Please note that the venue for the 2009 meeting will now be New Orleans and not Delhi as originally planned.
The timing is now the traditional mid-May period so the hotel deadline for a guaranteed room is April 20 2008. Registration is now open and the Detailed Program plus List of Papers is available. The Spousal / Guest Program is also now available.
USA
Although the USA is a major sugar producer in its own right, it still has port refineries around the country. One of them is this year’s host.
New Orleans, the commercial hub of Louisiana and jazz capital of the world, is ideally located at the mouth of the Mississippi for a port refinery. In fact, it has two refineries with a third being planned. The Imperial refinery is up river at Gramercy and the ASR [Domino] one is at Chalmette, slightly down river from the city centre. The third refinery has been proposed by Cargill but work has not yet started and, in a recent twist, it may now be combined with the Imperial refinery at Gramercy.
There is a city website and you can find out more about the USA in general at the government's official tourism website.
Hotel
The Meeting will be held at the Hilton St Charles Ave. hotel in the heart of downtown and within walking distance of the French Quarter. [There are several Hiltons in New Orleans so make sure you get the right one.] You can find out more about the hotel at its website and you can use the booking form on this web domain to reserve your room at the hotel.
Visas
The USA has strict entry rules which must be followed carefully. Citizens of certain countries – most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea and Singapore – can enter without a visa provided they complete the Electronic System for Travel Authorization [ESTA] before travelling. All others must be in possession of a valid visa.
You can find out more about visa requirements at the government's visa website which is normally available in several languages once you have entered the site..
Travel
Air travel is clearly the easiest way to get to New Orleans as it has its own 'international' airport although, in practice, you will almost certainly have to transit through another US airport.
The airport is about 21 km from the hotel. An ‘Airport Shuttle’ [white van with gold lettering] operates from the ground transportation desks in baggage claim areas 3,6 and 12 to the hotel throughout the day. The fare is reported to be $15 each way compared to $28 for a taxi. After 11pm you can purchase a one-way cash ticket from any driver on the loading dock outside of baggage claim area 6.
| Saturday, May 9, 2009 | |
| 12 Noon - 4:00 pm S.I.T. Hospitality | Leon Anhaiser's suite |
| Sunday, May 10, 2009 | |
| 9:00 am - 4:00 pm S.I.T. Hospitality | Board Room - Second Floor |
| 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Registration | Foyer, Fleur de Lis Ballroom - Second Floor |
| 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm S.I.T. Executive Committee Meeting | Prytania Ballroom - Seventh Floor |
| 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm S.I.T. Directors Meeting | Prytania Ballroom - Seventh Floor |
| 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm SIT Mixer Reception | Grand Chappel - Eleventh Floor |
| Monday, May 11, 2009 | |
| 8:00 am - 5:00 pm Ladies Hospitality | Foyer, Fleur de Lis Ballroom - Second Floor |
| 8:45 am Spousal /Guest Program Departure for Tours / Luncheon | Return at 3:00 pm |
| 8:00 am - 5:00 pm Registration | Foyer, Fleur de Lis Ballroom - Second Floor |
| FIRST TECHNICAL SESSION | Fleur de Lis Ballroom - Second Floor |
| Brian Harrison - Presiding | |
| Imperial Sugar Company |
| 8:30 am | Address of Welcome | Donald Ryan, President, Sugar Industry Technologists |
| 8:40 am #959 | Keynote Speaker | Mike Strain, Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry, State of Louisiana |
| 9.10 am #960 | "Factory Trials To Determine How Sugarcane Trash Impacts Downstream Processing Including Affinated Sugar Production" | Barbara Muir, Sugar Milling Research Inst., Durban, South Africa, and Gillian Eggleston, USDA-ARS-SRRC, New Orleans, LA, USA |
| 9.40 am #961 | "Automatic Crystallisation In The View Of The Special Needs In Refineries" | Bernd Langhans, Siemens AG, Erlangen, Germany |
| 10:10 am | Coffee Break/Poster Presentations | |
| 10:30 am #962 | "Measuring And Improving White Sugar Pan Yields At Redpath Refiney" | George Carter, American Sugar Refining, Redpath Sugar, Toronto, Canada |
