IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND REFINING OF SUGAR, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS USED IN PRODUCING A VACUUM IN SUCH MANUFACTURE, AND WHICH LAST IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO OTHERWISE APPLI- CABLE FOR EXHAUSTING AND FORCING FLUIDS
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
BESSEMER, of Baxter House, Old Saint Pancras Road, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Engineer, 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 Twentieth day of March,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, in the fourteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Henry Bessemer, my exors, adiiors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said IIenry Bessemer, my exors, adûiors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Bessemer, my exors, adñiors,
or assigns, shall 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, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, and in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE AND REFINING
OF SUGAR, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS USED IN PRODUCING A VACUUM IN
SUCH MANUFACTURE, AND WHICH LAST IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO OTHERWISE APPLI-
CABLE FOR EXHAUSTING AND FORCING FLUIDS;" in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said Henry Bessemer, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what

page_text: manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said 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
Henry Bessemer, hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention
consists,
--
Firstly, in a mode of clarifying, evaporating, and concentrating saccharine
fluids in open pans or boilers, of a construction differing from each other in
form and arrangement so as to suit the kind of fuel to be employed, and the
nature of the previous or succeeding operations which the fluid has been or is
afterwards to be subjected to, but in all of which forms of apparatus the
heat for producing evaporation of the saccharine fluid is transmitted thereto
through the agency of steam generated in another compartment of the same
pan or boiler in which the saccharine fluid is contained,
Secondly, my Invention consists in forming partial vacuum in pans or
vessels used for concentrating saccharine fluids. by means of the vapour or
steam arising therefrom, which is made to act on a piston in connection with
an air pump and condenser, and thus supplies the motive power for its own
exhaustion; and also in another form of apparatus, in which rotary motion is
produced by the emission of steam and water in the condenser, such steam
being produced by the evaporation of the saccharine fluid in the vacuum pan,
and which apparatus is otherwise applicable for exhausting and forcing fluids.
My said Invention consists also in heating such vacuum pans by means of
steam generated in a lower and separate compartment of the same pan or
boiler.
Thirdly, my Invention consists also in apparatus for producing a partial
vacuum in pans or vessels-used-in-the-manufacture-and-refining of sugar,
where the motive power required in the production of such partial vacuum is
to be supplied from a fall of water or other convenient source of motive power,
and not from the vapour of saccharine fluid, as herein-after described under
the second head of my Invention, and which apparatus is more particularly
applicable in those cases, where a small amount of exhaustion is required, as
in the filtration of saccharine fluids, and in the "curing" of: sugar, herein-after
described, and which apparatus is otherwise applicable to the exhausting and"
forcing of fluids.
Fourthly, my Invention consists in certain apparatus for "curing sugar,'
"

page_text: °
Fifthly, my Invention consists in certain apparatus for improving the
quality of Muscavado and other crude sugars by separating the large crystals
from the smaller ones, and also separating therefrom certain impurities
generally found in crude sugars, and afterwards mixing the best crystals
resulting from this operation with a solution of sugar or "liquor," and again
separating the crystals from the fluids by either of the methods herein-after
described under the fourth head of my Invention. The inferior sugar resulting
from these operations is to be heated in the "blowing-up pan," in a manner
well understood, and afterwards passed through the filtering apparatus herein-
after described. And,
Lastly, my Invention consists in an apparatus for making into lumps or
loaves crystals of sugar by subjecting such loose crystals of sugar to the action
of heat and pressure in suitable moulds.
Firstly, with regard to my improvements in clarifying, evaporating, and
concentrating saccharine fluids in open pans or boilers.-The apparatus most
commonly used for evaporating cane juice consists of a series of open cast-iron
pans of a shape nearly hemispherical, and supported by a sloping flange at the
upper edge. They are made of different sizes, and four or more of them,
regularly diminishing in size, are hung in one furnace, the fire being made
under the smallest pan at one end of the range. The flame and heated matters
evolved from the fuel passes under each pan in succession, and then escapes
into_the_chimney. As the juice-evaporates-from-each pan the level of the
fluid sinks in it, and when the last pan is emptied or "skipped," the contents
of the next is ladled into it, and so on through the whole range, the first or
largest pan being refilled from the clarifiers. The most prominent disad-
vantages of this mode of evaporating are, firstly, the small amount of heating
and evaporating surface exposed by a vessel of this shape in comparison to its
fluid contents, the absence of side flues allowing the heat to pass off into the
chimney, and thereby causing a great waste of fuel; and, secondly, as cane
juice acquires a constantly increasing depth of color and deterioration of
quality by exposure to a high temperature. in proportion to the time so
exposed, it follows that the hemispherical form of pan, whose capacity fre-
quently exceeds one thousand gallons, causes the juice to be kept unnecessarily
long in a heated state, in consequence of the smallness of heating surface
which so large a body of juice has presented to it; thirdly, the lowering of the
fluid level in the pans by the evaporation of the juice is the cause of the most
injurious consequences, for the temperature of the pan above this line increases
very much, and as portions of the fluid, from ebullition, come against the
overheated metal the juice or syrup becomes exposed in their films to so high a

page_text: temperature as to darken its color, and prevents the crystallization of those por-
tions that have been so overheated. This effect is produced to a still greater
extent during the emptying of the pans, and causes the formation of a large
quantity of molasses and darkening of the syrup. To these disadvantages may
be added the liability of the cast-iron pans to crack, the great expense of the fire-
brick furnaces in which they are hung, and the difficulty of using coals under
them owing to the coal flame not reaching the pan farthest from the fire, and
consequently rendering it necessary to burn the whole of the caue trash as
fuel, a part of which might profitably be employed as manure. Many
attempts have been made from time to time to avoid the injurious effects of
over-heating the syrup by the use of high-pressure steam in lieu of the direct
application of fire heat to the evaporating vessels, for which purpose a high-
pressure steam boiler is employed to generate steam, which is conveyed
through pipes to a series of pans with hemispherical bottoms, having a jacket
or double bottom and a coil of pipes placed within them. Tho steam is
admitted to each pan through sluice valves, and there are also other pipes
and valves for carrying away the condensed water. This mode is unques-
tionably advantageous, as far as the action of the steam heat on the cane
juice is concerned, and the facility it affords for the regulation of the boiling
process. But it has been found to be still more wasteful of fuel than even
the naked pans first described, for the steam boiler itself must throw off heat
from its upper surface where heat is not applied to it. The main and branch
pipes Icading to the distant range of pans also throw off much heat. And
again, the jacket or double bottom of the pan obviously must expose a greater
amount of cooling surface to the air externally than the pan within it does of
heating surface to the steam; and if wo add to this the cooling down of the
condensed water, the waste of steam blowing through the pipes, and the
supply of cold water to the boiler, there will be no difficulty in comprehendtng
the enormous waste of fuel by this system of evaporating fluids. Nor is this
the only disadvantage, for the loss of steam heat renders it necessary in the
first instance to provide an increased size of steam boiler, so as to supply the
requisite quantity of heat in addition to that lost in the manner described,
and a series of double pans with their complication of pipes and sluices, the
great expence of which and their liability to derangement must offer a great
obstacle to the introduction of such apparatus into the sugar-growing colonies.
And some attempts have also been made to construct and employ double
vessels in one compartment, of which water has been placed to be converted
into steam to act upon the bottom of the other compartment containing the
juice or syrup, but not in such a practical form as to render the same useful,

page_text: and it is the adaptation of this latter principle, under certain modifications,
which constitutes the first part of my
Invention.
I have thus briefly described the modes commonly practised, and which
have been proposed, of evaporating cane-juice in open pans, and stated some
of the most prominent defects to which they are subject, in order that the
nature and objects of this portion of my Invention may be better understood.
On Sheet A of the Drawings I have represented a pan for concentrating
saccharine fluids, constructed according to parts of my improvements.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section on the line A, B, of Figure 3; Figure 2
is an elevation of the fire doors; Figure 3, a plan; and Figure 4, a cross
section on the line C, D, of Figure 3. a is a semi-cylindrical boiler, having
a concave top or partition b extending its whole length. This partition en-
closes the lower part of the boiler and renders it a tight-steam chamber,
while the same concave partition forms also the bottom of an open evaporating
pan c, divided into any convenient number of separate chambers by parti-
tions d. On reference to Figure 1 it will be seen that the partitions & extend
downwards between the plates forming the partition 6, and are there rivetted
to the angle irons e in such manner that in addition to dividing the pan into
compartments, so that different portions of the fluid under process may be in
different stages of progress, the partitions d shall form a powerful support
to the concave top of the boiler and resist the internal pressure of the steam
thercon; and to still further strengthen this part of the pan there are arched
shape pieces of plate f rivetted to the under side of the partition b, which
pieces also serve as stays to the boiler. g are the fire doors, made in a similar
manner to those generally used in steam boilers. The fire is made at h and
steam generated in the boiler, which steam will transmit its heat through the
partition and evaporate the saccharino fluid contained in the chambers
above, while the condensed water will drop back into the mass below without
any other reduction in temperature except that which it has given out to the
saccharine fluid. A safety valve and guage cocks, not shewn in the Drawing,
are to be fixed on to the boiler, but the steam should be kept below the
pressure of this valve that no water be lost from the boiler, and then the
destructive effects on the boiler and waste of fuel consequent on incrustation
will be avoided. The liquor as it increases in density is to be ladled as usual
from each compartment of the pan and "skipped" from the smaller one. This
is the simplest form of what by way of distinction I designate as my improved
"boiler pan." It will at once be perceived that the evaporating pans and
the steam boiler also are made with about the same quantity of metal as
would be used alone in completing the usual cylindrical form of steam boiler

