CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR
Year: 1841

page_text: .:
1,
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MANWARING, of York Street, York. Road, Lambeth, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, send greeting.
"
11
..
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty. Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-third day of November, in the fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Manwaring, Her especial licence, that I, the said William, Manwaring, my
exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Manwaring,
my exors, adiñors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should
and lawfully might use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, or in the British Colonies and Plantations
abroad, "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR;" in which
said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said William
Manwaring, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly
to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next, and
immediately after the date of the said recited Letters Patent, as and by the
same,, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
D.. λ.
1
1
1
L
ون
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Manwaring, do hereby declare, the nature of my said Invention to
consist, first, in causing the solutions of sugar to assist in cleansing themselves

page_text: during the process of manufacture. Secondly, in an arrangement and combi-
nation of apparatus whereby the solutions of sugar may be discharged from one
clarifier or evaporator to another, and the labor required under the usual
arrangement for charging up the liquor from one pan to the other during the
process of the manufacture of sugar may be saved. Thirdly, in a peculiar
apparatus for the application of atmospheric air, so as to assist the evaporation
of the solution in the manufacture of sugar. And I, the said William Man-
waring, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained by
the following statement, reference being had to the Drawings and Figures therein
mentioned and referred to. But, that the nature of my improvements in the
manufacture of sugár may be more fully understood, I shall, before entering
on the particular description of my Invention, give a brief account of the
present practice of manufacturing sugar, so far at least as may be sufficient
for the above purpose.
In the usual method of manufacturing sugar from the cane juice, a portion
of the feculent matter is separated from it in one or more clarifiers by the
application of heat and lime, or some other approved substance for tempering
the juice. The scum or feculent matter, as it rises to the surface of the liquid,
is taken off by hand with a skimmer. After the cane juice has been subjected
to this operation as long as is thought necessary, the contents of the clarifiers
are discharged into four or more pans for the purpose of taking from it the
remaining impurities, and for final concentration for chrystallization. These
last-mentioned pans are placed side by side, each of them diminishing in size
from the one next the clarifier or clarifiers to the one farthest from it, in which
last or furthest off one, and which is called the teach, the final concentration is
effected, and under which the fire is immediately placed, the flame and heated
air from it passing under all the other pans. The application of the heat in
this manner frequently occasions a carbonization in this last evaporator or teach,
which is prejudicial to the manufacture of the sugar. As the scum or feculent
inatter rises to the surface of the liquid it is taken off by hand by means of
skimmers, but in doing so a great portion of the juice that ought to remain in
the pans is taken off with the impurities, whereby great loss is occasioned,
besides the labor required to do it.
Another inconvenience in the present manufacture is the method of charging
or filling up the pans as the liquid diminishes in quantity by evaporation, which
is done by ladleing the juice from one pan to the other. This charging or filling
up by ladling is accompanied not only with great labour, but at the same time
.

