IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING FATTY. OILY. AND GREASY BODIES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Gwynne, of Trafalgar Square, in the County
of Middlesex, Esquire, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING
FATTY. OILY. AND GREASY BODIES."
Sealed the 17th June 1856, and dated the 2nd April 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Gwynne at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
April 1856.
I, GEORGE GWYNNE, of Trafalgar Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Esquire, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TREATING FATTY, OILY, AND GREASY BODIES," to be as follows:-
It is generally known that tallow, palm oil, and other oily and fatty matters
are compound bodies, and that these bodies are distinguished under the names
of fatty acids and glycerine. Several processes are now in use for separating
the fatty acids and glycerine from each other; it is not, however, necessary for
me at the present time to describe any of these processes.
My Invention relates, first, to an improved mode or modes for obtaining
fatty acids and glycerine from tallow, palm oil, and other oily and fatty sub-
stances; second, to improvements in the distillation of fatty and oily bodies.

page_text: The first part of my Invention I effect by the use or employment of heat and
watery vapour, or by heat, watery vapour, and pressure, or by heat, watery
vapour, pressure, and mechanical agitation. The second part of my Invention
I effect by the use or employment of heat, watery vapour, and mechanical
ngitation.
I will give two brief illustrations of the manner in which I prefer to effect
the above-mentioned objects.
First, a still, similar to those now in use for the distillation of fatty and oily
matters, has fitted in it a mechanical agitator; a quantity of palm or other oil
or fatty body is to be introduced into this still, and heat and steam to be
applied in the usual manner. As soon as the temperature has attained 250°
Fahrenheit, the throttle valve of the still is to be shut, the agitator to be set to
work, and the heat to be raised to the point most favourable for effecting the
separation of the fatty acids and glycerine from each other, and there to be
kept for some hours, the steam and agitation being continued all the time,
when the contents of the still are to be discharged gradually into a vessel
containing boiling water in a state of violent agitation, and there thoroughly
washed.
Second, into a still, similar to that above described, a quantity of palm oil or
other fatty, oily, or greasy body is to be introduced, and the distillation thereof
effected in the usual manner, with the addition of mechanical agitation.
By the above term "watery vapour" is to be understood water, steam, and
vapour.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Gwynne in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st October 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
GWYNNE, of Trafalgar Square, in the County of Middlesex, Esquire, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Gwynne, Her special licence that I, the said George Gwynne, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Gwynne, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree

page_text: 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREAT-
ING FATTY, OILY, AND GREASY BODIES," upon the condition, (amongst other) that
I, the said George Gwynne, my executors or administeators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particu-
larly 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 George Gwynne, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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-thereof, that is to say:-
It is generally known that tallow, palm oil, and other oily and fatty matters
are compound bodies, and that these bodies are distinguished under the names
of fatty acids and glycerine. Several processes are now in use for separating
the fatty acids and glycerine from each other; it is not, however, necessary for
me at the present time to describe any of these processes.
My Invention relates, first, to an improved mode or modes for obtaining
fatty acids and glycerine from tallow, palm oil, and other oily and fatty sub-
stances; second, to improvements in the distillation of fatty and oily bodies.
The first part of my Invention I effect by the use or employment of beat and
watery vapour, or by heat, watery vapour, and pressure, or by heat, watery
vapour, pressure, and mechanical agitation. The second part of my Invention
I effect by the use or employment of heat, watery vapour, and mechanical
agitation.
I will give two brief illustrations of the manner in which I prefer to effect
the above-mentioned objects.
First, a still, similar to those now in use for the distillation of fatty and oily
matters, has fitted in it a mechanical agitator; a quantity of palm or other oil
or fatty body is to be introduced into this still, and heat and steam to be applied
in the usual manner; as soon as the temperature has attained 250° Fahren-
heit, the throttle valve of the still is to be shut, the agitator to be set to work,
and the heat is to be raised to the point most favorable for effecting the sepa-
ration of the fatty acids and glycerine from each other, and there to be kept
for some hours, the steam and agitation being continued all the time, when
the contents of the still are to be discharged gradually into a vessel con-

