IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR AND RUM, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO EVAPORATION GENERALLY
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MATTHEW
HERRING, late of Tunbridge Place, now of Great Garden Street, Whitechapel,
London, Sugar Planter, 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-fourth
day of March, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fourteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Matthew Herring, my exors, admors, and assigns,
Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the
said Matthew Herring, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as J,
the said Matthew Herring, my exors, adñiors, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR AND
RUM, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO EVAPORATION GENERALLY
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Matthew.
Herring, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in

page_text: writing under my hand and seal, 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 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, I, the said
Matthew Herring, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon;
that is to say:
The Evaporator.-Figure 1. A is the defecator. B, B, B, B, B, are a series
of hollow metal plates about six feet high and three broad, heated either with
steam or hot water or hot air, or any heating medium, by pipes connecting
each plate for induction and eduction, supported on the bars of a square
frame or otherwise. C is a reservoir. D is a conduit connected with the
reservoir C, and passing transversely over the plates B, B, B, B, B, having
openings immediately over E, E, E, E, E, which are conduits passing over the
upper ends of the plates B, B, B, B, B, with concave bottoms (see Figure 2),
having openings at the angles along their whole length. F is a receiver
underneath the plates, having a pipe leading from the receiver F to a
receiver G. If steam be used I place at the egress-pipe.I.a moveable bar
with a sliding weight and a circular arm pressing on a valve at the mouth of
the pipe, by which means I regulate the pressure, of the steam on the
plates. His a syphon, constructed in the following manner, which may
be used with or without the flexible tube for the transmission of fluids
generally, see Figure 3: Into the apex of an ordinary syphon is an
opening, into which is fastened a funnel with a stopcock A. At the end
of each leg is a stopcock B, C; the one at the short leg B being con
nected with the one at the apex A by a stout wire, so that the opening
of one shuts the other, and vica versa. At, the end of the short leg
a flexible tube may be attached thus :-D is a float of any kind, a square air-
tight case is the best. Underneath are four arms, attached to a ring E, having
a worm on the outside. One end of the flexible tube is fastened to the short
leg of the syphon, the other is fastened to a ring, having a female screw, which
is then screwed on the ring E, at the bottom of the arms of the float.
Around these arms a flannel or any reticulated substance is placed, to act as
a strainer. The action is thus:-The liquor or juice. being defecated, the
short end of the syphon is put into it, the cocks B and C being shut and A
open, through which the syphon is filled. The float keeps the mouth of the

page_text: flexible tube just below the surface of the liquor. The cock A being now
shut opens the cock B, and C being opened, the liquor passes through the
strainer into the tube, and through the syphon into the reservoir C, along the
conduit D, falls through its openings into the conduits F, F, F, F, F, and
passing through their openings, is distributed on both sides the plates B, B, B,
B, B, falls into the receiver F, passes into G, and is thrown up by a pump
or any ordinary method to the reservoir C, from whence it flows as before,
which routine is continued until the evaporation is completed. The syrup is
then drawn off at the cock J to crystalize. If desired, the liquor may flow
directly from the defecator A into the reservoir C by the pipe J. Should it
be desired to strain the liquor or juice during evaporation, I construct the
sides of the receiver F at an obtuse angle. A case, with a jaffery work
bottom, over which is put a blanket, or any reticulated substance, is slipt in,
through which the liquor is drawn by the action of the lift at G. A stratum of
animal charcoal may be used in this way. If the liquor be acidulous, I would
use a stratum of pounded limestone or coral, or shells well washed. In order
to make a greater draft between the plates, I place over them a fan K, with four
or more sails, similar to the spritsail of a boat, the lower part being elongated.
This being made to revolve, will displace the air and steam immediately over
the plates, and thus cause a great draft between them; and they may be
enclosed in a case or not at pleasure. The plates may be either plain or
corrugated, made of copper, plain or galvanized iron, or covered with tin.
The Cleanser. Granulation being completed, I proceed to cleanse the
crystals in manner following:-Figure 4. A is a vessel which may have either
a flat or circular bottom, having a reticulated false bottom a.
B is a pump, in
the piston of which is a clack valve, The top of the cylinder is made tight, the
piston rod working in a stuffing box. At the bottom of the cylinder is a
valve C. At 6 is a pipe leading from beneath the valvo C to the interior
of the vessel A, beneath the reticulated bottom. At d is a pipe leading
from the upper part of the pump cylinder to a moveable joint e, and thence
continued over to the centre of the vessel A, terminating with a rose. The
crystals to be cleansed are spread evenly over the false bottom. Liquor
is then poured on the top, and the pump set in motion. The liquor is
drawn through the sugar at the bottom, and returned over the top, the
attrition of which cleanses the crystals of their superficial impurities.
When this has been continued for about five minutes the delivery tube at the
top of the vessel is turned over a vessel at the side to receive the liquor, which
will serve for subsequent cleansings.
increased and the sugar pumped dry.
The rapidity of the pump is then
The process will be expedited by the

