AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MODE OF TREATING SACCHARINE JUICES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert William Sievier, a British Subject, now
residing at No. 8, Rue du Cerf, Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MODE OF TREATING
SACCHARINE JUICES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR."
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Robert William Sievier at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Decla-
ration, on the 5th May 1857, pursuant to the 9th section of the Patent
Law Amendment Act, 1852.
I, ROBERT WILLIAM SIEVIER, & British Subject, now residing at No. 8,
Rue du Cerf, Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MODE OF TREATING
SACCHARINE JUICES IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR," to be as follows, viz. :-
To clarify the vegetable juices which contain sugar, such as beetroot and
all other vegetable bodies containing saccharine matters, I first express the
juice from them by any of the means at present adopted, and at the same
time pass into or amongst it the fumes of sulphurous acid gas.
I will describe my Invention in its application to the manufacture of beet-.
root sugar; all other saccharine juices being treated in a similar manner. As
the beetroot is being rasped or ground by the usual process, I introduce
through a tube amongst it sulphurous acid gas. The pulp and juice will
immediately absorb some of the gas. That part of the rasping apparatus
where the gas is introduced among the pulp or juice should be enclosed, so

page_text: as to keep the gas from escaping as much as possible. The juice and pulp
then passes into the usual receptacle, where it should be mixed together, so
as to make the gas act equally on the whole, and should it not have taken
up enough of the sulphurous acid gas to prevent its losing its white or natural
colour more must be introduced by a tube passing underneath the mass of
juice and pulp, and as it rises through it it will combine and prevent
fermentation and its changing colour. In some cases where the mass of
juice and pulp is very thick, and. has .not taken up a sufficient quantity of
sulphurous acid gas, I pass the gas first through some water, and when the
latter is impregnated, as it is well known it will be by the sulphurous acid
gas, I tako some of the water so impregnated and sprinkle the juice and pulp
with it. After the operation of grinding or rasping is finished the pulp is
separated from the juice in the usual manner; I then filter it, if it contains
much extraneous matter, through a. filter made of linen cloth.or woollen, or
a sand filter. A small quantity of chalk, or lime, or other alkaline matter
is then added to neutralize some of the free acids that may be in. the juice, so
, as to make it alkaline or neuter, as will be seen by a test paper; it is then
boiled in the defecating pan and the scum removed, after which it is boiled
for crystallization, during which process the sulphurous' acid gas escapes; or
I add lime in excess to make a very clear defecation, and then neutralize or
nearly so the excess of lime by the addition of sulphurous acid; it is then
boiled down to about the density of ten degrees and afterwards filtered
through cloth: bags or in any convenient way to remove the lime which may
have fallen as a sulphito.by the action of the acid. Or, I slice the roots into
thin slices by any convenient means, and expose these thin slices to the action
of the sulphurous acid gas. or sulphurous acid; and when they are sufficiently
impregnated I put them into. vessels, and by adding warm or cold water
extract the saccharine juices. In some cases it is difficult to filter the juices
quite clear in consequence of the minute particles which remain in it.
Should this occur, I add a small quantity of blood or other albuminous matter
to the juice when cold, and then boil it in the usual manner well known to
sugar manufacturers, and afterwards filter it as before described. I prefer
filtering the juice twice; first, to take out the small particles of pulp and then
add the chalk or lime to take out the free acids as before mentioned, and
then filter it again. Or, the chalk, lime, or other alkaline body may be added
at first, and the juice be filtered only once. The sulphurous acid gas must be
made in a closed vessel, and a pipe should be attached to it to convey the
sulphurous acid gas to a gasholder, and from thence to the juice. The
materials which I recommend for making this gas are sulphur and peroxide

page_text: of manganese, a means well known to every practical chemist; or by the use
of copper and sulphuric acid, the residue will make sulphate of copper, and
may be sold to pay the expense of making the gas. There are ways to make
it which are more expensive. The gas as it is being made should first pass
through a closed vessel containing water entering at the bottom, and by
passing through the water it will be freed from its impurities. A tube must
be inserted at the top of the vessel to convey the gas to the juice and pulp,
as described, when it is being rasped or ground. I am aware that saccharine.
juices have been clarified by acetate of lead, and that sulphurous acid gas has
been used to reduce the lead in the solution to a sulphite, and render it by
that means harmless, and also that sulphate of lime has been used for the
clarification of saccharine juices, but I use the sulphurous acid gas in the first
instance, and in as pure a state as can be made, in the manner herein-before
stated.
I also apply. the use of sulphurous acid gas to the manufacture of molasses
from beetroot, sugar cane, and other vegetable substances which contain.
saccharine matters, by which means I can make it of a light colour, suitable
for many useful purposes (without the use of animal charcoal) where a dark
color would be objectionable. I use the sulphurous acid gas in the same
manner as described in its application to the manufacture of sugar. I filter
the juice through a linen, woollen, or sand filter; I boil it, and, if necessary
filter it again, and take off the scum as it rises. When the molasses or
treacle is required to be of a darker colour, I give it any desired amount of
colour by the use of caromel or any other suitable colouring matter. I prefer
boiling the saccharine juices in vessels made of wood, earthenware, slate,
glazed metal, or stone, hooped or fastened well together. These vessels being
supplied with a coil or serpentino of pipes.or hollow tubes made of earth or
metal. If made of metal I prefer iron, and that part of the iron which comes
into contact with the juices while boiling must be glazed or enamelled in
the same manner as vessels are now glazed for culinary purposes. These
serpentines I heat in the usual way by passing steam through them, as now
practised in boiling by such means, or I heat them in the same way as
buildings are heated by hot water, as in Perkin's late English Patent, which
has now expired:
.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents a vertical section of a
vacuum pan of wood; the shape is similar to those now made in copper.:
The sides are marked a, which I prefer making of a double row of stavos,
having a piece of cloth o or a piece of thin sheet metal (such as tinned iron)..
between them as well as the cloth. The top is.also double, as seen at:b, b; b,,b,

