IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR REFINING OF SUGAR
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Benjamin Edward Reina Newlands, of Clyde Wharf,
Victoria Docks, in the County of Essex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OR REFINING OF SUGAR."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Benjamin Edward Reina
Newlands at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 7th November
1879.
BENJAMIN EDWARD REINA NEWLANDS, of Clyde Wharf, Victoria Docks, in the
County of Essex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR REFINING OF
SUGAR."
My Invention, relating to improvements in the manufacture or refining of sugar,
has reference to what is known as the elution process, in which a saccharate of
lime is first formed and then purified under the action of alcohol.
According to this process, as at present carried out, molasses, syrups, or other
similar saccharine products containing mineral and organic impurities, are incorpo-
rated and combined with lime, either dry or slaked (with or without the addition
of an alkaline carbonate), so as to form a saccharate of lime, and the latter, after
having been allowed to solidify, is broken or ground into small pieces and placed in
tanks or elutors, where it is subjected to the action of a current of alcohol until the
greater part of the impurities are washed out or removed. The supply of alcohol is
then stopped, water is added to the purified saccharate of lime, and the adhering
alcohol distilled off; after which a current of carbonic acid is passed through the
saccharate of lime thus treated, which carbonic acid combines with the lime liberating
the sugar. The washing or elution however of the saccharate of lime with alcohol
occupies a considerable amount of time, and involves the use, even in a small factory,
of a great number of elutors of large dimensions, which inconveniences it is the
object of our Invention to avoid.
Now according to my Invention I prepare a saccharate of lime in a manner
similar to that hereinbefore described, but in lieu of using alcohol at the ordinary
atmospheric temperature for the washing or elution of the saccharate I employ
alcohol at an elevated temperature, whereby I am enabled to perform the operation

page_text: in an exceedingly short space of time, and with the aid of a very small plant, whilst
at the same time the results produced are equal, if not superior, to those obtained
with alcohol at the ordinary atmospheric temperature. The heating of the alcohol
employed for this operation may be effected by means of steam jackets or other
suitable means.
I then distil the solution containing the impurities washed out or removed from
the saccharate in order to recover the alcohol, and the mass or residuum remaining
in the still, and which contains a considerable quantity of sugar, I convert into
saccharate of lime by any of the usual methods, and then wash such saccharate with
alcohol of an elevated temperature, by which means we are enabled to recover a
large portion of the sugar which it contains, and which would otherwise be lost.
In some cases I add a small quantity of water to the residuum, so as to dissolve
out the sugar and a portion of the mineral matters, leaving however the principal
part of the impurities in the insoluble state.
I may, if preferred, distill off a portion only of the alcohol from the alcoholic
solution, in which case a large portion of the mineral matters crystallize out, leaving
the sugar in solution, which is then run off into another vessel and distilled.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Benjamin Edward Reina Newlands in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 30th April 1880.
BENJAMIN EDWARD REINA NEWLANDS, of Clyde Wharf, Victoria Docks, in the
County of Essex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR REFINING OF
SUGAR."
My said Invention, relating to improvements in the manufacture or refining of
sugar, has reference to what is known as the elution process, in which a saccharate
of lime is first formed and then purified under the action of alcohol.
According to this process, as at present carried out, molases, syrups, or other
similar saccharine products containing mineral and organic impurities, are incor-
porated and combined with lime, either dry or slaked (with or without the
addition of an alkaline carbonate), so as to form a saccharate of lime, and the latter,
after having been allowed to solidify, is broken or ground into small pieces and
placed in tanke or elutors, where it is subjected to the action of a current of alcohol
until the greater part of the impurities are washed out or removed. The supply of
alcohol is then stopped, water is added to the purified saccharate of lime, and the
adhering alcohol is distilled off, after which a current of carbonic acid is passed
through the saccharate of lime thus treated, which carbonic acid combines with the
lime liberating the sugar. The washing or elution however of the saccharate of
lime with alcohol occupies a considerable amount of time, and involves the use,
even in a small factory, of a great number of elutors of large dimensions, which
inconveniences it is the object of my said Invention to avoid.
Now according to my said Invention I prepare a saccharate of lime in a manner
similar to that hereinbefore described, but in lieu of using alcohol at the ordinary
atmospheric temperature for the washing or elution of the saccharate I employ
alcohol at an elevated temperature, whereby I am enabled to perform the operation
in an exceedingly short space of time, and with the aid of a very small plant, whilst
at the same time the results produced are equal, if not superior, to those obtained
with alcohol at the ordinary atmospheric temperature. I have found that by
employing alcohol at a temperature of, say from about one hundred and sixty five
degrees to one hundred and seventy degrees Fahrenheit, the operation of washing
the saccharate of lime so as to remove the greater part of the impurities may be
performed in a few minutes. The heating of the alcohol employed for this operation
may be effected by means of steam jackets or other suitable means. After the
washing or elution with alcohol is completed the saccharate of lime thus purified
is further treated in the usual manner.
I also distil the alcoholic solution containing the impurities washed out or
removed from the saccharate in order to recover the alcohol, and I convert the mass
or residuum remaining in the still, and which contains a considerable quantity of
sugar, into saccharate of lime by any of the usual methods, and then wash such
saccharate with alcohol of an elevated temperature (say of from about one hundred
and sixty five degrees to one hundred and seventy degrees Fahrenheit), by which
means I am enabled to recover a large portion of the sugar which it contains, and
which would otherwise be lost.
In some cases I add a small quantity of water to the residuum, so as to dissolve
out the sugar and a portion of the mineral matters, leaving however the principal
part of the impurities in the insoluble state.
Ι may, if preferred, distil off a portion only of the alcohol from the alcoholic
solution, in which case a large portion of the mineral matters crystallize out, leaving
the sugar in solution, which is then run off into another vessel and distilled.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect, I
would observe in conclusion, that what I consider to be novel and original, and

page_text: therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part recited
Letters Patent is,―
First. The employment of alcohol at an elevated temperature for the washing or
elution of saccharate of lime, substantially as and for the purpose hereinbefore
described.
Second. Converting into saccharate of lime the mass or residuum remaining after
the distillation of the solution resulting from the washing or elution of saccharate
of lime with alcohol, and then washing such saccharate produced from the said
residuum by the employment of alcohol at an elevated temperature, substantially as
and for the purpose hereinbefore described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Edward Reina Newlands, have to
this my Specification set my hand and seal, the Twenty fourth day of April,
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
BENJAMIN EDWARD REINA NEWLANDS. (L.S.)