IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR."-A communication
from abroad by George Wilkinson, of Paris, in the Empire of
France.
Sealed the 14th December 1869, and dated the 17th June 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th June 1869.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
3 of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR," a commu-
nication from abroad by George Wilkinson, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in extracting the juice from sugar canes,
beetroots, and other sugar yielding vegetables by macerating the said

page_text: vegetables in water containing sulphites and sulphates of lime in com-
bination or not as required with chloride of calcium and sulphates of
magnesia. The juice is thus extracted in an economical manner, and is
both purer and more easily purified than that obtained in the usual
way, and is moreover defecated in the vegetable cells and preserved from
fermentation.
On treating the said juice in the ordinary manner syrups and baked
masses of an alkaline or neutral character may be obtained, which yield
a sugar of an excellent quality and in greater quantities than can be
obtained in the ordinary mode of production. Thus syrups are obtained
which being concentrated furnish directly masses of good concrete. sugar
ready for the refinery, or the sugar may be extracted from the said juice
by the various methods now in use..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th December 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her
special license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and all times there-
after 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," a communication from
abroad by George Wilkinson, of Paris, in the Empire of France, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson,

page_text: my executors or administrators, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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 consists in extracting the juice from saccharine
vegetables by a species of maceration conducted at a suitable tem-
perature with the aid of such chemical agents as will, during the
process of extraction, preserve the saccharine juice from. deterioration,
defecate it, and admit of the whole of the saccharine juice contained in
the vegetable being extracted in an economical manner..
The extraction of the juiee of beetroot and sugar cane by maceration
has already been frequently attempted, but up to the present time it has
always been abandoned, in consequence of the deterioration of the sugar
and the bad quality of the baked masses resulting from the ordinary
alkaline process without alcoholic purification.
Now the object of this Invention is to avoid these detrimental changes.
in the sugar.
I may here state briefly the points of difference between this system
of manufacturing sugar and others which at first sight appear to some-
what resemble it.
Referring more particularly to the process of diffusion, this is carried
on solely with water, and at a sufficient temperature to heat the mass to
between fifty degrees and sixty degrees centigrade, and has not the effect
of preservation and chemical defectation which are obtained, according to
this Invention, by more elevated temperatures, and especially by the use
of certain chemical agents. Moreover, these chemical agents coagu-
lating in the cellular tissue render this tissue firmer and stronger; they
admit of the residium of beetroot being pressed without expelling so
much organic matter, and consequently admit of the liquids used in

page_text: expressing (to which, if necessary, sulphite of lime may be added) being
again utilized in the maceration, which liquids are lost in the process of
diffusion with water alone. The chemical agents employed counteract
the deterioration, which water alone so far from hindering actually pro-
motes; loss of water is thus prevented and its quantity reduced to a
minimum. It has been well known for a long time that sulphurous
acid and the bi-sulphites counteract fermentation, but their unpleasant
action on the sugar led to their use being abandoned. Up to the
present time the maceration of the cane and beetroot has. not been
practised with the aid of neutral sulphite of lime and the other neutral
sulphites without the simultaneous or subsequent use of acids and
alcohol. Other chemical agents may be added to the sulphites with
advantage in the course of the maceration with a view to facilitate the
defecation of the saccharine solution. The chemical agents referred to
are used in other circumstances as defecants; they are chicfly the
sulphate of lime and the chloride of calcium, which in small quantities.
defecate and clarify the saccharine juices in the cellular tissues much
better than after their extraction, and the saccharine juice is thus
obtained fit to be refined by a more ready and economical operation.
The sulphites and these latter salts have not been hitherto employed in
sugar refineries, except for the refining of the juices already extracted,
and they have been for a long time recommended (for modes of ope-
ration wholly different from this Invention) either for the extraction of
juice for purifying (by alcohol) or for an acid process and the production
of syrups and baked acid masses..
According to this Invention a system of manufacture totally different
is obtained by the application of these chemical agents (that is to
say) continuous maceration, purification without alcohol, and a non-acid
process, or one in which acid is not employed either after or during the
extraction of the juice. Moreover, it should be added that it is, not
solely by reason of their anti-fermentable, decoloring, and defecating
properties that the sulphites are employed according to this Invention
in this case, but chiefly because there has been discovered in them
another property which is valuable in the special application here made
of them, and that is their property of preventing or greatly retarding
the conversion of the sugar into glucose during the extraction.
Numerous observations have demonstrated that the maceration of
masses of beetroot or cane the sulphites act all in the same manner by

