Improvements in the Treatment of Textile Plants to Remove the Fibre therefrom.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 20th May, 1897 - Accepted, 30th Oct., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Treatment of Textile Plants to Remove the
Fibre therefrom.
I, CHARLES LEON BACHELERIE of 32, Boulevard Haussmann, Paris in the Republic
of France, Engineer and Chemist do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:
--
In order to obtain the fibre or filaments of textile plants various processes are
employed which all have for their object, firstly, to remove the bark and woody
matter of the stalks; secondly, to free the fibres from the gummy substances which
hold them together and which adhere strongly thereto. Two distinct operations
are therefore employed for these plants; a mechanical process of bruising and
beating the stalks, and a chemical process for removing the gum, or retting either
by a prolonged immersion in water or by the use of special chemical agents with
heat or cold.
For certain textile plants, ramie for instance, this latter operation of retting or
removing the gum is very costly, offers serious difficulties, and always causes a
weakening of the fibre. It has been hitherto the principal obstacle to the intro-
duction on a larger scale of this valuable plant.
The process which I have invented has for its object to render it unnecessary to
remove the gum in such distinct operations, and it affords in addition great advan-
tages which will be hereinafter enumerated. The description which I shall give
has more particularly in view the treatment of ramie, but it is of course needless
to state that my invention may be also applied to other textile plants.
This process consists essentially in subjecting the ramie stalks, preferably in a
green condition for some minutes (according to the quantity of Ramie treated) to the
action of gaseous acids under pressure, which have for their effect to neutralize the
organic ferments and to bring the gum into such a molecular condition that after
the stalks have been dried the gum no longer adheres to the fibre and falls off in
dust together with the bark and the woody fibre during the operation of shredding
or crushing. The process must be continued until the above conditions are
obtained.
As gaseous acid I employ preferably carbonic acid in a nascent condition, that
is to say at the moment when it is produced by the reactions of the mineral acid
or the like on an alkaline or earthy carbonate or bicarbonate.
The apparatus employed may evidently be of any suitable form and dimensions
variable at will. An apparatus such as may be preferably employed is shown as
an example in the accompanying drawing in vertical section.
For the treatment of ramie stalks it is composed of a metallic reservoir A
perfectly tight, prismatic in form and capable of resisting a pressure of one or
two atmospheres. On one of its vertical faces it is provided with a door B for charg-
ing, mounted on hinges C and maintained hermetically closed during the operation
by bolts provided with wing nuts 1) or by any other suitable means. It has
supports or brackets E in tiers intended for supporting trellis partitions F. This
reservoir has also an air tap J and a pressure indicator K.

page_text: By the side of this receptacle and in communication with it, by a pipe provided
with a valve L is situated the apparatus for producing the gaseous acid. It is
composed of an hermetically closed metallic vessel Q, on the bottom of which there
is a removable vessel G containing the carbonate or bicarbonate. Above this there
is a reversible bowl or vessel H which receives the acid solution, for instance
ordinary commercial hydrochloric acid. The reversal of this vessel is effected
from the outside by means of a crank handle or other suitable means.
receptacle has an opening I .or charging it which is closed by a door with a suitable
fastening device. Pressure indicators are placed on this receptacle and also on the
one in which the fibre is treated. A pipe M having a funnel N and a tap O serves
for introducing the acid. The vessel Q has also a discharge tap P.
The operation is effected in the following manner:-
This
The ramie stalks freshly cut are arranged on the partitions or stages in the
apparatus, the door of which is then closed and firmly secured. In the vessel Q
for producing the gas the lower vessel G is furnished with pulverised carbonate or i
bicarbonate of suitable quantity according to the capacity of the chamber in which
the ramie is treated. A suitable corresponding quantity of hydrochloric acid or
other suitable acid is poured into the reversible vessel H and the apparatus is
closed. Communication is then established with the ramie treating chamber A
by opening the valve L and the acid vessel H is reversed by turning its crank:
handle so as to suddenly throw the whole of the acid on the carbonate. The re-
action which is instantly and vividly produced releases carbonic acid violently.
The pressure rises in the vessel for treating the ramie, but it need not exceed two
atmospheres. The pressure is maintained for some minutes more or less according
to the quantity of ramie treated. Then the gas is allowed to escape by an orifice J
provided for the purpose, the door is opened and the stalks of ramie withdrawn and
thrown on the ground whence they are transported to sheds in order to allow them
to dry. The stalks thus treated dry without altering or spoiling, and without
undergoing any fermentation. Once dried, they are passed into any suitable
bruising machines of the ordinary type in order to cause the bark and woody fibre
to be removed. This operation no longer offers any difficulty. The passage of the
stalks between two grooved rollers suffices to free them from all woody part and the
gum falls off in the form of powder at the same time, so that the fibre emerges
from the machine entirely clean, supple and brilliant, possessing all its normal
strength and ready for combing.
This preliminary treatment of the green stalks of ramie, as may be seen, is very
simple and very economical. The substances employed are cheap; the duration of
each operation is short so that a large quantity of stalks may be treated in one
day and the operation may follow to a certain extent that of the harvest, the
apparatus being in such case placed on a cart or wagon. The treatment is effected
on the spot and the stalks when dry are crushed or broken in the country of pro-
duction, and it is only necessary to send the fibre to the countries where it is
manufactured, which effects a great saving in carriage or freight.
The apparatus herein before described is capable of modifications in its con-
struction. Thus the production of the gas may be in the same chamber where the
ramie is enclosed. In this case the vessel for holding the carbonate and the vessel
for holding the acid are placed at the bottom of this chamber. A certain quantity
of a gaseous bleaching agent like chlorine or sulphurous acid may also if desired
be introduced into the chamber in a gaseous form or in the form of a sprayed
liquid by any suitable device at the moment of treatment in order to obtain a
whiter fibre, but this addition remains quite optional and changes nothing in the
principle of my invention.
The treatment herein before described may also be employed to half-dry or
entirely dry ramie, but in this latter case it will be well to moisten the stalks
before their introduction into the chamber.
Finally the same treatment may be applied to the fibre of ramie after any

page_text: suitable treatment or husking whilst in a green or dry condition for the removal
of the gum which then falls off during the beating.
As was stated at the commencement of this specification, this improved method
of treatment is applicable not only to ramie but to all textile plants in general.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
-:
1. An improved method of treating fresh ramie or other textile plants to remove
the fibre therefrom, consisting essentially in subjecting the stalks of such plants
in a closed vessel to the action of nascent gas under pressure, such as carbonic acid
given off from a carbonate or bicarbonate by the action of hydrochloric acid or
any other suitable acid substantially in the manner and with the object herein-
before specified.
2. The application of the herein described method of treatment to fibre unfreed
from its gummy substances, substantially as described.
3. In the herein described method of treating textile plants, the optional
addition, to the gas employed, of a suitable proportion of a gaseous bleaching
agent or in the form of a sprayed liquid, substantially as described.
Dated this 19th day of May 1897.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.