AN IM- PROVED APPARATUS FOR BOILING, EVAPORATING, AND CONCENTRATING SYRUPS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF SUGAR, AND ALSO OF SALINE LIQUORS, OR FOR THE CRYSTAL- LIZATION OF SALT, WHICH APPARATUS MAY ALSO BE EMPLOYED IN THE PROCESS OF DISTILLATION
Year: 1833

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, the said
WILLIAM NEWTON, of the Office for Patent Inventions, Chancery Lane, in the
Parish of Saint Andrew Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twentieth day of June, in the third year of His reign, did,
for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Newton, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said William Newton; my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Newton, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein men-
tioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all
His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, the Invention of "AN IM-
PROVED APPARATUS FOR BOILING, EVAPORATING, AND CONCENTRATING SYRUPS FOR
THE PRODUCTION OF SUGAR, AND ALSO OF SALINE LIQUORS, OR FOR THE CRYSTAL-
LIZATION OF SALT, WHICH APPARATUS MAY ALSO BE EMPLOYED IN THE PROCESS OF
DISTILLATION," being a communication from a Foreigner residing abroad; in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said
William Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to
cause a particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in

page_text: what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of. Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters
marked thereon (that is to say):-
This improved apparatus for boiling, evaporating, and concentrating syrups
and saline liquors, and which is also applicable to the process of distillation,
consist in certain novel arrangements of machinery or apparatus herein-after
described, by means of which the evaporation of the aqueous parts of syrups
and saline or other liquids may be effected in a more perfect and expeditious
manner than has heretofore been done, the principal novel features being the
employment of better and more efficient modes of injecting streams of hot or
cold air into the evaporating pans or boilers, or the' liquid contained therein,
which liquid, by the same apparatus, may be heated to any required degree of
temperature by steam, if required.
The general features of these novel arrangements of apparatus consist,
firstly, in the adaptation of a blowing machine, air-injecting pump, or bellows
worked by a steam engine, or other motive power, which blowing apparatus
is employed to force the air through tubes and other passages into the lower
parts of the evaporating pans; secondly, in the adaptation of certain apparatus
by means of which the air may be heated, through the agency of steam, to
any required degree of temperature before entering the evaporating pans or
boilers; thirdly, in the peculiar construction and arrangement of the evapo-
rating pans, boilers, alembic or still, and the steam and air pipes, vessels,
tubes, and appendages connected therewith, by means of which the liquids,
syrups, or other materials intended to be operated upon may be heated to the
required temperature, and evaporated or concentrated as required. It will
be perceived, by the following explanation of the apparatus, that by means
of these novel arrangements the combined action of the steam and hot or
cold air may be brought into operation upon the liquids or syrups simul-
taneously, and that a constant ebullition and evaporation can be kept up at
any required degree of temperature; and after the desired evaporation has
taken place the syrups under operation can be further heated before passing
to the moulds or forms. I have shewn in the accompanying Drawings three

