IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING THE WASTE MATTERS RESULTING FROM THE WASHING OF WOOL AND WOOLLEN FABRICs
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FELIX
MACARTAN, of Saint Martin's Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Eighth day of November, in the second year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Felix
Macartan, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said Felix Macartan, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Felix Macartan, my exors, adñors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the
term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING THE WASTE MATTERS RESULTING FROM
THE WASHING OF WOOL AND WOOLLEN FABRICs," communicated to me by a
certain foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a
proviso, that I, the said Felix Macartan, shall cause a particular description
of the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Felix Macartan, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof (that is to say):-
It is well known that in addition to the grease found in wool that there is
much oil and soap employed in the manufacture of wool into various fabrics,
which, in the course of preparing wool and in its progress of manufacture, are
generally washed out and carried away with the water employed in the pro-
cesses of washing and cleansing, hence such matters are wasted..
Now, the object of the Invention is to preserve the waters used in washing
and cleansing the wool and woollen fabrics and the matters mixed with those
waters, in order to obtaining therefrom the grease or oil and other useful
matters which have heretofore been thrown away. And in order to give the
best information in my power for carrying out-the. Invention, I will proceed to
describe the process which I believe to be the best for carrying out the Inven-
tion. The wash water in which wool and woollen fabrics (in the course of
manufacture) have been washed and cleansed are to be preserved by receiving
them in suitable tanks or receivers, to which is to be applied acid; I prefer
sulphuric, acetic, or pyroligenous, till the mixture tinges blue paper (litmus
paper). The mixture thus prepared is to be submitted to heat in open boilers
or other suitable vessels, in order to evaporate the aqueous portion thereof;
when boiling, the scum which will rise to the surface should be taken off and
collected. The process of evaporation should be continued till the contents of
the boiler is reduced to about one-sixth of the whole. The product thus
obtained is to be mixed with about one-fourth of its measure of scum.
mixture should be kept in cisterns or other suitable receivers until fermentation
begins to takes place, and to it should then be added so much of the original
wash waters previously decomposed by acid as will be equal to the product
before the scum was added. It should be observed, that the additions of scum
and of the original wash waters is especially to facilitate the pressure, hereafter
mentiqued. The whole having been well mixed is to be placed in bags of cotton
or suitable material of sufficiently close texture, and then left to drain, which
being sufficiently done, the bags are placed in a square iron or other suitable
shaped vessel, and submitted to a very gradual pressure, each layer of bags
being separated from the next by basket work or other suitable means, adding
pressure by gentle degrees, allowing some minutes between each addition of
pressure. And in order to facilitate the expressing of the grease or oil from
the contents of the bags, heat should be kept up by steam
This
or other

page_text: means (preferring steam), as is well understood, to the press and 'its contents.
The oil or grease thus expressed is mixed with water, which will separate
by the difference of gravity; and thus the greater part of the valuable contents
of the wash waters will be obtained for use, in place of their being thrown
away together with the water and wasted, as heretofore. The residue in the
bags will be found useful as a manure and other purposes. If, on heating
the water decomposed by acid, it should be found that almost the entire
quantity of greasy matters contained in them should turn into scum, the
operation should be discontinued and the water thrown away, but the scum
should still be preserved. The water which has drained from the bags,
together with the water which has separated from the grease after pressure,
may be evaporated to dryness, & the remaining substance calcined or burnt
in a reverberatory furnace or in close vessels to obtain the gas. The product
from the calcination is to be lixiviated, in order to extract alkaline salts
which it contains, by the ordinary chemical processes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Felix Macartan, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of May, One thousand eight hundred
Inrolled the Eighth day of May, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-nine.