SUGAR-CANE SIRUP MANUFACTURE 39 
carbon is used for only one filtration, without subsequent “‘revivifica- 
tion,” the additional cost for carbon is estimated to be $0.012 to 
$0.037 per gallon of final sirup. This estimate does not include labor, 
interest, and depreciation of equipment. 
A canning plant receives sirup of varyimg quality. By installing 
carbon-filtration equipment, all poor-quality sirup could be converted 
into a better-erade sirup and mixed with that of higher grade. Thus 
it would be possible to market one standard grade alone. 
Certain markets of the North and West prefer a very mild, light- 
colored sirup to the darker sirup of pronounced cane flavor, which is 
preferred in the South. Vegetable carbon offers possibilities for 
extending the market for cane sirup. 
When a higher extraction of juice from the cane is desired, the use 
of either carbon or chemical clarifying agents in a large plant makes 
possible the manufacture of sirup of satisfactory quality. Ordinarily, 
when a higher percentage extraction of juice is obtamed, the juice is 
correspondingly more difficult to clarify properly and a poor-quality 
sirup results (p. 17). As higher extraction means greater efficiency of 
- operation and more gallons of sirup per ton of cane, the possibility of 
separating the juice from the mills and treating that from the last 
mill (representing the highest extraction) with carbon deserves serious 
consideration, especially in the larger plants. The sirup made from 
high-extraction juice treated with carbon could be mixed with that 
obtained in the usual manner from low-extraction juice so as to 
produce a single standard grade of acceptable quality. 
The equipment required for a factory using vegetable carbon in 
connection with the process of clarification varies with the size of the 
plant and the decision of the manager as to whether or not the carbon 
will be “‘revivified.”” On the whole, it closely resembles the equipment 
required for filtermg juice or sirup with imfusorial earth. if the 
mechanical process of clarification 1s also being practiced, the same 
filtration equipment, if of sufficient capacity, may be employed for 
the carbon filtration. 
EQUIPMENT AND COSTS FOR MAKING SIRUP ON A LARGE 
4 
By L. J. Lassauue and J. J. Munson, Leowisiana State University 
Cane from which sirup is to be made is usually delivered to the 
factory in carts, wagons, or railroad cars. The cane is transferred to 
hoppers, from which it is fed onto a carrier to the mills. ‘The cane is 
crushed and most of the juice is expressed, leaving the fiber relatively 
dry. in small plants this fiber, known as bagasse, is discarded. In 
the larger plants the bagasse is carried from the mills on bagasse 
carriers to the boiler furnaces, where it is used as fuel, in some cases 
generating the greater part of the steam required to operate the plant. 
The juice that is expressed at the mills first passes to a juice strainer, 
where the small particles of bagasse are partially removed. It then 
goes to the raw juice tank, from which it is pumped to the sulphur 
tower or sulphur box, where it is treated with sulphur dioxide gas. 
Next it may pass to a sulphured juice tank, from which it is pumped to 
the defecators, or it may be pumped directly from the seal tank of the 
sulphur tower to the defecator, where lime is added and the juice 
heated. The juice is then allowed to sediment, after which it is 
decanted and transferred to the evaporator supply tank. 
