Sugar

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 44, 17 May 1929, Page 8

Sugar

Lecture at 1YA "THERE is no article in such everyday use as sugar. Therefore the lecturette given from 1YA on May by Mr. Arthur Fairburn, of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, Limited, was interesting. Although the subject covers a vast range of industry, from the growing of the cane to the placing of'‘refined sugar on the breakfast table, Mr. Fairburn showed himself capable of compressing it adequately and interestingly into the space of 15 minutes. With a brief description of the method of growing the cane and an outline of the operation of harvesting the crop, which tranges from 20 to 80 tons per acre, Mr. Fairburn passed on to describe the process in the mill. Here the cane goes under a row of heavy revolving knives, called the "leveller," and passes on to a preliminary "crusher" or "shredder." These processes are designed to present an even feed of shredded cane to the rollers. These rollers take the form of a giant mangle, consisting of heavy grooved horizontal iron cylinders 5 to 7ft. in length, and 28 to 36 inches in diameter. The crushed cane is next saturated with limed water, which assists the extraction of the sugar from the cells of the crushed and shredded cane. The juice as it comes from the rollers looks like muddy water, and in this form contains the equivalent of 10 per cent. of the crystal sugar eventually attained, 86 per cent. water, and 4 per cent. impurities held in solution. The cane at this stage has served its purpose, and is fed to the furnace as fuel, the ashes eventually passing. back to the land as fertiliser. Separation is carried out by process of filtration and evaporation. Stage by stage unwanted water and impurities are removed, and a thick syrup evolved. In this form the sugar reaches the refinery at Chelsea. With specially conserved water the sugar is then melted and put through a further series of refinements. The final stages are for the brown liquor, heavily saturated with sugar, to pass through huge tanks eontaining granulated bone charcoal. This charcoal, or char, removes nearly all the impurities and allows a practically colourless liquor to emerge. Boiling under vacuum leads up to the final separation of the crystals under centrifugal force. These centrifugals revolve at the very high speed of 600 to 1000 revolutions per minute, and drive the liquor or syrup through the perforated sides, retaining the crystals in the interior. These crystals form the white sugar. The final action is to scrape the sugar crystals out, dry the mass under hot air, and pass the sugar through graders ready for packing. At every single stage chemical control is maintained. There is no waste in the industry, every particle of the cane being put to use first and last Apart from its use as fuel, cane fibre is made into wallboard with great insulating properties. It is also used as base for fibrous plaster, and even artificial silk may be made from it. Motor spirit is extracted from molasses, and finally the c02 gas given off in distillation is used by aerated water manufacturers,