An Improved Process for the Separation of Lubricating Oil from Water of Condensation by Filtration.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Dec., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 19th Sept., 1896-Accepted, 21st Nov., 1896
[Communicated from abroad by "MASCHINENFABRIK GREVENBROICH," of
Grevenbroich, Rhine Province, Prussia, in the Empire of Germany.]
An Improved Process for the Separation of Lubricating Oil from
Water of Condensation by Filtration.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the separation of lubricating oil from the condensation
water of steam engines, and the subject of the invention is a process which enables
the oil to be more effectively separated or eliminated, by filtration, than has been
feasible hitherto, and which is calculated to prove particularly valuable on board
sea-going vessels.
It has, heretofore, been attempted to effect the separation by filtering the water
through layers of saw dust, each about one metre or more deep. It is a notorious
fact, however, that, not only is the useful effect of that method of operation utterly
inadequate, but that in order to obtain this unsatisfactory result, it is necessary to
replace the layer of filtering material, at very frequent intervals, by a fresh one.
Now the considerable bulk of this filtering material, coupled with the necessity
(arising from the circumstance just stated) of having large quantities of such
material on band, made the employment of the process in question on board ships
altogether impracticable.
The applicant has found (in endeavouring to overcome this difficulty) that
lubricating oil may, in effect, be successfully eliminated from condensation water,
even by the use of a very thin filtering layer, provided the interstices between
the particles of the material, employed in forming such layer, are so narrow as to
necessitate a considerable mobility on the part of the liquid atoms, to enable them
to permeate the said material; and provided, on the other hand, that the pressure,
under which the filtering operation is being performed, is so limited or controlled as
to allow the oil molecules to retain their slow mobility, or comparative inertia, in
relation to the water. Where these conditions are fulfilled, the minute drops of oil,
collect on the filtering surface, and retain the water film surrounding or enveloping
them by virtue of superficial attraction, whereby the water is enabled to simply
displace them aside instead of forcing them through the filtering layer; and in
proportion as the amount of oil, collecting in minute drops on the filter, increases,
an opportunity will also be afforded for the specific gravity of the oil to come into
play.
Filtering layers, suited to the purposes of this invention, may be obtained by
covering a permeable bed or support with finely divided mineral substances, which
should, of course, be indifferent or neutral in their behaviour towards water and oil.
An essential condition is, that the mineral particles should be of a somewhat flaky
nature, and this quality they may readily acquire by being chemically precipitated
from inorganic salt solutions. As an instance of such precipitates may be
mentioned the calcareous mud obtained by the purification of boiler feed-water;
this mud affords an excellent filtering material for the accomplishment of the
present object, it offering the additional advantage of being procurable at little or
no cust

page_text: The layer of filtering material may, in all cases, be formed either within the
filtering apparatus employed, or outside such apparatus, as may be desired. But
the preferable course is to form it in the apparatus itself, making such formation a
preparatory stage of the filtering process proper. For this purpose, the filtering
substance obtained in the form of a precipitate-such, for example, as the calcareous
mud already referred to-should be stirred up, in the initial portions, or supplies,
of condensation water to be filtered; or it may be separated within the apparatus,
by precipitating the scale-formers out of the fresh supplies of water, admitted into
the apparatus either continuously or at intervals; or it may reach the apparatus in
a precipitated condition.
In most cases, the filtering layer need not be more than three millimetres deep.
The proper degree of filtering pressure, should be previously ascertained by tests,
that is to say, by determining that pressure, at which the eliminated oil commences
to permeate the filter along with the water; the filtering pressure proper being so
regulated as to be lower than the said pressure.
Whereas this invention, therefore, enables efficient filtering layers, offering an
extensive area, to be formed by the employment of but little material, it, on the
other hand, practically does away with the expense which the necessity of procuring
filtering material generally entails, since it permits the calcareous muddy precipitate
from boiler feed-water to be utilised.
Though filtering "bags" may be employed in carrying out this process, filtering
presses are to be preferred, and that-besides other obvious reasons-because the
filtering plates or frames of such presses, when in operation, become quite uniformly
covered or coated with the precipitate employed.
Dated this 24th day of December 1805
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
An Improved Process for the Separation of Lubricating Oil from
Water of Condensation by Filtration.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :—
This invention relates to the separation of lubricating oil from the condensation
water of steam engines, and the subject of the invention is a process which enables
the oil to be more effectively separated or eliminated, by filtration than has been
feasible hitherto, and which is calculated to prove particularly valuable on board
sea-going vessels.
It has, heretofore, been attempted to effect the separation by filtering the water
through layers of saw dust, each about one metre or more deep. It is a notorious
fact, however, that, not only is the useful effect of that method of operation utterly
inadequate, but that in order to obtain this unsatisfactory result, it is necessary to
replace the layer of filtering material, at very frequent intervals, by a fresh one.
Now the considerable bulk of this filtering material, coupled with the necessity
(arising from the circumstance just stated) of having large quantities of such
material on baud, made the employment of the process in question on board ships
altogether impracticable.
The applicant has found (in endeavouring to overcome this difficulty) that
lubricating oil may, in effect, be successfully eliminated from condensation water,
even by the use of a very thin filtering layer, provided the interstices between the

