THE MANUFACTURE AND REFINING OF SUGAR
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS. PATENT to Joseph Nash, of Number 3, Thames Parade, Pimlico,
in the County of Middlesex, Chemist, for the Invention of "THE
MANUFACTURE AND REFINING OF SUGAR."
Sealed the 12th September 1854, and dated the 6th April 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Nash at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th
April 1854.
I, JOSEPH NASH, of No. 3, Thames Parade, Pimlico, in the County of
Middlesex, Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"THE MANUFACTURE AND REFINING OF SUGAR " to be as follows:-
The first part of my Invention relates to certain mechanical arrangements.
First, for the better performance of the ordinary process of draining and
liquoring sugar loaves in the cones or moulds in which they are made by means
of suitable seats and covers, with elastic packing adapted to the cones, for the
purpose of applying pneumatic and hydraulic pressure.
Secondly, the use of a suitable closed vessel for draining and liquoring loose
crystaline sugars in bulk, by means of pneumatic and hydraulic pressure.
Thirdly, arranging the charcoal filters in a circle or connected series of
closed vessels, for the application of pneumatic and hydraulic pressure
thereto.
Fourthly, a method of filling and emptying the hydro-extractor, used for

page_text: draining sugar without stopping its motion, by means of a hollow shaft or tube
for filling, and the sides and bottom of the drum or sieve made to separate by
a telescopic action for emptying with a fixed or revolving diaphragm to divide
the outer case into two compartments, to prevent the separated syrup and sugar
from mixing.
Fifthly, a self-regulating hydro-extractor or inverted conical sieve, to take
up by its rotation a supply from the bottom or contracted end of the cone, and
deliver the sugar by gradual diffusion over a flange round the upper or
expanded end of the cone. The same self-acting feed and delivery may be
obtained by using a cylinder, partly conical, in a horizontal direction, or by a
cylinder revolving at a suitable angle for the same purpose, that of separating
syrup from crystaline sugar.
Sixthly, the employment of carbonic acid gas or other suitable gas as a
carrier of heat to be blown through syrup in a close vessel, its condensation
being effected either by absorption or by the action of an air pump forced
through a refrigerator, to be returned through the heating apparatus in a circle
of re-activity and re-condensation, for the purpose of evaporation at a low or
moderate temperature for crystalizing sugar.
The second part of my Invention relates to the use of certain chemical
agents in the treatment of sugars syrup, more especially the following:-
Silex alone, either chemically or mechanically prepared; silex in combina-
tion, as soluble and insoluble silicates; ainmonia, and certain of its combi-
nations, as the salts thereof, capable of precipitating lime or magnesia; and
the use of ammonia with the said salts thereof, for dissolving albumen, such
solution of albumen being applied to clarifying sugar; also the use of the
equivalent soda salts to the same purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Nash in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th October 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
NASH, of Number 3, Thames Parade, Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex,
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the

page_text: said Joseph Nash, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Nash, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Nash, 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 "THE MANUFACTURE AND REFINING
OF SUGAR," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Nash,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 Joseph Nash, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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:--
My Invention consists of two parts; first, the application of certain improved
apparatus; and, secondly, of certain improved chemical treatment for the
manufacture and refining of sugar.
Firstly, for the alternate draining and liquoring, removal and replacement, of
any convenient number of sugar moulds in successive operation, I provide a
suflicient extent of pipes, arranged horizontally in parrallel rows, with one end
of each connected by two stop-cocks into two parallel and united transverse
pipes, both for conducting the rough and fine syrup to separate closed vessels,
and connecting the whole series of pipes and receivers with the air pump or
other exhausting apparatus. Any other arrangement convenient for connecting
the system of pipes and receivers may be adopted.
This system of pipes, &c., is to be securely fixed, either upon or underneath
the floor on which the draining takes place, the rows of pipes having a slight
declination towards the two channel pipes, with the upper sides of which their
lower ends are connected by the stop-cocks.
At proper distances for placing the conical sugar moulds, small open in-
verted cones or funnels (either with or without stop-cocks in their necks or
tubes) are to be inserted and fixed vertically in the rows of parallel pipes, as
seats for holding the conical sugar moulds; rings of vulcanized india-rubber
are to be used for making the junctions between the moulds and the seats air-
tight, and they may be fixed to the edges of the funnels by means of metal
flanges screwed together; or they may be stitched on through holes made for

