| |  |  | | | | | Lula Cane Production | Westfield Cane Production | | | Lula Cane Production | | 12,000 Tons Cane / 24 Hours
Factory Information
Exclusive of the office staff, the average number of factory workers is 85 during the grinding season.
Cane Handling - Lula uses a 60-ton Fairbanks-Morse scale, 10' x 70', for weighing trucks and carts. In 2008 a 60-ton Fairbanks-Morse scale, 10' x 70', was installed for outbound trailers and carts.
Four Cameco unloaders are used to unload bulk cane carts and trailers. One unloader is movable and dumps cane directly onto the feed tables.
Lula has three 745H Allis-Chalmers, one FR20B Allis-Chalmers and one John Deere 744E payloader to stack cane and feed cane to the two feed tables.
There are two split-tandem feed tables. Table No. 3, built in 1984, is 22' wide and has a 75-hp. motor powering a 25 Series Sunstrand hydraulic motor on high-speed section, and a 40-hp. motor powering a 23 Series Sunstrand on slow-speed section. Table No. 4, built in 2002, is also 22 wide and enables two trailer compartments to be dumped simultaneously. This table has the same driving components as the other, except that a 100-hp. motor powers the high-speed section.
Both feed tables dump into a 140-long, 6-wide slat carrier, which uses a S2804 Union chain with 8" pitch. A kicker empties this carrier onto a high-speed magnet belt that feeds the mill.
Cane Preparation - Cane is washed with hot condenser water mixed with cold water and supplied by a 5,000-gpm 50' TDH Fairbanks-Morse centrifugal pump driven by a 175-hp. Terry turbine.
Muddy wash water collects in a paved area under tables and carrier. Gravity flow to settling pit, which has an approximate 73,000 cu. ft. capacity. Two Worthington sump pumps were installed in 1975. A third Worthington was added in 1977 to pump an additional 3,000 gpm from the waste water pond, thereby providing a total of 14,000 gallons on the feed tables.
Washed cane is prepared for milling by two sets of revolving knives. The first set has 69 blades, each tipped with an 8" x 1" domite and driven at 900 rpm by a 1,500-hp. Elliott turbine and Philadelphia gear.
Changes on shaft size, knife holders and knives occurred in 2001, with the knives currently cutting 2" from the slats. In 2002 the second set was replaced identically and is driven at 750 rpm by a 1,250-hp. Terry turbine and gear. Knife shafts are mounted on split-type, pillow-block roller bearings with outboard bearing designed to compensate for shaft expansion.
A new 90" x 90" electro-magnet with kicker was installed in 2000.
Milling Equipment - In 2007 Lula installed a new Pakistani 92" wide x 54" diameter mill with Lufkin speed reducer and Murray 2,000-hp. multi-stage turbine.
A 43" diameter x 6-wide Bancroft mill with Murray 800-hp. multi-stage turbine was installed as No. 1 mill in 1984. Its Philadelphia speed reducer was replaced in 2010 with a Lufkin high-speed gear rated at 1,200 hp. This mill is now the No. 2 mill.
No. 3 mill is a DBR steel-housing mill with 37-1/2" x 72" rolls and 18" x 24" journals, driven by a 914-hp. Murray turbine. A 6.462 ratio high-speed gear and a 99.89 ratio slow-speed triple reduction gear were installed in 2000. Both are Falk gears, rated at 1,000 hp. with service factors of 2.0.
No. 4 mill is a Service Foundry steel housing mill with 38" x 72" rolls and 18" x 24" journals. This mill is driven by a 1,012-hp. Murray turbine and similar type gearing as above.
No. 5 mill was replaced in 2010 with a 45" x 84" housing from the closed Cinclare Central factory. A Prager low-speed gear came with this purchase, while the high-speed gear was purchased new from Lufkin, and a Terry turbine rated at 1,200 hp. also was installed. (This replaced the previous 1947 No. 5 mill installation, which in turn had represented the first known application of a steam turbine.)
In 1977 Lula added for its now-No. 6 mill a new 42" diameter x 6'-wide Bancroft mill with a Philadelphia speed reducer and Murray 800-hp. multi-stage turbine. For the 2014 crop a top Lotus type roller was intalled.
Donnelly and bypass chutes are installed on all mills. Also, all mills are equipped with 35" diameter, heavy-duty, force-feed rollers.
Gearings for mill Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5 are enclosed in sheet metal housings.
Automated forced injection of journal bearing lube (Dylon Sugar Glide 1900) is supplied by a Lincoln pump, controller (Model 85530-A) and injectors. A Nadler overhead crane, equipped with two Yale 10-ton capacity electric hoists, spans and travels the length of the mill building section.
