CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING AND REFINING OF SUGAR, AND IN THE MACHINERY AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
RICHARDSON, of Dalston, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Tenth day of September, One thousand eight hundred and
forty-six, in the tenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Richardson, my exors,
admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Charles Richardson, my exors, admors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Charles Richardson, my exors, admors, or, assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter 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, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, and also in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, 'Alderney, Sark, and
Man, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING AND REFINING
OF SUGAR, AND IN THE MACHINERY AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," com-
municated to me by a certain-foreigner-residing abroad; in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Charles Richardson, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
i

page_text: .
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in 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
Charles Richardson, hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
The nature of the said Invention, as communicated to me, consists,-
Firstly, in certain improved means and methods of purifying and clarifying
the juice of the sugar cane and other like saccharine extracts or solutions.
Secondly, in certain improved modes of or apparatus for boiling or
evaporating the juice of the sugar cane and other saccharine extracts or
solutions.
Thirdly, in an improved method of cooling the juice or syrup when brought
to its ordinary state of concentration by boiling.
Fourthly, in reducing the juice of the sugar cane or other like saccharine
extracts and solutions or molasses to a concrete or solid state.
Fifthly, in certain methods of converting the juice of the sugar cane and
other like saccharine solutions when reduced to a concentrated juice or to a
concrete state, and also molasses when reduced to a concrete state, into
sugar.
And, sixthly, in certain improved means and methods of refining sugar.
And I declare that the following is the manner of carrying into effect the
said Invention in the several branches thereof:-
Eirstly, as regards the purifying and clarifying the juice of the sugar cane and
other like saccharine extracts or solutions.-The said improvements have for
their object to free the juice of the sugar cane or other such extract from im-
purities, the Inventor having ascertained, by practical experience, that according
to the amount of such impurities the yield of sugar is proportionately diminished.
For this purpose I use, in the first instance, three several clarifying compounds,
or some of them, which, for the sake of more convenient reference, are respec-
tively designated as No. 1, No. 2, and No. 8, and are composed as follows:-
:
THE CLARIRVING Con 15

page_text: taking care also to select that which contains the largest portion of alumina,
or five pounds of Spanish whiting, twenty pounds of the article known to
sugar refiners as "Howard's finings," in a state of dryness, thirty pounds of
powdered animal charcoal (preferring that which is made from sheeps' feet) or
any other equivalent substitute for animal charcoal, and five pounds of sul-
phate of zinc; although this last may be omitted, and mix the whole intimately
together. These different articles.may be mixed together in a dry state, or they
may be dissolved and mixed, and afterwards submitted to a press to extract
the water. The compound is to be kept in a close vessel till wanted for use.
THE CLARIFYING COMPOUND No. 2.
Take one hundred pounds of finings, prepared in the same way as "Howard's
finings," (except that I prefer to substitute sulphate of alumina, or a mixture
of alum and sulphate of alumina for alum,) the proportions of each of which
may be varied at pleasure. To every hundred pounds of "Howard's finings,"
calculated in a dry state, add about two hundred pounds of powdered animal.
charcoal of the same description as used in the compound No. 1, about five
pounds of clay, also of the same description as used in the compound No. 1,
or of Spanish whiting, but it may be added in a state of solution, and ten
pounds of sulphate of zinc; mix the whole well together in a wet state, throw
the mixture on a filter to strain, and after the water has been all drawn off
reduce the compound by pressure (in a screw press or otherwise) to a compact
and solid mass if intended for shipment. Or instead of the preceding process,
mix only the finings and clay solution together, filter dry, and compress as
before, and add the powdered animal charcoal and sulphate of zinc just
previous to the compound being employed.