page_text: the purpose round the edges of the funnels, or the elastic bands may be stretched
on to the lower ends of the conical moulds at the time of seating them in the
funnels, to form an air-tight junction induced by the weight of the moulds when
full, and the suction of the air pump.
Each draining pipe is provided with an external air vent cock and a pressure
guage. The two stop-cocks that connect the draining pipes with the two main
channel pipes are to be used alternately for conducting the syrup to its proper
receiver, also for the regulation of local action and insulating each draining
pipe from the rest of the series when requisite.
A mercurial pressure tube may be fixed at the junction of the exhaust pipe
for regulating the pressure, the rise and fall of the quicksilver acting by a float
weight upon the lever of a throttle valve.
The sugar moulds having been filled from the heater, with their drip holes
pluged and left to consolidate preparatory to draining (which should all proceed
in manner and time exactly the same as is commonly followed), their subsequent
treatment is as follows:-
When the plugs are withdrawn, the moulds are to be placed in the funnel
seats before described; the respective stop-cocks are turned on, and the channel
pipes and receivers being maintained in the state of partial vacuum, the ex-
ternal atmospheric pressure acting downwards from the upper surface of the s
sugar in the moulds, will cause the fluid syrup to be drained off at any suitable
rate, by regulating the pressure accordingly.
The termination of this part of the operation will be indicated by the pres-
sure guages, and also by the sound of air beginning to pass through the loaves,
which should be immediately stoped by means of the proper stop-cocks or
otherwise, as herein-after explained.
In case of air passing through one or more of the loaves before the rest are
ready, they may be covered by means of a few loose covers kept at hand for
the purpose; these covers having flanges or grooves packed with elastic india-
rubber bands, will render the use of stop-cocks in the necks of the funnels
unnecessary, but either may be used as preferred.
The liquoring may then proceed by pounding up the crust with water, as
usual, and this being very gradually drawn through the loaves, is to be followed
with fine liquors of a less specific gravity than the syrup displaced, until the
loaves are thoroughly cleansed; and, finally, a concentrated solution of fine
sugar is to be drawn into them, when the two connecting cocks with the main
pipes are to be turned off, the external air vent cock opened, and the moulds
removed for replacement by a fresh set, as before mentioned.
Instead of the series of pipes with funnel seats, flat shallow receivers may

page_text: be made to substitute them, if connected with the exhausting apparatus; the
seats for the moulds consisting merely of so many circular holes with removeable
plugs, covers, or hinged flaps or valves, the junctions of which are rendered
air-tight, in the same way with elastic rings or packing, forming also the the
elastic junction of the moulds when seated in the holes. These receiving
vessels, channels, troughs, &c., may be of any convenient dimensions, form, or
suitable materials.
As another improved method of draining and liquoring sugar loaves in their
ordinary moulds, by means of the combinations of hydrostatic or hydraulic and
pneumatic pressure, I employ the pressure of a column of liquor, either de-
scending from a head or reservoir, or injected by a force pump, or the elastic
pressure of carbonic acid gas, or other suitable gas or air, or any one of them,
using these forces, either in combination or separately, as required.
For this purpose, the ordinary cones or moulds are to be provided with a
sufficient number of removeable covers for alternate usc, these covers having
at their edges a flange or groove to receive elastic india-rubber bands; and in
the centre of these covers is a circular hole, cither conical or otherwise, fitted
to receive corresponding nozzles, which are also provided with flanges and
india-rubber bands, and depending by short pipes from a horizontal liquor
pipe. The horizontal liquor pipe is to be securely fixed underneath rigid
framework, a convenient space above the tops of the moulds, when placed
upon their respective seats, which may be either the usual earthen pots, or any
other form of receiver or channel for receiving the syrup drainings.
Air-tight junctions between the moulds, covers, and nozzles may be secured
by means of screws or levers upheaving the moulds, or the moulds and their
receivers; or, by means of telescopic screw pipes, the nozzles may be made to
descend upon the covers as a more efficient and simple method, and merely
requiring the nozzles to screw on to the ends of the descending pipes a sufficient
length to admit of being unscrewd, and thereby brought down through a
sufficient space left for placing and removing the moulds, for the purpose of
compressing both joints with their elastic packing. The upper end of the nozzle
screw may be secured by a follower or screw ring, turned off its end when
tapped, for the purpose of compressing any luting or elastic band at that part,
in case by long wear the screw should become leaky; or plain telescopic sliding
tubes may be used and fixed down by a circular inclined plain, or otherwise;
or the descending tubes, being made of flexible or elastic materials, the metal
nozzles fastened thereto might be compressed by a screw cottar with triangular
arms to hook under the rim of the moulds, either of these plans being equi-
valent, but I prefer the telescopic screw or the telescopic sliding tube.