page_text: injures the quality of the juice by mixing the impure with the purer quality.
of juice. The object of my Invention is to prevent this injury to the quality of
the juice, and to save the labor expended in charging up the liquor, as above..
described.
In carrying out into practice the first part of my improvements in the
manufacture of sugar, namely, the making the solution cleanse itself, I make
use of one or more pan or pans, of copper or other suitable material, round,
oval, or of any other convenient shape, for the evaporation, cleansing, and final
concentration of solutions of sugar, and in which pan or pans steam or hot
water, or any other similar agent of heat, is applied in a steam case or pipes, or
otherwise. The upper part of the said pan or pans are surmounted with a rim
or bevelled ledging, projecting above and over the top and sides of the pan or
pans, forming an expanded space into which the froth, scum, and feculent
matter that arises from the liquid or solution ascends; a portion of the bevelled
ledging or rim is made about three inches lower than the other part of the rim,
in the case of round pans to the extent of about one fourth of its circumference,
and in other shaped pans about the same proportion of the length of their
rim, over which lower part or saddle of the said rim the froth, scum, and feculent
matter, as it rises above it, flows into gutters for the purpose of exposing the
said froth, and the feculent and impure matter combined therewith, to the
action of the atmosphere. By this exposure to the action of the atmosphere
the froth will be condensed into a liquid state, provided artificial heat is not
allowed to interfere with such action. The froth being thus reduced to a liquid
state, the separation of those feculent and impure matters combined with it is
more easily effected; the gutters into which the liquid is received and condensed
are so formed as to cause the liquid to flow to and through strainers, or any
well-known filtering medium. These gutters or vessels for containing the
filtering medium are so constructed as to be easily removed, on their becoming
charged with any impurities, for the purpose of being replaced by other and
clean ones, &c. In order still further to separate the liquid from its impurities
after it has passed through the strainers as just described, the liquid is made to
pass through other strainers or vessels containing a filtering medium, which
last-mentioned strainers or vessels are also fitted and constructed so as to be
easily removed and replaced by others.
The liquid having been thus freed from its impurities, in order to effect its
return to the evaporator or evaporators, for the purpose of undergoing further.
evaporation or clarification, if necessary, or to any other desired vessel, and at
the same
time to carry out the second head of my said Invention, namely, the
arrangement and combination of apparatus whereby the solutions of sugar may

page_text: be discharged from one clarifier or evaporator into another, and the labor
required under the usual arrangement for charging up the 'liquor from one pan
to the other saved, I cause the liquid to flow from the aforesaid filters 'or
strainers through a pipe into one or more receiving vessels made of copper or
any other suitable material. After the receiver becomes charged to a proper
height, a stop-cock is opened in a pipe attached to the upper part of this
vessel, and communicating with a high-pressure steam boiler, and the
steam passing through the steam-cock acts on the surface of the liquid,
and by its pressure forces the liquid up through a pipe that reaches near
the bottom of the receiver into the evaporator or evaporators, or to any
required vessel.
The receiving vessel being discharged, the steain-cock
is closed, and the cock communicating from the strainers or filters to the
receiving vessel is opened,' and the operation goes on as before. From the fore-
going statement, and by reference to the Drawings herein-after described, it
will be seen that an apparatus constructed in this manner will cause a solution
of sugar to cleanse itself from its impurities, instead of the same being
effected by manual labor, with the additional advantage of saving a great
portion of the saccharine matter carried away with the skimmers at: present
used by the laborers in taking off the scum and impure matter from the liquid
as it rises with the froth during the evaporation; and further, that the ladleing
hitherto required under the old system is avoided,' whereby the labour required
to do the same is saved, and the cleansed juice is not mixed with other juice of
less purity. It is essential that the froth, scum, and feculent matter flowing
over the lower part of the rim or saddle of the evaporators should be perfectly
under control; and to effect this properly I prefer the application of high-
pressure steam, or hot water of the temperature one to three or more atmo-
spheres, as the agent of heat to the evaporators. Thus the extent to which the
said liquid scum, &c., contained in the pan will rise or flow over the saddle will
be regulated simply by adjusting the steam or supply cock. High-pressure steam
or hot water as the agent of heat has this further advantage, that the car-
bonization which frequently, occurs in the teach or final evaporator when "fire
is applied underneath it, as previously described; is entirely obviated. If fire be
applied as the agent of heat, 'the regulation of the quantity' of heat applied
under the evaporators can be effected by dampers and other known contri-
vances for that purpose, but not with that degree of accuracy as the same can
be done by the application of steam or hot water. The like object 'can"be
effected by introducing a small quantity of air into the liquid undergoing
evaporation, or by allowing a stream of water to pass through a coil of pipes
or tubes immersed in the liquid or solution. The Drawings and descriptions