page_text: sugar.
No. 2 is also dissolved in water, and is thereupon next added, in the proportion
of about seven pounds to one hundred gallons of the liquor, increasing that
proportion as it may be desired to increase the whiteness of the
The
whole of the materials in the clarifyer are then well and thoroughly mixed up
together, much depending on the care and attention with which this part of
the-process is performed. The compound No. 3 is next added, in the propor-
tion of about two pounds to every one hundred gallons of the liquor. The
whole is once more well stirred and mixed, and the heat applied to the
clarifyer is so regulated (by dampers or otherwise, as usual), that the tempera-
ture may be raised slowly to the boiling point, in obtaining which the fire is
instantly stopped. A short time is then allowed for the grosser impurities to
descend to the bottom of the clarifyer (from which they may be subsequently
removed at any convenient opportunity), after which the liquor is drawn off
and filtered through cloth or fine wire gauze, or some other like minutely
reticulated fabric, whereby those more insensible impurities are arrested, which
according to the existing modes of manufacture are not separated till on the
subsequent processes of boiling, they are thrown up (though very imperfectly)
in the shape of scum. Hitherto the viscidity of the liquor as it comes from
the clarifier has made it impracticable to pass it through filters of cloth or any
similar fabric, but by the use of the new clarifying compounds aforesaid,
which have the effect of rendering the liquor so pure that such filters are now
'enabled to be employed with facility. Should it be desired to impart to the
'liquor a still greater degree of whiteness than it may have obtained by the
'preceding operations, the proportion of the compound No. 2 may be increased,
or instead thereof the liquor may afterwards be filtered through coarse grained
animal charcoal, or some other equivalent substitute. And in accomplishing
this further filtration the following improved system is adopted :-The filter-
ing vessels containing the charcoal, which we shall suppose to be three in
number, and distinguished as No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, are placed in a row on a
'platform, and beneath them two receiving vessels, which may be in like manner
distinguished as No. 4 and No. 5. The two sets of vessels, that is, the filters
and receivers, communicate with one another by means of cocks and pipes or
other methods, and each of the receivers is provided with a pump, by means
of which its contents may be pumped up again into any one of the filters as
required, and each pipe of communication is provided with a tap, by which
may be opened or shut as required. The liquor is first poured into the
filter No. 1, and allowed to flow thence into the receiver No. 4, so long as it
runs white, or until it begins to darken in colour. When the liquor for the
filter No. 1 begins to darken in colour it is made to flow to the receiver
it

page_text: No. 5, in which it may be heated (if preferred to filter last) by means of steam.
or hot air pipes, or by any other method. From this receiver No. 5 it is.
pumped up into the filter No. 2, descending through which it is again returned
to the receiver No. 4, and allowed to flow into it so long as it runs white..
When the liquor as it runs from the filter No. 2 begins in its turn to darken
in colour, the communication with the receiver No. 4 is shut off, and the
liquor is made to run into the receiver No. 5, in which it may be heated, as
above mentioned. From this receiver No. 5 the liquor is pumped up into.
the filter No. 3, from which it is allowed to flow into receiver No. 4 until it.
begins also to darken, when it is turned off into the receiver No. 5, which,
(after being heated as before, if preferred) it is pumped up into the filter No.:
1, (the filter having been supplied with fresh charcoal in the usual manner).
to be thence returned into the receiver No. 4, and so the operation is con-
tinued for any length of time requisite to effect the whitening of the juice,
the charcoal or other substance in each filter being renewed from time to time,
as it becomes exhausted, or, in other words, ceases to. have any whitening effect..
The improvements which have been thus described, and which are claimed
under the first head of this Invention, are, first, the employment in the process
of clarifying the juice of the sugar cane, or other like saccharine extracts or
solutions, of the three several compounds before described, and distinguished,
as No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3. Second, the passing of the juices of the sugar.
cane, and other like saccharine extracts or solutions, as it comes from the.
clarifiers, and before boiling through filters of cloth or fine wire gauze, or:
other minutely reticulated fabric, as before described. And, third, the improved.
system of filtering where animal charcoal. or other equivalent substitute is.
employed as the whitening material, lastly therein-before described, that is to,
say, in so far as regards the peculiar combination of filters and receivers, and,
the peculiar method of working the same, before described, whether applied.
to the whitening of liquor or juice or to the refining of sugar.
Secondly, as regards the evaporating the juice of the sugar cane and other,
like saccharine extracts or solutions.
These improvements are six in number, any of which may be advantageously,
employed.
:
'
The first consists of an improved fire pan, an elevation of which is given
in Figure 1, and a plan thereof, marked K, in Figure 2 of the of the
Drawings annexed. It is formed of two vessels or pans. J and R, one of
which (J) is open, and the other (R) close, connected and communicating with
one-another-by-means-of-a-number-of vertical-pipes S, S, open at top and