page_text: liquor being applied warm. If required very dry I place the crystals in vessels
with reticulated bottoms, and air pumped through, which may be warmed by
having a coil of piping placed over them, through which steam, hot water, hot
air, or any heating medium passes; the air in passing this coil will be warmed
and dry the crystals. Or this method may be used in the original vessels
without removing the crystals, and may also be used for warming the liquor.
In order to economise liquor I cause it to pass through animal charcoal beforo
it is again returned to the crystals in the following manner :-Figure 5. A is
the cleansing vessel, B is a double action pump with its valves b, c, d, e; from
the valve ca tube connects the interior of the pump with the interior of
the cleansing vessel; from 6 the delivery tube proceeds as before described;
from the valve d à tube extends to the inside of a cistern C filled with animal
charcoal; from the valve e a tube leads to the top of the said cistern:
The liquor being thrown into the cistern A is drawn by the down strokė
of the piston through the valve d into the cylinder of the pump, and at
the up stroke is thrown through the valve b over the crystals in the cleansing.
case A; the up stroke of the piston also draws the liquor through the
crystals, through the valve c into the pump cylinder beneath the piston, the
down stroke of which forces it through the valve e to the top of the cistern C,
through which it is again drawn in manner above stated. At is a stopcock,
which being closed when the crystals are sufficiently-cleansed, the flow of liquor
is stopped and the drying proceeds, as before explained. By placing a tube at
the aperture h, constructed in the following manner (see Figure 6), air will be
drawn through the crystals on the down stroke of the piston, when the cock f
is turned off, by which the drying will be greatly accelerated. A is the
cylinder of the pump; B is a tube leading from the upper part of it, having á
stopcock at 6; this tube opens into another, C, between two valves.c and d.
The tube C passes into the cleansing chest beneath the reticulated bottom, but
higher than the insertion of the tube entering from the bottom of the pump,
so that it may not draw liquor. By the down stroke of the piston air will be
drawn through the valve d, and by the up stroke forced through the valve c.
Two charcoal cisterns may be used, one for the first cleansings, the other for
fine liquor. In this case f, Figure 5, is a three-way cock, and another is
placed at 9, from each sides of which tubes branch to the bottoms and tops of
the two charcoal cisterns, to which the draught and delivery may be directed
by the three-way cocks f and g, but one. cistern will generally be found
sufficient. I would remark that I am aware that it has before been the custom
to use the pressure of the atmosphere, induced by a partial vacuum, to separate
fluids from the solid parts of sugar and to cleanse the crystals by the aid of

