AN IMPROVED METHOD OF REFINING SUGAR
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents, 66,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF REFINING SUGAR." A communication from
abroad by Edouard Merijot, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
Sealed the 2nd April 1878, and dated the 10th October 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th October 1877.
WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer. "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF REFINING
SUGAR" [A communication from abroad by Edouard Merijot, of Paris, in the
Republic of France.]
Raw sugar, or the clarified saccharine mass obtained directly from the juice of
beet-root or sugar-cane, may be refined without the use of clarifying syrups by
submitting the saccharine substance for a sufficient length of time (in closed
turbines) to the action of a mixture of air and the vapour of water.
The refining operation may also be effected by subjecting the sugar (in the
turbine) to the action of clarifying syrup before it is acted upon by the mixture of
air and steam.
The refining process at present known cannot, however, be advantageously
employed, except for the manufacture of sugars intended to be crushed down, or of
white sugars for the first clarifying operation. Up to the present time it has not
been possible to obtain in this manner blocks sufficiently hard or regular to admit
of their being sawn up or broken into pieces or lumps in such a manner as will
suit the consumer.
The Inventor of the present improved method of refining sugar has, however,
succeeded by the use of special forms, moulds, or frames (which are placed in the
turbine with the saccharine mass) in effecting the desired object, and has regularly
obtained blocks of from 18 to 20 lbs. in weight, absolutely pure, compact, solid, and
Price Gd 1

page_text: sonorous, uniting, in a word, all the conditions that are required for refined loaf
sugar. These blocks are capable of being sawn or cut up into pieces or lumps of
uniform size, and with less waste than is made in cutting up ordinary sugar loaves
into lumps.
The object of the Invention is effected in the following manner-Until after the
boiling the process does not differ from the ordinary operations of refining raw
sugars, or refining the juice of beet-root or sugar-cane. The syrups obtained, either
by dissolving raw sugar or from beet-root juice or sugar-cane, are clarified, filtered,
and boiled in the usual way, and with the ordinary apparatus.
On leaving the boiling apparatus the saccharine mass is poured into moulds or
frames of a peculiar construction, in which it is allowed to cool and solidify.
These moulds or frames are intended to be filled with the concentrated syrup,
and placed in the turbine; they should be formed with one side made of a strong
metal plate, while the two other sides may be enclosed only by a woven or other
fabric or metallic cloth or perforated metal.
The form, mould, or frame preferred for the purposes of the Invention is made
of a piece of light sheet iron, cut out and rivetted or soldered into the form of a
frame without a bottom, and the dimensions of which are determined by the dimen-
sions of the drum of the turbine, and the thickness which it is desired to make
the blocks. This frame is painted and varnished like ordinary sugar moulds.
Two of the sides of the mould are made in the shape of the arc of a circle, so as
to fit accurately the circular or curved side of the turbine. The two other faces are
made in straight lines, and will fit the top and bottom of the drum of the
turbine.
The sides are slightly inclined, in order to facilitate the subsequent discharge of the
contents of the moulds, and their angles are rounded. That side of the mould
which fits against the side of the turbine is of less width than the opposite side, so
that when the saccharine mass is subjected to the action of the centrifugal force it
will have a tendency to approach the sides of the turbine; but, being held or con-
fined by the sides of the mould, it will become compressed without cracking or
splitting, as often occurs in other systems of apparatus.
In order to fill the moulds they are placed on a bed made of wood covered with
zinc, and the bottom of which is of exactly the same curve as the under or curved
part of the mould, and the lateral sides of the bed also fit as exactly as possible the
sides of the mould.
Each bed may be constructed to receive several moulds, which may be tightened
up in any convenient manner; and, when ready, they may be filled with the
saccharine matter, which is then left to cool.
At the end of from 18 to 24 hours the moulds may be removed, and placed in
the turbine, any superfluous sugar that may have run over the sides having been
first removed.
When the moulds have been properly secured in the turbine by means of wedges,
the sugar is subjected for from 40 to 50 minutes to the action of steam mixed
with air, which may be blown into the apparatus through a kind of Giffard's
injector.
Before introducing the mixture of air and steam the sugar may, if desired, be
subjected to the action of a clarifying syrup, which may be introduced into the
turbine while it is in motion.
By this means the operation may be shortened, and the external surface of the
blocks will be better preserved.
When the blocks have been sufficiently cleansed (which will be seen by examining
the syrup which flows from the apparatus) the admission of steam may be stopped,
but the turbine still kept in rotation in the air. This will dry and harden the
blocks, which may then be cut, sawn, or broken up after a short stoving.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
10th April 1878.
WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer. "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF REFINING
SUGAR." A communication from abroad by Edouard Merijot, of Paris, in the
Republic of France.
Raw sugar, or the clarified saccharine mass obtained directly from the juice of
beet-root or sugar-cane, may be refined without the use of clarifying syrups by
submitting the saccharine substance for a sufficient length of time (in closed tur-
bines) to the action of a mixture of air and the vapour of water.
The refining operation may also be effected by subjecting the sugar (in the
turbine) to the action of clarifying syrup before it is acted upon by the mixture of
air and steam.
The refining process at present known cannot, however, be advantageously
employed, except for the manufacture of sugars intended to be crushed down, or of
white sugars for the first clarifying operation. Up to the present time it has not
been possible to obtain in this manner blocks sufficiently hard or regular to admit
of their being sawn up or broken into pieces or lumps in such a manner as will
suit the consumer.
The inventor of the present improved method of refining sugar has, however,
succeeded by the use of special forms, moulds, or frames (which are charged with
the saccharine mass placed in the turbine) in effecting the desired object; and he
has regularly obtained blocks from sixteen to twenty pounds in weight, absolutely
pure, compact, solid, and sonorous, uniting, in a word, all the conditions that are
required for refined loaf sugar. These blocks are capable of being sawn or cut up
into pieces or lumps of uniform size, and with less waste than is made in cutting
up ordinary sugar loaves into lumps.
The object of the Invention is effected in the following manner :-Until after the
boiling the process does not differ from the ordinary operations of refining raw
sugars, or refining the juice of beet-root or sugar-cane. The syrups obtained, either
by dissolving raw sugar or from beet-root juice or sugar-cane, are clarified, filtered,
and boiled in the usual way, and with the ordinary apparatus.
On leaving the boiling apparatus the saccharine mass is poured into moulds or
frames of a peculiar construction, in which it is allowed to cool and solidify.
In the accompanying Drawing, at Fig. 1, I have shewn six of these forms or
moulds arranged in a rotating turbine, and ready for use.
Fig. 2 is an end elevation.
Fig. 3, a front elevation; and Fig. 4 shows one of the forms or moulds detached
from the turbine.
Fig. 5 is a perspective elevation of one of the moulds drawn upon an enlarged
scale.
These moulds or frames are intended to be filled with the concentrated syrup,
and placed in the turbine; and they are held in place by angle pieces or blocks, as
shewn in Fig. 1,
The moulds or forms are constructed of a strong metal framing or plate capable
of resisting the pressure to which it will be subjected, while two of the sides
may be enclosed only by a woven or other fabric or metalic cloth or perforated
metal.

