IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
OXLAND, of Plymouth, Chemist, and JOHN OXLAND, of the same place, Chemist,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-sixth day of
April, One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine, in the twelfth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Robert Oxland and John Oxland, our exors, admors, and assigns,
Iler especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that we, the
said Robert Oxland and John Oxland, our exors, admiors, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said Robert Oxland and John Oxland, our exors,
adiñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR;" in which said Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso that we, the said Robert Oxland and John Oxland, or one of
us, should cause a particular description of the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing
under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, to be
inrolled in Her. said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited

page_text: Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Robert Oxland and John Oxland, do hereby declare that the nature of our
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, that is
to say :-
Our improvements in the manufacture of sugar consist in the employment
of the acetate of alumina for defecating cane and beet root juice, and of both
defecating and removing the color from the solutions of raw sugar produced in
the operations of sugar refining. We conduct our process for sugar refining in
the following manner:-The raw sugar may be blown up in the usual manner;
but we prefer dissolving the sugar in water, with the aid of heat from steam
passing through a flat coil of pipe into an outer jacket surrounding the pan;
and then carbonate of lime in fine powder should be mixed with the syrup until
all acidity be neutralized, and the solution should be made to boil at a tempe-
rature of 220° Fahrenheit. The syrup should then be run into the ordinary
filter bags, and when running bright from them it should be turned into another
but more shallow blow-up pan, fitted in the same manner as before described.
Acetate of alumina is now to be mixed with the syrup, and the whole boiled
together at a temperature of 220° until the greater portion of the acetic acid
has been evolved, which may be ascertained by testing the steam passing off
from the syrup with blue litmus paper. A steam-tight cover and pipe, fitted
to a condensing apparatus, may be employed to save the acetic acid evolved,
which may be used for the preparation of further quantities of acetate of
alumina. When nearly the whole of the acetic acid has been evolved, we stir
in small quantities of a solution of tannin in water, until no further precipitate
is produced thereby. The process is completed by the addition of carbonate of
lime in fine powder in sufficient quantity to neutralize all acidity. We then
pass the syrup through bag-filters, and as soon as it runs bright it is turned
into the reservoir from which the vacuum pan is supplied. We have found
that one filtration through the bags will be sufficient, provided a larger quantity
of acetate of alumina be employed, and a fine copper sieve be interposed
between the liquor running down from the blow-up pan and the head of the
bag-filters. The boiling in the vacuum pan is conducted in the usual manner,
as are also the whole of the subsequent operations. We have found in the
preparation of fine liquor to be employed subsequently to what is termed
the claying operatoin, that it is desirable to use a small quantity of acetate of
alumina, heating the syrup to which it has been added to 212° Fahrenheit for

page_text: a few minutes, then adding sufficient of the solution of tannin to precipitate
the last traces of alumina, and of carbonate of lime to neutralize acidity, and
finally passing through filter bags. Cane and beet root juice are treated with
the acetate of alumina and solution of tannin for defecation, either before the
neutralization by lime and concentration by heat, or subsequently when the
juice has been concentrated to from 20 to 28° Baumé. We prepare the acetate
of alumina in the following manner: We dissolve sulphate of alumina in cold
water, adding to it a clear solution of soda ash, also made in cold water, until
an alkaline reaction is produced on reddened litmus paper. We allow the
liquor to stand until the alumina is precipitated, then draw off the clear liquor,
and wash the precipitate with a fresh quantity of water, and again remove it,
as before, repeating the washing until the hydrometer no longer indicates the
presence of any soluble matter. We take the precipitate with as little water
as may be, add acetic acid in successive quantities, until the whole, or nearly
all, of the alumina is dissolved, taking care not to add an excess of acid. The
acetate of alumina acts best when recently prepared.
We do not claim this method of preparing acetate of alumina, nor do we
confine ourselves thereto, as acetate of alumina for the purposes of our Inven-
tion may be manufactured by other means. The solution of tannin we prepare
by digesting one pound of crushed valonia in two gallons of hot water, using
the clear liquor; but it may be prepared by other means.
We would state, that, as different sugars differ in their qualities, we cannot
give any exact rule as to the quantity of acetate of alumina to be used, but the
operator will readily ascertain the quantity required in each case, by taking a
sample of the juice or the sugar, and testing it with a measured quantity of acitate
of alumina, as bérein explained; and, as a guide, we would state that we have
found that the best effect is produced on a fair sample of Jamaica sugar by
employing at the rate of 4lbs. of alumina, dissolved in acetic acid, to one ton
of sugar.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in
which we perform the same, we would state, that we do not confine ourselves
to the details as herein given, so long as the peculiar character of our Invention
be retained. But what we claim is, the employment of acetate of alumina for
defecating saccharine liquors, and for the removal of color in making and
refining sugar.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Oxland, have hercunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
JOHN
(L.S.) OXLAND.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fourth day of October,
in the year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid John Oxland came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.