IMPROVE- MENTS IN OBTAINING ALCOHOL OR SPIRIT FROM RICE AND OTHER GRAIN, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THAT PURPOSE
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Frederick Henley, late of Denbigh Street,
Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex, but now of Cambridge Street,
Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN OBTAINING ALCOHOL OR SPIRIT FROM RICE AND OTHER GRAIN,
AND IN APPARATUS FOR THAT PURPOSE."
Sealed the 9th December 1859, and dated the 11th June, 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Frederick Henley
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th June 1859.
I, THOMAS FREDERICK HENLEY, of Denbigh Street, Pimlico, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING ALCOHOL OR SPIRIT FROM RICE AND OTHER GRAIN, AND IN
APPARATUS FOR THAT PURPOSE," to be as follows:-
In the ordinary mode of preparing rice or other grain for fermentation and
distillation, the grain is crushed or ground, and is mixed with a portion of
malted grain, or the whole of the grain is previously malted. It is mashed
with hot water, and the starch or a portion of the starch in the grain is
converted into sugar or saccharified by the action of the diastase in the malt.
The sweet wort thus obtained is fermented and distilled to obtain the spirit.
I obtained Letters Patent dated 28th June, 1856, No. 1529, for "An
Improved Process for Obtaining Arrack or Spirit from Rice or other, Grain,"

page_text: which was more particularly and economically applicable to hard grains like
rice and maize, and in which process malting was not required. The rice or
other grain was softened or steeped in a solution of ammonia or other alkali,
and then crushed between rollers, and rendered fluid by the admixture of spent
wash or water, and was pumped into a close vessel or mash tun containing
hot dilute acid under pressure. The saccharification of the starch was thus
effected by the action of the hot acid, which was afterwards neutralized, and
the fermentation and distillation were conducted in the ordinary manner.
This process is found to be successful, and the present Invention relates to still
farther improvements, which effect a considerable economy in the process.
For this purpose I dispense with the operations of steeping in ammonia, and
crushing the grain, and I gradually introduce the rice or maize or other grain
in its ordinary dry, whole, unbroken, or broken state into the hot dilute acid
under pressure. To effect this operation it is necessary to combine with the
close mash tun or vessel a peculiar apparatus, so as to introduce the grain
notwithstanding the pressure in the vessel or mash tun. The apparatus which
I prefer to employ consists of a chamber wider at bottom than at top, and
furnished with two sliding doors or valves which are moved alternately by
cranks or cams or levers driven by toothed wheels and segments or otherwise,
as may be convenient.
These sliding doors are so arranged that they
alternately open and shut, and each one shuts before the other opens. Abové
the top of the chamber is a hopper containing the grain; the upper slide
opens and the grain fills the chamber. This slide then shuts and the lower
one opens, and the grain falls into the mash tun or vessel; the lower slide
shuts, and the upper one opens, and the chamber is again filled, and so on.
As the chamber is full of steam under pressure, this steam bas to be let out
to prevent it from blowing up through the hopper and scattering the grain;
the upper slide is made to open an outlet passage for this steam before
opening to the hopper. As the grain is rather liable to be softened and
rendered adhesive by the steam, and might thus stick in the chamber, I
conduct a steam pipe to the upper part of the chamber. A valve or cock in
this pipe is opened by a cam or by hand or otherwise as required, so as to
allow the steam to enter above the grain, and thus to force or assist it to
descend from the chamber into the mash tun or close vessel, in which it is
acted upon by the hot dilute acid under pressure. By driving this apparatus
by a steam engine or other suitable means, the grain is added gradually and
regularly to the acid liquor. Any other modification or arrangement of
apparatus may be employed by which the grain can be introduced gradually
and regularly into the close vessel containing the hot acid under pressure.

page_text: The acid liquor is kept hot by steam pipes or a steam jacket supplied with
steam at a sufficient pressure and temperature, or by other suitable means.
The acid may be muriatic or hydrochloric acid or sulphuric acid, and it may
be diluted with water or spent wash. By thus adding the whole grain
gradually and regularly to the hot acid, the starch is converted into sugar, and
I obtain a strong saccharine solution or wort. I prefer to raise the tempe-
rature and pressure of the mixture after all the grain is added, in order more
effectually to complete or insure the saccharification. The acid is then
neutralized with soda or lime or other suitable alkali or alkaline earth, and
the liquor or wort is fermented and distilled in the ordinary manner. The
spent wash may be used for feeding cattle and other animals.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Frederick Henley in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 9th December 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
FREDERICK HENLEY, late of Denbigh Street, Pimlico, in the County of
Middlesex, but now of Cambridge Street, Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Thomas Frederick Henley, Her special licence that I, the
said Thomas Frederick Henley, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
such others as I, the said Thomas Frederick Henley, my executors, adminis
trators, and 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 OBTAINING ALCOHOL OR SPIRIT FROM RICE AND
OTHER GRAIN, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THAT PURPOSE," upon the condition (amongst
others) that: I, the said Thomas Frederick Henley, my executors or admi-
nistrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, 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

