A METHOD OF MANUFACTURING CERTAIN OILS OR OILY SUB- STANCES OBTAINED PROM THE PETROLEUM, COMMONLY CALLED EARTH OIL, FOUND IN CERTAIN DISTRICTS OF THE BIRMAN EMPIRE AND ELSEWHERE
Year: 1856

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by Peter Bancroft and Stephen White
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition and
Declaration, on the 10th April 1856, pursuant to the 9th Section of the
Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, PETER
BANCROFT, of Edmund Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Oil
Merchant, and STEPHEN WHITE, of Bond Street, Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, Manufacturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of our
said Invention for "A METHOD OF MANUFACTURING CERTAIN OILS OR OILY SUB-
STANCES OBTAINED PROM THE PETROLEUM, COMMONLY CALLED EARTH OIL, FOUND IN
CERTAIN DISTRICTS OF THE BIRMAN EMPIRE AND ELSEWHERE," 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:-
Our said Invention consists in treating and purifying the petroleum, or
what is commonly called earth oil, found in the Birman Empire and other
countries, in such manner as to obtain therefrom eupion, an oil which we
call eupion oil (and which contains a portion of paraffine in solution), and
paraffine.
The petroleum or earth oil is not an article of commerce in this country,
but is known as such in the British territories in the East Indies. It is found
in the vicinity of Rangoon, Moulmeyne, and on the banks of the Irrawaddy
river.
We will now describe the method we adopt in the manufacture, treatment,
and purification of these several products obtained from the petroleum. For
the purpose of obtaining eupion, we put the crude petroleum or earth oil,

page_text: as imported, into a cast-iron still of the ordinary construction, having a spiral
worm of copper fixed in the centre or body of the still attached to a steam
pipe, passing out of the side near the bottom part, and communicating with a
steam boiler of the ordinary kind, capable of resisting a pressure of sixty
pounds to the square inch. The spiral copper worm should be open at the top,
and terminating one foot above the cylindrical part of the still, or one foot
within the dome; the still should be supplied with longitudinal copper con-
densing pipes, placed in an iron or wooden cistern lined with lead, and which
cistern is to be supplied also with a steam pipe communicating with the boiler,
and the cistern is filled with water surrounding the condensing pipes.
The still being charged with the crude petroleum, the first part of the
distillation is carried on by the aid of high-pressure steam being passed through
the spiral worm, passing through the contents of the still, until the most
volatile parts, which are oupion, are driven off; the steam so applied should
be not less than fifty pounds pressure, and not more than sixty pounds to the
square inch. We find steam of fifty pounds pressure answer in practise. The
distillation is then continued, aided by a gentle fire placed underneath the still,
until one-fifth part of the whole contents of the still has passed over into the
receiver, and that one-fifth part we find to be eupion nearly pure; the receiver
is then discharged of its contents into another vessel, where those contents are
kept separate from the further distillates to follow. The distillation being
then continued, the fire is urged, and the steam continued to be supplied to
the still, until the remaining ninety-five parts, or nearly the remaining ninety-
five parts out of the one hundred, have passed over; those ninety-five parts will
be impure eupion, that is, cupion combined with other carbo-hydrogens, holding
a large portion of paraffine in solution, and this impure eupion we call eupion
oil, the production of which is the object of this second course of distillation.
During the latter part of this distillation large quantities of paraffine with a
small portion of pyrelaine pass over, and great care must be taken to keep the
condensing pipes at a temperature of about ninety degrees Fahrenheit at the
middle of the distillation, gradually raising that temperature to about one hun-
dred and twenty degrees Fahrenheit towards the end of the distillation. This
object we obtain by means of the steam pipe passing into the water contained
in the refrigeratory cistern surrounding the condensing pipes. There will
remain a residuum in the body of the still after the charge has been worked off
containing a large portion of paraffine; this residuum we place in an iron
retort (similar to those in use at gas works), and it is heated to a low red heat;
paraffine vapours pass off, and are condensed by means of a straight iron
condensing pipe, of at least three inches in diameter, issuing from the anterior