page_text: The form, mould, or frame preferred for the purposes of the Invention is made
of a piece of light sheet iron, cut out and rivetted or soldered into the form of
a frame without a bottom, and the dimensions of which are determined by the
dimensions of the drum of the turbine, and the thickness which it is desired to
make the blocks. This frame is painted and varnished like ordinary sugar moulds.
The front edges of two of the sides of the frame or mould are made in the shape
of the arc of a circle, so as to fit accurately the circular curved side of the turbine.
The two other sides have both their edges made in a straight line, so that the outer
edges of one mould may fit closely against the outer edges of the adjacent
moulds.
All the sides are slightly inclined, in order to facilitate the subsequent discharge
of the contents of the moulds, and the corners are rounded also to facilitate the
delivery of the solid block of sugar. That side of the mould which fits against
the side of the turbine is of less width than the opposite side, so that when the
saccharine mass is subjected to the action of the centrifugal force it will have a
tendency to approach the sides of the turbine; but, being held or confined by the
sides of the mould, it will become compressed, and without cracking or splitting,
as often occurs in other construction of apparatus.
In order to fill the moulds they are placed on a bed made of wood covered with
zinc, and the bottom [of which is exactly the same curve as the under or curved
part of mould; and the lateral sides of the bed also fit as exactly as possible the
sides of the mould.
Each bed may be constructed to receive several moulds, which may be tightened
up in any convenient manner; and, when ready, they may be filled with the
saccharine matter, which is then left to cool.
Instead of employing the bed, above described, to receive the moulds for filling,
the latter may be each provided with a moveable metal bottom, which may be
removed when the mass has become solid; but this arrangement is more costly than
the former.
At the end of from 18 to 24 hours the moulds may be removed, and placed in
the turbine, any superfluous sugar that may have run over the sides having been
first removed.
When the moulds have been properly secured in the turbine by means of wedges,
as shewn in Fig. 1, and covered in with a circular metal plate, the sugar is subjected
for from forty to fifty minutes to the action of steam mixed with air, which may
be blown into the central part of the apparatus through a kind of Giffard's
injector.
Before introducing the mixture of air and steam the sugar may, if desired, be
subjected to the action of a clarifying syrup, which may be introduced into the turbine
while it is in motion.
By this means the operation may be shortened, and the external surface of the
blocks will be better preserved.
When the blocks have been sufficiently cleansed (which will be seen by examining
the syrup which flows from the apparatus) the admission of the steam may be.
stopped but the turbine should still be kept in rotation in the air. This will dry
and harden the blocks, which, when removed from the moulds, may be cut, sawn,
or broken up after a short stoving.
The rotary turbines employed for the purposes of the Invention are of the con-
struction usually employed in ordinary sugar factories; they should be made very
strong, and the driving gear should be placed below.
Having now described the improved method of refining sugar, which has been
communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and having explained the manner
of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters
Patent as aforesaid, subjecting the solid sugar while enclosed in moulds or forms,
constructed as shewn and described, to the action of a mixture of steam and air

page_text: while the moulds are carried round with great rapidity, as and for the purpose
herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-eight.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)