page_text: A sufficient extent of horizontal liquor pipes, fixed as described, in connexion
and provided with the descending tubes, for junction with the covers of the
moulds, as before explained; branch pipes with stop-cocks connect the hori
zontal pipes with the head of fine liquor, with a liquor force pump, and with
an air force pump and air vessel; or a single pump might be made to perform
the work of a liquor pump and air pump alternately.
This arrangement admits of the combined or alternate action of all or any
two of these forces, and either one may be employed independently of the
others.
The horizontal liquor pipes are provided with an air vent tube with a stop-
cock inserted in the upper surface, to be used at the commencement of the
hydrostatic or hydraulic pressure, which being turned on (and the liquor of
the proper specific gravity as before mentioned) may be regulated in the rate
of its action by appropriate stop-cocks. The force pump, which may draw its
supply from any convenient level, will be the only hydraulic force employed in
situations that exclude a head, or where the elevation only gives a slow acting
power. The first displacement of the syrup in the loaves may be accelerated
by a few strokes of the force pump, the back action of the column of liquor
being stoped by its closing a valve provided for that purpose in the main pipe
or by its stop-cock.
The syrup may be displaced in the first instance from the loaves by the
elastic pressure of injected carbonic acid gas or other suitable gas, or by air, if
prefered; but the chief intention of the use of this pneumatic agent is for the
displacement of the last portions of the fine liquor both from the moulds and
pipes, as the completion of the operation; and if the loaves are intended for
crushed or loose sugar, partial drying may be effected by passing the pneu-
matic agent through heated steam jacket pipes; but if the sugar is intended
to be finished as loaves, then, after or at the time of their removal, they should
be filled up with a concentrated solution of fine sugar.
For draining and liquoring loose crystalized sugar in bulk, I modify the last
described apparatus by substituting for the several cones or sugar moulds a
large vessel of any convenient capacity or form, but I prefer a cylinder with
its cover luted with elastic or other suitable packing. The the junction of the
inlet pipes to this vessel for applying these displacing forces may be made by
ordinary means as a union coupling screw joint. It has an inner perforated
plate at the top for the even distribution of the liquor, and an inner perforated
plate at the bottom for draining the syrup into the space below it left as a
syrup chamber; into this vessel the sugar is to be drawn off or filled from the
heater, and left to consolidate as usual. If the bottom of this vessel is per-

page_text: forated it may be seated within the receiver, but I prefer the double bottom
with a space between, as above described, from whence a pipe with its stop-
cock is provided-to-run off the syrup as it accumulates; the stop-cock-to-be
shut off for filling and until it is ready for draining, which may be performed
as before described, if for fine sugar; but if for raw or low bastards, the
pneumatic force of the injected carbonic acid gas or other suitable gas or air,
by means of the air force pump, may be made to complete the draining and
drying, as before described.
I prefer the use of carbonic acid gas for these and other purposes in the
treatment of sugar to atmospheric air, which, as a mixture of free oxigen,
should be avoided as much as possible; yet as a similar mechanical force might
be obtained by common air, its use is not excluded in the above arrangements,
if it should be preferred to the substituted gas, and for the application of
which a weighted gas-holder might be employed instead of the injection air
pump, which I prefer to use as more compact and powerful.
The action of these forces might be inverted by substituting upward
pressure, and using the liquoring syrup of greater specific gravity than the
syrup displaced.
In the application of these combined forces to an improved action of the
charcoal filters, they require to be closed vessels, arranged in a circle or con-
nected series by means of connecting pipes from the bottom of each to the top
of the next with stop-cocks, for insulating any particular filter, or changing the
current through the series, and for which end also each filter is to be connected
both at the top and at the bottom by branch pipes with stop-cocks to the supply
5 pipe and to the outlet delivery pipe respectively; or if placed in a circle,
the horizontal branch pipe radiating from the centre pipes of supply and
delivery will serve for connecting each filter alternately, so as the first filter in
the series when exhausted and replenished with fresh charcoal will then be the
last filter in the series, and the second becomes the first, and so in succession,
round the circle or entire series.
By this arrangement, filters of much smaller capacity than usually employed
may be rendered more effective with economy of charcoal, as no one of the
series arrives at the point of replacement in this order of rotation before it is
entirely exhausted and the charcoal supersaturated, when the pneumatic.
5 pressure may be employed to displace the bulk of the sugar retained previous
to washing out with water, which may be expedited in like manner.
The application of any suitable combination of either hydrostatic weight or
hydraulic force, with either pneumatic pressure or exhaustion, admits of the
.charcoal being packed closer and in a finer and more effective state; and also

