IN REFINING OILS AND OTHER of
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Townsend, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Manufacturing Chemist, for the Invention.
IN REFINING OILS AND OTHER
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN EXTRACTING AND
PRODUCTS FROM MINERAL AND OTHER MATERIALS CONTAINING CARBON AND
HYDROGEN. AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR."
Sealed the 18th June 1869, and dated the 26th February 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Townsend at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 26th February 1869.
I, JOSEPH TOWNSEND, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Manufacturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN EXTRACTING AND IN REFINING OILS AND
OTHER PRODUCTS FROM MINERAL AND OTHER MATERIALS CONTAINING CARBON AND
HYDROGEN, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object to obtain oils and other products
from mineral and other materials containing carbon and hydrogen in a
more satisfactory and economical manner than heretofore.

page_text: In carrying out the Invention according to one modification steam
generated in any convenient boiler is passed through piping immersed in
a bath of melted metal or alloy, or of a salt or salts in solution or fused,
which superheats it and keeps it at a uniform temperature, and it is then
admitted into a retort or still containing the materials from which the
oils or other products are to be extracted. The superheated steam enters
the upper end of the retort, and is maintained therein at a pressure of at
least half a pound per square inch above that of the atmosphere. The
retort is by preference in the form of a vertical cylinder of a large size,
say twelve feet high by twelve feet in diameter, and built of iron plates
lined with fire-brick or other refractory material. It is made with a
perforated bottom through which the steam and what it extracts pass to
an inclined bottom leading to an exit pipe at the side, and this pipe first
descends a little and then ascends to. any convenient height, whilst at
the top of it, or at any other convenient point, a loaded valve is applied
to it, which will prevent the passage of liquids or gases except at a
predetermined pressure, to which the valve is loaded, and which is that
intended to be maintained in the retort: A safety valve is provided on
the retort itself to act in the event of the exit pipe being choked, and
the retort is also fitted with man-hole doors for introducing the materials
and for removing the coke or residue. The exit pipe from the retort is
made to communicate with condensing coils of piping in two or more
baths or cisterns maintained at different temperatures, and branch pipes
are provided to drain off whatever condenses in the respective condensing
coils. The products of distillation are passed first through the hottest
condensing bath or cistern, and then whatever remains in the form
of vapor passes on to the next colder one and so on throughout the
series. If a hotter condensing bath is wanted than one with boiling
"water in it, it is obtained by making the bath of a suitable melted metal
or alloy, or of a salt or salts in solution or fused, and the temperature of
the colder baths is regulated by adjusting the supply of water, the coldest
water passing first into the coldest bath and then through the hotter
ones in succession. Instead of using superheated steam to act in the
retort air or any suitable gas may be forced through, and may be heated
and employed in the same way as the superheated steam. The steam,
air, or gas may be superheated by means of metal fittings, or of metal,
sand, or other refractory materials in a granular or similar form, or by
any convenient apparatus already in use for such a purpose, but the
temperature must be carefully regulated, and the arrangements herein-

page_text: before described are preferred on account of their facilitating "the main-
tenance of a regular. heat. The steam, air, or gas may be admitted. into
the retort at the side or bottom instead of the top, and the exit pipe
may also be placed at a different part, but the arrangement herein-before
described is preferred.
In refining oils or in extracting oils or other products from tar or
from substances which are more or less liquid when heated, a retort or
still of a somewhat different construction is employed, being made with
horizontal platforms with ledges and extending alternately from opposite
sides to within short distances of the other sides. The tar. or other
substance is put on the top platform and overflows in succession: down
upon each, lower one, whilst the heated steam or gas flows over its
surface and passes off with what it extracts by the exit pipe. Man-hole
doors are provided in the sides of the retort at the ends of the several
platforms for removing solid residues from them.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Townsend in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 25th August 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPIL
TOWNSEND, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Manu-
facturing Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in
the thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Townsend, Her
special licence that I, the said Joseph Townsend, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Townsend, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN EXTRACTING. AND IN REFINING OILS AND OTHER PRODUCTS FROM MINERAL
AND OTHER MATERIALS CONTAINING CARBON AND HYDROGEN, AND IN APPARATUS
"
1

