IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- " FACTURE OF SUGAR AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED. THEREFOR.
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
1. 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
"
FACTURE OF SUGAR AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED. THEREFOR.
-A com-
munication from abroad by Santiago Dod, of Havana, Cuba.
:
Sealed the 14th March 1878, and dated the 28th November 1872.
&
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 28th November 1872.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Ohancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED THEREFOR," to be
as follows:-
One part of this Invention, which relates to the manufacture of sugar
from either the sugar cane or beet root, consists in the generation of the

page_text: steam used in sugar works (including the supply of the clarifiers, also
the working of the pump or pumps, and if desired the driving of the
engine or engines employed,) from the juice itself as a substitute for
water in or during the earliest stages of concentrating the juice by
boiling the latter under pressure in a close vessel or vessels exposed to
the direct application of heat, whereby fuel is largely economized, as
also labor, and the removal of impurities from the juice cheapened.
id
The Invention also consists in a vacuum pan provided with a number
of separate hollow heating sections, which may be of any desired shape,
size, and arrangement, and either plain or corrugated, the same being im-
mersed in the sugar liquid, and being heated internally by steam, whereby
an effectivo evaporating surface is obtained, and great facility afforded
for putting together or taking apart the interior portions of the pan.
The Invention likewise comprises a novel construction of the body or
shell of the vacuum pan, whereby its diameter or area is abruptly
increased from the level of the top of the heating surface in the pan,
thereby increasing the evaporating surface of the liquid relatively to the
area of the body or portion of the latter exposed to the heater, and
reducing the depth of the whole volume of liquid as maintained by
successive charges to the pan, so that a lower temperature suffices. The
Invention also consists in the use of a perforated plate or strainer-like
surface on top of the vacuum pan, together with a pipe projecting up
from the latter into a dome or chamber, with which the condenser is
connected and to which the perforated plate forms a bottom. By this
combination the foam from the liquid in the pan is broken by the
perforated plate, and that which passes up the pipe, which latter acts as
a safety column, is broken at the upper edge of the latter, and is
returned as liquid through the perforated plate back to the pan, thus
preventing the passage of the liquid from the pan to the condenser. The
Invention likewise embraces a novel construction of the joints in or
connected with the pan.
t
1111
The joints are made by seating bevil edged surfaces within bevilled
recesses, whereby among other advantages construction is cheapened,
bolts at the joints are avoided, and close or tight joints are obtained.
The Invention also consists in a swinging or swivelling attachment of
the trough to the bottom of the pan for running off the concentrated
liquid or syrup, and whereby increased facility is obtained for discharging

page_text: it at different points or in varied directions, as circumstances or con-
venience may suggest.
Among other features of the Invention are also the following:-The
water of condensation is drawn off from the condenser by means of
a pump, and the condenser, used in the combination known as the dry
air process, is arranged in close relation with the vacuum pan, and at
such altitude relatively to said pan that the water used to effect con-
densation will be raised to the condenser by the pressure of the
atmosphere, without the aid of a pump. Said condenser is composed
of a series of divisions arranged one below the other, and extending
horizontally more or less across it, such divisions either being formed
of reversely, arranged side plates or of side rings and insulated inter-
mediate plates, whereby a very simple and efficient condenser is obtained.
The columns or legs which support the vacuum pan and condenser are
made hollow, and utilized as pipes or ducts in the manufacture of sugar;
thus one of the columns serves to convey the steam to the heater in the
vacuum pan, another to convey the liquid to be boiled or evaporated,
another to carry off the water of condensation from the vacuum pan, and
another to pass off the water from the condenser. The air pump or
pumps are greatly simplified by making the cylinder or cylinders move,
and employing fixed plungers, while the valves of said pumps or certain
of them are arranged to present flat outer surfaces by supporting
them at their backs by dovetails or tongues within recesses, whereby
the ends of the cylinders and faces of the pistons may be fitted to
work close to each other, thus avoiding lost space for the accumulation
of air, and allowing of said valves to be fitted to their places, and of
being detached when required with great facility. ·
•
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
: Office on the 28th May 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of November, in the

