IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY FOR DISTILIANG AND REFINING PETROLEUM. AND OTHER OILS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Bouverie Grant, of the Euston Road, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY FOR DISTILIANG AND REFINING PETROLEUM.
AND OTHER OILS."
Sealed the 20th July 1866, and dated the 1st February 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Bouverie Grant
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Pétition, on the
1st February 1866.
I, JAMES BOUVERIE GRANT, of the Euston Road, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY FOR DISTILLING AND REFINING PETROLEUM
AND OTHER OILS," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is the construction of an apparatus, machinery,
or still for distilling or refining petroleum and other oils in and by the means
and apparatus hereafter described, and in such manner that a greater heating
capacity is afforded than has been heretofore done, and at the same time means
provided whereby the apparatus or still can be thoroughly cleaned from the
residuum left by the distillation of the oil. Beneath and around. the apparatus
or still the heat from the fire below is free to circulate, and the apparatus
contains a series of heating pipes set or placed, by preference, in the form of
two cones, the bases, of which meet, and through which the heat from the

page_text: fire below the still is taken up through the oil in the body of the still. A
setting of brickwork contains the furnace (in which the fuel to heat the still is
placed) and supporting the still. The still is made of metal plates, firmly
secured together, of, by preference, a circular shape. The upper part of the
still or apparatus is dome-shaped or square, to which a pipe for carrying off
the products of distillation to a tank or other receptacle is attached. A space
or flue is provided for the fire (if needed), or the heated gases from the fire
to rise to the top of the exterior shell of the still. Dampers are fitted to flues
leading from the fire spaces, which are opened or closed according to whether
the fire or gases are used. The bottom of the still has an aperture in it
equal or a little more than equal to the size of the aperture at the lower end
of the series of heating pipes, to admit of the passage of the heat from the:
furnace through the pipes named, and to which a damper may be applied.
The pipe from the top of the heating pipes is carried through the top of the
shell of the still, and is also provided with a damper if desired. Man-holes are
placed in the top of the still to allow an attendant to enter the body thereof
to clean and remove the residuum or the products resulting from the distillation.
The space for the passage of the vapor to the chamber from the still is made
as small as is consistent with sufficient room for the passage of such vapor, so
that the latter can immediately, or as nearly so as may be, enter the outlet
pipe. The advantages resulting from the use of the series of heating pipes
shaped, set, and arranged as described are that the heating pipes gather and
deflect into the body of the oil a larger amount of heat than heretofore, while
at the same time sufficient space is provided around the heating pipes to allow
the residuum to be removed with facility from the bottom of the still
Ventilating pipes are provided for cooling the still after the fire is drawn.
SPECIFICATION in pursuanee of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Bouverie Grant in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st August 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES &
BOUVERIE GRANT, of the Euston Road, in the 'County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of February, 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

page_text: me, the said James Bouverie Grant, Her special licence that I, the said
James Bouverie Grant, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said James Bouverie Grant, 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 APPARATUS OR MACHINERY FOR DISTILLING AND
REPINING PETROLEUM AND OTHER OILS," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said James Bouverie Grant, 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 James Bouverie Grant, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is, to say :-
The object of my Invention is the construction of an apparatus, machinery,
or still for distilling or refining petroleum and oils in and by the means and
apparatus hereafter described, and in such manner that a greater heating and
evaporating capacity is afforded than has been heretofore done, and at the
same time means provided whereby the apparatus or still can be thoroughly
cleaned from the residuum left by the distillation of the oil. Beneath and
around the apparatus or still the heat from the fire below is free to circulate,
and the 'apparatus contains a series of heating pipes set or placed, by pre-
ference, in the form of two cones, the bases of which meet, and through which
the heat from the fire below the still is taken up through the oil in the body
of the still. A setting of brickwork contains the furnace (in which the fuel
to heat the still is placed) and supporting the still. The still is made of metal
plates, firmly secured together, of, by preference, a circular shape. The upper
part of the still or apparatus is dome-shaped or square, to which a pipe for
carrying off the products of distillation to a tank or other receptacle is attached.
A space or flue is provided for the fire (if needed), or the heated gases from
the fire to rise to the top of the exterior shell of the still. Dampers are fitted
closed according to
still bas an aperture
to flues leading from the fire spaces, which are opened or
whether the fire or gases are used. The bottom of the

page_text: in it equal or a little more than equal to the size of the aperture at the lower
end of the series of heating pipes to admit of the passage of the heat from the
furnace through the pipes named, and to which a damper may be applied.
The pipe from the top of the heating pipes is carried through the top of the
shell of the still, and is also provided with a damper, if desired. Man-holes
are placed in the top of the still to allow an attendant to enter through
the body thereof to clean and remove the residium or the products resulting
from the distillation.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a longitudinal section, and
Figure 2 is a horizontal section of an apparatus or still for distilling and
refining petroleum and other oils according to my Invention.
:
A, A, is the brickwork, in which the still B is inserted; C is the furnace
below the still, and set in the brickwork; E, E, E, E, are the heating pipes;
arranged as shewn in the Drawing, and placed at or about the centre of the
still B. The entrance to the pipes E is above the furnace *C, and the
aperture is closed or its size regulated by a damper D fitted thereto. The
pipes E terminate and meet at top in one common pipe F, which is supplied
with a damper G, and by which the products of combustion passing through
the pipes E in the centre of the still escape; H, H, are braces or stays for
supporting the pipe F; I, I, are air spaces surrounding the still B, and
Heading to the flues J, J, which smoke pipes K, K, are fitted, and through
which the products not passing through the pipes E escape to the atmosphere
by the common pipe F; L, L, are dampers in the pipes K, K; M is the top
or canopy of the still, which is made by preference and as shown dome-shaped.
Inside the dome I place man-holes N, N, whereby access is gained to the
interior of the still for cleaning out the residium therefrom;-0 is the chamber
above the still into which the vapors or the products of the distillation rise,
'passing thereto from the still by the aperture ¹ around the central pipe F.
The size of this aperture must be made as small as is consistent with
sufficient room for the passage of the vapor, so that the latter may imme-
diately, or as nearly so as may be, enter the outlet pipe. P is the outlet pipe,
by which the products are conveyed from the chamber O to any receptacle
provided for the same; Qis a pipe near the bottom of the still whereby the
residium from the still is removed when required; R, R, are ventilators for
cooling the still after the fire is drawn. The products of cembustion pro-
ceeding from the furnace C which pass through the pipes E act upon the
material in the still B with great rapidity. The position, form, and arrangement
of the pipes diffuse the heat throughout the material, and cause it to radiate
therefrom, no one part of the still possessing materially greater heat than the

page_text: other; by this means I save the expenditure of fuel to that extent hitherto
used; I distil more quickly, and at the same time by judiciously arranging
the dampers I am enabled to graduate the heat, and so prevent the vapor
being scorched, and in this manner obtain a greater yield of fine oil. There
is also ample space allowed round the pipes to enable the residium to be
removed with facility from the bottom of the still.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First, the employment in apparatus or machinery for distilling and refining
petroleum and other oils of a series of heating pipes set in the form of two
cones, the bases of which meet, and through which the products of com-
bustion from the furnace pass, all substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the general construction, arrangement, and method of action of
the apparatus or machinery herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Bouverie Grant, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twelfth day of June, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
EDWP. GRIFFITH BREWER,
89, Chancery Lane,
London, W.C.
JAS. B. GRANT. (L.S.)