Process for Manufacturing Paper Pulp from the Root Refuse of Common Reed (Phragmites Communis).
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Apr., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 22nd June, 1899-Accepted, 2nd Sept., 1899
Process for Manufacturing Paper Pulp from the Root Refuse of
Common Reed (Phragmites Communis).
I, ADOLF VON FESZTY, of Eszterhaza, Hungary, Gentleman, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
66
The numerous attempts previously made to produce paper pulp from vegetable
products which are in an advanced state of decomposition and which are generally
comprised under the denomination of "turf" or peat," have shown that the
said products are unable to withstand the energetic action of an alkaline liquid
or lye under heat or under high pressure, and that, in fact, they are thereby
destroyed so that it is out of the question to produce fibrous matter or cellulose
from the peat or turf in a similar manner as say from wood dust. At the
most the peat or turf treated with hot alkaline lye but without pressure, may
give a product capable of being mixed with linen cellulose or other raw materials
for the manufacture of paper, but it cannot be used by itself as paper pulp
because of its fibre having been damaged to a great extent by the treatment
with the hot alkaline lye.
Now this invention has for its object a process for the conversion into fibrous
matter, that is to say into cellulose, of the refuse of the root of common reed
(Phragmites Communis) which outwardly resembles peat, for use as paper pulp.
The main difference between what is commonly called peat or turf and the
said raw product (root of Phragmites Communis), is that the latter can without
damage be submitted to a treatment with alkaline lye of nearly the same con-
centration as is used for wood dust and furthermore may be treated therewith
even for a longer period under high pressure (up to 6 atm.) in a digester. This
considerable resistance of the root of reed to the action of alkaline lye is due,
as has been proved by exhaustive experiments, to the fact that the raw material
here under consideration (root of Phragmites Communis) is not in an advanced
state of decomposition and, in contradistinction to the peat or turf, consists
of dead but chemically unchanged fibrous substances the undestroyed solidity
of which, due to its not being decomposed, enables it by the treatment hereinafter
described, to yield a product which, if desired may be used by itself, that is
without any admixture of linen or other cellulose, for the manufacture of paper.
This process consists chiefly in subjecting the previously prepared and washed
raw mass of tangled root to the action of a hot solution of hydrate of lime, or
caustic alkali or alkaline carbonate by boiling at ordinary or at higher pressure
and so bringing the solution to a proper degree of concentration and separating
the fibres of the roots. The fibres thus obtained can if desired. be bleached in
any well known manner and thereupon used like other fibrous materials as pulp
for the manufacture of various kinds of paper.
In carrying out the process the raw root clusters are first washed in water
and then boiled for 2 to 6 hrs. in a vessel containing thin milk of lime, or a
suitably strong solution of a caustic alkali or alkaline carbonate, according to the
nature of the material under treatment.

page_text: Or in order to shorten the time of the treatment, the material with one of the
previously mentioned solutions is placed in a closed vessel under a pressure of
from 2 to 6 atm., when about an hour's boiling will be sufficient.
After the boiling has been completed the lye, containing the substances
separated from the root fibres, is drawn off and the remaining fibres are then
thoroughly washed with water. If required the washed fibrous material is
bleached in any known manner by means of chlorine water or hypochlorite
solution and can then be used in the same manner as ordinary known materials
for preparing paper pulp.
The alkaline solution may advantageously contain a proportion of about
2 per cent. of hydrate of lime with about 3 per cent. of alkaline carbonate.
Dated this 8th day of April 1899.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
Process for Manufacturing Paper Pulp from the Root Refuse of
Common Reed (Phragmites Communis).
I, ADOLF VON FESZTY, of Eszterhaza, in the Kingdom of Hungary, Gentleman,
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:-
"
The numerous attempts previously made to produce paper pulp from vegetable
products which are in an advanced state of decomposition and which are generally
comprised under the denomination of "turf" or peat "have shown that the
said products are unable to withstand the energetic action of an alkaline liquid
or lye under heat or under high pressure, and that, in fact, they are thereby
destroyed so that it is out of the question to produce fibrous matter or cellulose
from the peat or turf in a similar manner as say from ground wood. At the
most the peat or turf treated with hot alkaline lye but without pressure, may
give a product capable of being mixed with linen cellulose or other raw materials
for the manufacture of paper, but it cannot be used by itself as paper pulp
because of its fibre having been damaged to a great extent by the treatment
with the hot alkaline lye.
Now this invention has for its object a process for the production of cellulose,
for the purpose of the manufacture of paper pulp, from the fibres of the root
of common reed (Phragmites Communis), which outwardly resemble peat, but
are essentially different from the same.
The main difference between what is commonly called peat or turf and the
said raw product (root of Phragmites Communis), is that the latter can without
damage be submitted to a treatment with alkaline lye of nearly the same con-
centration as is used for ground wood and furthermore may be treated therewith
even for a longer period under high pressure (up to 6 atm.) in a digester. This
considerable resistance of the root of reed to the action of alkaline lye is due,
as has been proved by exhaustive experiments, to the fact that the raw material
here under consideration (root of Phragmites Communis) is not in an advanced
state of decomposition and, in contradistinction to the peat or turf, consists
of dead but chemically unchanged fibrous substances the undestroyed solidity
of which, due to its not being decomposed, enables it by the treatment hereinafter
described, to yield a product which, if desired may be used by itself, that is
without any admixture of linen or other cellulose, for the manufacture of paper.

page_text: This process consists chiefly in subjecting the previously prepared and washed
raw mass of tangled root to the action of a hot solution of hydrate of lime, or
of caustic alkalis or alkaline carbonates by boiling at ordinary atmospheric
pressure or at an increased pressure whereby, if the solution has been brought
to a proper degree of concentration, the cleaning and opening of the fibres of
the roots will take place. The fibres thus obtained can if desired be bleached in
any well known manner and thereupon used like other fibrous materials as pulp for
the manufacture of various kinds of paper and of other products made from paper
pulp.
In carrying out the process the raw root clusters are first washed in water
and then boiled for 2 to 6 hours, in a vessel containing thin milk of lime, or a
suitably strong solution of a caustic alkali or of an alkaline carbonate, according
to the nature of the material under treatment.
In order to shorten the time of the treatment, the raw material with one of
the previously mentioned solutions is placed in a closed vessel under a pressure
of from 2 to 6 atm., when about an hour's boiling will be sufficient.
After the boiling has been completed the lye, containing in solution the sub-
stances separated from the root fibres, is drawn off and the remaining fibres are
then thoroughly washed with water. If required the washed fibrous material is
bleached in any known manner by means of chlorine water or hypochlorate
solutions and can then be used in the same manner as ordinary known cellulose
materials for preparing paper pulp.
The alkaline solution may advantageously contain a proportion of about
2 per cent. of hydrate of lime, or of the caustic alkali, or of about 3 per cent.
of the alkaline carbonate.
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:-
A process for the manufacture of paper pulp from the root-fibres of the common
reed (Phragmites Communis), said process consisting in that the previously washed
mass of tangled root-fibres is boiled, at the ordinary atmospheric pressure or at
an increased pressure (2 to 6 atmospheres) with a weak solution of hydrate
of lime or of a caustic alkali, or of an alkaline carbonate, the boiled mass being
afterwards washed and if desired, submitted to a bleaching operation, sub-
stantially as described.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.