page_text: bottom. The top pan J is about eight feet long, four feet wide, and nine
inches deep, and the under pan R of the same length and width, but only
about fourteen inches deep. The vertical pipes S, S, are about twenty-two
inches long, and from two and a half to three inches in diameter, and they are
brazed into the bottom of the upper pan J and top of the under pan R. Tho
only openings, of course, into the lower pan are through the vertical pipes
S, S. II is a discharge cock, attached to the under pan. For the under pan
there may be substituted, if preferred, a series of horizontal pipes, into which
the vertical pipes S, S, may be inserted. These horizontal pipes have each a
sludge door at one end for cleansing them out, and the other ends terminate
in a cross pipe, common to the whole, to which cross pipe the discharge cock H
would then be attached. In either case the pan is to be set in the masonry,
and in such manner that the other products of combustion, after heating the
lower pan or series of horizontal pipes (as the case may be), shall ascend and
envelope the vertical pipes and heat the upper pan, and after that be led off into
the external atmosphere through apertures made for the purpose in the masonry.
But where horizontal pipes are employed, they should project beyond the masonry
about three inches at each end. When an under pan is made use of it should
have a man-hole or "sludge doors" G, I, in some convenient part of it, to admit
of access to the interior for the purpose of cleansing; and where horizontal
pipes are substituted for the under pan, each pipe should have a similar door
at one end, through which some suitable cleansing instrument may be inserted.
The mode of operating with this apparatus is as follows:-The juice which is
to be boiled or evaporated is made to flow into the upper pan from a feed
vessel placed above it, until that pan and the vertical pipes, as well as the
under pan (or horizontal pipes), with which it communicates, are filled, the
discharge cock H being in the meanwhile closed. The supply of the liquid is
then cut off by means of a cock attached to the feed vessel, and the juice in
the pans and its appendages reduced to a convenient density, that is to say,
to such a density as will be convenient for its being converted into sugar in
another pan of any convenient kind. The cock of the feed vessel, as also the
discharge cock H of the under pan, or horizontal series of the pipes (as the
case may be, are then both opened, so that the liquor may run out by the
one cock as fast as it enters by the other. Care must be taken, in order to
prevent the burning of the pan, that it is never allowed to run empty.
When it is necessary to cease working, the fire should be first drawn or
damped, and the furnace allowed to cool, before emptying the pan. I also
employ, instead of a pan of the description herein-before described, a pan

page_text: constructed on the principle of the boiler of the locomotive engine, but in
that case the upper surface of the boiler is open, or when closed I apply
the vacuum pan process to it, and condense the steam, as is done in that
process.
The second improvement under this second head of my Specification con-
sists of an evaporating apparatus, which I call a steam ladder evaporator, in
which the evaporation is effected through the agency of steam or any other
heating medium, such as hot air, hot oil, or water raised to a high-temperature,
or any other convenient agent.
Figure 3 is a side elevation of this apparatus, and Figure 4 a plan of it.
In its general appearance it is of an inverted pyramidal form. N, N, ȧre two
hollow side frame pipes, about twelve feet high, separated from each other by
horizontal pipes about eight feet long, and they are inclined inwards towards
one another, the lower horizontal pipe being about one half the length of the
upper. The horizontal pipes, which are inserted at their.-two ends into the
side pipes N, N, are open at both ends. These pipes are of about four inches
in diameter, and placed in close proximity to one another; but are successively
shorter and shorter, (commencing from the top,) according to the inclination
towards one another of the two side pipes N, N. O is an induction pipe,
through which the steam is admitted into the side N, whence it passes through
the hozizontal pipes into the opposite side pipe N, and nearly at the same
instant of time through the whole series of these pipes, so that those' at the
bottom are always kept at about as high à temperature as those at the top.
P is a discharge cock, by which the water of condensation is allowed to escape.
The juice to be evaporated is supplied from a vessel in the shape of the letter
V, with a perforated side, and the bottom of it divided into teeth like a saw';
or the juice may be distributed on the upper pipe by means of a pipe of about
two inches diameter, perforated with small holes to distribute the juice or
liquid on the horizontal pipes, a cock inserted in one part of it to let in' the
liquid. It is placed immediately over the evaporating apparatus, and the
liquid from it falls in a shower upon the topmost of the horizontal pipes, from.
which it trickles down over the series of pipes beneath (parting rapidly in its
progrees with its aqueous particles) and is received at bottom in a suitable
receptacle provided for the purpose. The feed vessel last referred to is supplied
from a large vessel, having a cock attached to it, by means of which the
quantity of juice delivered may be encreased or diminished at pleasure; and its
descent be proportionately hastened or retarded. The steam should not be
less than about ten pounds pressure, and may be raised with advantage to

page_text: even sixty and seventy pounds. Instead of throwing the whole series of hori
zontal pipes open to the steam, as in the arrangement before described, the steam
may be made to circulate through three or five pipes before it is allowed to
escape, that is to say, the steam may be allowed to enter the upper pipe and
circulate through from the first to the third, or on to the fifth, and then be
allowed to escape, and fresh steam may be made to enter the next series of five
pipes, and so on, or in any other convenient way; and when high-pressure
steam, or any other heating medium capable of imparting a heat of at least
two hundred and thirty of Fahrenheit, is employed, the steam or other medium
may be allowed to circulate through a greater number of tubes, or even
through the whole, before it is allowed to escape. If oil or hot water be
employed, it should be made to circulate through the pipes by connecting one of
the vertical pipes to the boiler in which the oil or water is contained, or by any
other more convenient method. With a view to prevent the inflammability of
the oil, the temperature should never be allowed to rise beyond 350 degrees of
Fhrnt., and I pour into it every two hours, or thereabouts, about a quart of water
well beaten up with about a quart of oil to every hundred gallons of oil. The
apparatus, instead of being of the inverted pyramidal shape, before described.
might be made of a square or oblong form, and the lengths of the horizontal
pipe bé modified' accordingly. Although it is more advantageous to apply to
the "steam ladder" steam taken directly from the boiler, yet I sometimes use
for that purpose the "waste steam" of the high-pressure engine; but in that
case I make the different pipes of the steam ladder about two inches larger
than those aforesaid, and the steam should be allowed to escape freely
through the pipes. I furthermore enclose the said steam ladder evaporator
in an air-tight case, and introdue therein heated air, which, coming in contact
with the liquid as it falls on the pipes, encreases the evaporation, and the
vapour escapes at the top or at any other convenient place by a hole made
for that purpose; a door is also made in the case for obtaining access to the
interior.
The third improvement, included under the second head of this Invention,
consists of an improved mode of working the evaporating coppers or boilers
in ordinary use. It is well known that the more rapidly the boiling can be
effected the better, but in consequence of the abundance of scum which is
thrown up in the course of boiling by juice which has only undergone the
ordinary process of clarification, a great deal of time is occupied in skimming
it off; the heat is applied principally and more immediately to the "striking
teache," or to the last and least vessel of the series of boilers in which the

