US1668470A - Producing refined sugar - Google Patents

Description

Patented May 1, 192.3.

.UNITED: srnrss earns-r c eme E.

MAX. RICHARD J'OHANN SGHMID, 0F BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA.

rnonucrne nnrrNED SUGAR.

No Drawing. Application filed April 2, 1926, Serial No, 99,403, and in Argentina February 5, 1926.

In the present method of producing refined sugar there are two stages ent rely distinct one from the other, although both may firstly, that it is onlypossible to produce a.

sugar which is really white by the employment of bleachingcarbons; secondly, that the quantities of these which must .beem;

ployed are so large that the raw' material,

inthis case the raw sugar, has tobe purified to a certainextent beforehand, otherwise the/cost ofthe bleaching, agent would be come commercially prohibitive. These basic principles are foundedupon conceptions of unlversal acceptation, as regards the effects of the means employed, whatever may be the actual process used.

The process; for which this patent is sought to be granted is characterized by being the consequence oil a radical change in the above mentioned conceptions. From this it results that, using tobegin with the same n1eaI S,,Vbut.in a different combination,

andarriving by its intermediary at quite distinct, results, what havebeen hitherto axiomatic difficulties have been overcome. The new process'allows of the two stages at presentnecessary in the refining of sugar to be united into one stage, at a greatly reduced cost, that is to say, it permits of very economical production of sugars refined straight ,lromf the concentrated juice of the cane or from sugar beetroot, and also the perfect refinement of; sugars of a very inferior quality. The fundamental idea of the new process is the following: The animal or vegetable carbon-commonly used in sugar refining has as its principal. quality its capacity for absorption, and not its bleaching properties. In other words, these carbons are absorbents par; excellence for certain salts, whereas their bleaching property is very small, it beingthe,otheringre: clients, commonly used, which really possess thebleachingefi'ect, an'efiectof which very littleadvantage. is taken today, owing to the fact that the decolorization ofthe. sugar,

syrupsis.producedrhiefiy by the formawhich are. subsequently a sorbed by the carbons. In consequence of these new ideas, the manufacture of refined, sugar, whether directly from sugar cane juices or from sugar beetroot, or fronrsugar so of inferior, quality, undergoes a complete; change, anda result is achievechina most economical manner, which hitherto has been, if not technically impossible, at least commercially. prohibitive. By the new or.

process, one may, for example, producein this, country relined sugars either directly from sugarcane juices or from sugar beet-1 root, at an additional cost of one half a,

cent, per kilo orone fourth of a cent a pound, and refine sugarsoflow grade at an, additional cost of onefourtha cent per kilo or one eighth of a cent a pound, whereasup to the present the first has been deemed .uni workable, and the second impossible only at .75

an additional costofat least ten centsper kilo or five cents apound. 1

Mynew process for which I an]: applying for patent protection, is the following:

The juiceor molasses or syrup of the cane so or of the sugar beetroot, previously purified and concentrated by any of the usual systems, is heated at (3,, is limed strongly, and, then phosphoric acid and,

common alum is used. Afterwards sul- 5 phuric acidyis' added until there. is a slight, and onlybarely perceptible, acid reaction, Afterwardsv filter earth, paper pulp, or other efficient filtering material is added,-

and the liquid is filtered whilst hot. T04

the juice thus filtered thereis added animal or vegetable carbon, and the liquid is.

filtered again in separatefilters, afterwhich the liquid is ready. tobe submittedto the,

usual known processes to be made into sugar.,

The residue, or parent molasses, resulting; from the whitening of the sugar, is, reboiled, with the object on producing ex hausted molasses, by the manner well known, either in one or two operations.

The sugars resulting from theseoperations, properly refined, are remelted, and the syrups from this remelting aretreated sepa-I rately in the same. manner as the lirstjuices,

but'using only half the quantities oi'ingre m5 dientsas employed in the treatment of the original juices.

The proportions ofingredients used in the new process per 100 kilosofsugar produced are approxlmatelyz For cane juiceseor Inc- H9 losses or treacle or for beetroot sugar: quiclrlime. the form, otslaclrsd lime 0.15

kilo; phosphoric acid in the form of dissolved paste 0.02 kilo; alum in solution 0.005 kilos; sulphur for the production of sulphuric acid 0.08 kilos; filter earth 0.715 kilos, or an equivalent quantity of other filtering material, animal or vegetable cabon 0.07 kilos; for the refined raw sugars half the quantities mentioned. The proportions are subject in individual cases to slight variations in accordance with the quality of the ingredients used, and to greater variations in the treatment of the juices in accordance with the variation of their purity, the proportions given being the maximum supposing the ingredients to be of good quality.