page_text: year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
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 MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED
THEREFOR," being a communication to me from abroad by Santiago Dod,
of Havana, Cuba, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment. in writing, under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Drawing here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to
say) :—
One part of this Invention, which relates to the manufacture of sugar
from either the sugar cane or beet root, consists in the generation of the
steam used in sugar works (including the supplying of the clarifiers, also
the working of the pump or pumps, and, if desired, the driving of the
engine or engines employed) from the juice itself as a substitute for
water in or during the earliest stages of concentrating the juice by
boiling the latter under. pressure in a close vessel or vessels exposed to
the direct application of heat, whereby fuel is largely economised,
as also labor, and the removal of impurities from the juice cheapened
by reason of the high degree of heat which is obtained to effect
coagulation and remove impurities without resorting of necessity to re-

page_text: peated successive stages of concentration, or to bone-black or chemical
substitutes therefor.
The Invention also consists in a vacuum pan provided with a number
of separate hollow heating sections, which may be of any desired shape,
size, and arrangement, and either plain or corrugated, the same being
immersed in the sugar liquid, and being heated internally by steam,
whereby an effective evaporating surface is obtained, and great facility
afforded for putting together or taking apart the interior portions of the
pan.
The Invention likewise comprises a novel construction of the body
or shell of the vacuum pan, whereby its diameter or area is abruptly
increased from the level of the top of the heating surface in the pan,
thereby increasing the evaporating surface of the liquid relatively to the
area of the body or portion of the latter exposed to the heater, and
reducing the depth of the whole volume of liquid as maintained by suc-
cessive charges to the pan, so that a lower temperature suffices.
The Invention also consists in the use of a perforated plate or strainer-
like surface on top of the vacuum pan, together with a pipe projecting
up from the latter into a dome or chamber with which the condenser is
connected and to which the perforated plate forms a bottom. By this
combination of perforated plate and pipe the foam from the liquid in the
pan is broken, the pipe acting as a safety column breaks the foam at its
upper edge, and the liquid is returned through the perforated plate back
to the pan, and thus the passage of the liquid from the pan to the con-
denser is prevented.
The Invention. likewise embraces a novel construction of the joints in
or connected with the pan. The joints are made by seating bevil edged
surfaces within bevilled recesses, whereby, among other advantages,
construction is cheapened, bolts at the joints are avoided, and close or
tight joints are.obtained.
The Invention also consists in a swinging or swivelling attachment of
the trough to the bottom of the pan for running off the concentrated
liquid or syrup, and whereby increased facility is obtained for dis-
charging it at different points or in varied directions as circumstances or
convenience may suggest.
Among other features of the Invention are also the following:-The
water of condensation is drawn off from the condenser by means of a

page_text: pump, and the condenser, used in the combination known as the dry air
process, is arranged in close relation with the vacuum pan, and at such
altitude relatively to said pan that the water used to effect condensation
will be raised to the condenser by the pressure of the atmosphere
without the aid of a pump. Said condenser is composed of a series of
divisions, arranged one below the other, and extending horizontally, more
or less, across it, such divisions either being formed of reversely arranged
side plates or of side rings, and insulated intermediate plates, whereby a
very simple and efficient condenser is obtained. The columns or legs
which support the vacuum pan and condenser are made hollow, and
utilized as pipes or ducts in the manufacture of the sugar, thus one of
the columns serves to convey the steam to the heater in the vacuum pan,
another to convey the liquid to be boiled or evaporated, another to carry
off the water of condensation from the vacuum pan, and another to pass
off the water from the condenser. The air pump or pumps are greatly
simplified by making the cylinder or cylinders move and employing
fixed plungers, while the valves of said pumps, or certain of them, are
arranged to present flat outer surfaces by supporting them at their
backs by dovetails or tongues within recesses, whereby the ends of the
cylinders and faces of the pistons may be fitted to work close to each
other, thus avoiding lost space for the accumulation of air, and allowing
of said valves to be fitted to their places and of being detached when re-
quired with great facility.
The Invention also consists in various combinations of certain of the
devices herein named, and of the apparatus as a whole for manufacturing
sugar by the vacuum pan process, whereby compactness, efficiency, and
economy generally are obtained.
*
Having thus specified the objects and nature of the Invention its
description will be proceeded with in reference to the accompanying
Drawing.
Fig. 1 represents a view in elevation of the whole apparatus with
duplicate vacuum pans, condensers, and pumps to correspond.
Fig. 2 a plan of the furnace and boilers with certain pertaining devices
used in the earlier stage of concentrating the juice and for generating
steam to be employed in the works or establishment for manufacturing
sugar. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional clevation of the same.