| 11:00 am #963 | "Reducing Dust Explosion Risks In The Vertical Conveyance Of Bulk Materials: The Olds Elevator" | Richard McIntosh, Olds Elevator, Hudson, NH, USA, Peter Wypych, Univ. of Wollongong, NSW Australia, Robert Olds and William Olds, Olds Engineering, Australia |
| 11:30 am #964 | "Back To The Basics Of Sucrose Loss Reduction" | Michael Burchell, American Sugar Refining Company, Crockett, CA, USA |
| 12:00 Noon | Annual General Meeting of the Corporation of Sugar Industry Technologists, Inc. | |
| Election of Board of Directors | ||
| 12:15 pm | S.I.T. Reception and Luncheon | Saint Charles Ballroom - Third Floor |
| SECOND TECHNICAL SESSION | Fleur de Lis Ballroom - Second Floor and Prytania Ballroom - Seventh Floor |
| 2:30 onwards #965 - SYMPOSIA | |
| Ahmed Vawda - Chairman | |
| United Sugar Company |
| Session A "Preventing Dust Explosions" | ||
| Moderator: | Donald Ryan | Lantic Inc. |
| Panelists: | Richard Baker | American Sugar Refining |
| Richard McIntosh | Olds Elevator LLC | |
| Mike Prior | The Fitzpatrick Company | |
| David Pelham | United States Sugar Corporation | |
| Session B "Value Added Products from Sugar Refining" | ||
| Moderator: | Ahmed Vawda | United Sugar Company |
| Panelists: | Mary An Godshall | Sugar Process Research Institute Inc. |
| Dominique Paillat | Novasep | |
| Paivi Paakkarinen | Finnsugar Ltd | |
| 5:00 pm New Board of Directors Meeting | Fleur de Lis Ballroom - Second Floor |
| Tuesday, May 12, 2009 | |
| 8:00 am - 3:00 pm Ladies Hospitality | Foyer, Fleur de Lis Ballroom - Second Floor |
| 9:15 am Spousal /Guest Program Departure for Tour | Return at 4:00 pm |
| 8:00 am - 3:00 pm Registration | Foyer, Fleur de Lis Ballroom - Second Floor |
| THIRD TECHNICAL SESSION | Fleur de Lis Ballroom - Second Floor |
| Dave Demone - Presiding | |
| American Sugar Refining |
| 8:00 am | Poster Presentations | |
| 9:00 am #966 | "A Comparative Evaluation Of Fixed Bed And Pulsed Bed Carbon Adsorbers" | A. S. Vawda,.G. N. Kassim,, K. Bahakeem, and M. Al Sheri, Savola Sugar Middle East, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| 9:30 am #967 | "High Performance Screens For Continuous Centrifuges" | Paul Wassing, Stork Veco, Eerbeek, The Netherlands, and Marco de Vries, Suikerunie, Vierverlaten, The Netherlands |
| 10:00 am #968 | "Liquid Sugars Produced In Sugar Refineries: Advantage Of Large Central Units Serving The Competitive Needs Of The Food Industry" | Francois Rousset and Dominique Paillat, Novasep Process, St. Maurice de Beynost, France |
| 10:30 am | Coffee Break/Poster Presentations | |
| 11:00 am #969 | "Simplified Refining Process For The 2lst Century" | Chung Chi Chou, Dr. Chou Technologies, USA, and Livia Engel, AmCane Sugar, USA |
| 11:30 am #970 | "Design Of Sugar Refineries – Practical Experience Obtained From Completed Projects" | Andreas Lehnberger, and Reinhold Hempelmann, BMA, AG, Braunschweig, Germany |
| 12:00 Noon | Luncheon | on your own |
| FOURTH TECHNICAL SESSION | Fleur de Lis Ballroom - Second Floor |
| Gilles Schrevel - Presiding | |
| Raffinerie Tirlemontoise, SA |
| 2:00 pm #971 | "Scale-Up Sugar Cane Antioxidants Preparation at Taiwan Sugar Corporation" | Herng-Kuang Sheen, Yao-Chi Hsiao, Yeong-Jong Lu, Taiwan Sugar Corp., Taiwan, China, and Chung-Chi Chou, Dr. Chou Technologies, USA |
| 2:30 pm #972 | "Development Of Ion Exchange Decolourisation And Spent Brine Filtration In India" | A. K. Srivastava, S. P. Tripathi, K. Gopalakrishanan, and G. S. C. Rao, Simbhaoli Sugars Ltd., Ghaziabad, India |
| 3:00 pm #973 | "Implementation Of A Vacuum Belt Horizontal Filter On Refinery Phosphotation Scum To Minimize Environmental Impact" | M. Reza Laulloo and Indrajit Singh, National Sugar Company, Homs, Syria |
| 3:30 pm #974 | "Commercial Production Of Fullerenes From Waste Molasses: A Major Commercial Breakthrough For The Sugar Industry" | Kaman Singh and Amor Deep, Univ. of Lucknow, Lucknow, India, and D. Kumar , Teri Univ. New Delhi, India |
| 4:05 pm | Invitation to Savannah, Georgia | Brian Harrison, Imperial Sugar Co |
| 5:00 pm | President's Closing Remarks |
| 7:00 pm Reception | St. Charles Ballroom - Third Floor |
| 8:00 pm Banquet | St. Charles Ballroom - Third Floor |
| Wednesday, May 13, 2009 | |
| 9:15 am Buses leave for Research Center: SRRC and SPRI | |