page_text: distinct applications of these arrangements of apparatus, which will sufficiently
explain the features of the improvement.
The first is an apparatus for boiling or evaporating syrups or liquids in open
pans or vessels, as represented in Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 exhibits a
longitudinal elevation of the general arrangement of the apparatus, the evapo-
rating pan being shewn in section. Figure 2 represents a plan or horizontal
view of the same. A is a steam boiler of sufficient capacity to generate
steam for working the high-pressure engine B, employed to actuate the
injecting air pump C, and also to supply steam to heat the receivers D and E
when the air is required to be heated, or the eduction steam discharged from
the engine may be used for that purpose if it should then be found to be of
sufficiently high temperature. These receivers or heating apparatus consist
of close vessels, each containing a worm or coiled pipe, through which, from
the pipe b, the air is forced by the engine and blowing apparatus, the interior
of the vessels being filled with steam passed from the boilers by the pipes u, a,
or from the eduction valve of the engine; or, instead of this arrangement,
the operation may be reversed, the steam being conducted by a worm of
larger dimensions, and the air driven through the interior of the vessels.
After the air has taken up a considerable portion of heat from the steam in
the first receiver D it is to be conducted by the pipe c to the second receiver
E, where its temperature becomes increased, and having attained the degree
of heat required, the air is then forced through the pipe F to the evaporating
pans. Instead of employing a coiled pipe for heating the air in the receivers
D and E, those receivers may be constructed as shewn in the sectional
Figures 3 and 4, where the receiver or heating apparatus is represented as
consisting of an outer or close vessel D, D, having a number of tubes or pipes
d, d, d, placed perpendicularly, their extremities being inserted into plates
ff, at top and bottom. These tubes are open at both ends, the steam being
admitted into the upper part of the vessel by the pipe a, and passing down-
wards through the tubes d, d, d, into the lower part, when the condensed
water is collected, and may be drawn off by the cock. Cold air is forced into
this vessel from the blowing apparatus through the pipe b, and having
circulated among the steam tubes in the interior of the vessel, the air becomes
heated, and then proceeds through the small holes of a perforated plate g, g,
into the chamber e, e, e, above, from whence it passes through the pipe F and
large branches G, G, see Figures 1 and 2, to the evaporating pans containing
the syrup, as shewn at H, H, in both Figures. There are several small
branch pipes h, h, h, h, leading from each of the large branch pipes, which
have their openings into a chamber I below a perforated plate i, i, in the

page_text: lower part of the interior of each evaporating pan, and by means of these
pipes h the heated air is conducted into the chamber I. The hot air thus
introduced into the chamber I, at the bottom part of the evaporating pan,
rises through the numerous small holes in the perforated plate i, i, and by
that means becomes distributed regularly through the mass of the liquid or
syrup in the pan H, the effect of which is greatly increased and promoted by the
heat of the steam emitted from the boiler through the pipes k, k. The force
of impulsion given to the stream of air by the action of the blowing apparatus
causes it to rise up through the liquid mass, and produce a considerable and
constant ebullition, thereby producing at a low degree of heat a rapid evapo-
ration of the aqueous parts of the materials under operation.
In order that this improved apparatus for boiling, evaporating, and concen-
trating syrups and other materials may be fully understood, I have further
shewn, in the accompany Drawings, other arrangements in which there are
some variations in the parts of the machinery.
Figure 5 is an end elevation of a steam engine and blowing apparatus
constructed upon the oscillating principle, one of the receivers or heating
chambers described at Figures 3 and 4 being shewn in section. Figure 6 is
a side elevation of the engine and blowing apparatus, with a vertical section
of one of the open evaporating pans or boilers. Figure 7 is a horizontal view
of the general arrangement of the whole apparatus. Steam is conducted from
the boiler or generator by the pipe C, Figure 5, to the hollow bearing a of
the engine cylinder A, from which it passes into the steam box D, and is
admitted by the slide valves through the steam passages to the interior of the
cylinder, where, alternately acting upon the upper and under side of the
piston of the engine, it produces that reciprocating action of the piston which
is communicated through its rod to the crank I, and thereby causes the
rotary motion. On the crank shaft of the engine there are two other cranks
K, which, by means of rods, give motion to the pistons of two air cylinders or
injection pumps J, J, which are shewn as oscillating upon the bearings in the
same manner as the engine cylinder; but the pumps may be made stationary,
and the motion be communicated to their piston rods through connecting rods
and a parallel motion or other means. The air is admitted into the cylinders
J at the suction valves L, L, and is forced from the cylinders by the pistons
through the pipes M, M, to the lower part of the receiver or heating chamber
shewn at F, and after passing around the steam pipes N within the chamber
F, the air having become heated, it proceeds in the way before described to
the evaporating pans or boilers by the pipes H, there to produce the ebullition.
The steam, after effecting its purpose in the cylinder A, passes off by its other

