A NEW METHOD OF CLARI- FYING SUGAR JUICE
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Lloyd Wise, of Chandos Chambers, Adelphi, in
"
the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of A NEW METHOD OF CLARI-
FYING SUGAR JUICE." A communication from abroad by Doctor Friedrich
Loewig, of Goldschmieden, near Deutschlissa, Silesia, and Gustav Locwig, of
Dresden, Saxony.
Scaled the 20th October 1877, and dated the 15th May 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Lloyd Wise at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th May 1877.
WILLIAM LLOYD WISE, of Chandos Chambers, Adelphi, in the County of
Middlesex. "A NEW METHOD OF CLARIFYING SUGAR JUICE." A communication
from abroad by Doctor Friedrich Loewig, of Goldschmieden, near Deutschlissa,
Silesia, and Gustav Loewig, of Dresden, Saxony.
The nature of this Invention, as communicated to me from abroad by Doctor
Friedrich Loewig, of Goldschmieden, near Deutschlissa, Silesia, and Gustav Loewig,
of Dresden, Saxony, is as follows:-
In order to discolour sugar juice before the crystallizing process, it is subjected, as
is well known, to a process of filtration through animal charcoal. During such filtra-
tion the juice loses its colouring matter, and is finally condensed for crystallization
in a vacuum, so as to prevent re-colouring.
Animal charcoal has been much used in the manufacture of sugar, owing to
its discolouring properties; the necessary supply has always been forthcoming, but
it loses its discolouring properties by use.
On this account the so-called process of
re-vivification has been employed in order to render the animal charcoal fit for
repeated use. This process will not, however, answer effectually, if often repeated,
so that new charcoal has to be used. This circumstance, and the necessity of
keeping the juice warm during the clarifying process and of expediting the process
of filtration to the utmost, have induced attempts to substitute some other material
as a medium for discolouring the sugar juice.

page_text: In the new process, herein-after described, for clarifying sugar juice a material
has been brought into use which can be obtained in sufficient quantities, and which
reduces the cost of clarification as compared with the use of animal charcoal for
filtration, and at the same time possesses the essential advantage over charcoal that
the process of clarifying the sugar juice is accelerated.
The discolouring power, in particular, of the modification of hydrate of alumina,
prepared according to the new method described in my Provisional Specification
filed on the 20th day of April 1877, No. 1556, surpasses that of animal charcoal in
the highest degree; for this reason alumina may be advantageously substituted for
animal charcoal in the manufacturing of sugar, and renders it possible to dispense
with all the various operations hitherto in use for clarifying sugar juice.
The combinations of alumina with lime, baryta, strontia, and magnesia, which are
obtained as by-products in the. new process of producing hydrate of alumina, will
act in a similar manner, although in an inferior degree.
In order to clarify the juice by means of alumina, the former is mixed with an
adequate quantity of the latter, which has been previously diluted with water and
stirred into a thin paste, and heated to effervescence. By this means the juice is
rendered perfectly clear and colourless, and is then crystallized without further
manipulation. The foam or scum, from underneath which the juice is drawn, con-
tains the alumina, together with foreign substances, as citric acid, pectine acid,
metapectine acid, et cætera.
When the combinations of alumina with lime, baryta, strontia, and magnesia are
used in place of the hydrate of alumina, the clarifying takes place in the same
manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Lloyd Wise in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th
November 1877.
"
WILLIAM LLOYD WISE, of Chandos Chambers, Adelphi, in the County of
Middlesex. A NEW METHOD OF CLARIFYING SUGAR JUICE." A communication
from abroad by Doctor Friedrich, Loewig, of Goldschmieden, near Deutschlissa,
Silesia, and Gustav Loewig, of Dresden, Saxony.
The description of this Invention, as communicated to me from abroad by Doctor
Friedrich Loewig, of Goldschmieden, near Deutsch-Lissa, Silesia, and Gustav Loewig,
of Dresden, Saxony, is as follows:-
In the manufacture of sugar the following main operations or classes must be
distinguished:-
1. The production of the juice.
2. The process of separating and clarifying.
3. The crystallization.
Each of these operations is divided into divers performances, which may be
executed according to different methods.
The clarification, to which our new method refers, has for its object to separate
the juice gained from the plant containing sugar from the substances therein which
are not sugar.
The methods put into practice to arrive at this end are, as already stated, various
The most generally adopted treatment is that with line and carbonic acid (separation
and saturation), with the filtration through animal charcoal to follow.

