Breweries, Distilleries, Starch Factories, and the like.
Year: 1886

page_text: Breweries, Distilleries, Starch Factories, and the like.
I, HUGH WALBRIDGE LAFFERTY, of Gloucester City, in the County of Camden,
State of New Jersey and United States of America, engineer and machinist, do
hereby declare the nature of my invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
In sundry operations in which grain of different descriptions is subjected to
treatment involving the action of water and heat for the purpose of extracting
certain of its constituents, as, for example, in brewing, distilling, and the manu-
facture of starch, a semi liquid residuum is produced in large quantities, the same
consisting of a mixture of water with hulls of grain, meal, gluten, gum, cellulose
and other ingredients. The alimentary properties of these solid constituents are
such as to render them desirable and valuable as food for cattle, but the difficulty
and expense of extracting them has heretofore prevented the residuum from being
made a source of profit, and on the other hand, owing to the facility with which
the residuum is subject to fermentation and putrefaction, it is necessary to speedily
remove and dispose of it, often at considerable expense in so doing, to avoid the
institution of an offensive and dangerous nuisance. The object of my invention is
to enable the utilization of the alimentary constituents of brewers' or distillers'.
refuse or slops or analogous material to be expeditiously and economically effected,
so as to prevent any accumulation of this material on the hands of the manu-
facturer, and obviate deterioration of its quality by continuously conducting its
treatment immediately upon its production. To this end my invention consists in
a process or method of and apparatus for treating residuum of the character above
mentioned as hereinafter fully set forth.
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In the treatment of brewers' and distillers' "grains" or slops," as heretofore
practiced, the material has been supplied to a tank or vat and there allowed to
settle, after which the surplus water was drawn off. During this operation the
material deteriorates and tends to become sour, and, in drawing off the water, a
considerable portion of the gluten and other valuable constituents is lost. The
settlings were then removed from the tank and dried by the application of
artificial heat, in which operation a large area of drying surface was necessary and
the expense of fuel was considerable. The separation of the liquid portion of the
residuum by centrifugal draining machines, and its expression by means of pressure
have also been essayed, but such operations were found to be unsatisfactory by
reason either of their slowness or of the waste of valuable constituents that were
thrown off with the water, or both.

page_text: Referring to the accompanying drawing which illustrates an arrangement of
apparatus desirably adapted to the practice of my invention, the semi liquid
residuum to be treated is delivered, as produced, through a spout or channel 2,
into a receiving tank 1, which should be provided with a suitable stirrer or
agitator 3, by the rotation of which the liquid and solid constituents of the
residuum are kept thoroughly mixed together to prevent the settling of the solid
matters. The residuum is drawn off from the tank 1, through a discharge spout 4,
governed by a cock or valve 5, into a centrifugal separating machine 6, adapted to
separate the solid and liquid constituents by the difference of their specific gravities
under the influence of centrifugal force. The construction of the centrifugal
separating machine not constituting part of my present invention, and various
types thereof being known in the art, the same need not be herein set forth further
than to specify that it should be provided with a solid or imperforate drum or
basket so as to obviate any loss of solid matter in the separation of the water.
Rotation being imparted to the drum or basket of the centrifugal separator 6, and
the residuum fed continuously thereto, the solid constituents are driven by the
action of centrifugal force against the inner surface of the drum and there accumu-
late, while the major portion of the water is discharged through one or more
passages at the top of the drum into the casing of the machine and escapes, free
from solid constituents, through a pipe 7, by which it is led to any desired point
of discharge.
The moist and pasty aggregation of solid matter which accumulates on the wall
of the drum or basket of the centrifugal separator 6, and which will be found to
be in volume about one fifth of the charge supplied thereto, is cleared off from time
to time as the drum becomes filled, and discharged from the drum through a
chute 8, from which it is fed, either directly or in separate successive charges as
may be found most convenient, into the receiving hopper of a continuous press 10,
by which a further separation of the solid and liquid constituents of the residuum
as received from the separator 6, is effected, a very large proportion or nearly all
of the solid material being discharged, in a comparatively dry condition, from the
delivery opening 11, of the press, into a suitable bin or receptacle 12, while the
water, with such small proportion of gluten and other solid constituents as it may
carry off, is squeezed out by the press into a pan or trough 13.
To effect the retention and saving of any solid constituents of the watery
discharge from the press 10, the same is fed from the pan 13, through a pipe 14,
into a secondary or supplemental centrifugal separating machine 15, of similar
construction to that first specified. The remaining portion of the contained solid
matter is collected in the drum of the machine 15, and is discharged therefrom,
from time to time through a chute 16, into the bin 12, which receives the solid
discharge of the press, while the clear water is discharged into the casing of the
machine and runs off through a waste pipe.
The comparatively dry material, supplied as above stated from the press and
secondary centrifugal separator to the bin 12, is carried therefrom in any convenient
manner, as by a conveyor 18, to a feed spout 19, from which it is delivered to the
hopper 20, of a mixer 21, in which its particles are thoroughly mixed together and
is finally fed through a chute or conduit 22, into the receiving hopper 23, of a
drier 24, of any approved construction. Inasmuch as nearly all the moisture has
been removed from the material in the preceding operations, the application of
a comparatively low degree of heat for a brief period suffices to complete in a
thorough manner the drying operation and the resultant product, as removed from
the drier, will be in proper condition to be packed for storage or transportation in
readiness for use.
It will be seen that the treatment to which the residuum is subjected is
comprised in a continuous process which is conducted by mechanical devices
throughout, so that no time is lost between its different stages and but little
manual labor or attendance is required. The nutritive properties of the residuum
are made available in the highest degree practicable by the prevention of waste of

