USRE8224E - Improvement in processes for mashing grain - Google Patents

Description

. J. dHBUREUSB. I Process'for Mas'hing Grain.

No. 8,224. Reis suedMay 14, 1878;.

Wine fed:

. v Y I. Q f. fl v UNITEDTSTATES PATENT OFFICE.

JULIUS DHEUREUSE, OF SCHMETZDORF, NEAR BERNAU, PRUSSIA.

IMPROVEMENT lN PROCESSES FOR MASHING GRAIN.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 176,631, dated April 25, 1876 Reissue No. 8,224, dated May 14, 1878 application filed February 26, 1878. I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JU'LiUs DHEUREUsE, of Schmetzdorf, in Prussia, Germany, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Treating and Mashing Corn and other Grain,

'&c., which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

The object of my invention is to comminutc or disintegrate the substance of corn or other grain or products more perfectly and economieally than by the present modes in use. The hulls or skins of corn or other grain or leguminous products being left comparatively intact by my process, they may be separated quickly and economically from the useful portion.

The first object is accomplished by subjecting the corn or other grain, 8210., entire, with water in a close vessel, by slow stirring, to the effect of steam under pressure, or to heat and other pressure, either whole, broken, or

ground, when, after some time, the substance of the corn, 8m,- will be found entirely disintegrated, forming a homogeneous, more or less pasty, mass or'soup. I

Unless the mass is stirred during the oper ation of steaming it will be out imperfectly disintegrated. The steam, forcing its way through well defined channels, unduly affects those portions of the mass near the channels, while other portions remain una'oted upon, and as a consequence the resulting mass is full of lumps not uniformly acted upon by the steam It therefore becomes essential that the mass should he agitated'bystirring during the-actof steaming, and whole grain treated in this way gives results superior to ground grain A, of suitable-material, in which a shaft, s, provided with stirrers S, can revolve entirely, or execute a rocking, swinging, or to-andiro motion. The shaft passes through one or more stuffing-boxes in the side or sides of the tank.

6 is a charge or man hole. The pipe or pipes D supply the steam directly from without or by way of the shaft 13, which then is hollow, andwhas all or some hollow arms, suitahly'perforated or opened for-the admission of steam or air. E is the disehargepipe, with valve, gate, or faucet F 3 and G represents the screen, sieve, or strainer, suitably constructed.

There maybe pressure or steam, gage, steami jacket, thermometer, water-or air pipes to the tank. v The mode of operation is as follows, applying, for instance, to the disintegration of corn for distilling and brewing purposes: The tan-l: is charged with the-corn or other grain, 330., previously cleaned or'washed, if required, and

the proper proportion of water, of which fordistill-mash a quantity exceeding in Weight somewhat that of the corn, &c., answers well.

All openings are closed after the steam has been-turned on and the air has escaped, and the stirrers are put in operation, which may be done by revolving orswinging the shaft B or tank A. This stirring may be intermittent or continuous. With steam-pressure of about forty to fifty pounds per inch corn is rlisintegrated, a homogeneous mass produced within three or four hours, other products in more or less time, and the mass is then ready to be discharged into the mash-tun, if intended for distillation, brewing, or kindred purposes; There the addition of'malt at the proper temperature matter must be found in the fact that by my process the disintegration of all starchy particles is more complete by far than by millground corn or other grain, and thatjevery particle of the mass is thus brought immediately into contact with the acting diastase. As a consequence,- a richer wort is drawn, or

more alcohol produced, from the same quantity of corn or other grain than by the ordinary mode of mashing meal. The disintegration may be also effected under a pressure not that, or not only that, of

live steam, but, for instance, by the assistance of compressed air. The pressure can thus be raised and maintained at the required point without increasing that of the steam, and, in fact, independent of steam. The air then is forced intoand enters the tank'below or above I the surface of its contents, even at or near the bottom of the tank, and by the same or different pipe or'pipes by which the steam, if any, is. admitted. In this case steam at low pressure may serve for merely heating the sub stances under treatment-in the water to the required temperature, which, for instance, for

malt should, or for other substances and certain purposes might, remain considerably below 212 or evenl50 Fahrenheit, While itmayrise above 212. The mass thus produced may be treated subsequently, according to the purposes intended, as a whole, or its components separated by suitable means. By this mode maltfor brewing could'be disintegrated and its substance extracted quicker and more completely than by the expensive mash-tans now frequently used.

- The grains or cereals treated by this invention may be whole, broken, or ground.

Peas, beans, and other leguminous products are reduced to apasty consistency more quick ly and completely in the; manner explained than by the ordinary mode-of boiling in open kettles.

The homogeneous massproduced as hereinabove described from corn or other grain, &c.,-.

if blown or forced through suitable screens, sieves, or strainers, G, is freed from all hard gritty matter pertaining to hulls or skins re tained by the strainers, through which only the finely disintegrated parts are or may be- 7 allowed to pass. By connecting the strainer I or strainers to the discharge-pipe E, this ob- .jcct is accomplished most conveniently'and economically, while the mass is blown or discharged from the disintegrator, though it may be done as a subsequent operation-for instance, by centrifugal strainers.-

By disintegrating corn or other grain or products in the manner hereinbefore described under pressure,a mass can be obtained at a trifling cost, without expensive "machinery, which contains all of the valuable portion of the products, and as an article of food could be prepared ready for immediate consumption by itself orto constitute a basis of numerous articles of diet. It may, however, be dried after or without being'freed from the hulls, in form of cakes, sheets, strings, in granular or other form, preferably. in suitably-constructed drying chambers or kilns, and in such condition can be kept for any length of time ready for immediate use. Salt, condiments, or other substances may be added while inthe tank or disintegrator, and thus be thoroughly incorporated-and mixed with the material, or they may be added subsequently. I

Immense quantities of corn, now comparatively worthless in certain sections of the country, can, in the manner described, be con verted cheaply into very desirable articles of commerce of much enhanced value. The same to some extent applies to other grain, pease, beans, &c.

' I am aware that it is not newto produce glucose sugar from whole grain by feeding the grain, in regulated quantities, into a tank containing dilute sulphuric acid, agitated during the feeding operation for the purpose of preserving a uniform temperature, and then subjecting it to heat and pressure. In that treatment the sulphuric acid performs the chemical action of conversion. My object is not to effect such chemical change, and, theabove not being my invention, I enter a disclaimer to the same.

What I claim is- J x 1. The process of preparing a pasty or pulpy mass from grains, seeds, and cereals, for the purposes set forth, which consists'in feeding the material into a close tank I containing water, and theuand there subjecting-the same, under a. stirring operation, to heat and pressure, the heat and pressure being discontinued. when the material is reduced to a pasty or pulpy consistency, substantiallyas described. 2. In the reduction of grains, seeds, and cereals, as described, the process of rendering .the disintegrated material readily transportable and comparatively free fromhulls and. the like, which consists in separating the hard 1 from the soft portions by sifting and then dryin g the mass, substantially as set forth.

' 3. In the reduction of grains, seeds, and cerlelalgi as described, the process of rendering t e able, which consists in drying the mass sub: sequent-to its reduction to a pasty or pulpy consistency, substantiallyas set forth.

Witnesses:

HERMANN Konow, Max KiiHN.

isintegrated :materialv readily transport- JULIUS nnnunn'usn. I

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