IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLUCOSE OR GRAPE SUGAR FROM PROVISIONAL SP AND OTHER GRAIN, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Egerton Pearse, of 7, Oberstein Road,
New Wandsworth, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLUCOSE OR GRAPE SUGAR FROM
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Egerton Pearse
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 20th March 1873.
I, EDWIN EGERTON PEARSE, of 7, Oberstein Road, New Wandsworth,
in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLUCOSE OR GRAPE
SUGAR FROM RICE AND OTHER GRAIN, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to
be as follows:—
The Invention relates to means for effecting the conversion of rice and
ation by fooding the

page_text: grain whole into a vessel, which I call a saccharifier, under steam
pressure in order thereby completely to effect the conversion of such
grain into a saccharine liquid.
Glucose sugar is now manufactured from prepared starch and also from
sugar cane, which are much more expensive and longer processes than
by converting the raw grain at once into starch and gum, and thence
into sugar under one operation.
I proceed as follows:-I run in dilute acid into a vessel, generally
formed of wood, adapted to sustain a pressure of say 10 to 12 lbs. to
the square inch. This dilute.acid being kept mixed and heated up to
220° Fahrenheit by means such as the following:-A hollow shaft,
formed of gun or other metal not liable to be injuriously acted upon
by acid, is supported in a step in the saccharifier or digester and rising
through the cover or head is there driven by suitable gear. To this
hollow shaft are connected stout wooden horizontal arms in number
dependent upon the depth of the vessel. A steam pipe is conducted
to the bottom of this hollow shaft and from thence the steam passes into
other perforated metal arms around it. As this hollow shaft revolves
the steam therefrom raises the heat of the acid liquor to say 10 lbs.
pressure to the square inch, when I commence slowly to feed in the
grain, the steam still going in to keep the pressure up to 10 lbs. A
cock on the top of the vessel regulates the exhaust. In this manner
every part of the grain becomes exposed to the action of the steam
which is constantly passing through it, and a complete conversion of
it into sugar takes place.
I feed in the grain through a steam-tight chamber under pressure.
The feeding apparatus I adopt consists of a cylindrical chamber which
I form of gun metal with the top and bottom parts open, the bottom
fitted with a flange and piece of pipe which passes through the top
of the saccharifier and serves to admit the grain into the vessel. The
top flange is connected by bolts and nuts to another flange which is
fitted with a funnel into which the grain is fed. Through the side of
this feed chamber runs a small horizontal shaft to which is fitted a
drum with deep slots cut all round the surface of it. The drum
with the slots works inside the feed chamber and made to work in a
groove in the sides of that chamber with the slots to correspond in size
to the hole on the top flange.

page_text: The grain is fed into the funnel and from thence it falls on to the slots
cut in the drum, which as it revolves discharges through the pipe into
the vessel. A piece of metal attached to a spring at the bottom of the
groove is pushed back as each slot passes to keep the steam from rising
into the feed chamber.
The apparatus may be worked by hand or driving gear.
This part of the process may be conducted in metal vessels so as to
obtain a higher pressure, but great care is necessary so that the sugar
should not acquire a burnt flavour in trying to hasten the process by a
much higher temperature.
The acid I prefer to use is dilute sulphuric acid.
After the sugar solution is run out and neutralized I then proceed
with what I call the cleansing part of the process, that is, separating the
husk of the grain and the remains of the alkali which are still in solu-
tion. To do this I use a hydraulic pump attached to the filters, and by
these means I obtain a bright and pure saccharine liquid with very
little waste compared to the ordinary mode of filtering. This liquor is
then passed through other filters and thence to the evaporating and
vacuum pans in the usual way.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edwin Egerton Pearse in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 20th September 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWIN
EGERTON PEARSE, of 7, Oberstein Road, New Wandsworth, in the
County of Surrey, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Edwin Egerton Pearse, Her
special license that I, the said Edwin Egerton Pearse, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Edwin Egerton
Pearse, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-

page_text: "
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLUCOSE OR GRAPE SUGAR
FROM RICE AND OTHER GRAIN AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN,' upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Edwin Egerton
Pearse, 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 same 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 Edwin Egerton Pearse, 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 :-
The Invention relates to means for effecting the conversion of rice
and other grain into a saccharine liquid or glucose or grape sugar solu-
tion by one operation, by feeding the grain whole into a vessel, which I
call a saccharifier, under steam pressure in order completely to effect the
conversion of such grain into a saccharine liquid.
Glucose sugar is now manufactured from prepared starch and also
from cane sugar; but by means which are much more expensive and
involve longer time than when as adopted by me, the raw grain is con-
verted into a saccharine liquid or glucose or grape sugar solution by
one operation.
But that the Invention may be fully understood, I will by the aid of
mang nữssued by me

