US9315A - Improvement in sugar-boiling apparatus - Google Patents

Description

gitudinal vertical section of the same, taken CD of Fig. II. Fig. IV is a similar view the first pan or vessel in which it is hented,

'lime is added toit.

.in the division l of the evaporator c is kept TAPES UNITE APENP Prien.

IMPROVEMENT IN SUGAR-BOILING APPARATUS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 9,315, (lated October 12, 1852.

To all whom t may concern,.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. CLEMENT, of the city and county of Philadelphia, and State of Peeusylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Construction of Apparatus for Manufacturing Sugar from the Cane-Juice; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawings, inl which- Figure I represents a horizontal or plan View of the whole apparatus; Fig. II, a 1onon the dotted line A B of Fig. I. Fig. III is a transverse vertical section on the dottedline taken in the line E F of the same figure.

The first part of my improvement consists in an, arrangement for scumming the sugar in and is as follows: The canejuice is conducted from the mill into the juice-boxes A A, (shown in Figs. I and II,) Where the proper charge of Vhile one of these juice boxes is filling the limed juice is ruiming from the other througha ball-cock, l), into the long narrow, shallow,open pan or evaporator c, set in brick-work d d over a flue, e, extending along its length and proceeding from the furnace at j to a chimney-shaft. rlhis evaporator cis divided into two parts by a partition, g. At about the'center of the division l of c is a small trough or receiver, h, placed across the pan at right angles to its length, and which` as will be seen by reference to Figs. II and IV, does not reach tothe bottom of the evaporator, but has a pipe, z', passing out of it through the side wall, d. The liquid by the arrangement of the ball-cock b nearly on a level with the edge of the trough h. As liquids always circulate in a direction from thehotter to the colder parts of an evaporator, the circulation in the division l of c will be in the direction of the arrow, for the flames and heated air from the furnacef in the flue e, over which the evaporator is placed, are proceeding in the same direction, and consequently will heat more from nearer proximity to the furnaee-that end of the division l ofc where the arrow is placed-than the farther end where the cold juice is running in through the ball cock b. The feculencies or scum, which by the effect of heat rise to and on the surface of the can-juice, are carried by the circulation in the direction of the arrow, and roll over the edge of the trough h, from whence they run through the pipe i as waste matter. To increase this eHect of the circulation of the cane-juice, and at the same time to be enabled to regulate the temperature to that point at which the scum separates most readily from the juice, a part of the bottom of the division 1 of the pan c may be bricked over, as shown at jin Figs. II and IV, so as to prevent the flames from comingin contact with that part; and this brick-work should cover so much of the ,bottom as will prevent the juice from reaching the boiling-point in the division 1 of C. `A coil or worm of steam-pipe, 7c, as will be seen by reference to Figs. I and II,is placed in the pan at that end which is not bricked over underneath. Steam being admitted into this pipe through the valve Z, and the coudensed water being blown out through the cock m, the temperature of the juice can be raised to the boiling-point, or, rather, to that point called the simmering-point,7 and at which the scum separates the most readily from thejuice. By this arrangement of the ball cocks and the transverse scummingtrough, togetherwith the circulation produced in the fluid by the difference in the temperature of the two extremities of the pan the apparatus is made to scum itself. This operation is further promoted by the covering up with brick or some non-conductor ofthe bottom of the pan near the ball-cocks, and by introducing the steam-worin into the body of the Iiuid distant from these cocks. At the same time the introduction of the steam-pipe enables the temperature of the mass to be more perfectly regulated.

The second part of my improvement relates to the portion of the apparatus for preventing the fluid mass in the vessel c2 from foaming or boiling over when exposed to the increased heat of that portion of the flue over which it is placed, and from being charred, and the evaporator from being burned. Y Vhile the cane-juice in the division 1 of c is clarifying, as above described, it is at the Sametime running through a molasses-gate, a, in the partition g, into the second division of the evaporator c, Where from the greater heatit receives it tends to rise into foam, and Would overflow, if not prevented. This resultV has hitherto caused the failure of shallow vessels to evaporate cane-juice, as what little juice would remain in such a vessel, being in a stateA of foam, would not evaporate rapidly, and the saccharine matter Would be charred and iiijuredV by excess of heat, and the evaporator also would be soon destroyed. The reason of this is that cane-juice in a state of foam has not sufficient density to circulate with that rapidity necessary to carry off the heat imparted to it. To prevent the cane-j uice in the division 2 of c from overiiowing by a change of density taking place, I place in this division a iiat plate of iron, O, fixed at one end, by a hinge or other suitable fastenings, tothe partition g, in such a manner that it shall be horizontal or nearly horizontal in the liquid contained in the evaporator. To the other end of this plate a rigid rod, p, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 2, is attached, which is pendent from a pin on a crank, q, keyed to a horizontal shaft, r. This rod p receives a vibratory motion through the cog-wheels s and t on the shafts r and a, the shaft a being caused to revolve by a prime mover "acting on the pulley e, or in any other manner. The vibratory motion given to the rod p in the manner just described is communicated by it to the plate O, and a constant agitation of the cane-j uice in the evaporator is thus produced, andthe glutinous or alumnious envelopes of the steam-bubbles being thereby broken, the