page_text: and fire tube j.
of the same diameter; that these pans occupy no more space and cost no
more fixing than the mere boiler that supplies steam to an ordinary set
of steam pans; that no heat is lost by radiation from the top of the boiler;
and that the other sources of loss of heat from the pipes and jackets of steam
pans before referred to is also wholly avoided. But with a little additional
weight of metal a still further economy of fuel may be obtained, that is, by
constructing the steam boiler part of the pan after the mode of construction
known as "Cornish boilers." This modification is also represented on Sheet A
of the annexed Drawings, where Figure 5 is a longitudinal section on the line
E, F, of Figure 7; Figure 6, a cross section through the boiler pan and
furnace; Figure 7, a plan; and Figure 8, an elevation of the fire doors,
safety valve, &c. is the space occupied with water and containing the fire
At the further end of the boiler there is an opening at k
leading into the side flue 1, through which the heated matters from the fire
pass back again to the front of the boiler, and passing a short cross fluc
beneath the boiler again proceed along the flue m, and finally escape into the
chimney. By this arrangement much heat absorbed by the brickwork of the
other form of boiler is here applied to the generating of steam, the bricks are
not so rapidly destroyed, and the great extent of heating surface presented in
the fire tube and flues are well calculated to absorb a large amount of caloric
from the fuel under combustion. It will also be perceived that these boiler
pans, although applicable to the combustion of cane trash, are equally so for
the combustion of coal, as the steam will diffuse itself equally under the
boiling syrup, notwithstanding the much greater intensity of heat at the furnace
end. The upper part of this boiler also forms the ovaporating pans, as before
described, with reference to Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4. The angle irons are
placed exterior to the chambers occupied by the saccharine fluid, the joints
being what are generally called "butt joints," and the rivets countersunk so
as to form a smooth and even bottom to the pans, and afford every facility
for cleansing them. In Figure 8 I have shewn the safety valve n and guage
cocks p for testing the level of the water. r are the fire doors; s, s, are the
flue doors; and t, a door to damp the fire if required, by regulating the
supply of atmospheric air thereto. In both the modifications of boiler pans
herein-before described the liquor as it increases in density is to be ladled from
one compartment to the other, and "skipped" from the last one in a concen-
trated state in a manner well understood when teches are employed. This
operation of ladling is very laborious, and otherwise objectionable; I have
therefore arranged a plan wherein this manual operation is rendered unneces-
sary, and the evaporation of the fluid allowed to go on continuously.

page_text: On Sheet B, of the annexed Drawings, a boiler pan suitable for carrying out
this part of my Invention is represented, Figure 1 being a longitudinal section
on the line A, B, of Figure 3; Figure 2, a cross section through the boiler pan
and furnace; Figure 3, a plan; and Figure 4, an elevation of the fire doors,
safety valve, and cocks. The general arrangements of this boiler pan are
similar to those herein lastly described, the difference consisting in making a
much greater number of compartments to be occupied by the saccharine fluid,
which is allowed to flow from a cock a into the first compartment b of the pan,
from which it flows through openings at c, see Figure 2, into the compartment
through holes made in the partition d, and from thence through openings at f
made in the partition 9, and so on, by a to and fro movement, traversing the
whole of the compartments of the pan in the direction indicated by arrows, as
shewn in Figure 3, until it arrives at the last compartment h of the pan, from
which it may be allowed to flow by the spout i, herein-after more particularly
described) into the cooler or crystallizing vessel; but if it is desired to complete
the final concentration of the syrup in vacuo, then the supply pipe to the
vacuum pan may dip into the liquid in the compartment h, and the spout i be
dispensed with; in either case the labour of ladling the liquor is entirely
avoided, a regularly graduated increase of density is preserved in the syrup, and
the great disadvantage of allowing the level of the liquor to become lower as the
evaporation of the fluid progresses is also most effectually guarded against, and
at the same-time-it-will-be-observed-that-from-the-comparative-shallowness-of-
the various modifications of boiler pans herein represented that a very great
amount of heating and evaporating surface is presented in proportion to the
quantity of fluid under operation at any one time, and consequently the
average time to which the syrup is exposed to the injurious effects produced
thereon by a high temperature, is in like manner diminished. In order
to increase the evaporative power of these boiler pans I sometimes place
therein a number of thin metal tubes, as also represented on Sheet B of the
annexed Drawings, Figure 5 being longitudinal section thereof on the line
A, B, of Figure 7, Figure 6 a cross section, Figure 7 a plan, and Figure 8
an elevation of the fire and flue doors, the safety valve and guage cocks being
omitted in this Figure, but are to be used as represented in the elevation,
Figure 4, on this Sheet. This modification of boiler pan is constructed on the
general principles of the one herein-before described, but differing therefrom
in the use of the tubes, for which purpose the ends of the steam boiler part
of the pan project at the ends slightly beyond the part containing the saccha-
rine fluid, as represented at a, a, Figure 5, where the end plates b, b, of the
evaporating vessel have holes made in them to receive the ends of the tubes f,
f

page_text: which are securely fastened therein by ferules in a manner well understood.
The tubes are placed parallel to each other, and pass through the partitions
c, c, of the pan, and are open to the steam at both ends, so that the steam, as
it condenses in them by their contact with the syrup, is at once returned in
the state of hot water to the boiling mass below, while the heat thus
transmitted will immediately increase the rate of evaporation. The clarified
saccharine juice is admitted by the cock 9 at one end of the pan, and after
traversing its various compartments is to be drawn off in a concentrated state
in preference by a sluice of the construction shewn in Figure 5, and on a
larger scale in section in Figure 9, and in elevation at Figure 10, Sheet B.
Between the end plate 6 of the pan, and the end plate h of the lower or boiler
part thereof is rivetted a ring or collar of metal i; the samo rivets which
secure it also serve to attach a metal cone piece j, into which the male cone /
is accurately fitted. This latter piece terminates in a bent spout '; it has a
handle projecting from it, and is secured in its place by a collar m, having
screws n passing through it for that purpose. When the operation of boiling
is going on the spout ' will be turned upwards, as shown by dots at ;
and when it is desired to draw off the concentrated syrup, the handle lis
moved until the mouth of the spout is a little below the level of the syrup in
the pan; it will then commence to flow out, and will continue to do so so
long as the supply is kept up at the other end of the pan. But it will bo
observed that this description of sluice, although left open for the free escape
of the syrup, will not, if left unattended to or from other circumstances, empty
the pan, but should it be required it can, by the further turning of it round,
be made to do so. In the various modifications of the boiler pan herein-before
described the top of the boiler has been concave; but it is obvious that this
may be reversed, as shewn at r, in Figure 11, Sheet B, where the upper part of
the boiler is convex, and if it be desired to have an extremely small quantity of
saccharine fluid under operation at a time the top of the boiler may be made
flat, as shewn at s, Figuro 12, Sheet B, the flat top being strengthened by arch-
shaped ribs t internally, and also by the partitions on the upper side; this
form of pan has a slanting flange v extending along both its sides to prevent
the boiling over of the fluid. It has also two return flue tubes w in addition to
the fire tube a.
I have herein-before shewn certain modifications of the boiler pan in
which the saccharine fluid has to be ladled from one division of the pan to
another, the labour of doing which may be prevented by placing each com-
partment of the pan on a higher level than the one immediately next it,
so that the contents of one compartment may be drawn off into the one next

page_text: it by a cock or sluice. The mode of carrying this into effect is represented in
Sheet C of the annexed Drawings, where Figure 1 is a longitudinal section on
the line A, B, of Figure 3, Figure 2 a cross section on the line C, D, of
Figure 1, Figure 3 a plan, and Figure 4 an elevation of the furnace and flue
doors. The clarified juice is to be first supplied into the upper compartment a
of the pan, and when reduced sufficiently in quantity is let into the second
compartment b through the cock c, and here undergoes a further amount of
concentration, when it will be let into the lower compartment d by means of the
cock e, and is here to be brought to the final point of concentration, and drawn
off by the cock finto the coolers to crystallize; or it may be drawn off from
this pan at a less degree of density, and be brought to the required density in
a vacuum pan or otherwise. The safety valve and guage cocks are omitted in
Figure 4, but are to be used as beforo directed for other pans, otherwise the
general arrangements of this pan resemble so nearly those before described as
not to require a more detailed description of them here. I wish it to be under-
stood that many modifications and arrangements of the boiler pan herein
described are intended to suit the particular local or other circumstances
under which they may be used, as well as to suit the nature of the previous or
after operations which may be considered necessary in the treatment of the
saccharine fluid to be evaporated therein.
Among the local circumstances which exert a powerful influence on the mode
of producing sugar, none is greater than the want of an adequate supply of water,
so much felt in the islands of Barbadoes and Antigua, where the general use of
steam to drive the mills and to boil the cane juice has been considered wholly
impracticable, in consequence of the scarcity of water. It is well known, that
for every pound of Muscavado sugar produced from cane juice about six pounds
of water must be evaporated from the juice, and it therefore follows that on
an estate making only three tons of sugar per day, that about eighteen tons of
water are driven off into the atmosphere and wasted. Now, my Invention has
further for its object the boiling of cane juice by steam heat, the generating of
motive power, and the obtaining of water from the juice of the cane in those
localitics where the want of water has hitherto been supposed to offer an
insuperable objection to the use of steam in the manufacture of sugar. The
mode of carrying into effect this part of my Invention is represented on Sheet C
of the Drawings annexed, where Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of my
improved boiler, taken on the line A, B, of Figure 7. Figure 6 is a cross
section, Figure 7 a plan, and Figure 8 an elevation of the fire doors, &c.
This boiler is a complete cylindrical vessel, having a fire tube h in the lower
part thereof, as is usual in Cornish boilers. Above the fire tube there is a

page_text: concave partition i, which divides it into two chambers, the lower one.con-
taining water for the purpose of supplying steam for evaporation of the cane
juice in the upper part of the boiler, in a manner herein-before described;
but it will be observed that the boiler pan differs from them, in being a close
vessel. The upper part is covered with a course of bricks j, to prevent the
escape of heat; the upper chamber is provided with a manhole k for gaining
access to the interior if required. It has also a steam pipe and valve l, leading
to a steam engine, and is also provided with a safety valve m, having a long
pierced copper pipe n attached thereto to prevent "priming." The lower or
water space is also to be provided with guage cocks and a safety valve,. as
herein-before described with reference to similar pans, but which. are. omitted
in Figure 8; the upper part may also have a glass guage, to shew the level
of the saccharine juice. An ordinary condensing engine may be used in
connection with this boiler, and steam equal to or above atmospheric pressure,
produced by the evaporation of the saccharine fluid, may be used therein to
produce motive power; and the engine is to be provided with a force pump,
to inject a certain quantity of cane juice, at low density, at one end of the
boiler; and a pump, also worked by the engine, will remove a smaller quantity
at the opposite end of the boiler pan, in order thus progressively to remove the
more concentrated portions of the fluid. I also place a series of partitions r
in the boiler pan, with holes communicating with cach other on opposite sides,
so that the cane juice must traverse the whole of these compartments..before
it can be discharged by the pump at the opposite end. By this arrangement
any desired amount of concentration. which may be considered desirable may
be attained with facility; but, in order to obtain the most-advantageous
results, as far as regards the quality of the sugar and the economy of fuel, I
recommend that the steam engine, to be worked by the steam coming from
the boiler pan, should be made with its cylinder of about double the diameter
of an ordinary low pressure engine, to obtain the desired power, and-to-cause-
the steam to pass from the boiler pan at a proportionably-low degree of
pressure, so that the syrup in the-boiler-pan-may-be-evaporated. considerably
below the atmospheric pressure. By this mode of boiling it will be perceived
that the saccharine juice will have the advantage of being boiled at a com-
paratively low degree of temperature, requiring thereby a less quantity of fuel
-for-its-evaporation. It will also have the advantage resulting from the
application of steam heat instead of the naked fire; it will have produced
motive power for working the machinery of the mill, and have supplied, a large
quantity of water. In order to obtain the requisite quantity of cold water for
condensation, I construct a series of tanks, or, as they are. sometimes called;

