CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EVAPORATING AND CONCENTRATING SACCHARINE AND SALINE. SOLUTIONS, AND WHICH MAY ALSO BE APPLICABLE TO THE EVAPORATION AND CONCENTRATION OF VEGETABLE AND OTHER EXTRACTS
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
JAY, of Bathurst Street, Hyde Park Gardens, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Thirtieth day of September, in the eleventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Jay, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Charles Jay, my executors, administrators, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said Charles Jay, my executors, administrators, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, my
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EVAPORATING AND
CONCENTRATING SACCHARINE AND SALINE. SOLUTIONS, AND WHICH MAY ALSO BE
APPLICABLE TO THE EVAPORATION AND CONCENTRATION OF VEGETABLE AND OTHER
EXTRACTS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me
the said Charles Jay, by an instrument in writing, under my hand and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to
be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar.

page_text: 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 appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Jay, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of Certain Improvements in Apparatus for Evaporating or
. Concentrating Saccharine and Saline Solutions, and for Concentrating Vege-
table and other Extracts," relates principally to certain improved arrange-
ments of apparatus for passing currents of heated air through the solution to
be evaporated or concentrated, and also for partially exhausting the air from
the surface of the liquid in the evaporating vessel, so that the pressure thereon
may be lessened, and the process of evaporation may be proceeded with at a
lower temperature and at a less expenditure of fuel than is sometimes neces-
sary. I would observe that I am aware that the evaporation of aqueous particles
from saccharine, saline, and other solutions has been heretofore effected by
allowing currents of heated air to pass through the said solutions, and also by
partially exhausting the air or atmosphere of steam from the evaporating
vessel, so as to reduce the pressure on the surface of the liquid, and thereby
promote a more rapid evaporation. I do not, therefore, seek to claim the
exclusive right to use apparatus to produce the like effects, except when such
apparatus is constructed or arranged in an analogous manner, or upon a
similar principle to that hereafter described and shewn in the accompanying
Drawings, in which Fig. 1 represents a longitudinal section of an apparatus
for concentrating saccharine solutions, constructed and arranged according to
my improvements, and Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view of the same. a, a, is a
boiler into which the cane juice or other saccharine solution is poured through
the supply pipe b from the reservoir above. The boiler is set or mounted in
masonry or brickwork, and is heated by a naked fire in the fireplace c, or by
steam, or in any other convenient manuer. A double branch pipe d, furnished
with suitable stopcocks, conducts the heated and partially concentrated solution
to the evaporating vessel e, which is heated by steam supplied to a series of
pipes ffff, from the boiler a by means of the steam pipe g. The arrange-
ment and construction of the steam-heating pipes f, f, will be best seen in the
detached views, Figures 3 and 4, and will, with various other modifications,
be more minutely explained hereafter. If thought desirable, the steam-

page_text: heating pipes f, f, may be altogether dispensed with, and the evaporation
carried on entirely by means of the series of hot-air pipes h, h, from which
heated air is allowed to issue through longitudinal openings, or a series of
holes made at the under side thereof, and to rise up through the solution and
carry with it some of the watery particles. I prefer, however, to use the
steam and hot-air pipes in combination, as seen in the Drawing, and shewn
upon an enlarged scale in the detached views, Figures 5 and 6, and also,
in the sectional views, Figures 7 and 8. The air supplied to the series of hot-
air pipes h, h, is heated in the apparatus H, H, in the manner hereafter
explained, and a partial vacuum is kept up in the evaporating vessel e by
means of a steam blast i, of a peculiar construction, which, by means of a
large pipe j, j is continually exhausting or drawing air and vapour from the
surface of the liquid in the evaporating vessel e.
I would here observe that I am aware that steam jets have been heretofore.
used for exhausting or drawing air for various purposes, such as withdrawing
foul air from rooms, mines, and other places, but the jet always hitherto
employed has been a solid jet, consisting of a considerable body of steam.
issuing from one aperture. This will perhaps answer the purpose to a certain
extent, but the expenditure of steam in an apparatus of this kind is so great
as to more than counterbalance any advantage that may arise from its adoption.
for the purpose to which I intend to apply a steam blast, especially in situations
where water is not abundant or fuel is expensive. Instead, therefore, of
employing a single jet of steam of large dimensions, I subdivide the blast
either into a number of small jets, or cause it to issue from an annular opening.
whereby the air intended to be exhausted will be more powerfully acted upon,
and be drawn into the centre of the jet, and carried away with the steam in
greater quantities than when a single solid jet is employed.
I have shewn, in Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16, various forms of
jets which may be employed for the purpose, but the one represented in front
view at Fig. 16 is the one shewn as applied to the apparatus represented in
Figures 1 and 2, and will be found to answer extremely well for general
purposes.
In Fig. 1 the jet is shewn in longitudinal section, and in Fig. 2 in side.
elevation. Upon referring to the front view, Fig. 16, it will be seen that the
opening for the emission of steam is made annular, and the steam is supplied
to the jet of the blast from a high-pressure boiler, through the pipe k, which
is furnished with four branch pipes 1, 1, 1, 1, the opposite ends of which
terminate in the small chamber m, forming the head of the jet, and in which
the annular opening is made. It will now be evident, that, as steam issues

