Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The project generated twenty-three outputs in the form of eleven presentations and twelve publications. Presentations were given at five professional conferences, five industry factory operation's seminars and one international program. The publications include one abstract and one peer-reviewed article, two articles in a farm/factory bulletin and eight reports in proceedings of factory operation's seminars. Information was also included in departmental annual reports. Results of all mill extraction and boiler efficiency tests conducted were disseminated to each of the factories where the work was conducted. PARTICIPANTS: Harold Birkett and Jeanie Stein and personnel from the 11 sugar factories operating in Louisiana along with selected personnel from USDA-ARS Southern Regional Research Center and the American Sugar Cane League. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences for this project include raw sugar processors and associated engineers. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Milling tests (and diffuser tests where applicable) were conducted at all Louisiana sugar factories to determine open cells, moisture, fiber and pol (sugar) extraction of individual milling units and the tandem as a whole. Results of these tests indicated which mills in the tandem were not performing as well as expected. Factory engineers used these results to make adjustments in the milling process, which led to increased mill pol (sugar) extraction or indicated where future work should be directed. One of the more important outcomes is that increasing the amount of imbibition water used resulted in an increase in pol extraction. Because of these results, four factories increased the amount of imbibition water and in doing so, increased their pol extraction (reducing sugar losses in bagasse). Information from these tests also persuaded one factory that it would be more cost-effective to stop the milling process to allow time to repair a broken mill roll instead of continuing with only 80 percent of the tandem to the end of harvest season. Another important outcome was that four individual factories used results from this project to justify the cost (approximately $2,000,000 each) of replacing a mill or the installation of a new mill. Field soil recirculation to the dewatering mills of a diffuser installation was found to be substantial and the cause of excessive mill wear. Settling and dirt removal from the recirculated juices was implemented at one factory with a diffuser and should reduce mill wear and yield cleaner bagasse for the boilers. Over the period of this study (2006-2010), the average mill tandem pol (sugar) extraction has increased from 92.44 to 94.40 percent. This is equivalent to approximately 3 pounds sugar per ton cane or about 36 million pounds of sugar per year worth $7.2 million. Boiler efficiency tests were conducted at all Louisiana sugar factories. Test results given to the factories included fuel (bagasse) analysis, amount of excess air being used, flue gas temperature and analysis, and boiler efficiency. Factory engineers used these results to adjust their boiler operations, improve steam/energy production and as justification for making costly improvements to their boiler station. Two factories that installed new boilers utilized data from this study to specify more efficient boilers. Improved mill work also contributed to increased boiler efficiency. Supplemental fuel usage decreased on average from 0.02 MCF (thousand cubic feet) of gas per ton cane to 0.006 MCF per ton cane which was a savings of $710,000. Sugar factories have abandoned or greatly reduced cane washing due to high sugar losses with the change from wholestalk to billeted cane currently being processed. However, a method to clean billeted cane is still needed. New equipment designs are still required (preferably for dry cleaning) but prototypes are not yet available for testing.
Publications
- Birkett, H. and Stein, J. 2007. Energy Self-Sufficiency and Cogeneration in Louisiana Cane Sugar Factories. ASI Factory Operations Seminar, p. 1-21.
- Birkett, H. and Stein, J. 2008. Louisiana Mill and Boiler Performance for 2005-07 Crops. ASI Factory Operations Seminar, p. 1-16.
- Birkett, H. and Stein, J. 2009. Mill Performance Summary Following 2008 Crop. ASI Factory Operations Seminar, p. 7-10.
- Birkett, H. and Stein, J. 2009. Performance of Plate Heaters in the Louisiana Sugar Industry. ASI Factory Operations Seminar, p. 11-13.
- Birkett, H. and Stein, J. 2009. Evaporator Heat Transfer Coefficients. ASI Factory Operations Seminar, p. 23-28.
- Birkett, H. and Stein, J. 2009. BMA Massecuite Conditioner (Mingler). ASI Factory Operations Seminar, p. 29-30.
- Birkett, H. and Stein, J. 2010 Millability of Three Commercial Louisiana Cane Varieties. ASI Factory Operations Seminar, p. 13-14.
- Birkett, H. and Stein, J. 2010. Preliminary Study of Entrainment Losses in Louisiana Raw Sugar Factories. ASI Factory Operations Seminar, p. 53-59.
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Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The project generated three outputs in the form of presentations at one factory operations seminar and one training meeting. In addition, the results of all mill extraction and boiler efficiency tests conducted were disseminated to the individual factories where the research was conducted. PARTICIPANTS: Harold Birkett and Jeanie Stein - Audubon Sugar Institute, LSU AgCenter TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences for this project include raw sugar processors and associated scientists and engineers. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Milling tests were conducted at several Louisiana raw sugar factories to determine open cells, moisture, fiber and pol (sugar) extraction of individual milling units and the tandem as a whole. Results of these tests indicated which mills in the tandem were not performing as well as expected. Factory engineers used these results to make adjustments in the milling process, which led to increased mill pol (sugar) extraction or indicated where future work should be directed. Boiler efficiency tests were conducted at Louisiana raw sugar mills as part of this project. Test results given to the factories included fuel (bagasse) analysis, amount of excess air being used, flue gas temperature and analysis, and boiler efficiency. Factory engineers used these results to adjust their boiler operations, to minimize emissions, improve steam/energy production and as justification for making costly improvements to their boiler station.
