PROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING AND CLARIFYING SACCHARINE MATTERS, & IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME
Year: 1861

page_text: PROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING AND CLARIFYING SACCHARINE MATTERS, & IN
APPARATUS FOR THE SAME."--A communication from abroad by Messrs.
Edouard Théophile de Gemini and Edmond Oswald de Gemini, both of
29, Boulevart St. Martin, Paris.
Sealed the 21st January 1862, and dated the 6th August 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by. the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th
August 1861.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING & CLARIFYING SACCHARINE MATTERS, & IN
APPARATUS FOR THE SAME," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improved processes for bleaching and clarifying
the saccharine juices of the sugar cane, beetroot, or other saccharine vegetable
substances, whereby the employment of granulated animal black is dispensed
with, and consists, 1st, in treating saccharine juices of all kinds, either in a
heated or cold state by means of fine animal black & argillaceous or other
earths, stirring up the mixture with a suitable agitator. After stirring for a

page_text: certain time the juices are bleached by means of animal black in, a state of
fine powder, together with argillaceous or other earths & one or several jets
of steam introduced into the mixture, which produces a violent effervescence,
and sets the whole mixture in motion, and after continuing this for a certain
time, the juices become bleached.
.
A mechanical agitator may be employed as well as the steam jets to produce
more complete agitation of the liquid. These operations are effected in
apparatus represented in the annexed Drawing, where Fig. 1 shows a central
vertical section of one arrangement of apparatus; Fig. 2, a central vertical
section of a second arrangement; and Fig. 3, a horizontal section of the same.
In these Figures the same letters of reference indicate like parts where they
recur, seen in different positions. A, vat in which the saccharine juices are
poured; b, pallets fixed to the sides of the vat a; c, agitator provided with
pallets or prongs to which rotary motion is imparted by means of any suitable
gearing, or by a strap; these prongs, in rotating, pass between the fixed
prongs.b; d, socket in which the shaft of the eylinder is stepped; 1, discharge
cock; f, thermometer, to which may be added a liquid guage; 9, Fig. 2,
supply pipe of the steam; h, steam chest into which the steam passes from
pipe g, to be thence admitted by means of tubes i into vat a containing the
saccharine liquid.
Although I have only represented two forms of apparatus, they may be
greatly varied in order to produce the desired effect without departing from
the principle thereof. The following is a detailed method of operating :-
For every 250 lbs. of saccharine matter obtained from a press or turbine &
poured into the agitating vessel represented at Fig. 1, is added one or two per
cent. of fine animal black, and one or two per cent. of fullers earth (a sort of
clay), or one only of these matters, after which 4 or 5 lbs. of milk of lime is
introduced into the liquor, marking a density of 10 to 14 degrees of Beaume's
areometer; this being done, a rotary motion is imparted to the liquid by
means of the agitator c, up to a thousand revolutions or more per minute. In
about five or ten minutes the liquor will be bleached; in a cold state the same
result may also be obtained by heating the liquid by means of a worm tube,
through which a current of steam is caused to traverse, and agitating as
before.
The bleaching may be also effected by employing the apparatus represented
at Figs. 2 & 3 of the Drawing annexed. After the liquid has been defecated
and saturated by the ordinary means, it is introduced into said apparatus
along with one or two per cent. of fine animal black and an equal quantity of

page_text: fullers' earth; steam is then passed into the vessel, which creates violent
effeverscence, after which time the liquor will be bleached, the operation
occupying only from 10 to 15 minutes. As before mentioned,. a mechanical
agitator may be employed, in combination with the steam, for the purpose of
more completely stirring up the juices or syrups.
For bleaching raw or brown sugar, I can either employ the apparatus
above described, or those ordinarily used by sugar refiners, adding three or
four per cent. of fine animal black and as much fullers' earth with the
addition of the usual quantity of blood to the liquor, & proceeding as before
described; thus, according to this Invention, the use of granulated animal
black for acting on the juices is entirely dispensed with. I would also
remark, that by treating the juices or syrups at a low temperature, and
imparting a moderate speed to the agitator, and especially when making use
of the apparatus herein described, the quantity of molasses will be greatly
diminished, & as a consequence, the quantity of sugar will be increased in
proportion. Any quantity of juice or syrup may be operated on at a time
by increasing the size of the apparatus. Thus, the chief feature of this
Invention is the employment of fine animal black & fullers' earth for
bleaching purposes, as before described, but earthy lignites, argillaceous,
silicious, or other carths, alkalies, all kinds of metallic salts, may also be
employed for the purpose. By this improved method of bleaching saccharine
liquids & syrups, the series of operations to which manufacturers are usually
obliged to have recourse are in a great measure dispensed with.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th February 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William Clark,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said

page_text: William Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN BLEACHING AND CLARIFYING SACCHARINE MATTERS, AND IN APPARATUS
FOR THE SAME," a communication from abroad by Messrs. Edouard Theophile
de Gemini and Edmund Oswald de Gemini, both of 29, Boulevart St. Martin,
Paris, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Clark,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 William Clark, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to improved processes for bleaching and clarifying
the saccharine juices of the sugar cane, beetroot, or other saccharine vegetable
substances, whereby the employment of granulated animal black is dispensed
with, & consists, 1st., in treating saccharine juices of all kinds, either in a
heated or cold state, by means of animal black in a state of fine powder,
together with argillaceous or other earths, stirring up the mixture with a
suitable agitator. After stirring for a certain time, the juices are bleached by
means of fine black argillaceous or other earths, and one or several jets of
steam introduced into the mixture which produces a violent effervescence, and
sets the whole mixture on motion, & after continuing this for a certain time,
the juices will become bleached.
A mechanical agitator may be employed as well as the steam jets to produce
more complete agitation of the liquid. These operations are effected in
apparatus represented in the annexed Drawing, where Fig. 1 shows a central
vertical section of one arrangement of apparatus; Fig. 2, a central vertical
section of a second arrangement; & Fig. 3, a horizontal section of the same.
In these Figures the same letters of reference indicate like parts, where they
recur seen in different positions.

