IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND PURIFICATION OF SUGAR AND SACCHARINE MATTERS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Duncan, of Mincing Lane, in the City
of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT AND
PURIFICATION OF SUGAR AND SACCHARINE MATTERS, AND IN THE APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREIN." -A communication from abroad by Morez
Wainnich of Viann
in the Thi
-
PROVISIONAL. SPECIFICATION left by the said James Duncan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th May 1874.
I, JAMES DUNCAN, of Mincing Lane, in the City of London, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
TREATMENT AND PURIFICATION OF SUGAR AND SACCHARINE MATTERS, AND IN THE
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
The said Invention is communicated to me from abroad by Morez
Weinrich, of Vienna, in the Empire of Austria.
This Invention relates to improvements in the treatment or manu-
facture of sugar, and in the apparatus employed therein, and consists,--

page_text: First. In causing sugar when in a powdered, crushed, or crystallized
condition to be mixed and sifted and brought in contact with and to
become coated with ultramarine or artificial ultramarine blue in order
that the color and appearance of the same may be improved previous to
its subsequent treatment, as undermentioned.
Second. In causing sugar in a crushed, powdered, or crystallized
condition containing coloring matter and other impurities to be sub-
mitted to the action of steam when in a centrifugal machine, either of
the peculiar construction herein-after described, or of machines similar
in construction. The machine runs dry for a sufficient length of time,
whereby a pure, compact, and homogenous mass is obtained, and all
subsequent refining operations may be dispensed with.
Third. In treating the syrups or secondary products resulting from
the combined operation in the centrifugal machine by first boiling them
down in a vacuum or other pan, and to which there is to be added a
quantity of sulphuric acid sufficient for the purpose of neutralizing any
alkalinity existing in such syrups, and then running the syrup so treated
into moulds, where it is allowed to cool and solidify, and then sub-
sequently subjecting the solidified mass again to the action of steam in a
centrifugal machine, in a manner similar to that hercin-before described,
whereby a further quantity of refined sugar is obtained, and the molasses
are separated therefrom.
Fourth. In the construction of centrifugal machines suitable for such
purpose, and so constructed as that the sugar therein contained may be
subjected to the action of steam at the required temperature and
pressure, which machine is constructed as follows:-Within an outer
drum or casing there is arranged an inner drum, sieve, or basket, into
which the sugar to be treated is to be introduced. This inner drum,
sieve, or basket is fast on a vertical shaft or axis passing through a
central circular block, with which the inner drum, sieve, or basket is
provided, which block contains weights for the purpose of counter-
balancing the inner drum, sieve, or basket, and is provided with an
¨annular guard, which is carried up above the steam inlet, and extends
to the circumference of the inner drum, sieve, or basket so as to catch
or intercept the water of condensation and convey it away to the
circumference, where it may be discharged through outlets capable of
being closed by wedges or plugs. The inner drum, sieve, or basket is
provided with an annular ring or flange on top attached thereto by belts

page_text: so as to leave a central space for a sheet-iron casing or cover, which is
placed over the central block and guard when the apparatus is about to
be charged with sugar, the sugar being inserted (after having removed
the ring or flange) in the annular space formed between the internal
sides of the inner drum, sieve, or basket and the exterior of the casing
or cover; this casing or cover is removed after the apparatus has per-
formed a few revolutions. The outer drum or casing is fitted with a
removable cover, which carries the mouth of the steam pipe, and it is
also furnished with a pipe for carrying off the waste steam escaping
through the meshes of the inner drum, sieve, or basket. The quantity
of steam admitted may be regulated to suit the requirements of the
sugar under treatment, and the arrangement of the apparatus admits of
the operations generally being greatly facilitated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Duncan in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th November 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
DUNCAN, of Mincing Lane, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Duncan, Her special licensc
that I, the said James Duncan, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said James Duncan, my executors,
administrators, or 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 AND PURIFICATION OF SUGAR AND SACCHARINE MATTERS, AND
IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to me from abroad
by Morez Weinrich, of Vienna, in the Empire of Austria, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Duncan, my
exccutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my