page_text: cooling ponds, each tank holding enough for one day's supply, so that they
may be used in succession while the contents of the others are cooling, in
order to be used in turn. It will be obvious that the steam, after working in
the engine, and also the hot water from the condenser, may be used to bring
up the temperature of the cold cane juice. When a boiler of this kind is
intended to be used, it will be found preferable to give the cane juice a smart
boil in an open pan, and reduce it about one fourth by evaporation, in order that
the scum produced by the further coagulation of albuminous matters in the
operation of boiling may be removed from it before it enters the steam boiler.
After having been pumped out from the boiler, the syrup may be concentrated
to the proper pitch for "skipping," in a vacuum pan or otherwise.
To the different modifications of the boiler pan, herein-before described, the cane
juice or other saccharine fluid is supplied to the pan after the process of clarifi-
cation has been effected in another pan or vessel; but, as it is desirable that the
evaporation should follow as rapidly as possible the extraction of the vegetable
juice, I have arranged a boiler pan so that the defecation and concentration of
the juice may go on simultaneously in the same compartmental vessel. The appa-
ratus for carrying into effect this part of my said Invention is represented in
Sheet D of the annexed Drawings, where Figure 1 is a longitudinal section on
the line A, B, of Figure 2, which is a plan of the same. Figure 3 is an elevation
of the fire doors, safety valve, &c. Figure 4 is a cross section on the line C, D,
of Figure 2; Figure 5 is a cross section on the line E, F, of Figure 2; and
Figure 6 is also a cross section on the line G, H, of Figure 2. The cano
juice or other saccharine fluid, after having been mixed with a proper quantity
of lime, or other chemical matter to be used as a defecating agent, is admitted
by the cock into the compartment a of the boiler pan. This mixture of the
lime or other matters may be performed in any convenient way. From the
compartment a, the fluid is allowed to flow through holes made at a¹ in the
partition b, and after traversing the compartment e, it will pass through holes
at c' in the partition d, next traverse the compartment e, and, passing through
holes e in the partition f (see Figure 4), will reach the compartment g, in
which there is a wide horizontal spout h, leading into a sieve i¹, from which
the clear liquor will run into the compartment j, while the coagulated albu-
minous matters and vegetable fibre will be retained in the sieve, from which it
is to be removed from time to time by a scraper. The sieve i is a sort of
curve shallow tray, made of copper, and having holes at i', beneath which wire
gauze or other suitable filtering media is fixed, the pierced copper serving to
protect such material from injury by the scraper, by which the scum is brought
forward towards the operator, along the curved tray i, until it falls over the

page_text: side of the brickwork, where it may be received in a suitable receptacle. The
sieve i need not be very fine, as it is intended only to separate the grosser
parts of the coagulated and other matters, which will be thrown up previously
to the liquor reaching the boiling point. The heat applied should be such
that the boiling of the liquor will take place in the compartment j, which will
have the effect of throwing up more of the impurities from the compartment j.
The juice will flow by the spout into a sieve k, similar to the sieve i already
described, but differing from it in having the wire gauze or other filtering material
much finer. The matters retained in the sieve / may be removed in the manner
before described, while the clear liquor will fall into the compartment 7, in which
evaporation should be going on rapidly. The partition m has holes in it below the
surface of the liquor through which it flows into the compartment n, and from
which it also flows into the compartment o, following the direction of the arrows,
and passing over the spout p is received into the last sieve g. The effect of
boiling and evaporating which has taken place in the compartments n, o, will
have produced more scum, which it is very desirable to remove before the
syrup becomes so viscid as to prevent its removal; the sieve q should
therefore be very fine, so as effectually to separate the small remaining
impurities, and allow the liquor to flow in as puro a state as possible into the
compartment r, from whence it will flow by a circuitous route through the com-
partments s, t, u, and v, from which it may be drawn off by a plug w and pipe x
into the coolers, or the final concentration may be carried on in a vacuum pan
or other vessel. As it is desirable to effect the process of evaporation as
rapidly as possible, and as this becomes more difficult as tho density of the
syrup increases, I have placed in the compartments r, s, t, u, and v, a series of
thin metal pipes y which are open at both ends to the steam compartment of
the boiler pan; and as it may in some cases be desirable to make a larger fire
place than be conveniently used in a "Cornish boiler," and also to render the
boiler pan more suitable for the use of wood or megass as fuel, I have
herein shown a modification resembling what is generally known as the
Butterley boiler, in which the fire is not made in an internal tube, as in the
Cornish one, but is made below an arched recess formed on the under side and
at one end of the boiler, as represented at A, Figures 1, 4, and 5, Sheet D,
from the back part of which arched recess there proceeds four flue tubes B,
which pass through the water space of the boiler and communicate with the
external side flues in a manner well understood. The objections frequently
urged against this convenient and powerful form of boiler are, that the crown
or arch A is apt to be crushed by the internal pressure of the steam, and the
ides of the boiler at C, C, Figure 5, forced out, and also the liability of over

page_text: heating the plates of the boiler in consequence of the accumulation of mud
at the parts marked D, D, Figure 5. To prevent these evils from arising I
carry up stout vertical plates of iron at E, E, Figures 1 and 4, which are
rivitted at their upper edge to the under side of the pan or top of the boiler as
it may otherwise be called. The lower side of these plates are arched to suit
the arch A, and are rivetted thereto by double sets of anglo irons; and the ends
of these plates are also secured by angle irons to the outside shell of the boiler,
so that the collapse of the arch A, and the forcing out of the sides at C, are
effectually provided against. Through these vertical stay plates there are holes
G, G, for the free circulation of steam and water from one compartment
to another of the boiler; the objection that the accumulation of mud at the
parts D, D, will be injurious, does not apply to a boiler of this description,
which has merely to vaporize the same water again and again. The steam
compartment of this boiler pan is provided with a safety valve J, and also a
guage cock not shewn in the Drawing; there is a copper pipe K pierced with
holes in connection with the safety valve to prevent priming. Beneath the
firo doors L there is a pair of folding doors M opening inwards into the
ashpit N, which are for the purpose of regulating the quantity of air admitted
to the furnace and for damping the fire if required.
In all cases where the evaporation of saccharine fluids are carried on in open
pans on a large scale, more or less inconvenience has been felt by the workpeople
from the large quantities of steam evolved therefrom; nor is this the only disad-
vantage, for the admission of so much moisture to the atmosphere above the pores
retards the process of evaporation. Now in order to avoid this inconvenience
I use covers of wood or other suitable bad conductor of heat, which are large
enough to cover one or more compartments of a pan, as shown in Figure 1,
Sheet E, of the annexed Drawings, which is a cross section of a boiler pan to
which this arrangement is applied. a is the side wall of the building, against
which the pan is set; b is an opening in the wall, extending the whole length
of the pan; c is the wood cover, which may be made in several lengths for
the greater convenience of lifting when required, at which time they are
moved on the hinge d, and may lean back against the wall a; e is a trunk of
sheet iron extending along the side of the pan, and placed upon the side wall
of the furnace. There is a long and narrow slit or opening f extending
throughout its whole length, and made at such an angle to the surface of the
liquor in the pan, that a current of air escaping from the trunk e through the
opening will be directed on to the surface of the fluid, and drive the steam
before it through the opening 6 into the open air, and thus prevent its
diffusion in the boiling house for the purpose of producing the requisite

page_text: current of air. I prefer the use of the centrifugal air disc or blowing pan,
the blast pipe from which must be made to communicate with one end of the
trunk e. The current of air, thus forcibly impinging on the boiling fluid, will
also assist the process of evaporation, and reduce the temperature of the
syrup, and may be advantageously employed in a separate pan to effect the
final concentration of the syrup after having been brought nearly to the
required density in either of the boiler pans herein-before described.
As the quantity of saccharine fluid evaporated in a given time depends upon
the amount of heating and evaporating surface, and not upon the depth or
quantity of liquor under operation, and as it is desirable to expose saccharine
fluids for as short a time as possible, I have devised a means of encreasing
the evaporative power of the boiler pan without a corresponding increase in
the size of the steam boiler part thereof, and without adding to the quantity of
liquor under operation. This form of apperatus is shown in section in Figure 2,
Sheet E; that part of the pan which contains the saccharine fluid is made to
extend in width beyond the steam boiler h, as shewn at i; the bottom of the
pan is made slanting from each side to the centre, and is strengthened on the
inside by ribs j, and on the upper side by the partitions of the pan.
In consc-
quence of the nearly flat bottom of this pan, the depth of liquor may be less
than those with the curved bottom, and therefore an increased heating
surface is given to the same quantity of fluid. The parts i are made double,
having strips of bar iron or boiler plate placed between them at short
intervals apart, through which the rivets pass, and thus the double part is
rendered secure from any bulging by the pressure of the steam within, so that
the overhanging sides of the pan have a sort of jacket or double bottom, into
which steam from the boiler is allowed to enter through openings m, and
through which openings the condensed water may also return. It will be
observed that this mode of partial jacketing of the pan is not subject to the
loss of heat usually attending the use of the jacket, because it is not exposed
to the air, but is placed above the side flues and is in a position more cal-
culated to receive an accession of heat than to loose it.
In those cases where the final concentration of saccharine fluid is intended
to be carried on in an open pan, I sometimes make at one end of the pan a
larger compartment than the rest, as shewn at r, Figure 8, Sheet E, where a
plan of a boiler is shewn, in which this modification is exemplified. The
smaller compartments s, s, have holes in the partition which separate them, so
placed with reference to each other as to cause the liquor to take a
serpentine course in its progress from one end of the pan to the other.
The compartment r, which in this case serves the purpose of what is usually

