The SRI research portfolio focuses on fundamental and applied research on issues specific to the entire sugar processing industry and aim to enhance clients’ overall operational efficiency and market competitiveness.
SRI’s access to world leading expertise in the sugar milling and processing industry provides clients and stakeholders with unequalled research and consulting capability.
Its specialist capabilities target sugarcane milling, power generation, sugar refining and sugar chemistry.
The research benefits mainly raw sugar factories and sugar refineries both in Australia and overseas.
Other clients, such as those in the food and beverage industry, consistently profit from adopting SRI innovations and strategies.
Major research targets are:
- Sugarcane harvest, transport and cleaning;
- Sugarcane preparation, milling and diffusion;
- Sugar processing - clarification and filtration, evaporation, crystallisation and sugar separation and drying;
- By-products - bagasse, molasses, mud;
- Energy - cogeneration, gasification, biofuels andethanol;
- Process control, engineering and design;
- Computer modelling - computational fluid dynamics, finite element stress analysis;
- Sugar chemistry;
- Sugar quality and sugar refining;
- By-products and value-adding; and
- Environmental and waste management.
Collaborative partnerships
SRI has a close working relationship with its member mills and researchers frequently collaborate on experimental work.
While SRI has an exclusive affiliation with QUT, we also have a strong tradition of collaborative work with other leading universities, including the University of Queensland, James Cook University, the University of New South Wales, University of Sydney, Monash University, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, University of Southern Queensland and Central Queensland University.
R&D Infrastructure & facilities
SRI has access to well-established and comprehensive R&D infrastructure, which includes:
- analytical laboratories and electronics facilities;
- computational modelling facilities;
- experimental milling facility;
- pilot evaporator and batch vacuum pan located at a member mill;
- Crystal sizing system;
- Sucrose sensor;
- Laser optical counter (particle sizing 0.5 ~30 microns); and
- Experimental shredder.