IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR EXTRACTING ESSENTIAL OILS, OLEAGINOUS, FATTY, AND RESINOUS MATTER FROM ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE SUB- STANCES
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Reginald Scaife, of 11, Moorgate Street, in the
City of London, Gentleman, for the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR EXTRACTING ESSENTIAL OILS, OLEAGINOUS,
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Reginald Scaife at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 20th October 1874.
I, REGINALD SCAIFE, of 11, Moorgate Street, in the City of London,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
“IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR EXTRACTING ESSENTIAL OILS,
OLEAGINOUS, FATTY, AND RESINOUS MATTER FROM ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE SUB-
STANCES," to be as follows:-
These improvements relate to a method of and means for extracting
essential oils, oleaginous, fatty, and resinous matter from animal or
vegetable substances, such as textile materials, raw and manufactured
seeds or their envelopes or cases, plants containing essential oils, and

page_text: other substances from which any of the above-named substances may be
extracted by the use of alcohol, wood spirit, or naptha, bisulphide of
carbon, various ethers, and light hydrocarbons employed in the state of
vapour, and at and above the temperature of their respective boiling
points.
The Invention consists in the application of spirit vapours of the sub-
stances named in closed vessels, communicating with other vessels in
the which the spirit vapours are condensed, the circulation from the
condenser to the first named vessel being assisted in some cases by the
aid of a force pump.
The material from which any of the substances named is to be
extracted is enclosed in a suitable vessel with a false and perforated
bottom, and the material to be vaporized is also enclosed in a suitable
vessel heated preferably by means of steam to the desired temperature.
The vapour of the spirit is led by pipes to the upper part of the 1
closed vessel holding the material to be operated upon, from whence by
its pressure it forces itself down through the material, carrying with it
the substances to be extracted. The pump here also assists materially;
in fact, it is an essential feature of the Invention, bringing the vapours
down through the condenser, and restoring the spirit to the vaporizer to 2
be used again and again in the circulation of the vapor down through
the material to be operated upon.
When the operation is finished I remove the last traces of the vapor
left in the material by passing steam down through it, or currents of
warm air or warm gases, and so remove the odour of the spirit vapours, 2
which would otherwise be left in the material. This part of the process
is also very important.
The matters extracted may be separated from the spirit used in any
convenient method, the apparatus being suitably provided with draw-off
taps.
In charging large vessels with the material I have found it preferable
to use a wire cage or frame, in which I place the material, and then by
suitable lifting apparatus transfer it to the vessel to receive the vapour,
8

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Reginald Scaife in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th April 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, REGINALD
SCAIFE, of 11, Moorgate Street, in the Oity of London, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Reginald Scaife, Her special license that I,
the said Reginald Scaife, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Reginald Scaife, 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 THE METHOD OF
AND MEANS FOR EXTRACTING ESSENTIAL OILS, OLEAGINOUS, FATTY, AND RESINOUS
MATTER FROM ANIMAL OR VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Reginald Scaife, 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 Reginald Scaife, 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 :-
These improvements relate to a method of and means for extracting
essential oils, oleaginous, fatty, and resinous substances from animal or
vegetable substances, such as textile materials, raw and manufactured
seeds or their envelopes or cases, plants containing essential oils, by the
use of alcohol, wood spirit, or naptha, bisulphide of carbon, various

page_text: ethers, and light hydrocarbons employed in the state of vapour, and at
and above the temperature of their respective boiling points.
The Invention consists in the application of spirit vapours of the
substances named to the materials to be operated upon placed in closed
vessels, these latter communicating with other vessels in which the 5
spirit vapours are condensed, the circulation being assisted in some cases
by a force pump, injector, steam jet, or fan.
The materials from which the essential oils, oleaginous, fatty, or
resinous substances are to be extracted is enclosed in a suitable closed
vessel, and the material to be vaporized is also enclosed in a suitable 1
vessel heated preferably by means of steam to the desired temperature
by an internal coil or external jacket.
The vapour of the spirit is led by pipes to the upper part of the
closed vessel holding the material to be operated, from whence,
forcing itself by its pressure or assisted by the devices for circulating the 1
vapour before named it passes down through the material, carrying with
it the substances to be extracted.
Where the steam jet is used the vapour is necessarily weakened in its
solvent properties by its mixture with the vapour, but for certain
purposes it is not injurious in its effect, cotton waste, for instance, being a
cleaned sufficiently in this way when the samples are not too dirty.
When the operation has been continued long enough to purify the
material, which depends upon the kind of material and its degree of
impurity, the operation is stopped, and then to remove the last traces of
the vapour I pass steam, warm air, or warm gases through the material
(which is an important feature of my Invention). Lastly, the material
is drawn out of the closed vessel, and another charge placed therein.
The vapours which condense partially in their passage through the
material are received, together with the accompanying matters to be
extracted, into a condensing vessel, where the spirit is either drawn off or
the materials conveyed to a still and separated, or the materials may be
conveyed to the first evaporating vessel named for the further production
of the spirit vapour.
It is obvious that the method here indicated may be carried out in a

