Memories of the early development of extraction towers

As a student and young sugar technologist, the author of this article witnessed the evolution of tower extraction from twin column to single column in the Rhenish Elsdorf sugar factory. Following studies by Dorfeldt in pilot plants in the Berlin Sugar Institute and the Stavenhagen sugar factory before and during the Second World War, Eugen Langen built the first two-column extraction plant in the Ameln sugar factory in 1948, which at the beginning was a failure. An enterprising spirit motivated the construction of further plants and improvements. The necessary investigations and tests of these plants were concentrated in the Elsdorf sugar factory. Studies of the transport and flow conditions led to the development of the one-column design which became standard after 1952.