page_text: juice is boiled. Juice, however, which has been clarified by the means herein-
before described throws up little or no scum, and the impediments to rapid
boiling are removed. The improvement, therefore, as regards the mode of
working these boilers consists in not confining the principal force of the heat
to the "striking teache," but in applying the heat equally to the whole or
any number of the boilers of the series, by making separate fires under
them, or any two or more of them, whereby a much greater quantity of juice
can be evaporated in a given time than has ever heretofore been accom
plished.
The fourth improvement, embraced under the second head of this Invention,
consists in evaporating the juice or other saccharine solutions in vacuo by the
joint agency of fire and steam, or heated air, or heated air alone.-The heated
air should be made to circulate in pipes, placed in the interior of the pan in
the ordinary way, or in the "jacket" of the pan. The fire when used should
be applied to the under surface of the pan having no jacket. For this purpose
a vacuum pan is employed, similar in most respects to the ordinary well-known
vacuum pan, and provided with the like appendages, but differing from it in
being made either of a perfectly cylindrical form, as shewn in the elevation,
Figure 5, or of the form of a cone, as being the two forms which are best
adapted to the natural tendency which saccharine solutions have to crystallize
in large and perpendicular masses. The pan is fixed in a perpendicular posi-
tion (no other will answer so well), and in such manner that fire may be
applied to the bottom of it without interfering with the bottom discharge
hole u. The steam is made to circulate through pipes coiled in or otherwise
distributed through the interior of the pan. The pan when cylindrical should
be about eight feet in diameter, but the larger it can be made consistent with
safety and convenience the better. When it is a conical shape the base should
be about seven feet in diameter, and the top about two feet in diameter. A
small test apparatus D, shewn separately in Figure 5, is attached to one side of
the apparatus for the purpose of drawing off a sample of the syrup from time to
time to ascertain its density. A is a cock for letting in water to condense the
vapour; D is a globe, capable of containing about a quart, which receives &
sample of
syrup in order to test its density; and V is a small cock attached
to the globe, and serves to admit air into it; V is a cock to draw off the
syrup, and Vs is a cock to let in the syrup. On opening the cock V³ the
syrup flows into the globe, and on closing it and opening the two other small
cocks V, V, the syrup is drawn off for inspection. C is the man-hole, to be
placed as low down as possible when the syrup has attained to a considerable

page_text: density, though less than that ultimately requisite to convert it into sugar.
The fire may be drawn or damped, and the remainder of the operation com-
pleted by the agency of the steam alone. No apprehension, however, need be
entertained of injuring the syrup from applying any degree of heat to it, for
though a very high temperature does tend to carbonize the syrup when
evaporated under atmospheric pressure, no such effect takes place when it is
evaporated in vacuo. E is a pipe and cock for drawing off the syrup or
liquid when the pan is used for making liquor with which to liquor the
sugar.
The fifth improvement, embraced under the second head of this Invention,
consists of another mode of evaporating cane juice or other saccharine solu-
tions, as follows:-I fit up a chamber or room of about twelve feet square,
more or less, with wooden or metallic bars or racks; this room is made air-
tight; the top or roof is composed of a metallic shallow vessel, the bottom
perforated with holes about the size of an ordinary quill. This room is heated
to as high a temperature as possible by hot air or steam, or heated steam,
or any other heating medium. The liquor being placed in the vessel at the
top falls like rain on the bars or racks, and is evaporated, a hole being left
open at the top or any other convenient place for the escape of the vapour;
by this means I evaporate the liquid, and produce if needful concrete
saccharine matter. When a sufficient quantity is evaporated, the room is
allowed to cool, and the sugar or evaporated material is extracted from it
by means of a door. Instead of bars or racks, the room may be filled with
metallic plates; as shewn in the Drawing 1 and 2, Sheet 2. Figure 1 shews
a transverse and vertical section of the apparatus. Figure 2, a plan; the
corresponding letters in Figure 1 and 2 refer to the corresponding parts in
each. A, A, is a casing, constructed of wood or any other suitable material;
B, B, B, a number of metal plates, which are placed in succession at opposite
angles to each other, and are hung on pivots C, C, C, to allow them to be
adjusted to any angle most suited for the fluid to pass over their surface at
the speed required for evaporation; D, a pipe with branches E, E, E, which
discharges the fluid to be subjected to the process on the uppermost plates,
then passing over their surface it drops on the plates immediately below,
and so on in succession, till it reaches the bottom plate K, whence it passes
off at the spout F into the receiver G; H, a pipe or channel to convey the
current of heated air, which passes in an upward direction over the surface
of the plates B, B, B, and in contact with the whole of thin stratum of fluid
while on its descent, causing rapid evaporation and concentration; I, the