steam is rapidly freed from the liquid, accelerating the evaporation and preventing too great a rise and overflow. I will here remark that to diminish the resist-ance of the agitator O in Working it may be pierced With holes, either throughout its length or at that end Where the lift is greatest, as is shown in the drawings.

` Another useful effect produced by this agitation is to separate from the cane-j uice the vegetable albumen and other feculencies which it contains, for the vegetable albumen, being partially coagulated by the heat, is beaten into a foam in the same manner as when the Whites of eggs (an analogous substance in the animal organization) are beateu up, and as the density -of the juice is prevented from diminishing, this foam, which is light, riseslI to the surface, entangling other matters in it, and is skimmed or brushed off by the paddle-scumming apparatus, which forms the third part of my improvement.

The third part of my improvement relates to an arrangement for scumming the surface of the reservoir cz,- and this portion of my invention is an improvement on a former invention of mine patented or intended to have been patented. It consists of the paddle- Wheel seen at WV, Figs. II and III, and is now arranged and operated as follows: This paddle-wheel has the, main driving-shaft w for its axis, and, as will be seen more particularly in Fig. III, is so adjusted over the division 2 of the evaporator c, that the float, boards, or paddles will, as they successively come round by the rotation of the Wheel in the direction of the arrow, dip into the liquid and push the scum on the surface to one side of the evaporator, and up the inclined curb or iiange rv, into a trough or gutter, y, placed at a sufficient height to conduct this scum back into the division l of c, when it runs off with the scum in that division in the manner already described. This gutter y is shown in plan view in Fig. I. In my former invention the use of this Wheel was suggested, but Without the curb or flange x, and hence other arrangements were there required to elevate the skimmings.

The last part of my improvement consists in the further application of an agitator to the vessel at, in which the sugar is concentrated. The cane-juice being novv elaried,

as shown above, is run from the division 2 of c through the gate z into the concentrator (0*. Inthis concentrator is placed an agitator, bi1, which is Worked in precisely the same manner as the agitator O, already described, as Will be seen in the drawings, but is constructed of Wire-gauze fastened onto an iron frame. I will here remark that the agitator O may be constructed of Wire-gauze, or the agitator b* may be made of iron pierced with holes, and that las both of the agitators Work in the body of the juice (the agitator 'O beneath the puddles of the Wheel w) there is no admiXture of air with the juice, which is considered injurious tothe ultimate product. The agitator in the concentrator a* accelerates the evaporation and brings the canejuice to a state of sirup. It is then run through a goose-neck, (1*, into the tilt-pan 0*, which is placed over the furnacef, and is capable of being raised on an axis, et, to empty the charge it contains (when a proper degree of concentration has been reached) into a canal or gutter to conduct it to the coolers, Where the crystallization takes place. When the vtilt-pan is raised from its seat, the air-entrance to the furnace should be closed to prevent the flames coming up. A damper, fi, attached to the other end of the rope or chain, by which the tilt-pan is raised, may be made ,to descend as the pan rises, and close the airentrance, as is indicated in dotted lines in Fig. II.

In Fig. I, g* is a pipe with a cockto draw off the cane-juice from the division l of c, When required, as in stopping oit' when it is necessary to empty the division 1 of c of juice and to fill it With Water.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

l. The arrangement and combination of the simmering-vessel c l, With the ball-cock, and the scumming-trough h, substantially as described in the first part of the foregoing specification, and I claim this arrangement and combination,whether alone or in further Corn-A bination with a partial covering of the bottom of the simmering-Vessel, or the introduction of the steam-Worm, as thus described. f

2. The agitator O, arranged and operating in the manner and for the purposes substan tialiy as described in the second and fourth parts of the foregoing specification.

WM. H. CLEMENT. Witnesses:

GEORGE HARDING, CHARLEs D: FREEMAN.

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