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Show Secrets of Su&ar Making Exposed or The Private Life of a Sugar Beet©FILTERSDIFFUSION BATTERYThe Sugar Beet is not mentioned in the Bible, but it has an early history. Two thousand years before our generation, the "sweet root" was known in Greece; and Theophrastis describes it as already under a high state of cultivation in his day. The barbarians who sacked Rome carried it to Bohemia. In 1747, one Marr-graf, an apothecary who previously had fled from troubled France to Berlin, reported that he had succeeded in extracting sugar crystals from the beet, and was encouraged in his work by Frederick the Great.The Institute of France getting wind of these experiments, appointed a commission of scientists to find out what was going on. The Prussians, however, got the jump on the French, and the first beet sugar factory in the world was built in Silesia between 1799 and 1801.The industry on a commercial basis, h o w e v e r, came about as an incident of the Napoleonic wars, and the little Corsican is entitled to thecredit for bringing , „,.__-„„.,it about. ' BEET FARMIt is a far cry from the laborious and primitive methods of making sugar in Napoleon's days to the up-to-date sugar plants of Utah and Idaho whose product is not excelled by any sugar in the worldâ€"either Cane or Beet.In a normal producing year, the beet crop of Utah and Idaho will run close to 1,500,000 tons, and the average price about $7.50 per ton, so that the total amount paid farmers exceeds Ten Million Dollars annually. In addition there is distributed by the factories an equal amount for labor and supplies.From these stupendous figures, the economic value of the Beet Sugar Industry to these two states is at once apparent.I^^^ii^jThe accompanying illustration depicts concisely the processes through which a sugar beet must pass before it is converted into pure refined sugar that graces our tables and is used in the making of delicious candies, ice cream and preserved fruits. To the layman, this chart is somewhat complicated, but the following brief explanation may serve to clarify the subject.From the beet-shed (1) the beets are carried by water through flume (2) into beet wheel (3) which elevates the beets into the washer (4). A slatted conveyor (5) catches the last bit of foreign matter so that the several sets of keen blades (7) may not be ruined while slicing beets into long v-shaped nieces. A diffusion battery now starts the actual sugar-getting process with warm water to soak out the sugar. The car-bonator (10) gives u s the principal purification process. Milk-of-lime and carbon dioxide do the trick. Filters (11) follow up. When sulphitors (14) tackle the job with S02 gas, the product comes out much lighter in color, and with the alkali neutralized. Number (15) boils it down to a thick syrup, and in (16) we have to add "high wash" to clear it up, as well as sugar from the brown syrup machine. It would not be economy to throw away this brown residue, so by running it through again considerable sugar is saved. In (19) we find that a vacuum, some heating coils, and the shock of admitting a little powdered sugar for "medicine" all combine to start a colony of crystals. And finally, the centrifugal whirlers (20) give us clear white crystals of pure sugar. For economy's sake, the water used to wash the crystals in (20), known as "high wash" is sent around back to (19) or (16) to be recirculated in order to save every grain of sugar. The "high green," or low-grade syrup is sent from (20) to the brown pan (21) crystallizers (22) and centrifugals (23). Here, low-grade molasses is discarded as of little value, and sugar from the brown centrifugals is sent back to (16) for further recovery.i/ :Utah-Idaho Sugar CompanyPage 363 |