page_text: taining boiling water in a state of violent agitation, and there thoroughly
washed.
Second, into a still, similar to that above described, a quantity of palm oil or
other fatty, oily, or greasy body is to be introduced, and the distillation thereof
effected in the usual manner, with the addition of mechanical agitation.
By the above term "watery vapour" is to be understood water, steam, and
vapour.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will now proceed to
describe the manner in which I prefer to have it performed.
A suitable vessel is to be provided. Now, as the first part of my Invention
can be effectively carried out in the ordinary stills used for the distillation of
fatty and oily matters in an atmosphere of steam, and as the distillation of such
matters in such an atmosphere is in this country a known and established
branch of manufacturing industry, and as it is desirable to make as few changes
as possible in the plant of a factory in good working order, I prefer to employ
what is in actual and successful operation, rather than invent new apparatus,
possibly not possessing any real superiority over the old. Oue alteration in the
interior of the above-mentioned stills may, however, be advantageously made,
but, as will be evident from the following statement, it can be effected at a
trifling expense, and will be followed by economical results, I do not there-
fore perceive any valid reason why it should not be adopted. In the ordinary
mode of distilling fatty matters in an atmosphere of steam, the steam which is
used is heated to a high temperature after it leaves the steam boilers and before
it enters the stills, and the quantity of this heated steam which is consumed is
very great indeed, Now, as I intend to employ unheated steam (that is,
steam in the state in which it issues from an ordinary steam boiler), and to use
only so much of it as will produce a moderate agitation in the fatty matters
under process, it would be advisable to remove the large and expensive "free
steam worms and to substitue smaller ones in their stead. This is the only
alteration which I propose making in the interior of the present stills, in order
the better to adapt them to accomplish the first part of my Invention.
"
These explanatory observations being made, I will return to my description.
A suitable vessel, as I have before remarked, is to be provided. For illus-
tration sake, I shall suppose this vessel to be one of the ordinary stills used for
the distillation of fatty and oily bodies in an atınosphere of steain, and I shall
farther suppose that this still has been altered in the manner which I have
previously suggested; a quantity of tallow, lard, palin oil, or mutton suet is to
be introduced into this still, the fire is to be lighted underneath it, and when
the temperature of the fatty matter under process has risen to 220°, the steam

page_text: cock is to be opened, and ordinary steam is to be allowed to flow into the still
through the "free steam worm." The firing is then to be increased in force
until the thermometer of the still indicates 530° of heat, when boiling water is
to be cautiously admitted into the fatty matter through the "free steam worm;".
the temperature above mentioned being maintained for the space of one hour,
when the fire is to be altogether withdrawn from underneath the still. A few
minutes after the boiling water has commenced running, the "throttle valve"
of the still is to be so far closed that a slight pressure will be produced in it
(the still). As soon as the temperature has sank to 250°, cold water is to be
substituted for the boiling water hitherto used, and the flow of this cold water
is to be continued until the heat of the fatty matter has fallen to 220°, when
the contents of the still are to be discharged into a wooden vessel of a suitable
size, provided with a "free steam worm," and containing a quantity of water
acidulated by means of oxalic acid, where they (the contents of the still) are to
be boiled for an hour, in the manner well understood by the "stearine manu-
facturer. The steam is then to be shut off from the wooden vessel, and the
matters therein contained are to be allowed to repose. After due subsidence,
the fatty matter is to be drawn off, and may afterwards be either pressed, dis-
tilled, made into soap, or otherwise disposed of, according to the purposes for
which it is best suited.
The herein-before described process for operating on tallow, lard, palm oil,
or mutton suet may be modified in the following manner, viz.:-The tempera-
ture of the fatty matter under process is to be raised only to 350° instead of
530°, and is to be kept at this lesser temperature (350°) for twenty-four
hours, at the end of which period the admission of the boiling water is to com-
mence. Instead of partially closing the throttle valve a few minutes after the
flow of the boiling water has commenced, it (the throttle valve) is to be placed
in this position a few minutes after the steam is admitted into the still. The
other parts of the operation are to be carried out in the manner detailed in the
previously described process.
Notes. All degrees of temperature mentioned in this Specification are
according to the Fahrenheit scale. So much fatty matter as is equivalent to
three-fifths of the capacity of the still is the "quantity" which I recommend to
be used at one time. When I say that the fatty matter in the still is to be kept
at the temperature of 530° or at the temperature of 350°, I am not to be under-
stood as meaning that these temperatures are to be strictly observed; a few
degrees above or below these points is an affair of unimportance; a fair and
reasonable degree of attention to my directions generally on the part of the
operator is all that I expect or that is required. When I say that boiling water