page_text: called the striking tech," is provided with a cock t, by which the
syrup may be drawn off into the coolers as soon as it is found to be of the
required density; the cock is then closed and the sluice u opened, so that
the compartment is again filled with syrup from the other compartments
of the pan; the sluice is then closed and the liquor allowed to accumulate
in the compartments s while another quantity of syrup is being brought
up to the proper density in the compartment r.
I have herein-before described several modifications of open boiler pans for
evaporating saccharine fluids, each one possessing some peculiarity which may
render it cheaper, more economical, or more suitable to particular localities or
more desirable from other circumstances, and have herein to the best of my
knowledgo made known the nature of this first part of my said Invention; but
I wish it to be understood that I do not confine or limit myself to the precise
details herein-before described and represented in the annexed Drawings, as it
is evident that many modifications may be made. And I also wish it to be
understood, that although I have herein mentioned cane juice as the fluid to
be evaporated, that these boiler pans are equally applicable to the concentrating
of saccharine fluids obtained from the beetroot, or other vegetable substances
from which sugar may be obtained, as well as for the evaporation of solutions
of sugar in the process of refining.
. Secondly, with regard to my Invention in forming a partial vacuum in pans
or vessels used for concentrating saccharine fluids by means of the vapor or
steam arising therefrom, which is made to act on a piston in connection with
an air pump and condenser, and thus supplies the motive power for its own
exhaustion; and also in another form of apparatus in which rotary motion is
produced by the emission of steam and water in the condenser, such steam
being produced by the evaporation of the saccharine fluid in the vacuum pan,
and which apparatus is otherwise applicable for exhausting and forcing fluids;
and also with regard to my Invention of a mode of heating such vacuum pans
by means of steam generated in a lower and separate compartment of the
same pan or boiler. The vacuum pan generally employed for concentrating
saccharine fluids consists of two large concave pieces or basins of copper, one
being inverted over the other; the upper one is generally hemispherical or
nearly so, and the lower one much more shallow, and is rivited into a cast iron
pan which forms a steam jacket; it has also a large coil of copper pipe in its
interior, through which steam circulates from a high-pressure boiler; steam is
also admitted to the space between the jacket and the bottom of the pan,
which is provided with a condensed water pipe and cock, a steam sluice to
shut off or turn on the steam, and sundry other appliances which are well

page_text: understood. The hemispherical form supposed to be necessary to support the
external pressure of the atmosphere renders their construction very expensive,
in consequence of the great lábor necessary to produce this form in metal.
In addition to the great cost of copper of which it is made, this form also
renders it necessary that the steam pipe in its interior should be formed
of copper, as no other suitable metal could be conveniently formed into a coil
of pipe of such large diameter as is required when a single and continuous:
length of pipe is used; the vacuum is formed in such pans by'air pumps and a
condenser, worked by a steam engine in a manner well understood. In
addition to the great original cost of such an apparatus it will be perceived:
that it is also wasteful in its operation, for much lieat is lost from the upper
part of the steam boiler and pipes as well as from the jacket of the pan;:
besides which the steam boiler must be of sufficient capacity to generate steam
enough to work the-steam engine. and pumps. required to maintain a vacuumi
in the condenser. I will now proceed to show the manner in which I construct
a vacuum pan, so that the labor of forming hemispherical basins is avoided;
while an ample amount of strength is given to resist the atmospheric pressure..
The way in which the use of copper is dispensed with, and also the trouble of
forming the heating tubes into a coil, and the manner in which the loss of heat
from the sources herein lastly explained is also entirely prevented by the
combination of the vacuum pan and boiler in one vessel, and also in what
manner the vapour arising from the saccharine fluid in the pan is made. to
work a direct acting steam engine and pump, and thus keep up its own:
exhaustion without any further expenditure of fuel for that purpose.On:
Sheet F of the annexed Drawings this apparatus is represented, Figure 1.
being a longitudinal elevation of the vacuum pan and exhausting apparatus;
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section taken vertically through the centre ofi
Figure 1; Figure 3 is a cross section of the pan on the line A, B, of Figure 1;
and Figure 4 is a front elevation of the exhausting apparatus. The vacuum
pan a is of a cylindrical form, having a fire tube and fireplace 6, within
the lower part of it; the pan is divided into two compartments by a curved:
partition c, to the under side of which there are a series of arched plates d,
having openings e made through them for the circulation of the steam. These
arched shaped pieces are secured by double angle irons to the under side of the.
partition.c, and are for the purpose of preventing it from being bulged out by
the pressure of the steam within the lower compartment of the same vessel..
The heated matters from the furnace pass through an opening made in one side.
of the fire tube and pass from thence into the side fluo f, and escaping thence
under the fireplace enter the opposite side flue f, from which they are led off

page_text: into the chimney by an underground flue; the furnace is provided with doors
gas usual, and a damper plate h in front of the ash pit to regulate the
supply of air to the furnace. There must also be attached to the lower and
upper compartments of the pan a safety valve, and also guage cocks to
ascertain the level of the fuel in both compartments of the pan; one end of
the
pan
is built up against the wall i, so that fuel is supplied to the pan from
the next room or from the exterior of the building. In order to increase the
evaporating power of the pan I have placed a row of straight tubes j therein,
which can be fixed after the manner of fixing the tubes in locomotive boilers;
these tubes are open at both ends to the steam in the lower compartment of
the pan, which is a little longer than the upper part on purpose to afford
entrance room for the steam into these tubes. The syrup after having been
brought to the right density is drawn off through an opening k, the mouth-
piece of which may be fastened on a hinge joint or secured in any other
convenient way; the pan is also provided with a pipe and cock for refilling,
and should have a proof stick and peep holes as is usual in vacuum pans in
general use. On the upper part of the pan there is a tall chamber a¹, having
a perforated cone within it; from the upper part of this cone the steam pipe
m proceeds and is connected with the engine; the object of the perforated cone is
to prevent "priming." On the pipem there is a sluice valve n, having a rod o
and handle p for the purpose of opening and shutting it; the handle p has formed
upon it an eccentric, by which the valve is moved; there is also a pipe q leading
from the lower part of the pan (occupied with high-pressure steam) into the pipe
m; the pipe q has also a branch pipe r and cocks, for the purpose of admitting
to the upper part steam from the lower compartment of the pan, before letting
out the sugar from it. There is also another cock t, for the purpose of blowing
through the engine and starting it when the operations are commenced for
the day. The steam which is produced by the evaporation of any saccharine
fluid in the upper compartment of the pan is conducted by the pipe m into
the slide box A of the engine, and by a D slide of the ordinary construction
the steam is delivered into the cylinder D alternately on both sides of the
piston B, and, after escaping through the centre waste port C, passes down-
wards in a passage cased out in the metal of the slide box, and by means of
the pipe E is conveyed to the condenser F, in which is fitted the brass
cylinder G of the air pump, the piston H of which is solid, and has no valves.
It is fixed on the same rod I as the steam piston. There is a large loop
or opening formed in the middle of this rod, as shewn by dots in Figure 4,
as to admit the crank J and connecting rod K to work within it. L is the
crank shaft, supported at one end by the plummer block M, which is bolted

page_text: to the column N, which forms the main framing of the engine. The other
end of the shaft L carries the fly wheel O, and is supported in a plummer
block let into the wall of the building. The cover of the air-pump cylinder
has a number of small holes made diagonally therein, which are covered by a
ring of vulcanized india rubber P, above which is a thin metal guard, to
prevent the valves lifting too high. The cylinder cover has a stuffing Q,
to keep the cylinder air-tight. The valves P open into a chamber R, formed
in the base of the column N; this chamber is provided with a cover S, to
prevent splashing, and has also an outlet at T, so high up in the chamber as
always to keep water therein above the valves and stuffing-box. The lower end of
the air-pump cylinder is open to the condenser, and is provided with holes U
in the sides of it, for the admission of water and air or uncondensed vapors
above the piston. The supply of cold water to the condensor is regulated
by the cock V, which has a rod and handle W, for the purpose of commu-
nicating readily with it; the water so let into the condensor is free to circulate
in the annular space X, and flow over it and run down the inside of the
condenser, and thus present a large surface for condensation. Any undue
accumulation of water in the condenser can be let off through the pipe Y and
cock Y*, which has also a rod extending upwards, and a handle similar to the
handle W, by which it can be turned when required; this cock also serves
for blowing through steam before starting the engine. Tho action of the
apparatus is as follows:-Steam of a pressure of about ten pounds per
square inch less than atmospheric pressure is admitted to one side of the
steam piston, while the other side of it is made to communicate with the
condenser, in which a vacuum is produced by condensation equal to about
fourteen pounds less pressure than the atmosphere; the steam on the
piston will thus have an effective pressuro for producing motion equal to
four pounds per square inch over the whole area of the steam piston,
which may be made much larger in proportion to its weight and strength than
is usual, in consequence of the low pressure of the steam; for the same reason,
also, the crank shaft, fly wheel, and other parts of the engine may be made
very light, since the use of the fly wheel and crank in this case is merely to
regulate the motion of the engine, and cause it to turn the centres at each
end of the stroke. The mode of working the steam slide is by an excentric Z,
keyed on the crank shaft, which communicates by a rod 1 to the rocking
lever 2, to the opposite end of which the slide rod is attached. The air-pump
piston, which moves simultaneously with the steam piston, discharges the
contents of its cylinder through the valves ut every up stroke, and draws a
vacuum at each down stroke, in completing which the pap piston passes