page_text: Fig. 4 represents a vertical section of either vacuum pan with con-
denser attached; Fig. 5, a vertical section of said condenser under a
modified construction of its parts; and Figures 6 and 7, horizontal sections
at the line x, x, of the two forms of condenser shewn in Figures 4
and 5.
Fig. 8 is a horizontal section at the line y, y, of either vacuum pan
in illustration of the heater used therein.
Fig. 9 an enlarged sectional view of the heater in part in explanation
of its construction.
Fig. 10 is a plan, and Fig. 11 a longitudinal vertical section of the
air pump or pumps used to exhaust the air from either vacuum pan,
with engine attached and pump for drawing off the water from the
condenser.
Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout
the several Figures of the Drawing, which Figures are upon different
scales, Fig. 1 being on a reduced scale to Figures 2 and 3, and Figures 4,
5, 6, 7, 8, 10, and 11 being on a still larger scale than Figures 2 and 3. ..
A, A1, A2, A³, are close boilers connected to form a single generator
for partly concentrating the juice under pressure by heat applied direct
to said boilers, and for generating steam from the juice for use in the
clarifiers or elsewhere. B is the furnace, the products of combustion
from which are caused to circulate under and around the boilers
A, A', A³, A³, by means of flues b, b, formed in the setting or brickwork
of the boilers, and through which the equal distribution of the heat is
insured by a dividing wall c arranged to extend some distance up the
chimney C. The juice is first clarified either in the usual way or in a
close clarifier D, blow up, or defecator by boiling under pressure. It is
then conveyed to settling tanks E, E, or direct to the boilers A, A1, A2, A³,
by a pump F, which may be operated by the steam derived from the
juice in said boilers or from the first one A of such boilers, as by a steam
supply pipe d. The pump F connects with the boiler A by a pipe e, by
which the juice is fed to said boiler, and from thence is passed suc-
cessively by connecting pipes f from boiler to boiler, and is ultimately
discharged through a cock or valve, actuated by a float to maintain any
required level, by a pipe g to receivers or syrup tanks G, G, from which
the vacuum pan for further concentration of the juice is supplied. The
steam or greater portion of it thus produced from boiling the juice under.

page_text: pressure after it has been clarified is conveyed by pipes h, h, h, h, to a
column H, from whence it is conveyed by a pipe i for use as required
either in working the engine J, which drives the works and for supplying
the clarifier D by a branch pipe k for operating the pumps, or for any
other use for which it may be required. The column H is a safety one
for collecting scum or foam rising from the boilers with the steam and
for returning the same by a pipe 1 (Fig. 3) to the first boiler A, thereby
tending to keep the juice in the other boilers clean. The boiler A which
first.receives the juice, as also the other boilers, if necessary, is or are
provided with a trough m for collecting the scum from the surface of
the juice and discharging it by a pipe n to the clarifier D to be recleaned.
The pipes n, k, branch therefrom to the clarifier and pipe or pipes by
which the juice is supplied to the pump F, should all be provided with
cocks or valves for opening and closing communication or adjusting the
supply as required.
t
f
By boiling the juice under pressure, as described, various advantages
are obtained. Thus, steam is generated from the juice instead of em-
ploying separate generators using water for driving the engine pumps
and doing other work connected with the production of sugar, thereby
greatly economising fuel and other outlays. The high degree of heat,
too, to which the juice is exposed in this its earlier state of treatment
enables coagulation to be effected, and impurities to be removed without
necessarily resorting to repeated successive stages of concentration, or to
the use of bone black or other purifying substances.
:
K and K indicate the vacuum pans to which the partially concen-
trated juice is conveyed by a pipe, and up one of the group of columns
which support their respective pans, the introduction being regulated by
a valve o fitted to the column L. The lower portion K of each pan, in
which the heater is arranged, is of a uniformly reduced diameter or area
throughout that part of it which contains the heater, and is abruptly
increased by a jog or swell p above such part. This rapid increase in
area from the level of the top of the heater gives a quick and large
increase to the volume of liquid or juice above the heater, and to the
evaporating surface thereof, without objectionably increasing the depth
of the whole volume of liquid in the pan, so that the concentration in
the pan may be effected at a lower temperature. The upper portion K¹
of the pan, as also a dome or chamber M on top of the latter, are
united with each other and with the lower portion K of the pan by con-