page_text: outlet for the vapour to pass off; a cock is fitted to pipe D, by which the
quantity of liquid let on the pipes is regulated. These plates may also be
made hollow, and hot air be introduced into them. I also apply heated air
to the liquid itself by introducing into it a rapid and continuous current,
which is distributed in the liquid by means of a pipe perforated with holes,
and placed by preference at the bottom of the vessel. The chamber aforesaid
can also be fitted up with perforated slides or shelves, so that the liquid passes
from the one to the other like drops of rain, and a distinct jet of hot air may
be admitted to each shelf, so as to encrease the heating medium in the afore-
said chamber.
....
- The sixth improvement, embraced under the second head of this Invention,
consists in the following method of making concrete juice or other saccharine
matter:-I employ a close pan or vessel of the form of an oblong square;
the upper surface is flat, and furnished with edges turned up about four
inches; the vessel may be about two feet deep, three feet wide, and ten feet.
long, (which dimensions may be modified according to circumstances.) This
vessel is filled with hot water or oil, or hot air or steam may be allowed.to.
circulate through it; when oil or water is employed; a fire is.made under the
vessel to heat its contents, and an outlet in either case should be made to
admit the escape of the vapour or the circulation of the steam or, hot air;
or a pipe may be so fixed and arranged as to admit of the water or oil
ascending, and when cooled returning again into the vessel; in which the one.
or other is heated. The saccharine solution having been boiled to the sugar
point, is then placed on this vessel, and reduced by evaporation to a concrete
state, care being taken to keep turning or agitating the material during the
process.
And having thus described the different improvements which come. under.
the second head of this Invention, I declare that what I claim is,-
First, the employment for the evaporation of saccharine solutions of: a
fire pan or pans combined with pipes and arranged. as before described,
whereby a much larger surface than usual is exposed to the influence of the
fire.
Second, the steam evaporating apparatus called the steam ladder evaporator,
as before described.
Third, the applying the heat by means of additional fires equally to the.
whole or any number of the ordinary coppers for the evaporation of the.
purified cane juice or other saccharine extract.
Fourth, the. evaporating the juice or other saccharine solutions in vacuo
by the joint agency of fire and steam, or hot air and fire, or hot air alone,

page_text: or hot air and steam; and by the employment of a vacuum pan of a cylindrical
or conical form, with the addition of a man-hole in the side or near the
bottom of the pan; a vessel for testing the density of the liquors, and a cock
in the bottom of the pan or near to the bottom for drawing off the liquor,
as before described, and set in a perpendicular position, as before described.
Fifth, the evaporating cane juice or other saccharine solutions by the hot:
chamber, arranged as above described.
Sixth, the making concrete juices or other saccharine matter by evapor-
ating saccharine solution upon a heated surface, as above described.
Thirdly, as to that part of this Invention which relates to the cooling or
preparing the juice or syrup when brought by evaporation to its ordinary state
of concentration, which I call concentrated juice, that is, to what is technically
termed the "sugar point." This method is as follows:-The common practice
is to put the concentrated juice into several different coolers and to stir and
air it repeatedly; but according to the new methods now in course of being
described, each strike or boiling is put into one and the same cooler and
strike after strike added till the cooler is full, each strike as it is thrown in
being mixed with the syrup previously contained in the cooler, and when the
cooler is quite full the whole is once more well stirred up and left to cool and
chrystallize. When the mass is sufficiently cold to admit of its being trans-
ferred to casks without injury to the casks, it is transferred to tight casks or
other suitable vessels. These casks may be headed or closed up at the end of
about twenty-four hours. The bungs, however, may be left. out till the casks
are on the point of shipment.
And what is claimed under the third head of this Invention is, the
cooling and chrystallizing of the syrup by means of one cooler only, as above-
described.
Fourthly, as regards the before-mentioned reducing the juice or other
saccharine solutions to a concrete or solid state.-This is done by continuing
the evaporating or boiling process as much beyond what is called the "sugar
point" as may be necessary for reducing the juice or saccharine solution to
such a state that when cold it may be a solid ungranulated or partially
granulated mass or substance, from which when properly prepared no syrup
can escape, and this may be best effected by means of a vaccum pan, though
any other method that does not expose the sugar to carbonization may also be
employed. When the usual fire evaporators of the ordinary description are
employed, a small pan, into which air may be blown by the usual and well-
known method of introducing air into saccharine solutions when boiling, may
be employed in conjunction with the old evaporators, in which pan the
'