page_text: below the holes, and in doing so establishes a communication between the
condenser and the vacuum formed in the pump cylinder, so that water and
air from the condenser rush therein to restore the equilibrium; and the
piston, rising, covers over the holes, and prevents the escape of these matters
back to the condenser, and towards the termination of its up stroke discharges
them into the chamber. A pipe, not shewn in the Drawings, should also be
made to communicate between the vacuum pan and the condenser, and a
valve loaded, so as to lift whenever the steam in the pan was at a pressure
of less than ten pounds below the atmosphere, so that no accumulation of
steam could take place in the upper compartment of the pan. If the
quantity of steam diminishes, the engine will work more slowly; if it
increases above the desired point, it would then lift the valve and escape into
the condenser, and thus a partial vacuum may be maintained by using the
steam generated by the saccharine fluid by its own evaporation.
I have herein-before 'described several different modifications of open
evaporating pans, in which the syrup may be concentrated to the desired
extent, and then finished in a vacuum pan; but to prevent the necessity of two
fires being employed, and for the general convenience of the process, I have
combined a vacuum pan and open pan, so as to form one vessel, which is
represented on Sheet E of the annexed Drawings, where Figure 4 is a cross
section on the line A, B, of Figure 5; Figure 5 is a longitudinal vertical section
through the centre of the pan; and Figure 6-is a cross section on the line
C, D, of Figure 5.. A, A, are the open compartments of the pan. B, a part
enclosed by the boiler, being made cylindrical, and divided from the water
space by a partition C, thus forming a close chamber or vacuum pan. The
steam generated therein passes off to the condenser by the pipe E, beneath
the mouth of which there is a curved piece of copper or other metal F
rendering it. necessary that the steam should be taken in from two opposite
directions. The piece F is enclosed in a similar one G, which is perforated
with numerous holes, for the passage of the steam, and is for the purpose of
preventing priming. Evaporation goes on in the open compartments A,
which communicate by holes with each other, as before described; into the one
next the enclosed part of the pan, there is a syphon-shaped tube H, having
a cock I upon it, for the purpose of admitting a charge of concentrated syrup
to the close pan when required, and which, on its arriving at the desired
point of density, is discharged from the pan by an opening J. The general
arrangements of the boiler in other respects is similar to those herein-before
described, and is provided with guage-cocks and safety-valve; that part

page_text: forming the vacuum pan is also to be provided with a safety-valve, proof
stick, and man hole, and may be exhausted by either of the modes herein
described of exhausting vessels.
In some cases where the vacuum pan may be used to evaporate saccharine
fluids, it becomes more important to lessen the first cost of the apparatus,
and to use such arrangements of machinery as are of the most simple kind,
even if the effects produced are not quite equal to that of a more elaborate
and expensive description of apparatus. To meet this requirement, I have
arranged an exhausting apparatus, for producing what may be called partial
vacuum in pans, that is, a state of exhaustion of about seven or eight pounds
per square inch below the pressure of the atmosphere. This apparatus is
represented in Sheet G of, the Drawings annexed, where Figure 13 is a
vertical section through the centre of it, Figure 14 a horizontal section on the
line A, B, of Figure 13; Figure 15 is an elevation of the only moving piece in
this apparatus; and Figure 16 is an elevation of the external casing in which
it works. 1 is a circular cast-iron case, having a cover 2 fitted to it. 3 are arms
cast in the case, for the purpose of supporting the shaft 4, which turns in a brass
bush fitted therein; in the lower part of the case there is a brass step 5 in
which the shaft 4 works. It has a hemispherical socket which forms a tight
joint, so that water, which is allowed to enter from a pipe attached below it
at 6 is at liberty to raise up the hollow part 4* of the shaft 4 without leakage
to an injurious extent. 7 is a pair of tubular arms, known as Barker's Mill,
through which injection water is admitted to the vessel 1; on the upper part of
the shaft 4 there is also a pair of steam emissive arms 9 of large diameter,
which are made to communicate by a pipe 8 with the vessel to be exhausted;
at 1 there is a conical division of the vessel 1; and immediately below it
there is a hollow disc 10 for discharging water and acriform fluids, and which
disc is also represented in Figures 9, 10, 11, and 12 on Sheet G, and is herein
more particularly described under the third head of my Invention. From the
lower part of the vessel 1 there is an outlet provided, with a valve 11 for the
discharge of condensed water and air that accumulates therein; when steam
is admitted from any boiler or vessel through the arms 9 and water through
the arms 7, the reactionary force produced by their emission will cause the
shaft 4 rapidly to rotate and carry with it the hollow dise 10, which will
discharge the water and uncondensed vapours into the lower compartment of
the case 1 from whence it will escape by the valve 11. In order to give
motion to this self-acting exhausting apparatus, it is necessary that the pressure
of steam in the pan should be several pounds per square inch more than the

page_text: pressure in the vessel 1. It will readily be understood how this apparatus may
also be otherwise applicable to exhausting or forcing fluids, for instance, if the
pipe 8 be made to communicate with the waste steam pipe of a high-pressure
engine, and the arms 9 are made sufficiently large not to cause any obstruction
to the free egress of the steam from the cylinder, the powerful action of the
blasts of steam that escape at every stroke will put the apparatus into powerful
action, condensing the steam and discharging the air and condensed water
through the valve 11.
Thirdly, with regard to my Invention in apparatus for producing a partial
vacuum in pans or vessels used in the manufacture and refining of sugar,
where the motive power required in the production of such partial vacuum is
to be supplied from a fall of water or other convenient source of motive power,
and not from the vapour of saccharine fluid, as herein-before described under
the second head of my Invention, and which apparatus is more particularly
applicable in those cases where a small amount of exhaustion is required, as
in the filtration of saccharine fluids, and in the "curing" of sugar herein-after
described, and which apparatus is otherwise applicable to the exhausting and
forcing of fluids. When it is required to, produce a partial vacuum in pans or
vessels used in the manufacture of sugar in those localities where water power,
can be readily obtained, it is desirable to avoid the expence of the steam-
engine, and apply a cheaper apparatus for exhausting than the one herein-before
described, for which-purpose I construct a centrifugal exhausting apparatus, as
represented on Sheet G of the Drawings annexed, which apparatus depends
for its action in withdrawing aeriform fluids on the known principle of currents
of water carrying air with them, when such aeriform fluids are allowed to
come in contact with water in rapid motion. In order to carry this principle of
fluids into operation for the purpose of obtaining a partial vacuum, I make
use of a modification of the centrifugal disc pump, in which the air or vapour
to be exhausted is brought in contact at numerous points with the rapid
currents of water, flowing through the radical partitions of the disc, which is
enclosed in a suitable iron case, and is so arranged as to take its supply of
water from the same vessel into which the water is discharged.
Figure 5, Sheet G, is a vertical section taken through the centre of the
apparatus. Figure 6 is an elevation of the centrifugal disc and shaft removed
from the casing. Figure 7 is a horizontal section on the line A, B, of Figure 6;
and Figure 8 is an elevation of the apparatus. a is a circular iron tank having
a cover b fitted thereto, the cover has a chamber 6' formed in the centre of it,
which chamber is also provided with a cover b; in the centre of the tank
there is an axis c working at foot in a brass bush, and at its upper end passing

page_text: through a stuffing box d formed in the small cover 62; the axis c has a pulley
wheel e keyed upon it, by which motion is communicated thereto by any first
mover. The axis c has also upon it a centrifugal disc formed of thin metal.
This disc has a large upper chamber f which communicates by a short nect with
the chamber b¹ at its entrance, into which there is a stuffing box and gland g; the
lower part of the disc is divided into a number of small compartments h, all of
which are open to the upper chamber f; between the compartments h are
formed radial passages i for the outflow of the water, which is taken into the
disc by the conical mouth j; in the sides of the compartments h there aro
small vertical openings leading into the water passages i. The flanged pipe k
having been connected with the vessel intended to be exhausted, and water
having been put into the tank a as high as the line a', and a rapid rotatory
motion being given to the disc, the water will immediately rise in the cone j
and be thrown out with great velocity through the passages i, and be received
into the tank a to be pumped over again and again, the rapid flow of water
through the passages i will cause the air to leave the compartments h and be
forced out along with it; this constant displacement of air from the compart-
ments will induce more to rush into the chamber f, and thus a continuous
exhausting operation will be kept up; the air or other vapors, alone or mixed
with water, will thus be passed rapidly through the disc and will become
separated in the tank, the air finding its way out of the pipe 7. On Sheet G I
have also shewn another apparatus for effecting the same object, but in which
the vis inertia of matter is made use of to effect the object instead of centri-
fugal force. Figure 9 is a vertical section of this apparatus taken through
the centre of it; Figure 10 is an elevation; Figure 11, a horizontal cross
section on the line A, B, of Figure 9; and Figure 12 is an elevation of the
whole of the moveable parts of this apparatus. m is a cylindrical iron vessel
having a cover n fitted to it; on the under side of the cover there is formed a
hollow chamber o, which has an enlarged part on one side o* in order that it
may have a free communication with the pipe p; this chamber is formed into
a sort of neck o, in this neck is fitted a short cylindrical piece of metal q,
which rests upon a flange formed about the mouth of the revolving disc or
drum r, and is for the purpose of preventing too great an amount of leakage
of water to the interior of the drum, whatever does pass through will imme-
diately be discharged at its periphery. The drum r consists of two plates of
thin metal placed a few inches apart, and connected at their periphery by a
band of metal, which is divided at six different parts which overlap each other,
and thus form a narrow vertical outlet at each of the places where the over-
lapping takes place. When such an apparatus is to be employed to exhaust

page_text: a vessel, it must be connected therewith by the pipe p, and water or
other suitable flued must be put into the vessel m as high as the line m¹.
To check as much as possible the tendency of the water to follow the
rotary motion of the drum, the radial projections m³ are cast on the
inside of the case, as represented in Figure 11. t is a stuffing box and
gland for the purpose of keeping the shaft u air-tight. The upper end
of this shaft has keyed upon it a drum w, by which motion is trans-
mitted from any first mover. The lower end of the shaft u works in a gun-
metal step v. When this apparatus is in a state of rest the water or other
fluid will occupy the interior of the drum, but as soon as a rapid rotary motion
is given to it the water will leave the drum; and as the projection caused by
the overlap of the periphery recedes it will be found that the water, by reason
of its vis inertia, will not instantly follow this receding projection, and a partial
vacuum will then be formed, which will be supplied by air or any seriform
fluid that can get access to the interior of the drum. By the rapid motion of
the drum these portions of air will be swept away, and, rising through the
fluid, will accumulate above its surface, and be discharged by the piper into
the atmospheric. In both the forms of apparatus for exhausting pans.or
vessels used in the manufacture of sugar, and herein lastly described, there is
one feature peculiar to them of much importance, which is, that in all cases
where the quantity of æriform fluid is apt to vary a powerful machine may be
used so as to insure-the-proper amount of exhaustion when the maximum
quantity of criform fluids are evolved, but as the quantity-diminishes no
greater amount of exhaustion will be produced; even if the evolution of the
æriform or gaseous matters were to cease altogether, no greatly increased
amount of exhaustion would be produced, as the power of these machines
depends upon the velocity at which they are driven, and not on the quantity of
matter to be extracted, which is directly opposite to the action of a common
exhausting pump, which admits of such an accumulation of air or vapor to
take place, if produced in larger quantities than usual, as to entirely destroy
the partial vacuum intended to be kept up, and, by a decrease of the supply.
the rarefaction may be carried in a few minutes to a most injurious extent in
those cases where it is necessary that only a limited amount of exhaustion be
maintained, as required in the process of filtration herein-after described.
In various stages of the manufacture of sugar the process of filtration 'is
required, and in all cases it is desirable to accomplish this object as rapidly as
possible. This is, however, to a great extent retarded by the coating of
deposit on the filter preventing its further action. To avoid this difficulty I
construct an apparatus, as represented in Sheet G, where Figure 1 is a vertical