page_text: structing said parts where they form joints with one another respectively
with bevilled edges and bevilling recesses or seats q, and securing the
same by cement introduced within the bevilling seats or recesses.
This mode of forming the joints is cheap, collection of dirt within the
joints is avoided, bolts are dispensed with, consequently the joints may
be kept tighter, which is important as affecting the maintenance of the
vacuum in the pan, and, in case of leakage, the same may be stopped by
the simple application of paint to the flush joint, also the several parts
may be more readily taken apart when required.
The heater N within the pan, which is supplied with exhaust steam
subject to the control of a valver by a pipe O from the engine J and
one of the columns by which the pan is supported, consists of a
number of independent hollow sections, which may either be set vertical
or inclined, and may be flat, oval, square, or corrugated, but is here
shewn as composed of a number of vertical hollow rings. These rings
receive the steam on one side of the pan by a tubular passage 8 composed
in part of washers or clamps introduced between the rings, and closed at
its inner end, where a nut t fitting a tie bolt t¹ serves to bind the several
sections and their intervening washers together. The rings are com-
posed of plates united by bolts passing through them and the washers,
also through packing blocks between the plates, the said washers or
clamps being separately attached to their respective plates. Bolts also
pass through outer packing blocks between the plates, and bands sur-
round the joints formed at the junction of the washers, all as shewn in
Fig. 9. The spent steam or water of condensation from these hollow
rings or independent sections passes out through holes in the bottoms of
the rings on the opposite side of the pan to which steam was received,
and escapes into a false bottom or space 'u, from whence it passes off by a
branch a down another L of the columns supporting the vacuum pan.
This construction of the heater, which is wholly immersed in the liquid
and heated from the interior by steam, insures a large heating surface
under exposure to the liquid, and admits of the heater being readily put
together or taken apart.
Arranged in the top of the vacuum pan so as to form a seat or bottom
to the dome or chamber M is a perforated plate or surface P with an
enlarged central opening through it, on or around which is mounted a
short pipe Q open at top and bottom. This perforated plate and pipe,
which latter operates as a safety column, serve to prevent the juice or

page_text: liquid passing from the pan to the condenser R, and being lost. Thus
the foam from the liquid in rising will be broken by the perforated
plate P, and that which escapes up the pipe Q will break into solid
liquid at the top edge of the pipe, and falling back upon the plate will
be returned to the pan through the perforations in the plate.
The trough or spout S by which the concentrated juice is run from
the vacuum pan into any suitable kettle or receiver T (Fig. 1), on
opening a valve is carried by a ring w arranged to rest upon and so as
to be capable of turning around a flanged discharge neck projecting from
the bottom of the pan, whereby said delivery trough or spout may be
swung or swivelled to point in different directions to adapt it to different
receivers or positions of discharge.
The condenser R is arranged in close relation with the vacuum pan,
and connects near its top with the latter through the dome.M by a short
pipe or duct U which conveys the vapour rising from the pan to the
condenser. The water to effect condensation is received by a pipe or
opening a¹ through the top of the condenser, and is drawn or pumped off
from below through one of the colums L³ which support the vacuum
pan. Said condenser stands on the same level as the vacuum pan, or
rather its upper portion occupies such an altitude in relation with the
pan that the water to effect condensation will be forced by atmospheric
pressure as against the vacuum in the pan up to and down the receiving
inlet a without the aid of a pump. The interior construction of the
condenser is made up of a series of dividing plates arranged one below
the other, and extending horizontally or thereabouts more or less across
it so as to form a succession of reverse steps for the purpose of promoting
or improving the action of the condenser, such steps or divisions either
being formed of reversely arranged side plates 6', 6', Figures 4 and 6,
or of side rings c¹ and insulated intermediate plates d³, Figures 5 and 7.
The water is drawn through the condenser and out of the column I'
by a pump A¹ which may be arranged in line with the air pump or
pumps B, B', for exhausting the vacuum pan, and with the engine C¹
which serves to operate said pumps, and which may be driven by the
steam derived from the concentration of the juice in the boilers A, A³,
A³, A. This disposition of the engine and pumps may either be a
vertical or horizontal one, and the whole be a direct acting combination
of devices by means of cross heads D¹, D³, D³, and side tie or connecting

