IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING REPINED SUGAR, AND MAKING POTASH AND SODA PROM THE RESIDUES
Year: 1859

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said George Seymour at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declara-
tion, on the 16th March 1859, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.-A communication from abroad by
Hypolite Leplay, of Pont-de-Madron, near Toulouse, France, Sugar
Manufacturer and Chymist..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
SEYMOUR, of No. 6, Golden Square, Regent Street, in the County of Middle-
sex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MAKING REPINED SUGAR, AND MAKING POTASH AND SODA PROM THE RESIDUES," and
have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn
declaration that the same is a communication to me from Hypolite Leplay, of
Pont-de-Madron, near Toulouse, France, Sugar Manufacturer and Chymist:
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Seymour, do hereby declaro
that the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal, fully
describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :-
This new method of making refined sugar from raw sugar, or syrup from
beetroot or other saccharine vegetables, or from molasses made during the

page_text: fabrication of sugar from beetroot and other saccharine vegetables, is as
follows: I obtain the juice of the cane or raw sugar, or the juice or syrup
from the beetroot or other saccharine vegetables in the usual manner, or I
purchase the molasses remaining after the fabrication of beetroot sugar or
other saccharine vegetables ready made, which I treat with a proparation of
baryta called caustic baryta, or I treat it with the sulphuret of barium. I
make use of certain new and improved apparatus for the fabrication of such
refined sugar, which apparatus and the manner of using the same is herein-
after described; and, first, I will describe the manner in which I proceed when
the substance I employ is the caustic baryta.
I first dissolve the caustic baryta (which must be quite caustic) in the
vessels marked A, A, A, A, A, in Drawing marked Fig. 1; these vessels are
filled with water which must be heated, which I effect by means of a steam pipe
plunging into each of the said vessels, which pipes I bave marked I, I, I, I, I;
the dissolution of caustic baryta must be of the density of 30° Baumé, cqui-
valent to a specific gravity of 1,260, water being 1,000. I also heat at the same
time the syrup or molasses I am about to treat in a vessel marked in Figure 1
with the letter B; this vessel is heated by steam passing through a steam coil
placed in the vessel B, this steam coil is marked B. The steam is introduced
into the coil by the steam pipe I, and leaves it by the pipe I". I have a
reservoir containing hot water heated as hereafter explained, marked E; this
reservoir supplies A, A, A, A, A. This vessel is heated by steam from the
boiler passing through the pipe H, but the surplus steam from the coil also
assists in heating, and enters by the pipe 1". The hot water from E is con-
ducted to A, A, A, A, A, by the open conduit or trough C, which has five
openings communicating with each of the vessels A, A, A, A, A. The open-
ings are marked C, and are closed by plugs or cocks.
The syrup juice or molasses being. boiling, and the dissolution of caustic
baryta also boiling, I use a scoop with a handle made to contain the exact
quantity require, and take with it a certain quantity of the dissolution of
caustic baryta, which I place in the vessel K. I use a similar instrument to
take the necessary quantity of juice, syrup, or molasses, which I also throw
into K, the exact quantity or proportion of each I ascertain by mixing a
small quantity of the dissolution of caustic baryta with the syrup or molasses
in a separate vessel, and if there is found a small quantity of the caustic
baryta in the mother water, I know I have taken the right quantity;
for the caustic baryta must always be in excess; the quantity usually found
to be sufficient is about two parts of the dissolution to one of molasses,
when the molasses is of the specific gravity of 48. But when the-gravity

page_text: varies, more or less will naturally be required. Saccharate or baryta wi
of course be formed with any quantities, but the method of mixing I
have indicated will give crystals easily washed. The quantities thrown at a
time into the vessel K should not be more than ten gallons of molasses to
twenty of the dissolution; it should be thrown or dashed rapidly into the
vessel K, and not stirred or disturbed afterwards, till removed from the vessel.
When the saccharate is formed, the vessel K, which is portable and furnished
with handles, is taken up by two workmen, and its contents thrown into the
vessels marked A, A, A, A, A, Fig. 2. These vessels are furnished with
double or false bottoms made of wire gauze, or of metal pierced with very
small holes. The saccharate rests on the false bottom, the mother waters filter
through the wire gauze. The saccharates remain mixed with some soluble
salts removed readily by washing. The mother waters are allowed to escape
by the cock D, Fig. 2, which is placed between the two bottoms; this cock is
so contrived that the mother waters can run into an open conduit or trough
conducting to the reservoir M', or into the reservoir F at will; these conduits
are marked L and E, Fig. 2. During the time the mother waters are running
off, a weak solution of caustic baryta, which has been previously prepared in
the vessel B, Fig. 2, is allowed to run by the conduit C into the vessels A, A,
A, A, A, Fig. 2, by certain openings marked C'; this weak solution washes
away the impurities from the saccharate, and is continued till they become
évidently purer, 'the water running from the cock D is allowed to run into the
reservoir M. When evidently much purer and cleaner, they are directed into
the reservoir F by the pipe E, Fig. 2, from whence they are pumped by the
pump 11 into the reservoir I, in which the weak solution of baryter had been
previously prepared, and which is replaced by these last or purer waters in
the first washing of other saccharates, though it is necessary to finish washing
at all times with a weak solution of caustic baryta.
When the saccharates of baryta have been sufficiently washed, which is
ascertained by the limpidity of the water escaping, or by the specific gravity
of the water, the man-hole N of the vessel A, which is placed on a level with
the double gauze bottom is opened, and the saccharate extracted at N', and is
allowed to fall by the opening P¹ into the reservoir P, Fig. 2; this reservoir
may be of metal, wood, or masonry; the saccharate is then carried by the
elevator T into the open conduit R, and falls by the openings R', R, into the
great vats S, S, in Fig. 2. It is convenient to place a kind of ledge or
trough 9, 9, round the vats S, S, to prevent the saccharate falling on one side,
and thus not entering the vats. When a vat is full, a strong current of
carbonic acid gas is forced by a pump through the pipe U, by which it