page_text: the use of such matters as are not otherwise applicable to the purpose, but
possessing a high decolouring power, such as the animal black residuum from
the manufacture of prussiate of potash.
The head of supply liquor may be placed at any convenient elevation above
the filters, but in situations preventing this, the liquor must be constantly
forced up by the force liquor pump; in either case an air vessel is provided,
and it may be permanently charged with carbonic acid gas, or other suitable
gas not containing free oxigen in a compressed state, which will regulate and
equalize the pressure, and may be preserved in an active state, turning off the
stop-cock under pressure before any removal for change takes place, and it
may be sustained and increased by fresh injections from time to time, as re-
quired. Each filter is provided with a vent, valve, or cock, to be used at the
time of filling it, but if they are placed in a circle the central capt inlets may
be used for this purpose instead. Each filter is to be provided with a suitable
connexion, both with the channel of supply and the channel of delivery,
which, as before mentioned, if placed in a circle, a radial branch from central
channel pipes will admit of the alternate connexion of the same with each
filter; this, with the stop-cocks to the pipes which connect them with each
other, allows each filter to be thrown out of use without interfering with the
rest, or disturbing the circuit of supply and delivery, which may be con-
ducted into a vacuum chamber, as another means of combining the pneumatic
force:
The following improved construction of the hydro-extractor which is in use
for draining, liquoring, and drying sugar is contrived for the purpose of filling
and emptying the machine while in motion instead of stopping it for this
purpose, which is necessary as usually constructed :-
The form which I prefer for the drum or sieve is conical, with the wide part
at bottom, the top being contracted; observing this rule, the section of a
spherical form may be used instead.
From the upper edge or rim of this conical drum sieve strong radial arms
converge to the central upright shaft, to which they are securely fixed and
rendered inflexible at their junctions both with the drum and the shaft by
means of brackets; as the shaft and the drum have no connexion at bottom,
yet intermediate may be also used for strength. The sides and bottom
of the drum are separate parts, the bottom fitting into the drum at a little
above its lower edge or flange rim, but removable by a telescopic movement
of the sliding part of the shaft, to which it is fixed by strong flanges and
brackets or an underlying conical plate. The compound shaft consists of two
tubes or cylinders, which may be of any convenient diametor, provided the ends

