CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING, PURIFYING, AND REPINING TALLOW STUPP, FATTY MATERIALS, AND ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE OILS FOR VARIOUS USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1836

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WATT, of Clapham, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
:
by His Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain,
bearing date at Westminster, the Eighth day of March, in the sixth year of
Ilis reign, and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-
six, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Charles Watt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Charles
Watt, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Charles Watt, my executors, administrators, 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, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING, PURIFYING, AND
REPINING TALLOW STUPP, FATTY MATERIALS, AND ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE OILS FOR
VARIOUS USEFUL PURPOSES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso,
obliging me, the said Charles Watt, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause
the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in

page_text: part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles Watt, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof (that is to say):-
:-
My Invention of improvements in preparing, purifying, and refining tallow
stuff, fatty materials, and animal and vegetable oils for various useful pur-
poses consists in subjecting rough fat, tallow stuff, or other fatty materials or
animal oils to a process of boiling with water and certain chemical agents,
ingredients, materials, mixtures or compounds herein-after stated, for the
purpose of separating the same from foreign matters and impurities, and
rendering the materials better and more fit for the various purposes for
which they are used, and particularly, first, as regards tallow, for the purpose
of separating or liberating the tallow from the animal substances contain-
ing gelletin, fibrin, albumen, or colouring matter, and, if necessary, after-
wards washing or purifying or refining the same, in order to remove the said
chemicals. And further, as regards animal oils, in submitting them to a
similar process of boiling with certain chemical ingredients, for the purpose of
removing impurities, and refining or purifying the same; and after this first
boiling, washing or boiling them a second time with certain other chemicals,
to remove or neutralize the former, and at the same time purifying or refining
or washing the oils. And lastly, in refining or purifying vegetable oils by
operating upon them with certain chemical agents, materials, mixtures, or
compounds, for the purpose of removing impurities, colouring glutinous mat-
ters, or offensive odours therefrom, all of which processes or operations have
for their object the preparing, purifying, and refining the various raw mate-
rials, and rendering them better and more fit for various purposes, and which
I propose to carry into effect in the following manner.
And in order that my improvements may be better understood, I shall
detail the processes or operations, stating such proportions, quantities of water,
acids, and other chemical agents, materials, ingredients, or compounds as I
have found best to answer the desired purpose; but I do not intend to con-
fine myself to the precise quantities berein-after stated, as the same may be
varied to suit different qualities, herein-after stated, as the same may be
varied to suit different qualities and states of foulness or courseness of the stuff
rough fat, tallow, or oils, or other raw materials to be operated upon, as is
well known to all tallow melters and refiners of oils.
First, as regards the operation or process of rendering or preparing rough

page_text: fat stuff or fatty materials for the melting or refining, and purifying of tallow, I
proceed in the following manner :-The rough fat, without the necessity of being
previously prepared or chopped into small pieces, is to be put into a wooden ren-
dering vat, furnished with a wooden steam pipe, leading from a steam boiler or
generator, and branching out into several other pipes placed in the bottom of
the vat, and pierced with small holes in order to distribute the steam through-
out the whole mass of materials under operation. To about each ton of rough
fat in the rendering vat I add about four gallons of water, and then let
on the steam, and continue it until the mass boils, when I add, as hereafter
directed, the following chemical mixture or compound, prepared an hour
or more before it is wanted:-First, I take four pounds of good sulphuric
acid (which I prefer to be of the specific gravity of about 1900), which is
gradually and continuously to be diluted by pouring it very slowly into two
gallons of cold water, contained in a wooden vessel, the water being
repeatedly stirred with a stick during the mixing; or muriatic acid may be
substituted for sulphuric acid, when eight pounds of it will be required instead
of four of the former, and only half the quantity of water, in this case there is
no necessity for any particular caution in the mixing, as with sulphuric acid, as
there is no disengagement of heat. To either of the above mixtures of diluted
acids, when cold, I add one pound of good nitric acid, which I prefer of about
the specific gravity 1045, and then half a pound of the bichromate of potassa,
in order to supply an additional quantity of oxygen, and to prevent any
discolouration by the use of the nitric acid, and to these I add half a pound of
oxallic acid, the whole is then to be well stirred, and when sufficiently mixed,
one quart or three pints of this compound (to each ton of rough fat or stuff')
is to be put into the boiling materials in the rendering vat at intervals of about
every twenty or thirty minutes, and the boiling continues until the dabs
or lumps are nearly dissolved; when this is the case I add to the materials
under operation the following compound (prepared only at the time it is about
to be used):-I first (in the proportion of to every ton of fat or stuff) dilute or
mix one pound of strong nitric acid, with one quart of water, into which
mixture I put two ounces of rectified spirit of wine, naptha, sulphuric ether, or
spirit of turpentine. After this compound has been added to the fat under"
operation the boiling is to be continued for about half an hour, and after all
the dabs or pieces of fat are "rendered" or melted, the steam is to be
stopped off, and the tallow left quiet about ten minutes, for the purpose of
allowing the refuse to settle, when the water and chemicals underneath the
tallow are to be drawn off, and about two gallons of fresh water to each ton of
rough fat or stuff is to be then put in the rendering vat, and the steam let on