page_text: A particular part of the clarifying process will fall to the share of each of these
operations.
The separation ensues by the chemical influence of the lime or non-sugar sub-
stances, mainly also by the coagulation of the albumen and proteine substances,
whereby the lime simultaneously binds the sugar or forms combination with the
sugar. The saturation aims at the removal of the lime (being the medium of
separation applied) from the juice after such lime has gained its object; finally, by
means of filtration the juice thus prepared must be freed of substances contained
therein which are not sugar, particularly colouring materials. The object of this
manipulation will, however, be but partially attained, as only a part of the non-
sugar substances can be removed, the lime will have called forth the formation of
products in the juice, colouring in yellow and brown. In this manner the juice
will be but sufficiently prepared to let the raw sugar juice crystallize, which sugar
juice must afterwards be refined by re-crystallizing.
The gain of sugar will mainly depend upon the quantity of the remaining non-
sugar substances, as they prevent crystallization, because, corresponding to the
amount of non-sugar substances, more or less molasses will be produced.
The labours of the sugar manufacturer must, therefore, continually be directed
towards ameliorating the methods of producing sugar in such manner that the
removal of non-sugar substances from the sugar must be endeavoured to the very
utmost; hence there will never be an end to new proposals and improvements in
this direction.
It results from the above that every method of clarifying must principally avoid
to introduce soluble substances into the juice, as in the reverse case either the
removal of the clarifying medium will become necessary by new operations, which
could tend to render the course of manufacturing difficult and expensive, or tho
said medium would remain in the juice as a new non-sugar substance, and this
would not fail to act as a hindrance to crystallization.
Wo have, in consequence of many experiments, succeeded in establishing the fact
that gelatinous alumina, which in this respect satisfies all claims, possesses the
attribute to purify the sugar juice in so perfect and complete a manner that it is
possible, after its treatment with said alumina to proceed at once to crystallization;
and it appears that sugar juice thus clarified may be exposed to the air for a length
of time without suffering any alteration. After having settled this fact it followed
that our first task must be to find out a mode of proceeding which would enable
the adoption of said alumina in an economical point of view, as up to the present
time no method has become known according to which gelatinous alumina can be
produced on a large scale, and for a moderate price adequate to a large con-
sumption.
By our Invention, Patented in the name of William Lloyd Wise, the 20th day of
April 1877, No. 1556, we are enabled to produce the required article in such manner
and under conditions that there will be no objection to its general adoption in the
manufacture of sugar.
Now, in order to clarify the not-purified and non-refined sugar juice or sugar
solution, we add to the samo from 1 to 12 per cent. of the alumina, as herein-before
mentioned, mix the two well, and heat the mixture slowly to boiling-up.
Manifold experiments have set forth that the alumina takes up the non-sugar
substances partly by mechanical action and partly by chemical effects in so complete
and perfect a manner that the juice, after separating from the alumina by means
of defecation or filtration, will appear perfectly clear, so that crystallization can so
far take place that the molasses, if any at all, will appear as a most insignificant
quantity.
It is a matter of course that the quantity of alumina required for perfect clarifica-
tion will vary, according to the quality of the juice, and that it will be influential,
whether the alumina be newly prepared or not, and it is well known that it gradually
loses its discolouring propensities.

page_text: :
We also remark that it must be left to the option of every sugar manufacturer to
work is sugar juice in such manner that, for local and economical reasons, he may
make use of our alumina, say, only for a part of the operation of clarifying.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of carrying
it into practical effect, as communicated to me as aforesaid, I would have it under-
stood that what I claim as the Invention secured to me under the Letters Patent
first herein-before recited is, the method of clarifying sugar juice by the use or
employment of gelatinous hydrate of alumina for the purpose of separating and
removing non-sugary. substances (especially colouring substances) from the sugar
juice or saccharine liquor before crystallization, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lloyd Wise, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy seven.
Witness,
F. J. BROUGHAM.
W. LLOYD WISE. (L.S.)