IMPROVED MEANS FOR BURNING BITUMINOUS AND MINERAL OILS AS WELL AS THE PRODUCTS OBTAINED FROM THEM, SUCH AS PARAFFINE, PETROLEUM, NAPTHA, BENZINE, AND OTHER VOLATILE HYDROCARBONS FOR HEATING AND LIGHTING PURPOSES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Grüne, of the City of Berlin, in the
Kingdom of Prussia, Empire of Germany, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED MEANS FOR BURNING BITUMINOUS AND MINERAL OILS AS WELL
AS THE PRODUCTS OBTAINED FROM THEM, SUCH AS PARAFFINE, PETROLEUM,
NAPTHA, BENZINE, AND OTHER VOLATILE HYDROCARBONS FOR HEATING AND
LIGHTING PURPOSES."
Sealed the 21st January 1876, and dated the 17th August 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Grüne at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th August 1875.
I, WILLIAM GRÜNE, of the City of Berlin, in the Kingdom of
Prussia, Empire of Germany, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS FOR BURNING BITUMINOUS AND MINERAL
OILS AS WELL AS THE PRODUCTS OBTAINED FROM THEM, SUCH AS PARAFFINE,
PETROLEUM, NAPtha, Benzine, anD OTHER VOLATILE HYDROCARBONS FOR HEATING
AND LIGHTING PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
:-
The bituminous and mineral oils and the products obtained from
them, such as paraffine, cannot be burnt in large quantities without

page_text: danger of explosion, due to their rapid evaporation and to their property
to ascend in liquid form the sides of any vessel or object and to spread
in all directions.
According to my present Invention I obviate the above-mentioned
dangers and inconveniences attendant on the use of the said oils or
products in a liquid state by combining them with infusorial silica, that
is, the silicic acid consisting of the shells of minute animalculae. This
may be effected either by mixing the oils or products with the said
material, or by allowing the oil to flow in regulated quantities on to the
material so as to maintain it in a saturated state. This mixture may
then be ignited with perfect safety either for lighting or heating
purposes, it being either placed in vessels or used in an unconfined state
for this purpose. The oil will under these circumstances burn away
slowly and with great regularity and without any danger of explosion,
the property of the said infusorial silica of holding the oil in an
exceedingly fine state of subdivision, its great absorbing power and pro-
perty as a bad conductor of heat rendering it possible to use with
perfect safety large quantities of the volatile oils without any previous
preparation. By thus transforming the oils as it were from a liquid to
a solid condition, and confining the mass within fixed limits, flames of
any desired forms or dimensions may be produced which may be readily
regulated and extinguished. As the infusorial silica is in no way
affected by the burning of the oils, it may be used over and over again
for the same purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Grüne in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th January 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GRÜNE, of the City of Berlin, in the Kingdom of Prussia, Empire of
Germany, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-

page_text: cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Grüne, Her special
license that I, the said William Grüne, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Grüne, 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, usc, excrcise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVED MEANS FOR
BURNING BITUMINOUS AND MINERAL OILS AS WELL AS THE PRODUCTS OBTAINED
FROM THEM, SUCH AS PARAFFINE, PETROLEUM, NAPTHA, BENZINE, AND OTHER
VOLATILE HYDROCARBONS FOR HEATING AND LIGHTING PURPOSES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Grüne, 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 William Grüne, 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 :-
The bituminous and mineral oils and the products obtained from
them, such as paraffine, cannot be burnt in large quantities without
danger of explosion, due to their rapid evaporation and to their property
to ascend in liquid form the sides of any vessel or object and to spread
in all directions.
According to my present Invention I obviate the above-mentioned
dangers and inconveniences attendant on the use of the said oils or pro-
ducts in a liquid state by combining them with infusorial silica, that is,
the silicic acid consisting of the shells of minute animalculae. This
may be effected either by mixing the oils or products with the said
material, or by allowing the oil to flow in regulated quantities on to the
material so as to maintain it in a saturated state. This mixture may
then be ignited with perfect safety either for lighting or heating
purposes, it being either placed in vessels or used in an unconfined state
for this purpose. The oil will under these circumstances burn away

page_text: slowly and with great regularity and without any danger of explosion,
the property of the said infusorial silica of holding the oil in an
exceedingly fine state of subdivision, its great absorbing power and
property as a bad conductor of heat rendering it possible to use with
perfect safety large quantities of the volatile oils without any previous
preparation. By thus transforming the oils as it were from a liquid to a
solid condition and confining the mass within fixed limits, flames of
any desired forms or dimensions may be produced which may be readily
regulated and extinguished. As the infusorial silica is in no way
affected by the burning of the oils, it may be used over and over again
for the same purpose.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I claim, the admixture of
infusorial silica with volatile, bituminous, and mineral oils or products
thereof when used for heating or lighting purposes, substantially as and
for the purposes herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Grüne, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of January, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
WILLIAM GRUNE. (L.S.)