page_text: with great velocity from the annular opening of the steam blast, the air and
vapour in the case 7, 1, and also in the pipe j in connection therewith, will be
carried onward, and will consequently exhaust the pipe j and evaporating
vessel e, and the air and vapours having free access both to the centre and the
outer surface of the blast, the steam will act much more powerfully thereon
than if the blast consisted of a solid jet of steam. The modifications of this
principle, shewn in Figures 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15, act in precisely the
same manner, although they are somewhat different in construction.
Figures 10 and 11 represent front and sectional views of a blast consisting
of four distinct small jets.
Fig. 12 is a mere modification of Fig. 16, already described, consisting
simply of two annular. jets with a passage for a column of air between, and
also for a column of air in the centre. This construction will be found
serviceable where very large and powerful blasts are required.
Fig. 13 represents a jet somewhat similar in construction to that of an
ordinary Argand gas burner, consisting of a number of small holes ranged in a
circle, the air being admitted freely between them, and also within the circle.
Fig. 14 is the converse of Fig. 12, a small jet of steam being surrounded
by a column of air, and this again enclosed in an annular jet of steam. This
construction will also be found effective for large and powerful blasts.
Fig. 15 represents four flat jets, with spaces between for admitting a stratum
of air and vapors.
.
The hot steam from the steam blast, and also the steam and heated vapours
that are drawn from the evaporating vessel through the exhausting pipe j, j
are driven into the air-heating apparatus H, I, Figures 1 and 2, and shewn
in transverse section at Fig. 17. This apparatus consists of a double series
of compartments, through one series of which the steam and heated vapours
from the steam blast pass in the direction of the black arrows through the
apparatus, and such steam and vapors as may be uncondensed issue from the
pipen at the opposite end, the condensed steam being allowed to run off through
the small pipe o below. The air to be heated enters at one side of the appa-
ratus by the pipe p, and passes across and across through the second series of
compartments in the direction of the dotted arrows, and at right angles to the
passage of the steam through the apparatus, and finally enters the hot-air
pipe jj, before mentioned, and by means of its two branches is supplied to
the hot-air series of pipes h, h, in the evaporating vessel e. In order to allow
the heated air to issue from these pipes, and percolate through the body of the
solution, longitudinal openings or rows of holes are made in the under side thereof,
as seen in the enlarged sectional view, Fig. 18. In this Figure the tube is

page_text: represented as made of cast iron, and the longitudinal slit cast in the under side
thereof as furnished with thin metal plates, which are screwed on, or otherwise
attached, for the purpose of reducing the opening to the proper size, and
making it straight and regular. The construction of the steam-heating pipes
will be best understood by referring to the detached views, Figures 3 and 4,
and their arrangement and combination with the hot-air pipes is shewn in
Figures 5 and 6, and a somewhat different arrangement at Figures 7 and 8:
It has already been said that the solution in the evaporating vessel e is
heated by steam from the boiler or generator a. from the top of which it
issues and passes through the pipe.g into a tubular chamber 1 (see Figures 1,
3, and 4). This chamber is divided longitudinally, by a horizontal partition 2,
into two parts, the upper compartment only being in communication with the
large steam pipe g, and from this upper chamber a series of small steam
heating pipes 3, 3, extend horizontally across the lower part of the evaporating
vessel e, and terminate in a chamber or series of chambers 4, 4, at the opposite
end; and a lower series of pipes 5, 5, arranged in such a manner that there is
one return pipe 5 for every pair of heating pipes 3, 3, as seen in the detached
view, Fig. 5; and the sectional view, Fig. 19, also communicates with the
chamber or chambers 4, 4, and terminates at its opposite end in the lower
compartment of the tubular chamber 1, so that there is always a proper circu-
lation of steam through the steam-heating pipes, the lower series of tubes, 5, 5,
serving to conduct away the condensed steam which is drawn from the lower
compartment of the tubular, chamber by the pipe q. In Figures 5 and 6, the
main hot-air pipe is shewn at h, h, and the smaller hot-air pipes at 6, 6. By
this arrangement it will be seen that the air in escaping from the under side
of the pipes h, h, not only causes a rapid circulation of liquid round the steam
pipes, but is obliged while rising through the solution to come in contact with
the steam-heating pipes, and thereby take up an additional amount of calorie,
if not already sufficiently heated by passing through the heating appa-
ratus H, I, in Figures 1 and 2. In order to cause a proper circulation of
air from the hot-air pipes h, h, through the solution in the evaporating vessel e,
I sometimes find it adviseable to make two longitudinal slits or openings at the
under side of the pipes, or to divide the opening longitudinally into two parts
by means of a long central partition (as shewn in the sectional view, Fig. 21, v),
the effect of which will be to divide the air into two equal bodies, and cause
it to rise up on both sides of the pipe at the same time. In order still further
to oblige the heated air to come in contact with the steam pipes, I sometimes
furnish these latter with jackets, covers, or caps, which partially envelope
the pipes, as shewn in Figure 21, so that when the air issues from the air

