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American Sugar Refining / Tate & Lyle
Tate & Lyle PLC is a British-headquartered, global supplier of food and beverage ingredients to industrial markets. It was originally a sugar refining business, but from the 1970s it began to diversify, eventually divesting its sugar business in 2012. It specializes in turning raw materials such as corn and tapioca into ingredients that add taste, texture, and nutrients to food and beverages.
In July 2010 the company announced the sale of its sugar refining business, including rights to use the Tate & Lyle brand name and Lyle’s Golden Syrup, to American Sugar Refining (ASR) for £211 million. The sale included the Plaistow Wharf and Silvertown plants. The sugar crystallisation process is typically monitored by operators viewing through a series of sight glasses on the side of the vessel. The process takes place under vacuum, so it important to have no leak paths in order to maintain a full vacuum, boil at a lower temperature, and therefore save on energy. Historically, Tate & Lyle had installed standard tempered sight glasses, which were typically under tightened due to the risk of cracking either during installation, or during process operation, as the unit experiences local expansion and contraction during temperature cycling. This resulted in leak path creation and, ultimately, common failure of the tempered glass. When ABLE and Canty were able demonstrate the theoretical cost savings of upgrading to the Fuseview, ASR embarked on a program to replace all existing 70 tempered glass units. The Fuseview features a metallic outer ring fused to glass so the user is tightening on metal and cannot therefore over torque and damage the window. As a result, a full seal is maintained and a full vacuum achieved, resulting in significant energy savings.