GROOVING AND ITS EFFECT ON BAGASSE MOISTURE CONTENT

As factories have increased their crushing rates in recent years, there has been a gradual increase in final bagasse moisture and a consequent reduction in extraction performance. This increase in bagasse moisture has significant consequences in terms of steam raising and power generation capacity. For the past three years, researchers from James Cook University and the Sugar Research Institute have been investigating and identifying the mechanisms that govern the dewatering process in sugar milling units with a focus on the groove profiles of mill rolls. The broad aim of the SRDC funded research is to make recommendations to industry on ways to reduce bagasse moisture in factory milling units. This paper summarises the salient results and conclusions from over 170 uniaxial compression tests conducted over the past three years. The key mechanisms that govern the dewatering behaviour of prepared cane are documented, and some recommendations to industry on possible methods to reduce bagasse moisture are presented.