page_text: of the retort, and maintained at a low temperature, of about one hundred and
twenty degrees Fahrenheit, by passing this condensing pipe through a cistern
of hot water, kept at a uniform temperature of one hundred and twenty
degrees Fahrenheit, or thereabouts, throughout the distillation.
The impure paraffine thus produced we mix with the eupion oil, before
mentioned, or it may be purified in manner herein-after described."
We purify the eupion obtained in the first part of the distillation, herein-
before mentioned, in manner following:-The impure eupion is put into an
open cistern lined with lead, and we then add very gradually three gallons of
the sulphuric acid of commerce to every one hundred gallons of the eupion;
the whole is then thoroughly well agitated by a suitable agitating instrument
for one hour; we then allow it to settle for eight hours, after which time the
sulphuric acid will have combined with the oxydizable portions of the impuro
eupion, and will have settled at the bottom of the cistern. The eupion is then
drawn off into an iron vessel, and we then add to every one hundred gallons
of enpion ten gallons of solution of caustic soda, specific gravity 1.500. The
eupion and caustic soda so mixed are then well agitated for one hour, and then
allowed to repose for six or eight hours, when the caustic soda solution will
have combined with other impurities and be deposited at the lower part of the
cistern; the eupion will then be found floating on the surface; we then draw
it off and put it into an ordinary still of copper with a lead worm condenser,
and it is therein rectified by means of a slow fire. The eupion thus purified
is adapted for the purposes of illumination, preserving metals or the metallic
coverings of ships from corrosion or oxidation, for manufacturing varnishes,
and a variety of other useful purposes.
We purify the eupion oil, or the oil containing eupion with paraffine in
solution, produced by the second stage of distillation, as herein-before men-
tioned, in manner following:-The oil having been distilled, as before mentioned,
is conveyed into an open iron vessel; we then add to every one hundred
gallons of the oil twenty-five gallons of solution of caustic soda, specific gravity
1.125; the whole is then thoroughly agitated together for one hour, and
allowed to settle for twelve hours, when the solution of caustic soda will have
combined with the kreosote, carbolic acid, and other such like oily matters
contained in the eupion oil, and will have settled at the bottom of the cistern.
The supernatant oil is then drawn off into another vessel, where it is washed
with a plentiful supply of water repeatedly; the oil is then again allowed to
settle for three hours; we then draw off the oil into an open boiler of cast
iron set in brickwork, and there the oil is heated to about two hundred and
twenty degrees Fahrenheit, and when so heated we add very gradually and at

page_text: intermediate times eight gallons of hydrochloric acid of commerce, specific
gravity 1.180 to every one hundred gallons of the eupion oil; during the time
the acid is being introduced the oil should be kept well stirred, and the fire
employed to heat the oil should be extinguished previous to the acid being
introduced. The iron vessel used should be of large capacity, and capable of
holding twice the quantity of oil required to be operated on, as by the addition
of the acid violent ebullition takes place, and a large quantity of oil will be
lost if the vessel be not of sufficient capacity. We leave the oil in contact
with the hydrochloric acid contained in the boiler for six or eight hours,
during which the boiler should be allowed to cool, when the hydrochloric acid
will have taken up certain impurities, an'l will be found at the lot.om of the
vessel used. The object of the process thus described is to pass a series of
rapid currents of hydrochloric acid gas through and thoroughly in contact with
the atoms of the oil contained in the vessel used, which we accomplish by
means of the process above mentioned, and this plan of manipulation we
prefer as being simple and easily managed by any ordinary workman. Similar
results may be accomplished by means of hydrochloric acid gas employed in
its gaseous state, and when this process is to be performed we put the eupion
oil into an open shallow iron boiler about four feet deep, and heat it to about
220° Fahrenheit; we then pass for two hours a continuous current of hydro-
chloric acid gas, of specific gravity to 1.280, or thereabouts, properly distributed
in a series of small and equally divided currents passing upwards through
the eupion oil from the bottom of the vessel; for the proper distribution of
the hydrochloric acid gas, we attach a lead pipe, of about three inches in
diameter, leading from the anterior of the retort in which the gas is generated,
and that pipe is connected to a continuous spiral coil of lead pipe, perforated
with a number of small holes about one-twentieth part of an inch in diameter,
and about two inches apart, this pipe being laid on the bottom of the vessel.
The hydrochloric acid gas forces itself upwards through the eupion oil as it
issues from the generating retort. The mode of manufacture and apparatus
employed in making hydrochloric acid gas is so well known to every practical
chemist as to require no description here.
After the eupion oil has been treated by either of the before-mentioned pro-
cesses we allow it to repose for six to eight hours; we then draw off the oil
(which will be found floating on the upper part of the boiler) into a large
cistern, where it is well agitated with a plentiful supply of water; it is again
left to repose for four hours; we then draw off the oil free from water and put
it into the cast-iron still to be redistilled. In this further distillation of the
eupion oil, however, the whole quantity of oil put into the still should be run

