Economics of Supplemental Power Generation

With the present high cost of fuel, industries are reassessing their in-house electrical generation capability and pump drive requirements. The decision on self-power generation must be based on economics. What was uneconomical in the past may result in a large saving today. Paper published with permission.

Increasing Boiler Efficiencies

The most difficult problem in giving any talk, on any subject, is how to get started. I, myself, decided to go to Webster’s Dictionary to find the definition of efficiency. Webster defines it as follows: “Efficiency is the ratio of useful work obtained to energy expended”. I think it would be fair to say that the efficiency by which we convert energy to a saleable product will be the measure of a successful engineer. Paper published with permission.

Potable Water From Plant Waste Water

The direct reuse of waste affluents is not a new concept to the citrus industry. Jones(1) reported the limited reuse of lime treated treatment plant effluent as barometric leg water. Treatment plant effluent was indicated by the Coca Cola Company Foods Division(2) as suitable for reuse as cooling water. Reuse of barometric leg water through the installation of cooling towers has become an accepted practice. This relatively high quality water, which amounts to a significant part of the total plant water usage, is readily isolated from the existing systems. Paper published with permission.

Technological Change in the Food Industry

The year 1973 has been chronicled by the news media as the “year of Watergate,” but historians could record that an event of greater long-term significance occurred in that year. The year 1973 may well mark the disappearance of cheap food from American consumers’ tables. Prices for food purchased for home consumption increased during the calendar year 1973 by 16. 3 per cent, the largest increase in one year since the hectic catch-up purchasing spree of 1947. It is possible, as some Administration officials have forecast, that the current alarming rate of inflation in food prices may slacken somewhat in the future. Nevertheless, it seems almost certain that for the foreseeable future the United States will be faced with a strong continuing upward trend in food prices. The increase is expected to approximate 15 per cent for 1974, and the 1975 increase is likely to be of the same magnitude. Paper published with permission.

Economics of Citrus Speciality Products

The citrus industry is not different from any competitive industry in that the by-products, or specialty products as we prefer to call them, can play in important role in the overall economic structure. For example, it has been estimated that the Sunkist organization in California produces and markets over 160 different products from citrus, BUT Florida processors have not developed their specialty products to the extent done in California. Probably the primary reason for this has been a continually increasing size of crop that demanded the capital for plant expansion and perhaps rightly so, as this is the tried and known source of profit. We are now reaching a declining rate of increase in the crop, and should seriously consider investment of money and even more importantly the investment of skilled talent in Development, Manufacturing and Sales to promote specialty products as California citrus processors and other industries do. Paper published with permission.

Availability and Economic Possibilities of Fuels

This paper discusses our present situation with regard to energy supply and demand and indicates the need for a national energy policy to be able to meet future demands as well as possible. The various energy or fuel sources are evaluated and their possible future contributions as well as costs, in dollars and to the environment, considered. Paper published with permission.

Handling Lemons in a Conventional Packing House

There has been much discussion in the Florida Fresh Citrus Industry about the possibility of handling lemons in a conventional packing house. The advantages of keeping idle machinery and key people productive in the summer months are obvious if the special problems of handling this variety can be overcome. This can be done and is being done successfully by two Florida Packing Houses, Golden Gem Growers, Inc. in Umatilla and Gracewood Fruit Company in Vero Beach. This concept requires a few specific facilities which are not found in all Florida packing houses but are present in many. This paper will discuss these facilities plus others which are desirable if available. The Fresh Lemon Industry in Florida is a young and growing industry. It is rather unique in that the fruit matures during a time of year when no other Florida Citrus is in season. Since the major problem facing most Florida fresh fruit operations is the lack of full utilization of packing equipment, there has been some interest in utilizing this idle capacity during the summer for packing lemons. There has been much debate over the wisdom of this approach since the handling of lemons in a conventional packing house presents many difficulties which must be solved to have a successful operation. The basic technology for packing fresh Florida Lemons has been worked out for several years. The ideal situation of course is to have a packing plant designed specifically for lemons which would run lemons only. It would have all the machinery, equipment, and cold rooms necessary to do a good job. However, the only way this approach can be justified is to control enough lemons that this plant could be operated for several months each year. It would require approximately one-half the present bearing acreage of Florida Lemons to support such a plant. Therefore the ideal situation for a company with a conventional packing house with nothing to pack in August and usually September would be to pack lemons in this plant if the obstacles can be overcome. The advantages of such an operation are fairly obvious. The units packed during this period could do much to lower the unit overhead cost for the entire year. In addition the Supervisory and other Key people would become much more productive during this period of time. The same is true for the sales organization. This is the line of reasoning that led us into the fresh lemon packing business. In 1970 one of our members, Callery-Judge Groves requested we consider packing fresh lemons since they grew lemons and were very interested in having them packed fresh if at all possible. They furnished the fruit to experiment with so that we could find out how our machinery would do with lemons. Our first experiment was with twelve pallet bins of lemons which we handled in many different ways. After this experiment they furnished us with two trailer loads of lemons which we packed and sold on the fresh fruit market with good results. From that cautious beginning this operation has grown to the point where we stay extremely busy on lemons during the months of August and September, sometimes beginning in July and ending in October. To further discuss this subject I would like to break it down into several points which I consider important in the handling of fresh lemons in a conventional packing house. The first four points are absolutely essential. The remaining points are certainly desirable, but not as important as the first four. Paper published with permission.