IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND REFINING OF SUGAR
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND REFINING OF SUGAR."-A communication
from abroad by Jules Emile Boivin and Desiré Loiseau, of Paris, in the
Empire of France, Civil Engineers.
Sealed the 2nd July 1867, and dated the 8th January 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with bis Petition, on the
8th January 1867.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND REFINING OF SUGAR," a communication
to me from abroad by Jules Emile Boivin and Desiré Loiseau, of Paris, in the
Empire of France, Civil Engineers, to be as follows:-
In the manufacture as well as in the refining of sugar and of saccharine
matters it is desirable that the sugar contained in the juices, syrups, or
saccharine solutions should be freed as much as possible from those organic
and inorganic constituents which are invariably present, and the object of
this Invention is the separation and the obtaining by a novel process of the
sugar or saccharine matter contained in saccharine solutions in a pure and
uncontaminated condition. It has been found that when a saccharine solution
containing crystallizable sugar is treated with lime, and subsequently submitted
to the action of carbonic acid gas, the sugar is separated therefrom, and a new
and definite compound is obtained consisting of sugar, lime, and carbonic
acid, which compound I call a "saccharo-carbonate of lime."

page_text: Now this Invention consists in the production of this compound and in its
utilization for the purposes herein-before mentioned. The raw sugar to be
operated upon is to be dissolved in water, and the syrup by preference to be
of such a strength as that it shall contain about 60 per cent. of crystallizable
sugar; I then add a quantity of lime about equal to the weight of the raw
sugar to be operated upon, such lime being previously converted by means
of water into a thick paste; the mixture is then to be agitated by a current
of carbonic acid gas is to be passed through the same until the supernatant
solution shall contain but a small proportion of lime. The precipitate is to
be separated by means of filtration or otherwise, and is then to be washed
with cold or warm water, or with lime water, and when freed from the soluble
impurities may be employed either for the direct production of sugar or for
the defecation and purification of saccharine solutions. When I operate.
upon the saccharo-carbonate of lime in order to obtain the sugar direct
therefrom I suspend the same in water, and through the mixture I pass a
current of carbonic acid gas until the compound has been decomposed and
the sugar liberated. The precipitated carbonate of lime being separated the
saccharine solution may be treated by any of the ordinary methods now in
use for obtaining crystallized or solid sugar. The saccharo-carbonate of lime
being decomposed by the impurities ordinarily contained in impure saccharine
solutions it may be employed for their defecation and purification, in which
operation the impurities are precipitated in combination with the limo and
carbonic acid, and the sugar previously in combination is liberated so that
in defecating impure saccharine solutions their strength in saccharine matter
is increased. When I employ the saccharo-carbonate of lime for the purpose
of defecating and purifying cane juice, beetroot juice, or impure saccharine
solutions I proceed as follows:-The juice or syrup to be purifyed is introduced
into a boiler, and its temperature elevated to about 167° Fah., and the saccharo-
carbonate of lime is to be gradually added until the impurities originally con-
tained in the solution have been precipitated, the mixture is to be kept well
stirred during this operation. If the saccharo-carbonate contains an excess
of lime, or if too much has been added to the syrup, a current of carbonic
acid is caused to pass into and through the boiler in order that no saccharo-
carbonate may be lost by being mixed with the precipitate. The liquid and
the resulting precipitate are then to be separated by filtration and pressure,
which may be readily accomplished if the density of the liquid operated upon
does not exceed 20° Beaumé. Any lime which may be contained in the
filtered liquid may removed by the employment of carbonic acid, or by means
of any other suitable agent. The syrups then resulting may be treated by any

page_text: of the ordinary methods now employed so as to obtain crystallized or solid
sugar therefrom.
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
4th July 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, 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 at all times thereafter
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 AND REFINING OF SUGAR," a communication to me from abroad
by Jules Emile Boivin and Desiré Loiseau, of Paris, in the Empire of France,
Civil Engineers, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jobn
Henry Johnson, 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 my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say:-
In the manufacture as well as in the refining of sugar and of saccharine
matters it is desirable that the sugar contained in the juices, syrups, or
saccharine solutions should be freed as much as possible from those organic and
inorganic constituents which are invariably present, and the object of this
Invention is the separation and the obtaining by a novel process of the sugar or