page_text: hereunto annexed shew the details and general arrangement of an apparatus
for. manufacturing sugar from the juice of the sugar. cane. According to my
Invention, as above described, this apparatus is also applicable to the manu-
facture of sugar from the other liquids or solutions from which sugar has or
can be made, or. to the clarification and evaporation of solutions of sugar for
refinement.
My improvement in the manufacture of sugar, in respect of the appli-
cation of atmospheric air in the final evaporation, or for the evaporation of
liquids or solutions of sugar to the required consistency after they have been
cleansed of their impure and extraneous matter, consists in the use of a peculiar
arrangement of pipes fixed in the pan or pans near to and immediately above
the coil of steam pipe, in the case where steam is employed as the agent of
heat, or near to the bottom of the pan or pans where steam is employed in a
jacket or case under the pan, or where fire is employed to heat the said pan:
or pans. Into the said arrangement of pipes I inject atmospheric air by the
means of pumps or any well-known blowing contrivance. The pipes are
perforated with holes along the bottom and under part, through which the
atmospheric air escapes into the liquid undergoing evaporation, thereby pro-
ducing a very rapid evaporation, and at the same time keeping down the
temperature of the liquid and preventing carbonization. The detailed parts of
these several arrangements and combinations herein-before referred to are
more particularly described in the Drawings and descriptions thereof hereunto
annexed

page_text: nient vessel for chrystallization. The upper part of the pans, B, C, D, are
furnished with a bevelled ledging or rim, as seen at L, L, L, forming an
expanded space to receive the froth and feculent matter as it rises from the
juice. At the parts of the ledging marked m, m, m, is a saddle or bridge piece
forming a part of the said ledging, but about three inches lower than the upper
part of them, over which saddle the froth and feculent matter, as it rises from
the juice, flows into the receiving gutters N, N, O; these gutters in the case of
N, N, surround the pans C, B, and at O terminate in a long gutter at the end
of the upper part of the pan B. In these gutters, the froth by being exposed
to the action of the atmosphere, and interfered with as little as possible by the
action of artificial heat, becomes condensed into a liquid state, and flows, by the
said gutters being inclined, to and through strainers or filters P, P, P, and from
thence into further strainers or filters Q, Q, Q, from thence through the cocks
R, R, into the cylinders or receivers S, S.
After the liquid has thus been freed from its impurities, in order to return
it back into the evaporator or evaporators, for further evaporation and clari-
fication if necessary, and at the same time to carry out the object secondly
set forth in the declaration of the nature of my said Invention, the cylinders
or receiving vessels are furnished with pipes, T, T, passing down nearly
to the bottom of the cylinders or receiving vessels, and leading to and
over and into the pans above, or either of them that might be required.
When the cylinders become charged up to the dotted line U, U, (which is
ascertained by means of glass guage pipes attached thereto, or by the juice
running out of the air-cock,) the cocks R, R, are closed and the cocks V, V,
are opened; the pipes attached to the cocks V, V, communicate to the steam-
main. When the said cocks are opened, the pressure of the steam acts upon
the surface of the liquid and forces it out of the cylinders, up the pipe.
T, T, into the pan or pans. When the cylinders are discharged, or clear
steam blows up through the pipe T, the cocks V are closed, the cocks R
are opened, and the operation goes on as before. By this arrangement it will
be seen that the solution of sugar is made to cleanse itself, and an arrange-
ment of apparatus can be made by which the liquid can be discharged
from one pan to the other, and the saving of labour bitherto required for
such purpose of cleansing and the ladling of liquid from one pan to the
other effected.
For final evaporation, or for the evaporation of liquids or solutions
of sugar to the required consistency, I make use of an arrangement of
pipes fixed in the pan or pans, as seen in the pan D, Figure First; D, the
evaporator or teach; Z, the air-main, communicating to a set of pumps or any