page_text: gauze.
section; Figure 2, an elevation; Figure 3, a plan; and Figure 4, a sectional
plan, on the line A, B, of Figure 2. A is a cast-iron vessel, divided into two
compartments B and C. In the compartment B a drum D is made to revolve
slowly by means of a strap on the driving drum E. There is a pipe F for the
supply of liquor to be filtered. This pipe is made true at its lower end, and
has slots G made in it. The end of the pipe is closed by being screwed down
by a flange to the bottom of the semicircular enlargement A' of the vessel A.
His a float made to fit the outside of the pipe F, and thereby to close up the
openings G as the liquor rises in the vessel A, and to admit more as it sinks.
D is a drum made of perforated metal, and covered with wire
It may
also be covered, if required, with woollen cloth or other suitable pervious
material. The axis K is hollow, and has holes at K' communicating with
the interior of the drum. L is a tray, having openings made through each
end of it, which fit loosely on to the axis K. This tray is maintained in its
position by the weight M, which is attached to the under side of it. N, N,
are a series of small buckets for the purpose of lifting up the fluid which
passes into the interior of the drum, and discharging it into the tray L, from
which it escapes, by the holes K', through the hollow axis K, in the ends of
which there are stuffing boxes and glands P, for the purpose of forming an
air-tight communication with the exhausting machinery herein lastly described.
There are also stuffing boxes Q to prevent the escape of liquor at that part
where the axis of the drum passes out through the cistern A. The action of
the apparatus is as follows:-The cistern being supplied with the liquor
intended to be filtered, and the liquor pump attached to the end K³ of the
drum axis, and either modification of the exhausting apparatus herein lasting
described being also placed in connection with the end K of the axis of the
drum, the air is to be withdrawn thereby to a certain extent, through holes K³,
from the interior of the drum; the atmospheric pressure will then force the
liquor through the previous coating of the drum, and which will, by the revo-
lution of the drum, be lifted into the tray L, and be from thence drawn off by
the liquor pump.
As the filtration thus proceeds a deposit forms on the
exterior of the drum, which would soon impede its action; it is, therefore,
caused to revolve slowly in contact with a scraper R, which will remove it,
and allow it to fall into the compartment C of the vessel A. The surface of
the filter, thus cleansed, will then descend below the surface of the fluid in the
cistern, and become again charged with a deposit, and so on during the time
the apparatus is continued in motion. The supply of air entering the drum
through that part of it which is above the surface of the fluid varies consider-
ably, and it is essential that the apparatus for exhausting it should not have

page_text: the power of creating too powerful an exhaustion, or otherwise the filtration
will become imperfect; but the exhaustion must, however, be sufficient to
cause the liquor to enter the drum freely, or the process of filtration will be
much retarded; I, therefore, prefer to use for the purpose of exhausting such
filtering apparatus either of the forms of exhausting apparatus represented in
Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, Sheet G, and before described.
Fourthly, with regard to my Invention of certain apparatus!for " curing
sugar," by which apparatus the crystals of sugar are separated from the fluid
combined therewith.-In the manufacture of Muscavado or crude sugar from
cane juice, as at present generally carried on, the sugar, after having become
crystalised, is dug out and conveyed into brackets to the curing house, and it
is there put into hogsheads, which are placed on a strong framework over a
large cistern or draining floor, the bottom of the hogsheads having a few holes
made in them, through which the molasses are suffered to drain for some
weeks. But as the molasses soon become cooler and more biscid it parts with
difficulty from the crystals, to which some portion still adheres, rendering them
clammy and of a dark color, and imparting a flavor to the sugar resembling
treacle or burned sugar. In this imperfect state the sugar is generally
shipped, and during the voyage a further drainage takes place, by which a
great loss is sustained. In the process of refining crude 'sugar, as generally
practised in Great Britain, the solution of sugar is concentrated in a vacuum
pan, from which it is drawn off into a heater or large vessel, and there well
stirred up preparatory to its being ladled into comical iron moulds, the smaller
ends of which are placed into the mouths of earthen pots, into which the fluid
from the crystals of sugar is allowed to drain simply by its own gravity. To
further cleanse the crystals a saturated solution of sugar is poured from time
to time into the upper end of the mould, and is allowed gradually to drain
through the sugar and carry off much of the dark viscid matter that would
otherwise have been retained. Now the different modifications of apparatus
constituting this fourth branch of my said Invention are intended to reduce
the manual labor now expended in this process of the manufacture, to prevent
loss by drainage on the voyage, to economise the space now occupied by the
hogsheads or moulds during the draining process, to save time in the operation,
and to produce a cleaner and better sample of sugar than would be produced
from the same materials by the mode of curing in hogsheads herein described.
On Sheet H of the annexed Drawings I have represented an apparatus
-adapted for "curing sugar" in that state in which it is obtained after the
process of crystalization has taken place. Figure 1 is an end elevation;
Figure 2, a longitudinal elevation; Figure 3, a cross section on the line A, B,

page_text: of Figure 4, which is a longitudinal section on the line C, D, of Figure 7.
Figure 5 is a section of a three-way cock and parts adjoining, which is also
shewn in Figure 4, in the reverse position. Figure 6 is a cross section on the
line E, F, of Figure 4; Figure 7, a plan; Figures 8, 9, and 10, are details
of the rings constituting the pressing tube, which are shewn on a larger
scale; and Figures 11 and 12 are details shewing the position of certain
levers during the reversed position of the apparatus. a is a cast-iron bed
plate forming the main framework of the apparatus, and having a semi-
cylindrical cavity or trough extending along its whole length, as seen at a¹, in
Figures 3 and 6. 6 is a cylindrical frame of gun metal, truly bored on the
inside and fitted at one end to the block of gun metal c, a part of which enters
the cylindrical frame b. At c' in the centre of the block c the plug or key
of the three-way cock d is fitted, the large end thereof being secured from
leakage by a gland e, and stuffing box, in a manner well understood. The
block c is secured to the bed plate by stout bolts f, which pass upwards from
the under side of it, extending through the mass of iron a³, which forms a
division in the semi-cylindrical cavity or trough a¹, and also serves as a base
for the block c to rest upon. g is the cylinder of a force or plunger pump
secured to the block c by four bolts n, which pass through it, and are tapped
into four projections or lugs b', which form part of the cylindrical frame b, so
that the bolts n serve to secure the frame b and pump cylinder g firmly to the
block. is a plunger or piston working freely on the cylinder g, but is pre-
vented from leaking by the packing j, which is kept tight by a gland k, which
is screwed down upon it. The outer end of the plunger i is formed into a
sliding block , having a steel pin k passing through it, by which it is attached
in the usual way by a gib head to the connecting rod m, the other end of
which is also connected in a similar manner to the crank shaft 22. The bed
plate is formed on each side into a plummer block fitted with brasses and
caps a' in the usual way. The shaft n carries on it a fly wheel o for the
purpose of regulating and equalizing the motion of the apparatus. This
wheel is curved on its periphery in order that it may be made the means
of transmitting motion to the apparatus by means of a driving strap. There
is a groove o¹ formed also on this wheel for the purpose of transmitting
motion to the pulley 7 by means of a catgut or round driving belt p.
The wheel o has also formed upon it a cam or raised ring for the purpose of
giving a vibratory motion to the rocking lever C, as will be hereafter more
fully described. At a the bed plate has a projection upwards through a
circular hole, in which the mouth of the cylindrical frame b is fitted; on the
frame is formed a flange or raised ring of metal &, which abuts against the

page_text: projecting part as of the frame a, so as effectually to prevent the forcing
forward of the cylindrical frame 6 when any force is exerted upon it in
that direction by the action of the force pump g. Into the end of the
frame b there is screwed a plug s, having a conical hole extending through it,
and which is screwed home against a number of rings or collars t, made of a
hard and strong alloy, known as German silver, or of well-hammered brass.
These rings are flat on one side and bevelled on the other, as shewn in
Figure 9, but the bevilled part does not extend entirely all over their surfaces;
but there is left at six different placés t'a portion of the metal standing up;
which is parallel in thickness, so that if the ring represented in Figure 8
has the parts t' made of one eighth part of an inch in thickness, and is
bevilled off until the outer edge t² is reduced to one sixteenth part of an inch in
thickness, which bevilled part extends inwards towards the parts t³, where it is
reduced so little as to be only one hundredth part of an inch less in thickness
than the raised parts t¹, then it will follow that if a similar ring be laid upon
it with its plain flat side next the raised parts t¹, that those will be the only
parts of contact between the two rings, and that there will remain between
them six openings of a wedge or bevilled shape, which openings will be of one
sixteenth of an inch wide on the outer edge of the ring, and only of one
hundredth part of an inch internally, and thus any number of such rings
may-be-placed-one-upon-the-other, leaving-similar-spaces between them,-the-
parts t¹ preventing them from approaching nearer to each other. These rings
are to have the central hole in them of one uniform size, and the external
diameter such as will fit into the cylindrical frame b. Several of these rings
are shewn in section in Figure 10, where their relative position will be seen
a number of these rings are put into the frame 6, and opposite each of the
circular bands 4, which form part of the frame b, a blank ring to of greater
thickness is placed, otherwise the band 6' would close up the wedge-shaped
openings between the rings. When the frame b is thus filled with rings, the
plug s is screwed in, which firmly retains them in their places in the frame b;
and which will then form a pervious tube having numerous openings which
are very narrow in the interior part thereof, but which widen outwards, so
that any matters entering these interstices from the interior of the tube may
easily escape in the widening passage allowed for its exit. To prevent the
longitudinal ribs of the frame 6 from offering any obstruction to the free
egress of matters that pass out of the interior of the tube, these ribs are made
of a wedge form in cross section; as représented at 6, Figure 3; and it will
also be seen that the parts of the rings abut against them, and thus the parts
65 do not close over any of the wedge-shaped openings. A number of rings