page_text: employ, and which I specially claim as entirely new and original, and I
will describe it with the accompanying Drawing in an elevation of the
apparatus developed without reference to convenience of arrangement,
which nearly always depends upon local circumstances.
a is a vessel of iron or other suitable material, with a moveable cover
retained in place by screws or other fastenings for holding the material
to be operated upon; it is provided with a perforated false bottom
covered with wire gauze or other suitable material. For the convenience
of filling and emptying I put the material in a kind of cage or super-
imposed trays of wire or perforated metal, by which the whole charge
can be placed in and withdrawn from the vessel by means of a crane or
other lifting power. The cover is then full diameter of vessel.
b, b', are the closed vessels for the spirit to be vaporised in or to be
condensed in. Each of these vessels is provided with a steam jacket c, c¹,
through the enclosed space between which and the vessel b, b', steam is
passed to vaporise the spirit; or cold water if either of the vessels is to
be used as a condenser; to each of these vessels is also fitted for use in
certain cases an external coil of pipe d, d, to act by its surface conden-
sation as a condenser or safety tube, and if necessary this may be
surrounded by a vessel filled with cold water. e is a steam boiler, by
which the apparatus is heated, and f is a cistern of cold water to supply
the condensers. Sets of steam pipes are also in connection with the
upper part of the vessel a for the purpose of passing steam through the
material to be cleansed, a matter of great importance in some cases, as
for instance in cotton waste. The cocks shown in the Drawing on the
courses of the pipes will perfectly explain the means whereby the several
communications described are to be effected.
The operation of the apparatus is thus, and presuming that soiled and
greasy cotton waste from the factories is to be the material to be operated
) on:-The vessel a is filled with the charge, about 1 ton, and the cover
screwed down. The charge of spirit is let into the vessel 6 by the
funnel m, then the steam from the boiler is let into the jacket of b, the
vapour then rises by the pipe to the top of the vessel a, and passing
down, the material carries the oil with it by the pipe ' into the vessel b',
5 kept cool by the flow of water from ƒ by the pipe i to the jacket of 6¹.
When the operation is finished, usually in about 6 hours, the communi-
cation from the vaporiser is closed, and steam is admitted to a by the

page_text: pipe for a short time; then the inlet of steam is stopped, the cover of
a removed, the clean cotton waste extracted, and a new charge placed
therein. The process is now reversed as to band b', steam being admitted
to the jacket of 6', and cold water to the jacket of b, which becomes the
condenser and 6' the vaporiser, conveying its spirit vapour to a by the 5
pipe n, and so the operation continues. The operation of drawing off the
oily matters is effected by the taps and to be purified in the ordinary.
methods. o and p are the taps for the escape of condensed steam, and q
is the trial tap to show when the operation is finished.
In certain cases there is an advantage in employing the force or lift 1
pump shown at k to draw the liquid or vapour from 6 to b¹,
and the pump can be driven by hand or power, as most convenient.
or vise versa,
I employ also a modification of the pump k, in which I place a larger
piston and barrel worked from the same piston rod immediately over the
pump shown in the Drawing, so that this larger pump may be used to 1
draw the vapours from the upper part of the vessels b, 6¹, conveying
them respectively as desired, whilst the pump shown may be employed
only in withdrawing the condensed vapour, oil, or other substance in the
bottom part of the vessels b, b¹. Where I employ the steam jet or an
injector either the well known Giffard injector or some modification of 2
it I place it so as to draw the vapour required from the upper part of
the vessels b, b', and throw it downwards into the vessels 6¹, b, by the
difference of pressure thus caused in the two vessels b, b', a rapid circu-
lation is kept up. I also in certain cases arrange the apparatus so as
not to make it reciprocal, as described, but arrange it so that one vessel 2
may be used alone for vaporising several vessels arranged for holding the
material to be operated upon, and then severalcond ensing vessels, from
these latter the liquid being conveyed again to the vaporiser by any of
the means described.
3
Having now described and particularly set forth the nature of the said g
Invention, and the manner of carrying the same into effect, I would
have it understood that,—
I claim the use of vapours of the substances named in closed vessels
communicating with other vessels in the which the spirit vapors are
condensed, for the purposes set forth substantially as described.
I claim the use of vapours of the substances named in closed vessels
8

page_text: densed, for the purposes set forth in combination with a pump or other
device for increasing the circulation, substantially as described.
I claim the use of the vessel with the perforated bottom for the purposes
set forth, substantially as described.
I claim the use of the wire cage or trays to hold the material to be
placed in the vessel a for the purposes named, substantially as described.
I claim the specific arrangement of apparatus set forth in this
Specification and Drawings for the purposes named, substantially as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Reginald Scaife, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.