page_text: material is allowed to evaporate till it attains the required degree of concen-
.tration aforesaid. Among several signs of its having reached this state, the
most certain are, the hardening of a drop or two of the syrup when allowed
to fall on some cold hard surface, or its drawing out into a number of brittle
threads when tried in the usual way of taking the proof of sugar with finger
and thumb. The concrete syrup is then allowed to cool, and afterwards put
into casks or any other packages convenient for transportation to distant parts.
When so prepared it does not ferment, however long it may be kept, and
neither is it subject to drainage, if all the moisture has been properly expelled
from it. When sugar, on the contrary, is brought to Europe from any of the
sugar-producing countries in the ordinary way, it, as is well-known, is subject
to great loss and deterioration, not only from the fermentation which it under-
goes in the hot hold of the ship during the passage, but from the constant
drainage to which it is. subject. In the same way as the syrup of the sugar
cane is thus reduced to a concrete state, so also may various other like
saccharine substances, such as beetroot juice, date juice, maple juice, and also
molasses, &c.
And I declare that what I claim under the fourth head of this Invention is,
the reducing of the juice of the sugar cane and other like saccharine extracts
and solutions, and also molasses, to a concrete or solid state, as before-described,
or to such state that the syrup or molasses contained therein may be so
combined with the chrystalizable part as to be unable to escape in the usual
:way.
Fifthly, as regards the methods of manufacturing the concentrated juice or
syrup into sugar. These methods are five in number, as follows:-
First, when the juice has been purified by the means described under the
first head of this Invention, the concentrated juice is simply heated to the
degree of temperature at which refined sugar is ordinarily put into the moulds,
and then transferred to loaf or titler moulds, or to moulds of any convenient
form, and treated in the same way as refiners treat refined sugar loaf; or any
other description of sugar may thus be produced from the concentrated juice
or syrup, fit for consumption by the public, without the necessity of remelting
and reboiling the sugar produced, as has hitherto been the case with sugar
made by the process of making meltings from raw sugar.
Secondly, I apply to the concentrated material aforesaid, after it has been
-preserved in that state some time, or after it has been imported, the well-known
-pneumatic process, and I thereby exract or separate from the crystals the
syrups or molasses therein contained, and with a view still further to improve
the sugar so produced I liquor it during the operation of the said process.

page_text: Thirdly, should the concentrated juice or syrup not have been originally
treated with the aforesaid purifying compounds, and should it be desirous to
convert it into loaf or other fine sugar, it is then clarified (and the liquor, if
needful, whitened with charcoal, or by any other agent); but it may also
be clarified in a manner similar to that in which the refiners treat raw
sugar, or, which is preferable, by the application of the said compounds, in
the proportion of about one pound of No. 1, two pounds of No. 2, and one
and a half pounds of No. 3, to every hundred and twelve pounds of the con-
centrated material. To the sugar into which it is converted I apply the
pneumatic process, and should it be desired, I convert the sugar so produced
into stamped loaves.
Fourthly, instead of applying the said pneumatic process to the sugar, I put
it into moulds in the ordinary way and treat it as refiners do refined sugar.
Fifthly, when the said material, not having been originally prepared as
aforesaid, is not destined to be converted into white or fine sugar, but merely
raw sugar, then I treat it by one or other of the methods before explained,
that is, I merely extract the syrup or molasses from it, and, if needful, improve
by means of liquor the sugar yielded. The basis or principle of the improve-
'ment in respect to concentrated cane juice, or beetroot juice, or other
saccharine solutions of that nature, reduced to a concentrated state, consists in
the separating the molasses or syrup from the crystals of that material after its
transit or importation, or after it has been preserved some time, which should
never be less than two days, and as long as convenient, as the longer the
material is preserved the better will be the result yielded. I will here observe,
that the preserving concentrated juice, and the extracting the syrup or
molasses after some time, is in direct opposition to the general practice of
making sugar, it being generally believed that it is indispensable to allow the
crystals to separate from the syrup as soon as possible, and while warm, which
I have discovered to be a most erroneous idea.
I claim, therefore, as my Invention under this fifth head, not only the
principle or operation of separating the crystals from the syrup after the
concentrated material has been preserved some time, as aforesaid, however it
may be carried into effect, but also the different methods above described
of treating the said material for converting it into sugar. But as regards
converting into sugar the concrete material already referred to, I adopt
one or other of the following methods:-Firstly, when the juice or saccha-
rine solution from which the material has been made has been properly
purified, I then merely melt the said material and reduce it to such a
density as may be found convenient for whitening it, should that be thought