page_text: gluten and similar matter which is ensured by the secondary straining and
separating operations, and the discharged water being substantially free from solid
ingredients constitutes no source of nuisance or annoyance.
I do not desire to limit myself to the use of apparatus specifically similar to that
herein illustrated and referred to, as the same may be varied in many particulars
without departing from the spirit of my invention, so long as a series of mechanisms
possessing similar capacities in operation to those instanced for illustration is
employed to coact as an organized plant in the performance of the process
herein before described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
1. The improvement in the method of utilizing refuse or slops of breweries,
distilleries, &c., which consists in first eliminating the major portion of the water
therefrom by the difference of the specific gravities of the solid and liquid portions
under the action of centrifugal force, then straining out or expressing a portion
of the water from the partially solid residue of such centrifugal separation by
pressure, and finally subjecting the partially solid residue of the pressing operation
to the action of heat, substantially as set forth.
2. The process of utilizing refuse or slops of breweries, distilleries, &c., which
consists in first eliminating the major portion of the water therefrom by centri-
fugal separation, then straining out or expressing a portion of the water from the
partially solid residue of such centrifugal separation by pressure, then subjecting
the watery residue of the pressing operation to a secondary centrifugal separation,
and finally subjecting the partially solid residues of the pressing operation and the
secondary centrifugal separation to the action of heat, substantially as set forth.
3. In a plant or apparatus for the utilization of refuse or slops of breweries,
distilleries, &c. the combination of a centrifugal separating machine, a straining or
expressing press, and a drier, substantially as set forth.
4. In a plant or apparatus for the utilization of refuse or slops of breweries,
distilleries, &c. the combination of a centrifugal separating machine, a straining or
expressing press, a secondary centrifugal separating machine, and a drier, sub-
stantially as set forth.
5. In a plant or apparatus for the utilization of refuse or slops from breweries,
distilleries, &c. the combination of a receiving tank or vessel, a discharge spout or
channel leading therefrom, a centrifugal separating machine adapted to receive the
material delivered from said spout or channel, a chute or passage serving to convey
the partially solid residue delivered from said machine to the feed hopper of a
straining or expressing press, a pipe serving to carry off the watery discharge from
said press, a secondary centrifugal machine receiving said discharge, a mixer
receiving the partially solid residues of the press and the secondary centrifugal
separating machine, and a drier adapted to receive the material discharged from
said mixer, substantially as set forth.
1000
HUGH WALBRIDGE LAFFERTY.