Refining Collection

In the refining room filtering sea elephant oil, c1895. Creator: Unknown
In the refining room filtering sea elephant oil, c1895

Opium-smoking in China - from drawings by a native artist, 1858. Creator: Unknown
Opium-smoking in China - from drawings by a native artist, 1858. Fig 1....two partners in an opium firm superintending the operations of their workmen...Fig

The International Exhibition: sugar-refining apparatus of Messrs. Caile and Co. of Paris, 1862. European machine processing sugar cane from the colonies

A Silver Refinery, 1556, (1917)
A Silver Refinery, 1556. From De re metallica by Georg Bauer (1494-1555) (Latinized: Georgius Agricola), is a book cataloguing the art of mining, refining, and smelting metals, published in 1556

Sugar. Vacuum pan, 1866. A print from Cyclopaedia of Useful Arts, Mechanical and Chemical, Manufactures, Mining, and Engineering, edited by Charles Tomlinson, Volume II, Virtue and Co, London, 1866

Clarifying sugar cane juce, Annam, Vietnam, 1922

The sugar industry, Richmond River, New South Wales, Australia, 1886. Artist: JR Ashton
The sugar industry, Richmond River, New South Wales, Australia, 1886

Laboratory for refining gold and silver, showing typical laboratory equipment, 1683. 1) Athanor or Slow Harry, a self-feeding furnace maintaining a constant temperature

Rock Salt: Refining salt, Northwich, Cheshire, England, c19th century

The Cathedral, Marston Salt Mine, Northwich, Cheshire, England, 19th century
The Cathedral, Marston Salt Mine, Northwich, Cheshire, England

Smelting of ores (gold, silver, copper and lead), 1556. A workman beats clay to make lute to line a furnace. On the floor are various tools needed during the smelting process

Lead smelting, 1556. From De re metallica by Agricola (Georg Bauer). (Basel, 1556)

Separating lead from silver or gold in a cupellation furnace, 1556. The Foreman consumed quantities of butter to avoid being poisoned (to prevent absorption of lead in the stomach)

Blast furnace for smelting iron ore, 1556. From De re Metallica by Georgius Agricola. Basel, 1556)

Stamp for breaking copper cupellation cakes for further refining, 1556. Powered by a water wheel through a drive shaft. From De re metallica by Georgius Agricola. (Basel, 1556)

Stamping and roasting ore to extract metal, 1556. This technique was used to extract lead, copper, silver and gold

Puddling furnace and mechanical hammer, Krupps Works, Essen, Germany, 19th century. Pig iron is being puddled to remove carbon and oxygen, after which the ball of hot metal (bloom) was then hammered

Sugar refinery, Southampton, England, which opened in 1851. The boiler house (left foreground), engine house (centre left) and stove and retort house (centre and centre right)

Interior of a sugar refinery, 1860. Metal cones are being filled with liquid syrup which will crystallise to form sugar loaves

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