Browsing by Author "Kent, G"

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Assessment of new soft cane varieties : final report 2015/081
(Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2016) Kent, G; Parfitt, R
The project objectives were to: experimentally determine whether extraneous matter affects the fibre quality parameters measured by SRA; experimentally determine whether the commercial cane preparation process affects the fibre quality parameters measured by SRA; experimentally compare the handle-ability properties of SRA1 andQC04-1411 to the major variety in the central and southern regions - Q208. In 2016, three new cane varieties, SRA1, SRA4 and QC04-1411, were either released or were proposed for release into the Bundaberg and Mackay districts. According to the pre-release fibre quality measurements undertaken by Sugar Research Australia, all three varieties were classified as a soft cane. This report documents a series of experiments undertaken to better define soft canes and to measure the effect that these three varieties had on factory operation and performance.
Benefits of better preparation
(Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2016) Kent, G
Most Australian factories are not achieving the cane preparation benchmark of 90% pol in open cells. While preparation is strongly linked to power consumption, in many cases the problem is not that there is insufficient power available but that insufficient power is being consumed.
Enhancing efficiency and integration from field to factory in the Herbert : SRDC Final report
(2010) Sheedy, P; Giordani, P; Quabba, R; Higgins, A; Kent, G; Everitt, P; Harvesting solutions.
The Herbert sugar region underwent major strategic change in the harvesting and transport sectors, which will involve $7M investment in siding rationalisation and a substantial reduction in the number of harvesting groups. These strategic changes have the potential for large cost savings to the local region (potentially over $2/tc as seen in the SRDC project CSE005) leading to greater sustainability in these two sectors, if optimally implemented to achieve the economic and social goals of each of the participants in the growing, harvesting and milling sectors. The goal of this project was to provide the region with a capacity to better manage operational and seasonal planning in harvesting & transport. Because the project involved several organisations and broad R&D plan, four working groups have been formed around key deliverables of the project: SugarMax, Harvest/Transport Integration, Harvest Haul; and Evaluation. Each small working group comprised of researcher and local representatives, though the entire project team met in Ingham up to five times per year to report progress and plan next steps
Mill retrofit could improve efficiency
(Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2016) Kent, G
The six-roll mill is used almost exclusively by the Australian industry for juice extraction because it achieves higher throughput and performance than most other mill designs. However, it has the disadvantage of higher capital, maintenance and operating costs.
Sugarcane Research Experiment Management System (SREMS) : SRDC final report
(2011) Kent, G
SRDC-funded physiological and agronomic experiments have been conducted by many researchers from various research institutes over the past decades. The resulting datasets are typically stored in idiosyncratic formats in a range of spreadsheet software packages. The data are, in most cases, unobtainable to other researchers and stakeholders resulting in potential repetition of experiments. In response the CRC for Sustainable Sugar Production (Sugar CRC) developed the “Sugarbag” database. Sugarbag contained data from 138 experiments stored in Microsoft Excel and Access format. Utilisation of this database has resulted in value-adding to knowledge beyond the life and expense of the initial projects, particularly in the areas of sugarcane physiology and APSIM model development. In 2002 Sugarbag ceased to be maintained and is consequently out of date and under utilised. Since the cessation of Sugarbag, more recently generated datasets have generally remained in the hands of the project Principle Investigators and failed to be available for further value-adding. This project sought to address the issue by developing an updated database facility that was accessible via the web. The database was referred to as the Sugarcane Research Experiment Management System (SREMS).