IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF WASHED OR CLEANSED SUGARS
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Bessemer, of Baxter House, Old Saint
Pancras Road, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF WASHED OR CLEANSED
SUGARS."
Sealed the 4th May 1853, and dated the 19th November 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Dessemer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 19th November 1852..
I, HENRY BESSEMER, of Baxter House, Old Saint Pancras Road,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare tlie nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF WASHED OR
CLEANSED SUGAR " to be as follows:-
In the manufacture of sugar of superior quality it is necessary
to completely remove the colored mother liquor from the crystals,
which process is sometimes performed in the common conical sugar
moulds, and at others by the centrifugal machine or by pneumatic
apparatus. In these processes a solution of white sugar called
"liquor" is generally used, or the cleansing may be effected by
water alone; but by whichever of these inodes the washing is per-
formed the crystals of sugar soon afterwards become dry and

page_text: powdery on expeosure to the air, or, if pressed together in a moist
state, is found to concrete into hard lumps, both of which conditions
of sugar are objected to in the market. The object of my Invention
is to prevent this drying of the sugar, and to render it permanently
moist, by the addition of saccharine or such other matters as do not
readily evaporate on exposure to the atmosphere.
'
Το carry into effect this Invention I take a solution of sugar of
about 35 or 40 degrees Beaumé, and add as much chloride of sodium
or other saline matter as will render such solution deliquenent or
uncrystallizable, and I afterwards add as much of this solution to
the washed crystals as will give the requisite moisture to them; or,
instead of this mixture, I use a solution of gelatine and sugar
gelatine and gluecose, and mix the same with the crystals of sugar
in any convenient way. In some cases I use "grape sugar," or
molasses, which has been produced by the undue application of heat
in boiling sugar, and which is uncrystallizable. This matter I dilute
with water to about 27 degrees Beaumé, and afterwards decolor it
with animal charcoal, and then concentrate it at a very low tempe-
rature to prevent it again acquiring a dark color. I thus obtain a
nearly colorless and uncrystallizable syrup, which is capable of
imparting a permanent moisture to sugar without injuring its
color. This glucose matter may be mixed either with saline matters
or gelatine, or it may be used alone when the washing of the sugar
is performed by mechanical means. These uncrystallizable matters
may be added before the removal of the sugar from such machines,
or the sugar may be first dried and the matters afterwards mixed
therewith.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said Henry Bessemer in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 19th May 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
HENRY BESSEMER, of Baxter House, Old Saint Pancras Road, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in
the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry Bessemer, Her
special licence that I, the said Henry Bessemer, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Bessemer, 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 THE TREATMENT OF WASHED OR CLEANSED
SUGARS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Henry Bessemer, 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 Henry Bessemer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
saine is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):
In the manufacture of loose granulated sugar of superior quality
it is desirable to remove from it as completely as possible the
colored mother liquor or molasses in which the crystals are formed,
some of which is left adhering to the exterior surface of the crystals.
of sugar after the usual drainage has taken place. The removal of
this glucose coloring matter is sometimes effected by simple
drainage in the ordinary conical moulds used for making loaf
sugar, or by an apparatus well known as the centrifugal curing
machine, and in other cases by exhaustion of the air in the pneu-
matic trough, or by an apparatus patented by me on the 24th day
of February, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, which

page_text: latter mode I prefer to use when treating sugar according to
the nodes herein-after described, and in all of which cases the
cleansing or washing of the sugar is effected by passing water
through the sugar, or, in lieu of water, a nearly saturated solu-
tion of crystallizable sugar, whereby the sugar is improved
by the removal of the dark colored syrups, which combine with
and are carried off by the solution of sugar or water used in the
process. When water is used the small quantity of it which is left
adhering to the crystals soon evaporates on exposure to the air,
and leaves the crystals either concreted together in hard masses or
in a dry and powdery state, in either of which condition much of
the brilliancy and sparkling character of the crystals is lost, and is
for other reasons objected to in the market. A very similar result is
obtained when solutions of crystalizable sugar are used for washing
or cleansing sugars, because a small amount of evaporation from
the washed crystals will so increase the density of the fluid as to
cause a complete hardening of the crystalizable sugar and its con-
cretion into masses, or the formation of dry powdery sugar, as is the
case where water is used.
Now the object of my present Invention is to obviate these de-
fects, and to produce a washed or cleansed sugar which shall retain
so much moisture as, for the most part, to prevent the formation of
hard concrete masses or dry powdery crystals, and at the same time
retain that brilliancy in the crystal which is so much esteemed.
In order to carry into effect this my Invention I proceed as fol-
lows:
Firstly, I take a solution of white crystalizable sugar at a density
of about 35 to 40 degrees Beaumé, and add as much chloride of
sodium as will render such solution deliquescent, and cause it to
absorb moisture from the atmosphere, and thus retain the solution
in an uncrystalized state. Various alkaline salts may be used to
prevent the crystalization of the syrup; but I prefer the use of
chloride of sodium, which I use in the proportion of one pound of
salt to ten pounds of solution; and this mixture I add in about the
proportion of five pounds to every one hundred pounds of sugar,
well mixing the whole together, so as to coat or moisten the surface

