IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR THE HEATING OR DISTILLING AND RESINOUS MATURES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Humphreys, of Green Street, Leicester
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Military Ornament Manufacturer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR THE HEATING OR DISTILLING
AND RESINOUS MATURES" A communication
A DESTINY
OF OTTY
Sealed the 6th June 1854, and dated the 24th March 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Humphreys at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th March 1854.
I, SAMUEL HUMPHREYS, of Green Street, Leicester Square, in the County of
Middlesex, Military Ornament Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR THE HEATING OR DISTILLING OF
FATTY, OILY, AND RESINOUS MATTERS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel construction of heating or distilling appa-
ratus, which will ensure a more equable distribution of heat to the oleaginous
or other matters under treatment than heretofore, while at the same time an
economy in the fuel required for carrying on the heating or distilling operation
will be effected, and increased security from the effects of leakage will be
attained,
Instead of exposing the still to the direct action of the fire, it is inserted in
an iron pan or jacket, and secured thereto in such a manner, that a steam-tight
chamber is formed between the two vessels.
The steam to be employed in the distilling operation is let into this chamber,
around which the furnace fire plays, and it is there heated to any desired
degree; thence it is conducted by a pipe through the still head into a coil or

page_text: other arrangement of pierced pipe, at the bottom of the still, and issuing
through the orifices in that pipe, mingles with the oleaginous or resinous
matters contained in the still.
The pressure of the steam in the heating chamber is regulated by means of
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Humphreys in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd September 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
HUMPHREYS, of Green Street, Leicester Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Military Ornament Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Samuel Humphreys, Her special licence that I, the said Samuel Humphreys,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel
Humphreys, 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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR THE
HEATING OR DISTILLING OF FATTY, OILY, AND RESINOUS MATTERS," being a com-
munication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Samuel Humphreys, 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 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 Samuel Humphreys, 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,
reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
-
This Invention relates to a novel construction of heating or distilling appa-
ratus, which will ensure a more equable distribution of heat to the oleaginous
or other matters under treatment than heretofore, while at the same time an

page_text: economy in the fuel required for carrying on the heating or distilling operation
will be effected, and increased security from the effects of leakage will be
attained.
In carrying out this Invention, a stratum of steam is passed between the
still or vessel containing the material under treatment and the fire which heats
the same; the steam being confined by an exterior case or jacket, and the
induction and exit of the steam being regulated by cocks. This intervening
stratum of steam becomes a conducting medium, and transmits heat from the
fire to the material under treatment in the inner vessel, by which means the
vessel is heated to any required point from that of boiling water to five or six
hundred degrees.
be
By reason of this stratum of steam, the attendant is enabled to regulate the
amount of heat in the distilling vessel to the utmost exactness, whether the fire
very hot or not; for if the steam be allowed to remain in the surrounding
jacket any length of time it will accumulate heat, which it will communicate
to the interior vessel, but if it passes rapidly through the jacket, a less amount
of heat will be communicated to the material under treatment. Hence, in
distilling oils, fats, and resins, and boiling oils, varnishes, &c., in case the
attendant finds there is danger from too much heat, all he has to do is to open
the escape cock and let the steam blow through; the temperature of the still
will thus be reduced without touching the fire. An immediate preventative is
thus at hand against accidents arising from the boiling over of the inflammable
products and from the damage of the products, by burning, and no leak can
pass into the fire.
The accompanying Drawing represents in sectional elevation a still suitable for
distilling fats, oils, and resinous matters, wherein it is necessary to supply heated
steam to the material under treatment, as well as supplying heat to the outside
of the still. By carrying the steam from the jacket directly into the material
under treatment, the advantage is attained of protecting the still from injury
by the fire, and the material therein from burning, at the same time that the
steam is heated as high as required for being passed into the distilling vessel,
instead of requiring, as heretofore, to be heated in a separate coiled pipe in a
furnace. a represents the fire-place, constructed of brickwork b, and provided
with flues as usual; c is a jacket set in the brickwork, and provided at bottom
with ribs or supports 3, for sustaining the copper still d, which is connected to
the jacket c by a flanch, as at 1, 1; 2 is a pipe and cock, for supplying a
regulated amount of steam from any proper boiler to the space or chamber
between the jacket c and still d. From this chamber the steam is conveyed
by a pipe e through the cover g of the still d to a perforated pipe h at the

page_text: bottom of the still. A check valve opening towards the still is provided at f,
to allow the steam to pass in, but prevent the contents of the still from being
carried back, in case of a partial vacuum being formed in the steam jacket;
5 is a cock in the pipe e, to confine the contents of the still; i is a pipe
leading to any proper condenser for liquefying the vapors that pass off from
the still; 4 is a safety valve, to regulate the maximum pressure in the steam
jacket.
It will now be understood that the intervening stratum of steam becomes a
conductor of the heat, and that without materially increasing the pressure of the
steam; and further, that the steam thus highly heated passes into the still d,
and mixes with the oleaginous or other matters under treatment, when so
required, at a very high temperature, thereby materially aiding the operation.
It has been found that the steam thus heated possesses an advantage over
steam heated separately, inasmuch as the internal and external heat of the
distilling vessel will always closely approximate.
Instead of causing the fire to play upon the jacket c, the steam may be
superheated in a furnace adjoining, and let into the jacket and caused to
circulate around the still d, after which it may be admitted into the interior
of the still, as described.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improved Apparatus
for the Heating or Distilling of Fatty, Oily, and Resinous Matters," as commu-
nicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and explained the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood, that under the above
in part recited Letters Patent, I claim the construction and use of the arrange-
ment of apparatus as herein described, or any mere modification thereof,
whereby steam may be caused to circulate around the distilling vessel and
prevent the direct contact of the fire therewith, and afterwards be discharged
into the distilling vessel to assist the operation.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Humphreys, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand cight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
TRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane.
SAM HUMPHREYS. (L.S.)