page_text: :
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 James Duncan, do hereby declare
"the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say :-
The said Invention relates to improvements in the treatment or
manufacture of sugar, and in the apparatus employed therein, and
consists,-
1st. In causing sugar when in a powdered, crushed, or crystallized
condition to be mixed and sifted and brought into contact with and to
become coated with ultramarine or artificial ultramarine blue in order
that the color and appearance of the same may be improved previous to
its subsequent treatment, as herein-after mentioned.
Second. In causing sugar in a powdered, crushed, or crystallized
condition containing coloring matter and other impurities to be sub-
mitted to the action of steam when in a centrifugal machine, either of.
the peculiar construction herein-after described, or of other suitable
construction.
Third. In treating the syrups or secondary products resulting from the
combined operation in the centrifugal machine by first boiling them.
down in a common or other pan, and adding thereto a quantity of
sulphuric or other acid sufficient for the purpose of neutralizing any
alkaninity existing in such syrups, and then running the syrup so
treated into moulds where it is allowed to cool to solidify, and then sub-
sequently subjecting the solidified mass thus obtained to the action of
steam in a centrifugal machine, in a manner similar to that herein-
before described, whereby a further quantity of refined sugar is obtained,
and the molasses are separated therefrom.
Fourth. In the employment of centrifugal machines of a peculiar
*construction, and so arranged as to cause the sugar therein contained to

page_text: be subjected to the action of steam at the requisite temperature and
pressure. This improved process permits of sugar being refined, or of
inferior kinds of raw sugar being prepared for the purposes of refining
with facility and economy.
In carrying out the said Invention the raw or partly refined sugar
in a dry state after having been mixed and sifted and the lumps crushed
or powdered by a mill or rollers or by other suitable means is brought
into contact with a quantity of artificial ultramarine blue, the propor-
tions in which the artificial ultramarine is to be employed being dependent
upon the color of the sugar to be treated and the tint it is desired to
obtain. The sugar with the ultramarine is then subjected to the action
of any suitable mixing apparatus for the purpose of effecting the
intimate admixture of the sugar with the color and the coating of the
same therewith.
The mixing apparatus may consist of a conical barrel revolving on a
horizontal shaft, which is provided with a number of sets of radial arms,
each set of arms forming a different angle to the axis from that of the
adjacent sets, but any other suitable apparatus may be employed for the
purpose. The sugar thus treated is then introduced into a centrifugal
machine, by preference one of the improved construction heroin-after
described and illustrated by the Drawing hereunto annexed.
The improved machine is constructed in the following manner,
videlicet:―Within an outer drum or casing a there is arranged an inner
drum, sieve, or basket b, into which the sugar to be treated is to bo
introduced. The inner drum, sieve, or basket 6 is fast on a vertical
shaft or axis c passing through a central circular block d, with which
the inner drum, sieve, or basket b is provided, which block contains
weights for the purpose of counterbalancing the inner drum, sieve, or
basket b, and is provided with an annular guard e, which is carried up
above the steam inlet ƒ and extends to the circumference of the inner
drum, sieve, or basket 6 so as to catch or intercept the water of con-
densation and convey it away to the circumference, where it may be
discharged through outlets at g capable of being closed by wedges or
plugs. The inner drum, sieve, or basket b is provided with an annular
ring or flange h on top, attached thereto by wedges or bolts i so as to
leave a central space for a sheet-iron casing or cover k, shewn in red
lines on the Drawing, and having radial guide bolts for the facility of

