Improvements in Preparations of Cane and Beet Sugar.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Feb., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 24th Dec., 1889-Accepted, 8th Feb., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Preparations of Cane and Beet Sugar.
I, ALFRED GORDON SALAMON, Analytical Chemist, of 1 Fenchurch Avenue, in the
City of London, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object the production of Cane Sugar, and also Beet Sugar
(in granules or other convenient form), possessed of greater sweetening power, weight
for weight than any kind of Cane or Beet Sugar hitherto known; and furthermore,
impregnated with an antiseptic substance which has the effect of materially retarding,
if not actually preventing, the fermentation of the Cane or Beet Sugar, when sub-
sequently employed in solution in the arts.
The material which 1 employ for communicating the additional sweetness, and at
the same time protecting the sugar when in solution, from liability to ferment, is the
substance known as saccharin, the sweet compound obtained from toluol, and known
to chemists as Benzoyl Sulphonic Imide.
"Saccharin," as now commercially known, is about three hundred times sweeter
than pure Cane Sugar, when both are dissolved in equal weights in equal volumes of
water. In other words, 7 lbs. (nearly) of pure saccharin, suitably dissolved, has the
same sweetening power as one ton of sugar. Therefore, by incorporating this amount
as thoroughly as possible with one ton of sugar, the resulting product, weighing one
ton and 7 lbs., has, when dissolved, the sweetening power of two tons of sugar.
Therefore, there is a great diminution in the bulk, a consideration by no means
trifling in connection with carriage.
In the commercial exploitation of saccharin, two objections to its industrial applica-
tion have constantly been urged, the one the difficulty of accurately weighing the
very small quantity of material necessary to impart the exact degree of sweetness
required; the other, the absence of weight, or body, in the solution when prepared.
By my combination, these inconveniences are obviated. The sugar can be weighed
out in the ordinary manner, only there will be less required to make a syrup than
formerly, and for most practical purposes a sufficiency of body will be yielded by the
new product. It is evident that the ratio of Cane or Beet Sugar to saccharin can be
varied within considerable limits, to meet the requirements of various manufacturers.
Thus, 14 lbs of saccharin, incorporated with one ton of Cane or Beet Sugar, will,
when granulated, or otherwise suitably prepared, produce syrup equal in sweetening
power to three tons of the same Cane or Beet Sugar. If, however, the ratio of
saccharin to Cane or Beet Sugar, is to be considerable, then, in view of the small
degree of solubility of pure saccharin in water, it is better to employ what is known
as soluble saccharin, that is, the combination of saccharin with soda or other alkaline
base. In other cases, either pure or soluble saccharin may be employed.
In the employment of sugar as a flavouring agent in conjunction with substances
prone to decomposition, such as Wines, Botanic Beers, etc., it is frequently necessary
to add Alcohol as a preservative against fermentation. Such an addition often involves
great inconveniences, and indeed seriously detracts from the value of the substance to
which it is added. This applies more especially to wines, and to some among what
are known as temperance beverages. The employment of my new product,
Saccharinated Cane or Beet Sugar, as herein described, renders such an addition
unnecessary. The resulting advantages are sufficiently obvious. Moreover, the
employment of this Saccharinated Sugar, in addition to its other advantages, allows of
very considerable economy in manufacturing, because it can be sold at a price
relatively cheaper, in terms of sweet producing power, than sugar alone.
The manner in which I produce this new product may be provisionally described as
follows:-
In the production of granulated saccharinated sugar, I add to the sugar, before it

page_text: undergoes the operation of granulating, and whilst it in the damp state, the desired
percentage of saccharin, and then proceed to granulate the same by passing it through
a revolving cylinder heated by a steam-jacket, or an interior steam cylinder. After
passing through this cylinder, the granules of sugar are evenly coated with a certain
fixed quantity of saccharin. Or the saccharin may be mixed with the slightly damp
granulated sugar crystals or other form of sugar, and be thoroughly incorporated
with it in a mixing apparatus, a suitable form of which is a drum set slightly inclined
from the horizontal. This drum is open at both ends, and is made to revolve slowly
by a central shaft. The sugar is introduced at the upper end, and is repeatedly lifted
up on its passage to the lower end by means of shelves or lifting plates, which are
attached longitudinally to the inside of the casing. Another mode of conveniently
and advantageously introducing saccharin into the sugar during the operation of
refining, is as follows:-
I make a saturated, of nearly saturated, solution of sugar, and in this I dissolve a
known quantity of saccharin. This solution I call saccharinated syrup, and employ it
as a vehicle for introducing the saccharin in the refining process.
In the case of loaf or cube sugar, after it has been liquored in the ordinary way,
I impregnate it with saccharinated syrup, either by suction, pressure, or by centrifugal
force, employing in either case an excess of syrup, so that every portion of the sugar
may have an equal quantity.
