Real Steam in India 2004 - Other Sugar Factories

Click here for other reports from my trip to India:

Steam in India 2004 - Introduction

Preserved Steam in India 2004  

Real Steam in India 2004 - Tipong Colliery

Real Steam in India 2004 - Riga Sugar Factory

Real Steam in India 2004 - Saraya Sugar Factory

Thanks for what is contained here are primarily due to Ashok Sharma of Special Tours of India who made arrangements for all the visits and accompanied me on this Bihar and Uttar Pradesh section. Click here for more information.

The survival of stationary steam engines in India's sugar factories had been the subject of some speculation in news groups before I planned my trip and I hoped to gather some firm information during it. In the event, I managed to visit 6 factories in all. The results are documented below:

If you are seriously interested, I can provide a CD ROM of nearly 300 images taken in these mills (1600 x 1200, good quality JPEG) which show nearly all the engines etc listed below. A small charge (£10 / U$ 20 / Euros) will be charged to cover my costs and make a contribution to the expenses incurred to get the pictures..  

Riga Sugar Factory

This mill appears to be 100% modernised.

Saraya Sugar Factory

2 Mill engines built by Fives-Lille (1925)
Also of note are two electrically powered belt driven Ingersoll-Rand compressors which also probably are of similar date

Motipur Sugar Factory (closed) 

This factory has not worked for some years and would require some considerable investment to be restarted. It used a carbonatation  process until 1992 when it was converted to double sulphitation. The factory dates from 1933 and appears to have been kitted out completely by Stork, of course in the intervening period, various items had been replaced by electric motors etc. Staff were reluctant to let me poke around too much, allegedly there were many snakes in dark corners... All four steam locomotives were in store and in as good a condition as could be expected.

Stork engine S86358/1933, drop valves, driving crusher and first two mills
Stork engine S86359/1933, drop valves, driving third and fourth mills
(Stork?) generator, long out of use
(Stork?) engine driving juice pump via a belt
Duplex juice pump (Stork?)
Simplex juice pump
Large pump (disused) from carbonatation process
Juice pump
Stork water injection pumps (2)
Stork vacuum pump
Stork belt engine for belt powered centrifugals (high grade)
Stork CO₂ compressor (disused since carbonatation stopped)
Juice pump
Duplex pump
Stork belt engine for lime plant
Vertical boiler feedwater pumps (2)
Belt driven bagasse bailer
Engine for bagasse carrier system

Additionally the mill used a Dorr clarifier, with associated mud press filters. In addition to the high grade centrifugals noted above, there were some 1989 electrically powered low grade centrifugals.

Hathua Sugar Factory

The mill has apparently not worked since 1997 and my view is that the equipment is generally in such a state that there is no way that it could be reopened. In its final years, the mill used a double sulphitation process although some carbonatation equipment (eg lime kiln) remains. The steam locos appeared to be present (in the open), but I had no time to check them.

Steam turbine powered cane shredder
Stationary engine, A. & W. Smith & Co, driving first and second mills (and maybe a crusher too originally)
Stationary engine, Etab. Henry Mamolle, Saint Quentin, France, Corliss valves, driving third and fourth mills
Duplex pump, A. & W. Smith & Co
Vacuum pumps (3), A. & W. Smith & Co, Nos 4014, 4215, 4275
Vacuum pump, Delattre et Frouard, France
Belliss and Morcom, vertical water injection pump
Duplex pumps (4)

Sidwalia Sugar Factory (Upper Ganges Sugar Mills)

Duplex juice pumps (2)
Vertical engines for power generation, out of use, (3) from Belliss and Morcom
Vertical boiler water feedpumps (3) by Weir 

Gopalganj Sugar Factory (Vishnu Sugar Mills)

Vertical boiler water feedpump by Weir
Duplex juice pumps (2), out of use
Vertical engine for power generation, out of use, from Belliss and Morcom