page_text: hollow bearing, and through the pipe E to the upper part of the receiver or
heating chamber F; and if the quantity or temperature of the steam is not
sufficient to heat the air to the required degree of temperature, then steam can
be admitted direct from the generator by the pipe H, which is connected at
its other end to the pipe G, leading from the generator to supply the evapo-
rating pans or boilers. It should be here observed that a second heating
chamber might be added, receiving steam direct from the boiler; and the hot
air being passed from the first receiver through the second, the temperature
of the air might be raised to a sufficient height to effect the boiling or evapo-
ration of the liquid or syrups by the hot air only, without the agency of steam.
This would in some cases be attended with considerable advantage; but, if
required, the steam from both these chambers or from the boiler may, by a
pipe, be conveyed into the heating tubes at bottom of the pan. The evapo-
rating or boiling pans Rare rectangular-shaped metal boxes, into which are
placed other similar shaped pans Q, of smaller dimensions, leaving a space
between both at the bottom and the sides. Into this space the hot air is
admitted by the pipes P in the manner before described, which rises through
the small holes in the perforated bottom of the inner pan or boiler and through
the liquid or syrup contained in the inner pan. The holes in the perforated
bottom are of a conical shape, the smallest opening being upwards. They are
thus formed to prevent the liquid or aquous parts of the syrup filtering through
and filling up the space between the two pans. The steam for heating the
liquid or syrup in the pans is conducted thereto by the pipes G, and after
passing through the tubes or tubular grating S, placed over the bottom of the
pan, it is received by the pipe T, and the condenced steam is conducted again
to the boiler or generator by the supply pump of the engine. In order to
afford greater facility to the working of the evaporating or boiling pans,
instead of their being fixed upon standards, as shewn in the Drawing, they
may be made to hang or rest upon pivots, and turn upon them as bearings,
which will allow the pans or boilers being placed at an inclination, so that the
liquid or syrup may be allowed to run off' speedily when the boiling or evapo-
rating is over. For this purpose the pans or boilers may be made longer,
and bear at one extremity upon a shaft or axis which will allow that end to
descend when a counterpoise lever attached to the other extremity is raised.
There must be a cock or valve placed at this end, which may open as soon as
the inclination of the pan takes place, the whole of the syrup or liquid
will immediately run off. The main pipe, which supplies the hot air to the
bottom of the pans or boilers on this construction, may be made with four
branch pipes like that belonging to the fixed pans, but the cock with which it

page_text: is furnished must form a centre round which the whole can turn, in order
that the ends of the branch pipes and the perforated bottom of the inner
boiler may follow the inclination of the outer pan; and during this movement
the series of steam pipes at bottom of the pan may remain stationary, being
suspended by joints to four vertical supports which keep them in their
proper position. The inconvenience which may arise from the crystallization
of the syrups within the space between the outer and inner pans or boilers,
or from the introduction of any portion of the syrup which might get
there without being sufficiently boiled when the blowing ceases, may be
pan, and
obviated by making the perforated plate or bottom distinct from the
placing a cock at the bottom of the outer pan, which is to be opened at the
proper time, in order to empty the space from any liquid which may thus be
allowed to run off to a vessel placed beneath. And also to avoid the necessity
of taking the boiler asunder when it requires to be cleaned, there is a pipe z
communicating with the main steam pipe and the space between the outer
and inner pans, by means of which steam may be allowed to enter between
the bottom of the pans or boilers, which will melt all granulations that may be
found there, and also clean the whole of the chambers. When this apparatus
is used to evaporate saline liquors for the forming or crystallization of salt,
the hot air should be admitted into the liquor under operation from a square
flat box placed in the midst of the liquid within the boiler, and perforated at
the top and bottom with a great number of small holes. The hot air con-
ducted from the receivers or heating chambers into this box passes rapidly
through the perforations, and incessantly agitates the liquors, and by this
means produces a very rapid evaporation of the aqueous parts. There should
be a space left of about twenty inches between the perforated box and the
sides of the pan, in order to allow the saline crystals to deposit themselves
upon the internal sides of the pan or boiler. The connexion between the box
and the apparatus should be formed so that it can be easily removed. The
hot air admitted into the saline liquors will generally be found sufficient to
effect the evaporation without the agency of the steam, consequently the
steam pipes immersed in the pan can be dispensed with, but may be used if
requisite. The arrangement of the apparatus described may also serve for the
evaporation and concentration of sulphuric acids; but care must be taken that
every thing which comes in contact with the acid should be made of lead.
This arrangement, when adapted to the purpose of blowing air into liquids, in
general greatly facilitates the introduction of the gas of different kinds into
the liquids, which is often necessary in various manufactures, for instance,
carbonic acid, which may be employed instead of animal black in the refining