page_text: pipes 6, 6, it is conducted up between the jacket or cover and the steam pipe,
and issues from a longitudinal opening above. This arrangement will be more
minutely explained hereafter, as it will be found extremely advantageous for
evaporating saline solutions which deposit crystals during evaporation, or
where large quantities of liquid require to be operated upon.
Figures 21° represent other arrangements and combinations of the air and
steam tubes, the upper series being steam tubes and the lower hot-air tubes.
And I would here observe, that, if thought desirable, the main steam pipe, and
also the main hot-air flue (from which the steam and air pipes f, f, and h, h,
extend horizontally, as shewn in Figures 1 and 2,) may be constructed and
arrangedin such a manner, by securing their ends in stuffing boxes, as to admit
of the steam and hot-air tubes being raised up into a vertical position, as if
mounted on a hinge.
In the Drawing at Figures 1 and 2 I have represented the evaporating
vessel e as rectangular, but it is evident that, if thought more desirable, it
may be made circular, in which case the hot-air pipes h, h, and steam
pipes ff, would have to be made in coils, as will be well understood. The
operation of the whole apparatus is as follows:-The saccharine solution being
poured into the boiler a, by the pipe b, steam is gene: ated by the action of the
fire in the fireplace, and is conducted off by the pipe g to the evaporating
vessel e, which is supplied with a partially concentrated solution from the
boiler a, by means of the pipe d. The steam-heating pipes fact upon the
solution in the evaporator e, and drive off more of the watery particles; and
in order to promote a rapid evaporation, high-pressure steam is supplied to
the steam blast i, i, which will quickly exhaust the air and vapours from the
surface of the liquid in the evaporating vessel e, and cause a continuous
current of dry air to pass from the heating apparatus to the pipes h, h, and
from thence to percolate through the solution in the evaporating vessel e.
When the contents of the vessel e have arrived at the proper stage of con-
centration, which may be ascertained by drawing off a sample by the cock
at the bottom, the concentrated syrup is withdrawn through the aperture 8,
and the operation repeated by obtaining a fresh quantity of only partially
concentrated solution from the boiler a.
Fig. 22, in Sheet II., represents a complete apparatus heated by steam, with
clarifiers and filters, and a steam blast adapted to the evaporating vessel; the
whole apparatus being calculated for the manufacture of fine sugars. The
evaporating pan or vessel is shewn at E, and the cane-juice boilers at A, A.
These latter are heated by steam in the usual way, or in any other convenient
manner; the steam so generated in the cane-juice boilers being carried off

