IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN DISTILLING FATTY AND OTHER MATTERS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Mathew Barker, of 12, Kennington Park
Road, in the County of Surrey, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN DISTILLING FATTY AND OTHER MATTERS."
Sealed the 12th October 1866, and dated the 18th April 1866..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Mathew Barker
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
18th April 1866.
I, CHARLES MATHEW BARKER, of 12, Kennington Park Road, in the County
of Surrey, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN DISTILLING FATTY AND OTHER MATTERS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus used in dis-
tilling fatty and other matters. For these purposes the fatty or other matters
in a liquid state are continually forced or caused to pass in at the top of a
vessel or still where there is a hollow ring with small tubes descending from
it, by which the fatty or other matter is divided into numerous small streams.
In the still there are two coils of steam pipes which are kept constantly
supplied with steam, generally superheated. These coils are one within the
other, and therefore of different diameters, and there is an annular space
between the larger and smaller coils. The lower ends of the small tubes
above mentioned by which the fatty or other matter is supplied in small

page_text: streams or drops into the body of the still come intermediate of the inner and
outer coils of steam pipes, so that as the fatty or other matter passes down in
a divided state it does not come in contact with the surfaces of the steam
pipes, but descends in the annular space between them, and by such means
such divided fatty or other matter becomes heated and vaporized, and ascends
to and passes over the head of the still to the condenser.
In order that the small tubes above mentioned may not become so highly
heated as to char or injure the fatty or other matter there is a hollow channel
to contain water below the tubular ring into which the matter to be distilled
is introduced, by which the temperature of the small tubes and other con-
tiguous parts may be regulated as desired. The exterior of the body of the
still is by preference surrounded by a steam jacket as has heretofore some
times been the case. At the bottom of the still is an outlet by which any
fatty or other matter which arrives at the hottom without being vaporized
passes out of the still to be pumped or forced again into the upper part of the
still, so that there will not be any accumulation of fatty or other matters at
the bottom of the still, and when requisite the lower part of the still is by
water in a jacket kept to any desired temperature. In order to induce
a flow or draft away from the head of the still towards the condenser the
upper end of the central or inner coils of steam pipe opens into the head
of the still.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Mathew Barker in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
MATHEW BARKER, of 12, Kennington Park Road, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles Mathew Barker, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Mathew Barker, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Charles Mathew Barker, 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

page_text: 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN DISTILLING FATTY AND
OTHER MATTERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles
Mathew Barker, executors 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 calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Mathew Barker, 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 has for its object improvements in apparatus used in dis-
tilling fatty and other matters. For these purposes the fatty or other matters
in a liquid state are continually forced or caused to pass in at the top of a
vessel or still where there is a hollow ring with small tubes descending from
it, by which the fatty or other matter is divided into numerous small streams.
In the still there are two coils of steam pipes which are kept constantly
supplied with steam generally superheated; these coils are one within the other,
and therefore of different diameters, and there is an annular space between
the larger and smaller coils. The lower ends of the small tubes above men-
tioned, by which the fatty or other matter is supplied in small streams or
drops into the body of the still come intermediate of the inner and outer coils
of steam pipes, so that as the fatty or other matter passes down in a divided state
it does not come in contact with the surfaces of the steam pipes, but descends
in the annular space between them, and by such means such divided fatty or
other matter becomes heated and vaporized, and ascends to and passes over
the head of the still and to the condenser.
In order that the small tubes above-mentioned may not become so highly
heated as to char or injure the fatty or other matter there is a hollow channel
to contain water below the tubular ring into which the matter to be distilled
is introduced, by which the temperature of the small tubes and other contiguous
parts may be regulated as desired. The exterior of the body of the still is
by preference surrounded by a steam jacket, as has heretofore sometimes
been the case. At the bottom of the still is an outlet by which any fatty or
other matter which arrives at the bottom without being vapourized passes out
of the still to be pumped or forced again into the upper part of the still, so

