IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING PRODUCTS FROM A SPECIES OF ASPHALTUM AT PRESENT FOUND IN THE ISLAND
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Archibald Brown Tripler, of No. 1, Michael's
Grove, Brompton, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING
PRODUCTS FROM A SPECIES OF ASPHALTUM AT PRESENT FOUND IN THE ISLAND
وو
Sealed the 18th January 1859, and dated the 22nd July 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Archibald Brown Tripler
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd July 1858.
I, ARCHIBALD BROWN TRIPLER, of No. 1, Michael's Grove, Brompton, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING
PRODUCTS FROM A SPECIES OF ASPHALTUM AT PRESENT FOUND IN THE ISLAND OF
CUBA, AND CALLED CHAPAFOTE," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in obtaining products from
a species of asphaltum at present found in the island of Cuba, and called
chapafote, and which is distinguished from other asphalte by its being com-
pletely soluble in naptha or turpentine. For this purpose the matter is heated
in a still, and the vapours which rise from it are condensed in a suitable
condensor, the products consist of oily, fatty, bituminous, and other sub-
stances, which may afterwards be separated the one from the other if
required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Archibald Brown Tripler in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 19th January 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ARCHIBALD
BROWN TRIPLER, of No. 1, Michael's Grove, Brompton, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year
of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Archibald Brown Tripler, Her special licence that I, the
said Archibald Brown Tripler, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Archibald Brown Tripler, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all, times thereafter during the term therein ex-
pressed, 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 OBTAINING PRODUCTS FROM A
SPECIES OF ASPHALTUM AT PRESENT FOUND IN THE ISLAND OF CUBA, AND CALLED
CHAPOFOTE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Archibald
Brown Tripler, 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 Archibald Brown Tripler, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in obtaining products from
a species of asphaltum at present found in the island of Cuba, and called
chapafote, and which is distinguished from other asphalte by its being com-
pletely soluble in naptha or turpentine. For this purpose the matter is heated
in a still, and the vapours which rise from it are condensed in a suitable
condensor, the products consist of oily, fatty, bituminous, and other substances,
which may afterwards be separated the one from the other if required.
And in order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and

page_text: readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I
prefer to conduct the process.
The chapafote (or chapapote) is reduced to powder and mixed with earthy
matter, in the proportion of about one part of earthy matter in powder to
two parts of chapapote. The earthy matter which I prefer to employ where
it is obtainable, is the ash of boghead coal, otherwise I use a mixture of
dried clay and slaked lime, in the proportion of one of lime and two of clay,
or thereabout. The principal object of the addition of the earthy matter is
to prevent the chapapote boiling up within the still when heat is applied.
The still which I employ consists of an iron pan set in brickwork, and heated
underneath by a fire; the pan is furnished with a cover which fits it closely,
and is secured to it by screw clamps or otherwise. From the upper part of
the pan a pipe or passage leads to a condensor such as is ordinarily employed
when distilling fatty or bituminous matters, and the pipe or passage leading
from the pan should be so inclined as to prevent any liquid which may
condense within it running back into the pan.
The pipe by which the condensed matter escapes from the condensor is
caused to dip into the liquid accumulated in the receiver to prevent incon-
densible gases escaping by this passage, and a separate pipe passing from the
end of the condenser carries these gases to a suitable receiver. In conducting
the process of distillation some care is required to maintain the proper degree
of heat, this is regulated, to some extent, according to the specific gravity of
the liquid flowing from the condensor, if it marks as low as 800° Baumé, the
heat should be increased, but if on the contrary, the specific gravity is high,
say, 950°, and at the same time a yellow fume passes from the condensor, as
may be ascertained by opening a try cock provided for the purpose, then the
heat should be decreased, but unless this yellow fume appear, the specific
gravity may be allowed to rise to the degree above named, especially towards
the end of the operation. The incondensible gases from the condensor I cause
to pass through a gas meter, and if the quantity of gas produced exceed 1000
feet to the ton of chapapote, I also judge that the heat is too high. The gas
may be used for the purposes of illumination. The condensed oily liquid I
purify in the following manner :-It is run into a vat lined with lead, and a
mixture of sulphuric and muriatic acids is added to it, the sulphuric acid in
the proportion of one measure of acid to ten of oil, and the muriatic acid in
the proportion of one measure of acid to fifty of oil. The sulphuric acid
I employ is of a specific gravity of 1800°, and the muriatic is the strong
commercial acid; the acid is constantly stirred up with the oil during a

page_text: period of two hours, and the oil is kept heated by steam pipes. The bottom
of the vat inclines in every direction towards the centre where a cavity is
formed, in which the acid," (together with the matter it separates), accumulates
when the stirring ceases, and it is drawn off from the cavity by a cock without
disturbing the oil above, and any oil which may escape with the acid is
separated from it by skimming. The oil is afterwards run into another vessel
with an equal quantity of strong lime water, and is well stirred up with it, and
the mixture is kept heated by blowing steam into it; at the end of 6 hours
the oil is drawn off from the lime water. From this product I obtain oils and
fatty matters of different specific gravities by subjecting it to a second dis-
tillation; for this purpose I employ apparatus such as already described,
applying at the commencement of the process a low heat, so as to draw over
products of a lower specific gravity than 850°; when the specific gravity rises
above this point, the products are directed into another receiver, and the heat
is somewhat increased, so as to draw over oils of a less specific gravity than
950° afterwards, when the specific gravity rises above this point, the
temperature is again increased till the distillation is complete: thus, three
separate products are obtained, the lightest is suitable for burning in lamps;
the second, for lubrication; and the third, which is semi-solid at ordinary
temperatures, is pressed to obtain a solid matter for the manufacture of
candles, and a further quantity of oil suitable for lubrication.
In witness whereof, I, the said Archibald Brown Tripler, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
A. B. TRIPLER. (L.S.)