page_text: are shewn in section at Figure 10, in order to shew the manner in which they
pack together and maintain a series of minute apertures between them at a';
the bed plate has formed upon it the plummer blocks u which carry the
shaft and pulley g, by which the shaft is put in motion by a band from the
wheel o; the shaft w carries upon it a spiked drum which revolves rapidly, and
is covered over by a guard y moving on a hinge y when required; below this
is a hopper or shoot x, from which the sugar is delivered after the operation of
"curing." Previous to commencing operations with this apparatus in the
first instance, the tube formed by the rings t must be filled with dry sugar,
which must be rammed in at the conical opening in the plug s; the sugar
from the coolers having been well stirred up, so to render it of as uniform a
consistence as possible, is to be put into the hopper A, which is here repre-
sented as broken off, but which should for convenience be made large enough
to hold half an hour's supply for the machine, the action of which will be as
follows-On motion being transmitted from any first mover to the wheel o,
the crank will commence to draw back the plunger, thereby tending to form a
vacuum in the cylinder, but which will be prevented by the flowing in of
the semi-fluid matters from the hopper A, through the three-way cock. As
soon as the plunger has nearly completed its back stroke, the part o³ of the
cam will have got round to the roller B on the lover C, shewn in dots
Figure 2, and in elevation in Figures 11 and 12; and while the crank is
turning its centres and commencing its back stroke, the wheel o will have
progressed so far as to allow the roller to have descended the incline of the
cam, and assumed the position shewn in Figure 12, when the three-way cock
will also have moved into the position represented in Figure 5, where the
communication is shut off from the hopper, and established between the pump
and the tube of rings t, when the forward motion of the plunger will discharge
a quantity of the semi-fluid mass into it just previous to the end of the forward
stroke of the plunger, the projecting part of the cam on the wheel o will have
reached the roller B, when the cock will be brought into the position shewn in
Figures 11 and 4, the lever C moves on an axis D, and has a lever E, and
counterbalance weight F connected with it; the roller B moves on a pin at tho
upper part of the lever C, and is kept in contact with the cam by means of
the counterbalance weight always tending to move it in the direction of the
To the lever C is also attached a connecting rod G, which is jointed at
its other end to the lever H, which is keyed on to the plug of the three-way
cock, and thus the cam on the wheel o is made to open and shut the three-way
cock rapidly while the plunger is at the end of its stroke in either direction.
I have before shewn how the semi-fluid matters are injected by the forco
cam.

page_text: pump into the tube of rings; and it will be readily understood, that as this
tube is tightly filled with dry sugar, that much resistance will be offered
thereby to the ingress of any fresh matter, and which resisting force will
greatly depend on the amount of contraction of the aperture in the piece s,
and also on the length of the tube, for it has been found that parallel tubes
offer a great resistance to the passage of matters in a granular state, when
the said tube becomes quite filled up with them. This principle of producing
resistance to pressure in an open ended and constantly discharging tube is well
illustrated in the action of my cane press which has now become generally
known. When the tube of rings t is tightly filled, it will offer considerable
resistance, as before stated, to the ingress of the semi-fluid matters, nor can
any further quantity be forced in without discharging some of the crys-
tallized portion of its contents at the open end of the tube at s, but as the
matters injected aro a mixture of solid and fluid, it will be seen that the fluid
portion cannot be kept under pressure in a tube having so many openings
extending around it, but will flow through these openings while the solid
matters are retained and undergo a further squeezing as they progress along
the tube and are finally discharged at its open end, where the spiked roller by
its rapid revolution will throw down the sugar into the hopper in a divided
state, while the molasses which run down from the exterior of the tube t are
caught in the trough a', from which it is conveyed by the pipe J to a receiver.
A cover, not shewn in the Drawing, should be placed over the pressing tube t
to prevent the molasses from splashing, as the force with which it flows out
would otherwise cause much of it to be lost; this apparatus is self acting,
taking in continuously fresh charges of the semi-fluid mass, and separating
them into two portions, so long as motive power is applied, and the material
supplied to the hopper; if it is desired to still further cleanse the crystals of sugar
by "liquoring," as it is called, in the refining of sugar, this may be done by mixing
the sugar as it is discharged from the macbine with the liquor and subjecting it
to a second operation. The cleansing of the pressing tube t may be performed
by the introduction of a jet of steam into the interior of the tube, or it may
be otherwise applied if found more convenient. In those cases where a steam-
engine is not fixed up near that part of the premises where it is desirable to
use such an apparatus, a small oscillating or other steam cylinder may be fitted
to the same framing and connected to the same crank shaft, after the manner
represented and described in the Patent granted to me, where a canc press
combined with a steam-engine is fully set forth.
It will be obvious that the mode of constructing a pressing tube suitable for

page_text: carrying out this part of my Invention may be varied, the object to be accom
plished being the so constructing a strong passage that sugar in a crystalized
state, in combination with more or less liquid, on being forced into the passage
may leave the solid parts separated from the fluid by the friction or resistance
consequent on the forcing of the solid portions through the passage, the fluid
parts passing away through openings too small for the passage of the solid
sugar. When the crystallization of sugar takes place imperfectly and the
crystals are very minute, I prefer to use another form of apparatus for their
separation from the fluid matter, and in which apparatus the passing of the
liquor during the operation of "liquoring" is performed with great rapidity;
this apparatus is represented on Sheet II. of the Drawings annexed, where
Figure 1 is an end elevation; Figure 2, a vertical section on the line A, B, of
Figure 3; and Figure 3 is a front elevation. a is a stout cistern, which I
prefer to make of wood in consequence of its being a worse conductor of heat
than metal, and better able to retain an uniform temperature in the matters to
bo operated upon; the edges of the cistern have bolted to them the plummer
blocks 6, which support the axis c of the drum d, to which drum rotary motion
is transmitted through the driving drum c, which is keyed on the axis c; the
drum d is made of perforated metal with grooves twined into it. The better to
establish a free communication between all parts of its external surface and
the perforations leading into its interior, wire' gauze, or other suitable material,
is put on to this foundation drum and securely fastened thereto after the
manner well known and practised in the construction of similar drums used in
the manufacture of paper. The interior of the drum has two sheets of metal f
extending the whole length of it; they are joined at one edge to the interior of
the perforated foundation of the drum, and at the other edge to the hollow
axis c; they are also joined at their ends to the flat ends of the drum; the
metal plates fare bent so as to form a volute in the manner represented; the
front part of the cistern is cut away, and a metal spout or scraper 9 is fitted
into the recess so formed; the back of the cistern has a pipe h by which the
matters to be heated in this apparatus are supplied to the cistern; and at a
small distance above the centre of the drum there is a flat pipe or vessel i
suspended from above by two tubes j, which have cocks K upon them. In
order to regulate or entirely check the supply of liquor or water, which is
intended to be placed in a cistern so far above them as to cause by its pressure
a multitude of minute jets to forcibly issue downwards from numerous minute
perforations made at regular distances on the under side of the vessel i, the
hollow axis c of the drum is provided at each end with glands and stuffing

page_text: boxes n, which are to communicate with any suitable exhausting apparatus, by
which aeriform or other fluid bodies may be pumped out; the cistern a having
been filled up to the line m with a mixture of crystallized sugar and fluid matter,
the whole being well mixed and forming a nearly uniform semi-fluid mass;
if the exhausting apparatus is then set in motion, and a slow rotation also
given to the drum d, the action of the apparatus will be as follows:-That
part of the drum which is immersed in the semi-fluid mass will become coated
with crystals of sugar, and which will adhere thereto by the external pressure
of the atmosphere, which adhesion is also further effected by the greater
amount of solidity acquired by those portions in immediate contact with the
pervious covering of the drum, and will therefore be carried with it. As this
crust of sugar on the drum ascends above the level of the mass below, it will
become dryer in consequence of there not being any further supply of fluid,
except that contained among its own crystals. As the process of exhaustion is
kept up from within the crust of sugar will become dryer as it rises, in
consequence of the fluid parts being drawn into the drum. On arriving at
the top it will be subjected to the action of a great number of minute jets of
liquor forcibly projected upon it for the purpose of cleansing the crystals of
the more viscid matters that may be adhering to them. This liquor will be.
drawn into the drum, and the crystals adhering thereto will be more com.
pletely separated from the liquor by the time it arrives at the scraper, where
it will be removed, while the recently uncovered portion of the drum will
again descend below the semi-fluid mass in the cistern, and again be coated
in like manner as before. The fluid portions entering the drum will be lifted
by the curved or involute parts, and be withdrawn from the hollow axis.
Fifthly, with regard to my Invention of certain apparatus for improving the
quality of "Muscavado" or other crude sugars, by separating the large crystals
from the smaller ones, and also separating therefrom certain impurities gene-
rally found in crude sugars, and afterwards mixing the best crystals resulting
from this operation with a solution of sugar or liquor," and again separating
the crystals from the fluid by either of the methods herein-before described
under the fourth head of my Invention. The inferior sugar resulting from
these operations is to be treated in the "blowing-up pan" in a manner well
understood and practised in the refining of sugar. An apparatus for carrying
into effect this part of my Invention is represented on Sheet E of the annexed
Drawings, where Figure 7 is a vertical section taken through the centre of
the machine, and Figure 8 a side elevation thereof. a is a large hopper
communicating with the floor of the room above. The lower part of the

page_text: The
hopper is attached to the wood framework c of the apparatus. In the upper
part of the frame c there is fitted a pair of fluted rollers d, which revolve in
suitable bearings in a small frame of iron e secured to the wood frame c.
distance apart of the rollers is regulated by screws f. The axes of the rollers
have keyed upon them a pair of spur wheels on one end, and at the other end
of one of them there is a drum g, which receives motion by a strap from
the drum h on the main driving shaft i. Beneath the rollers d there is a
spout j, which conveys the sugar into the interior of the inclined wire drum k,
where it is acted upon by the revolving brushes 1, similar to the mode by
which flour is separated from the bran. The brushes are mounted on the
shaft m, which is supported in a step n at its lowest end; and at the upper end
it works in a plummer block o, and carries a bevilled pinion p, which gears
with the wheel q. The shaft on which this wheel is keyed is supported on
brackets A, and also carries the drum r, which is driven by a strap from the
drums on the main driving shaft. The drùm s is sufficiently wide to carry
another strap t, which gives motion to the agitator u by means of a drum
at the back of the apparatus. On the axis of the agitator u there is
also a drum in front of the apparatus, which is for the purpose of
communicating motion to the drum w and agitator x. On the axis of the
agitator there is a spur wheel gearing into a second one of the same
diameter on the axis of the agitator 3, both of which wheels being at the back
of the apparatus are not seen; the axis of the agitator y carries a bevilled
wheel, which gives motion to a similar wheel I keyed on the axis 2, and
having a worm 3 formed thereon which communicates motion to the worm
wheel 4 and drum 5. The action of this apparatus is as follows: the crude
sugar to be operated upon is put into the hopper from the floor above and
passes down between the fluted rollers, which are for the purpose of breaking
the small lumps which it generally contains; it then passes into the wire drum,
the minute and imperfect crystals passing through the drum at k' where the
wire work is finest, and falling into the chamber 6; this chamber is supplied
with water of from 80 to 100 degrees of temperature from the perforations in
the under side of the pipe 7, which has a cock on it to regulate the supply;
the fine grained sugar falling into this compartment becomes dissolved, and is
constantly kept in motion by the agitator so as to mix the water therewith and
insure its solution; from the chamber 6 the dissolved sugar passes through a
fine wire sieves into the compartment 9, and from thence flows into the pipe
10, which has also a cock upon it for the regulation of the quantity which falls
from perforations in it into the chamber 11. The larger crystals of sugar

