IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Miller, of Upper Stamford Street, Black-
friars, in the County of Surrey, for tho Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR."
Sealed the 15th August 1862, and dated the 26th February 1862..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Miller at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 26th
February 1862.
I, WILLIAM MILLER, of Upper Stamford Street, Blackfriars, in the County
of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object an improved method of evaporating
saccharine solutions at temperatures below those at which they boil under the
ordinary pressure of the atmosphere at the same time that the saccharine solu-
tions never come in contact with metallic or other surfaces heated by fire or
high-pressure steam nor are subjected to any temperature which cannot be
regulated to or below that of boiling water or 212° Fahrenheit..
For this purpose I make use of firstly, either a plain cylinder open at both
ends, the surface of which may be corrugated; or. I make use of, secondly, a
cylinder composed of two plates about half an inch apart, and so arranged tha.

page_text: the intervening space may be filled with steam or water or hot air at a tempe-
rature not exceeding 212° Fahrenheit, the steam or water or hot air entering
at ono end of the axis of the cylinder and having an exit through a pipe at
the other end; or I make use of, thirdly, a cylinder composed of ribs which
may be round, or, which I prefer, flat and curved, arranged somewhat like the
floats of a water-wheel, only overlapping each other so as to present a greater
amount of evaporating surface. In this last arrangement the ends of the
cylinder may be closed so as to admit of hot or cold air being projected into
the interior, and which in passing between the plate ribs or floats. will vastly
increase the evaporation. This arrangement also admits of the cylinder being
covered with wood or other material, leaving a narrow conduit at the top
to carry the heated vapours to a chimney or any convenient outlet. Which-
ever form is adopted the cylinder by revolving in the liquid to be evaporated
takes up thin films and exposes them to the atmosphere, and as the lower
the cylinder is immersed in the fluid to be evaporated the greater the power
necessary to make it revolve, I deem it of essential importance to only slightly
submerge it, say, from one to two inches below the, surface, thereby effecting a
considerable saving of motive power, giving room for the passage of tubes
through the inner vessel containing the liquid to be evaporated (presently,
elescribed) exposing a larger evaporating surface and leaving the sides of the
pan free for the oparations of skimming. The saccharine solution to be
_evaporated is contained in a pan or vessel surrounded by another vessel, or
what is commonly called a jacket pan, and the inner vessel may be corrugated
or have tubes passing through it so as to increase the heating surface. In
order to convey the heat to the inner vessel the space between the. vessels
must be filled with steam or water or other liquid, and in the latter cases
the water or liquid may be heated by the direct application of fire to the jacket
or by steam conveyed through a coil of pipes entering between the jacket and
inner vessel, or the heating of the inner vessel may be effected by the following
method: The jacket must be partially filled with water, say, six inches from
the bottom, having an opening just above, in which is inserted an overflow
pipe and an open steam pipe entering at the bottom of the jacket to lieat the
water, but whichever mode of heating is adopted an opening must be left at
the upper part of the jacket to carry off superfluous steam and prevent pressure
or the heat rising above 212° Fahrenheit.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Miller in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
26th August 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MILLER, of Upper Stamford Street, Blackfriars, in the County of Surrey,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Miller, Her special licence that I, the said William Miller,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said,
William Miller, 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.
IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Miller, 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 William Miller, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, that is to say :-
I will; now proceed by a reference to Drawings to describe more in detail
the apparatus I make use of in carrying out my Invention, Fig. 1 being a
transverse section and Fig. 2 a longitudinal section of such apparatus, the
letters referred to being for the same parts in both Figures.
A is a pan containing the saccharine solution to be evaporated; it has long
tubes B, B, passing through it. These tubes are here represented only two in
number, but their form and number may be varied, the intention being to >
increase the heating surface. The pan is surrounded by another jacket, pan, or.:
case C, which may be filled with water, and this water may be heated by the.
direct action of fire, or the heat may be conveyed to the inner pan by the..

page_text: following method:-The jacket must be partially filled with water, say, six
inches from the bottom, as shewn at D, having an opening just above, in
which is inserted an overflow pipe E and a pipe F communicating with the
atmosphere, steam at high pressure or otherwise being admitted at G. The
effect of this arrangement will be that the pan A containing the sugar will be
heated by steam at the ordinary pressure of the atmosphere, and in some
casos this may be a convenient way of heating the pan A, but filling the jacket
with water and evaporating at as low a temperature as possible is a pre-
ferable method, as the lower the temperature at which evaporation of the
saccharine solution takes place the better will be the sugar. The evaporation
of the saccharine solution in the pan A is effected by the revolution of a
surface of metal, which, dipping into the solution, takes up thin films and
exposes them to the atmosphere or to a current of hot or cold air. I repre-
sents the revolving apparatus. It is in the form of a cylinder closed at both
ends, having a pipe I pierced with holes passing through its axis, and which
pipe revolves with the cylinder. The circumference of the cylinder is formed
of curved plates K, K, arranged somewhat like the fleats of a water-wheel,
only overlapping each other considerably, so as to increase the heating surface.
The curved plates are attached to flat rings L at the ends of the cylinder,
and when this is of a lengthened form it is better to have rings M at the
centre as well as at the ends. N, N, is a round plate with a hole in the
centre for the pipe I, which plate is screwed on to the ring 'L, and thus
closes the end of the cylinder. The cylinder is elevated almost out of the pan
so that the plates are just covered with the solution to be evaporated, very
little power is therefore required to make it revolve, and the pan A is left free
for the insertion of tubes like B, B, so as to increase the beating surface. As
the cylinder revolves it takes up thin films of the liquid, and the evaporation
is vastly increased by currents of hot air S, S, S, S, which can be trans-
mitted by means of a fan through the holes of the axis I, and which meet
the plates of the cylinder as they revolve, passing between them as shewn by
the arrows; the pipe communicating with the fan for the transmission of the
air is shewn at R, Fig. 2. The cylinder is covered by a hood O, having an
outlet P at the top leading to a chimney, the open air, or any convenient
outlet, and the hood has slides or doors at T, which admit the introduction of
anything with which to stir or skim the sugar or clean the pan. The
quickness of the evaporation will depend upon the quantity of air admitted
into the cylinder, and between the plates upon the quantity of surface contained
in the plates, that is, upon their width and number, upon the quickness of the
revolution of the cylinder, and upon the rapidity with which the heat can be

page_text: transmitted from the heating medium in the jacket C to the saccharine
solution in the pan A; all of these admit of great latitude, but it will be
sufficient to mention that a cylinder 6 feet long by 3 feet wide, with plates 15
inches wide, and 48 in number, will contain 720 square feet of evaporating
surface, reckoning both sides of the plates, and that a cylinder 8 feet long by
four feet wide, with plates 28 inches wide and 64 in number will contain 2389
square feet of evaporating surface, but these may be increased or diminished,
keeping always in view the fact that the quicker the evaporation is per-
formed and the lower the temperature of the heating medium, the better will
be the result. The pan A should be made of copper and the rest of the
apparatus of galvanized iron, except when the jacket pan D is placed over
the fire, when it should be made of wrought iron.
It will be unnecessary to refer more minutely to the other forms of revolving
apparatus mentioned in the Provisional Specification, as, from the account
already given their construction can be readily understood, it will suffice to
state that such can be used with a jacket pan in mode and manner as
described, but their efficacy will be found very inferior to the revolving appa-
ratus, a Drawing of which has been given.
What I claim as my Invention is the apparatus as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Miller, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.