IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING PETROLEUM AND OTHER MINERAL OILS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR
DISTILLING PETROLEUM AND OTHER MINERAL OILS."-A communication from
abroad by Edward Braggins, Matthew Patrick Ewing, and Hiram
Bond Everest, all of Rochester, in the State of New York, United States.
of America.
Sealed the 4th September 1866, and dated the 20th March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th March 1866.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR
DISTILLING PETROLEUM AND OTHER MINERAL OILS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a process of and apparatus for distilling petroleum
and other mineral oils at a low temperature, whereby there is obtained a very
large yield of distilled oil of a uniform or nearly uniform specific gravity
suitable for illuminating purposes, and which is almost inodorous and colourless,
and will bear a much higher fire test than oils of the same specific gravity
obtained by the ordinary process and means of distillation.

page_text: The still or retort employed may be of any suitable form and construction
best adapted to resist atmospheric pressure on its exterior. Instead of being
heated by fire, as is common in distilling petroleum, it is preferable that it
should be heated by steam introduced into a jacket around the still, or into a
coil of pipe within the still, or into both a jacket and coil. Connected with the
goose neck or outlet pipe of the still there is a jet condenser, in which the
vapours passing from the still are condensed by jets or a shower of water
introduced among them, and from which the oil resulting from such con-
densation and the water are drawn off by means of an exhausting pump, a
Torricellian tube or other means by which a partial vacuum is maintained both
in the condenser and the still.
The crude or impure oil to be distilled is fed into the still continuously
instead of in charges, and the process proceeds uninterruptedly for a long time
as there is but little residuum from the distillation. The distilled oil and
water are collected in a tank or any suitable receptacle, in which they are
separated by the subsidence of the water.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 20th September 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Iler special licence that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 THE PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING PETROLEUM
AND OTHER MINERAL OILS," being a communication from abroad, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, my

page_text: 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 William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
In the ordinary process of distilling petroleum it is necessary in order to
raise the vapor and overcome the pressure of the atmosphere to bring the heat
to a comparatively high temperature, the effect being usually accomplished by
the direct application of fire to the retort or still. The crude oil also is
deposited in the still in charges, it being generally impracticable to apply &
continuous feed to a retort for petroleum where so high a degree of heat is
used as is necessary to raise the vapor against atmospheric pressure.
In conducting the operation in this manner not only is the material to be
distilled liable to burn on the sides of the retort, but a large amount of gas
is evolved by this excess of heat, and imparts to the oil offensive odours,
and increases its liability to explode; and, furthermore, the process is not
complete without deodorization by the employment of acids and alkalies after
the products have passed from the still. The residuum is also burned and
greatly injured by the same excess of beat.
To obviate these difficulties is the object of the improved process of and
apparatus for distilling petroleum as herein described. By removing the
pressure of the atmosphere and applying the heat by steam (preferably super-
heated) all that it is desired to evaporate of the lighter bydrocarbon oils is
effected without incorporating with them deleterious gases or offensive
odours, and also the residuum is also reduced to a heavy gravity without
burning or otherwise injuring the oleaginous and valuable properties of the
same.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 represents a sectional view of the
apparatus; Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modification of the same.
A is a retort of any suitable construction made air-tight, and provided with
a steam jacket B at the bottom, as seen at Fig. 1. A feed pipe a admits the
crude oil into the retort, and an exit pipe 6 discharges the residuum as fast as
the volatile portions are distilled. A steam pipe c passes into the retort and