page_text: by the pipe G, and employed to heat the solution in the evaporating vessel.
C, C, are clarifyers and filters, in which fresh juice is defecated' previous to
allowing it to pass into one of the boilers A, A, into which it is. conducted
from the cistern C¹ by a branch of the pipe D, and after being operated upon
in the boilers A, A, it is run into an open vessel or blowing-up pan F, and
from this vessel the juice is allowed to descend into another series of
filters C, C, in conjunction with which beds of animal charcoal may be
used, if thought necessary, or filter beds of animal charcoal may be used in
place of the other filters. The apparatus, as shewn in the Drawing, is, how-
ever, well adapted for a colonial sugar house, if superintended by an intel-
ligent sugar boiler. The evaporating pan E communicates with the steam blast
I by means of the pipe J, and the jet of the blast I being supplied by means
of the pipe P with high-pressure steam from the boiler R, the steam blast
will quickly exhaust the air from the evaporating vessel, and if a sufficient
quantity of dry air is supplied to the bottom of the evaporating vessel E from
the heating apparatus H through the pipe h, a continuous current of heated
air will be made to percolate through the solution in the vessel E and
promote a rapid evaporation of the aqueous particles. The hot-air pipé h.is
furnished with a valve for the purpose of arresting the supply of air to the
evaporating vessel when required. The evaporating vessel E is supplied with
partially concentrated juice from the lower cistern C by means of a monitjus,
or it may be drawn up through the pipe M by means of rarefaction, pro-
duced in the vessel E by the action of the steam blast, the supply of hot air
to the pan having being previously shut off by closing the valve 7 on the hot-
air pipe.
A description of one process of sugar manufacture will be sufficient to
illustrate and explain the operation of the apparatus, which is as follows:-
The cane juice from the mill is run into the first clarifier C, where it is
properly tempered or treated with clarifying ingredients, and then boiled up
for a few minutes, after which it is run through the filters into the cistern
C', where some finely powdered bone black may be mixed with it, say in the
proportion of from four pounds to six pounds of bone black for every one
hundred gallons of juice. The mixture of juice and bone black is then run
into the boilers A, A, for the purpose of partially concentrating the juice, and
also in order to generate steam for heating the syrup in the evaporating
vessel E. It will not be necessary to carry the concentration in the boilers
A, A, very high, as this operation may be more conveniently and economically
performed in the evaporating vessel E, which is specially contrived and
arranged for this purpose, and 'by so doing a very large amount of fuel will

page_text: be saved. When the juice has been heated in the boilers A, A, with the bone
black sufficiently long, it is to be run into the open pan E, where it may be
heated with a little blood or some albuminous or other clarifying matter, and
the syrup having been well boiled up it. is to be passed through the filters
C*, C*, immediately below, in which the bone black and a considerable
amount of saccharine matter will remain, and must therefore be washed out
and returned to the upper clarifiers C, C. If the above processes are pro-
perly performed, the syrrup in the cistern C, C, below the filters C will
now be in a proper state for final concentration in the evaporating vessel E,
to which it must be transferred in proper charges, either by means of a
montjus or through the pipe M, by rarifying the atmosphere in the vessel E,
as has been already explained. When by the concentration of successive
charges of syrup the vessel is found to contain a skipping of syrup sugar
proof, then the current of heated air through the syrup is stopped by turning
off the steam from the blast I, so that the vessel E will become a simple
heater, and the syrup may be quickly raised to a temperature of two hundred
degrees, and then run off into a chrystallizer or cooler, which may be mounted
on wheels and run under the vessel E on the rails shewn in the Drawing.
Fig. 23 represents a longitudinal section of a vacuum pan and cane-juice
boiler for the manufacture of raw sugar, in which the current of dry heated air,
which in the foregoing apparatus is made to percolate through the saccharine
solution, is dispensed with. This pan is not, of course, so powerful an
evaporator as those above described, but will be found useful when the per-
colation of hot air through the solution is not desirable. The steam blast
is, as in the former instances, created by the action of a jet or jets of high-
pressure steam, and (together with the steam and vapours from the evapo-
rating pan E) is made to enter at one side of the double bottom of the pan,
só as to cause a perfect circulation round the bottom and assist in heating the
syrup contained in the vessel; or in some cases a condenser may with advantage
be placed between the pan and the exhausting blast. The syrup is also further
heated by a coil of steam pipe laid on the bottom of the vessel and supplied
with steam from the upper part of the cane-juice boiler or steam generator,
which is licated by a naked fire, or in any other suitable and convenient
manner. It will be evident that an apparatus constructed substantially upon
the same principle as those above described as applicable to the manufacture
of sugar may be employed for evaporating saline solutions and concentrating
vegetable extracts, certain modifications in the arrangement of some of the
parts being made to suit the circumstances of any particular case.
In Figures 24 and 25, Sheet II., I have shown an arrangement of apparatus.