page_text: particles of the material, employed in forming such layer, are so narrow as to
necessitate a considerable mobility on the part of the liquid atoms, to enable them
to permeate the said material; and provided, on the other hand, that the pressure,
under which the filtering operation is being performed, is so limited or controlled as
to allow the oil molecules to retain their slow mobility, or comparative inertia, in
relation to the water. Where these conditions are fulfilled, the minute drops of oil
collect on the filtering surface and retain the water film surrounding or enveloping
them by virtue of superficial attraction, whereby the water is enabled to simply
displace them aside instead of forcing them through the filtering layer; and in
proportion as the amount of oil, collecting in minute drops on the filter, increases,
an opportunity will also be afforded for the specific gravity of the oil to come into
play.
Filtering layers, suited to the purposes of this invention, may be obtained by
covering a permeable bed or support with finely divided mineral substances, which
should, of course, be indifferent or neutral in their behaviour towards water and oil.
An essential condition is, that the mineral particles should be of a somewhat flaky
nature, and this quality they may readily acquire by being chemically precipitated
from inorganic salt solutions. As an instance of such precipitates may be
mentioned the calcareous mud obtained by the purification of boiler feed-water;
this mud affords an excellent filtering material for the accomplishment of the
present object, it offering the additional advantage of being procurable at little or
no cost.
The layer of filtering material may, in all cases, be formed either within the
filtering apparatus employed, or outside such apparatus, as may be desired. But
the preferable course is to form it in the apparatus itself, making such formation a
preparatory stage of the filtering process proper. For this purpose the filtering
substance previously prepared or obtained in the form of a fine precipitate-such,
for example, as the calcareous mud or sediment already referred to should be
stirred up in a suitable quantity of water which is caused to pass through the
apparatus before the condensation water to be filtered is allowed to enter the
apparatus; if desired the initial portion of the condensation water may thus be
used for introducing the precipitate into the apparatus; or the mineral filtering
layer may be produced within the apparatus before the admission of the water of
condensation by precipitation in the well known manner out of a sufficient quantity
of feed water or a watery solution prepared with salts of the mineral substances
constituting the boiler sediments or similar substances.
In most cases, the thickness of the filtering layer need not be more than three
millimetres.
The proper degree of filtering pressure should be previously ascertained by tests,
that is to say, by determining that pressure, at which the eliminated oil commences
to permeate the filter along with the water; the filtering pressure proper being so
regulated as to be lower than the said pressure.
Whereas this invention, therefore, enables efficient filtering layers, offering an
extensive area, to be formed by the employment of but little material, it, on the
other band, practically does away with the expense which the necessity of procuring
filtering material generally entails, since it permits the calcareous muddy precipitate
from boiler feed-water to be utilised.
Though filtering "bags" may be employed in carrying out this process, filtering
presses are to be preferred, and that-besides other obvious reasons-because the
filtering plates or frames of such presses become quite uniformly covered or coated
with the precipitate employed as filtering medium, when the same is introduced
into, or produced within, the filtering press in the manner described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondents, I declare that what 1 claim is :-
The improved process for separating the lubricating cil from the water of

page_text: condensation of steam engines by way of filtration which consists in causing the
water of condensation to filter through a layer composed of finely divided mineral
substances and produced by means of chemical precipitation, substantially as
specified.
Dated this 10th day of September 1896.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.