page_text: that there will not be any accumulation of fatty or other matters at the bottom
of the still, and when requisite the lower part of the still is by water in a
jacket kept to any desired temperature. In order to induce a flow or draft
away from the head of the still towards the condenser, the upper end of
the central or inner coils of steam pipe opens into the head of the still.
I first heat the material to be distilled (by means herein-after described) to
a required temperature, and then allow the heated material to drop or pass
through numerous tubes, which then descends through the body of the still and
is vapourized by the still being kept heated to such a temperature as is required
for vapourizing the descending material, some portion of which will not be
vapourized, but falls into a receiver and is again passed through the apparatus
in conjunction with a fresh quantity of material to be again acted on, as above-
mentioned. The advantage of this method consists in giving facilities for
distilling the material by the fresh material as a vehicle aiding the distillation,
by this continuous method preventing the carbonizing of the material and
partially preventing the liberation of odorin from empyreumatic oils which
tends greatly to deteriorate the value of distilled fatty matters or liquids
when containing such qualities; and especially under the present process,
when great length of time is required to effect the distillation by passing heat
through the still, then through the mass or bulk of material to be distilled,
thereby giving an undue heat to the quantity in immediate contact with the
sides of the still and little to the centre quantity of the material from the
non-conducting quality of heat of such fatty matters.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
j
A is a tank or receiver into which the material to be distilled is placed and
heated with steam if requisite; B is a circular nest perforated to allow the
pump C to raise the liquid material only to the heating chamber or cylinder D,
in which are numerous vertical pipes e passing through the length of the
cylinder and terminating at each end in annular ring chambers marked ƒ con-
nected with steam pipe P; the cylinder also contains a perforated coil, as
shewn, one end of which is open to the annular chamber and the other end is
closed. The use of this arrangement is for the purpose of thoroughly heating
the material lifted by the pump to any required temperature which the
pyrometer 9 indicates. The pocket is shown in dotted lines in Figure No. 1;
the pipe P conveys the superheated or free steam to the lower annular ring,
then passing up the vertical pipes e, and then into the top annular ring
chamber, then down the coil, and issuing from the perforations in the coil
'stirs up the material with a continuous action among the vertical pipes, so

page_text: that the material is thoroughly heated whilst in motion, preventing the same
material being in continual contiguity to the same heating surface. The'
surplus steam or easily-volatilizing grease or gases pass out of the cylinder
by the means of a pipe X (which has a plug tap not shown), and thence to
the condenser. c is the free steam pipe which when requisite forces and
cleans out the whole apparatus from the cylinder D, through the still, and out
at the tap at the bottom of the receiver. E, the three-way tap and con-
nections from the cylinder to the still; on the top or head is placed a similar
annular ring chamber marked F; the annular ring chamber has a base
plate which is marked a having numerous holes drilled in it. Through these
holes tubes, marked i, are inserted, the ends of these tubes are opened by a
slot to the still, and the material admitted by the three-way tap E descends
through these apertures and falls into the body of still, as shown in Figure 2.
G is an annular chamber cast in the metal of the head of the still, and which
the base plate a covers; through this chamber the tubes i pass, bringing the
material for distillation, and to prevent the carbonization of the material in
these small tubes boiling water or free steam continually circulates through
the chamber and around the tubes from the supply pipe R. E is the body
of the still (which may be incased in brick work with a circular flue around
it from the bottom to the top flanges; or with a jacketted case, as shown in
Figure 1; Figure 2 is shewn without the external jacket), and contains two
distinct coils of different diameters, but connected at the bottom part. Each
of these coils conveys superheated steam to the interior of the body of the
still, by which means, and also by means of external surface heat, either by
furnace or superheated steam and a jacket, as shewn in Figure 1, the required
heat for distillation is obtained (one of these external appliances of heat is
always necessary. At present I use the furnace method, but consider the
superheated arrangement preferable as more capable of control.) Within the
body of the still downwards between the coils the drops or streams of material
fall, and in its descent the heat contained in the still causes the materials to
be vapourized, which passes off by the neck of the still. I, the receiver. Such
parts of the material that have not passed into vapour fall into this jacketted
vessel, and the annular space between the receiver and jacket is kept filled
with water or free steam as may be required by the nature of the material to
be distilled. J, the tap by which any quantity of the falling material may be
regulated to escape from the still into the tank A. It is always necessary to
keep some portion of material behind so as to seal the exit; this is some.
times done by a syphon-bend or swan-neck curve (not shown here) between
the tap and vessel I. K, the neck of the still to the condenser; L, the con-

page_text: denser; M, the swan-neck discharge tube; N, the discharge pipe of gas
brought over by the still; O, the superheated steam pipe supplying the
internal coils the still pipe and also jacket when used; m, taps to draw off
condensed steam; S, the receiver. The cylinder D and the jacketted still H
in Figure No. 1 require to be externally covered with some material to 5
prevent the escape of heat from those vessels.
Having thus described my Invention, and the manner of performing the
same, I would have it understood that I claim the combined arrangement
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Mathew Barker, have hereunto 1
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
CHA. M. DARKER. (L.S.)