SUGAR-CANE JUICE CLARIFICATION. 9 



square feet filtering area is added. Thus there appears to be no reason 

 why the juice from 50 tons could not be filtered easily with 200 

 square feet filtering area in 24 hours, including all time necessary 

 for cleaning and dressing the presses whenever necessary. In this 

 connection it is suggested that two 100-square-feet presses would 

 give more satisfaction than one press of 200 square feet filtering 

 area. , 



(b) A pump with a capacity of at least 500 gallons per hour. A 

 6 by 4 by 6 duplex steam-piston pump would be satisfactory. 



(c) Two or more vats of several hundred gallons capacity, each 

 fitted with steam coils to keep the juice hot while being filtered, to 

 serve as vats for mixing the infusorial earth with the juice, and in 

 case no method of preheating the juice is employed, to serve also as 

 the original juice-heating vats. While not essential, a tubular juice 

 heater for heating the juice before it goes to the infusorial-earth- 

 mixing tanks would be convenient, economical, and a great time 

 saver. If a juice heater were employed the tanks mentioned above 

 would be needed only for mixing the proper amount of infusorial 

 earth with the juice and for keeping the juice hot while the filtration 

 was in progress. In addition to this equipment there would, of 

 course, be necessary a certain, though not large, amount of pipe, 

 fittings, valves, connections, etc. 



No changes would be necessary in either the grinding or the evapo- 

 rating equipment, though very high extraction could be employed 

 and a good sirup still produced by this method of clarification, 

 whereas it is generally believed that it is impossible to make a high- 

 grade sirup by the ordinary method of clarification when very high 

 extraction is obtained. This method of clarification also opens up 

 the way to the use of a less expensive method of evaporation, namely, 

 evaporation under diminished pressure in a vacuum pan, which is 

 impossible when skimming alone is depended upon to effect clarifica- 

 tion. 



An estimate of the cost of the above apparatus, necessary for 

 clarification with infusorial earth, is rather difficult to give, owing to 

 the rapid fluctuation in prices of machinery at this time. However, 

 the cost of filter presses, pumps, and tanks as obtained from leading 

 dealers at this time, July, 1920, is given here so that an idea at least 

 may be obtained as to the cost of installing a filter press with its 

 accessories. 



Filter presses, 200 square feet total filtering area $900 



Pump for filter press 150 



Freight, pipe, valves, etc 150 



Two 400-gallon tanks, with coils 500 4 



Total 1, 700 



