IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING FATTY MATTERS PREVIOUS TO THEIR BEING EMPLOYED IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF CANDLES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Felix Lieven Bauwens, of Pimlico, in the County
of Middlesex, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TREATING FATTY MATTERS PREVIOUS TO THEIR BEING EMPLOYED IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF CANDLES."
Sealed the 27th June 1854, and dated the 11th January 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Felix Lieven Bauwens
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th January 1854.
I, FELIX LIEVEN BAUWENS, of Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex, Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN TREATING FATTY MATTERS PREVIOUS TO THEIR BEING EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFAC-
TULE OF CANDLES" to be as follows:-
I treat the fatty matters with soda, and separate them therefrom by sulphuric
acid. I collect the sulphate of soda that has been formed by a process to be
described in my Complete Specification; and the fatty matter, after having the
soda separated therefrom, is in a fit state for the immediate manufacture of
candles, or for such manufacture either after distillation or after being refined
by my process, which consists in depriving them of any oxide of iron they may
contain by forcing atmospheric air or oxygen into and through them while in
a heated state, mixing with them dilute sulphuric acid, and by submitting
them to a dose of such acid (as tannic acid) as will more readily combine with
oxide of iron than will the fatty matter.

page_text: In order to improve the quality of fatty matters whilst being acidified, and
to prevent the agglomeration in lumps of the black stuff' commonly called
glycerine, I force into and through them, while in a heated state and mixed
with concentrated sulphuric acid, air or oxygen.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Felix Lieven Bauwens in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 11th July 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FELIX
LIEVEN BAUWENS, of Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of January, 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
Felix Lieven Bauwens, Her special licence that I, the said Felix Lieven
Bauwens, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Felix Lieven Bauwens, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN TREATING FATTY MATTERS PREVIOUS TO THEIR BEING EMPLOYED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Felix Lieven Bauwens, 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 Felix Lieven Bauwens, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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:-
The first part of my Invention consists in treating the fatty matters with
soda so as to convert them into a soda soap, and then separating the fatty
matters from the soda by sulphuric acid, and collecting the sulphate of soda
that has been formed, leaving the fatty matters in a condition suitable for the

page_text: manufacture of candles. It will not be necessary to describe the processes
usually followed in the manufacture of soap, as they are generally known and
well understood. I will therefore only describe those parts of the same in
which my improvements consist. I make use of leys at a strength of from 20
to 25 degrees Baumé. When the soap is made, I throw it over from the
caldron into a separating vat, and make it boil by steam acting in closed lead
or copper steam pipes. I then add a solution of sulphuric acid at 25 degrees
Baumé, but made with only 18th parts of the acid required to neutralize the
soda used in making the soap. Account should be taken of the bulk of the
fatty bodies and of the ley employed, and if after the soap is thrown over in
the separating vat any deficiency should be found in the bulk, it is to be made
up with water after the matters in the separating vat have been sufficiently
boiled, which is to be ascertained by test paper. The water which has settled
under the fatty acids is drawn off into tubs to cool, and in cooling it deposits a
portion of the sulphate of soda which it contains in the form of crystals, which
are removed from the mother liquor so as to allow it to be used as herein-after
mentioned. As the fatty acids contain a certain quantity of soap undecomposed,
they have to be boiled again with a solution of sulphuric acid for about a
couple of hours in order to effect the decomposition of such soap. For this
purpose I throw into the separating vat the solution of sulphuric acid, which is
to be used in treating the next batch of saponified fatty matters, but which is
in this case to be made with the whole quantity of acid required for a complete
decomposition, and as this boiling will take away th part of the acid, there
will remain only 18th parts for the next batch. In this case the solution of
sulphuric acid should be made so that the water should be to the acid as 10 to
6.25 parts by measure, and it should be mixed before use with the mother
liquor of the solution of sulphate of soda, which is the result of the first
separation, and has been drawn off and allowed to cool so as to deposit its
crystals as above mentioned. The same operation may be repeated five or six
times, and then the mother liquor is allowed to run away on account of the
excess of glycerine that accumulates in it. A new course of operations is then
begun as above described. Care should be taken to add gradually at each
boiling the quantity of water that evaporates so as to keep the bulk of the
matters under treatment at a uniform amount.
The second part of my Invention consists of a mode of refining fatty acids
and neutral fatty matters for the purpose of removing any oxide or other salt
of iron that may be combined with them and improving their color and
burning qualities. This process is applicable principally to fatty acids obtained
according to the first part of my Invention, especially if the ley is made