page_text: which I intend to employ for evaporating saline solutions. Fig. 24 repre-
sents a longitudinal vertical section of the boiler and evaporating vessel,
and Fig. 25 a transverse vertical section of the same, taken through the
evaporating vessel and its appurtenances. In the present instance, the boiler
is heated by a furnace, in which combustion is carried on by means of the
draft of an ordinary chimney, but it may be promoted by a blowing machine,
or other means, in which latter case it would be advisable to lengthen the
flues or heating pipes which run through the evaporating vessel e, so as to
enable the solution therein to abstract as much heat as possible from the
vapours that pass from the furnace through the said flues. In Fig. 24,
a, a, is the boiler or heating vessel, which is supplied with the saline solution,
from a reservoir above, by the pipe b, this latter being furnished with a
stopcock in order to regulate or cut off the supply, as may be required. c, c, is
the furnace or fireplace, which is surrounded on all sides by a hollow space or
chamber a, a, which forms the boiler, so as to allow a free circulation of the
solution from the pipe b to the evaporator c, which is mounted over an open
vessel u, v, as seen in Fig. 25, so as to enable the workmen to scrape up and
remove the salt from the bottom of the vessel as evaporation proceeds. The
liquid in the evaporator e is kept at a proper level by means of a floats,
which, by acting on a throttle valve t on the pipe & that connects the boiler to
the evaporator, will always admit the hot solution from the boiler a into the
evaporator e when the liquid in the latter falls below a given point. The
main flue from the furnace is shewn at g, and is divided into five or any
convenient number of smaller flues f, f, branching out therefrom, and which
pass through the centre of the evaporator, and terminate in a smoke box or end
flue u, at the opposite end. h, h, are the hot-air pipes, communicating with a
main pipe in connection with the heating apparatus H, H, as in the former
instances. These pipes h, h, and also the flue pipes ff, are partially sur-
rounded with a jacket or cover, as seen in Fig. 25, and also in Fig. 26, which
represents some of these pipes detached, and in section. By examining these
Figures it will be seen that longitudinal slits are made along the under sides of
the hot-air pipes, or a series of holes may be employed in place thereof, so
that as the air escapes therefrom it will rise up between the outside of the
tube. and inside of the cover, as shewn by the arrows, and pass out of the
longitudinal opening above, from whence it will issue and impinge against the
under side of the smoke flues f, f, and by this contact will imbibe a fresh
amount of caloric, and will continue its upward progress between the outside
of the flues f, f, and their covers, and ultimately escape from the longitudinal
slit or opening at the top. The air and vapours that thus rise from the

page_text: solution are drawn off, and carried away through the pipe j by means of the
steam blast i, i, and made to heat the air in the heating apparatus II, I, in a
similar manner to that already explained in reference to the other Figures.
The salt, by the evaporation of the watery particles of the brine, becomes
deposited in a crystallized state at the bottom of the vessel, and may be
removed therefrom by first drawing it to the siles with scrapers or rakes, and
then raising it from the sides by shovels, and depositing it in baskets in the
usual manner as the evaporating process proceeds, open spaces being left, as
already mentioned, on each side of the evaporator for this operation, as shown
in Fig. 25. I would here remark, that, although I have shewn the apparatus
arranged in such a manner as to produce a current of hot air through the
liquid by means of a steam blast, yet I sometimes intend to employ a blowing
engine for forcing or exhausting the air, as will be readily understood.
Having now described my Invention of "Certain Improvements in. Appa-
ratus for Evaporating and Concentrating Saccharine and Saline Solutions, and
which may be also applicable to the Evaporation and Concentration of
Vegetable and others Extracts," and the best means with which I am at
present acquainted for carrying the same into operation, I would observe, in
conclusion, that in order that my improvements may be perfectly understood
by persons practically acquainted with or engaged in concentrating saccharine
or saline solutions and vegetable extracts, I have found it necessary to shew
and describe various matters and parts of apparatus which have been heretofore
used for similar purposes. I do not, however, mean or intend to claim such
parts separately, as constituting any of the essential features of my Invention,
nor do I intend to confine myself rigidly to the precise arrangement and
construction of parts herein shewn and described, as they may doubtless be
varied without departing from the nature and object of my improvements, and
they must in fact be modifiel to suit different circumstances and the nature
of the solutions or liquids to be operated upon; but that which I consider to be
new, and therefore wish to claim as the Invention secured to me under the
herein-before recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the construction and employment of a jet or jets, such as those herein
shewn and described, for producing a blast for exhausting or drawing off hot
air or vapours from any vessel or place where such exhaustion is required.
Second, the adaptation and employment of tubes, constructed in the manner
herein shewn and described, or any modification thereof, for causing a current
of hot air to percolate through saccharine, saline, and other solutions, for the
purpose of concentrating the same. Also the mode above shewn, or any
modification thereof, for heating such air by means of the waste steam, hot

page_text: air, and vapour issuing from the steam blast or from any other convenient
source.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Jay, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, the Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twenty-ninth day of
March, in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Charles Jay came before
our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute in that case made and provided.