After this treatment, the sugar is drained and dried in the ordinary way, and will
be found to have taken up a certain quantity of saccharin, the quantity depending
upon the percentage in the saccharinated syrup, and degree of draining to which it
has been submitted.
In the same way, the saccharinated syrup can be added to granulated or other
form of sugar whilst the latter is in the centrifugal machine, and after it has been
washed and dried, the saccharinated syrup being sprinkled on the surface of the sugar,
and carried by centrifugal force through the mass, any syrup which may find its way
through the sugar is run back into the saccharinated syrup tank, and used again.
Dated this 27th day of February 1889.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Preparations of Cane and Beet Sugar.
I ALFRED GORDON SALAMON, Analytical Chemist, of 1 Fenchurch Avenue in the
City of London, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement:-
This invention has for its object the production of preparations of cane sugar or
beet sugar (in granules or other convenient form) possessed of greater sweetening
power, weight for weight, than any preparation of cane or beet sugar hitherto known,
and furthermore, impregnated with an antiseptic substance which has the effect of
materially retarding, if not actually preventing, the fermentation of the cane or beet
sugar, when subsequently employed in solution for domestic and manufacturing
purposes.
The material which I employ for communicating the additional sweetness, and at
the same time protecting the sugar, when in solution, from liability to ferment, is the
substance known as saccharin, the sweet compound obtained from toluol, and known
to chemists as benzoyl sulphonic imide.
"Saccharin," as now commercially known, is about three hundred times sweeter
than pure cane sugar, when both are dissolved in equal weights in equal volumes of
water. In other words, 7 lbs. (nearly) of pure saccharin, suitably dissolved, has the
same sweetening power as one ton of sugar. Therefore, by incorporating this
amount as thoroughly as possible with one ton of sugar, the resulting product,
weighing one ton and 7 lbs., has, when dissolved, the sweetening power of two tons

page_text: of sugar. Therfore there is a great diminution in the bulk, a consideration by no
means trifling in connection with carriage.
In the commercial exploitation of saccharin, two objections to its industrial
application have constantly been urged, the one the difficulty of accurately weighing
the very small quantity of material necessary to impart the exact degree of sweetness
required; the other the absence of weight or
"body'
in the solution when
prepared.
25
The saccharinated, or
By my combination, these inconveniences are obviated.
supersweetened sugar, can be weighed out in the ordinary manner, but there will be
less required than formerly to make a syrup of any required sweetness, and a suffi-
ciency of "body" will be yielded by the new product for most practical purposes.
It is evident that the ratio of cane or beet sugar to saccharin can be varied within
considerable limits, to. meet the requirements of various manufacturers. Thus,
14 lbs. of saccharin, incorporated with one ton of cane or beet sugar, will, when
granulated, or otherwise suitably prepared, produce syrup equal in sweetening
power to three tons of the same cane or beet sugar. If, however, the ratio of
saccharin to cane or beet sugar is to be considerable, then, in view of the small
degree of solubility of pure saccharin in water, it is better to employ what is
known as soluble saccharin, that is, the combination of saccharin with soda or other
alkaline base. In other cases, either pure or soluble saccharin may be employed.
In the employment of sugar as a sweetening agent, in, or in conjunction with
substances prone to decomposition, such as wines, botanic beers, &c., it is frequently
necessary to add alcohol as a preservative against. ferimentation. Such an addition
often involves great inconveniences, and indeed seriously detracts from the value of
the substance to which it is added. This applies more especially to wines, and to
some among what are known as temperance beverages. The employment of my new
product, saccharinated cane or beet sugar, as herein described, renders such an
addition unnecessary. The resulting advantages are sufficiently obvious. Moreover,
the employment of this saccharinated sugar, in addition to its other advantages,
allows of very considerable economy in manufacturing, because it can be sold at a
price relatively cheaper, in terms of sweet producing power, than sugar alone.
Having described the object and principle of my invention, I now proceed to give
a detailed explanation of the methods and means by which it may be best carried into
effect:-
(1) As applied to various kinds of manufactured sugar ;—
(2) As introduced at a certain stage during the usual process of sugar refining.
First. Application to manufactured sugar. The invention may be applied to any
description of manufactured sugar, but the kinds to which I prefer to apply it, and for
which I consider most it suitable, are:-
A. Lump or cube sugar.
B. Granulated sugar.
A. Lump or cube sugar consists of sugar refined and crystallised in moulds, either
as loaves, slabs, blocks, or similar forms, which are afterwards sawn into plates or thin
slabs, and chopped into sticks, these being finally broken or cut into cubes. On the
other hand, some manufacturers refine and crystallize the sugar in moulds which form
cubes direct, this being regarded as a simpler process.