page_text: needful, with animal charcoal or such like substance; but I prefer reducing
it to the density of about fifteen of the sacharometer, as admitting of being
whitened with more economy; and instead of clarifying it, I merely heat it,
whiten the liquor produced, and convert it into sugar, which sugar I either
put into moulds to make loaf, or any other description of sugar, or I apply
thereto the pneumatic process, as aforesaid. Secondly, should the said concrete
material not have been originally purified by the aforesaid compounds, or
otherwise properly purified, then I melt it, reduce it to the density aforesaid,
or any other that may be deemed needful, and prefer to clarify it with
the aforesaid compounds; filter it, and treat it as the refiners do raw sugar,
and thus convert it into white or any other description of sugar, using for
every one hundred pounds of this material the same proportion as I employ
for one hundred and twelve pounds of concentrated juice when not prepared
originally, as aforesaid. And I also sometimes mix with the concrete juice
molasses, as aforesaid, in the proportion of about one hundred pounds of
concrete juice to fourty-four pounds of molasses of the ordinary density, and
having clarified it and whitened it, convert it into sugar. The concreté
material aforesaid may also be treated as the refiners treat raw sugar,
'
'
And what I claim in respect of this part of the Invention lastly described
consists in employing concrete cane juice or other like saccharine matters in a
concrete state to manufacture sugar. The concrete molasses already referred to,
when it is the result of the first drainings of raw cane or other sugar, may also
be employed to make sugar by melting such concrete molasses, and, if needful,
clarifying in the usual manner of clarifying, or it may be converted into
ordinary molasses by reducing it to the necessary density. And I also claim
as of this Invention, the employment of such concrete molasses for making
sugar or ordinary molasses.
Sixthly, as regards my method of refining sugar.-I declare that this improve-
ment consists in the employment of sugar cane juice in a concentrated or concrete
state, or of colonial or beetroot sugar molasses, meaning thereby the first drain-
ings of raw. cane sugar, or of beetroot sugar, and not refiners' molasses or cane
juice imported in a liquid state, or any or all of them together with raw sugar. I
use those materials together in the following proportions, videlicet, about
fifty-six pounds of raw sugar with one hundred pounds of concrete juice, or
one hundred and twelve pounds of cane juice cencentrated to the "sugar
point;" if the juice should be of a less density than that of the "sugar point,"
I use as much of it as when evaporated to that point would equal one hundred
and twelve pounds at the "sugar point;" or I mix about one hundred and
twelve pounds of raw sugar with fifty-six pounds of colonial or beetroot sugar
---

page_text: molasses; or I mix about one hundred pounds of the concrete cane or beet-
root juice aforesaid with one hundred and twelve pounds of raw sugar, and
fifty-six pounds of colonial or beetroot sugar molasses. These various pro-
portions may be modified according to the judgment of the operator; but any
such modifications must be made with great caution, as, should the relative
portions not be attended to, a large part of the raw sugar or the sugar con-
tained in the juice will be converted into molasses. These materials I mix
together in the clarifier, and reduce them to a density of from fifteen to twenty-
eight degrees of the saccharometer, I then clarify them by the ordinary means,
or by the improved means, which is far preferable, herein-before described.
The reduction of the mixtures to so low a density as fifteen degrees has this
advantage, that it admits of the colouring matters which exist so abundantly in
cane juice and molasses being got rid of much more completely and econo-
mically than by the ordinary process of refining sugar. It is in all cases
indispensable that before clarifying the mixture all acidity in it should be
completely destroyed. When the purifying agents herein-before described
are used they should be employed in the following proportions:-To
every one hundred and twelve pounds of concentrated juice, or to every
one hundred pounds of concrete juice, and to every fifty-six pounds of
molasses or cane juice imported in the liquid state, there is successively
added about one pound of the compound No. 1, about two pounds of the
compound No. 2, and about one pound and a half of the compound No. 3.
The compounds No. 1 and 2 should be dissolved before using them, either
when destined to purify juice or any other saccharine solution, to fifteen
degrees of the saccharometer in hot or cold water (the hot being, however,
preferred), and the compound No. 3 should be dissolved to ten degrees of the
saccharometer in cold water, and these should be made several hours before
they are added to the mixtures. The liquor being clarified is then filtered.
It may next be evaporated and converted into sugar in the ordinary way, but
I prefer that it should be evaporated by means of the steam ladder, hercin-
before described, and then concentrated into sugar by the vacuum process, and
the sugar so produced may either be put into moulds or it may be subjected to
the pneumatic process. When it is desired to make loaf sugar of a quality
superior to that produced by mixing the cane juice or molasses as aforesaid,
then I proceed as follows:-I first convert the raw sugar into loaf sugar in
the ordinary way, next I mix with the green or other syrups produced there-
from cane juice or molasses, or both together, in the proportion of forty
pounds of molasses to one hundred pounds of syrup, or thirty pounds of syrup
and one hundred and. twelve pounds of concentrated juice, or one hundred