page_text: again, and continued till the tallow has boiled about ten minutes; after this
washing process the boiling is to be stopped and the materials left to settle, in
order that the tallow may become cool and fit to be packed off. In rendering
fish oils in wooden vessels, that is, boiling or melting and partly refining, and
purifying such as whale blubber, fish livers, and other parts containing, fish
oils, the following: modification of the process is necessary:-The rendering
mixture in this case should contain the following proportion of sulphuric and
muriatic acids, viz, four pounds of the former diluted with two gallons
of water, as described in the former part of this Specification (respecting
tallow), and six of the latter acid, also diluted with two gallons of water; these
diluted acids are to be mixed together after the diluted sulphuric acid has
become cold; and to this compound is then to be added, and well stirred
therewith, half a pound of bichromate of potassa and a like quantity of
oxallic acid. This compound is to be added to the boiling rough materials con-
taining animal oils, at; intervals of twenty or thirty minutes, in the proportion
of two quarts at each time of adding to every ton of materials under operation,
until all the fatty or oily substance (such as whale blubber, livers of, fish, and
other parts containing oil) aro reduced or "rendered." This will be. shewn
on examining the mass under operation, and indicated by any parts containing
oil floating beneath the surface of the fluid oil and above the surface of the
water, and thereby the operator will know if the process is to-be stopped or
continued. After this operation is performed the under liquids and chemicals
may be drawn off; and about two pounds weight of powdered chalk or marble
to cach ton of raw material is to. bo thrown into the vat. and well stirred.
therewith, when the whole is to be boiled for ten or twenty minutes,
In order that the chalk or marble may combine with and remove any acid
adhering to the oil; the now rendered; or purified oil is then allowed to settle,
when it may be removed for use. In the further refining and purifying
of tallow, if necessary or thought desirable, at the time the fresh water is put.
into the vat after the pumping or drawing off the under water-and-chemicals,
the rendering" being completed, there may be added to every ton of tallow
a half pound of green oxide of chrome or bichromate of potassa, and boiled
with the materials under operation for about ten or fifteen minutes. by turning
on the steam; the colour, odour, and other properties of the tallow will be much
improved by the process. In refining and purifying animal and vegetable oils
generally when in their fluid-state as articles of commerce, I use the following
process and compound:-To every ton of oil is to be added a quantity, say. one
quart, of the before mentioned mixture of muriatic acid and oxide, of chrome
or bichromate of potassa, the oil being stirred well at each time this. compound

page_text: is added, the operation or commixture to be continued until all the offensive
odour, colouring matter, or impurities are removed. I then introduce about
three gallons of water to every ton of oil, and from two to three pounds of
powdered chalk or marble, to remove any acids adhering to the oils; the oil
is then to be left quiet until all the chemicals and water have settled, and it
has become transparent, when it may be run off into barrels for use. In the
case of palm oil, it being ordinarily in a solid state, it must be raised by arti-
ficial heat to the temperature of about 120° Fahrenheit's thermometer, and the
refining mixture will require to contain in the proportion of about one pound
and a half of green oxide of chrome, or bichromate of potassa, and four pounds
of muriatic acid to each ton of rough materials, instead of the former propor-
tions; and when the colouring matters are removed the same quantity of chalk
or marble is to be added as in the former case, and three or four gallons of
water, and the whole raised to the temperature of about 150°, when the
materials will become sufficiently fluid to allow all the chemicals to subside;
and after they have been sufficiently stirred together, the whole may be left at
rest a sufficient time to allow the oil to become clear and the chemicals to
subside, when the oil may be used in various manufactures.
Having now described my improvements, and the manner of carrying the
same into effect, and in such proportions and quantities as I have found to
answer the purpose, I wish it to be understood that what I claim as my
improvement in the preparing, purifying, and refining tallow stuff, fatty
materials, and animal and vegetable oils for various useful purposes, is the
boiling and operating upon them by the following compounds, chemical
agents, ingredients or mixtures:-First, I claim the the combination of
sulphuric and nitric acids, and muriatic and nitric acids, for the purpose
of "rendering" in wooden vessels, and likewise oxallic acid, both singly
and compounded as above described, and likewise the bichromate of potassa,
as it much improves the tallow, and prevents the occasional temporary
discoloration occasioned by nitric acid. I likewise claim the combination of
nitric acid with spirits of wine, naptha, ether, or turpentine, as evolving
nitrous gas and nitrous oxide, for the purpose of "rendering," and by their
agency purifying and solidifying the tallow. I also claim the admixture of
sulphuric and muriatic acids, and oxallic acid in rendering fish oils, as whale,
seal, cod, &c., &c. I also claim the combination of muriatic acid with
oxide of chrome, by which combination there results a double effect, viz*, the
bleaching or purifying and refining effect of the bichromate of potassa or
oxide of chrome, with the immense evolution of chlorine gas resulting from the