page_text: of sugar. It is well known that this gas is obtained by the combination of
sulphuric acid and carbonate of lime; if, therefore, these two materials are
put into a closed vessel communicating on one side with the engine, and on
the other with the reservoir of air, all the gas which becomes disengaged during
the decomposition will be driven along with the air by the blowing apparatus
to the receiver, and will be expelled thence into the evaporating pan. It must
likewise be observed, that it is indispensably necessary to place a safety valve
on the ball O which forms the point of junction of the conducting pipes for
the hot air, in order to allow the air to escape, should it be found to be too
much compressed in the receiver where it is heated. Instead of the internal
pan with the perforated bottom, a double box, perforated above and below,
may be suspended at about half an inch from the bottom of the pan.
The second application of this improved arrangement ofapparatus is to evapo-
rate or boil in vacuo, that is, in a colored vessel, pan, or boiler, heated by a steam
bath, to which is added an air-pump for the purposes of producing ebullition,
as before described, as well as the pump, to obtain a partial vacuum within
the pan or boiler. The additional air-pump is employed to draw off the hot
air from the pan, together with the aqueous parts of the syrups or liquors
which rise from them in the form of steam when under evaporation. The
object of this arrangement of apparatus is to accelerate the boiling and evapo-
ration, which may be too slow by the usual proceedings in vacuo; and to
allow of the liquid or syrup, after the evaporation, being brought to the degree
of heat requisite before it is run off into the moulds or forms, thus avoiding
the necessity of heating the moulds afterwards in a separate apparatus. In
this improved arrangement of apparatus the evaporation takes place at a very
low degree of temperature, and as soon as the boiling is completed, the tem-
perature of the syrups can be raised to the requisite degree before the liquor
goes out of the evaporating pan to the moulds or forms.
Figures 8,9,10, and 11 shew this arrangement of the apparatus for effecting
these objects. Figure 8 is a vertical section taken through a sugar evaporating
pan or boiler; Figure 9 is a side elevation; and Figure 10 is a horizontal
view of the same; and Figure 11 is a horizontal view of the interior of the
pan shewing the air pipes, the upper part or cover being removed. A is the
pan containing the syrup to be evaporated, in the centre of which is placed a
hollow vertical spindle B, passed through stuffing boxes, and capable of turning
freely, which carries four horizontal hollow arms C communicating with the
hollow part of the spindle, and from these hollow arms a great number of
perpendicular tubes 6 descend, which are perforated with small holes. At the
top of this spindle B the hot-air pipe is to be connected, by means of which