page_text: retarding the conversion of the sugar, notwithstanding the presence of
the organic matters which accompany it, during the period of the
maceration, and even when the macerations are continuous, alkaline, or
quasi-neutral, it being almost impossible to obtain an absolute neutrality
with vegetable juices. Among the sulphites which possess this property
the sulphites of lime, alumina, magnesia, ammoniac, and of soda have
been found to give the best results with a view to subsequent purifl-
cation, and from an economical point of view the preference is given to
neutral sulphite of lime. Sulphite of lime or other sulphites, in the
proportion of from half a thousandth to five thousandths of the weight
of beetroot or cane according to their qualities, will generally be found
sufficient to counteract the conversion of the sugar into glucose during
the extraction performed by perfectly continuous maceration.
According to the description of apparatus which I prefer to adopt I
employ the chemical agents herein-before described under different
conditions, but always during the extraction of the juice. This ex-
traction may be effected by maceration by the aid of several macerating
vessels communicating the one with the other by means of pipes. The
macerators may be of wood, masonry, or metal, of ordinary cast iron,
or cast iron lined with copper. The ordinary arrangement is too well
known to require description, but in lieu of using several vessels the
maceration may be effected in one large vessel.
Although various known apparatus may be employed in carrying out
this Invention it is preferred to employ the mechanical macerating
apparatus illustrated by the Drawings annexed.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a macerating apparatus for
beetroot, and Figure 2 shews a macerating apparatus for the sugar cane.
A is the vat of the macerating apparatus, which is composed of iron
for the treatment of beetroot, as shewn in Figure 1, and by preference of
copper and wood for the apparatus for treating sugar cane, shewn in
Figure 2. B is a tube containing a worm for the introduction of the
reduced vegetable into the lower part of the vat; C are chains composed
of iron, copper, or other suitable metal, which are continually put in
These chains
motion by the same shaft that turns the feeding worm.
are dragged along the heated bottom of the macerator, and constantly
clean it and prevent incrustations on its surface. D is a double bottom
forming a chamber in which steam or hot liquid circulates in order to
heat the contents of the macerator to a suitable temperature; E are

page_text: distributing tubes through which the whole or a portion of the chemical
agents are introduced. In order that the chemical agents (and especially
those which are held in suspension (such as the sulphate and sulphite
of lime) may penetrate into the interior of the mass; they are injected
through the perforated tubes E by means of a small pump or a reservoir
disposed at a sufficient height; and in order to prevent the perforations
in such tubes becoming obstructed a rod provided with pins is moved at
will inside the tubes; and in the holes. F is a hopper through which the
worm is fed with the pieces of the vegetable which have been cut up or
disintegrated in any suitable or well-known manner. Through this
hopper may also be introduced the whole or a portion of the chemical
agents in order to better distribute them, and so that the vegetable may
be immediately subjected to their action at the hottest part of the
apparatus. G are perforated tubes for distributing water in a shower
so as to water the annular surface comprised between the tube B and
the sides of the vessel; I is a large aperture provided for the outlet of
the pieces after they have been operated upon; these are removed by
means of the upper rake J, or in any other similar manner. The surplus
water which the pieces contain is then expelled by any of the known
means, such as by centrifugal machines, presses, a vacuum. K is a glass
tube for the purpose of indicating the level of the liquid in the vessel A,"
and provided with an overflow cock; L is a case composed of iron or
copper, and containing a small quantity of glycerine or oil, in which is
or are disposed a maximum and minimum thermometer, or two separate
thermometers, the one indicating the minimum and the other the
maximum temperature at which the operation is to be performed. These
thermometers are provided with platina wires, and are in communication
with electric alarums. M is the outlet pipe for the concentrated juice
leading to elevators, reservoirs, or boilers where the juice is to be
purified. The juice is caused to pass through fine wire gauze in order
to retain the particles of the substance which might be carried along
with it before adding lime thereto. N is a valve with decanting pipe,
which admits of the deposits of the sulphate of lime being allowed to
operate, or of their being discharged by opening the valve. The
decanting tube is provided with a rose top on which a brush turns, the
same being actuated by the vertical shaft in order to constantly clean
the perforated portion of the tube. O is the inlet pipe for the admission
of steam to heat the double bottom of the vessel; P, an outlet for con-
densed steam; Q, masonry supporting the apparatus, and so disposed

