IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STARCH
Year: 1885

page_text: I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake and Co Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex do hereby declare the nature
of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STARCH" to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to an improved method of manufacturing commercial
starch, such as laundry and culinary starch, from Indian-corn or maize in a simple
and economical manner.
A kernel of Indian-corn consists of three principal parts, viz: the inner portion
or body which consists principally of starch cells, the outer enclosing hull and its
glutinous lining which consist of wood fibre, nitrogenous compounds; albumen
and oil which are useful for cattle feed; and the germ or chit which is very rich
in oil.
In extracting the crude starch from Indian-corn wet processes have been
generally employed. The oldest process is the sour or fermentation process in
which the gluten and oil are eliminated by fermentation. This process is very
objectionable in many respects and is now obsolete. The process which is now in
general use is the so-called sweet process in which the corn is ground with water
and the starch is washed and sifted out of the ground corn and the gluten and oil
are eliminated from the starch by caustic alkali. In both of these processes the
gluten and oil become mixed with the starch in grinding the corn and have to be
afterwards removed therefrom, which is a difficult and laborious operation requiring
large quantities of water and alkali and rendering the process expensive, while
leaving the offal in a very undesirable wet condition.
The wet offal is usually passed through a squeezing machine for the purposes of
extracting the bulk of the moisture and recovering some of the starch which
adheres to the offal, but this machine is ineffective for the last named purpose,
because it presses or cakes the starch particles and the fragments of hulls together
and causes these parts to adhere more strongly to each other.
The object of this invention is to avoid these difficulties by thoroughly removing
the hulls and germs from the starchy portions of the kernels and then treating such
separated starchy portions alone for producing refined starch.
To this end the said invention comprises the improvements hereinafter described.
In carrying the said invention into practice I provide a tank which contains hot
water used for steeping the corn. A second tank or vat is also provided in which
LD C

page_text: the corn is steeped and which is supplied with water from the hot water tank and
constructed with a perforated false bottom for draining. The corn is steeped in
the steeping tank at a temperature of about 140 degrees F, for about fifteen hours
whereby the grain becomes expanded or swelled. This temperature is maintained
in the steeping tank by renewing the water from time to time. When the corn has
been steeped the starchy body of each kernel has become enlarged and soft, the
germ has become similarly enlarged and tends to separate itself by reason of its
oily character from the surrounding portions of the starchy body which has
absorbed water, and the hull has become tough and tends to separate together with
its glutinous lining from the starchy body and oily germ. In steeping the corn,
care is taken that the temperature does not rise to 155 degrees F at which
temperature the sacks of the starch cells begin to burst and discharge their
contents. When the corn has been steeped, the warm water is drained off and
cold water is introduced into the steeping tank whereby the corn is chilled and
the hulls are further toughened and the oily germs further loosened from the
surrounding portions of the starchy bodies. The water is then drained off from
the corn in the steeping tank.
The steeped corn from the steeping tank is next passed through a reducing
machine in which the grain is whipped or beaten, whereby the hulls and their
glutinous linings are opened and stripped in large flakes from the inner starchy
bodies and from the germ, the starchy bodies being at the same time reduced to
fine granules, while the germs are detached from the starchy portions and hulls
without being pulverized. The said reducing machine consists of several concentric
rows of beaters revolving at a high speed in opposite directions within an enclosing
case. In order to facilitate the discharge of the material from this machine, the
outer row of beaters is provided with one or more scrapers which prevent the
material from adhering to the inner side of the enclosing case of the machine. The
corn is reduced in this machine in the moist condition in which it comes from the
steep, and without additional water. The reduced material is discharged from the
reducing machine into the foot of an elevator whereby it is conducted to a
receiving hopper. A separating screen receives the reduced material from the said
hopper and separates the same into three products, viz: the fine fragments of
granules of crude starch, the germs which are somewhat larger in size, and the
flakes of hulls and glutinous linings which are still larger. To this end, the screen
is clothed for about two-thirds of its length from its head with fine wire cloth
which permits only the starch granules to pass through, and for the remainder of
its length with coarse wire cloth which permits the germs to pass through while
the hulls or coarse offal escape over the tail of the screen.
A receiver collects the starchy material which passes through the upper finely
clothed portion of the screen; a second receiver collects the germs passing through
the lower coarsely clothed portion of the screen, and a third receiver collects the
hulls escaping over the tail of the screen.