page_text: a, vat, in which the saccharine juices are poured; b, pallets fixed to the
sides of the vat a; c, agitator, provided with pallets or prongs, to which rotary
motion is imparted by means of any suitable gearing or by strap; these prongs
in rotating pass between the fixed prongs b; d, socket in which the shaft of
the agitator is stepped; e, discharge cock; f, thermometer, to which may be
added a liquid guage; g, Fig. 2, supply pipe of the steam; h, steam chest,
into which the steam passes from pipe g, to be thence admitted by means of
tubes i into vat a, containing the saccharine liquid.
Although I have only represented two forms of apparatus, they may be
greatly varied in order to produce the desired effect without departing from
the principle thereof. The following is a detailed method of operating:-For
every 250 pounds of saccharine liquor obtained from a press or turbine, and
poured into the agitating vessel represented at Fig. 1, is added one or two
per cent. of fine black, and one or two per cent. of fullers' earth (a sort of
clay), or one only of these matters, after which 4 or 5 pounds of lime white is
introduced into the liquor, marking a density of 10 to 14 degrees of Beaumé's
areometer; this being done, a rotary motion is imparted to the liquid by means
of the agitator c, up to a thousand revolutions or more per minute. In about
five or ten minutes the liquor will be bleached in a cold state; the same result
may be also obtained by heating the liquid by means of a worm tube, through
which a current of steam is caused to traverse, and agitate it as before. The
same results may be obtained by using ordinary deffecating apparatus.
The bleaching may also be effected by employing the apparatus represented
at Figs. 2 & 3 of the Drawing annexed. After the liquor has been defecated
and saturated by the ordinary means, it is introduced into said apparatus along
with one or two per cent. of fine animal black, and an equal quantity of
fullers' earth; steam is then passed into the vessel, which creates violent
effervescence, after which time the liquor will be bleached, the operation
occupying only from 10 to 15 minutes. As before mentioned, a mechanical
agitator may be employed in combination with the steam for the purpose of
more completely stirring up the juices or syrup.
For bleaching raw or brown sugar, I can either employ the apparatus above
described, or those ordinarily used by sugar refiners, adding three or four per
cent. of fine animal black, and as much fullers' earth, with the addition of the
usual quantity of blood to the liquor, and proceeding as before described. Thus,
according to this Invention, the use of granulated animal black for acting on
the juices is entirely dispensed with. I would also remark that by treating the
juices or syrups at a low temperature, and imparting a moderate speed to the
.

page_text: agitator, and especially when making use of the apparatus herein described,
the quantity of molasses will be greatly diminished, and as a consequence, the
quantity of sugar will be increased in proportion. Any quantity of juice or
syrup may be operated on at a time by increasing the size of the apparatus.
Thus the chief feature of this Invention is the employment of fine animal
black and fullers' earth for bleaching purposes, as before described; earthy
lignites, argillaceous, silicious, or other earths, alkalies, and all kinds of
metallic salts may be employed for the purpose. By this improved method of
bleaching saccharine liquids and syrups, the series of operations to which
manufacturers are usually obliged to have recourse, is in a great measure
dispensed with.
Fullers' earth, argillaceous, silicious, and all other earths in general have been
mentioned as clarifying agents, although I prefer fullers' earth, and to obtain
the best result I deprive it of its natural moisture by heating in a furnace at a
temperature of about 212 degrees, after which it is pulverized, and in this state
incorporated with the saccharine juices to be treated. For this purpose I
employ a mechanical tubular agitator for injecting steam into the saccharine
mass under treatment, which produces suitable agitation therein, and quickens
the bleaching process. Or the operation may be effected simply by employing
the agitator represented at Fig. 1, or other similar arrangement. When using
the tubular agitator, I take the saturated juices marking a density of about
5 degrees, and pour them into the tubular apparatus along with the matters
herein-before specified, and agitate them for five or ten minutes, after which
the liquor is allowed to settle, the earthy matters (if any are used) & the
extraneous matters in the juice being precipitated to the bottom. The result-
ing liquid is then decanted and clarified as in ordinary with a mixture of half
a per cent. of fine black, and half per cent. of blood, after which it is con-
ducted without filtering into apparatus for concentration, where it is baked to
the required degree, and afterwards crystallized. The time required for the
clarifying process of this Invention may be considerably shortened if the liquors
mark a density of 20 to 25 degrees, instead of 5 degrees, as before indicated.
Having described the nature of this Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be pro-
tected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
Clarifying saccharine juices and syrups by means of, 1st, fullers' earth or
other clay or earth mixed with fine black, and subjecting the whole to a
violent agitation, either in a hot or cold state.
2ndly, by means of fullers' earth or other clay or earth mixed with fine black,

page_text: and employing one or several jets of steam for producing agitation of the mass,
as described.
3rdly, by the employment of fullers' earth or other clay or earth mixed with
fine black, together with one or several jets of steam in combination with a
mechanical agitator for stirring up the mass.
4thly, I claim the apparatus represented in the Drawings annexed, for
operating the treatment herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
Witness,
W. G. E. SWINNOCK,
53, Chancery Lane, W.C.
W. CLARK. (L.S.)