page_text: is to be cautiously admitted into the still through the free steam worm I'do
not mean that the steam is to be shut off; on the contrary, I intend that both
steam and boiling water shall flow together into the fatty matter under pro-
cess. A working plumber or coppersmith can make the required alterations
to effect this end in the course of a few hours.
The acidulated water in which the fatty matters have been boiled contains
glycerine dissolved in it, but the quantity of this latter body is too trifling to
repay the expense of a separate evaporation. By the following arrangement,
however, an economical result can be obtained :-The fatty matters, after they
are discharged out of the still, are to be boiled in the acidulated water, in tho
manner before described. Instead of throwing away this water, it is to be
retained, and is to be used again and again for a similar purpose, as in the first
instance, a little oxalic acid being added from time to time, as may be required.
After a certain period, the length of which will depend upon the number of
times it may have been used over again, the acidulated water is to be brought
to the boil, and thin "cream of lime" is to be added to it until it is slightly
alkaline to test paper.
After boiling a few minutes, the mixture is to be
allowed to repose until the supernatant fluid has become transparent, when it
(the fluid) is to be drawn off from the dregs, and is to be evaporated in a still
or other suitable vessel to the consistence of a syrup. The glycerine thus
obtained is to be purified by known processes.
Distilled fatty acids of great purity are now obtained in the ordinary
manner, but the quantity of heated steam which is used in their manufacture
is so great as to form a large item in the expense of the process. To do away
altogether with the superheating of the steam is one object of the second part
of my Invention; and another object of it is, the reduction of the steam to so
small a quantity that it (the steam) will only expel the atmospheric air out of
the still at the commencement of the distillation, and keep it (the air) from
re-entering again until this operation is finished. Both of these objects are to
be accomplished by the combined use of mechanical agitation and ordinary
steam. As mechanical agitators are now used in several branches of manu-
facture, it is unnecessary for me to describe any particular form in which they
are to be made. The mere shape of them is immaterial provided a very rapid
agitation be produced. The quantity of steam required by my improved
mode of distillation being but trifling, it will be advisable to remove from
the stills the large "free steam worms" in present use, and to substitute
smaller ones in their stead. It is worse than useless to employ "steam
worms "four or five inches in diameter, when ones of an inch in diameter will
do equally well.
C

page_text: I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details
herein described.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I have to observe that I am aware Richard Albert Tilghman,
in 1854, proposed to obtain fatty acids and glycerine from fatty and oily
matters, by subjecting a mixture composed of such matters and water to great
pressure at an elevated temperature, and I am also aware that George Fer-
gusson Wilson and George Payne, in 1855, proposed to obtain fatty acids and
glycerine from neutral or partially fats and oils by distilling such matters in
an atmosphere of steam; I do not, therefore, lay claim to the general produc-
tion of fatty acids and glycerine from fatty and oily bodies by means of steam
and water; but what I claim is,―
First, the decomposition of tallow, lard, palm oil, and mutton suet into fatty
acids and glycerine by the action of steam at temperatures below the points
(or degrees of heat) at which the fatty acids and the glycerine distil over in a
mixed but uncombined state.
Second, the decomposition of tallow, lard, palm oil, and mutton suet into
fatty acids and glycerine by the action of water at temporatures below 340°
Fahrenheit.
And, third, the use of mechanical agitators when distilling fatty and oily
bodies.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Gwynne, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of September, in the year One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
THEODOR REMKIN,
Munich, Bavarie.
GEORGE (L.8.) GWYNNE.