A supplementary reducing machine, constructed like the first reducing machine
is provided, in which the steeped grain is reduced, and which receives the hulls or
germs or both, from the second and third receivers, for the purpose of detaching
from these products of the separation any starch particles which may adhere to
the same, if such further treatment is necessary or desirable. The reduced
material coming from the supplementary reducing machine is conducted by an
elevator into a hopper from which it is spouted upon a separating screen which is
arranged on one side of the first mentioned screen and which effects a separation
of the detached meal from the germs and hulls, the meal passing into the first
receiver and the germs and hulls into fourth and fifth receivers.
A reducing mill receives the starch meal from the first receiver in which mill
the starch meal is ground with water which passes from a pipe between the
grinding surfaces of the mill. A separating sieve which is covered with bolting
cloth receives the ground meal from the reducing mill and effects a separation of
the starch from the remaining fibrous matter or offal. The said sieve is provided

page_text: with perforated pipes which deliver sprays of water upon the sieve, whereby the
starch is washed through the meshes of the sieve, while the offal or fibrous
material tails off. The water and starch are collected in a gutter or trough below
the sieve and conducted therefrom into receiving vats in which the starch is
permitted to settle and from which the water is drawn off from above the starch
after the latter has settled to the bottom. Or, if preferred, the starch may be
deposited out of the water on inclined tables or runs in a well known manner.
Fresh water is then mixed with the starch deposited in the vats or with the
starch deposited on the tables and removed therefrom, in sufficient quantity to
permit the mixture to be freely agitated. A solution of caustic alkali is next
introduced into the starch liquid in the vats in the proportion of about one eighth
of a pound of alkali to the product from each bushel of grain, the alkaline solution
weighing about two and a half degrees Baumé. This alkaline solution is thoroughly
mixed with the starch liquid by the agitators with which the vats are provided
and water is added to the mixture until its gravity is reduced to about 3 degrees
Baumé. The liquid is next pumped to a receiving tank and passed from the latter
to inclined tables or troughs upon which the starch is deposited, while the liquid
refuse escapes from the lower ends of the tables or troughs. Or, if preferred, the
starch may be settled in vats instead of depositing it on tables. The deposited
starch is next broken up and again mixed with water in a suitable vat and then
permitted to settle, and the water is drawn off from above the starch, whereby any
remaining traces of alkali and other impurities are removed from the starch.
This operation of settling and washing may be repeated as often as may be
necessary to produce starch of the desired degree of purity. The refined starch is
then placed in moulds and dried in a suitable kiln, unless it is desired to make
green starch when the operation of drying is omitted.
In this method of manufacturing refined starch the hulls and germs are
separated from the crude starch in a slightly moist or comparatively dry state,
whereby these products are recovered in a condition which permits the same to
be preserved for a considerable length of time without deteriorating by fermentation,
and in which they can be dried at small expense in suitable drying apparatus,
if desired. As the hulls and germs are separated from the crude starch before the
latter is treated with alkali they constitute a very desirable food for cattle & and
the germs can be pressed to extract the oil and the oil cakes can be used as feed.
The hulls and germs constitute about eighteen per cent of the whole grain
operated upon or in other words a bushel of corn weighing fifty six pounds
produces about nine pounds of hulls and germs. This portion of the raw material
is removed at the outset from the starch meal to be further manipulated, whereby
the quantity of water and alkali required for the further treatment is greatly
reduced, as well as the size and capacity of the vats and conduits in which the
treatment is carried on. The power necessary for moving and manipulating the
material is also correspondingly reduced. The yield of refined starch obtained by
this improved method is considerably larger than that resulting from the methods
beretofore used.
It is obvious that the apparatus can be modified to suit the requirements of the
ultimate product which it is desired to manufacture and as may be required to
adapt the apparatus to the peculiarities of the building in which it is placed.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
For the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in the manufacture of Stat
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF STARCH
" and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to the manufacture of commercial starch, such as laundry
and culinary starch, from Indian-corn or maize, in a simple and economical
manner.
A kernel of Indian-corn consists of three principal parts, viz: the inner portion
or body, which consists principally of starch cells; the outer enclosing hull and its
glutinous lining which consist of wood fibre, nitrogenous compounds; albumen
and oil which are useful for cattle feed; and the germ or chit which is very rich
in oil.
In extracting the crude starch from Indian-corn, wet processes have been
generally employed. The oldest process is the sour or fermentation process in
which the gluten and oil are eliminated by fermentation. This process is very
objectionable in many respects, and is now obsolete. The process which is now in
general use is the so-called sweet process, in which the corn is ground with water
and the starch is washed and sifted out of the ground corn, and the gluten and oil
are eliminated from the starch by caustic alkali. In both of these processes the
gluten and oil become mixed with the starch in grinding the corn and have to be
afterwards removed therefrom, which is a difficult and laborious operation requiring
Jarge quantities of water and alkali and rendering the process expensive, while
leaving the offal in a very undesirable wet condition.