When treating lump or cube sugar, I prefer to proceed as follows:-I make a
saturated, or nearly saturated solution of pure sugar-(such a solution as is well known
to sugar refiners as "cleare" or "clairce "),-suitable proportions for this purpose being
about 2 parts of pure sugar to one part of hot water. This is allowed to cool, when it
will be found to be of specific gravity about 1.330, equal to 35° to 36° Beaumé at 60°
Fahr. To this solution I add a certain quantity of soluble saccharin, the amount of
which is to be determined in the manner hereinafter described. Soluble saccharin
consists of pure saccharin combined with a certain proportion of an alkali, such as
potash, soda, ammonia, magnesia, lime or lithia. A convenient form is that in which
pure saccharin is combined with soda in the proportion of 100 parts of the former to
16 parts of the latter, the combination thus containing about 86 per cent. of pure

page_text: saccharin-I determine the amount of soluble saccharin to be added to the sugar
solution or syrup by an experimental trial in the following manner:-A certain
weight of cube sugar is immersed in a vat containing the sugar solution or syrup, until
such time as the cube sugar is thoroughly impregnated with the syrup. The cube
sugar is then placed in a centrifugal machine, and spun until it is sufficiently dry for
the drying stove or machine. On taking it out of the centrifugal machine, its increase
of weight will show the amount of syrup which it has been enabled to take up and
retain. I calculate the amount of saccharin that should be added to the syrup so
taken up, in order to give the desired intensity of saccharination in the finished,
product, and by comparison of this with the amount of clairce retained, I obtain the
strength of saccharination which is necessary in the clairce. For instance, if 2 cwt.
of cube sugar, after treatment as above, weighs 2 cwt. 6 lbs., then it is clear that to
every 6 lbs. of syrup must be added a quantity of saccharin which it is desired to have
in 2 cwt. and 6 lbs. of saccharinated cube sugar. If I wish to produce saccharinated
cube sugar possessing fully twice the sweetening power of ordinary sugar, I use the
proportion of 9.28 lbs. of soluble saccharin to one ton of sugar. This would be at the
rate of ths of a lb. of pure saccharin, or 928 lbs. of soluble saccharin to every 6 lbs.
of syrup, equal to 15 per cent. of saccharin in the syrup. If the quantity of syrup
retained by the cubes were either more or less than 6 lbs., the quantity of soluble
saccharin required, viz: 0.928 lbs. would remain the same, but the amount of syrup
in which it would have to be dissolved, would have to be varied. The excess of
saccharinated syrup, after each batch of cube sugar has been spun in the machine, is
returned to the vat, since the gravity and relative per-centage of sugar and saccharin
in the excess of syrup coming from the machine are practically identical with those of
the original syrup prepared as above described.
In carrying out the above operation, I prefer to employ a perforated cage or
basket into which I introduce the cubes. This vessel is first dipped into the vat
containing the saccharinated syrup, until the cubes are sufficiently impregnated, then
placed in the centrifugal machine and spun. Finally, it is removed with its
contents to the drying stove, by which means chipping or breaking of the cubes is
prevented.
I have found in the course of my experiments, that the heating of cubes containing
pure saccharin, or soluble saccharin, may, unless very carefully regulated, produce a
discoloration of the sugar, owing to the decomposition, at high temperatures, of small
quantities of the contained saccharin. In order to obviate this disadvantage, I may,
if necessary, carry out the necessary drying of the sugar in a stove or apparatus in
which the internal pressure may be reduced, so that the drying may be effected at a
lower temperature.
B. Granulated sugar consists of sugar which has been refined in the ordinary way,
boiled to a small sharp grain like loaf sugar, then washed in a centrifugal machine,
and dried by passing through a granulator in the manner well known. When I wish
to produce saccharinated granulated sugar, I treat ordinary granulated sugar by
special machinery in such a manner that the granules of sugar may become very
evenly coated with pure saccharin, which, in this case, is used by itself as a powder, or
mixed with powdered sugar as-hereinafter described.
There are various machines by which this result may be attained, such as those
used for coating pills, and for the similar treatment of various kinds of confectionery,
and I desire it to he understood that I do not confine myself to any one in particular.
The form of apparatus, however, which I prefer, consists either of a revolving cylinder
or a fixed trough with a revolving shaft and arms therein contained. This coating
drum, as it may be termed, is preferably constructed of wrought iron, and is open at
both ends. It is set higher at one end than the other, so that the material which is
introduced at the higher end as the machine slowly revolves, is caused gradually to
progress towards the lower, at which it is discharged. A hopper or other convenient
arrangement, fed either by manual labor, elevators, or conveyors, serves to introduce
the sugar and saccharin at the higher end. To the inside of the drum are attached
ongitudinal ridges, flanges, or shelves, or other convenient device for retarding the

page_text: too rapid exit of the materials from the apparatus. This has the effect of carrying
and lifting up the sugar and saccharin until they reach the top side of the drum, when
they are turned over, and fall to the bottom again. This goes on continuously during
the march of the materials towards the lower end, so that the sugar becomes, for
practical purposes, evenly coated with saccharin.
