Beet Pulp and Juice Flowing from Tank to Tank, Montreal, Canada
A great deal of the juice flows from the beets in the slicing machine. This juice, with the thinly sliced beets, is seen here pouring from the slicer, into the top of the first of a series of tanks. These tanks are arranged in batteries connected by large pipes. Only the tops of the tanks, with their screw caps, can be seen here. When the tank directly behind the workman is full of juice and slices, the flow is turned off. Then the workman in the foreground moves the chute and places the lid on top of the tank. It is the fastener of this lid that the workman is holding. Through the pipes, warm water flows slowly from one tank to another. In each tank the slices have more and more of their juice soaked out by the water. By the time the last of the 12 or 14 tanks in the circuit has been reached, the juice is very thick. It is then drained off and is ready for the next process, that of filtering. Lime is now mixed with it, and the juice is now cleaned by turning gas into it. The juice is next filtered, so that it is a very clear, syrupy fluid. The filtered juice is now ready for the heating. The purpose of the heating is to gather together the particles of sugar by evaporating (-vp´ -rt´ ng) the water from them. The air is pumped out of the heating tanks so that the sirup boils at a low temperature. The heating is usually done by steam. In these tanks, the sugar forms into grains, and is gathered together in a centrifugal (sn-trf´ -gl). This is a revolving sieve, which throws off the remaining moisture in the sugar. Further refining and purifying take place, until at last we have a fine quality of beet sugar. Keystone ID: 20944 Note: All titles, descriptions, and location coordinates are from the original Keystone Slide documentation as supplied by the Keystone View Company. No text has been edited or changed.