page_text: rods E¹, E¹. The connection of each water pump A¹ with its respective
condenser is made by any suitable duct, and the escaping water and
steam passed off by suitable outlets. The air pumps B, B¹, of or for
each vacuum pan, are composed of duplicate cylinders attached to
opposite sides of the cross head D2 which is hollow, said cylinders
reciprocating in common with the cross head, and their pistons or
plungers,, being stationary and of an elongated hollow construction,
with outlets at their outer ends, connecting with a passage k¹, through
which the air is drawn from the vacuum pan by pipe connecting as
at . The air is discharged through perforations in the sides of the
cross head D³ covered by valves m¹, m³, and finally expelled through an.
outlet n'. The induction valves o¹, o¹, are of a flexible and double flap
description, and are carried by the inner perforated ends of the stationary
pistons, . Said valves are made to present flat outer surfaces by
supporting them at their backs by central strips, forming dovetails or
tongues which fit within recesses in the inner ends of the pistons,
whereby the ends of the cylinders formed by the sides of the cross
head D, and the faces of the pistons may be fitted to work close to
each other during the beat or travel of the cylinders, thereby avoiding
lost space for the collection of air. This construction and fit of the
induction valves, too, allows of said valves being readily fitted to or
detached from their places.
.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements
in the Manufacture of Sugar and in Apparatus to be used therefor," as
communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that
under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First. The process herein described of preparatorily concentrating the
juice for introduction to the vacuum pan or pans, and of generating
steam from the juice for utilization by the clarifier pumps or engine
employed in manufacturing the sugar by boiling the juice under pressure
in a generator or series of close boilers through the direct application of
heat, essentially as set forth.
Second. The construction, substantially as herein described, of the
generator, with its flues and attachments for generating steam from the
juice, and for partially concentrating the latter under pressure to supply
the

page_text: Third. The vacuum pan or pans provided with a heater composed of a
series of independent hollow sections, through which steam is made
to circulate, and which are arranged so as to be immersed in the sugar
liquid, essentially as described.
Fourth. A vacuum pan formed with an abrupt break or jog p in its 5
shell or body in line with the upper level of the heater within the pan,
and arranged to unite a lower and reduced straight or uniform portion of
the body around the heater, with an upper enlarged portion of the shell
.above the heater, essentially as and for the purposes herein set forth.
Fifth. The perforated plate or surface P in the top of either vacuum 1
pan in combination with the pipe Q, and dome or chamber M, substan-
tially as and for the purpose or purposes specified.
Sixth. The construction and mode of forming the joints in either
vacuum pan as at q, q, or at either of said parts.
Seventh. The swinging or swivelling discharge trough S arranged in. 1
relation to the outlet for the sugar liquid from the vacuum pan and
for adjustment around said outlet, substantially as described.
Eighth. The utilization of the several columns by which either vacuum
pan is supported for supplying the heater within the pan with steam for
carrying off the water of condensation from the pan, for introducing the 20
juice to the latter, and for drawing off the water by which condensation
is effected in the condenser.
Ninth. The arrangement of either condenser R in relation with the
vacuum pan¨to which it pertains and connection of the two, substantially
as herein described, whereby the water to effect condensation is supplied 28
_to the upper portion of the condenser by atmospheric pressure without
the aid of a pump, and extracted from the condenser below, essentially.
as herein set forth.
Tenth. The condenser R arranged relatively to the vacuum pan, and .
constructed internally as described and shewn in Figures 4, 6, or 30
Figures 5 and 7 of the Drawing.
Eleventh. The air pump or pumps B¹, B', having its or their
induction valves o³, o¹, constructed and fitted for operation, substantially
as described.

page_text: Twelfth. The combination and arrangement of the air pumps B', B',
having moving cylinders and stationary pistons, the water pump A' and
the engine C¹ connected for operation, as specified.
Thirteenth. The apparatus as a whole for manufacturing sugar by the
vacuum pan process, subject to a preparatory partial concentration of
the juice by boiling it under pressure, substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of May, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
A. V. NEWTON. (L.S.)