page_text: as is also the bottom, marked c, c. Tho sides and bottom and top are well
secured together with iron bands and hoops p, p, p, and a very strong hoop
is placed round the joints of the top and bottom f. f. f. The coil or serpentine
of pipes for the admission of steam is seen at l. This tube is placed in the
centre of the pan, and supports the bottom and top of it when the vacuum is
about being produced, and it serves also for the admission of steam at m, as
shewn at the arrow, and for its outlet, as shewn by the arrow at n. The
steam having been admitted at m, passes downwards to the pipe i, and after
traversing the whole of the serpentine passes out at the exterior coil or circle
by means of the pipe h into the right-hand side of the division of the tube k,
heating the saccharine juice in its passage. The outlet for the exhaust by the
air pump is seen at e. A manhole should be formed at the top, as is usual
in steam boilers, so as to admit a person to repair or do anything inside that
may be required. The outlet for the juices is seen at d, which must be closed
with a plug when the pan is in use. A proof-stick can be introduced in the
ordinary way; or a cock, as seen at t, might be put to enable the workman to
examine the state of the boiling by stopping the exhausting while so doing.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section of a common wooden pan or open boiler secured
well with hoops, and having a serpentine or coil 9 at the bottom. I prefer
making the staves rather narrow, and each stave grooved so as to admit a
tonguo b, b, b, better seen in Fig. 3. The bottom, Fig. 2, should also bo
double, and a piece of cloth is introduced between the two pieces. d is the
inlet steam pipe, and c, c, the outlet; e represents the hole, which must be
fitted with a cock to draw off the liquor.
.
Fig. 4 represents three tubs or boilers of wood, one placed a little above
the other, and so placed that the juice as it is deprived of its water boiling
may go from a larger pan to a smaller as it is boiled down, as practised in the
West Indies and other places, the smaller being, as it is technically called,
the teach A. In this arrangement the pipe and serpentine are one continuous
length, and the steam is admitted at the teach at a, and passes over to the
coil or serpentine at the bottom. After heating the juice it passes up the
pipe b, b, and down to the coil or serpentine at the bottom of the boiler B,
from thence up the pipe c, c, and down into the boiler C to the coil at the
bottom, and from thence to the waste pipe d. The pipes, it will be seen,
enlarge as they advance from the teach to the boiler, so as to give a larger
surface to the larger boiler. e, e, are outlets for the steam in case the upper
boilers are not required, and a pipe is attached to them to convey the waste
steam away, or pipes may be so arranged as to convey the steam from one to
any of the other taps; 9, 9, 9, are cocks to turn the liquor off.

page_text: Fig. 5 represents a stone or earthenware boiler, which is held together by
bands a, a, made of pieces of metal having an eye at one end b, and a round
end at the other c, which round end is screwed or threaded so as to hold
a nut. The pieces of stone or other material must have a packing of cloth
or thin cork between them, and by means of the band with the eyes at one
end and the threaded ends passing through those eyes, as seen in the Drawing,
they can be drawn quite close together by the nuts d, d, d. I am aware that
a serpentine has been used for boiling sugar in metal pans, but I claim
making the pans of wood, stone, slate, glazed metal or earthenware, both as
open and vacuum pans, by which means I prevent any solution of metal from
entering into the sugar.
Having thus described my Invention, and the manner of carrying it into
operation, I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the
details herein-before mentioned so long as the principles of my said Invention
are maintained.
I claim, first, the use of sulphurous acid gas in the commencement of
making sugar applied to the pulp and juices of beetroot or cane before boiling,
and then adding lime to excess to defecate well the juice and neutralize that
excess in the way described.
Secondly, the use of sulphurous acid gas, as above stated, in the manu-
facture of molasses.
Thirdly, the use of vessels made of wood, stone, slate, glazed metal or
carthenware for boiling the juice of beetroot, sugar cane, or any other
vegetable substance containing saccharine matter from which sugar or
molasses are made.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert William Sievier, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Second day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
R. W. SIEVIER. (L.S.)