AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR OBTAINING ARBACK OR SPIRIT FROM RICE OR OTHER GRAIN
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Frederick Henley, of Bromley, in the County.
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR OBTAINING
ARBACK OR SPIRIT FROM RICE OR OTHER GRAIN."
Sealed the 19th September 1856, and dated the 28th June 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Frederick Henley
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th June 1856.
I, THOMAS FREDERICK HENLEY, of Bromley, in the County of Middlesex,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "AN IMPROVED
PROCESS FOR OBTAINING ARRACK OR SPIRIT PROM RICE OR OTHER GRAIN," to be as
follows:-
My Invention consists in operating upon rice or other grain by an improved
process for the purpose of extracting arrack or spirit therefrom, or, in other
words, for obtaining alcoholic elements from rice or other grain with great
economy, and in a pure state. The process of manufacture may be conducted
in the following manner:-The rice or other grain to be operated upon is
in the first instance subjected to the action of a dilute solution of ammonia, for
which purpose I recommend the solution to be of specific gravity 990, water
being 1000; in this solution the said rice, &c. is to be soaked or steeped for
a period of about 48 hours. I would remark, that in lieu of ammonia, soda or
other alkali may be employed; but I prefer ammonia for its volatile properties.

page_text: Having undergone this process, the material is then passed between a pair of
crushing rollers of the ordinary kind, and from thence it passes into suitable
vessels, wherein it is mixed with about three parts of the hot spent wash
resulting from a former distillation to one part of the rice, &c. to be operated
upon; steam is then blown through the mixture for the space of two hours
or thereabouts, according to the description of rice, &c. employed and the
judgment of the operator. This forms the first part of the process.
I next prepare in a separate closed vessel (made of any material which is not
affected by acids) a solution, composed of three parts per cent (or per 100 parts
of the said rice, &c.) of hydrochloric acid, of specific gravity of about 1100,
and two parts of spent wash, and this I mix with every 100 parts of the rice,
&c. which it is desired to operate upon; or, instead of the above, I employ
the same per centage of sulphuric acid, of specific gravity about 1700, as
being cheaper; but I prefer the former, as I have found in practise that by
using hydrochloric acid the residues of the rice, &c. may be preserved in a
suitable state for feeding animals, which is not the case when operated upon
by sulphuric acid. Into and amongst this mixture I pump the former above
described mixture of rice, &c. and spent wash, whilst I maintain within the
said closed vessel a steam pressure of about one and a half atmospheres, and
in this manner I operate upon the mixture for a period of three to four hours.
The next part of the process consists in treating the liquor obtained by
the last-mentioned process with soda or other suitable alkali until such
timė as complete neutralization of the acid therein contained is accomplished,
which may be ascertained by any of the known methods of testing. The
neutralized mixture is then allowed to run off on to coolers, whereon I cause
it to be mixed with either cold water or a further portion of cold spent wash,
so as to reduce the temperature thereof as speedily as possible, after which
it is run through a series of copper or other refrigerating pipes, plunged in
cold water, so as to cool it down finally to the required degree for fermentation,
which will vary according to the season of the year or the temperature of the
weather, and therefore, as far as this part of the process is concerned, it
must be left to the discretion of the operator. The whole of the above-
mentioned ingredients are then let down into fermenting tuns of the ordinary
kind, and yeast added thereto, and the usual processes of fermenting and
distilling performed, according to the ordinary well-known methods of
distillation.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Frederick Henley in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th December 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
FREDERICK HENLEY, of Bromley, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Frederick Henley, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Frederick Henley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas Frederick Henley, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR OBTAINING ARRACK OR SPIRIT FROM RICE," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Frederick Henley,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Frederick Henley, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in operating upon rice, or other grain, by an improved
process for the purpose of extracting arrack or spirit therefrom, or, in other
words, for obtaining alcoholic elements from rice or other grain with great
economy and in a pure state.
And in order to explain my said improvements as completely as possible,
I now proceed to describe the best means I am acquainted with for carrying
the same into practical effect, as follows:-The process of manufacture may
be conducted in the following manner: The rice or other grain to be
operated upon is in the first instance subjected to the action of a dilute
solution of ammonia, for which purpose I recommend the solution to be

page_text: of specific gravity 990, water being 1.000; in this solution the said rice,
&c. is to be soaked or steeped for a period of about forty-eight hours.
I would remark, that in lieu of ammonia, soda or other alkali may be
employed, but I prefer ammonia for its volatile properties. Having under-
gone this process, the material is then passed between a pair of crushing
rollers of the ordinary kind, and from thence it passes into suitable vessels,
wherein it is mixed with about three parts of the hot spent wash resulting
from a former distillation to one part of the rice, &c. to be operated upon;
steam is then blown through the mixture for the space of two hours or there-
abouts, according to the description of rice, &c. employed and the judgment
of the operator. This forms the first part of the process.
I next prepare in a separate closed vessel (made of any material which is not
affected by acids) a solution, composed of three parts per cent. (or per 100 parts
of the said rice, &c.) of hydrochloric acid of specific gravity of about 1.100, and
two parts of spent wash, and this I mix with every 100 parts of the rice, &c.
which it is desired to operate upon; or, instead of the above, I employ the same
per centage of sulphuric acid of specific gravity of about 1700, as being cheaper;
but I prefer the former, as I have found in practice that by using hydrochloric
acid the residues of the rice, &c. may be preserved in a suitable state for
feeding animals, which is not the case when operated upon by sulphuric acid.
Into and amongst this mixture I pump the former above-described mixture
of rice, &c. and spent wash, whilst I maintain within the said closed vessel
a steam pressure of about one and a half atmospheres, and in this manner I
operate upon the mixture for a period of three to four hours.
The next part of the process consists in treating the liquor obtained by the
last-mentioned process with soda or other suitable alkali until such time as com-
plete neutralization of the acid therein contained is accomplished, which may be
ascertained by any of the known methods of testing. The neutralized mixture
is then allowed to run off on to coolers, whereon I cause it to be mixed with
either cold water or a further portion of cold spent wash, so as to reduce the tem-
perature thereof as speedily as possible, after which it is run through a series
of copper or other refrigerating pipes, plunged in cold water, so as to cool it
down finally to the required degree for fermentation, which will vary according
to the season of the year or the temperature of the weather, and therefore, as
far as this part of the process is concerned, it must be left to the discretion of
the operator. The whole of the above-mentioned ingredients are then let
down into fermenting tuns of the ordinary kind, and yeast added thereto, and
the usual process of fermenting and distilling performed, according to the
ordinary well known methods of distillation.

page_text: Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention of "An
Improved Process for obtaining Arrack or Spirit from Rice," together with the
best means I am acquainted with for carrying the same into practical effect,
I would remark, in conclusion, that what I claim as my Invention, intended to
be secured to me by the above in part recited Letters Patent, is, the improved
process above particularly described which I employ for extracting arrack or
spirit from rice, together with the general method of operating on that grain,
as set forth in this my said Specification, and by means of which improved
process I am enabled to obtain the alcoholic elements contained in rice with
great economy and in a very pure state.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Frederick Henley, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
T. F. HENLEY. (L.S.)
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE,
Agent for Patents,
4, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross.