ugars and syrups 35 Syrups may be delivered either in barrels of steel or plastic, or in bulk in which case the load is warm to aid transfers. Syrups are normally tested for flavour (against a reference sample), colour and solids concentration. The latter test is done simply, using a refractometer. A small quantity is put onto the sample surface and the refractometer is closed. a measurement is made by viewing through the eyepiece. The solids will be about 80% for sucrose syrups and 70% for invert and glucose syrups 5.7 Storage and handling of sugars and syrups 5.7.1 Crystal sugars in bulk Sugars delivered by road tanker are transferred to the silo pneumatically in a similar way to flour. As the sugar passes along the pipe there is a great tendency for the crystals to break up. This problem is reduced if the offloading is done at a moderate and not too fast a rate and if the pipe has a minimum number of bends between the tanker and the silo top. In the silo there are potential problems of caking, the formation of lumps when crystals fuse together. This happens when there are temperature changes within the mass of sugar. As heat is applied for example from a warm wall of the silo, the minute films of sugar solution around each crystal are dried out allowing crystals to form and causing adjacent crystals to fuse together. Caking of sugar is ays a moisture migration problem initiated by temperature adients. Insulation of the silos is the best method of preventing aking. Sometimes the lumps so formed are very hard and very large They have to be removed by someone entering the silo which is not a Bulk sugar is drawn from the base of the silo through a rotary seal into a pneumatic air line in a similar way to flour(see Fig. 2). The gar is delivered to a weigh hopper but excess sugar is never returned to the silo as it will have been broken a little in transit and it is undesirable that dusty sugar is returned to the silo. Any excess sugar in the line after the hopper has made weight should be collected in a special bin sited near the mixing department There is a great hazard of dust explosions from sugar dust. Much care must be taken to avoid sparks from machinery or static electricity in sugar handling systemsSugars and syrups 35 5.6.2 Syrups Syrups may be delivered either in barrels of steel or plastic, or in bulk in which case the load is warm to aid transfers. Syrups are normally tested for flavour (against a reference sample), colour and solids concentration. The latter test is done simply, using a refractometer. A small quantity is put onto the sample surface and the refractometer is closed. A measurement is made by viewing through the eyepiece. The solids will be about 80% for sucrose syrups and 70% for invert and glucose syrups. 5.7 Storage and handling of sugars and syrups 5.7.1 Crystal sugars in bulk Sugars delivered by road tanker are transferred to the silo pneumatically in a similar way to flour. As the sugar passes along the pipe there is a great tendency for the crystals to break up. This problem is reduced if the offloading is done at a moderate and not too fast a rate and if the pipe has a minimum number of bends between the tanker and the silo top. In the silo there are potential problems of caking, the formation of lumps when crystals fuse together. This happens when there are temperature changes within the mass of sugar. As heat is applied, for example from a warm wall of the silo, the minute films of sugar solution around each crystal are dried out allowing crystals to form and causing adjacent crystals to fuse together. Caking of sugar is always a moisture migration problem initiated by temperature gradients. Insulation of the silos is the best method of preventing caking. Sometimes the lumps so formed are very hard and very large! They have to be removed by someone entering the silo which is not a pleasant job. Bulk sugar is drawn from the base of the silo through a rotary seal into a pneumatic air line in a similar way to flour (see Fig. 2). The sugar is delivered to a weigh hopper but excess sugar is never returned to the silo as it will have been broken a little in transit and it is undesirable that dusty sugar is returned to the silo. Any excess sugar in the line after the hopper has made weight should be collected in a special bin sited near the mixing department. There is a great hazard of dust explosions from sugar dust. Much care must be taken to avoid sparks from machinery or static electricity in sugar handling systems