AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PREPARING, REFINING, AND FILTERING OILS OR FATTY MATTERS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John De Cockkenifeck, of Cork, in the Kingdom of
Ireland, Belgian Inspector of the Royal Flax Improvement Society of
Ireland, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS
FOR PREPARING, REFINING, AND FILTERING OILS OR FATTY MATTERS."
Sealed the 4th November 1856, and dated the 24th May 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John De Cockkenifeck at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th May 1856..
I, JOHN DE COCKKENIFECK, of Cork, in the Kingdom of Ireland, Belgian
Inspector of the Royal Flax Improvement 'Society of Ireland; do hereby
declare the nature of the, said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND
APPARATUS FOR PREPARING, REFINING, AND FILTERING OILS OR FATTY MATTERS,"
to be as follows:
'My Invention of an improved process and apparatus for preparing, refining,
and filtering oils or fatty matters relates, first, to a novel or improved method
of operating upon or preparing oils by means of chemical agents, which will
remove any disagreeable smell from the oils or fatty matters; and, secondly,
by means of suitable apparatus, the oils, after being 'acted upon chemically,
are refined and filtered, so as to remove any impurities that may be mecliani-
cally mixed. therewith.
In carrying out my Invention, the oils are first mixed with acids, which will

page_text: act upon the fatty matters and alter the liquidity thereof; then these acids are
neutralized by the addition of some alkaline matters, according to the nature
of the acid that has been used. After the oils or fatty matters have been acted
upon by the acids and alkalies for a sufficient length of time, they are to be
filtered through any convenient mealy substance, which is to be placed in
a filtering apparatus, which forms the second part of the Invention. In this
apparatus, the mealy substances are placed upon a perforated or porous bed,
and the oils or fatty matters to. be purified having been poured in, are, by
means of pressure, forced through the layer of mealy substances. By this
means the oils or fatty matters are not only purified from any mechanical
impurities that they contain, but the mealy substances act upon and remove or
retain any particle of acid that may remain unneutralized, and the oils or fatty
matters will run out perfectly purified and refined.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John De Cockkenifeck in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 24th November 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN DE
COCK KENIFECK, of Cork, in the Kingdom of Ireland, Belgian Inspector of the
Royal Flax Improvement Society of Ireland, send greeting...
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
"Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John De Kock Kenifeck, Her special license that I, the said John De
Cock Kenifeck, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others' as I,
the said John De Cock Kenifeck, 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 "AN
IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PREPARING, REFINING, AND FILTERING OILS
OR FATTY MATTERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
De Cock Kenifeck, "by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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

page_text: 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 John De Cock Kenifeck, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed; and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
:
My Invention of an improved process and apparatus for preparing, refining,
and filtering oils or fatty matters relates, first, to a novel or improved method
for operating upon or preparing oils by means of chemical agents, which will
remove any disagreeable smell from the oils or fatty matters; and by means of
suitable apparatus, which constitute the second part of my said Invention, the
oils, after being acted upon chemically by the process hereafter described,
are refined and filtered, so as to remove any impurities that may be mechani-
cally mixed therewith.
:
In carrying out my Invention, the oils are first mixed with acids, which will
act upon the fatty matters and, alter the liquidity thereof; then these acids are
neutralized by the addition of some alkaline matters, according to the nature of
the acid that has been used.
After the oils or fatty matters have been acted upon by the acids and
alkalies for a sufficient length of time, they are to be poured through a filtre
containing any convenient mealy substance, which is to be placed in a filtering
apparatus, which forms the second part of the Invention. In this apparatus
the mealy substances are placed upon a perforated or porous bed, and the oils
or fatty matters to be purified having been poured in, are, by means of pres-
sure, forced through some pulverized alkaline earth and through the layer of
mealy substances. By this means the oils or fatty matters are not only purified
from any mechanical impurities that they contain, but the alkaline carths and
mealy substances act upon and remove or retain any particle of acid or alkali
that may remain unneutralized, and the oils or fatty matters will run out
perfectly purified and refined.
Having thus briefly explained my improved process and apparatus, I will
now proceed to describe the same more minutely, so that any intelligent
manufacturer may be enabled to put the process into operation.
The oils and fatty matters are first operated upon by sulphuric acid, of which
from one to three per cent. must be added thereto, according to the quality
and state of the oils and fatty matters. The acid must be properly and inti-
mately mixed with the oils or fatty matters in a suitable vessel, as described
hereafter, after which the acid must be washed out as far as possible by water;