page_text: of the inner one are contracted to a suitable size for its bearings. The longer
and inner shaft extending throughout, and its lower part from below the
bottom of the drum may be solid; at which point or above the bottom of the
drum lateral openings are made for distributing the charge of sugar. The
outer shaft is made to slide freely, fitting over the inner one, its length suffi-
cient to ensure a steady sliding motion, and secure the horizontal level of the
moveable bottom, which, as before described, is fixed to it. Above this junction
lateral openings are made to coincide with those of the inner tube shaft, and
their coincidence ensured in working by the provision of a groove and guide
pin. Vertical movement is given to the outer shaft by means of a lever with
a clutch embracing the shaft between two flanges. The lever is centred in the
case outside; or insead, the telescopic shaft may be made with two reversed
circular inclined plains, acting by means of two sliding bolts, for bringing
down and relifting the bottom. On the lower rim of the conical drum is a
wide external flange, with its outer edge turned down and dipping into an
annular gutter, formed or fixed inside the case at that part; this forms a channel
for the syrup to its outlet pipe, and at the same time, being partly covered
by the overlapping flange of the drum, serves to divide the case into two com-
partments, the upper containing the revolving drum and receiving the syrup,
the lower being a receptacle for the finished sugar. The charge of sugar and
syrup is supplied through the hollow shaft by means of a feed or hopper pipe
fixed for the purpose; and to facilitate its descent, this upper part of the
inner shaft may be slightly conical. Instead of a double tube shaft, the inner
shaft may be solid with the outer shaft hollow, and all the other parts the
same as described, excepting the lateral openings (as not required); and
the addition of a conical hopper on the top of the drum, its wide end
downwards, and expanding below the radial arms to which it is fixed, or the
sides of the drum may be continued above the radial arms, and left unper-
forated for that purpose.
The following is another construction for the same purpose of continuous
motion, but with uninterrupted action or work. The sieve drum is, in
this instance also, of a conical form, but inverted like a comon funnel,
which it resembles, being open at top and bottom, the latter contracted,
and either terminating in a short unperforated neck; or the lower truncated
end of the cone may be left unperforated for five or six inches, this part being
always when at work immersed in the reservoir of its supply; but I prefer a
conical neck or tube.
The sides of the cone are made of perforated metal, and may be formed at
any convenient angle for the regulation of the rate of its feed and delivery,

page_text: about 45 degrees being the lowest angle suitable or recommended, but which
may be considerably varied; and it may be made of any convenient dimen-
sions, and securely fixed to its vertical shaft by means of radial stays or arms.
The upper edge or rim of the cone sieve terminates in a plain wide flange,
rounding at its inner junction with the cone, and curved or turned down at an
angle at its outer edge, so as to overlap with free space the top edge of the
inner case, in which it revolves. This inner case has a double bottom, with
sufficient space between to hold and receive the supply of sugar for feeding
the cone.
The inner bottom or partition has a hole with a small cylinder or
hopper rising up to receive the lower neck of the cone with free space between
them, the annular space between this hopper and the sides of the case being for
the reception of the syrup as it is expelled by the centrifugal force, and from
which it may be run off by a pipe. Above this hopper I provide another annular
partition, with its inner edge turned up, to form a gutter to receive the liquoring
syrup, used separate from the rough syrup, being placed just below the liquor
injection pipe. A second case or external cylinder includes the inner case
from any convenient distance above the bottom, and rises above the top of the
flange rim of the cone with free space between the flange of the case covering
the flange of the cone; the annular space between the inner and external
cases forms the receptacle for the finished sugar. The chamber below the
neck of the cone, from which it takes up the fluid sugar, is supplied by a pipe
from an external hopper at a proper level, and the liquoring syrup is delivered
by a fixed pipe dipping into the cone about half its depth, presenting its nozzle
to the sides of the cone. The sugar, being taken up from the bottom by means
of imparted rotation, is gradually carried up the sloping sides of the cone at a
rate depending upon the degree of its angle and speed of rotation; the crude
syrup received in the lower and the liquoring syrup in the upper chambers,
when the finished sugar rises over the flange into the outer case, and completes
the work without intermission.
As equivalent means for obtaining uninterrupted action, the conical sieve
may be centred to work horizontally, as also by substituting a cylinder, either
of parallel sides or only slightly conical, but centred to work at an angle with
the horizon, so as in both cases to combine the centrifugal force and gravitation
in the progressive delivery of the sugar, the feed pipe entering either the narrow
end of the cone or the elevated end of the cylinder.
If either of the above equivalent plans are considered desirable, the details
of other parts are simple, and need not be further described.
Whenever centrifugal force is employed, or the compressive force of injected
atmospheric air, in every case I collect the syrup drainings into a closed vessel

