IMPROVEMENTS IN CLARIFYING AND DECOLORIZING SOLUTIONS OF SUGAR AND OTHER LIQUIDS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Theodore de Lisle, of 14, Addison Road,
Kensington, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CLARIFYING AND DECOLORIZING SOLUTIONS OF SUGAR
AND OTHER LIQUIDS."
Sealed the 3rd February 1860, and dated the 6th August 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Theodore de Lisle
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th August 1859.
I, ALFRED THEODORE DE LISLE, of 14, Addison Road, Kensington, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CLARIFYING AND DECOLORIZING SOLUTIONS OF SUGAR
AND OTHER LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in clarifying and decolorizing
solutions of sugar and other liquids. For this purpose I mix with the solution
of sugar or other liquid finely powdered animal charcoal in a heated state, and
afterwards separate the charcoal by filtration. I have found that the more
finely the charcoal is powdered, and the higher its heat when mixed with the
solution or liquid, the better is the effect produced; and this effect is greatly
superior to that obtained by mixing with solutions of sugar or other liquids
animal charcoal in comparatively large grains, and in a cold state, as it has
been in some cases heretofore used.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Theodore de Lisle in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 6th February 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALfred
THEODORE DE LISLE, of 14, Addison Road, Kensington, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Theodore de Lisle, Her special licence that I, the said Alfred
Theodore de Lisle, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Alfred Theodore de Lisle, my executors, administrators, 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 CLARIFYING AND DECOLORIZING SOLUTIONS OF SUGAR AND OTHER
LIQUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Theodore
de Lisle, my executors or administrators, 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 calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Theodore de Lisle, 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, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in clarifying and decolorizing
solutions of sugar and other liquids. For this purpose I mix with the solution
of sugar or other liquid finely powdered animal charcoal in a heated state, and
afterwards separate the charcoal by filtration. I have found that the more
finely the charcoal is powdered, and the higher its heat when mixed with the
solution or liquid, the better is the effect produced; and this effect is greatly
superior to that obtained by mixing with solutions of sugar or other liquids
animal charcoal in comparatively large grains, and in a cold state, as it has
been in some cases heretofore used.

page_text: In order to clarify solutions of sugar, I prefer to proceed in the following
manner-Having prepared a solution of a suitable strength, videlicit, with
about one pint of water to a pound of sugar, the solution is passed through a
bag filter, as is usual. A quantity of animal charcoal, such as is now
commonly employed to make filtering beds to filter solutions of sugar, is
taken; it is reduced to a fine powder, and heated to a red heat in a crucible
or close vessel, and when so heated it is thrown into the solution of sugar; a
violent action ensues, resulting in the clarifying and decolorizing of the solution.
The quantity of charcoal I employ varies according to the quality of the sugar;
for highly colored and inferior sugars I employ a quantity of animal charcoal
equal in weight to one-sixth part of the sugar in the solution to which the
charcoal is added; for better qualities of sugar I reduce the quantity of animal
charcoal; and I have found that for good light colored sugars one-tenth part
of charcoal is sufficient. After the addition of heated animal charcoal to the
solution of sugar, the solution is again passed through a bag filter to separate
the charcoal, and the clarified and decolorized solution is evaporated and
crystallized as is usually practised.
The process above described is also applicable for the clarification and
decolorization of other liquids containing vegetable organic coloring matters,
as, for example, vegetable oils. The proportion of animal charcoal required
will depend on the nature of the liquid and the amount of color to be removed,
and is best ascertained by trying several samples of the liquid, each with a
different proportion of animal charcoal, and afterwards employing with the
bulk of the liquid the smallest proportion which is found to remove the color
with sufficient completeness.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Theodore de Lisle, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
ALFRED T. DE LISLE. (L.S.)