• Once a self-sufficient community
  • Taiwan's economic export value accounts for the largest proportion
  • Departing from an abandoned railway
  • With the introduction of local people
  • Let's understand the history of Taiwan Sugar
Sugar mill locomotive

Retired train that used to transport sugar cane

Old banyan tree

Old banyan tree accompanied Pingtung sugar factory

Shinpei Torii

Japanese engineer built a water collection corridor

Taitang County People's Park

The transformed Park is full of amazing designs

Manufacturing History

Introduction

According to historical records, the Ping-Pu aboriginal people in Taiwan have been able to plant and use sugar canes since the 14th century, but there is no mention of whether they were able to use sugar canes to make sugar. When did Taiwan begin to make sugar? Sugar canes were grown as a ingredients to produce sugar, Taiwan's main export, since the Dutch rule in the 17th century, when production peaked at 1.488,731 million tons.

A- Hou Sugar Manufacturing Factory

n 1904, it was founded by Su,Yu-Ti , Nan-Chang Sugar co., LTD., the first new sugar factory in Taiwan.The output was not as expected due to frequent equipment failure and unskillful operation. In August 1907, the Taiwan Sugar Company began to build a railway from the A-Hou Sugar Manufacturing Factory to the Jiu-Qu-Tangl. In November, The A-Hou Factory was built at Guey-Lai . The construction was completed in December 1908, and sugar production officially began in early 1909 with a crushing capacity of 1200 tons.

Evolution of technology

Old-fashioned producing process.

Old Sugar Factory :Make honey-containing brown sugar (brown sugar), a kind of honey-containing sugar mixed with slag, minerals and organic matter. Process:After the sugar cane is pressed into sugar cane juice, then is the procedure of boil sugar, usually will use five hole ding (old style boil sugar with the pot) strong heat boil sugar juice, and according to the thickness of the sugar juice to place, from the thinnest to the thickest, fire depending on the thickness of the thick, sugar juice thin fire, sugar juice thick fire small. Boil the need to keep stirring the cane juice and remove the scum on the pot, in order to prevent the sugar juice precipitation blackened, when the semi-circulation body, then cooling, precipitation grains become red sugar (black sugar).

Nowaday sugar-making process

Advantages: Large-scaled, safe equipment, everything is done by machine, high efficiency, excellent products. Process: first, the sugarcane is cut off and fed into a press to press the juice in the sugarcane by 94 percent. The sugar cane juice is then heated, and the impurities in the lime and sugar cane juice are added to produce precipitation, and then the sediment is discharged through the precipitation tank, which becomes the clarified juice. If want to make cane juice decolorization, in order to make sugar directly, need to undergo carbon dioxide treatment or sulfur dioxide treatment. The clarified juice is then fed into the first evaporator of the multi-effect evaporator. The water in the clarified juice is evaporated one by one, and the clarified juice in the last evaporator is condensed into syrup. 。

The syrup is then fed into the crystallizing pot and seeds are dropped to produce crystals. The crystal tank is vacuumed so that the water in the syrup continues to evaporate and condense, and the sugar grains grow into crystals, turning the syrup into a jelly.

After the crystallization is completed, the molasses is sent to the honey separator. After the molasses is started, the sugar grains in the machine are crystallized and taken out. After the drying step, the sugar becomes granulated sugar and the finished product is finished.

Decline of Sugar Industry

The sugar industry was affected by the second world war because of the decline in production capacity, sugar factories were also heavily damaged in the war. After the war, the Taiwan sugar company set up and repaired the sugar equipment, and merged it into 36 sugar factories. In 1950, the general factory system, renamed Pingtung general factory, under the jurisdiction of Ping-tung, Kaohsiung, Xao-Gang, Nan-zhou, Chi-shan sugar factory. With the international sugar prices depressed for a long time and the high cost of production factors, the Taiwan sugar industry began to decline, in October 1997, Pingtung main plant sugar factory for suspending, restructuring of Pingtung sugar factory, in January 2004 to asset management Headquarter Pingtung, in October 2005 to the Taiwan sugar company in Pingtung area, factory comprises south states (now changed to sightseeing sugar factory).

Now part of the land within the factory is used by Pingtung city office. Sugar factories that used to be the jobs and economic centers of the neighborhood have been eliminated or merged, with only a few turning into tourist sugar factories or continuing operations.

In addition, a few private sugar factories have been established since the Japanese era or the early postwar period, and even a few, such as the xinnan sugar factory, have maintained operations.Today, only Hu-Wei, Nan-Jing (which stopped making sugar in 2009), Shan-Hua's three sugar plants and Xiao-Gang sugar refinery are still operating.

Production of pulp

Pulp Factory

Pingtung Pulp Factory was built in September 1977, in January 1985, and was merged into Sugar Pingtung Factory, It was renamed as inspectors in March 1988 . Later, due to the decline of the sugar industry and the increase of transportation costs, the factory was closed after 17 years of operation, but it was closed in July 1994. The three raw material warehouses now remain . These buildings witness the diversification of business of Taitang , and they have been fully preserved, so the Pingtung county government declared them as historical buildings in 2016.

Purpose of the materials

The paper produced by Pingtung pulp mill is mainly made of bagasse, which is bleached pulp. Bagasse is the residual bagasse made by sugar factories, which is pressed into pieces by baling machine and transported to Pingtung for pulp and paper manufacturing by tx railway subtractor. Mr. Tseng told us that because of the existence of the pulp mill, the value of bagasse can be fully utilized, we can cut down a lot fewer trees. They really are the pioneer of environmental protection.

Closure for Transforming period

After the closure of the Pingtung pulp mill, today has been turned into Tai-tang Citizen Park, three pulp mill also included in the historical building. Today's landscape is obviously different from the past, but the main body of the warehouse has been preserved, and the guard room building has been retained, which is very suitable for the entrance management office of the exhibition area. The finished factory is much cleaner, with a variety of children's facilities and large art installations, making it a fantasy playground for children.