page_text: which could not pass through the finer part of the wire drum are forced by the
brushes through the courser meshes at and fall into the chamber 11, while
the small dark lumps of inferior sugar mixed with other refuse matters too
large to pass the last sieve are discharged at its lower end into a trough, and
falls from it into a receptacle at the back of the apparatus. While the greater
part of the crystals will have fallen into the chamber 11 and there be mixed
up with the "liquor" or solution of sugar that falls from the pipe 10, by
means of the agitators which revolve in the chamber 11 the crystals and
liquor will be converted into an uniform semi-fluid mass. As it accumulates in
the chamber 11 portions of it will pass under the partition 12 into the cistern
in which the drum 5 revolves; this drum is. constructed after the manner
herein-before described for curing sugar, and represented in Figures 1, 2, and
3, Sheet 1, and therefore need not be here further described. The sugar in a
purified state, as it is scraped off from the drum, falls upon an endless web
placed in an inclined position, from which it may be conveyed into a hogshead
or other receptacle; a great degree of dryness may be given to the sugar thus
cleansed by making the endless web sufficiently long to pass through a stove
room or by other suitable means. The impure sugar falling from the end of the
wire drum, the surplus quantity of dissolved sugar resulting from the imperfect
crystals, and the liquor from the drum 5, are all to be passed into the "1
"blowing
up pan" and treated after the manner usually practised in the refining of sugar,
the object of this part of my Invention being to lessen the waste of material,
the time occupied, and the expence and labor required in the refining of
sugar, by separating from the inferior parts the more perfect crystals and
cleansing them by simple. mechanical operation, while the inferior portions
only of the sugar is required to undergo the usual processes of dissolving,
boiling, filtering, concentrating, crystallizing, and curing as at present practised
in the refining of sugar.
And lastly, with regard to my Invention of an apparatus for making into lumps
or loaves crystals of sugar by subjecting such crystals of sugar to the action of
heat and pressure in suitable moulds.-The apparatus for carrying into effect
this part of my Invention is represented on Sheet II. of the Drawings annexed,
where Figure 4 is an elevation; Figure 5, a vertical section on the line A, B,
of Figure 6; and Figure 6 is a plan of the same. a, the bed plate of the
apparatus, which has formed on it the central cone a', for the purpose of
supporting the table or mould frame b; the bed plate is strengthened by
stout ribs as formed upon it, and also by the raised exterior edge of it, which
extends upwards as far as the part marked a³, the surface of which is turned
true, in order that the bottom edge of the periphery of the table b may rest its

page_text: lower edge b' evenly upon it; but to prevent it resting there with so much weight
as would prevent the table from being readily turned round by hand, I support
it in the centre on a half ball and socket joint, for which purpose the cone a
has a cavity truly bored in the upper part of it, in which is fitted the cylin-
drical pivot c, having an hemispherical top fitting into the cup joint formed
on the under side of the table. The piece c has below it a stout spiral
spring d and washer, with a screw e, which passes through into the interior
of the cone, and is for the purpose of producing such a compression of the
spring as shall nearly equal in force the entire weight of the table, the upper
surface of which is also turned trúc, and has a number of openings each equi-
distant from the centre and from each other. Beneath them is secured by
flanges the conical brass sugar moulds g.
On the under side of the table
there is a cylindrical piece of iron h, bolted by a flange to the table, and by
another flange at bottom, by which it is bolted to a plate i, this plate or ring
being also bolted to a flange extending around the interior of the lower edge
of the table; the ring i has holes in it, through which the lower ends of the
mould g pass, and to which they are secured by a flange, so that the body of
the moulds are enclosed in an annular space, formed between the periphery
of the table and the cylindrical piece h. In order to heat the mould, steam
is admitted into this space by the pipe j, which leads it to a conical plug n,
which is attached to the steam and waste pipes ; and k, and is by them
prevented from turning round. The plug is kept in its seat by a collar m.
There are circular channels formed in the plug n, one of which communicates with
the pipe and j', and the other with the pipe h¹ and , which descends. below
the ring i, so that any condensed water entering it may be driven out by the
force of the steam, and thus a communication is kept up at all times during
the motion of the machine between the steam and waste pipes and the annular
space containing the moulds, so that they may be heated to the desired extent.
The bed plate a has cast upon it a projecting part a', on which the column o
is fixed to; the upper part of it is formed into a double plummer block p
and supports the axis. q' of the lever q, the opposite end of which is attached by
a link to the piston rod 8, which has a piston t thereon, and passes through the
bottom of the steam-cylinder u. This cylinder is bolted by a flange to the
bed plate a. There are no guides to the piston rod, because from the great
length of the lever q, and its having to move through only a small arc of a
circle, the amount of a deviation from a right line, is so small as not to
-require-them.-Steam-is-admitted to the cylinder-and-allowed-to-escape-
therefrom, when required, by a two-way cock, not seen, but the bandle of
which is shewn at w. The openings in the cylinder for the admission are

page_text: very small, and are at a little distance from the top and bottom, so that when
the steam piston completes its stroke in either direction, it will pass over
these ports, and prevent the further outlet of steam, so that the piston cannot
strike either end of the cylinder. There is a very shallow passage leading from
the ends of the cylinder into the ports, so that the steam enclosed there may slowly
find its way out, and by the same means the steam will find its way on to the
piston to produce another stroke. At the junction of the piston rod with the
lever 12, there is a small slot so as to allow the pin to move along it and not
obstruct the rectilineal motion of the rod. The lever 12 moves on a joint
formed in the standard 16 which is bolted to the bed plate, to which is also
secured by a flange a guide piece 13, having a plug rod 14 truly fitted to its
interior, which rod; by means of the link 15, is connected to the lever 12; this
lever is placed diagonally, as seen by the dots in Figure 6. At the lower end
of the moulds a cylindrical part is formed, in which a plug 6 is accurately
fitted; it has a slot made in it, and a cotter 7 passing through this slot prevents
the plug from falling any lower than where the cone part of the mould extends
to, but does not prevent the upward motion of the plug. The lever q has
jointed to it a piston and rod 8; there is a forked lever 9 which embraces tho
column and is jointed thereto, its other end being joined in a similar manner
to the rod of the piston 8, by which the motion of it is kept vertical. The
mouth of the mould is made cylindrical for a few inches in depth, and should
have its upper angle taken off; and the bottom angle of the piston should also
be slightly rounded off, so that when required to enter the mould any slight
deviation in the proper position-of-the-mould-and-piston by loosening of tho
joint or otherwise may not prevent its entrance, as would be the case under
such circumstances if the angles were kept sharp; the slight variation in posi-
tion of the piston during its movement on the parallel joints will not bo
inconvenient, as the fitting of the piston with the mouth of the moulds does
not require much accuracy. The crystals of sugar to be formed into loaves
are supplied to the hopper 10, which is here shewn broken off, but which
should extend to the floor above, where a fresh supply may be put into it from
time to time; it is placed over one of the moulds, and has a small cylindrical
piece fitted into the mouth of it which bears down upon the table and prevents
the sugar escaping laterally. The hopper is steadied by an arm 12 bolted to
the column o, and may have an agitator or spindle, with inclined blades moving
in the centre of it, to insure the forcing down of the sugar as compactly as
possible; before the pressure of the piston is brought down upon it the crystals
of sugar, damped with water or "liquor," having been put into the hopper, and
steam turned on so as to heat the mould to the desired extent, the operator will

page_text: move round the table so that the mould which has been filled may pass under
the piston 8; he will then turn the handle of the small steam cock w and
admit steam to the upper side of the piston t, which is shewn in the Drawing
at half stroke; the pressure of the steam acting on the piston will pull down
the lever q and exert a powerful compressive force on the crystals of sugar, the
amount of which may be regulated by the pressure of the steam made use of;
the pressure may be retained for about a minute when the cock will be
reversed and the piston raised from the mould; the machine will continue in
the position until the table is turned round by the workman so as to bring the
mould that was being filled under the hopper during the time the pressing
operation last described is going on. The operation of pressing another loaf
may now take place during the down stroke of the piston; the lever 12 will
be put in motion and cause the plug rod 14 to rise up and push the cylindrical
plug 6 up into the mould g¹, and raise the loaf so far in it as to allow the
operator to take hold of it and remove it from the mould, having done which
he again turns the steam cock and raises the piston and moves another
mould into the position for receiving pressure; the sugar is kept in the heated
mould during the whole time that each mould is coming round again to
the hopper, so that where sixteen moulds are used, as represented in
the Drawings, thirteen of them will always contain a pressed loaf; onc
of them will be under the piston 8, another being filled under the hopper,
and the third in the act of being emptied before passing under the hopper
to be recharged. The advantage of this mode of applying steam power
to pressing is the facility it affords the operator, who has not to keep time
with the machine, as he would do if it was worked by a common steam
engine, which would repeat its stroke of a given period whether the operator
was ready for it or not; but in this case the press waits for the operator, who
causes the stroke to be given when he is ready for it, and, as the engine has
no regulated or controlled length of stroke, the piston will stop when the
resistance offered by the sugar overcomes the effect of the steam.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself
to the details as herein described, and the same may be varied without
departing from my Invention, so long as the peculiar character of any part of
my Invention be retained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Bessemer, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
HENRY (L.B.) BESSEMER.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twentieth day of September
in the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid Henry Bessemer 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.
Enrolled the Twentieth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.