The wet offal is usually passed through a squeezing machine for the purposes of
extracting the bulk of the moisture and recovering some of the starch which
adheres to the offal, but this machine is ineffective for the last named purpose,
because it presses or cakes the starch particles and the fragments of hulls together,
and causes these parts to adhere more strongly to each other.
The object of this invention is to avoid these difficulties by thoroughly removing
the hulls and germs from the starchy portions of the kernels and then treating such
separated starchy portions alone for producing refined starch, and to this end the
said invention comprises the improvements hereinafter described.
In the accompanying drawing.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of a plant of machinery by which my invention
can be carried into practice.
Figure 2 is a top or plan view of the separating sieves.
Figures 3 and 4 are sectional elevations of the reducing machine at right angles
to each other.
Like letters of reference refer to like parts in the several figures.
A represents a tank which contains hot water used for steeping the corn; and
B represents a tank or vat in which the corn is steeped, and which is supplied

page_text: YULI Water fromL the tank A and constructed with a perforated false bottom for
draining.
The corn is steeped in the tank B at a temperature of about 140 degrees F,
for about fifteen hours, whereby the grain becomes expanded or swelled. This
temperature is maintained in the steeping tank by renewing the water from time
to time. When the corn has been steeped, the starchy body of each kernel has
become enlarged and soft, the germ has become similarly enlarged and tends to
separate itself, by reason of its oily character, from the surrounding portions of the
starchy body which has absorbed water, and the hull has become tough and tends to
separate, together with its glutinous lining from the starchy body and oily germ.
In steeping the corn, care must be taken that the temperature does not rise to
155 degrees Fahrenheit, at which temperature the sacks of the starch cells begin to
burst and discharge their contents. When the corn has been steeped, the warm
water is drained off and cold water is introduced into the tank B, whereby the
corn is chilled and the hulls are further toughened and the oily germs further
loosened from the surrounding portions of the starchy bodies. The water is then
drained off from the corn in the tank B.
C represents a reducing machine which receives the steeped corn from the
tank B and in which the grain is whipped or beaten, whereby the hulls and their
glutinous linings are opened and stripped in large flakes from the inner starchy
bodies and from the germs, the starchy bodies being at the same time reduced to
fine granules, while the germs are detached from the starchy portions and hulls
without being pulverized.
The reducing machine C consists of several concentric rows of beaters c revolving
at a high speed in opposite directions within an enclosing case c¹. In order to
facilitate the discharge of the material from this machine, the outer row of beaters
is provided with one or more scrapers c² which prevent the material from adhering
to the inner side of the enclosing case of the machine. The corn is reduced in this
machine in the moist condition in which it comes from the steep and without
additional water. The reduced material is discharged from the reducing machine C
into the foot of an elevator D, whereby it is conducted to a receiving bopper E.
F represents a separating screen which receives the reduced material from the
hopper E and separates the same into three products, viz: the fine fragments or
granules of crude starch, the germs which are somewhat larger in size, and the
flakes of hulls and glutinous linings which are still larger. To this end, the screen
is clothed for about two-thirds of its length from its head, with fine wire cloth
which permits only the starch granules to pass through, and for the remainder of
its length with coarse wire cloth which permits the germs to pass through while
the hulls or coarse offal escape over the tail of the screen.
G represents a receiver which collects the starchy material which passes through
the upper finely clothed portion of the screen; H represents a receiver which
collects the germs passing through the lower coarsely clothed portion of the screen,
and I is a receiver which collects the hulls escaping over the tail of the screen.
K is a supplementary reducing machine, constructed like the machine C, in
which the steeped grain is reduced, and receives the hulls and germs, or both,
from the hoppers H and I for the purpose of detaching from these products of the
separation any starch particles which may adhere to the same, if such further
treatment is necessary or desirable. The reduced material coming from the
machine K is conducted by an elevator N¹ into a hopper K³, from which it is
thrown upon a separating screen F¹, which is arranged on one side of the screen F,
and which effects a separation of the detached meal from the germs and hulls,
the meal passing into the receiver G and the germs and hulls into receivers H'
and I.