page_text: saccharine matter contained in saccharine solutions in a pure and uncon-
taminated condition. It has been found that when a saccharine solution
containing crystallizable sugar is treated with lime and subsequently submitted
to the action of carbonic acid gas the sugar is separated therefrom, and
a new and definite compound is obtained consisting of about 43 parts of sugar,
40 parts of lime, and 17 parts of carbonic acid, which compound I call a
"saccharo-carbonate of lime."
Now this Invention consists in the production of this compound and in its
utilization, as and for the purposes herein-after described.
In preparing this "saccharo-carbonate of lime" I proceed as follows:-To
200 parts by weight of a syrup containing 60 per cent. of crystallizable sugar,
or, say, 120 parts by weight of sugar to be extracted, I add a quantity of
lime (Ca O) equal to the weight of the sugar in the syrup in the form of a
thick paste, and whilst agitating the mixture I pass a current of carbonic acid
gas through it. After a certain time, the duration of which varies with the
degree of purity of the gas employed, an ample precipitate will be formed
which the carbonic acid with difficulty permeates, this precipitate is the com-
pound which I term the "saccharo-carbonate of lime ; " I then add gradually
and during the passage of the gas a sufficient quantity of tepid water to wash
the said compound, which quantity however will vary according to the impurity
of the syrups to be treated and the means of filtration at disposal, and may be
increased as this compound is insoluble in tepid water. The passage of the
gas is continued until the supernatant solution shall contain but a small
proportion of lime, and is to be arrested so soon as traces of carbonate of lime
begin to show on the surface; the temperature of the liquid is then raised
to about 167° Fahr., in order to facilitate its filtration, the "saccharo-carbonate
of lime" is collected, and the saccharine solutions may then be treated for the
The quantity of sugar which may be
purpose of extracting the salts.
precipitated at one operation increases with the richness of the juices, syrups,
or saccharine solutions. With poor solutions such as the juices of beetroot or
of the cane, not more than 50 per cent., but with syrups or molasses as much
As the whole of the sugar
as 80 per cent. may be easily precipitated.
cannot be precipitated at one operation it is proposed to use the saccharine
solutions over again, either to slacken the lime, or in lieu of the tepid water
for diluting the "saccharo-carbonate of lime;" this process, however, cannot be
continued indefinitely since the saccharine solutions by becoming more and
more contaminated with salts would soil the saccharo-carbonate which would
then require to be washed: The same result is obtained; viz., the precipita-
tion of nearly the whole of the sugar by successive operations without

page_text: re-using the saccharine solutions, by repeating the action of the lime and
carbonic acid on the saccharine solutions until all the sugar is extracted from
them.
These modes of treatment are applicable to all kinds of saccharine solutions
whatever inay be the nature and quantity of the extraneous matters contained
therein. The "saccharo-carbonate of lime" is insoluble in lime water, partly
soluble in saccharine solution, but highly soluble in saccharine solutions
having lime already dissolved in them. It is solid between 4° and 176° Fahr.,
but both cold and boiling water decompose it as ordinary insoluble carbonate
of lime, and soluble saccharate of lime in saccharine solutions.
It is decomposed by either of the two following methods:-First, by
carbonic acid, the sugar thereby rendered free being worked by known means;
second, by organic matters which contaminate the juices, syrups, or molasses,
and which substitute themselves for the sugar and form with the hydro-
carbonate of lime insoluble combinations. The "saccharc-carbonate of lime"
is thus utilized to defecate or purify juices, syrups, or molasses, which
operation is carried out in the following manner:-The juices or syrups to be
refined are introduced into a boiler and their temperature is raised to about
167° Fahrenheit, the saccharo-carbonate previously diluted is then gradually
poured in and agitated at the same time, whilst the temperature is still
maintained. If the saccharo-carbonate contains an excess of lime a current
of carbonic acid gas is introduced into the boiler; this may also be done when
an excess of the saccharo-carbonate has been introduced into the boiler in
order to prevent its being lost by being mixed with the precipitates. The
liquid and precipitates are separated by filtration and pressure, which may
easily be effected provided that care be taken to operate upon liquids, the
density of which does not exceed 20° Beaumé. The lime contained in the
filtered liquid is carried off by carbonic acid or by any other suitable agent. If
the juice or syrup to be purified contains non-crystallizable sugar the
temperature is elevated to boiling point, and hydrated lime is gradually poured
into the boiler, or the "saccharo-carbonate of lime" is introduced in order to
destroy it; this will enable the methods employed in the manufacture of
sugar from beetroot to be applied to the defecation of saccharine solutions,
but I consider it more advantageous to employ the "saccharo-carbonate of
lime" for this purpose. The juices or syrups which have undergone this
operation yield not merely by crystallization a pure sugar, but also syrups or
molasses producing saccharo-carbonates of great purity. It will thus be seen
that the "saccharo-carbonate of lime" serves a two-fold purpose, viz., first,
the extraction of sugar from all products containing the same; second, the

page_text: purification of these products when it is desired to extract the sugar directly
from beetroots, canes, or other vegetable matter it is liberated by means of
liquids which are treated with lime and carbonic acid so soon as they contain
sufficient sugar in solution.
In order to refine brown sugar it is introduced into a centrifugal machine,
and the syrup which is expelled is diluted with the saccharine solutions of
the works and purified in the manner herein-before described, and then
employed for the purpose of dissolving raw or brown sugars. The molasses
obtained therefrom furnish a "saccharo-carbonate" so pure that it may be
The
used for purifying the syrups obtained from the centrifugal machines.
use of centrifugal machines may be dispensed with by dissolving the more
impure raw sugars so as to obtain a sufficiently diluted liquid to which the
"saccharo-carbonate" may be applied.
These two methods of refining raw or brown sugars bave the advantage
of producing syrups of great density, and of consequently diminishing the cost
of evaporation or boiling. The defecation or purification of the liquids pro-
ceeding from the solution of all brown or raw sugars may be effected however
without availing oneself of this advantage.
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,-
First, the treatment of saccharine solutions in such a manner as that the
whole or the greater proportion of the sugar shall be abstracted therefrom, in
combination with lime and carbonic acid, forming what I call a saccharo-
carbonate of lime, substantially as herein-before described.
Second, the application and use of the said new compound or saccharo
carbonate of lime to and in the manufacture and refining of sugar, substantially
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this my
Specification bereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of July,
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)