page_text: from common soda, which sometimes contains oxide of iron, but it may also be
used for fatty acids obtained by the ordinary process of saponification with lime
which is seldom free from iron, and also for oleic acid, which contains a good
deal of oxide of iron, owing to its being pressed by means of cast iron plates.
According to my process I cause the oxide of iron to become a peroxide,
either by the injection of oxygen (which can be produced by the decomposition
of peroxide of manganese or bichromate of potash by heat or an acid, as is well
understood), or by the injection of air by means of a force pump through lead,
copper, or other suitable pipes (not being iron) laid in coils at the bottom of a
tub or other suitable vessel, and perforated with small holes through which the
oxygen or air passes, while the fatty matters are being boiled by means of close
steam pipes with a weak solution of sulphuric acid in the first instance, and
afterwards with a solution of sumac, tan, gall nuts, or any other vegetable
product containing tannic or gallic acid, and capable of making ink with oxide
of iron. I boil the mixture for about from one to six hours, according to the
state of the stuff, with the injection of oxygen or air, and then I introduce the
solution of sumac or other vegetable product in a sufficient quantity to combine
with the oxide of iron and form an ink, at the same time continuing the boiling
and the injection of oxygen or air; I then run off the inky water, and add,
if necessary, a fresh quantity of the solution of sumac or other like sub-
stance until all the oxide of iron is taken up, when I remove the fatty matters
and repeat the operation with a fresh batch. This part of my Invention
is founded on the consideration that the salts of iron are the more casily
decomposed by tannic or gallic acid as the iron is at a higher degree of
oxidization. And the mode of operation described is applicable to all fatty
acids, liquid or solid, whatever may be the cause of the presence of iron, and
also to neutral fatty matters in which the presence of iron is suspected. Some
of the fatty acids thus prepared, such as those made from tallow, can be
employed direct for making candles; as for others they are very fit for pressing
or to be distilled by any known process of distillation, such as described in
Moses Poole's Patent, 1825, and Newton's of 1841.
The third part of my Invention consists in injecting air or oxygen or
sulphurous gas into the tub or pan when treating fatty matters with con-
centrated sulphuric acid in order to facilitate the process of acidification, and
to prevent the agglomeration in lumps of the black stuff commonly called
glycerine. I use a cast iron jacket pan to work at any temperature that may
be required from the melting point of the fatty matters up to the heat of steam
at 72 pounds pressure per square inch; beyond that temperature I use super-
heated steam in the jacket pan unless I should prefer a naked fire, in which

page_text: case I dispense with the jacket pan and employ a cast iron pan set in a furnace,
and I inject the air, oxygen, or sulphurous gas by means of a force pump
through a copper or lead pipe or coil, or hollow disk perforated with small
holes. The bubbling of the air, &c. in the stuff is superior to any other mode of
stirring, as it acts more completely in mixing the acid with the fatty matters,
and prevents the agglomeration of glycerine. Hot air may also be used, and
when used the heating of the fatty matters by other means may be dispensed
with. A convenient means of heating air is to cause it to pass, before its
injection into the fatty matters, through cast iron pipes placed in a furnace and
heated by fire or in a melted metallic bath heated to the proper temperature.
The fatty matters thus prepared are ready to be distilled by any known process
of distillation.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as my
Invention is as follows:-
First, I claim the treatment of neutral or unfinished acidified fatty matters
by saponification with soda for the express purpose of producing fatty acids to
be used in the manufacture of candles. And I claim the use of a solution of
sulphuric acid for decomposing such soap, the solution being so concentrated
as to produce crystallized sulphate of soda by the cooling of the separated
waters.
Second, I claim the peroxidation of the oxide of iron which exists in fatty
acids or neutral fatty matters by injecting oxygen or air into the same, and
thereby facilitating its combination with acids; and I also claim treating the
fatty acids and neutral fatty matters treated as above, by injected oxygen or
air with a solution of any vegetable principle capable of producing ink with
oxide of iron, so as to render such fatty matters purer and lighter in colour and
better fitted for the manufacture of candles.
And third, I claim the use of injected air, oxygen, or sulphurous gas in the
acidification of fatty bodies with concentrated sulphuric acid, for the purpose of
facilitating the acidifying process and preventing the agglomeration of glycerine,
as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Felix Lieven Bauwens, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four.
F. L. BAUWENS. (L.S.)