page_text: connected with the exhausting air pump, in order to extract the atmospheric air
which it has absorbed in the operation, and which it has a tendency to retain,
both from affinity and the viscous nature of the syrup,- to- the-injury of
the sugar, when it is not convenient to boil it down at the instant of its
separation from the sugar.
As a means of heating and evaporating solutions of sugar at a low or
moderate temperature, I employ carbonic acid gas, or other suitable gas not
containing free oxigen, such, for instance, as carbonic oxide gas, but I prefer
carbonic acid gas, as the most suitable for the purpose. The gas is to be
forced through heated pipes and blown through the solution of sugar, both in
the blow up for heating and dissolving, and in the evaporating pan for carrying
off the water in condensible vapour. It may be injected under considerable
expansive pressure, and with the vapour of water carried off it will be partly
condensed by a common refrigerator; or it may be wholly absorbed or com-
bined by cold water and lime, from which it may be again separated, as is
well understood; but I prefer its partial condensation by means of the com-
pressive force of an air pump, either after or before it has passed the
refrigerator, when it will be partly absorbed by the condensed water, which
is received into two receivers arranged by a two-way cock for alternate
use. The condensed water containing the absorbed gas may be drawn off
into a separate receiver, to be used either for other purposes or for the
subsequent regeneration of the gas to be used over again, while the volume
of gas thus for a time abstracted from the channel of working circulation
may be replaced from time to time by fresh injections. Besides injection
by a force pump or its expansive pressure, it may be drawn through the
heating or evaporating syrup by means of an exhausting air pump, the
returning action stroke of which may be used for its compression to produce
partial condensation, and by means of valves suitably placed, and opening
only in the direction of its circuit, it will be made to pass successively
through the heating apparatus the syrup under operation and the condenser
in a continual circle through closed vessels.
As a variety of methods may be employed to effect its application, I do not
more particularly describe nor insist on the specific form of apparatus to be
used, my improvement in this respect being, the employment of carbonic acid
gas as a substitute for atmospheric air or other agency, used as a conductor or
carrier of heat for heating and evaporating solutions of sugar.
Reference to the accompanying Drawings will further explain the foregoing
description of apparatus for the manufacture and refining of sugar.

page_text: Figure 1 shows (a) the floor; (b) one of the draining pipes, with (e) the funnel
seats, part with and part without stop-cocks; ( &f) the channel pipes leading
to the receivers and air pump, neither of which are shown; (p) pressure
guage; (n) air vent; (m) sugar moulds.
Figure 2, (a) joist or frame work; (b) liquor pipe; (c) nozzle pipes; (d)
cover, with central hole placed on sugar mould; (e) one of the nozzles screwed
up, disconnected with the cover; (f) sugar moulds; (9) syrup receivers, part
with lift screws; (1) air vent; (m) air vessel; (k) head of liquor; (2) valve,
to prevent back action; (h) pipe to liquor force pump, not shown; (i) pipe to
air force pump, not shown.
Figure 3, (a) section of a large closed draining vessel; (b) the pipe for
injection of liquor and pneumatic force; (e) perforated plate to distribute the
liquor (c) perforated draining plate; (d) syrup chamber, with pipe and stop-
cock; (f) union joint; (g) removeable cover, fixed and luted.
Figure 4, (f) six charcoal filters, arranged in circle, (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,) inlets
to each, with corresponding outlets at bottom, not shown; (a) connecting
pipes and stop-cocks; (b) liquor supply pipe; (c) air vessel; (d) moveable
radial pipe from liquor head to connect each filter, as shown by dotted lines;
the same at bottom for outlet, not shown; the air and liquor pumps not
shown.
Figure 5, (a) sectional view of the sides of conical drum sieve, with (f) a
wide overlapping flange; (b) removable bottom; (c) telescopic sliding shaft;
(g) annular gutter for syrup; (h) inner hollow or solid shaft; (i) the feed to
hollow shaft; (s) upper chamber for syrup; () lower chamber for sugar;
(p) openings in shaft for filling; (1) lever, and (o) hopper, are shown in the
diagram of sectional lines, in which the rest of the letters refer to the same
parts as in the sectional view.
(Figure 6) shows, in section, (a) conical drum sieve, with its neck immersed
in the supply chamber, and its wide curved rim flange turned over the edge of
the top of the inner case (c), forming the syrup chamber; (d) the outer case
and receptacle for the finished sugar; (e) hopper outside for supplying the feed
chamber (b); (f) the hopper and partition through which the end of the cone
dips into the working charge; (2) with (f) form two syrup gutters; (9) syrup
pipe outlet; (h) outlet for sugar; (i) liquoring pipe.
(Figure 7) is a sectional diagram of the gas heating and evaporating apparatus.
(a) vessel to hold carbonic acid gas; (b) injection pump; (c) heating chamber
of connected pipes; (d) heated gas pipe; (e) pan containing the sugar for
heating or evaporating; (f) the exhaust pipe; (9) air pump; (h) refrigerator

