11 



above. This clear liquor is then drawn off, and is sent at once to the 

 still for the recovery of the alcohol. The sediment, or nmd, is passed 

 through a filter press, by means of which the alcoholic sirup is removed 

 and the mud left in the form of a hard, firm cake, containiijg a greater 

 or less percentage of sugar and alcohol, according as the cake is hard 

 and well pressed. In passing the alcoholic sirup through the still the 

 alcohol is entirely removed and the sirup is ready for concentration in 

 the vacuum pan. The boiling in the vacuum pan is conducted in the 

 same way as for ordinary sirups. 



The sirups treated in this way boil with the greatest ease, forming 

 beautiful crystals in the pan, which are purged with no difficulty what- 

 ever in the centrifugals. With inassecuite formed from such sirup it is 

 possible to fill the centrifugals with a maximum charge and to have the 

 sugar thoroughly dried within two minutes. 



It appears from the experiments which were conducted that one of 

 the chief advantages of this process is not so much in the increased 

 yield of sugar as in the ease with which the material can be passed 

 through the sugar factory. With ordinary sorghum massecuite it is 

 necessary to run a centrifugal machine from fifteen to thirty minutes in 

 order to dry a very small charge, while with massecuite made by the 

 alcohol process from two to five minutes have been found to be entirely 

 sufficient for the maximum charge. 



A detailed description of methods and machinery employed will be 

 given further on. 



DISPOSITION OF THE PRESS CAKES. 



The proper disposition of the gums secured in press cakes is a matter 

 of no little importance. As indicated in this report, the press cakes 

 not only contain the gums and other bodies precipitated by alcohol, 

 but also considerable quantities of alcohol and of sugar. The chief 

 loss of alcohol and sugar in the process was found in the press cakes. 

 The necessity of preventing these losses when manufacturing on a large 

 scale will be at once apparent. In the modification of the filter press 

 as proposed much of the loss of the alcohol and sugar will be avoided, 

 but there is no disposition of the press cakes which will enable the 

 manufacturer to escape altogether from this loss. 



The most obvious as well as the most easy disposition of the filter 

 cakes is to subject them to fermentation and thus make them the source 

 of alcohol necessarily lost in the other parts of the process. The ex- 

 periments clearly show that these press cakes alone will furnish suffi- 

 cient alcohol to make up for this loss during the process of manufac- 

 ture. Not only could the alcohol which they contain be thus recov- 

 ered, but the sugar which is found in them will be converted into alco- 

 hol, together with the fermentable gums of the press cake itself. There 

 is no other use to which the press cakes could be put which seems 

 so plausible or scientific. 