page_text: off; the oil passed over into the receiver from this distillation will be found to
be combined with a small portion of the bydrochloric acid. To remove this, we
mix twenty gallons of solution of caustic potash, specific gravity 1.050, with
every one hundred gallons of the redistilled oil; the solution of caustic potash
and the oil are then thoroughly well agitated together for one hour, then left
to repose for twelve hours, when the eupion oil will be found floating on the
surface, and the solution of caustic potash will be found at the bottom of the
vessel combined with portions of kreosote, carbolic acid, or other such like
hydrocarbons with which the oil may be contaminated. The eupion oil is
then fit to be drawn off for use, and may be used for the purposes of lubri-
cation, illumination, or any other purpose to which it may be applied.
When we desire to obtain paraffine by separating it from the impure eupion
oil obtained by the second distillation of the petroleum, herein-before referred
to, we take the impure eupion oil obtained by that distillation, and the impure
paraffine obtained from the residuum left in the still after that distillation, and
we submit the whole when mixed together to distillation until one half part
has been distilled, which will be eupion oil, and that we set aside and purify,
in manner berein-before described, for lubricating, illumination, and other
purposes. The remaining half part will then be distilled over into the receiver,
and submitted to a cold temperature of about 25 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit,
which object we obtain by filling a number of thin copper or other metallic
tubes (closed at one end) with snow and common salt, or ice and common salt,
sulphate of soda, and dilute nitric acid, or other known frigorific mixtures; we
place the tubes thus filled perpendicular and about three inches apart in the
vessel containing the impure paraffine. The metallic tubes should be about
three inches in diameter, and in length corresponding to the height of the vessel
used. The frigorific mixture should be continued until the paraffine be found
to be crystallized in a gelatinous mass; we then put it into linen or woollen
filter bags, which should be suspended, when a part of the oil with which the
paraffine is mixed will filter through the bags, and should be collected in a
receiver, and subjected again to refrigeration or redistillation for producing
paraffine, as hercin-before mentioned. The crystallized paraffine contained
in the filtering bags, before mentioned, should be taken out and placed in
strong canvass or caya bags, and is therein subjected to a pressure of about
one hundred and twenty pounds to the square inch in an horizontal hydraulic
or other suitable press, whereby most of the oily parts will be expelled, and
cakes of impure paraffine remain in the bags. The impure paraffine is then
removed and placed in an open cast-iron pan set in brickwork, where it is
mixed with one-fourth its weight of the sulphuric acid of comnierce, and the

page_text: mixture of paraffine and sulphuric acid should be kept at a temperature of
150° Fahrenheit for twenty-four hours, during which time it should be
frequently well agitated for the first twenty hours, and allowed to repose for
the last four hours, afterwards withdrawn, and the paraffine will be found
floating on the surface of the sulphuric acid; it is then skimmed off and placed
in a contiguous vessel, where it is washed with boiling water until the whole
of the acid be removed, then it. is again allowed to rest for four hours. The
paraffine on the surface of the water is then to be removed to an open iron
pan set in brickwork, as herein-before mentioned; we then mix it with one-
half its weight of a solution of either caustic potash, of s, ecific gravity
1-580, or of caustic sola, specific gravity 1.350, and maintained at a tempe-
rature of 180° Fahrenheit for twenty-four hours, during which time it shoul
be frequently agitated; at the end of which time the paraffine should again be
removed from the solution of caustic potash or soda and washed with boiling
water, in manner herein-before mentioned, then allowed to cool; it will then
be found pure, or nearly so, and fit for use for the manufacture of candles,
lubricating machinery, and other useful purposes.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, we declare that we claim as our Invention
the method herein-before described of obtaining cupion, an oil which we term
cupion oil, and paraffine, from a certain petroleum, commonly called earth oil,
found in the Birman Empire and elsewhere, by the processes of distillation and
other treatment and purification, herein described We do not claim any of
the apparatus which we have described, or to which we have referred as to be
used in those processes, all such apparatus being of kinds commonly known by
the terms and descriptions which we have applied thereto.
In witness whereof, we, the said Peter Bancroft and Stephen White,
have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Ninth day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
SAM. ROBERTS,
of 158, Field Street, Liverpool.
(L.S.)
PETER BANCROFT.
STEPHEN WHITE: (L.8.)