Laboratory Equipment
Sugarequip has been the manufacturing, service and support partner of the SMRI (Sugar Milling and Research Institute) for many decades.
Specialist laboratory equipment designed by experts and manufactued with industrial laboratories in mind.
World Class Partners
The Sugar Milling Research Institute NPC (SMRI) is the central scientific organisation involved in research work and technical services for the southern African sugarcane processing industry, the purpose being to enable the sustainability of the industry in both the short and long term. The institute was founded in 1949 and is located on the Howard College campus of the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), in the heart of the sugar belt of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Visit the SMRI here: https://www.smri.org/
Colour & Turbidity Meter
The SMRI Colour and Turbidity Meter is a dual wave length online photometer which measures the absorbance of light in the sugar solution. Typical applications are on liquors after first and second clarification and after filters and before and after de-colourising plant.
Cold Digester
The Sugarequip Cold Digester disintegrates cane and Bagasse in water to produce a mixture consisting of a homogeneous solution and the insoluble fibre fraction of the cane.
A new model is currently being developed to replace this traditional design.
Preparation Index Tumbler
The Preparation Index Tumbler (PI Tumbler) is used to indicate the degree of cane preparation. It is often used as an alternative approach to the DRI. Its determination involves measuring the brix which can be washed from ruptured cells in the prepared cane, and expressing the result as a percentage of total brix in the cane.
Displacement Rate Index
The SMRI Displacement Rate Index (previously known as the Diffusion Rate Index) is used for determining cane preparation. The DRI is a faster and easier way of measuring preparation when compared to the Tumbler Method. A fully automated process leads an operator through loading a single sample of cane and completing a measurement without any intervention.
Nutsch Filter
The SMRI Nutsch Filter and its smaller alternative the MINI Nutsch Filter is used to evaluate the various crystallisation stages in the Boiling House; especially the low grade. The mother liquor is extracted from the massecuite for brix and purity analysis. From the analysis the magnitude of the crystallisation process is measured by means of purity drops.
Slurry Ball Mill
The Slurry Ball Mill are used to achieve consistent crystal sizing for seeding the vacuum pans. This is obtained by grinding refined sugar in solution to within 4-8 microns; which is uniform and regular. It is then injected into the vacuum pan at the proper time and with the correct quantity.
Cane Drying Oven
The Sugarequip Single Compartment Cane Drying Oven is used for checking the moisture content of cane or bagasse samples, where a specified sample is weighed before and after drying, thus determining the moisture content of the sample. The design is based on the Laboratory Manual for South African Sugar Factories.
A new model is currently being developed to replace this traditional design!
