SUGAR-CANE JUICE CLARIFICATION. 11 
Loss in the infusorial earth process when the cake is washed, 3 gallons 
of sirup, or $3. 
A fair estimate is that 25 gallons of sirup would be saved on an 
average per 50 tons of cane. At $1 per gallon this would be a saving 
of 50 cents per ton. Thus the increased cost of this process is well 
offset by the reduction in the amount of sugar lost and in the cor- 
responding increase in the yield of sirup. 
It remains to compare this method of clarification for sirup mak- 
ing with that in general use in Louisiana. Here the changes required 
for the introduction of this process would not be so great as in the 
other sirup-making regions with which the comparison has been 
made. In Louisiana the filter press is an indispensable part of the 
factory equipment, being in general use throughout the sugar-and 
sirup-producing section of the State. As practically all of the sugar 
factories and many of the sirup factories are fully equipped with 
presses, little or no change would be necessary in altering the equijj- 
ment for infusorial earth clarification. Eighty square feet of filter 
press area per ton-hour is sufficient for filtering the whole cane juice 
with infusorial earth. The cost of manufacturing sirup by this new 
process would be practically the same as that of the lime and sulphur 
process, since fuel and labor costs would be about the same. The 
cost of the clarifying materials would be somewhat more in the 
infusorial earth method, as shown below: 
Cents. 
Infusorial earth, 11 pounds per ton, at 2 cents 22. 
Against — 
Lime, 2i pounds per ton, at 1 cent 2. 5 
Sulphur, 1.4 pounds per ton, at 4J cents 6. 3 
Total 8. 8 
As shown above, the cost of the clarifying materials is somewhat 
greater, but this is more than offset by the smaller amount of sucrose 
lost in the process of manufacture owing to the ease and thorough- 
ness with which the press cake can be washed. Another advantage is 
that there is no need for settling tanks, skimming tanks, bag filters, 
or other clarifying equipment in addition to the filter presses, since 
the juice as it comes from the presses is ready for immediate evapora- 
tion to sirup without further treatment. 
The only loss of sugar in a well-managed sirup or sugar house in 
Louisiana after the juice has been extracted from the cane is in the 
filter-press mud. Here it is figured that 36 pounds of press cake 
of an average sugar content of 6 per cent are produced per ton of 
cane, i. e., a loss of 2.16 pounds of sugar, or 0.27 gallon of sirup. 
Figured on a basis of $1 per gallon for sirup, this is a loss of 27 
cents per ton. 