page_text: such apparatus; I do not, therefore, claim the same, but only the means
herein explained.
If hot air be used as a heating medium, I procure it by causing a pipe,
vermicular or otherwise, to be placed in the chimney shaft, as shewn at L,
Figure 1, one end being open to the atmosphere, or may have a fan or any
ordinary forcing apparatus connected with it, the other end attached to the
subjects desired to be heated. The air in passing through this pipe takes up
the caloric as it passes up the shaft, and conveys it to the objects to be
heated.
Should the centrifugal force machine be used for cleansing, I make use of
the following improvements:-Figure 9. A is the shaft, having its foot in
the socket B. This socket has a convex bottom, which rests in a cavity of
the floor or step, as the case may be, and also at the lip a flanch of about two
thirds the semi-diameter of the cleansing cylinder. This flanch also extends
towards the centre of the socket, so as nearly to touch the shaft. Between
the floor and the circumference of the flanch I place four or more springs, as
at C and D. Should the shaft swerve from its centre, it will press on the
internal edge of the flanch, and be restored by the springs under the
circumference.
>
And in order to facilitate the discharging of the centrifugar cylinder,
I make it conical, with an opening around the bottom of the periphery.
Thus E, E, is the bottom of the cylinder, F, F, is the periphery, which is
supported on four or more arms, see Figure 10. These arms are fastened to
the shaft by the cavities seen in the centre of Figure 10, fitting on bosses on
the shaft, where they may be keyed when the aperture at the bottom of the
periphery is adjusted. About an inch below the top of the internal cone is a
ledge b, on which the sugar falls on delivery. The action is this:-The
sugar being delivered into the top of the cylinder, falls on the ledge b, is then
by the centrifugal action thrown against the periphery, and in seeking the
larger circumference, gradually finds its exit at the bottom. Should the mass
become too stiff to pass readily, I throw a small quantity of low pressure
steam, so as to keep the sugar moist at the lower part of the periphery.
The liquor I use for cleansing is a solution of sugar at about thirty-two
degrees of Beaume's saccharometer, but rum or any other liquor which will
not act too rapidly on the crystals may be used.
Continous Still.-Figures 7 and 8.
similar construction to those used in
A, A, A, A, are hollow metal plates of
my evaporator, filled with either steam
or hot water, or hot air, by induction pipes a, a, a, a, a, having the eduction

page_text: pipes b, b, b, b, b, and if steam be used, the valve pipe at k, Figure 8.
B is a
small reservoir, fed from the wash cistern through the conduit c, with a stop-
cock to regulate the flow. d is one of a series of conduits, similar to those
used in the defecator, passing over the plates A, A, A, A, A. (see Figure 8), the
plate C being reserved for the return wash: D; D, D, D, is a case, open at
the bottom, the top terminating in a swan's neck, and leading into E, which
is a hollow metal plate, similar to those already described. F and Gare
similar plates. The action is this:-The metal plates A, A, A, A, A, being
heated, the wash is allowed to flow through C to the reservoir B, from whence
it flows into the conduits d, and is then distributed through their apertures
over the plates A, A, A, A, A. As spirit volatilizes at a much lower temperature
than water, and meeting by this arrangement so little resistance, it will separate
itself from the water, which may be allowed to flow away, and thus afford a
continuous still. As, however, a portion of water will pass over with the
spirit, I cause the vapour to pass into the plate E. Here a condensation takes
place, which passes through the pipe f into the conduit g, and thence into the
horizontal conduit h, and over the plate C, to have any spirit which may be
condensed with it volatilized. The vapour may then pass into an ordinary
worm to be condensed, or through the pipe into the plate. F, and then
through the pipe i into the plate G, when it may be condensed by cold water
passing over the surfaces of the plate. Should the temperature of the
atmosphere cause too great a condensation in plates E and F, I cause warm
water to flow over them, for which purpose the spent wash may be used. The
spirit may be drawn froin either of the cases F or G through the cocks at the
bottom. If the spirit be not drawn from the plate F the condensation which
takes place in it passes. into conduit g, through a pipe at the bottom, to be
revolatilized. Should occasion require short plates to be used, I would allow
the liquor in the first instance to flow over one portion of them, and then
lifted and distributed over the remainder. In order to improve the flavor of
the spirit I submit it to the action of air. For this purpose I insert into the
spirit a tube, having at the lower end radiating tubes connected with it
pierced with small holes, and at the other any instrument. which will force air.
This instrument being set in motion causes air to pass through the spirit, and
improves its flavor.
In witness whereof, I, the said Matthew Herring, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
MATTHEW (L.S.) HERRING.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fourth day of Sep-
tember, in the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid Matthew Herring came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification 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.