page_text: blowing contrivance, furnished with a throttle valve to regulate the supply of
air. No. 1, an air-receiving chamber; No. 2, an upright pipe passing through
the air chamber, fixed and made fast to the top thereof with a plate and screws,
seen at No. 3, and made tight at the bottom of the air chamber by a stuffing
box, No. 4; that part of the pipe No. 2 in the air chamber is perforated
with holes or slots, as seen at No. 5, for the admission of the air from the
chamber into the upright pipe. The lower end of the upright pipe is fixed
into the hollow box or nave, Nos. 6 and 7; from the upper part of this hollow
box three or more tubes (Nos. 9, 9, 9,) communicate to the hollow ring (see.
Figure 3) Nos. 8, 8, and from thence to the six or more spokes or tubes,.
Nos. 10, 10, &c.; these spokes radiate towards the hollow box or nave, and are
closed at the end, and do not communicate with the hollow box at those ends..
At No. 7, the like number of tubes, Nos. 11, 11, 11, are attached and com-
municate to it, radiating therefrom to the hollow ring, No. 8, 8, but not
connected therewith, their ends being plugged up. The under part of the box
or navè No. 7, the under part of the ring No. 8, 8, and the under part of
the tubes Nos. 10, 10, and 11, 11, are perforated with holes, (the aggregate
area of which holes should not be greater than the supply pipe or tube No. 2,)
through which holes the atmospheric air escapes into the liquid undergoing
evaporation, thereby accelerating the operation and preventing carbonization.
For the purpose of more conveniently cleansing the air pipes or tubes, and the
internal part of the pan, the upper part of the tube No. 2 is furnished with 'a.
ring, by which (after the screws that fix the tube to the upper part of the air
chamber are removed) the upright pipe or tube can be drawn.up through the
air chamber, bringing with it the arrangement of tubes attached to it out of.
the pan. For a square, oblong, or any other shaped pan, a similar arrange-
ment of tubes can be made, but in all cases the aggregate area of the holes
perforated in the tubes, &c., should not be greater than the area of the supply
pipe. No. 12, 12, two supports for fixing and carrying the air apparatus.
Figure 3d is a ground plan of the arrangement of tubes. No. 6, the upper
part of the hollow box or nave; Nos. 9, 9, 9, the tubes communicating to the
hollow ring, No. 8; Nos. 10, 10, the tubes radiating to the centre and com-
municating to the ring; Nos. 11, 11, 11, the tubes radiating from the centre
and communicating to the hollow box or nave. In the pan D, Figure 1st, is
shewn the coil of pipes, for heating the liquid. W, W, the coil of pipe, coiled
closely round the bottom and partly up the sides; X, the entrance for steam or
hot water; Y, the exit for the condensed water, when steam is used, or for
the water. A similar coil of pipe is used in each of the pans shewn in
the arrangement.

page_text: It is not absolutely necessary to have all the pans as shewn, namely,
two clarifiers and three evaporators; the whole operation could be done in one
pan;. first, by making it perform the office of a clarifier; secondly, an evapo-
rator and cleansing pan; and lastly, a final concentrator for chrystallization;
but I prefer the arrangement as shewn in the Drawings, on account of the
rapidity of operation that it affords..
The apparatus, arrangement, and combination of parts and apparatus herein-
before described and represented, is well adapted, convenient, and suitable for
the using, exercising, and putting in practice my said Invention of Certain
Improvements in the Manufacture of Sugar. Other arrangements similar to the
above may be adopted according to the circumstances of the case; but the
description and directions herein-before contained are such as, according to the
best of my knowledge, will enable the Invention to be practised in the most
beneficial and advantageous manner. And I hereby in conclusion declare, that
what I claim as of my Invention is as follows:-
Firstly, I claim as of my Invention the improvement in the manufacture.
of sugar, whereby the sugar may be made to cleanse itself, as herein-before
described; and I claim the sole and exclusive use of every apparatus and
combination of apparatus whereby the sugar may be so made to cleanse itself.
Secondly, I claim as of my Invention the improvement in the manufacture
of sugar, whereby the juice may be charged up and transferred in the manner
herein-before described.
Thirdly, I claim as of my Invention the improvement in the manufacture of
sugar, whereby the evaporation in the teach is accelerated by the injection of.
air, by means of the particular apparatus herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Manwaring, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-one.
WILLIAM (L.s.) MANWARING..
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the
within-named William Manwaring, in
the presence of
DAN BOYS,
6 Fly Place Holbom

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Third day of December, in the
year of our Lord 1841, the aforesaid William Manwaring came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-first day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-two.