AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR REFINING PADADDING
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Emile Alcan, of Fore Street, Aldermanbury, London,
Merchant, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR REFINING
PADADDING" A communication
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Emile Alcan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th
September 1857.
I, EMILE ALCAN, of Fore Street, Aldermanbury, London, Merchant, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR
REFINING PARAFFINE," (communicated by a foreigner residing abroad,) to be as
follows:-
The rough paraffine is put into a close vessel furnished with an agitator,
and disposed in such manner as to collect the portions of sulphuret of carbon,
which become volatilized during the operation. After the introduction of the
material it is heated, and when the paraffine is completely melted a quantity
of sulphuret of carbon varying from 20 to 25 per cent. of the weight of the
material operated upon is introduced into the apparatus, and the mixture is
effected by means of the agitator. When it is completed, and after a suffi-
cient cooling, the mixture is subjected to a strong pressure. From the
residuum obtained by this pressure is extracted rough paraffine, which is
submitted to a fresh treatment, and sulphuret of carbon, which is revivified by

page_text: distillation. This first treatment by sulphuret of carbon sometimes suffices to
remove completely the pitch and essential oils with which some paraffines are
contaminated. But generally it is necessary to repeat the operation just
described; frequently even a third washing is required. Notwithstanding the
great pressure to which the paraffine is submitted there remains a consider-
able quantity of sulphuret of carbon, which is removed by means of the
vapour of water in vessels, so arranged as to collect the sulphuret of carbon
which is volatalized. Lastly, by means of alkaline washings the last traces of
the sulphuret of carbon which may have escaped the action of the vapour
of water are removed. After these several operations the paraffine treated
with animal charcoal gives a product of dazzling whiteness, which in this
state serves for numerous preparations of which I shall merely mention the
principal, the manufacture of bougies and dressing for stuffs. The quantity
of sulphuret of carbon to be employed in proportion to the quantity of rough
material to be operated upon varies greatly, and depends upon the com-
parative purity of the rough material. The process rests upon the employ-
ment of sulphuret of carbon in an indefinite quantity, but sufficient to clear
the paraffine of the impure products with which it is deteriorated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
"
by the said Emile Alcan in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th
March 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EMILE
ALCAN, of Fore Street, Aldermanbury, London, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Emile Alcan, Her special licence that I, the said Emile Alcan, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Emile
Alcan, 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 "AN IMPROVED PROCESS
FOR REFINING PARAFFINE," communicated by a foreigner residing abroad, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Emile Alcan, ny executors,

page_text: or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, 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 Emile Alcan, 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.
thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention consists of a process for purifying paraffine, from whatever
source obtained, by means of sulphuret of carbon. I proceed as follows:-
Into a close vessel of any suitable form lined with lead and furnished with'
an agitator is put a quantity of rough paraffine, which is melted by means of
a current of steam or hot water passing through a worm placed in the vessel.
When the paraffine is melted, which will be at from 104° to 110° Fahrenheit,
the sulphuret of carbon is introduced, and the melted paraffine and the sul-
phuret of carbon are mixed by means of the agitator, and when the two are.
thoroughly incorporated the mixture of sulphuret of carbon and paraffine is.
run into moulds, and when the mixture is cooled it is put into bags and
strongly compressed by means of ordinary hydraulic presses.. The first treat-
ment by the sulphuret of cartoon' is sufficient to purify some kinds of paraffine
from the pitch and essential oils which they contain, but more frequently it is
necessary to repeat the process, sometimes even a third time. The quantity
of sulphuret of carbon requisite cannot be exactly specified, as it varies
according as the rough paraffine which is operated upon is more or less pure;
it may vary from 10 to 25 per cent. for the first washing, and from 5 to 15
per cent. for each subsequent washing. The residuum from the several
pressings to which the paraffine is subjected contains pitch, essential oils, and
sulphuret of carbon. To separate the sulphuret of carbon these residuums
are placed in a distilling apparatus on the plan of the salt water bath, fur-
nished with a worm or refrigerating tubes, the sulphuret of carbon is then
distilled and collected as soon as condensed. The residuum from which the
sulpburet of carbon has been extracted is treated in the same manner as the
rough paraffine after it has undergone a distillation to separate it partially
from the pitch. In order to avoid the washings with sulphuret of carbon, the
rough paraffine when it is very impure may be washed with oil of schiste or
of naptha, or other pale colored and light bituminous oils, which by means of
strong pressure in hydraulic presses free the paraffine from a portion of the

page_text: substances with which it is contaminated. The quantity of oil varies like
the quantity of sulphuret of carbon, and it is often desirable in the treatment
of the residuums, or when the paraffine is very impure, to resort to distillation
before employing the sulphuret of carbon. When the paraffine after one or
more washings is sufficiently bleached it is melted in a vat by means of
common or of superheated steam to free it completely from all traces of the
sulphuret of carbon which it still retains, notwithstanding the powerful
pressure which it has undergone. When the sulphuret of carbon is entirely
removed the temperature must be kept up, so as to maintain the paraffine in
a state of fusion until the water proceeding from the condensed steam and the
various other impurities have settled. The paraffine is then poured off, and
treated with animal charcoal, and then filtered to bring it to the highest
degree of purity.
Having thus described the Invention constituting the subject of my Patent,
and the manner of carrying the same into effect, I would have it understood
that I do not claim any of the apparatus herein-before described, as that is
old and well known; but what I claim as constituting the aforesaid Invention
is the employment in any manner of the sulphuret of carbon for the
purification of paraffine.
In witness whereof, I, the said Emile Alcan, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fifteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight. ✓
Witness,
H. H. MURDoch.
E. ALCAN. (L.8.)