IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING MALT AND GRAIN, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Forbes, of the City and County of Perth,
North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING MALT AND
GRAIN, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH."
Sealed the 7th November 1865, and dated the 10th May 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Forbes at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
10th May 1865.
I, JOHN FORBES, of the City and County of Perth, North Britain, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING MALT
AND GRAIN, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be
as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention relates to the adaptation of certain mechanical arrangements
to be applied to kilns employed for the purpose of drying malt and grain, by
means of which great economy is effected in the time required, and quantity
of fuel employed for heating and drying any given quantity of the afore-
mentioned products.
One mode of carrying the present Invention into practice consists in placing
a fan, pump, or other exhausting apparatus on the outside or other suitable
portion of the kiln, ducts, passages, or pipes being led from the fan, pump,
or other exhausting apparatus to the interior of the drying chamber. Thus
when the exhausting apparatus is set in motion the aqueous vapour evaporated
from the malt or grain is drawn off, and a fresh supply of dry hot air is drawn

page_text: in through openings in the bottom of the kiln, which on passing through the
'layer of malt or grain causes it to be dried much more speedily and effectively
than under the old method in which the evaporated moisture was permitted
to hang over the grain being dried. The heat for warming the kiln may
either be obtained direct from a fire, or it may be obtained from exhaust
steam of a steam engine, or from any other suitable source.
The present Invention is especially applicable to the use of distillers and
brewers, at the same time producing a finer quality and larger quantity of
malt than what has been hitherto obtained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Forbes in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th
November 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
FORBES, of the City and County of Perth, North Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
John Forbes, Her special license that I, the said John Forbes, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Forbes, my
executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRYING MALT AND
GRAIN, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Forbes, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Forbes, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the

page_text: following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to the adaptation of certain mechanical arrange-
ments to be applied to kilns for the purpose of drying malt and grain, by
means of which great economy is effected in the time required, and quantity
of fuel employed for heating and drying any given quantity of the afore-
mentioned products..
One mode of carrying out the present Invention in practice consists in
placing a fan, pump, or other exhausting apparatus on the outside or other
suitable portion of the kiln, ducts, passages, or pipes being led from the fan,
pump, or other exhausting apparatus to the interior of the drying chamber..
Thus, when the exhausting apparatus is set in motion the aqueous vapour
evaporated from the malt or grain is drawn off, and a fresh supply of dry hot
air is drawn in through openings in the bottom of the kiln, which on passing
through the layer of malt or grain causes it to be dried much more speedily
and effectively than under the old method in which the evaporated moisture
was permitted to hang over the grain being dried..
The present Invention is especially advantageous for the use of distillers
and brewers, at the same time producing a finer quality and larger quantity
of malt than what has been hitherto obtained.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I shall
now proceed to describe the system, mode, or manner in or under which the
same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, reference being had.
to the several Figures on the two explanatory Sheets of Drawings, which I
have hereunto appended, and in which similar parts are indicated by corre-
sponding letters of reference, that is to say:-
Figure 1, Sheet 1, is a transverse section of the kiln; Figure 2 a longi-
tudinal section at right angles to Figure 1. Figure 3, Sheet 2, is a plan of
the ceiling of the kiln, showing one arrangement of the air conductor leading
to the extracting fan.
In Figures 1 and 2, the interior part of the brick casing under the kiln is
marked A of the usual curvilinear form, and spreading outwards till meeting
the vertical walls B, from which is carried the kiln floor C, on which the
malt or grain to be dried is spread. The kiln floor C is perforated with a
series of holes a, through which the air passes or is drawn by the extractor
through the malt or grain as herein-after more particularly described. In the
arrangement shown the air conductor passes along underneath the central
portion of the ceiling of the kiln E, leading to the extractor F, the conductor D
being fitted with three adjustable doors or openings b, b, and 6, by which

page_text: the quantity of air admitted from the kiln to the fan or extractor F is regu-
lated, the extractor F being arranged within a casing of wood, iron, or other
suitable material. In Figure 1 there is shown the opening, duct, or passage G,
leading to the chimney H. A thermometer I is placed upon the upper part
of the fan casing at or about the point where this joins with the passage G, it
being for the guidance of the attendant who on reading off the temperature at
any time regulates his fire accordingly. The extracting fan F is mounted
upon a shaft K, Figures 1 and 2, which carries a driving pulley, over which
a belt passes for imparting the requisite rotatory motion. At Figure 3.
(Sheet 2), L and M are doors which are opened when the fan is not at work,
At Figures 1
communicating with the kiln chimney as in an ordinary kiln.
and 2, the brick casing marked A has in it openings O formed above the fire,
As pre-
through which the cold air is admitted as indicated by the arrows.
viously mentioned the fuel employed for heating the kiln may be either peat,
coal, coke, or other inflammable material; or if the fan is rotated by the
agency of a steam engine, the exhaust steam may be passed by means of pipes
in the openings through which the cold air enters to the fire, and thus the
steam is condensed, and nearly the whole available quantity of heat given out by
the coals for actuating the engine is utilized. The portion generally going off
as waste with the exhaust being thus economised. The air may also be heated
by means of flues or pipes constructed in such a manner as to heat the air
before passing up through the kiln floor, in which case small coal or "dross
can be used to great advantage, the colour of the product by this means is much
brighter than by fire directly applied. By means of the arrangement herein-
before described, the malt or other grain being dried is continually exposed to
a rapid current of dry beated air passing through it in an upward direction,
thus the process of drying is effected in about one-half of the time occupied
by the ordinary method, and at a proportionate reduction in cost for fuel, the
friability of the malt and brightness of its colour being greatly improved as
the temperature of the malt need never be higher than 110° Fahrenheit, or
thereabouts, although it is to be understood that I do not bind myself to the
afore-mentioned temperature. It has also been found that by conducting
the process as herein-before described, the yield of malt is increased in a ratio
of five per cent. over the old method, and when mashed the yield of saccha-
rine matter is as great if not greater, the starch being more easily converted
into sugar by the diastase in the mash tun on account of the lowness of
temperature to which it has been exposed in the kiln.
It is to be understood that the apparatus which I have now herein described,
and more particularly illustrated in the appended Sheets of Drawings, is a
"

page_text: modification that I find to work most advantageously, although the details
may be considerably modified, as will at once be evident to an expert, for
instance, I do not bind myself to the employment of a fan as an extractor, a
pump, or any apparatus by which a draught is produced may be used, nor do
I bind myself to the peculiar form and arrangement of conductor as herein-
before described.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, I would
observe in conclusion, that what I consider novel and original, and there-
fore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the process of removing the damp air from the drying chamber of
malt and grain kilns, and causing a strong current of dry air to pass upwards
through the grain as herein-before described.
Second, the arrangement and combination of parts forming the apparatus
by which the damp air is removed as herein-before described, or any mere
modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Forbes, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of November, One. thousa.id eight hun-
dred and sixty-five.
JNO. FORBES. (L.S.)