IM- PROVEMENTS IN AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING LIQUIDS, SPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO THE TREATMENT OF FATTY ACIDS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Clayton Mewburn, of 169, Fleet Street, in the City
of London, Patent Agent and Consulting Engineer, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING LIQUIDS, SPECIALLY APPLICABLE
TO THE TREATMENT OF FATTY ACIDS." A communication from abroad by the
Firm or Société Petit Frères, of Paris, France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Clayton Mewburn at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 26th February 1879.
JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN, of 169, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent and Consulting Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING
LIQUIDS, SPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO THE TREATMENT OF FATTY ACIDS." [A com-
munication from abroad by the Firm or Société Petit Frères, of Paris, France.]
In the treatment of the fatty acid in stearine works the oleine which flows from
the cold press carries with it portions of margarine and other bodies, the quantity
of which is greater or less in proportion to the temperature of the medium in
which the presses are; in summer especially this proportion is very considerable.
There would be a notable loss in the manufacture if by a combination of operations
the margarine or other bodies were not separated from the liquid parts. It is
chiefly to effect this result under simpler and more economical conditions than
hitherto that the process and apparatus for cooling which form the subject of the
present Invention have been devised.
The construction of the improved apparatus is based upon the circumstance that
fatty bodies are very bad conductors of heat, and that it is very difficult to solidify
them in the mass; for this reason the principle of cooling in thin layers in order to
produce the solidification is adopted. This principle is carried out in a continuous
and mechanical manner by means of the apparatus, the construction and action of
which I now proceed to describe :—
The essential part of the apparatus is a hollow drum open through the centre; it
is formed of two cheeks or ends of copper or other non attackable metal connected
by an outer and an inner drum or cylinder, so as to form between these drums an
internal annular space, through which a continuous circulation of cold water is to
be kept up. The outer drum or cylinder, which constitutes the cooling surface, is

page_text: preferably made very thin, of zinc for example. The annular drum is carried by
means of arms by a horizontal shaft, to which a slow continuous rotary movement
is imparted by hand or mechanically. In order to effect the continuous circulation
of water through the drum the ends of the shaft are made hollow, the cold water is
conducted by a pipe to one end, from which it is carried by another pipe into the
drum; it leaves the drum at the other side by the pipe, and by the other end of
the shaft, from which a pipe conducts it into the jacketted side of a vessel herein-
after referred to. The outer surface of the revolving drum constitutes the cooling
surface for the liquid to be solidified. An inclined trough is placed at the back of
the drum as low as possible, and below the reservoir containing the liquid which
runs from the cold press; the flow from the press is regulated by means of a cock.
This trough upon which a sheet of liquid falls is made to fit closely against the
drum by the interposition. of a small strip of caoutchouc; should however any drops
of liquid pass between the trough and the drum they would be caught in a basin
below. The liquid as soon as it comes into contact with the outer surface of the
drum coagulates in a granular and crystalline state; it forms on the drum a thin
continuous and solid or concrete layer, which is removed at the other side of the
drum by an elastic scraper; this material falls in the state of shavings onto an
inclined plane, which conducts it into the jacketted vessel herein before mentioned
in which it is kept in this state by the circulation of cold water. It is from this
vessel that the material is taken to the filter presses; it is then submitted to the
mechanical treatment, which effects the separation of the liquids by the ordinary
means.
The Invention is applicable not only to the special purpose herein before described,
but also to other operations and manufactures where a liquid body is required to be
cooled, either to thicken and solidify it or to lower its temperature.
Instead of employing water as the cooling medium other bodies such as air or
ice, for example, may be used, and if necessary refrigerating mixtures according to
the degree of cold to be obtained.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Clayton Mewburn in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
30th July 1879.
JOHN CLAYTON MEWBURN, of 169, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent and Consulting Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPARATUS FOR COOLING
LIQUIDS, SPECIALLY APPLICABLE TO THE TREATMENT OF FATTY ACIDS." (A. com-
munication from abroad by the Firm or Société Petit Frères, of Paris, France.)
