, 1866-04-13

pass through a large number of caSt-Iron
pipes, Pin. in diameter and Oft. long,
which are placed vertically within a cir
cuIar Wrought.iron vessel, upon which a
chimney is placed. BY means Of a fan,
a current Of air is made TO pass among
these pipes, and the air becomes raised
to Il temperature of about 320S Fab,
and furnishes the needful heat for conccn-
tration in the following manner A cy-
Under, about Aft, in diameter, and colt.
long, is placed horizontally in such a
manner that The current of heated air be-
fore mentioned traverses it. The ends
of the cylinder are fitted with %annular
pieces, SO that it may contain liquid 4Il.
or sin. in depth. The cylinder is filled
from end to end with IA series of spiral
@volutcs of w%rought-iron, so arranged that
when the cylinder is caused to r%evoivc,
the liquid flows over their whole surface,
and thus exposes a very large area to the
drying action of the heated air. A small
pump raises the thickened cane Juice
from The trays into the cylinder at the
end most distant from the ingress of the
heated air; and as The juice-now con-
verified to a ~syrup-paSSes along the cy-
Under it steadily increases in density until
at last it energies Of a consistency not
unlike thick water porridge, which, with
cooling solidifies to a hard concrete.
The proper fuel for concretor is megaSS,
for its steady long flame keeps the juice
in every tray in a state OF uniform ebul-
luton.
The concretor is not a costly piece of
apparatus, for while it produces an effect
which leaves nothing to be desired, it re-
quires no vacuum pump, water pump, or
steam-boiIer. The small engine which
drives the fan, turns the cylinder, and
moves the pump, is easily supplied by a
4-inch steam pipe, from the boilers which
furnish the steam for the engine which
drives the cane mill. The machine is
simple in its construction, and is not
liable to arrangement. There are no
steam Joints or vacuum joints, and u
blacksmith can easily repair any portion
of it, and if a tray should be broken it
can be replaced in one hours time. The
economy of fuel is especially noteworthy.
The waste heat of the furnaces, thus
utilised, supplies all that is needed to
convert the syrup into concrete and so
thoroughly is the heat distracted from
the smoke and impaired TO the air, that
q thermometer placed In the chimney
rarely marks a higher temperature than
$500, and the cold produced by evapora-
ton, induced by the dry hot air upon the
moist surface is so marked that the syrup
near the inlet under the cylinder is not
hotter than 1909 Fahrenheit; and it is
somewhat difficult at the conclusion of
the process to raise the concrete to q
temperature approaching zoos, which
experience shows to be the best. Two
persons are capable of managing it one,
a youth, attends to the flow Of the juice,
and the other, a man, looks after every
thing else. No skilled sugar boiler, or
person who has ever boiled sugar be-
fore, has been employed to manage it;
the most inexperienced person would be
quite capable of attending 10 it. In case
the carelessness of the attendant allow
ed Juice TO burn on the trays, the damage
done would be very small, and an IN
creased supply Of juice would set all right
again.
Whilst in full operation, the concretor
was submitted to the closest inspection,
and great qualification was expressed by