page_text: ( and 7) two receivers with two-way cock; (k) pipe returning the gas to be
reheated; (v) a double acting valve; the arrow shows the opening
direction of the valves.
Secondly, for the chemical treatment of sugar in the process of refining.
The soluble silicate of soda, having a specific action in the precipitation of
mucilage or gum, may be used for this purpose in a very limited quantity,
restricted by the nature of its alkaline base; but the insoluble silicates of lime
and magnesia are much preferable in this respect of their alkaline bases if used
in the state of hydrates or containing combined water; and in this suitable state,
however obtained, whether as natural products of sufficient purity or chemically
prepared, they may be very serviceably employed for the same purpose; the
use of the magnesian silicate being conjoined with the treatment by phosphate
of ammonia, hereinafter described, and the silicate of lime must be used like-
wise in conjunction either with the phosphate, or sulphate, or carbonate, or any
other suitable salt of ammonia which is capable of precipitating lime, as other-
wise any lime existing in combination with the raw sugar will be retained.
therefore prefer the use of the following preparations of silex or silica for this
purpose in the treatment of sugar for refining it by the precipitation of its
mucilage:
I
"Silex," either as a hydrate of silica chemically prepared by precipitation from
the soluble alkaline silicates, as is well understood, or mechanically prepared by
grinding calcined silex with water to a pulp, or until it is capable of a prolonged
suspension in water. In either of these states of of preparation, either combined
with ammonia or used alone, it may be employed for the purpose of precipitating
mucilage and lime from raw sugar; or the silica may be mixed or used in con-
junction with the rough sulphate, phosphate, carbonate, or other suitable salt of
ammonia having the property of precipitating lime; or the same salts containing
albumen in solution, as hereinafter described, may be used either mixed with
the silica or added after using the silex alone.
To a solution of sugar in the blouup I add either of the preparations of
silica described until it ceases or nearly ceases to form a curd-like combination
with the precipitated matters. To effect this, the quantity required will vary
with the quality of the sugars under treatment.
If the silex or hydrate of silica is only used to the extent or slightly under that
of its capacity to precipitate the mucilage and lime contained in the in the sugar,
the curd-like feculent matters will break and rapidly precipitate, producing the
clarification of the sugar; but if the silica has been used in excess, its property
of remaining in suspension in water will be exhibited in a solution of sugar,

page_text: free from mucilage, when some suitable reagent will be necessary to complete
the clarification, which may be effected by the addition of a small quantity of
either of the solutions of albumen, herein-after described, or by means of lime
water or saccharide of lime as a preferable reagent, when the lime thus added
combining with the excess of silica will be precipitated, and perfect clarification
obtained.
While the quantity of silica or silicate used is to be regulated by the amount
of the matters present in the sugar, which it is capable of precipitating, the
quantity of ammonia combined or used with it should be sufficient to neutralize
any acid in the sugar, lime not being used for this purpose, but as a reagent
for precipitation, and the ammonia used in conjunction with the silica becomes
an improved substitute for lime in correcting and preventing the tendency to
acid formation in the sugar.
As an improved simple process of clarification with rapid and independent
action I use the phosphate of ammonia, which may be prepared by boiling the
rough sulphate, or rough carbonate of ammonia, or the rough liquors of
ammonia, with its equivalent of bone ash that has been digested with
sulphuric acid, as is well understood, and its purity is not important for this
purpose.
To a solution of sugars in the blow-up I add this solution of crude phosphate
of ammonia until it nearly ceases to form a floculent precipitate; the quantity
required will vary with the amount of lime contained in the raw sugar. If any
slight excess of the phosphate of ammonia has been used, this may be tried at
once and rectified by the addition of a little lime water or saccharide of lime,
and without the addition of any other matters whatever; the brightest clarifi-
cation of the liquor possible to obtain by any known means will be immediately
produced by its action in the simplest manner; the phosphoric acid combining
with the lime contained in or added to the sugar envelopes and precipitates all
the natural feculent matters, while the ammonia base of the salt neutralizes
the natural or other acids in the sugar. The hydrate of magnesia may be used
with perfect effect to correct any small excess of the phosphate of ammonia,
but lime answers the purpose with more practical readiness.
The filtering quality of the precipitated matters produced by the phosphate
of ammonia cannot be surpassed by means of any other treatment, and for
every purpose for which blood has been employed in refining sugar it will be
found a very superior substitute.
The crude sulphate of ammonia, and so also all the other suitable salts of
ammonia which are capable of precipitating lime, may be regarded as cqui-

