Auckland, New Zealand is the location for the 71st annual SIT Technical Conference. Registration is now open. The Detailed Program plus List of Papers is now available. The Spousal / Guest Program is also now available. There is an optional post-conference tour of the Yarraville refinery in Melbourne.
New Zealand and Auckland
New Zealand is not a sugar producer so it relies on its one port refinery, Chelsea, and imports. Chelsea refinery, owned by New Zealand Sugar which is part of Sucrogen [CSR Sugar as was] and hence ultimately in the Wilmar Group, is this year’s host. Chelsea has been refining since 1884 and currently produces about 250 000 t/a RSO.
New Zealand's indigenous people, the Maori, called the area around what is now Auckland 'Tamaki Makau Rau', a Maiden with 100 Lovers. Lucky girl! Auckland and indeed New Zealand is a very young place in terms of modern settlement : little more than 160 years old. Today it is a bustling metropolis in a setting not dissimilar to that of San Francisco : many people commute to work by ferry from the outlying suburbs.
There is a city visitor website and you can find out more about New Zealand in general at the government's official tourism website.
Hotel
The Meeting will be held at the Stamford Plaza hotel situated in the heart of downtown Auckland, within easy walking distance of the lively Viaduct restaurant precinct on Auckland's Waitemata Harbour or the Vector Arena and close to all transport (ferry, train and buses). You can find out more about the hotel at its website. This year you can book the hotel online at a dedicated web page created by the hotel [a separate browser tab/window will open] or, if you prefer, you can download the booking form, complete it with Acrobat or Acrobat Reader and reserve your room at the hotel by fax or email. The room rate is NZ$170 plus taxes = NZ$195.50 per night. Note that the online booking system shows the inclusive rate.
The timing is the traditional mid-May period so the hotel deadline for a guaranteed room is April 13 2012.
Visas
New Zealand has strict entry rules which must be followed carefully. Citizens of certain countries – most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Korea, Singapore and the USA – can enter without a visa. All others must be in possession of a valid visa.
You can find out more about visa requirements at the government's visa website.
Travel
Air travel is is the only viable way to get to Auckland. It has its own international airport. The city is also well connected by road and air to the rest of New Zealand and as the country is small - even if divided into the 'mainland' and the 'island' according to those from the south - road travel is easy.
The airport is about 25 km from the hotel and it should take less than 30 minutes to get to the hotel. The taxi fare is reported to be NZ$60 – NZ$80 [US$48 to 64] each way but the shuttle is reported to be only NZ$33 for one person plus $8 for each extra person and it can be booked online.
Post-conference Tour
Sugar Australia has kindly arranged a visit to the Yarraville refinery in Melbourne on the Thursday for those who would like to do so. You will have to plan to fly to Melbourne later on Wednesday afternoon [there are direct flights]. Melbourne is the second largest of Australia's cities and it offers a wide range of attractions to visitors. More information and an application form are available on this domain for those interested. Please note that you will need a visa to visit Australia.
| Saturday, May 5, 2012 | |
| 12 Noon - 4:00 pm S.I.T. Hospitality | Edgar Aguirre's suite |
| Sunday, May 6, 2012 | |
| 9:00 am - 5:00 pm Registration | Foyer Stamford Ballroom - Ground Floor |
| 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm SIT Executive Committee Meeting | Stamford I & II Rooms - Ground Floor |
| 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm SIT Directors Meeting | Stamford I & II Rooms - Ground Floor |
| 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm SIT Mixer Reception | Stamford III Room - Ground Floor |
| Monday, May 7, 2012 | |
| 8:00 am - 5:00 pm Ladies Hospitality | Hotel Lobby |
| 8:00 am - 5:00 pm Registration | Foyer Stamford Ballroom - Ground Floor |
| 9:30 am Spousal /Guest Program Departure for Tour from Hotel Lobby | Return at 3:45 pm |
| FIRST TECHNICAL SESSION | Stamford Ballroom - Ground Floor |
| Thomas Rathke - Presiding | |
| Imperial Sugar |
| 8:30 am | Address of Welcome | David Demone, President, Sugar Industry Technologists, Inc. |
| 8:40 am #1022 | Keynote Speaker | Ian Glasson, Chief Executive Officer, Sucrogen |
| 9.10 am #1023 | "Benefits to a Sugar Business of Developing a Robust Sustainability Strategy" | Allan Dobbie and Grant Ritchie, Sucrogen Sweeteners Group, Australia |
| 9.40 am #1024 | "Handling Unacceptable Levels of Starch in Raw Sugar – One Refiner’s Solution" | Jeffery Robinson, Sr. Director – Quality Management, American Sugar Refining, Inc., Baltimore, USA |
| 10:10 am | Coffee Break/Poster Presentations | |
| 10:30 am #1025 | "Investigation of Cane Sugar Colour under Beet Sugar Co-Process Conditions" | F. van Noord, Suiker Unie, the Netherlands, E. Poiesz, Cosun Food Technology Centre, the Netherlands, M. Oomen, Cosun Food Technology Centre, the Netherlands, and A. Wittenberg, Suiker Unie, the Netherlands |