page_text: inserting it in position, which casing or cover is placed over the
central block d and guard e when the apparatus is about to be charged
with sugar, the sugar being inserted (after having removed the ring or
flange ) in the annular space formed between the internal side of the
inner drum, sieve, or basket b and the exterior of the casing or cover k;
this casing or cover is removed after the apparatus has performed a few
revolutions. The outer drum or casing a is fitted with a removeable.
cover which carries the mouth m of the steam pipe n, and it is also
furnished with a pipe o for carrying off the waste steam escaping
through the meshes and over the top of the inner drum, sieve, or basket b,
and through the space between the latter and the annular guard e, such
steam being thrown by centrifugal force into the pipe o, which acts in a
similar manner to the air pipe of a blower.
-
.
The sugar having been inserted in the annular space provided for its
reception between the outer surface of the casing or cover k and the
inner surface of the inner drum, sieve, or basket b, the ring or flange h
is inserted in its place and secured by means of the wedges or bolts i,
and the casing or cover k is removed. Wedges p (shewn in red lines)
are then introduced for the purpose of facilitating the subsequent
removal of the sugar blocks, and power having been applied the machine
is started. The cover is then lowered and steam of a low pressuro
admitted.
A pressure of from about 1 to 5 pounds upon the square inch has
been found suitable in practice, it having been ascertained that the yield
of white or of refined sugar is greater when steam at a low pressure is
employed, but that the operation of refining is of longer duration, and
vice versa.
.
The steam is allowed to play upon the sugar for a period of say about
twenty minutes (which period will vary according to the quality of raw
sugar used and the pressure of the steam, but the supply should be
continued until the syrup running off has acquired a transparent
appearance, after which the steam is shut off and the centrifugal
machine is allowed to run dry for a short period.
If desired in starting the apparatus the machine may be allowed to
perform a few revolutions before removing the casing or cover k, which
is provided with a ring q so fitted as to admit of the casing or cover
turning while the attendant holds the ring.

page_text: When during the rotation of the machine steam is observed to escape
from the cover the supply is to be reduced, such escape of steam
forming an indication that a greater quantity of steam is supplied than
the sugar is capable of absorbing.
:
The machine having been stopped the sugar will be found on raising
the cover to be of a solid form, similar to loaf sugar. The blocks of
sugar containing, say about half per cent. of water are then to be
transferred to the stove, and when completely dried may be passed
through a mill and sold as dry crushed sugar, or if the sugar is intended
for use in the refinery it may be removed direct from the centrifugal
machine without being subjected to any subsequent drying operation.
The syrup resulting from the above operation having first been filtered
through cloth, and if necessary also through animal charcoal in the
usual manner, is boiled in a vacuum pan, its alkalinity being neutralized
by the addition of a suitable quantity of dilute sulphuric or other acid.
After the operation of boiling is completed the syrup is run into moulds
and allowed to cool and solidify.
The moulds are by preference made in the form of a segment of a
tube, so that a given number of the moulded blocks of sugar will corre-
spond to the shape of and fill the space designed for their reception in
the centrifugal machine, into which they are then introduced. The
machine is first run dry for, say a few minutes, after which steam at the
pressure before indicated is turned on, the supply of such steam is con-
tinued for a period of, say about twenty minutes, the steam having then
been shut off, the machine is again run dry for the space of, say about
ten minutes, and finally stopped, when the moulded sugar will be found
to be in a refined, dry, and solid condition.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
O carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,—
First. The employment of artificial ultramarine, in the manner and
for the purposes herein-before described.
.
Second. Effecting the refining or purification of dry sugar by sub-
mitting sugar either in a concrete mass or in a crushed or divided
condition to the action of steam at a low pressure, such sugar being

page_text: contained in a centrifugal machine, in the manner herein-before
described.
Third. The peculiar construction and arrangement of centrifugal
machines and the employment of the same, in the manner and for the
purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Duncan, have to this my
Specification, set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of
November One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
Third. The peculiar construction and arrangement of centrifugal
machines and the employment of the same, in the manner and for the
purposes herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Duncan, have to this my
Specification, set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of
November One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
A. M. N. CAIRD, Jr., Witness.
THOMAS GORDON, Witness.
JAMES DUNCAN. (L.S.)