page_text: as to prevent the heated part from being cooled; R is a casing of wood
or other non-conducting material for the retention of the heat in the
vessel. By allowing the heating of the saccharine vegetable, which has
been finely disintegrated, to continue for the space of a few minutes
only at a temperature higher than 60° centigrade the sacchariferous
cells are rapidly broken and their strength exhausted when using
water alone, and juice is obtained which may be readily purified, the
exhaustion being also effected in a much shorter time than by heating
to a temperature under 60°, the important condition being not to
continue this elevated temperature beyond the time which is indis-
pensable to deaden or neutralize the vegetable substances which have
been disintegrated as finely as possible, the duration of such time being
in the inverse ratio of the degree of disintegration of the vegetable.
Formerly when it was required to macerate for the sugar refinery
slices of beetroot of a thickness of from one-eighth to three-eighths of an
inch were operated upon, but the thickness of the pieces employed in
carrying out this Invention should not exceed one-sixteenth of an inch
in thickness. Thus, for example, with pieces of, say, one thirty-second
of an inch thick and about one-quarter of an inch wide, a heating
operation of less than five minutes' duration, at a temperature of
between 65° and 75° centigrade, will suffice. The cells being opened
and ruptured under the action of this temperature it is sufficient to
wash the pieces in order to completely exhaust the sugar in about
one-half the time required by the process of diffusion, and without
being liable to the defects of previous systems of macerations in
which these conditions of fine disintegration and elevated tem-
perature have not been sufficiently observed. In fact the thicker
the pieces are so much longer is the time and higher the temperature
required to take off their strength and complete their exhaustion, and
as the conversion of the pectose into compound suitable pectics is
developed in proportion to the duration and degree of the heat, it will
be understood that with large pieces as formerly used it was necessary
in order to remove the sugar to render soluble at the same time inju-
rious quantities of pectic products, which hindered the subsequent
refining and especially the crystallization of the sugar. Under such
conditions of rapidity the chemical agents may be frequently dispensed
with or reduced in quantity, or simply used occasionally. The use of
the herein-before mentioned chemical agents in the case of periods of

page_text: rest or of vegetables tending to fermentation is also valuable in sugar
manufactories. Their employment is recommended because purer juice
is produced by them than with water alone, and the beetroot residium
is better pressed and retains a larger quantity of azotous matters. It
should moreover be observed that these defecating agents are generally
rather an economy than an additional expence, since they reduce the
quantities of lime, carbonic acid, and animal black required for the
purification of beetroot juice, and consequently also reduce the waste of
sugar which these refining agents occasion. The purification of the
juice previously defecated in the vegetable cells is effected in an econo-
mical and improved manner. For beetroot much smaller quantities of
lime, carbonic acid, and animal black are required for this purpose
than with juice extracted by other known means; a better refining is
obtained, consequently there is less waste for a given quantity of sugar
extracted after it has been subjected to the ordinary process of evapa-
rations and crystallization. This result clearly proves the increased
purity of the juice extracted by the aid of the said chemical agents
employed during maceration. In the case of the sugar cane it should
be added that most frequently it is practicable to dispence with the
operation of defecating with lime the juice leaving the macerator,
especially when the maceration has been performed with sufficient
quantities of neutral sulphite of lime in proportion to the qualities of
the cane, for when the cane juice has completely undergone the defe-
cating and purifying action of the sulphites, and more particularly the
neutral sulphite of lime in the vegetable cells during its extraction, it
is so thoroughly defecated that it yields the best products by direct
evaporation by simply subjecting it to a scumming or filtration or
decantation after once boiling it previous to submitting it to concen-
tration. If the cane juice proceeds from partially acidulated or neutral
canes it will be sufficiently neutralized and defecated by the action of
neutral sulphite of lime, the acid of which is displaced by vegetable acids
during the maceration, and especially by boiling. If, however, the cane
juice should be found to be not sufficiently neutralized a small quantity
of lime or carbonate of lime may be added.
Although the maceration produces much purer cane juice than the
crushing mills, yet in those factories in which it is required to retain the
mills the principle of this Invention may be applied, which consists
in introducing the sulphites and other defecating agents during the