Mill Roll Grooving - Principal roll grooving on the crusher, No. 2 mill and No. 3 mill are 3" pitch x 40°. The No. 4 and No. 5 mills are 2" pitch x 40°.
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| | | Roll Setting & Pressures @ 3/8" float: |
| | | | Ratio F/B | Back Opening | Pressure/Ft. | | | 1 | 1.8 | 1.83" | 60 | | | 2 | 1.8 | 2.54" | 50 | | | 3 | 1.8 | 2.34" | 44 | | | 4 | 1.8 | 1.85" | 44 | | | 5 | 1.8 | 2.10" | 45 | | | 6 | 1.8 | 1.58" | 63 |
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| A rotary screen, built by Simisa, was installed in 2008 in place of the drag conveyor for cush-cush.
Steam Plant - Lula has seven boilers of the following sizes:
- Two Combustion Engineering 43,000-lb. water-tube, water-wall, two-drum boilers, type VU-30. One was installed in 1950 and one in 1958. They are equipped with stokers and feeders for bagasse firing. Each boiler has 5,600 sq. ft. of heating surface.
- Three Riley stoker boilers and a Riley pneumatic bagasse feed distributor, feeder and stoker. Water-tube and water-wall type with 11,100 sq. ft. heating surface.
- Two of the Riley bagasse-fired boilers have their own forced-draft fan, induced-draft fan and 14 x 47 Doran-built scrubber. The third Riley and the two Combustion Engineering boilers have their own forced-draft fan, induced draft-fan and stack.
- In 1992 Lula installed a Factory Sales & Engineering-designed 70,000-lb. water-tube, water-wall, two-drum boiler.
- In 2004 Lula installed an additional Factory Sales & Engineering boiler. Designed at 150,000 lbs., it is a water-tube, water-wall, three-drum with superheat, designed for 250 lbs. steam. We operate at 210 lbs. steam, which gives a superheat of 440°F.
All boilers have fuel combustion safety devices. The various steam turbine installations of the factory operate on 220 psi superheated steam.
In 2004 Lula installed one A.C. 1,200-gpm two-stage centrifugal pump and one A.C. 350-gpm two-stage centrifugal pump driven by an electric motor.
An ATT 750-gpm, two-stage centrifugal pump driven by a 150-hp. Terry turbine, along with two Allis-Chalmers 600-gpm centrifugal pumps driven by a 90-hp. Whiton (Model B.K.) and Murray turbine, supply the boiler feed water. One Allis-Chalmers pump is used as standby.
A deaerator and new feed water tank were installed in 2004.
Lula's boiler plant is housed in an all-steel building, 80' x 115' x 30 to eaves.
Clarification - A bulk lime storage bin with automatic mixing unit was installed in 1971, as were two 5,000-gal. storage tanks for milk of lime. A Foxboro automatic liming control system was installed in 1994. Continuous liming with two tanks, each with a capacity of 6,350 gallons.
For pumping limed juice through heaters, Lula has an Allis-Chalmers 8" x 6" x 17" pump driven by a Westinghouse turbine. As standby, theres an Allis-Chalmers 1,000-gpm centrifugal pump, driven by a Terry turbine.
Heaters - The factory has four Nadler-built heaters with 2" stainless steel tubes 24' long. Each heater has 4,000 sq. ft. of heating surface.
Clarifiers - A 26' diameter LTT-designed clarifier was installed in 2011 to replace a 20 Graver, and one 18- diameter x 20-high Graver with four trays. Lula designed and built a new 20-diameter x 18-high clarifier in 1987.
An 8' x 12' Eimco filter, an 8 x 16 Oliver filter, and a 12 x 20 Eimco filter (installed in 1999) handle muds.
A Dorr-Oliver 10' diameter x 20' long vacuum filter was installed in 2004.
Evaporators - There are 109,593 sq. ft. of heating surface in pre-evaporator ahead of three triple-effects, connected in parallel for independent operation.
One 18' diameter Cameco/Honiron pre-evaporator of 25,000 sq. ft. heating surface feeds vapors to the triple-effects and to the heaters. A Honiron pre-evaporator with 30,000 sq. ft. of heating surface was installed in 1999.
The first triple is a Cameco/Honiron set consisting of a 14'-diameter first body with 16,105 sq. ft. heating surface. The second and third bodies are 14 diameter, each with 12,884 sq. ft. heating surface.
The second set is an 11'-6" diameter Nadler triple-effect installed in 1974. It has a total of 24,000 sq. ft. heating surface, or three bodies of 8,000 sq. ft. each.