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Frederick Henley, do hereby
declare the nature of the said. Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:---
In the ordinary mode of preparing rice or other grain for fermentation and
distillation, the grain is crushed or ground, and is mixed with a portion of
malted grain; or the whole of the grain is previously malted. It is mashed
with hot water, and the starch of the grain is converted into sugar or saccha-
rified by the action of the diastase in the malt. The sweet wort thus obtained
is fermented and distilled to obtain the spirit.
I obtained Letters Patent, dated the Twenty-eighth day of June, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, numbered 1529, for "An Improved
Process for Obtaining Arrack or Spirit from Rice or other Grain," which was
more particularly and economically applicable to hard grains like rice and
maize, and in which process malting was not required. The rice or other
grain was softened or steeped in a solution of ammonia or other alkali, and
then crushed between rollers and rendered fluid by the admixture of spent
wash or water, and was pumped into a close vessel or mash tun containing hot
dilute acid under pressure. The saccharification of the starch was thus
effected by the action of the hot acid, which was afterwards neutralized, and
the fermentation and distillation were conducted in the ordinary manner.
This process is found to be successful, and the present Invention relates to
'still further improvements which effect a considerable economy in the process.
For this purpose, I dispense with the operations. of steeping in ammonia and
crushing the grain, and I gradually introduce the rice or maize or other grain
in its ordinary dry, whole, unbroken, or broken state, into the hot dilute acid
under pressure. As the grain in this solid state cannot be forced into the
vessel by a pump, I employ in combination with the mash tun or close vessel
the apparatus herein-after described and shewn in the accompanying Drawing.
Although I prefer to employ this particular apparatus, other modifications
or arrangements of apparatus may be employed, by which the solid grain can
be introduced gradually and regularly into the close vessel containing the hot
acid under pressure.
The acid liquor is kept hot by steam pipes supplied with steam at a sufficient
pressure and temperature, or by other suitable means. Thus the vessel or
mash tun may be of the form of a cylinder or truncated cone with a flat

page_text: bottom and top, and may be made of wooden staves or planks carefully fitted
and tongued together. The sides may be bound together by strong iron or
copper hoops. The bottom may be supported by iron or wooden beams, and
the top may be kept down by iron or wooden beams tied down to those which
support the bottom of the vessel. A coil of pipes of copper or other suitable
material may be laid inside this vessel, and the ends of the pipe passed through
the sides of the vessel. Steam is admitted into one end of the pipe, and the
condensed water allowed to flow out at the other end; or, the temperature
may be kept up by blowing steam into the vessel itself and through the liquid;
or both these plans may be used in combination. The acid may be muriatic
or hydrochloric acid, or sulphuric acid, and it may be diluted with water or
with spent wash. Two parts, by weight, of strong muriatic acid of commerce,
or one part, by weight, of strong sulphuric acid or oil of vitriol of commerce,
may be diluted with about one hundred and fifty or two hundred parts of
water or spent wash. One hundred gallons of this mixture will suffice for
operating on about two hundredweight of rice.
The temperature may be raised until the pressure in the vessel is about
seven pounds per square inch above the atmosphere. These proportions and
pressure, however, admit of very considerable variations, and I prefer to
increase the temperature and pressure of the mixture after all the grain is
added, in order more effectually to complete or insure the saccharification.
By thus adding the whole or solid grain gradually and regularly to the hot
acid, the starch of each successive portion is for the most part converted into
sugar and dissolved in the liquid, and I thus obtain a strong saccharine
solution or wort mixed with the acid employed. The acid in this wort is then
neutralized with soda or chalk or other suitable alkali or alkaline earth, and
the liquor or wort is fermented and distilled in the ordinary manner.
The apparatus which I prefer to employ for introducing the grain into the
close vessel or mash tun is shown in the accompanying Drawing. Figure 1 is
a side view or elevation; and Figure 2 is a vertical section of the apparatus:
Figure 3 is a plan of the apparatus with the hopper A removed. The same
letters refer to similar parts in each Figure.
A is a hopper, or rather a base, on which is fixed a larger hopper, into
which the rice or other grain is introduced; B is a chamber, rather wider at
bottom than at top, and standing on another chamber or neck R, which com-
municates with the interior of the mash tun or close vessel in which the grain
is to be acted upon by the hot dilute acid under pressure. The chamber B is
furnished with two sliding doors or valves C and D, which are moved alter-
nately by connecting rods E, F, connected respectively to-two cranks G