| 12:00 Lunch - Landry's Seafood House by the Lake overlooking Lake Pontchartrain and New Orleans Marina | |
| 2:00 pm Buses leave for airport | |
| 2:00 pm Bus returns to hotel |
Our Louisianan hosts have planned an excellent programme for the two days of the technical meeting :
| Day 1 | Plantation Tours |
| Laura Plantation The Majesty of the Felicianas graced the upper and lower Mississippi River towards the city known at one time as the “Queen of the South.” Among the many families in New Orleans during the golden age of sugarcane one stood out. Not unlike their neighbors on the river during their day, Laura Plantation was a working sugar plantation. The family stayed from June until September, and then returned to New Orleans for the winter social season. Built in 1805, Laura is named after one of her mistresses, Laura Locoul, who lived from 1861 to 1963 until her death at 102 years old. The Laura Plantation may be the only plantation known to have been run by women for 200 years! After the tour, you are invited to look around and visit the rare collection of twelve buildings that are on the National Register. The plantation has made a significant recovery despite a devastating fire on August 9, 2004. The complete renovations have restored the grounds to continue to offer visitors to Louisiana of the disappearing Creole world of the past. Oak Alley Plantation – Luncheon The “Grande Dame of the Great River Road,” the Oak Alley Plantation is known as the only location in the south that you will find such a spectacular setting. The quarter-mile canopy of giant live oak trees, believed to be nearly 300 years old, form an impressive avenue leading to the classic Greek-revival style antebellum home. Enjoy the tastes of Louisiana cooking. Lunch will be at The Oak Alley Restaurant on the grounds. Buffet style lunch. After lunch the guests will go on a tour of Oak Alley Plantation and gift shop. | |
| Day 2 | Sites and Tastes of New Orleans |
| Located in the heart of the French Quarter, the New Orleans School of Cooking offers guests a unique entertaining class as you learn the secrets of the famous New Orleans cooking. The Creole/Cajun experts teach New Orleans specialties such as Gumbo, Jambalaya and Pralines in its beautifully renovated kitchen of the old New Orleans 1830’s molasses warehouse. Lunch is served for the group. The General Store with Louisiana spices is also located within the school so items can be purchased after class. Enjoy a memorable cooking experience at the New Orleans Cooking School. The tour continues as the group will walk to the Cabildo, one of New Orleans treasured museums, and the 1850 House. The Cabildo - Nestled in the once main square of the city of New Orleans the Cabildo, which is one of the most historically significant buildings in America, was famous for the site of the Louisiana Purchase transfer in 1803, the largest land deal of its time. Built in 1795 to 1799 it carries the history of New Orleans labeled the “Queen of the South.” The building survived two great fires and still captures the best of Louisiana historical art through its continuing evolution social change and cultural influences of such a ethnic diverse city. The 1850 House - A tour of the 1850 House will end the city walking tour of the home of Madame Micaëla Pontalba, daughter of Don Andrés Almonaster y Roxes. He agreed to pay for construction of the building that we know now as the Cabildo. It replaced an earlier structure that had been destroyed by the great fire of 1788. Almonester had already commissioned Gilberto Guillemard to design the new cathedral and presbytere, and the Cabildo chose the same man to plan the new government building. Madame Micaëla Pontalba continued her father’s improvements around Jackson Square by building the long rows of red-brick apartments flanking the upper and lower portions of the square. Other contributions were a hospital to serve the victims of leprosy in New Orleans during the time. Shopping – French Market – Café Du Monde The New Orleans’ French Market has existed in the French Quarter site since 1791 and has remained true to its authentic mission for more than 200 years. It is America’s oldest public market and to this day plays an important role in the local economy. Walk up and down the five blocks of specialty retail shops and community flea market. End the shopping day with coffee and beignets. Walk at leisure back to the hotel |
