old style intermediate slat con,
yeyor is gradually being eliminated in
favor of the new designs. which allow
of cleaner mill and do away with a
great deal of the breakages which oc-
cur in the old system Seventeen OF
the "Ewart" type tight.bottom inter.
mediate bagasse eonveyors have been
installed in the last two seasons, and
IL more will go in for the coming
season.
r Juice Strainers: The present type
of Stat and chain Juice strainer leaves
much to be desired, as they are al
ways dirty, take UP great deal of
room, are continually breaking down
and always are source of infection
to sweet cane juices Ii is hoped that
something will be done in the near
future which will give US a simpler
form of strainer.
The use of centrifugal pumps for
handling mill juices as we'll as the
mixed juices is gradually corning, re,
placing the direct-aeting pumps. which
were constant sources of trouble
through breakage of valve stems, etc.
Boilers: With the introduction OF
the steam turbine for driving Searby
shrededrs and auxiliaries throughout
the sugar house, has come the naces-
sity of higher steam preSsures than
can be made by return tubular fire
tube boilers. Several installations are
being made of water tube boilers of
the Stirling type. The Babcoek & Viii
cox boilers have been in use on two
plantations on Oahu for many, years,
but they have not given the success
which can be rightly expected from
the water tube boilers, especially de-
signed for sugar house work.
In the 7x20-foot return tubular boil
err we have reached The limit as to
size of boilers, and the need for
higher pressures which would require
heavier plate in boiler construction
makes it impracticable to design boil
ers OF this kind to carry pressures
over $50 pounds per So. in.
Furnaces: There has been consider
able experimenting done of late on
spacing between the bars OF the in.
clined CRATES and the angle of inclina-
ton necessary for the efficient burn
ing of bagasse of mills. equipped with
Searby shredders or from mills where
the crushing is so efficient as to prac-
tically powder the bagasse. The
Ginaca-Keech furnace has met with
approval, due to the fact that 1t is
designed on the right principle, and
its adoption will undoubtedly be gen.
eral before very long.
Boiler Feed Pumps: There is
tendency toward the installation OF
the steam turbine or motor-driven
multi-stage centrifugal pump for this
purpose.
Juice Hesters: We still adhere to
the so-called Deming type OF juice
heater because it is the simplest form
of heater known to us. Its cleaning,
however, is big problem, and much
can be done towards eliminating this
trouble.
Settling Tanks: There are a num-
her of advocates of the continuous
TYNE of Juice settler, but those VINO
believe that intermittent settling IS
satisfactory far outnumber those 10
the former class. The mills, however,
are working now toward the adoption
of tanks of very large capacity Ia
order to cut down the cost OF manlpu
lation and radiation losses. TIE con-
tinuous settler, however, has many
advantages and may yet succeed the
intermittent type if continuous set
tier giving clear Juice constantly can
be devised
Evsporators: While number oil
film evaporators have been tried In the
islands, present practise seems to
point toward the adoption of standard
multiple effects, as changes in the de-
sign during the last few years have
led to remarkable evaporatiye eff
ciencies which have equaled the re.
suits obtained from film eyaporators,
and the fact that standard submerged
effects can be easily cleaned has led
to their readoption almost uniyer.
sally.
Filter Presses: This station has
been one of the eyeseres of the mod
ern factory for many years, and
while numerous new types of filters
have been given trial, the old plate
and frame press seems to meet pres
ent conditions best Much improve.
ment, however, can be made in the
design of these presses for reasons
best known to the mill operator, and
We should see development along
Continued on Page Id