AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR HARDENING, BLEACHING, AND SWEETENING CRUDE PARAFFIN
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Rowley, of Grosvenor Terrace, Camberwell, in
the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR
HARDENING, BLEACHING, AND SWEETENING CRUDE PARAFFIN."
Sealed the 19th July 1867, and dated the 21st January 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Rowley at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st January
1867.
I, JOHN ROWLEY, of Grosvenor Terrace, Camberwell, in the County of
Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
PROCESS FOR HARDENING, BLEACHING, AND SWEETENING CRUDE PARAPPIN," to be
as follows:-
My improvement consists in taking the crude paraffin (as commercially
known) and when melted I put into the same an article known in commerce
as carnauba wax, for the purpose of hardening, bleaching, and sweetening the
crude paraffin; for instance, suppose the crude paraffin when melted to be
112 Fahrenheit, I then add, say, five per cent. of the carnauba wax for the
purpose of raising the melting point.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Rowley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th July 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ROWLEY, of 77, Wells Street, Camberwell, in the County of Surrey, Manu-
facturing Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Rowley, Her special licence that I, the said John Rowley, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Rowley, 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 Uuited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR
HARDENING, BLEACHING, AND SWEETENING CRUDE PARAFFIN," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Rowley, my executors or adminis
trators, 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 John Rowley, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say :-
My Invention has for its object improvements in hardening, sweetening,
and bleaching crude paraffin or refined paraffin. The substance known in
commerce as paraffin wax is the hard and wax-like substance which is sepa-
rated from the heavy oils during the distillation of various native petroleums,
and also from the heavy oils which result from the distillation at low tem-
peratures of cannel coal, schist, peat, and other like matters.
The paraffin
when first obtained from these sources is very impure and colored, being
mixed with tarry and oily matters, and these are separated from it by mixing
it with spirit (or other like dissolving agent) from five to ten per cent., more

page_text: or less; it is then poured out into tins of any suitable size until it becomes
partly solidified, and is then submitted to pressure, the hydraulic pressure
being at all times preferred, by which the impurities and solvent matters are
pressed out; it is then submitted to heat by wet steam in a suitable vessel;
the water being drawn off'; it is then passed in its heated state through animal
charcoal as a purifier; it is again run off into tins with a further amount of
spirit, from five to ten per cent, more or less; after becoming sufficiently
solidified it is again submitted to pressure; this may be repeated a third time
if required, if not it is then placed in a suitable vessel and submitted to wet
steam at a pressure of not less that twenty-five pounds to the square inch, and
allowed to boil for not less than four hours, by which all the spirit is driven
from the paraffin wax; after cooling down for about one hour the water is
then drawn off, after which the paraffin wax in its heated state is again passed
through "animal charcoal," by which all the coloring matter is kept back and
the refined paraffin comes out perfectly white, if not so the same way be
repeated. This is a known process for making refined paraffin.
Now my improvements consist in taking the paraffin after it has been
refined, or in its crude state, and placing the same in a suitable vessel, and
when melted I put into it an article known in commerce as "carnauba wax"
for the purpose of hardening, bleaching, and sweetening the same. For
instance, say that the paraffin when melted, after having gone through the
operations herein-before described, stands at 124 Fahrenheit, I then put into
the same, say, five per cent. of the "carnauba wax" for the purpose of bardening
the same, and thereby raising the melting point, which it will do to eight or
ten degrees Fahrenheit without any extra trouble; it also bleaches the said
paraffin white, and sweetens the same more than any other known process,
and thus makes it more valuable. I can either increase or diminish the
quantity of wax, the result being a lesser or greater degree of solidity; I then
turn on the wet steam at a pressure of not less than twenty-five pounds to the
square inch, and let it boil for about four hours; I then drain off the
water and allow it to settle; I then let it pass through animal charcoal, by
which all the impurities are left behind, and if it should not be sufficiently
purified I again put it through fresh "animal charcoal" in a precisely similar
manner to that before described.
Having now fully described the nature of my Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I consider
to be novel and original, and claim as my Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the "hardening of paraffin
wax" by putting into it an article known in commerce as "carnauba wax," in

page_text: the manner substantially set forth in this my Specification, although I do not
confine myself to the precise details.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Rowley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twentieth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by
the above-named John Rowley,
in the presence of
HENRY LEWIS,
4, Earl Street, Cooper's Road,
Old Kent Road,
Solicitor's Clerk.
J. ROWLEY. (L.S.)