24 THE CUB A RE VIEW 



Progress in the Electrification of Cuban 

 Sugar Mills 



By C. A. Kelsey* 



The cane sugar industry has advanced with other industries in the adoption of 

 electricity as a more economical means of power generation and appHcation. Our prin- 

 cipal industries were well established and it was generally considered that the many 

 good-sized plants then operating were producing materials in an efficient manner, when the 

 polyphase electric motor was brought to a commercial stage. Since then all of these 

 industries have made great strides in the yearly output and the size of the plants. Elec- 

 tricity has largely contributed to this expansion by its high efficiency in generating power 

 at remote points in transmitting the power to the mill, and in distributing it to the 

 individual machines. Even where the power is generated on the spot the efficiency of 

 transmission for short distances within the plant has effected economies over the steam 

 engine with its elaborate system of line shafts and belting. 



Coincident with the growth of any industr\'. the plants increase in size, and manu- 

 facturing methods and processes are improved. Competition also increases and advantage 

 must be taken of every means which will reduce the cost of the finished product. 



The cost of the raw material, which is in many cases the largest item, is dependent 

 upon market conditions. Wages for the operating force may be likewise regulated. The 

 cost of power may be a small part of the total, but the manner in which the power is 

 applied may be responsible for a large amount of labor and in many ways affect operating 

 costs. It is thus possible to materially reduce the cost of manufacture by adopting a 

 better system of power distribution. 



The Sugar Industry has been one of the last to apply electric power and admit its 

 advantages, but to Cuba must be given the credit for making the most progress in the 

 application of electric power to operating her cane mills. While a few modern mills were 

 electrically driven prior to that time, it remained for the world war to furnish the 

 mcentive and favorable conditions which introduced electric drive on a large scale. 



Previous to the war most of the mills were owned by individuals whose families had 

 controlled these operations for generations and, because of the unequalled advantages of 

 Cuban soil and climate, were able to produce sugar profitably with little or no effort 

 towards efficient or careful management. The profits were gradually becoming less from 

 year to year and 1914 many mill owners faced enforced shut-downs and in some cases 

 bankruptcy. 



With the outbreak of the war, the previous source of supply of the Allied Nations 

 was cut off and the consequent rapid depletion of the supplies then on hand caused the 

 prices to rise. The previous desperate state of affairs in Cuba was completely reversed. 

 The price of sugar reached such a point at the end of the crop that even the least 

 efficient mills were able to continue in business and make good profits. 



The change of conditions brought about the opportunity, which many of the owners 

 desired, to improve the efficiency of the mills and thereby lower manufacturing costs. 

 Subsequent to 1914, therefore, many improvements and extensions were made to existing 

 mills and new mills were erected. The experience gained by the few mills already elec- 

 trified had demonstrated the many benefits resulting from the electric drive, and this 

 form of motive power was therefore generally adopted as one of the principal improve- 

 ments. The benefits were found to come more from the reduction in exhaust steam, 

 from clean steam delivered by the turbines driving the electric generators, from 

 the reduction in the working force, from the reduction in the supplies (principally oil), 

 from the more economical arrangement of the factory equipment possible, and from the 

 increased output due to the decrease in lost time, than to better efficiency from a purely 

 power standpoint. Of course, other improvements in the evaporating equipment, the 



(*; Engineer, Sugar Mill Dept., General Electric Co., Schenectady, N. Y. 



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