page_text: pounds of concrete juice or liquid juice, equivalent to one hundred and twelve
pounds of concentrated juice or one hundred pounds of syrup, destined to make
pieces or bastards; or one hundred pounds of molasses as aforesaid, or one
hundred pounds of syrup, forty pounds of molasses, and one hundred and
twelve pounds of concentrated juice, or one hundred pounds of concrete
juice. These mixtures being clarified either with my compounds or in the
ordinary way, are filtered, whitened, and converted into sugar. When the
aforesaid compound is employed, for each fifty pounds of molasses half pound
of the compound No. 1, one pound No. 2, and half pound of No. 3 should be
used, and the same proportion for each hundred and twelve pounds of con-
centrated or one hundred pounds of concrete juice, or fifty pounds of juice
in a liquid state.
The parts of this improvement as regards the refining of sugar which I
claim consist, first, in the combination or mixing with raw sugar, or the liquor
produced therefrom, cane juice or molasses, as aforesaid, or both together.
Secondly, in mixing with the "syrups" produced in the refining raw sugar
either cane juice or molasses, or both together.
Thirdly, in the application of the pneumatic process to sugar produced from
cane juice alone, or from one or other of the aforesaid mixtures, after such
mixtures have been whitened with animal charcoal, or such like substance as
may be found a substitute for animal charcoal.
My method of making sugar in the colonies consists as follows:-First, the
juice is reduced to the sugar point in the ordinary way, and when it is
sufficiently cold it is put into large tight vessels and there preserved without
the molasses being allowed to separate from it, as long as convenience will
admit, the longer the better; I then separate the molasses from it by one or
other of the methods already described in respect to concentrated juice.
Secondly, I mix sugar or molasses, or both together, ar concentrated juice
with the raw cane juice in the following proportions, videlicit, about twenty-
five pounds of raw sugar with one hundred gallons of raw juice, or about fifty
pounds of molasses with one hundred gallons of raw juice (such molasses
being the first drainings of raw sugar, and preferring such as are produced by
the old method of making sugar; or one hundred pounds of raw sugar and
fifty pounds of molasses with one hundred gallons of juice, or one hundred
gallons of raw juice with one hundred pounds of juice concentrated to the
sugar point," or such proportion of juice boiled to a less density as would, if
reduced to the "sugar_point," give that quantity……
The mixture is in each case prepared in the first instance with the puri-
fying compound No. 1, as before described in respect to cane juice, and then

page_text: to each quantity of molasses or concentrated juice of a lower density, as herein-
before directed to be used, there is added twelve pounds of the compound No. 2
and three pounds of the compound No. 3. The mixture is then heated and
clarified by the means and methods herein-before directed to be employed in
the case of simple cane juice. But when sugar alone is used in combination
with the juice, after the mixture has been prepared with the compound
No. 1, ten pounds of the compound No. 2 and two pounds and a half of
the compound No. 3 are added. The liquor thus produced is then filtered
through coarse grained charcoal, or any equivalent substitute, and heated in
one or other of the modes aforesaid.
And I declare that what I claim under this part of this Invention are, the
mixing raw sugar or molasses and sugar, or concentrated or partly concentrated
cane juice, or the whole together, with raw cane juice.
Secondly, the clarifying cane juice alone, or mixed, as aforesaid, either with
my compounds, as aforesaid, or with blood.
The last improvement in refining of sugar consists in employing vessels
(which I prefer to be of wood) of the largest size that can be conveniently used
for crystallizing the inferior products yielded by the process of refining, such as
pieces or bastards. These vessels should be capable of containing not less than
three hundred pounds, but I prefer that they should contain about four or five
tons or upwards. The syrup or molasses produced by the sugar so crystallized
may be separated from the crystals by one or other of the methods already
explained in reference to concentrated juice, or by any other convenient
method, and I employ for liquoring the sugar produced by either of the afore-
said methods, or in any other way, colonial molasses, either alone, or mixed
with raw sugar or cane juice, the same having been previously clarified and
whitened for that purpose.
And I declare that what I claim as of this Invention in respect of this last
mentioned improvement is,―
Firstly, the employment of large vessels in crystallizing sugar.
And, secondly, the liquoring of sugar with colonial molasses, or molasses
mixed with sugar, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Richardson; have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Tenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-seven.
CHARLES (Ls.) RICHARDSON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Tenth day of March, in the
year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid Charles Richardson came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, 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 Tenth day of March, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-seven.