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An innovative mobile sugarcane crusher to develop an island economy

Vitrac M., Teal T., Goebel F.R., Shili-Touzi I.. 2019. In : Proceedings of the XXX International Society of Sugar Cane Technologists Congress. Tucuman : ISSCT, p. 138-141. ISSCT Congress. 30, 2019-09-02/2019-09-05, Tucuman (Argentine).

The rum industry has been steadily fostering in Tahiti and other islands of French Polynesia since one distillery decided to produce pure organic sugarcane rum in 2014. Farmers in the archipelagos would like to reach it; however, the problem is the cost of the distillery investment which is heavy. Freight facilities operated by the government could allow them to send their juice production to existing distilleries. In this context, we built a mobile sugarcane crusher to evaluate this possibility. The requirements were to be able to move it: (1) island to island; (2) into the fields with a car; (3) autonomously; and (4) to build it for the same purpose as an industrial one. The results seemed promising after harvesting 1ha (50 t in the dry season) in 2 to 4 weeks. In addition, yields about 48 to 75 L/100 kg of cane were reached, depending mainly on the nature of the canes. Regarding the global investment and production cost, we managed to offer an appropriate alternative for the remote islands' farmers. To optimize the yields and the production costs, we will try to improve mechanical and biochemical processes of this crusher. We then should focus on developing a mobile solution for distillation.

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