page_text: In order to introduce the sulphites and other herein-before named
chemical agents during the extraction by the aid of rollers two different
methods may be employed-First, by pouring on the canes, as they pass
through the mill, sulphite of lime in solution or in suspension in water
or juice; second, by pressing first the canes with or without sulphites,
and then taking the canes already once crushed, after having watered or
macerated them with water or weak juice containing sulphite of lime,
for example, in solution or suspension, and subjecting them to a second
pressing operation. The cellular tissue, which will still contain a con-
siderable quantity of sugar thus satuarated with sulphited water, does
not undergo any deterioration during this steeping or maceration, which
continues for only a few instants. The second pressing operation
removes almost all the sugar. If the cane trash proceeding from the
first operation in the mill is received into a trough containing sulphited
water this water becomes first charged with a little sugar, and the
steeped cane trash which leaves it being again subjected to pressure
yields saccharine water, which falls again into the trough until this
water has acquired a density to be mixed with the juice obtained from
the first pressure. The juice is then emptied out of this trough and
replaced by sulphited water, and the operation is continued. The
qualities of sulphite in this trough may be regulated so that its liquid
will bring to the juice obtained from the first pressure all the sulphite
necessary for the whole. A portion also of the sulphite may be directed
on to the canes at the time of the first pressure, and the remainder into
the trough where the maceration of the cane trash is effected. What-
ever method of extraction be employed the presence of sulphite and
especially of neutral sulphite of lime preserves the sugar from deterio-
ration, and the cane juice readily admits of the refining to which it is
necessary to subject it, according to the quality of sugar it is required to
obtain, by the customary concentrations, crystallizations, and management.
The residium from the extraction of the cane juice, that is to say, the
huska or cane trash proceeding from the maceration, or maceration
proceded by expression, performed in accordance with this Invention, are
always more charged with water than when the extraction is effected
by the simple pressure of the mills. The latter method leaves the
cellular tissue impregnated with saccharine juice, which tissue after

page_text: dessication in the sun necessitates the sugar being burnt at the same
time as the ligneous fibres when this sugar bhas not been converted into
acetic and lactic acid during the dessication of the cane trash.
According to this Invention, the whole of the sugar having been
extracted from the residium, it is not necessary to take into consideration
the combustion of the sugar but simply the utilization of the ligneous
portion as fuel. The knives which cut up the cane into pieces for the
maceration produce very small fragments, which are not so suitable for
ordinary fires as the cane trash from the mills; but the Inventor pro-
poses to utilize them, and to avoid the expence of management which
the dessication involves, and the inconvenient consumption in fire-grates,
by converting the residium into combustible gas. For this purpose gas
generators are constructed, into which are introduced the cane trash or
The
husks, which may be somewhat damp without inconvenience.
combustion or conversion into combustible gas is effected in the ordinary
manner by blast or exhaustion. The water contained in the residium
is vaporized by the heated gases, and the mixture of gas and vapour
directed into a washing vessel in which a current of water is maintained,
which retains the steam and the ashes. The combustible gases thus
washed are directed under the steam generators, where their combustion
is effected by the various known means. This combustible residium
may also be employed in a more simple manner, which consists, in the
case of the husks impregnated with water and proceeding from the
macreation or diffusion, in first extracting as much as possible of the
water either by pressure or drying in the sun, or by the waste heat from
the fires, and then feeding the boiler furnaces with the dry residium by
the aid of mechanical distributors, or by a blast of air as is practised in
the case of coal dust. The dry husk or cane trash being very light and
in small pieces it may be readily blown or shot into the furnaces by
mechanical distributors.
is
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
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, the extraction
of saccharine juice by the aid of chemical preserving or defecating
agents, such as sulphite or sulphate of lime, chloride of calcium, or
their chemical equivalents, under the various conditions herein-before

page_text: described, whereby a ready and economical purification of the sugar thus
extracted may be effected.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Sixteenth day of
December One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)