L is a reducing mill which receives the starch meal from the receiver G in
which the starch meal is ground with water which passes from a pipe / between
the grinding surfaces of the mill. M is a separating sieve which is covered with
bolting cloth and which receives the ground meal from the mill L and effects a

page_text: separation of the starch from the remaining fibrous matter or offal. The sieve L
is provided with perforated pipes m which deliver sprays of water upon the sieve,
whereby the starch is washed through the meshes of the sieve, while the offal or
fibrous material passes off at the tail. The water and starch are collected in a
gutter or trough m¹ below the sieve and conducted therefrom into receiving vats N
in which the starch is permitted to settle and from which the water is drawn off
from above the starch after the latter has settled to the bottom; or, if preferred,
the starch may be deposited out of the water on inclined tables or runs, in a well
known manner.
Fresh water is then mixed with the starch deposited in the vats N, or with the
starch deposited on the tables and removed therefrom, in sufficient quantity to
permit the mixture to be freely agitated. A solution of caustic alkali is next
introduced into the starch liquid in the vats N in the proportion of about one
eighth of a pound of alkali to the product from each bushel of grain, the alkaline
solution weighing about two and a half degrees Beaumé. This alkaline solution
is thoroughly mixed, with the starch liquid by the agitators with which the vats N
are provided, and water is added to the mixture until its gravity is reduced to
about 3 degrees Beaumé. The liquid is next pumped to a receiving tank O and
passed from the latter to inclined tables or troughs P upon which the starch is
deposited, while the liquid refuse escapes from the lower ends of the tables or
troughs. The starch may, if desired, be settled in vats instead of depositing it on
tables.
The deposited starch is next broken up and again mixed with water in a
suitable vat and then permitted to settle, and the water is drawn off from above
the starch, whereby any remaining traces of alkali and other impurities are
removed from the starch.
This operation of settling and washing may be repeated as often as may be
necessary to produce starch of the desired degree of purity. The refined starch
is then placed in moulds and dried in a suitable kiln, unless it is desired to make
green starch, when the operation of drying is omitted.
In this method of manufacturing refined starch the hulls and germs are separated
⚫ from the crude starch in a slightly moist, or comparatively dry state, whereby these
⚫ products are recovered in a condition which permits the same to be preserved for
a considerable length of time without deteriorating by fermentation, and in which
they can be dried at small expense in a suitable drying apparatus, if desired.
As the hulls and germs are separated from the crude starch before the latter is
treated with alkali, they constitute a very desirable food for cattle &c, and the
germs can be pressed to extract the oil, and the oil cakes can be used as feed. The
hulls and germs constitute about eighteen per cent of the whole grain operated
upon, or, in other words, a bushel of corn weighing fifty six pounds produces
about nine pounds of hulls and germs. This portion of the raw material is
removed at the outset from the starch meal to be further manipulated, whereby
the quantity of water and alkali required for the further treatment is greatly
reduced, as well as the size and capacity of the vats and conduits in which the
treatment is carried on. The power necessary for moving and manipulating the
material is also correspondingly reduced. The yield of refined starch obtained
by this improved method is considerably larger than that resulting from the
methods heretofore used.
It is obvious that the apparatus can be modified to suit the requirements of the
ultimate product which it is desired to manufacture, and as may be required to
adapt the apparatus to the pecularities of the building in which it is placed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is
First. The herein described process of manufacturing refined starch from
Indian corn, which process consists in steeping the corn, then detaching the hulls

page_text: and germs from the starchy portions of the kernels by whipping or beating without
additional water, then separating the hulls and germs from the crude starch by
sifting, and then refining the separated crude starch, substantially as set forth.
Second. The herein described process of manufacturing refined starch from
Indian corn, which process consists in steeping the corn, then detaching the hulls
and germs from the starchy portions of the kernels by whipping or beating
without additional water, then separating the hulls and gerins from the crude
starch by sifting, then grinding the separated crude starch with water, and then
refining the ground starch, substantially as set forth.
Third. The herein described process of manufacturing refined starch from Indian
corn, which process consists in steeping the corn, then detaching the hulls and
germs from the starchy portions of the kernels by whipping or by beating without
additional water, then separating the hulls and germs from the crude starch by
sifting, then grinding the separated crude starch with water, then separating the
retaining fibrous matter or offal from the starch by sifting, and then treating the
separated starch with caustic alkali and depositing the starch, substantially as set
forth.
Fourth. The herein described process of manufacturing refined starch from
Indian corn, which process consists in steeping the corn, then detaching the hulls
and germs from the starchy portions of the kernels by whipping or beating without
additional water, then separating the hulls and germs from the crude starch by
sifting, then grinding the separated crude starch with water, then separating the
remaining fibrous matter or offal from the starch by sifting, then treating the
separated starch with caustic alkali, and then removing the remaining traces of
impurities by repeatedly depositing and washing the starch, substantially as set
forth.