page_text: valents for the phosphate, but applicable only in comparative degree as to effect
and economy; the crude sulphate and crude carbonate and the mixed salts of
the rough liquors being not only practical, but the readiest and the cheapest,
while the phosphate may be prefered for its more perfect effect.
While it is to be understood that the use of the phosphate of ammonia con-
stitutes an independent process for clarifying solutions of sugar containing
combined lime, that for brightness of the liquor cannot be surpassed by any
other treatment, nor improved in this respect by the combination of other
matters; yet it may be used in conjunction with the foregoing treatment by
silica and the silicates of lime and magnesia, as therein described, compatible
with the nature of its action, facility of working, and the important advantage
of the double effect of separation of mucilage by means of the silica or silicate,
as therein described, with the accelerated clarifying effect and improved filtering
quality of the precipitated matters by means of the phosphate of ammonia, as
before described and explained in this respect.
For the combined action of the two separate methods of clarification above-
mentioned, the use of the prepared silica may preceed, as before described,
without the least necessity of exact attention to the circumstances that regulate
its proportions; and the precipitation of the excess of silica may be at once
ensured with the completion of its proper effect by the addition of such an
excess of lime water or saccharide of lime as to leave sufficient lime in com-
bination with the sugar to develope the effect of the phosphate of ammonia, as
before explained, thus completing this double treatment with the facility of a
single process; or the separate agents may be mixed together and added to the
sugar at once, as before metioned.
As an improvement in the ordinary process of refining sugar by means of
blood, or by lime and blood, I prepare the blood previous to applying it by dis-
solving or combining it with the crude sulphate or carbonate of ammonia, or
the mixed salts contained in the rough liquors of ammonia, or other salts of
ammonia that have the property of precipitating lime, and especially the phos-
phate of ammonia, which is a superior solvent for albumen; but for practical
use in this application the readier and cheaper salts may be prefered. I also
use, as having equivalent action in dissolving albuminous matters, the phosphate
of soda for dissolving blood.
The solution of blood, or albumen made with any one or more of the above
described salts of ammonia, is to be used instead of the blood in its raw or
natural state for clarifying or refining sugar, and also the equivalent solution of
blood in phosphate of soda. The advantages of using the blood in the above

page_text: described state of solution are considerable, and admits of variation in pro-
portions of combination, a very small addition of the salts improving the quality
and action of the albuminous blood, and a larger quantity preserves it from
spoiling by keeping a very long time. It may therefore be made and used in
all proportions with improved results, such as its more ready and perfect dif-
fusion in the sugar, its coagulation proceeding in a more gradual and satisfactory
manner; the quantity required being much less than usual in its raw state,
while the lime usually retained in the clarified sugar will be precipitated with
the scum waste from which the sugar is more readily and perfectly separated
by the operation of draining and pressing.
While the last-described treatment will be found a very improved application
of an agent in common use for refining sugar, yet I prefer the two first-
described modes of treatment in combination by means of silica and phosphate
of ammonia, or its equivalents, and which supersede the use of blood.
CLAIMS.
Firstly, I claim specially the use of the india-rubber rings or bands with
connected seats and loose covers for the ordinary sugar moulds; also, the
general arrangements and matters described for the purposes described, excepting.
that I do not claim the use of the hydro-extractor, but only the improvements
therein, as the separation of the bottom and sides of the draining sieve and the
telescopic slide shaft (see Figure 5), and the self-feeding draining cone (sce
Figure 6), and its equivalents, described.
Secondly, I claim the use of silex or silica, either alone or in the combinations
described, or in conjunction with the matters described, or with any other
matters; also the use of the phosphate of ammonia, and the sulphate, car-
bonate, or other suitable equivalent salts of ammonia, having the property of
precipitating lime for the purposes described; and also the use of the phosphate
of soda as well as the said salts of ammonia, for dissolving blood or albuminous
matters (all for the manufacture and refining of sugar, and for no other purpose).
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Nash, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
דמTACT
NAOTE
LOCEDIT MAGIL
(V.D.)