Improvements in Treating and Rectifying or Ageing Alcohol or Alcoholic Liquors or the like by Electricity.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Sept., 1889-Accepted, 31st May, 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Treating and Rectifying or Ageing Alcohol or
Alcoholic Liquors or the like by Electricity.
I AUGUSTE DE MÉRITENS of 44 Rue Boursault Paris in the Republic of France
Civil Engineer 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 present Invention has reference to an invention for which I obtained Letters
Patent No. 13293 dated the 14th September 1888 the object of my present
Invention being to admit of the commercial treatment of great quantities of alcobol
or alcoholic liquors or the like at one time with great facility and expedition.
Alcohol and alcoholic liquors or the like are more resistent to the electric current
than is desirable in conducting the process rapidly and I have sought to render them
more conductive which I can effect by dissolving a salt therein. The salt which I
have found to answer is the bisulphite of soda. It has the advantage of liberating an
equivalent of sulphurous acid which being unstable reduces the aldehydes in the
alcohol or the like on the passage of an alternating current of electricity. Therefore
by the use of the said salt in conjunction with treatment in the apparatus described in
the Specification of my aforesaid Patent. alcohol or alcoholic liquors or the like can
be obtained free from aldehydes.
My Invention is applicable to the treatment of alcohol or alcoholic liquors or the
like generally for instance it may be applied to the treatment of alcoholic phlegms.
magmas, wash or wort, and in treating phlegms magmas wash and the like the
process according to this Invention fulfils an important office as it arrests or suspends
secondary fermentation.
When my invention is applied to the electrical treatment of wort in the
fermentation vats a tinned copper cylinder or electrode may be used of a size variable
with the capacityof the vat. This cylinder or electrode is placed in said vat and receives
the conductor by which the current of electricity enters some electrically connected
wires or the like being distributed over or near to the circumference of the vat and
being connected to the opposite conductor so that an electric current passes through
the liquid which may take place during the whole time of fermentation where
necessary; in cases for instance where the lye employed is of an inferior quality.
With good lye usually some six hours of application of the current will be sufficient.
The current should be of high tension and of small quantity so that the temperature
of the liquid will not be sensibly or injuriously raised by the current.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
In the treatment and rectification or ageing of alcohol or alcoholic liquors and the
like by electrical action the employment of a salt such as bi-sulphite of soda for the
purpose herein before described..
£ Contember 1880