The new process dififers considerably from that at present in use as a logical conse quence of the considerations of a theoretical natureupon which it is based, which for their part are entirely distinct from existing ideas.

Their chiei novelty lies in the use of sulphuration tor the refining out sugar, and its application to the whole of the juices or syrups treated, the quantity of lime used, the quantity of lime being about 0.2% of the refined sugar produced, and that of sulphuric acid the amount necessary to bring about the required reaction. As a consequence, an entirely novel feature is the small quantity of bleaching carbon required, this being only a hundredth part of the quantity aspresent used. The combination and the quantities of ingredients used in the 7 new process allow of a reduction in the cost of refining sugar to a tenth part of what it costs at present, as well as signify a notable simplification in the manufacture of refined sugars. This is revealed by a comparison of certain essential parts of the existing processes with those of the new method. The existing processes are characterized by the two stages by which the refined sugar is obtained, starting from the juices of the sugar cane or sugar beetroot. The manner of procedure is as tollowsz-The juices are crystallized, and by means of centrifugal battery a first lot of sugar is obtained (product A). To exhaust the parent molasses derived from this first crystallization, it is recrystallized once or twice. To simplify the description, let us suppose that there is only one crystallization, and that its product is a sugar of low grade (product B). This product B, unsuitable for refinement, is often melted up again, and the resulting syrup introduced into the original juice, to be transformed with the juice into product A. The whole of product A is melted up again, and is then treated for the manufacture of refined sugar by means of a fresh crystallization. This form of manufacture requires two separate sets of apparatus for crystallization, of which that juice crystallizes after itstreatment directly into refined sugar, and the same happens with the su ar of low 'rade roduct B. It results, therefore, that the number of apparatus is reduced to one half of those at present required, and the capacity required is also considerably less. The same applies when treating the manufacture of refined sugar from sugar of low grade and of inferior quality. Here again the recrystallization is proceeded with under present methods hetore the refined sugar is manufactured, whereas in the new process this complication is avoided. At present, starting from raw sugar of ordinary type (96 of polarization) from to of bleaching carbon is required. The new process requires only 0.05%, that is to say, from fifty to one hundred times less, to produce the same efiect. The manufacture of refined sugardirect from the juices of sugar cane or sugar beetroot, which is at present regarded as impracticable from a commercial point of view, would require about of bleaching carbon. The very reduced quantity of this carbon used in the new process, namely 0.01%,

has now made this directmanufacture possible in the commercial sense. In view of the economy just mentioned, in both appara tus and bleaching carbons, the new process, with its ingredients, represents a cost so much lower than that of the present methods, that the costs of refining sugars, derived from one or other of the raw materials, are reduced to a tenth part of the present costs.

The essential points of novelty in the new process are first, the small quantity of alum used, which permits of the sulphuration of the juices when strongly limed and at a high temperature, the alum being used in this proportion for the purpose of securing the physico-chemical efiect of afiording an efiicacious protection against the destruction of the sugar, as Well as being a stimulant for the powerful absorption of the salts formed by the carbon used, the quantity of which does not reach a fiftieth part of that required in existing processes. And finally, the new process now allows of the manufacture otrefined sugars directly from sugar cane or sugar beetroot juices, or from sugar of very inferior quality at a minimum cost, which is not possible under existing met-hods owing to the prohibitive cost.

The apparatus required for the application of the new process does not differ from that commonly known already, and although it might be recommended that it would be better to use more perfected apparatus, yet by the help of suitable adaptations existing machinery could beused for the new process.

The nature of my invention having been described and specified, with the manner 0t putting it into practice, that which I claim as my exclusive property and invention is:

1. A process for the manufacture of refined sugars direct from juices of sugar cane or sugar beetroot, which consists in heatingethe juices, liming the juices while at a high temperature, adding to the juices a small quantity of alum and phosphoric acid,

sulphurizing the juicesto bring about an al most imperceptible acid reaction, filtering the liquid, submitting the filtered liquid to the action of carbon, filtering the liquid, and

then submitting the filtered liquid to the or- I dinary processes for producing sugar.

2. In a process for obtaining refined sugars, in accordance with claim 1, the use of alum between the liming of the juices at a high temperature and their sulphurization at a high temperature whereby the destruction of the sugar is avoided and the action of the carbon in its property of absorbing the salts formed is stimulated.

MAX RICHARD JOHANN SCHMID.