IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR FROM THE CANF, AND IN REFINING RAW SUGAR
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHANN
ARNOLD STEINKAMP, of Leicester Street, Leicester Square, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Eighteenth day of
July, One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, in the eleventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Johann Arnold Steinkamp, my exors, adiñiors, and assigns, Her
especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Johann Arnold Steinkamp, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Johann Arnold Steinkamp, my exors, adñiors, or 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 make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man,
and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SUGAR FROM THE CANF,
AND IN REFINING RAW SUGAR;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso that I, the said Johann Arnold Steinkamp, should cause a particular

page_text: description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to
be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more
fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Johann Arnold Steinkamp, do hereby declare the nature of my said Inven-
tion, and the mode of carrying it into effect, of Improvements in the Manu-
facture of Sugar from the Cane, and in Refining Raw Sugar, to consist in
clarifying and purifying the juice of the sugarcane, as well as raw sugar, by
means of raw cotton and other vegetable fibre, cut up or otherwise divided
into small lengths varying from about an eighth to a quarter of an inch long.
The external gloss on the raw cotton is destroyed by pouring hot water upon it,
turning it about, and thoroughly wetting it, allowing it to remain in the water
about twelve hours; it is then ready for use.
The apparatus required is a vessel (which I prefer to be rather wider at
the top; a cock is placed just above the bottom to draw off the liquid; above
this there is a wooden frame crossed by thin strips of wood, over which a
coarse cloth is stretched. In order to clear one hundred pounds of raw sugar,
two to two and a half pounds of raw cotton is required, which, having been
prepared as before described, when taken from the water and pressed by the
hand, will weigh about six or seven pounds. In order to clear a certain
quantity of sugar the requisite weight of prepared cotton is placed in the filter,
and so much water is poured thereon as will distribute it smoothly and
equally in the water. The water is let out of the filter opening the cock,
and the cotton will fall into its proper position. Upon this cotton a coarse
cloth is laid, upon which is placed a frame crossed by thin strips of wood,
which is to be so formed that, when required, it may be pressed down upon
the cotton.
In the refining of raw sugar, to every thousand pounds weight of sugar I
add five hundred to six hundred pounds weight of water, one to two pounds
of chalk in powder, and half a pound of starch (the starch not being abso-
lutely necessary, but appears to have a beneficial effect). The sugar is then
heated until it boils, and kept boiling from eight to ten minutes, during the
time to be well stirred, and the scum or froth skimmed off. The liquor is
then allowed to pass through a sieve for the purpose of separating the liquor
from the coarse impurities. The pouring in of the sugar will drive the water

page_text: out of the prepared cotton, which will run off by the cock.. This water is to:
preserved, so that at the termination of the filtration it may again be poured:
upon the cotton. If the sugar should run off too quickly the cotton is to be
lightly pressed down, which operation newly prepared cotton will generally
require, as it is very elastic and spongy, but when it has been in use a few
times it loses this character. As soon as the sugar has passed through the
filter it possesses a very pure and sweet taste, and may now be boiled down
to the point of crystallization. As the substances mâde use of in this
cleansing, clearing, or refining of the raw sugar are perfectly neutral with.
respect to it, less uncrystallizable sugar is produced; and as sugar so treated
has a very strong tendency to crystallize, great attention must be paid to the
boiling, and claying processes. By pouring water into the filter it can be
perfectly cleared of the sugar while the impurities remain fixed in the cotton;
and this will be evident by merely taking the cotton out of the filter, and
washing it. After it has been properly cleansed and washed it may be used again.
I may observe, that the cotton may be mixed, and even boiled, with the sugar,
and afterwards poured into the filtering vessel, and the liquor made to pass
through the cotton in place of the cotton being first put into the filtering
vessel, as above explained.
I employ the same means as those before described for clarifying raw sugar
for cleansing the sugar-cane juice in the Colonies. Whether the juice be
cleansed by means of caustic lime, and afterwards filtered through the cotton,
as before described, or, better, by following my process, the chalk be mixed
with the juice of the cane quickly boiled up, and kept at the boiling point for
some time, skimming the impurities off as they arrive, and then filtered
through my cotton filter, then for the most part the fermentation and decom-
position of the sugar will be prevented, as at the boiling point no fermen-
tation can arise (similar to the wort of beer), and the acids which are in the
sugar are absorbed or neutralized by the chalk. An overplus, or surplusage
of chalk is perfectly harmless, as by the filtering through the cotton the chalk;
together with all azotic and extraneous substances or impurities, are quickly
removed. By this process the greatest possible produce in sugar will be
gained; and the coloring product (the result, for the most part, of the decom-
position of the sugar) will be avoided, and thus its quantity and quality will
be increased and ameliorated. In place of or in combination with cotton,
other vegetable fibres may be similarly employed.
That which I claim as my Invention is, the use of any cotton or vegetable
fibre cut up or divided into small lengths, preferring cotton to other vegetablo

page_text: material, in the cleaning, purification, and refining of sugar-cane juice, and
refining raw sugar, as before described.
In witness whorcof, I, the said Johann Arnold Steinkamp, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.