page_text: and H. The crank shafts carry two pinions I, J, each of which pinions is
.alternately caused to make a complete revolution, and then to remain stationary
while the other pinion makes its revolution. This is effected by a wheel K
carrying a-segment of teeth which acts alternately on the two pinions. The
spindle L of the segmental wheel K carries another toothed wheel M, which
is driven by a pinion N and pulley O, which receives its motion from a steam
engine or other source of power. It is convenient to have two or more pullies
of different sizes, or other means of varying the speed of the apparatus.
P, P, is the framing supporting the spindles, and resting on the base plate Q.
opens
.
b
By causing the pulley O to revolve in. the direction of the arrow, the
segmental wheel K causes the pinion I to make a revolution, and thus to
draw back the slide or valve C and again to return it to its first position.
The valve has a large opening in it of the same size as the top of the chamber
B, which thus opens a free communication with the hopper A and again
closes it. The chamber B is thus filled with the rice or other grain. The
valve C being closed remains stationary while the segmental wheel K causes
the pinion J to make a revolution, and thus to open and close the valve D
communicating between the chamber B-and the mash tun. The contents of
the chamber B are thus allowed to drop into the mash tun; the valve C then
and shuts as before, and so on. As the chamber B becomes filled with
steam when the grain drops out of it, this steam would blow up through the
hopper when the top valve is opened, and might scatter the grain about unless
an outlet were provided for it. For this purpose a passage a is made from the
chamber B to the under side of the case of the valve C, and another passage
is made in the upper side of the valve case. When the valve C is shut, the
passage a is also closed, but as soon as the valve begins to move, it first opens
the small passage a and allows the steam to escape through the opening b, and.
then opens the communication with the hopper A. If there is a sufficient
column of grain above the hopper A to resist the pressure of the steam, this
outlet passage is not required. The chamber B is made larger at the bottom
than at top, to facilitate the descent of the grain. In some cases, however,
the grain may become swelled by the steam, and may be liable to stick in the
chamber. To prevent or remedy such an accident, a steam pipe c from a
steam boiler is connected to the upper part of the chamber B, and provided
with a cock or valve d. The handle or lever e of this cock is moved by a
sliding rod which slides in a bracket or support on the framing P, and in
another bracket g. A helical spring his attached to the rod f and bracket g.
and serves to draw the lever e into the position shewn in Figure 1. The rod f
has a tooth or projection on its under side, which is struck by a tooth on a

page_text: wheel mounted on the spindle L, and the rod is thus moved so as to bring the
lever e into the position shewn by dotted lines in Figure 1. As the one tooth
passes the other the rod f is released and drawn back by the spring h. By
this means the cock d is opened and again quickly closed. A jet or puff of
steam is thus admitted into the chamber B above the grain, which is forced
out into the mash tun. With hard grains this introduction of steam is seldom
required, and it may either be suppressed altogether or introduced occasionally
by opening and shutting the cock d by hand or otherwise. The cranks may
be balanced to prevent their weight from having a tendency to move them out
of their proper positions when at rest. The segmental wheel K may carry a
pin which strikes a projecting arm or lever on each of the pinions I and J
before the teeth come into gear, and in such a manner as to cause them to
enter properly into each other.
By driving this apparatus by a steam engine or other suitable means, the
grain is added gradually and regularly to the acid liquor. Any other modifi-
cation or arrangement of apparatus may, however, be employed, by which the
grain can be introduced gradually and regularly into the close vessel containing
the hot acid under pressure.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I
claim is,
First, the improvement or improvements in obtaining alcohol or spirit from
rice or other grain by saccharifying the rice or other grain by adding it in its
solid, unbroken, or broken state to hot diluted acid, under a pressure greater
than that of the atmosphere, and afterwards neutralizing the acid, as herein-
before described, the liquid thus obtained being afterwards fermented and
distilled in the ordinary manner.
Second, the combination of a close mash tun with the apparatus for intro-
ducing the grain in successive small portions, as herein-before described, in
reference to the accompanying Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Frederick Henley, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
T. F. HENLEY. (L.S.)