Sugar Research Institute (SRI) is Australia’s premier sugar processing research and development (R&D) specialist, with capabilities in milling, power generation, sugar refining and sugar chemistry.
SRI conducts extensive research programs for clients and offers a broad range of commercially-available consultancy services, contract R&D,innovative factory equipment designs, products and computer software to assist clients improve productivity and factory performance.
SRI serves both Australian and overseas clients in the sugar, dairy, paper, power generation and biotechnology sectors. SRI has international representatives to help deliver and support SRI’s products, designs and services. They operate in Africa, Brazil, China, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India and Nicaragua.
SRI is based in Mackay, Queensland. From July 1 2005, SRI forged a special relationship with the Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane to enhance SRI’s research efforts and strengthen its expertise. From 2006, SRI plans to relocate staff to Brisbane to work from QUT’s Gardens Point campus.
Our major research capabilities are:
- Sugarcane harvest, transport and cleaning
- Sugarcane preparation, milling and diffusion
- By-products - bagasse, molasses, mud
- Energy - cogeneration, gasification, biofuels and ethanol
- Process control engineering and design
- Computer modelling - computational fluid dynamics, finite element stress analysis
- Sugar chemistry
SRI’s global experience in sugar industry technology is underpinned by world leading engineering, chemistry and biotechnology expertise.
Major developmental achievements in our work portfolio include:
- Revolutionary juice clarifiers
- Advanced Roberts evaporators
- Syrup clarifiers
- Batch and continuous vacuum pans
- Process control instrumentation
Consulting and process design services target:
- Raw sugar processing
- Refinery processing
- Overall factory and process stage audits
- Energy audits
- Chemical scale control strategies
- Boiler upgrades