page_text: a, a, is a vessel which I call a saccharifier or digester. This vessel I
usually form of wood and it is adapted to sustain pressure from within
of, say, 10 to 12 lbs. to the square inch. It is formed with a close
cover a¹ and with an internal step 6, in order that it may sustain the
lower end of the hollow shaft or axis c which at the upper end passes
through, whilst it is guided by the stuffing box d in the cover a¹; and at
its upper end this hollow shaft passes into a screw cap e, formed to admit
of that shaft revolving freely therein, whilst it is capable of receiving
steam from a suitable steam generator through the feed pipe f. The
hollow shaft c has also applied to it the hollow arms c¹ which receivo
steam from the shaft c by means of the pipe c², and are formed with
numerous small holes for the escape of the steam therethrough into the
chamber a. On the upper part of this shaft or axis c is applied the
bevilled tooth wheel g, the teeth of which are taken into by the teeth
of the bevilled tooth wheel h affixed on the shaft or axis i, which is
supported in suitable bearings and has motion given to it from a steam
engine or other suitable power. On this shaft i is also applied the
toothed wheel i, which by an intermediate wheel gives motion to
the toothed wheel ¹ affixed on the shaft or axis j, and this shaft j by the
bevilled wheels 1,, thercon gives motion to the feeding means by
which the grain to be treated is supplied to the interior of the vessel a;
k, k, are the feeding means of which there are two shown, but this may
be varied, and a description of one of them will serve as a description
of the other; ¹ is a hopper by which the grain is fed to the feed
cylinder which is attached to and caused to revolve with the shaft k², as
that shaft is caused to revolve by the bevil toothed wheel ³ being taken
into by a bevilled tooth wheel 1. As shewn each cylinder / is formed
with six comparts or feed chambers and each chamber in the rota-
tion of the cylinder comes into a position to receive grain supplied
from the hopper k³, and thence as it passes round to deliver it by the
open pipe or passage m through the cover a¹ to the interior of chamber a.
As shewn by the Figures 2, 3, 4, and 7, the outer surface of the com-
partments of the cylinder is formed conical, so that as any wear
takes place between the outer surfaces thereof and the interior of the
chamber in which that cylinder revolves the parts may be pressed closer
up and retained in contact.
Figures 8, 9, and 10 show a modification of the feeding means with
the outer surface of the partitions forming the compartments / of the

page_text: cylinder parallel or properly cylindrical, and in this case in order to
provide for the wearing away of the outer surfaces of the partitions in
contact with the chamber in which they revolve these partitions are cach
formed with spring packing & at those parts.
In using this apparatus I proceed as follows:-I first run dilute acid
into the chamber (a), the acid solution being generally formed by com-
bining 1 part of acid with 10 of water or thereabouts, and this solution
is kept well mixed as well as heated to a temperature of say about 220°
Fahrenheit. Steam is supplied to the shaft c, and thence through the
arms c¹ to the chamber a, so as to maintain a temperature in the
chamber a of say 220° Fahrenheit. This shaft c being set in motion the
steam escaping therefrom gradually raises the heat of the acid liquor in
the chamber a to 225° Fahrenheit, and to a pressure of, say 10 lbs. per
square inch, when I gradually and slowly commence to feed in the grain
to be operated upon through one or both of the feed apparatus k, taking
care still to maintain the temperature of the interior of the vessel a,
about as stated.
n is a pipe with tap n¹ capable of being regulated for the escape of
steam from the interior of the chamber a; o is another pipe with tap o¹
for drawing off from the chamber ;p is a glass gauge communicating
in the usual way at p', p', with the top and bottom of the vessel a to
indicate the height of liquid in that vessel a.
By these means the whole of the grain is subjected to the action of
the steam which is caused to pass through it, and in a very short time
a complete conversion of it into a saccharine liquid or sugar solution in
the chamber a takes place.
A safety valve not shown by the Drawing is employed to regulate the
pressure in the chamber a.
and a
In place of wood metal may be employed for the vessel a,
higher pressure may also be employed, but in such case great care is
necessary, or the sugar produced will be found to have obtained a burnt
flavor.
I form the hollow shaft and the arms thereof of gun metal or other
metal not injuriously acted upon by the acid.
The acid I find to answer best for the purpose is dilute sulphuric
acid.

page_text: As the saccharine liquid is run out of the vessel a it is acted upon by
alkaline solution, as is usual in such cases; I then proceed with what I
call the cleansing part of the process, that is to say, the separation of
the husk and the remaining alkili from the solution. To facilitate this
cleansing I employ hydraulic pump apparatus and force the liquid
through suitable filters, the result being a bright and pure saccharine
liquid with very little waste as compared with the ordinary method of
filtration without pressure.
The liquid thus obtained is then passed through charcoal filters in the
ordinary way, and it is then treated by being acted upon in evaporating
and vacuum pans in the usual way.
Having thus described my Invention and means which I adopt in
carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details of working as described, but what
I claim is the production of saccharine liquid by one operation in the
manufacture of glucose or grape sugar from rice and other grain and
the means or apparatus employed therein substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edwin Egerton Pearse, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.