In the treatment of the fatty acid in stearine works the oleine which flows from
the cold press carries with it portions of margarine and other bodies, the quantity
of which is greater or less in proportion to the temperature of the medium in which
the presses are; in summer especially this proportion is very considerable. There
would be a notable loss in the manufacture if by a combination of operations the
margarine or other bodies were not separated from the liquid parts. It is chiefly to
effect this result under simple and more economical conditions than hitherto that
the process and apparatus for cooling which form the subject of the present
Invention have been devised.
The construction of the improved apparatus is based upon the circumstance that
fatty bodies are very bad conductors of heat, and that it is very difficult to solidify
them in the mass; for this reason the principle of cooling in thin layers in order to
produce the solidification is adopted. This principle is carried out in a continuous
and mechanical manner by means of the apparatus, the construction and action of
which I now proceed to describe :-
Figure 1 is an end elevation of the apparatus; and Figure 2, a side elevation
partly in section.
The essential part of the apparatus is a hollow drum A open through the centre;
it is formed of two cheeks or ends a of copper or other non-attackable metal con-
nected by an outer and an inner drum or cylinder b and c so as to form between
these drums an internal annular space through which a continuous circulation of
cold water is to be kept up. The outer drum or cylinder c which constitutes the
cooling surface is, preferably, made very thin, of zinc for example. The annular
drum is carried by means of arms d by a horizontal shaft M, to which a slow
continuous rotary movement is imparted by hand or mechanically by means of the
pulley P. In order to effect the continuous circulation of water through the
drum A the ends of the shaft M are made hollow, the cold water obtained by a
pipe t is conducted by a pipe to one end o of the shaft, from which it is carried by
another pipe finto the drum; it leaves the drum at the other side by a pipe g, and
by the other end o¹ of the shaft, from which a pipe h conducts it into the vessel B.
The outer surface of the revolving drum constitutes the cooling surface for the
liquid to be solidified. An inclined trough K. supported by a bracket from the
frame Z is placed at the back of the drum as low as possible, and below the
reservoir R containing the liquid which runs from the cold press, the flow from the
press is regulated by means of a cock r. This trough upon which a sheet of liquid
falls is made to fit closely against the drum by the interposition of a small strip of
caoutchouc i; should however any drops of liquid pass between the trough and the
drum they would be caught in the basin or vessel C below placed within the vessel B.
The liquid as soon as it comes into contact with the outer surface of the drum
coagulates in a granular and crystalline state; it forms on the drum c a thin con-
tinuous and solid or concrete layer, which is removed at the bottom of the drum by
an elastic scraper 7; this material falls in the state of shavings onto a plane m,
which conducts it into the vessel C in which it is kept in this state by the circu-
lation of cold water. It is from this vessel C that the material is taken to the
filter presses; it is then submitted to the mechanical treatment which effects the
separation of the liquids by the ordinary means.

page_text: The Invention is applicable not only to the special purpose herein before described,
but also to other operations and manufactures where a liquid body is required to be
cooled, either to thicken and solidify it or to lower its temperature.
Instead of employing water as the cooling medium other bodies such as air or ice,
for example, may be used, and if necessary refrigerating mixtures, according to the
degree of cold to be obtained.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,—
First. The process of solidifying or treating fatty acids by cooling them in thin
layers, substantially in the manner and for the purpose hereinbefore described.
Second. Constructing apparatus substantially as herein before described for
carrying out the said process in a continuous manner, the essential feature of such
apparatus being a hollow drum through which a cooling medium is caused to
circulate, and whose periphery forms the cooling surface on which the liquid
becomes solidified.
Third. The application of the said process and apparatus to cooling liquids other
than fatty acids, whether to thicken or solidify the said liquids or to lower their
temperature.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Clayton Mewburn, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty ninth day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and seventy nine.
J. C. MEWBURN. (L.S.)