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Peter Rein
Research into sugar processing has taken place at Audubon Sugar Institute (ASI) for more than 100 years, helping the Louisiana industry improve its efficiency and lower its cost of production. There have been many changes at Audubon Sugar Institute, but in the past few years, both the sugar industry and the research environment have changed significantly. It is, therefore, appropriate to look at the role of the institute both now and in the future.
The staff and faculty have adopted a new mission statement and some associated goals that have been accepted by the LSU AgCenter and by the Louisiana processors. The mission is to foster a center of excellence for applied and original sugar research, which exceeds the expectations of our stakeholders in Louisiana and the international sugar industry, through innovative research, technology transfer and education. The goals are these:
- Enhance the productivity and profitability of the Louisiana sugar and sugar process-related industries.
- Improve the practice of sugar manufacture through education and technology transfer.
- Conduct research toward a diversified sugar process industry.
- Attract, retain and develop a world-class staff to serve our stakeholders.
- Encourage use of low environmental impact technologies in sugar processing.
Working with Mills
In general, there is a real desire on the part of the 17 mills in Louisiana to have a fruitful association with ASI. The issues important in creating and maintaining an effective organization have been identified, and changes are being introduced to ensure that the requirements of all stakeholders are being met. It is clear that the millers would like to see more of ASI staff at the mills, more closely involved with what is going on in the mills and would like to see ASI people involved in practical work of greater direct relevance to the mills. With an emphasis on customer orientation, research and extension need to be more closely combined.
There also seems to be a place for ASI to act as a catalyst in encouraging a freer flow of information with and between mills and by actively seeking to promote technology transfer. The Web site (www.lsuagcenter.com/audubon) will be used more comprehensively to disseminate information. It is envisioned that it will be used for communicating performance results to mills, for exchanging information of a technical nature, for promoting technology transfer to the mills, and as a source of abstracts and other technical information.
It seems likely that additional support may be obtained from the Florida mills and perhaps from other mills or industries. If sufficient funding is not available from the sugar industry in Louisiana, it is reasonable to pursue this route, which also helps to keep the institute up to date internationally.
Core Competencies
Research areas in which Audubon staff are particularly skilled and experienced represent core competencies. They are:
- Clarification
- Extraction by diffusion
- Microbiology of sugar processing
- Membrane separation processes
- Evaporation, and scaling in particular
- Batch pan boiling
- Continuous pan boiling
- Crystallization fundamentals
- Chromatographic separation techniques
- Fermentation of sugar-related feedstocks
Faculty members have adjunct appointments in the departments of biological engineering, chemical engineering, food science and microbiology. Post-graduate students in these departments are supervised by faculty members. There is room for more collaboration with the other LSU disciplines where relevant.
Advisory Research Board
Control over the way research funds are spent can be achieved by inviting the research funders to sit on an Advisory Research Board to approve an annual research program. A steering committee composed of a representative of each of the Louisiana mills has been meeting as the forerunner of this board. This group identified the following areas of research: green cane processing (factory aspects), cane payment systems, effect of cane wash systems and impurities on processing and equipment, reducing factory losses through better measurement and control, evaporator scaling and tube cleaning, color removal, effective use of instrumentation and automation, reducing production costs, evaluation of equipment and boiler emissions.
Facilities
ASI had a small sugar mill on campus that is no longer operational, in part because of the environmental implications of running a sugar factory in the middle of a busy university campus. The option of moving it either to the research station at St. Gabriel or to a nearby mill is being considered. Relocating it provides the option of updating its archaic design and providing a modern facility capable of handling billeted cane. It would set
ASI apart as having a unique facility, enabling it to do work no other institute can consider. A feasibility study has been started, and the process is under way to secure funding.
Education and Training
ASI is positioning itself as the provider of suitable education and training for the sugar industry. ASI has offered a number of short courses over the years and continues to do so. A list of options is on the ASI Web site.
The skills levels in Louisiana mills need to be deepened. Two new courses in sugar processing technology and sugar factory design have been approved, as well as the option for students in the College of Engineering to minor in sugar engineering. A time during the crushing season at a local sugar mill as a period of internship can be incorporated, if desired. Using these courses and a sugar-oriented research program, it also is possible to offer a master’s program in engineering.
The reinstatement of courses at ASI will be beneficial for the research effort, because teaching always complements and stimulates research. Teaching brings us closer to our target markets so we become more useful to our clients. In addition, more graduate students would be available for projects.
Clear Focus
The Audubon Sugar Institute has a clear focus, and the mechanism for setting funding levels and research priorities through an Advisory Research Board is being put into place. This will ensure that the institute is delivering value for the research investment. ASI will be giving more attention to the way it handles its outreach program, and it is re-introducing teaching in undergraduate and graduate programs to augment research efforts and keep ASI in touch with its stakeholders.
ASI has several advantages in the global sugar research arena. It has the backing of a major university and a well-established brand name as a sugar institute of renown. It is not tied only to one country’s sugar industry, but has the potential to operate as an international institute to the benefit of the LSU AgCenter and the sugar industry. It has good pilot plant and laboratory facilities and is well placed in Louisiana. To realize these advantages, the infrastructure and buildings are being upgraded. It should be possible to take Audubon back to the position it previously occupied as the premier international sugar institute.
Peter Rein, Professor and Head, Audubon Sugar Institute, LSU AgCenter, Baton Rouge, La.
(This article appeared in the fall 2001 edition of Louisiana Agriculture.)
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