USRE9045E - Apparatus for bleaching cane-juice - Google Patents

Description

J. M. LESUALE. Apparatusfor Bleaching Cane-Juice.

Reissued Jan, 13, I880.

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JOHN M. LESOALE, OF PAINOOURTVILLE, LOUISIANA.

APPARATUS FOR BL EACHING CANE-JUICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Reissued Letters Patent No. 9,045, dated January 13, 1880. Original No. 161,527, dated March 30, 1875. Application for Reissue filed August 21', 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN M. LESGALE, of Paincourtville, in the parish of Assumption and State of Louisiana, have invented certain 5 new and useful Improvementsin Apparatus for Bleaching (lane-Juice; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and nseit, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in bleaching cane-juice; and it consists in the bleaching apparatus for subjecting cane-juice in an air-tight chamber to the action of sulphurous-acid gas, as will be more fully described hereinafter.

My invention also relates to apparatus generally for bringing into intimate contact a descending stream of liquid and an ascending flow of gas; and it consists, generally, of a series of revolving distributors, upon which the liquid falls and by which it is scattered or broken up within the chamber where the purification is proceeding, the said chamber being provided with an opening at the top for the introduction of the liquid, and one at or near the bottom for the admission of the gas.

It also consists in combining with the revolving distributers located in a chamber or vessel provided with openings at top and bottom, as aforesaid, a certain number of stationary distributers placed between revolving distributers, so that the descending liquid is distributed by the revolving distributers and falls upon the fixed distributers or receivers alternately.

In apparatus heretofore devised for the bleaching of cane-juice revolving drums sepa rated by a stationary partition have been arranged in a tank, so that the cane-juice and sulphurous acid are mingled together by the action of said drums and partition. In such apparatus, however, the liquid and gas arcintroduced together through an opening in the to In this invention, as already stated, the gas to be brought in contact with the liquid enters at the bottom, passes upward and out at the top, so that it is broughtinto intimate contact with the descending liquid. The apparatus is useful wherever it is desired to bring a liquid and a gas into intimate association.

The accompanying invention.

A represents an air-tight chamber of suitable dimensions, in the center of which,journa-led at top and bottom, is the shaft B, provided with sets of wings extends spirally around the shaft in the spaces between the shelves D. The juice is poured upon the upper set of wings through the pipe G, and is by them dispersed in every direction,

drawing represents my 0, each one of which and falls upon and is collected by the shelves D beneath, from which it will run or drip down through holes a in the shelves D and fall upon the next set underneath, to again be dispersed by centrifugal force, and to be collected again, and so on successively until it reaches the bottom, where it is drawn oh" by pipe K. The pipes G and K are provided with sealing chambers, so as not to admit the outside air while filled with cane-juice.

The sulphurous-acid the lower part .of the chamber A through a pipe, E, and carried upward by the motion of the wings, so that the spray to which the juice is reduced comes in the most intimate gas is introduced into contact with this bleaching agent, which is allowed afterward to escape at the top through 1pipe F, and is constantly replenished from be- I generate sulphurous-acid gas by burning sulphur in a furnace, and as in large quantities at the bottom of the chamher the cane-juice is last exposed to the freshest supply before it is drawn off through pipe K, and thereby perfectly bleached should any coloring-matter have remained.

I am aware of thefact that it is not new to bleach cane-juice by means of sulphurous acid in a tank in which revolving drums reduce the liquid to a spray by centrifugal action. I

it is introduced 5 therefore disclaim the use of sulphurous acid as constituting myinvention, and also the broad idea of a centrifugal dispersing apparatus.

Notwithstanding the fact, however, that water dissolves fifty times its volume of sulphurous acid, the consistency of that it requires to be brought in the most in'- timate association with the gas to perfectly the juice is such IOO one-half times heavier than air, it is a sluggish,

heavy gas, and in being generated it moves so slowly and heavily to the bleaching apparatus that the latter cannot be well supplied with a suflicient quantity of the gas in proportion to the amount of juice used unless some artificial means are made to assist the natural passage of the gas. To meet this difficulty the wings are placed upon the shaft in a spiral manner, so that when the shaft is revolved at the rate of three hundred revolutions a minul e a strong draft is created, which brings the gas from the generator and carries it upward in the tank through the falling spray in the manner which produces the best possible results. This arrangement is only necessary when a heavy gas is to be operated upon.

In cases when a generation of too much acidityis to be apprehended, as when the cane has been greatly injured .by frost or any other cause, a small quantity of lime-water is introduced into the juice before it enters the apparatus for bleaching, and by this means the development of acidity is arrested.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. The bleaching apparatus consisting of the outer casing, A, shelves D, having central openings, a, the revolving shaft 13, and the spirally-arranged wings 0, attached to the shaft and alternating with the shelves, all combined and arranged substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a machine for mingling a liquid and a gas which has a chamber or vessel provided at the bottom with an opening, through which opening a stream of gas passes upward, and provided also with a pipe opening thereinto at the top, from which pipe a stream of liquid passes downward, a'series of revolving distributers revolved by the same central shaft, for the purpose of breaking the fall of the liquid and causing it to descend in a shower, substantially as described.

3. In a machine for mingling a liquid and a gas provided with an opening at the upper part for delivering a stream of liquid into the machine, and provided at the bottom with an opening for admitting a tlow of gas, a central shaft provided with a series of revolving distributers, in coi'nbi'natiou with a series of stationarydistributers or shelves, for the purpose of receiving the falling liquid, distributing it in a shower, receiving it on the shelves below, and again distributing it, whereby a complete mingling of the liquid and the gas is obtained, substantially as described. I

4. In a machine for mingling a liquid and a gas, in combination with a vessel or chamber provided at the top with an opening for delivering the liquid thereinto and at the bottom with an opening for admitting the gas, a series of revolving distributers revolved by the same central vertical shaft, which are located in in-' tervals on the axis of the machine, for the purpose of receiving and distributing the falling current of liquid and of breaking the rising currents of gas, substantiallyas described.

5. In a machine for mingling a liquid and a gas in which a stream of gas passes upward and a stream of liquid passes downward, a series of revolving liquid-distributers located on the same central axis, and entrance and delivery pipesfor the liquid, each provided with a trap or seal for the purpose of preventing the escape of the gas, substantially as described.

- J. M. LESOALE.

W'itnesses:

A. FRANKLIN PUGH, N. LE BLANO.

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