page_text: is coiled several times over the bottom, and finally opens down into the
steam jacket, whence the steam escapes through an exhaust pipe f. A neck
or tube C connects the retort with a condenser D, into which the oil vapor is
carried to be condensed. A jet of cold water is introduced into the condenser
through a pipe g, and by falling in spray condenses the vapor. From the
condenser the oil and water are drawn off by a pipe h connecting with a
pump E, and from thence it is forced through a pipe i into a tank G where
the water settles, and is drawn off at the cock k, while the oil may be drawn
off at the cock 7. Air is admitted at any time desired to the retort or con-
denser by air cocks m, n.
By introducing the crude oil into the still continuously the material may be
kept at about the same level in the still at all times, and as but a small quan-
tity is allowed to stand at once the overflow of the oil into the condenser is
prevented, which would inevitably result from introducing the crude oil in
charges as in the ordinary method of distilling petroleum. If the oil by
increase of quantity in the still is likely to overflow, the quantity must be
diminished by drawing off the residuum or heavy oil. In Fig. 2 is shewn an
arrangement for carrying off the overflow.
By the employment of the jet condenser to assist the ordinary outside con-
densation the vapors passing from the still are rapidly condensed, and a free
escape of the same is allowed from the surface of the oil, and by the large
capacity of the condenser a break or hindrance is produced to the direct action
of the exhaust pump on the oil in the still. The flat bottom of the still, and
the large amount of heat in pipes placed over it in close proximity which the
oil during the process of distillation is allowed to barely cover, assists materially
in preventing an overflow; yet with a large amount of heat introduced into
the coil, and the oil in the still becoming of heavy gravity, it may be necessary
at times to allow a portion of air to pass into the still by opening the air
cock m.
In order to prevent the overflow of the oil it will be seen in Fig. 2 that
in the end of the neck or tube C at the top of the retort A is placed a
cylinder H of suitable height, thereby forming between it and the tube a
chamber p, in which is caught such of the oil as may overflow the retort at
any time. From the lower part of this chamber p extends a pipe q, having a
stop-cock r, and opening into a close receptacle I, from whence the material
The receptacle is
that enters may be drawn off through a discharge spout 8.
provided with an air cock t, and if desired with a pipe u to connect it with
the feed pipe a, so that if at any time the overflow should be in considerable
quantity it can be restored to the retort again without handling. By this

page_text: employment of the chamber p the great difficulty occurring from overflow in
vacuum stills will be obviated. Such of the oil as is carried up through the
cylinder H instead of passing over into the condenser falls into the chamber p
and is drawn off. Thus eonstant watchfulness and care are not indispensable,
and a superior quality of oil may be produced by excluding the impurities that
would otherwise pass over with the refined material. It will be seen that by
shutting the cocks s and t, and opening the cock r, the oil collected in the
chamber P will be drawn into the receptacle, and then by closing r and
opening s, t, the oil can be discharged from the receptacle, and this without
impairing the vacuum at all. The condenser D may be enclosed in a water
tank K, as shewn at Fig. 2, so as to leave a space v all round; into the
lower portion of the tank K opens a pipe w connected with a suitable cold
water fountain, and with the top of the tank is connected a discharge cock i
By this arrangement a circulation of cold water is kept up around the con-
denser, which cools the vapor brought in contact therewith, and at the same
time the jet of cold water admitted through the pipe g being thrown into
spray will condense the vapor at once. By keeping the surface cool by
means of the cold water jacket K, the condenser will not become heated as it
otherwise would, and the jet of water from the pipe 9 will be rendered moro
effective in rapid distillation.
It will be found advantageous to employ one or more pipes passing inward
from the induction pipes, and having minute perforations opening preferably
from their under side, to allow the escape of steam into the body of the oil;
these perforated pipes on provided with suitable cocks for letting on or cutting
off the steam when desired. The employment of the perforated steam pipe
or pipes admits of superheated steam being injected into the body of oil which
forms a mechanical combination therewith for the time being, and alters its
character in such a manner as to greatly lessen the danger of overflow of the
oil into the condenser which would otherwise occur. It also assists in con-
veying over the oil vapour into the condenser. The amount of steam injected
may be graduated by a suitablo stop-cock or cocks. In addition to the above
by making the perforations in the bottom of the pipes the steam is thrown
downward in such a manner as to thoroughly agitate the body of oil and
assists in throwing off the vapor.
By this improved process of distillation the distilled oils thereby produced
will not ordinarily require treatment with acids and alkalies in order to render
them suitable for illuminating purposes. A washing by agitation with water,
and exposure to the sunlight for a day or two, and allowing the mass to settle
is all that is required.

page_text: By the improved process the residuum becomes a valuable oil product for
lubricating or illuminating purposes, or for currying, and the burning that
necessarily occurs in ordinary stills where fire is applied is obviated.
In the results produced, as above stated, by this process I have referred
more particularly to petroleum, rather than the mineral oils, the products of
destructive distillation of coal shales or schists, as these are already injured by
heat, and it is evident that although beneficial so great results could not be
obtained as in the distillation of petroleum.
Having now described the improved process of and apparatus for distilling
petroleum and other mineral oils," and having explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondents, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as
aforesaid,―
First, the arrangement and combination of parts herein set forth, whereby
a continuous feed in a vacuum still for petroleum and other mineral oils may
be effected; I also claim the process of distilling petroleum and other mineral
oils in vacuo by the application of heat by means of a steam jacket, or by
steam passing through coils of pipe, or made to issue from perforations made
therein. I claim these modes of heating where used alone or in combination,
as herein set forth.
I further claim the mode herein set forth of preventing the overflow from
the retort, and for effecting the condensation of the vapor of petroleum or
mineral oils.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lanc.
W. E. NEWTON.. (Ls.)