| 11:00 am #1026 | "Design and Evaluation of a Full Control Program for Sucrose Crystallization based on Soft Sensor Approach" | Osama Zein El-Abdein E-Sherbeeny, United Sugar Company of Egypt, Egypt |
| 11:30 am #1027 | "The Use and Advantages of Air Cooled Vacuum Steam Condensers in Sugar Refining Applications" | Phillip Blundell, Talagadadivi Gourinath, and Dean Reeves, Jord International Pty Ltd, Sydney, Australia |
| 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 | Knights on Albert Restaurant, Ground Floor |
| SECOND TECHNICAL SESSION | Stamford and Raffles Ballrooms - Ground Floor |
| 2:30 onwards #1028 - SYMPOSIA | |
| Michael Burchell - Chairman | |
| C&H Sugar Company, Inc. / American Sugar Refining, Inc. |
| Session A "pH Control Systems" | ||
| Moderator: | Peter Dibella | Manildra Harwood Sugars |
| Panelists: | Daniel De Sousa | Tate & Lyle Process Technology |
| Martin Speers | Sugar Australia Pty. Ltd | |
| Thomas Rathke | Imperial Sugar Company | |
| Session B "Internal Recycle in Refineries" | ||
| Moderator: | George Carter | Redpath Sugar Ltd |
| Panelists: | Amelia Ferraz | Neltec Denmark A/S |
| Natasha Sharma | Tongaat-Hulett Sugar Ltd | |
| Stephen King | Manildra Harwood Sugars | |
| 5:00 pm New Board of Directors Meeting | Stamford Ballroom - Ground Floor |
| Tuesday, May 8, 2012 | |
| 8:00 am - 5:00 pm Ladies Hospitality | Hotel Lobby |
| 8:00 am - 3:00 pm Registration | Foyer Stamford Ballroom - Ground Floor |
| 10:00 am Spousal /Guest Program Departure for Tour from Hotel Lobby | Return at 3:00 pm |
| THIRD TECHNICAL SESSION | Stamford Ballroom - Ground Floor |
| Peter Dibella - Presiding | |
| Manildra Harwood Sugars |
| 8:30 am #1029 | "Powerhouse Efficiency for Beginners – Learning from a Process Engineer’s Experience of Audits of Power Houses in the Domino Brands Group" | George Carter, Process Manager, Redpath Sugars, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| 9:00 pm #1030 | "New Developments in Decolourisation using Activated Carbon that Reduce Operating Costs and Improve Efficiency" | Phillip Blundell, John Warner, and Chris Bryant, Jord International Pty. Ltd., Sydney, Australia |
| 09:30 am #1031 | "Total Control of Sugar Production Plants in 2020. Trends and Reality on what is Ahead" | Bernd Langhans, Siemens AG, Germany |
| 10:00 am | Coffee Break/Poster Presentations | |
| 10:30 am #1032 | "A New and Improved Deep Bed Filter Process for the Sugar Industry" | Nirmal Hasrajani, T&L Process Technology Ltd., Thames Refinery, London, UK |
| 11:00 am #1033 | "Investigation of Color Transfer During Crystallization of Raw and Beet Sugar Blends" | V. Kochergin, Audubon Sugar Institute, Louisiana, USA, A. Wittenberg, Suiker Unie, Netherlands, F. Van Noord, Suiker Unie, Netherlands, S. Goudeau, Audubon Sugar Institute, Louisiana, USA, and I. Tishechkina, Audubon Sugar Institute, Louisiana, USA |
| 11:30 pm #1034 | "New Approaches in Centrifugal Design" | Dirk Meyer, Reinhold Hempelmann, Silke Stiegert, BMA Braunschweigische Maschinenbauanstalt AG, Braunschweig, Germany |
| 12:00 Noon | Luncheon | on your own |
| FOURTH TECHNICAL SESSION | Stamford Ballroom - Ground Floor |
| David M. Meadows - Presiding | |
| Tongaat-Hulett Sugar Ltd |
| 2:00 pm #1035 | "Adapting a Beet Factory to Refine Raw Sugar" | Carsten Irmer, Putsch GmbH, Germany |
| 2:30 pm #1036 | "A Refiner’s Experience with On-Line Colour Measurement" | José Chorão, RAR – Refinarias de Açúcar Reunidas, Portugal |
| 3:00 pm #1037 | "The role of the Evaporator station in the Capacity and Energy Improvement of a Sugar Refinery" | Ahmed S. Vawda, United Sugar Company, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia |
| 3:30 pm #1038 | "Comparison of IEX versus GAC for Sugar Liquor Decolourisation in a Raw Sugar Refinery" | Günther Ahring, Frank Robert Emeis, Stefan Pfau, IPRO Industrieprojekt GmbH, Germany |
| 4:00 pm #1039 | "A Novel Approach to Raw Cane Sugar Refining using Ion Exchange and Chromatography" | Mike Kearney, Tim Pryor, Larry Velasquez, Amalgamated Research LLC, Twin Falls, Idaho, USA, Alan Hieb, Amalgamated Sugar Company LLC, Boise, Idaho, USA, Chris Schulze, ESCON GmbH, Berlin, Germany |
| 4:30 pm #1040 | "Design of the OPS Scimitar Crystalliser" | Bill Hunter [RIP], Scotland, Wayne Jayes, South Africa, and Oliver Mace, Reunion |
| 5:00 pm | Invitation to Guangzhou, China  | Professor Shujuan Yu, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou |
| 5:15 pm | President's Closing Remarks |
| 7:00 pm Reception | Raffles Landing - Ground Floor |
| 8:00 pm Banquet | Stamford Ballroom - Ground Floor |
| 10:00 pm Entertainment | |
| Wednesday, May 9, 2012 | |
| 9:30 am Bus leaves for Refinery Tour | |
| 11:00 am Bus leaves for Refinery Lunch | |
| 12:00 Lunch - Chelsea Refinery | |
| 2:00 pm Buses return to hotel/airport |
Auckland, the “City of Sails”, a charming and beautiful city, is the largest city in New Zealand located between two harbours and surrounded by extinct volcanoes and picturesque holiday islands. New Zealand Sugar Company Ltd has planned the following Spouse/Guest program for you to enjoy during your stay in Auckland :
| Day 1 | Waiheke Island |
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| Day 2 | Auckland Museum & Lunch in Parnell |
Today we will :
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