Rillieux << RIHL ee yoo >> Norbert (1806-1894), an American engineer, revolutionized the sugar industry by making the first practical multiple-effect vacuum evaporator. This machine used an improved process to remove water from sugar cane.
In one chamber of Rillieux’s machine, the sugar cane juice was boiled until it became syrup. Then, in a connected chamber, the hot vapor from the first chamber boiled the syrup until it became grains of sugar. This double use of the same heat greatly reduced the cost and improved the quality of the final product. Other products, including soap, gelatin, some glues, and condensed milk, are now manufactured through a process based on Rillieux’s invention.
Rillieux was born in New Orleans, the son of a French engineer and a free black woman. He studied in Paris and became an engineering teacher there in 1830. In the 1840’s, he installed his invention on many sugar plantations in the United States. He returned to Paris permanently in the 1850’s.