This coating cylinder may either be supported and actuated by a central shaft, or it
may rest upon a geared pair of friction wheels.
The alternativemachine above indicated consists of a fixed semi-circular trough, having
arranged within it a shaft which is caused to revolve slowly. To the shaft are attached
radial arms, feathered if necessary at the ends, which arms serve to turn over the
sugar in such a manner that the granules become evenly coated with saccharin. The
material is caused to progress from one end of the machine to the other by the radial
arms being arranged so as to form, in effect, the thread of a screw, or by one end of
the trough being higher than the other, or by a combination of both of these, or
similar devices.
I find that the above coating of the granules of the sugar is greatly facilitated by
mixing a desired proportion of pure saccharin (for example, 8 lbs. of pure saccharin to
one ton of granulated sugar, or ths of a lb. per cwt.) with a small proportion of
sugar, say, from an equal bulk to twice the bulk of the saccharin about to be employed.
This mixture is then roughly mixed with the remainder of the batch, and the whole
introduced to the coating drum or trough above described. After passing through
either of these, it will be found that if the operation has been performed with
sufficient care, the granules of sugar are, for practical purposes, evenly coated with a
definite fixed quantity of pure saccharin.
Secondly. Application during the refining process.-The stage of the ordinary
process of sugar refining at which I prefer to introduce the saccharin, is immediately
after the molasses has been separated from the massecuite by draining, since to do so
at an early stage would endanger a portion of the saccharin passing away with the
molasses, or being acted upon by the mineral matter in solution contained therein,
and being lost so far as the sugar was concerned.
C. If it is intended to make cube sugar, I prefer to introduce soluble saccharin in
the state of saccharinated syrup for the treatment of loaf, slab, or cube sugar in the
following manner-After the moulds containing the loaves, slabs, or cubes have been
treated or liquored with clairce by any of the usual methods practised by various
refiners, i.e., either by passing the clairce through them by means of gravity, suction,
pressure, or centrifugal force, or a combination of any or either of these methods
I proceed, as a further stage of this part of the process, to impregnate the loaves or
cubes or slabs in the moulds with saccharinated syrup, using the same method of
application which has previously been employed for liquoring or treating non-super-
sweetened sugar with clairce, viz., either by gravity, suction, pressure, or centrifugal
force, either separately or conjointly.
I use an excess of the saccharinated syrup to effect this impregnation, the amount
or ratio of saccharin in which has been adjusted by a preliminary experiment in
proportion to the syrup retained by the sugar in the moulds, such experiment being
similar to that described as necessary for the treatment of manufactured cube sugar
(see No. 1 A). The gravity of the syrup coming away from the sugar should be the
same as that entering it, showing that the impregnation is complete. By this means,
every portion of the loaves, slabs, or cubes, will be found to have taken up or retained
a certain definite quantity of saccharin.
D. Granulated or sugar crystals.-In the case of granulated sugar, after the
molasses has been drained from the sugar crystals in the centrifugal machine, and
after the crystals have been washed, either by means of steam, water or clairce and
dried, the saccharinated syrup above described may be sprinkled on the surface of the
sugar while in the machine, when it will be carried through the mass by the centrifugal
force, when spun, the excess being returned to the saccharinated syrup vat and used
over again.

page_text: After subjecting the various descriptions of sugar last described in paragraphs C
and D, to my process, for increasing its sweetening power, as the intermediate stage
of the progress of sugar refining, the sugars are finished in the usual manner, viz. :
the loaf, slab or cube sugar, by drying, and the crystal or granulated sugar by passing
it through a granulator or drying machine.
to use
Although I do not limit myself to these exact proportions, I purpose
preferably about 7 to 8 lbs. of saccharin to each ton of sugar, inasmuch as that
proportion would make the solubility of the two components of the finished product
approximately the same, and remove any liability to separate in solution." This
proportion would render the finished product about twice as sweet as an equal weight
of sugar.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
1. The production and use of a super-sweetened sugar substantially as herein
described.
2. The sweetening material herein described, of which the basis is cane or beet
sugar, but which is made to possess higher sweetening capacity, and less liability to
fermentation, than such sugar, substantially as and by means herein described.
3. The processes herein described, when applied to the production of a super-sweetened
sugar, substantially as herein described.
Dated this 24th day of December 1889.
NEWTON & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.