page_text: air will be conducted to the horizontal arms C, and also to the perpendicular
tubes b, b, b, b. Upon the upper part of the hollow spindle B a rigger or
toothed pinion is fixed for the purpose of communicating a rototary motion to
the spindle and the air tubes C and b, b. By this rotatory motion the syrup
or liquid contained in the pan will be constantly agitated, and the air passed
through the tubes will be brought into contact with all parts of the liquor
under operation; and as soon as the air emitted from the tubes has risen
through the liquid mass, it is carried off by an exhausting air-pump connected
to the pipe H, together with the steam issuing from the syrup. The air-pump
should be of sufficient capability to effect the exhaustion of the air and steam,
in order to produce the required partial vacuum in the pan. It will be evident
that, by the operation of the exhausting pump, the air in the evaporating pan
will be rarefied, and that there will be a partial vacuum formed in the pan or
boiler, and thus the liquid, heated by the steam which is admitted into the
bath between the double bottom from the generator by the pipe D, is con-
stantly agitated by the rotation of the tubes and the ebulition of the air, and
that the interior of the pan being rarefied, the evaporation of the syrup
more expeditiously effected than by any other apparatus for boiling or evapo-
rating in vacuum. The condensed steam may be removed from the bath by a
cock inserted into the bottom of the outer pan.
is
The third application of this improved apparatus is designed for the purposes
of distillation, and is susceptable of different arrangements of the parts, which,
although intended for the same purposes, and effecting the same objects, are
somewhat different in their construction and forms.
Figure 12 shews a vertical section taken through the principal parts. I is
an alembic. It may be of any convenient shape, which is accompanied by the
requisite accessaries for preventing à loss of the spirituous parts arising from
the boiling or evaporating of the wash or low wines, which otherwise
would be carried off by the current of either hot or cold air intended to
be used in distillation, with the assistance of steam. The object of this
apparatus, like the former, is to accelerate the evaporation of the liquids to
be distilled, the operating being carried on at a lower degree of temperature
than is commonly practised. Hot air is conducted from the receivers or
heating chambers before mentioned through the pipe F, which is divided
into four syphon branches a, a, passed through the bottom of the alembic
upwards into the still head, and from thence descending to the chamber b, b,
under the perforated disc or plate c, shewn in the horizontal view, Figure 13.
Over this plate is placed the tubular grating or series of pipes G, into which
steam is introduced from the generator by the pipe H, to heat the liquid or

page_text: wash in the alembic. The hot air, on leaving the syphon tubes a, passes up
through the small holes of the perforated plate c, and produces the same effect
as before described, that is, raising and agitating the liquid, and thereby
facilitating its evaporation. The vapour emitted rises into the head I, and
passes from thence to the condensing worm J placed in a vessel filled with
cold water. The lower extremity of the pipe J is connected to another pipe
K, which is divided into two branches, one of which descends to the bottom of
thevat L, where it conveys the liquid produce of the distillation, and the other
rises and communicates with a vessel M, into which it conveys the hot air
steam, and spirituous vapours which have escaped from the liquid, and are
still uncondenced in the worm. This vessel M contains either cold water or
phlegms, or low wines up to about half its height, and is divided in its lower
part by the horizontal plates N, N, N, which plates are perforated with a
multitude of small holes. The pipe K passes through these three plates,
conducting the air, steam, &c. to the bottom of the vessel. The object of these
perforated plates is to arrest the vapour as it rises, and cause it to deposit
all the spirituous parts which it contained in the liquid occupying the vessel.
A chamber P, of any suitable shape, is placed above the vessel M., into
which the air passes from M. for the purpose of condensing any spirituous
vapour it may still be loaded with, the condenced spirit returning to the
receiver by means of the cock n. There is also a syphon tube O, O, leading
from the upper part of the vessel M, which tube should be about half filled
with water. This is intended to act as a safety valve for the escape of the
air from the receiver M. There may be a pipe R connected to the top of
the vessel P, which may lead to the suction valve of the injecting air pump.
The object of this would be to receive the remains of the spirituous parts with
which the air may be yet charged, and thus return them to the alembic. The
air finally makes its exit by the valve S. I would here remark, that cold air
may be used instead of hot air, in which case it may be forced direct from the
blowing cylinder so the bottom of the alembic; and it is to be observed, that
the vessel M should be placed at a proper elevation, so that the liquor, if
required, may be conducted by a pipe back into the alembic or still. In
distilleries where a steam engine is not used the alembic may be heated by a
common fire, and a coiled pipe might be passed through the fire, through
which the air might be forced previous to its entering the alembic.
Figures 14, 15, and 16 shew another arrangement of the parts of this
apparatus as applied to distillation. Figure 14 is a side elevation, shewing
the whole arrangement of the apparatus; Figure 15 is a vertical section, and
Figure 16 is a plan view of the same. The air receiver or heated chamber

