or other Fermented Fruit Juices.
Year: 1888

page_text: or other Fermented Fruit Juices.
I, WILLIAM LEWIS HORNE, of Meriden, Connecticut, in the United States of
America, Distiller 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 :-
My invention relates to the art of alcoholic distillation and consists in improvements
in the process of distilling alcohol from wine, cider, or other fermented fruit juices,
and in an improved construction of vacuum still for carrying my said process into
effect, by which means the operation of distilling is carried on in a more or less perfect
vacuum, and all the advantages of such distillation secured in a very effective manner,
and my invention is fully disclosed in the following Specification and claims.
In the drawings
Figure 1 is a vertical section of my improved distilling apparatus.
Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of a modified form of still and condenser.
Figure 3 is a partial horizontal section of another modified construction.
In the fermentation of wine, cider, or other fruit juices, as soon as a certain amount
of alcohol has been produced and is present in the liquor the further fermentation or
production of alcohol ceases before all the parts that go to make up this product have
been transformed into the same.
My process is based upon this fact and has for its object such a manipulation of the
fermented liquor as to obtain therefrom a valuable alcoholic product and then to
referment the residue for the purpose of further distillation or for such other uses as
may be preferred.
To this end I take the fermented liquor which may be wine or other fermented liquor
in like condition and distil or otherwise extract the alcohol therein without heating the
said fermented liquor to such a point or changing its conditions so as to prevent
fermentation, then place the liquor deprived of its alcohol in a condition and position
favorable to fermentation and allow it to again ferment.

page_text: In cases of wines rich in sugar under trentment, the refermentation will produce
further alcohol and this fermented residual may be used in any way desired. It may
if preferred be placed in the still and the alcohol removed and the operation continued
until no further alcohol is obtained. In the ease of wines or other fermented liquors
which have no free sugar or glucose after the removal of the alcohol, acid fermentation
may be allowed to proceed and the resultant liquor used for the purposes for which it
may be found fitted. Or these non-saccharine residuals may be treated by addition of
other saccharine matter as hereinafter more fully explained.
The process of extracting the alcohol from the fermented liquor employed by me is
vacuum distillation but I do not limit myself thereto, as any other process which will
accomplish the same result may be employed.
1 have also discovered that by taking the residual liquor after one or more formen-
tations and distillations and adding sugar, molasses, or other saccharine matter thereto
allowing it to ferment, I obtain a wine or a like product and then distilling the
refermented sweetened liquor obtain an alcoholic product not distinguishable from
that obtained from the first distillation alter the first fermentation of the fruit
juices, such product having all the characteristics of the original distillate though in a
less degree.
By carrying my process with the original fermented liquor to its end. I obtain from
the fermented liquor double the amount of proof distillate tlut can be obtained from
it by any of the known modes of treating such liquors, without ahling anything
thereto, and by adding sugar and continuing the process, 1 still farther increase
the yield and obtain three or four times the quantity of liquor usually obtained
therefrom.
In the drawings showing my improved construction of still A is the distilling vessel
or still, and A' is the condenser which is of like form and surrounds the -till, a narrow
space being left between them. The still opens within the condenser and the space
between the two receptacles is preferably greater at the top and gradually diminishes
from this point towards the centre beneath the still, but this is not an essential
feature of construction.
These two receptacles are suspended in a tank B by any preferred means, and
below them is placed the receptacle or tank (' which is connected by the pipe e
with the condenser to receive the distillate.
The bottom of the tank is inclined towards the centre and the tank bas within
it, the helical partition, or a partition composed of concentric rings with openings
therein, forming a tortuous passage from the centre to the circumference. A pipe d
connects this tank with the final distillato tank 1). The still is supplied with the
liquor to be distilled from the supply tank E through the pipe F'which connects
with the interior of the still at or near the lowest point of the same. To this pipe F
is connected a pipo F which extends downward thirty or more feet to a tank E
This tank E receives the residual liquor left in the still after distillation.
connection of the pipes F, F' with the still is controlled by cocks andƒ".
The
is a hydraulic vacuum pump which is in this instance located in the tank B with
the condenser. This pump is supplied with liquid, usually water, through the pipe g,
and the discharge from the pump supplies the requisite cooling medium for the
condenser, the tank B being provided with one or more overflow pipes b. A pipe 3
connects the tank (with the pump, and the pump is also connected with the tank D
by a pipe d'
Within the still is a coil of pipe a for supplying such heat as may be required by
passing a heated circulating medium through the same. The inlet pipe a' and the
outlet pipe a are encased in larger pipes and surrounded with a nonconducting
packing. This packing may be of any suitable or preferred material. The operation
of my apparatus is as follows --On starting, the still, condenser, and their connections
are full of air. The pump is set in operation taking the air therefrom and filling the
tunk B with liquid. As soon as the air has been exhausted from these devices the
cock in the pipe F is opened, and the still supplied with the required amount of
liquor to be operated upon. The cock is then closed and the vaporization will begin,