Vacuum Pans - Lula factory has six vacuum pans, as follows:
- One 15' diameter Nadler vacuum pan with capacity of 1,700 cu. ft. It has 4,190 sq. ft. of heating surface, with circulator. (#3)
- One 17' diameter Nadler-designed calandria pan, capacity of 1,500 cu. ft., with 4,986 sq. ft. of heating surface. (#4)
- One 13' 9" - diameter straight-side Honiron vacuum pan, capacity of 1,500 cu. ft. with 3,749 sq. ft. of heating surface. (#1)
- One 10' x 12'6" high-speed low-head Nadler vacuum pan with circulator. Capacity of 1,000 cu. ft. with 1,732 sq. ft. heating surface. (#2)
- One 15'-6" diameter straight-side Nadler-designed calandria pan with circulator. Capacity of 2,000 cu. ft. with 4,200 sq. ft. of heating surface. (#5)
- One 19' diameter straight-side Nadler-designed calandria pan (installed in 1996). Capacity of 2,800 cu. ft. with 6,547 sq. ft. of heating surface. (#6)
- One 3500 cu.ft. Tungaat Hulett design continuous vacuum pan was designed and built to handle to c-sugar for the 2014 crop.
Vacuum & Condensing Equipment - Condenser cooling injection water is supplied to evaporators and pans by an 18,000-gpm ABS Series BE 24 x 24 end-suction pump developing 100 ft. head and requiring 500 hp. It is driven with a Lufkin gearbox and a 700-hp. multi-stage Terry turbine (installed in 2006). A 14,000-gpm Ahlstrom pump driven by a 450-hp. Terry turbine, a 10,500-gpm Warren pump driven by a 385-hp. Murray turbine, and a 6,000-gpm Warren pump driven by a 125-hp. Whiton turbine, are used for standby.
Each evaporator and pan is individually served by a Croll-Reynolds steam ejector.
Lula has three Carver 200-gpm centrifugal pumps for 11' 6" diameter evaporator condensate; also, three Fairbanks-Morse 160-gpm centrifugal pumps for handling 9 evaporator condensates. For 18 pre-evaporator condensate, theres a Peerless 600-gpm centrifugal pump.
Crystallizers - There are 14 horizontal U-type crystallizers, 1,200 cu. ft. each, connected in parallel for a continuous process. Ten of the 14 crystallizers are equipped with Dyer-Blanchard coils. The other four have Honiron coils. There also are two holding mixers below the pans with 3,000 cu. ft. holding capacity.
A Stevens coil to reheat massecuite for the low-grade centrifugals was installed in 1995. Also, a Honiron coil was added to the low-grade mixer. A 550 cu. ft./hr. static reheater, built by Honiron, was installed in 2012 to reheat massecuite. An 8,000 cu. ft. Honiron vertical crystallizer was installed in 2010.
Centrifugals - For first sugars, Lula has a battery of seven 48" x 36" Western States centrifugals and two 54" x 40" Western States. Lula has an "A" mixer and a "B" mixer so that "A" and "B" strikes can be processed at the same time.
For crystallizer sugar, there is a battery of three continuous 4630 Silver centrifugals. There also is one Western States Model 1100 and a BMA K3300 installed 2013. The mixer for the continuous Silver centrifugals has coils for heating with water and automatic temperature controls of massecuite. Lula is now equipped to.
For handling molasses, Lula has three Viking Model N-355, size 6 x 6" rotary pumps with capacity of one gallon per revolution. Two pumps are for "A" and "B" molasses, and one is for final molasses.
Sugar Storage - The first warehouse is 120' x 90' with 20' steel walls for storing bulk sugar to that height on walls. Eaves are 30. Designed and erected by Lula factory, it has a capacity of 15,000,000 lbs.
The second warehouse is 155' x 180' with a capacity of 24,000,000 lbs.
The third warehouse is 160' x 350' with a capacity of 52,000,000 lbs.
Molasses Tanks - Lula has a 1,000,000-gal. tank. Also, a 2,000,000-gal. tank was installed in 2000.
Miscellaneous - For fire protection, a 10" waterline was installed by the parish water works. A steam pump and motor-driven pump also can supply stored pond water to mains in the event of fire.
Water for factory use is obtained from Bayou Lafourche. It is pumped to the factory by five Fairbanks-Morse pumps one 5,000 gpm, two 3,500 gpm, one 2,500 gpm and one 6,000 gpm.
A bagasse storage plant is on premises for reclaiming bagasse. A 4' wide x 182' long rubber-belt and a 6-wide slat conveyor were installed in 2000 for the bagasse storage and reclaim system. In 2011 this facility was lengthened by an additional 80 for storage and automated for efficiency.
Lula also is served by an 80' x 120' fully equipped machine shop. A 60' section was added in 2010 for roller repairs. |
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