IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Barker Patrick, of Highgate, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention. of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
31-
Sealed the 27th June 1862, and dated the 1st January 1862..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Barker Patrick at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st January 1862.
I, WILLIAM BARKER PATRICK, of Highgate, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN,"
to be as follows:-
In the manufacture of sugar as generally practised the evaporation of
the solutions or syrups has been obtained by employing heat (fire or steam),
usually of a temperature of at least 212 degrees Fahrenheit; but this amount
of heat is found prejudicial to color and crystallization, and various methods
have at different times been devised to counteract the injurious effects, by the
introduction of air at a low temperature into the solutions whilst thus being
heated in open pans, and by other means; but so long as a high temperature
is employed, some portions of the mass whilst being operated upon, must neces-
sarily come in contact with and be prejudicially acted upon by the surfaces

page_text: of the boiling pan or vessel, with a tendency to neutralize any benefit arising
from the introduction of the cool air; and there is but little, if any, better
result when a low temperature is employed, on account of the increased length
of time required for the operation.
According to my improvements I make use of a closed vessel, or vacuum
pan, and I heat the saccharine syrups or solutions therein to a low temperature,
considerably below the boiling point, by means of hot water, air, or vapour
caused to circulate in pipes in or around such vessel, or in the jacket or outer
case thereof, combined with the use of air heated to about the same tempera-
ture, forced through openings in a pipe or pipes applied so that the air may
be distributed amongst and passed through the syrup or solution, and thereby
aid in driving off the aqueous particles contained therein in the form of
vapour, which are then drawn off by the air pump or other suitable means.
By these means improved color and increased amount of crystals will be
obtained, with less molasses or treacle. The improvements are adapted either
for operating upon the juices directly as obtained from the cane or root, or
upon the syrup or molasses.
Also, the improvements relate to the application of fine reticulate openwork
to the passage from the vacuum pan, to prevent the passage of syrup or crystals,
as is often the case by the action of the vacuum pump, and yet admit of the
passage of the air, steam, or aqueous particles.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Barker Patrick in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st July 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM 2
BARKER PATRICK, of Highgate, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her 3
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Barker Patrick, Her special licence that I, the said William
Barker Patrick, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Barker Patrick, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and all times 3
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,

page_text: use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Barker Patrick, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
Isame 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 William Barber Patrick, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
In the manufacture of sugar as generally practised the evaporation of the
solutions or syrups has been obtained by employing heat (fire or steam), usually
of a temperature of at least 212 degrees Fahrenheit; but this amount of heat
is found prejudicial to color and crystallization, and various methods have at
different times been devised to counteract these injurious effects, by the intro-
duction of air at a low temperature into the solutions whilst thus being heated
in open pans, and by other means; but so long as a high temperature is
employed, some portions of the mass whilst being operated upon must neces
sarily come in contact with and be prejudicially acted upon by the surfaces of
the boiling pan or vessel, with a tendency to neutralize any benefit arising from
the introduction of the cool air; and there is but little, if any, better result
when a low temperature is employed, on account of the increased length of
time required for the operation.
According to my improvements I make use of a closed vessel, or vacuum
pan, and I heat the saccharine syrups or solutions therein to a low temperature,
considerably below the boiling point (or 212 degrees Fahrenheit), by means of
hot water, air, or vapour caused to circulate in pipes in or around such vessel,
or in the jacket or outer case thereof, combined with the use of air heated to
about the same temperature, forced through openings in a pipe or pipes applied
so that the air may be distributed amongst and pass through the syrup or
solution, and thereby aid in driving off the aqueous particles contained therein
in the form of vapour, which are then drawn off by the air pump or other
suitable means.
By these means improved color and increased amount of crystals will be
obtained with less molasses or treacle. The improvements are adapted either

page_text: or the passage of the air, steam, or aqueous particles.
But that the nature of the Invention may be better understood, I will
proceed, aided by the accompanying Drawing, to describe means adapted to
effect the improvements.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 shews a side view, partly in section, of a closed pan arranged to
carry out my Invention for the evaporation of saccharine syrups, a being the
outer casing thereof, and b, a jacket to the lower part of it, adapted to receive
hot water, air, or vapour, for the purpose, together with the coils of pipes c, of
raising the temperature of the saccharine matters as required, and which at
the early stages of evaporation I prefer to be about 212 degrees Fahrenheit,
such temperature being materially reduced as the operation proceeds, say, to
about 150 degrees Fahrenheit.
The heating medium is supplied to the jacket 6 by pipes 6' from the main b³,
which is fed in any suitable manner, and such medium, as it becomes cooled,
is allowed to flow away or is drawn off by the pipe b, which is supplied by an
adjustable valve 6. The internal coil c may be supplied by passages c¹ from
the main b, or by a separate pipe, and the medium drawn or allowed to flow
therefrom by the passage 2. d, d, d, are other pipes supplied by the pipe d',
and passing through the vessel a into the syrups under operation for the
purpose of conducting heated air thereto, such pipes being formed at their
lower ends with valves e, the stems of which are acted upon by the screw e',
so as to regulate the size of the passage by such valves from the pipes d to the
interior of the pan, and to admit of such passages being altogether closed, so
as to prevent incrustation therein by the accumulation of crystals formed from
the saccharine solutions, when from the progress of the operation it is desirable
that air should cease to be allowed to pass through such pipes.
In other respects such pans are arranged and fitted as is customary.
Figure 2 shews a section of parts of a pan with a screen of reticulate or open-
work fapplied thereto over the outlet passage for the vapour, to prevent the
escape of particles of crystals with such vapour. I prefer to attach this screen
by hooks or other means adapted to admit of its having a slight play.
Having thus described my improvements and the means I adopt in carrying

page_text: the same into effect, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the
operating upon syrups or solutions in the manufacture of sugar, and the
combination of means or apparatus employed therein, in manner substantially
as explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Barker Patrick, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
WILLIAM BARKER PATRICK. (L.S.)