page_text: the vapor rising through opening in the top of the still and coming in contact with
the walls of the condenser are more or less condensed, the condensed liquor flowing
down into the bottom of the condenser and into the tank C. The pipe c communicating
with the tank C near the inner end of the helical partition and the pipe
communicating with the said tank outside of the outer portion of the said partition or
in like relation to the equivalent construction any vapour remaining uncondensed will,
after reaching the tank C, be drawn by the action of the pump G through the helical
passage in the tank C and further condensed. If it is found that any vapours pass
through the tank C uncondensed the pipe c may be provided with a coil c³ to secure
the complete condensation of the same.
In practice it will be preferred to construct a still with two pumps of different
capacities, the larger one to effect the exhaustion of the air from the apparatus and
the smaller, which will be of greatly reduced capacity, to effect a slow draught on the
vapours through the condenser and its connections.
As soon as the evaporation of the liquid within the still has continued long enough
to lower the temperature of the said liquid and still, it is raised to a normal
temperature by passing a heated medium through the coil a in a well known
manner.
The connections with the final distillate tank with the pump G being open at the
start, a vacuum will also be formed therein, and the distillate as it accumulates in the
tank (will flow into the tank D from which it is taken at any time by closing
the cocks d, and opening the cock d in the short pipe in the top of the tank.
The condenser is preferably provided with a man-hole A* and a curved plate is
placed beneath the same over the opening in the still to prevent any condensation
within the man-hole from returning to the still.
In figure 3 I have shown the still having its outer wall composed of two
thicknesses of metal with an air space between. This construction is slightly more
effective than the other but good results are accomplished where but a single
thickness is employed.
In order to give the condenser a greater amount of surface, the walls of the same
may be corrugated either horizontally or vertically, as shown in figure 2.
The liquor introduced into the still contains more or less air and gas, and in the
early part of the distillation such air and gas are withdrawn causing an ebulition of
the liquor. The agitation of the liquor caused thereby favors the vaporisation of
the lighter parts of the same and causes the distillation to proceed rapidly. After the
air and gas have been removed from the liquor the ebulition subsides and the
distillation proceeds more slowly. In order to secure the agitation of the liquor after
the exhaustion of the occluded gas and air, in the liquor in the still, I turn the
cock so that a very small amount of fresh liquor is permitted to flow into the
still. The occluded air and gas of the fresh liquor in the still thoroughly agitates
the latter and accelerates the process of distillation. Instead of using the pipe F
for this purpose a separate pipe and supply tank may be employed.
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 process of extracting alcohol from the fermented juices of fruits, and
obtaining valuable residual products, which consists in extracting the alcohol there-
from and then fermenting the residual liquor, substantially as described.
2. The process of obtaining alcoholic products from the fermented juices of fruits which
consists in extracting the alcohol therefrom and then subjecting the residual liquor to
refermentation and like redistillation, substantially as described.
3. The process of obtaining alcoholic products from the fermented juices, which
consists in extracting the alcohol therefrom and adding saccharine matter to the
residual liquor and then subjecting the same to fermentation and then to redistillation,
substantially as described.
4. The herein described still and condenser consisting of two receptacles one within

page_text: the other, the still being within the condenser, and the two located within a third
receptacle containing a cooling medium for the condenser, substantially described.
5. The combination with a condenser and a liquid cooling tank surrounding the
same of a liquid vacuum pump connected with the said condenser and discharging into
the cooling tank of the condenser, substantially as described.
6. The herein described still and condenser consisting of two receptacles, the
former being located within the other, the discharge from the condenser being at
the lowest point of the same, the still opening into the condenser at the top and
the space between the two gradually decreasing toward the condenser discharge,
substantially as described.
7. The herein described still and condenser consisting of two receptacles, the said
still being located within the condenser and having its walls composed of two
thicknesses of material with an air space between them, substantially as described.
8. The combination with a vacuum still and condenser of the air pump, and a
tortuous passage between the air pump and condenser, substantially as described.
The T. 1900
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, Loudon,
Agents for the Applicant.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, Loudon,
Agents for the Applicant.