Publications
- Birkett, H. and Stein, J. 2009. Mill Performance Summary. Sugar Bulletin, 87(11):17-19.
- Birkett, H. and Stein, J. 2009. Bagasse Boiler Performance Summary. Sugar Bulletin, 87(11):19-21.
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Progress 01/01/08 to 12/31/08
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The project generated two outputs in the form of presentations at one industrial seminar and one annual industry meeting. In addition, the results of all mill extraction and boiler efficiency tests conducted were disseminated to the individual factories where the research was conducted. PARTICIPANTS: Harold Birkett and Jeanie Stein TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences for this project include raw sugar processors and associated scientists and engineers. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
Milling tests were conducted at several Louisiana raw sugar factories to determine open cells, moisture, fiber and pol (sugar) extraction of individual milling units and the tandem as a whole. Results of these tests indicated which mills in the tandem were not performing as well as expected. Factory engineers used these results to make adjustments in the milling process, which led to increased mill pol (sugar) extraction or indicated where future work should be directed. Field soil recirculation to the dewatering mills of a diffuser installation was found to be substantial and the cause of excessive mill wear. Settling and dirt removal from the recirculated juices is under consideration, which if implemented, would reduce mill wear and yield cleaner bagasse for the boilers. Boiler efficiency tests were conducted at several Louisiana raw sugar mills as part of this project. Test results given to the factories included fuel (bagasse) analysis, amount of excess air being used, flue gas temperature and analysis, and boiler efficiency. Factory engineers used these results to adjust their boiler operations, improve steam/energy production and as justification for making costly improvements to their boiler station.
Publications
- Birkett, H. and Stein, J. 2008. Energy Self-Sufficiency and Cogeneration in Louisiana Cane Sugar Factories. Journal American Society of Sugar Cane Technologists, (28): 1-21.
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Progress 01/01/07 to 12/31/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The project generated three outputs in the form of presentations at two professional conferences and one industrial seminar. One of these presentations has been prepared and submitted for publication. In addition, the results of all mill extraction and boiler efficiency tests conducted were disseminated to the individual factories where the research was conducted.
PARTICIPANTS: Harold Birkett and Jeanie Stein
TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences for this project include raw sugar processors and associated scientists and engineers.
Impacts
Milling tests were conducted at several Louisiana raw sugar factories to determine open cells, moisture, fiber and pol (sugar) extraction of individual milling units and the tandem as a whole. One of the more important outcomes is that increasing the amount of imbibition used resulted in an increase in pol extraction. Because of these results, four factories increased the amount of imbibition and in doing so, increased their pol extraction (reducing sugar losses in bagasse). Information from these tests also persuaded one factory that it would be more cost-effective to stop the milling process to allow time to repair a broken mill roll instead of continuing with only 80% of the tandem to the end of harvest season. Boiler efficiency tests were conducted at several Louisiana raw sugar mills as part of this project. Test results given to the factories included fuel (bagasse) analysis, amount of excess air being used, flue gas temperature and analysis, and boiler
efficiency. Factory engineers used these results to adjust their boiler operations and improve steam/energy production. One factory (which burned more gas per ton cane this crop than any other) is using this year's results as part of the justification for making costly improvements to their boiler station.
Publications
- Birkett, H. and Stein, J. 2007. Louisiana Milling Results (2005 & 2006). Abstract, Journal American Society of Sugar Cane Technologists, p.78.
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Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/06
Outputs
Seventeen mill tests were conducted at 12 sugar factories and 1 syrup factory in 2006. Cane and bagasse samples were collected and analyzed to determine individual mill and overall tandem extraction. Overall pol extraction ranged from 87.6% to 95.9% and averaged 92.4%. First mill extraction ranged from 35.3% to 67.3% and averaged 55.6%. Preparation index was also measured, ranging from 71.1% to 91.2% and averaged 80.3%. Pol % bagasse averaged 2.6%, ranging from 1.4% to 3.9%. Sixty-six bagasse boilers were tested at 13 factories. Bagasse samples were also collected during boiler tests. Moisture % bagasse ranged from 49.4 to 57.1 and averaged 52.3%. Ash % bagasse ranged from 1.8 to 12.8 and averaged 6.1%. Excess air and boiler efficiency were determined. The excess air measured 11.7% to 425% and averaged 83.5%. Boiler efficiency ranged from 36% to 66% and averaged 56%. Pounds steam produced per pound of bagasse burned ranged from 1.3 to 2.4 and averaged 1.9.
Impacts
Results were used by sugar factory personnel to make improvements during the harvest/processing season by adjusting mill settings to reduce mill losses and adjusting boiler operations to improve steam production.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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