page_text: to, which
may be added an alkali, such as lime; the oils or fatty matters are
then to be run into a cylinder provided with a piston, so arranged as to create
mechanical pressure on the oils or fatty matters, without the employment of
any extraneous motive power, such as steam or water power. The oil or fatty
matters:are by this means. forced into a filter made of cast iron, and containing
an alkali, such as calcined marble or magnesia, through.which the oils and
fatty matters first pass, and where the last vestige of acid is absorbed by the
alkali. The oils or fatty matters are forced in the same vessel through a layer
or mass of mealy substances obtained from oily seeds, and which mealy sub-
istances act chemically upon the alkali, so as to absorb it, thereby. freeing the
Coils, and fatty matters: from all impurities. The basis of the above-described
process of purifying and filtering is, that the alkalies are made to react upon
.and neutralize the acid, and the mealy substances will extract or remove the
alkali, together with all the impurities. and acids.
I would observe that the different kinds of mealy substances which may be
obtained from oily seeds may be employed to impart their smell or odour to
other varieties of oils passed through them. The whole operation of refining,
purifying, and filtering will be completed in twenty-four hours without the
application of any artificial heat.
In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn the arrangement of apparatus
which I propose to employ in carrying out the processes just described.
Figure 1 is a general elevation of the whole apparatus, some of the parts
being shewn in section, in order that their construction may be more clearly
seen and understood. 1 is a glass vessel containing sulphuric acid, and is pro-
vided with cocks or taps at each side for discharging the sulphuric acid into
the stirring vessels or vats A' and A2, which are of precisely the same con-
struction, and are divided into two compartments A and B, and A* and B*.
The parts A and A* are the compartments where the oils and fatty matters
are mixed with the acid, by means of the stirring or agitating apparatus D
fixed therein, and which stirring or agitating apparatus are driven by pulleys
and belts a, a, and b, b. When the oils or fatty matters have been operated
upon by the sulphuric acid, and the stirring operation (which lasts for one hour)
is completed, water mixed with alkali is run into the compartments B; B*, and
by rotating or turning the double bottom C of the compartment or chamber. B,
the alkaline water will be equally discharged through the perforated bottom
underneath, and will fall into the fatty matters in; the compartment A.
From ten to twenty hours after the above operation, the oils and fatty
matters are discharged through the pipes e into the cylinder E, or direct
into the filtering apparatus F. Where ten feet clear of natural pressure can

page_text: be obtained, the filter will work. moderately well, and the pressure created by
the cylinder E may be dispensed with; in which case, the second stirring
vat A is turned into a standing reservoir. f,f, are openings for obtaining
access to the vessels A; A*, for cleansing the same when required, and are
closed by.suitable doors; 9, 9, are cocks; for letting-off. the water from, the
stirring vats after cleansing the same; E. is a cast-iron cylinder, mounted.or
supported in a wooden frame, in which a piston works to-create-pressure; his
a platform attached to the upper end of the piston rod, and on which weights.j
are placed, as shewn in the Drawing, according as they may be wanted; .k is
a chain passing over rollers, attached to the platform h, and provided with a
hook at the opposite extremity, whereby it is attached to another platform ↳
also containing weights m. In order to put this part of the apparatus. in
operation, the cock of the pipes e, communicating with the vats A, A, con-
taining the oils or fatty matters, is-opened, and the pressure of liquid on the
vats (which are above the level of the cylinder E), aided by the weights j,.j,
hanging at the other extremity of the chain.k, will force up the piston of the
cylinder E, and fill the same with the oils or fatty matters. When the piston
arrives at its proper elevation, the platform l, containing the counter weights m
at the end of the chain k, will, by touching the ground, become unlooked or
detached from the chain k, and the piston of the cylinder E thereby left free.to
press on the mass contained in the cylinder. When the entrance valve of the
supply pipes at the bottom of the cylinder- is shut, and the pressure of.the
piston is thrown on to the oils or fatty matters in. the cylinder, the pressure will
force them down the pipe n, communicating with the filter E.
By placing the platform.containing the counter weights m on the tumbling
board o, the cylinder will repeat a second operation of filtering without any
assistance, for when the piston in the cylinder E descends, the rod p touches
the hook q, thereby freeing the board o, and setting the counter weights m free
to descend and draw up the piston in the cylinder E, so that by simply moving
the counter weights m from the ground to the board o, the cylinder E will fill
itself twice without assistance, which will be found a great convenience for
night work.
Figure 2 represents the filter F in elevation, and in its working position as
regards the other parts of the apparatus; Figure 3 is a plan view of the
same; Figure 4 represents a sectional view of the filter, drawn upon an
enlarged scale. r is a compartment or vessel containing the alkali; s is the
compartment containing the mealy substances.
The oil is introduced either from the cylinder E or direct from the reservoir
vat A* by the cock t; and after passing up through the mealy substances, is

page_text: discharged pure around and on the surface of the filter through the holes u,
and received in the. rim or channel v, from whence it is drawn off by the
cock w.
Having now, described my Invention of an improved process and apparatus
for preparing, refining, and filtering oils or fatty matters, and explained the
means of carrying the same into effect, I would observe that I am aware that
oils and fatty matters have been lieretofore treated with sulphuric and other
acids, and also with alkalies, for the purpose of purifying and refining the
same; I do not therefore mean or intend to claim the exclusive use of mineral
acids and alkalies for such purposes, except when the same are used in the
manner above set forth, nor do I intend to confine myself rigidly to the precise.
arrangement or construction of parts herein shewn and described; as they may
doubtless be varied in some particulars without departing from the nature and
object of my Invention: In conclusion, I claim as the Invention secured to
me by Letters Patent as aforesaid,
First, the use of an alkali in the filtering operation for the purpose of
neutralizing any acid that may remain in the oils or fatty matters after they
have been operated upon by the previous process.
Second, I claim the use of mealy substances obtained from oily seeds, as the
filtering ingredient or substance to be placed in the filter for separating the
impurities from the oils or fatty matters..
Third, I claim the apparatus herein shewn and described for exerting pres-
sure on the oils or fatty substances, for the purpose of forcing the same through
the mass of material contained in the filter; I claim particularly the use of the
cylinder E, with its weighted piston and piston rod.
And, lastly, I claim the mode herein shewn and described of constructing
the filtering apparatus.,
In witness whereof, I, the said John De Cock Kenifeck, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
MICHAEL CAGNEY,
Tivoli Terrace, Cork.
JOHN DE COCKKENIFECK. (L.S.)