page_text: THEREFOR," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph
Townsend, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Townsend, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, that is to say:-
My said Invention has for its object to obtain oils and other products
from mineral and other materials containing carbon and hydrogen in a
more satisfactory and economical manner than heretofore.
In carrying out my Invention according to one modification steam
generated in any convenient boiler is passed through piping immersed
in a bath of melted metal or alloy, or of a salt or salts in solution or
fused, which superheats it and keeps it at a uniform temperature, and
it is then admitted into a retort or still containing the materials from
which the oils or other products are to be extracted. The superheated
steam enters the upper end of the retort, and is maintained therein at a
pressure of at least half a pound per square inch above that of the
atmosphere. Whilst not restricting myself to any convenient pressure
above that just mentioned I prefer to employ pressures ranging from ten
to twenty pounds per square inch, and without restricting myself to
any convenient temperature above that of the steam when saturated
I prefer to have the steam superheated to from 600 to 1,000 degrees
Fahrenheit. The retort is by preference in the form of a vertical cylinder
of a large size, say twelve feet high by twelve feet in diameter, and built
of iron plates lined with fire-brick or other refractory material. It is
made with a perforated bottom down through which the steam and what
it extracts pass to an inclined bottom leading to an exit pipe at the side,
and this pipe first descends a little and then ascends to any convenient
height, whilst at the top of it or at any other convenient point a loaded
valve is applied to it, which will prevent the passage of liquids or gases
except at a predetermined pressure to which the valve is loaded and
which is that intended to be maintained in the retort. A safety valve is
provided on the retort itself to act in the event of the exit pipe being

page_text: choked; and the retort is also fitted with man-hole doors for introducing
the materials and for removing the coke or residue. The exit pipe from
the retort is made to communicate with condensing coils of piping in
two or more baths or cisterns maintained at different temperatures, and
branch pipes are provided to drain off whatever condenses in the respec-
tive condensing coils. The products of distillation are passed first through
the hottest condensing bath or cistern, and then whatever remains in the
form of vapor passes on to the next colder one, and so on throughout
the series. If a hotter condensing bath is wanted than one with boiling
water in it, it is obtained by making the bath of a suitable melted metal
or alloy, or of a salt or salts in solution or fused, and the temperature of
the colder baths is regulated by adjusting the supply of water, the coldest
water passing first into the coldest bath and then through the hotter
ones in succession. Instead of using superheated steam to act in the
retort air or any suitable gas may be forced through, and may be heated
and employed in the same way as the superheated steam. The steam,
air, or gas may be superheated by means of metal filings, or of metal,
sand, or other refractory materials in a granular or similar-form, or by
any convenient apparatus already in use for such a purpose, but the
temperature must be carefully regulated, and the arrangements here-
before described are preferred on account of their facilitating the main-
tenance of a regular heat. The steam, air, or gas may be admitted into
the retort at the side or bottom instead of the top, and the exit pipe
may also be placed at a different part, but the arrangement herein-before
described is preferred.
In refining oils or in extracting oils or other products from tar or
from substances which are more or less liquid when heated, a retort or
still of a somewhat different construction is employed, being made with
horizontal platforms with ledges and extending alternately from opposite
sides to within short distances of the other sides. The tar or other
substance is put on the top platform and overflows in succession down
upon each lower one, whilst the heated steam or gas flows over its
surface and passes off with what it extracts by the exit pipe. Man-hole
doors are provided in the sides of the retort at the ends of the several
platforms for removing solid residues from them.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do not restrict
myself to the precise details herein-before described; but that what I

page_text: believe to be novel and original, and claim as the Invention secured to
me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1. The extracting of oils and other products from mineral and other
materials in the manner and by means of apparatus substantially such
as is herein-before described.
2. The refining of oils in the manner and by means of apparatus
substantially such as is herein-before described as for that purpose.
3. The extracting of oils from minerals by the application of
superheated steam of a pressure greater than that of the atmosphere,
substantially as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Townsend, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JOSEPH TOWNSEND. (L.S.)