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THE CUBA REVIEW 



ALL AROUND CUBA 



THE INFLAMMABILITY OF SUGAR DUST 



Some two years ago, owing to some serious 

 (lust explosions which took phice in factories 

 in the United Kingdom, the Home Office 

 (^onmiissioned Dr. Wheeler, an explosives ex- 

 pert, to carry out some tests for inflamma- 

 bility on dusts of^various kinds collected from 

 the roof timbers and elsewhere in the working 

 rooms of factories. In all some 66 samples of 

 dust were tested. Sugar dust and dextrin 

 dust were found to be the most readily in- 

 flammable of all, the source of heat required 

 for ignition being comparatively small, such, 

 for example, a lighted match. Sugar ignites 

 when projected as a cloud against a surface 

 heated to below red heat, and when ignition 

 has taken place, the flame travels through the 

 dust cloud with great rapidity. 



Tests with sugar dust, dried and sieved 

 through a sieve 200 meshes to the linear inch, 

 and then blown in a dust cloud against a 

 heated coil, showed that the ignition tempera- 

 ture was about 805°C. Dextrin requii-ed 

 about 940°C. and sugar refuse 970°C. But it 

 was proved that the formation of the ignitible 

 mixtm-e will depend not only on the tempera- 

 ture of the source of heat, but also on the 

 density of the dust cloud, and on the readi- 

 ness with which iiiflammable gas is evolved 

 from the dust; and, most important of all, 

 on the length of time during which the dust 

 particles are heated. 



For, given an infinite time of contact be- 

 tween the particles and the source of heat, 

 there is ample time for the destructive dis- 

 tillation of the dust and the evolution of 

 inflammable gas; thenceforward the tempera- 

 ture necessary for ignition should be api)roxi- 

 mately that of the inflammalile gases evolved. 

 Sugar for example is known to yield a mixture 

 of the paraffin and olefin hydrocarbons, car- 

 bon monoxide and carbon dioxide; and in 

 some further tests to find the lowest ignition 

 empgrature under prolonged exposure to 

 heat, it was found that the figure for sugar, as 

 well as for dextrin, was as low, as 540 C, 

 while sugar refuse was ignited at 630 C. And 

 it may l)e further observed that if any par- 

 ticular dust is exposed sufficiently long to the 

 source of heat to develop an inflammable 

 mixture of gas and air, this mixture on ignit- 

 ing at low temperture might by its combus- 

 tion provide sufficient heat to cause the in- 

 flammation of an adjoining layer of dust and 



air, the ignition temperature of which is. 

 much higher. — Internationa' Sugar Journal. 



SUGAR MACHINERY FOR CUBA 



The prosperity of eastern Cuba depends 

 chiefly on its sugar production. While the 

 European war has seriously affected the 

 commerce of many countries, the reverse is 

 true in Cuba; in fact, the continual advance 

 in the price of sugar since the beginning 

 of the war has been the salvation of many 

 leading planters and manufacturers in this 

 section. 



Rains have been abundant and this sea- 

 son's output is very satisfactory. This 

 promises well for the increased demand for 

 sugar and agricultural machinery, electrical 

 supplies, and other materials used on the 

 large plantations and in the mills, as in many 

 cases the histallation of new machinery and 

 many needed improvements have been de- 

 ferred for several years on account of lack of 

 funds. 



It is stated that the greater portion of the 

 sugar machinery in use in Cuba is of European 

 manufacture. This class of machinery hav- 

 ing been installed generations ago, the people 

 are rather averse or slow in substituting any 

 other kind. There should now be an oppor- 

 tunity for American manufacturers. The 

 grinding season is just about ended and 

 expert salesmen should come after the 

 business. 



The large and imi)ortant Hormiguero 

 Sugar Estate has become the foremost or 

 leading one in the jurisdiction of Cienfuegos, 

 by making an output during the past season 

 of 220,000 bags of sugar, the largest produc- 

 tion of sugar of all the estates in the extensive 

 jm-isdiction of Cienfuegos, in the Province 

 of Santa Clara in Cuba. We learn there has 

 lately been formed the Hormiguero Central 

 Corporation of the State of New York, to 

 carry on the lousiness of the New York 

 branch of the Hormiguero Central Company, 

 for the purpose of purchasing machinery and 

 general supplies, and for selling of the prod- 

 ucts of the said company. The affau's of the 

 corporation will be conducted by the same 

 officers and directors as the Hormiguero- 

 Central Company. — Cons^d P. Merrill Griffith^ 

 Santiago. 