page_text: of every crystal: or I take a solution of gelatine in water of such
density as to form a not very firm jelly; when cold, to this I add
about twice its weight of white crystalizable syrup of a density of
about 35° Beaumé. The mixture is to be made hot, and should be
added at a temperature of about 90° of Fahrenheit to the washed
sugar, in about the proportion of five pounds to every one hundred
pounds of sugar.
Or I use "grape sugar," or uncrystalizable sugar, or glucose
matter of any kind which has not an unpleasant taste, whether it
be obtained froin the cane or from other vegetable substance; but I
prefer the use of "grape sugar" or molasses, which is produced by
an undue application of heat in the manufacture or refining of
sugar, or to which heat has been applied for the purpose of de-
stroying its power of crystalization. This matter I dilute with
water until it is reduced to about twenty-seven degrees Beaumé, and
afterwards I purify and decolor it by passing it through a bed of
granulated animal charcoal, precisely in the same way as is now
practised for the decoloration of solutions of sugar in the process of
refining. The glucose matter or "grape sugar" thus decolored is
then to be concentrated to about 35 to 40 degrees Beaumé, for
which purpose a very low temperature should be applied to pre-
vent its again acquiring a dark color; I therefore prefer to evapo-
rate it in a pan in which revolving discs are used to expose the
fluid to a current of warm air, as described in a Patent granted
to ne, and bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of February, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-two. The dense and nearly color-
less solution of uncrystalizable sugar thus produced is to be added
to the washed crystals in about the proportion of six pounds of
syrups to every one hundred of sugar, and the whole well mixed
together, which will be found to produce that moist and clammy
condition which is preferred in the market, while its property of
drying into powder or hard masses will be destroyed. It will be
obvious that grape sugar or glucose matters thus purified and con-
centrated may be used alone or in combination with saline or
gelatinous matters, in lieu of the crystalizable solutions of sugar
described under the first and second heads of Invention.
my
.

page_text: And, lastly, my Invention consists in avoiding the labor of mix-
ing the aforesaid uncrystalizable matters with the crystals of sugar,
by causing it to flow from an elevated cistern through a pipe in
which fine perforations are made so as to allow it to fall in a shower
on to the crystals of sugar after they have been washed, but pre-
yious to their removal from the machine or apparatus in which such
washing or cleansing has been effected. When the contrifugal ma-
chine is used its speed should be considerably reduced before the
fluid is allowed to sprinkle the surface of the sugar in the drum,
otherwise the fluid would be thrown off; and in like manner when
used in any apparatus acting by exhaustion of air, a less amount of
rarefication must be applied at the time of supplying the fluid, in
order that it be not removed from the sugar it is intended to:
moisten.
Having herein described my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do
not confine myself to the precise details thereof, so long as its ge-
neral or peculiar character be retained; but what I claim is,-
Firstly, the combination of saline matters with solutions of sugar
for the purpose of mixing with and rendering the moisture of washed
or cleansed sugars more permanent.
Secondly, I claim the combination of gelatine with solutions of
sugar, for the purpose of mixing with and rendering the moisture of
washed or cleansed sugars more perinanent.
:
Thirdly, I claim the application of decolored grape sugar or ?
other glucose matter, for the purpose of rendering the moisture of
washed or cleansed cane sugar more permanent.
Fourthly, I claim the combination of decolored molasses or.
syrups rendered uncrystalizable by heat with washed or cleansed
sugars, for the purpose of rendering such sugar more permanently a
moist.
Fifthly, I claim the combination of saline and gelatinous matters
with glucose or grape sugar, for the purpose of rendering the mois-
ture of washed or cleansed sugars more permanent.
•
And, lastly, I claim the mixture of sugar with uncrystalizable 3

page_text: syrup before such sugars are removed from the machines in which
they are washed or cleansed.
In witness whereof I, the said Henry Bessemer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
three.
Witness,
FRANCIS HARRIS.
HENRY BESSEMER. (L.S.)