page_text: shewn connected to this apparatus is similar to that described before, and
the steam which serves to heat it is admitted by the cock E. This cock has
three ways or passages, in order that it may not only serve to conduct the
steam from the generator into the reservoir, but also allow it to pass through
the tube F to the other parts of the apparatus; when necessary the whole of
the condensed steam is intended to escape by the pipe and cock G. The
alembic or still which contains the material to be distilled consists of a close
vessel A, in which is placed, at a little distance from the bottom, the perforated
plate a. The hot air is admitted into the still by the curve pipe D, which is
divided into four branches, projecting into the boiler as far as the plate a.
Air, forcibly driven by bellows into the chamber below, passes through the
plate into the liquor, which it constantly agitates, and afterwards rises to the
top of the still, carrying with it the spirit which had been evolved during its
passage. I is a coil of tubes placed in the liquor above the perforated bottom,
shewn more particularly in the horizontal section, Fig. 17, and in which the
steam conducted by the tube J circulates. The steam, after having passed
through the coiled tubes, leaves them by another tube K, from whence it may
be conveyed back to the generator. The air charged with the alcoholic
vapour leaves the boiler by the pipe L, which conveys itinto the condensing
worm M, enveloped with cold water. From this worm it passes to the close
chamber N, where the air ascends to the upper part, whilst the portion of
vapour that has been condenced descends into the chamber O beneath. In
order that the process of condensation may be more completely effected, if
any portion of the vapour looking from the worm has not been sufficiently
cooled, and should be carried away with the air, it will ascend and strike
against the dome of the close chamber Nor the cap b, and will then fall to the
bottom in a condenced form. Finally, if some portion of the spirituous part
escape by the pipe P, (which, when its cock is open, allows the air to pass,)
on reaching the globular chamber Q the vapour undergoes a further conden-
sation. This chamber may be connected to another condensing chamber, as
shewn in the Drawings at Z, or to the pipe which carries the air back to the
blowing apparatus, and is provided with a safety valve c, which allows the
air to escape when the pressure is too great. The distilled spirit passes: from
the chamber 0, 0, through a second condencing worm R, inclosed in a vessel
filled with cold water, and makes its exit by the tubes d into the cylinder S,
whence it finally reaches the reservoir T. The vessel which contain the
condensing worms are supplied with cold water at the lower part. The
heated water escapes by the pipe e. The alembic, still, or boiler is provided on
the outside with a glass tube f, which shews the level of the liquor within,

page_text: The wash or low wines are introduced into the alembic by the pipes V, at the
upper part, and the alembic is emptied by a cock X, near the bottom. A
second cock Y, communicating with the space between the perforated plate
and the bottom of the alembic, is placed lower down, and serves to empty the
double bottom when necessary. The steam which issues from the grating
inclosed in the boiler, as well as that which might escape from the tube F,
may serve to heat the vessel containing the low wines, in order to keep it up
to a proper degree of temperature.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Newton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-three.
WILLIAM (L.S.) NEWTON.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twentieth day of December,
in the fourth year of the reign of His Majesty King William the Fourth,
the said William Newton came before our said Lord the King in His Chan-
cery, and acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing
therein contained and specified, in form above written. And also the Instru-
ment aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made
in the fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the
Third.
Inrolled the Twentieth day of December, One thousand eight hundred