page_text: descends nearly to the bottom, and is allowed to escape by several pipes
diverging horizontally from the bottom or end of pipe U, and the carbonic
acid then forces its way up through the saccharate, and the surplus gas escapes
by the chimney V into the air. The saccharate is thus decomposed by the
carbonic acid which unites itself with the baryta, and forms a compound (car-
bonate of baryta) almost insoluble, leaving the sugar dissolved in the water
with which the saccharate of baryta was impregnated during the process of
washing. It is very necessary to know precisely when the carbonic acid hias
completely decomposed the saccharate of baryta, and this is ascertained by the
presence of hydrosulphuric acid in the mass, which is ascertained by a test
paper prepared with a solution of subacitate of lead, which will be discolored
or darkened by its presence. As no hydrosulphuric acid is found when the
decomposition is incomplete, and the test paper therefore remains white, the
syrup or sugar with the carbonate of baryta is then taken from the vat S by
the opening Y, and put into strong cotton sacks and taken to the press Z. As
some liquid syrup may run from the sacks, or is lost in filling, they are placed
in the open trough O, which catches the syrup, and conveys it into the reservoirs
M, M, Fig. 2, which are best placed under ground. I have marked this
trough O; the sacks should be conveyed to the press in barrows lined with zinc.
The sacks having been once pressed should be then wetted with water in a vessel
marked L, and the rest of the saccharate thrown from them into a small
quantity of water contained in the trough 0; the saccharate is then replaced
in the sacks and again pressed, and the liquid runs as before into M, M ; there
is a trough which catches the liquid from the press, and also from the vessel L;
the trough is the same marked O, before mentioned, which conducts the
liquid from the vessels S and from the vessel L, but the trough conducting
the liquid from the press is marked P". This liquid is then pumped by the
pump Q, Fig. 1; into the boiler R, Fig. 1, which has a double bottom, so as
to be heated by steam passing between the two bottoms.
The liquid is now an almost pure dissolution of sugar, but contains a very
small quantity of bicarbonate of baryta, and some traces of carbonato of baryta.
The syrup is now boiled, and the bicarbonate becomes carbonate of baryta,
and the carbonic acid escapes. To remove this small quantity of carbonate
of baryta, I add a soluble sulphate (such as sulphate of lime or alumina, or
other soluble sulphate), giving rise to two insoluble compounds; the syrup is
now clarified by a small quantity of albumen, and is filtered by a Taylor's filter,
marked V, Fig. 1, and falls into the reservoir T, Fig. 1, where it is ready to
be made into loaves in the usual manner. The mother and other waters
contain caustic baryta, which I extract in the form of carbonate of baryta by

page_text: injecting carbonic acid, or in the form of crystals of hydrate of baryta by eva-
poration and cooling. The water also contains salts of soda and potash in
considerable quantities. I evaporate great part of the water, and place the
residuum in a reverbatory furnace where they ignite, the vegetable acids
escape, and the potash and soda remain, having a considerable commercial value.
I have thus described the method of employing the caustic baryta in making
refined sugar. When I make use of the sulphuret of barium, I employ it in
dissolution instead of the caustic baryta. The dissolution of sulphuret of
barium should be of the density of 82° Baumé instead of 30°, and the quantity
at least one-third greater than the dissolution of caustic baryta. The saccha-
rate of baryta forms in the same manner-40 per cent. of the baryta employed
combines with the sugar, and 60 per cent. remains in the mother waters;
more of the baryta will combine with the sugar if caustic soda or caustic
potash is added to the molasses in certain proportions which form a chemical
equivalent. This quantity is about three parts of caustic soda or caustic
potash to ten of syrup, the dissolution of sugar being of the specific gravity of
45 Baumé, or 1,454, water being 1,000. This proportion is not quite exact,
but varies with the thickness of the syrup. The saccharate of baryta is
decomposed in the same manner as when caustic baryta is employed, by the
use of carbonic, sulphuric, or other acid, the rest of the operation is the samo
as I have described in using caustic baryta.
I claim as my Invention the making of refined sugar by employing caustic
baryta or sulphuret of barium in the manner as I have herein-before described,
and using of the apparatus described in the Drawings marked Fig. 1 and
Fig. 2, as above described, and of employing the residues in the fabrication of
potash and soda, by the means above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Seymour, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
L
GEORGE SEYMOUR. (..)