Improvements in the Rectification of Alcohol.
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Sept., 1888
Complete Specification Left. 24th May. 1889-Accented. 29th June 1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Rectification of Alcohol.
I, ANDRÉ THEODORE CHRISTOPHE of 5 rue Meyerbeer, Paris in the Republic of
France, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention has for its object improvements in the rectification of alcohol.
In the rectification of alcohol it is usual to take the impure spirit at a strength of
about thirty to sixty per cent., and by rectification to separate it into three successive
products. The middle product (or that which comes after about thirty per cent. of
the whole has been distilled over) is good alcohol of a strength of about ninety
per cent.
Now according to this invention I obtain both a better middle product and a
larger yield of the same by submitting the impure alcohol when in a cold state to a
preliminary treatment before it is passed into the rectifier.
In this preliminary treatment I make use of sodium either amalgamated with
mercury or alloyed with other metals such as lead or tin. I also treat the impure
alcohol with hypochlorite of lime (bleaching powder) or other hypochlorite and this
I do previously or simultaneously with acting on the impure alcohol by an amalgam
or an alloy of sodium.
Potassium and some other metals may be substituted for sodium but not with
commercial advantage.
I employ by preference a large vat containing an agitator and into this I place the
impure spirit and by the addition of water if necessary, its strength is reduced to
forty per cent. or thereabout. I then mix with this diluted spirit hypochlorite of
lime, (bleaching powder) in the proportion of one grain per litre of the diluted
spirit and having stirred this well in I allow the spirit to stand for some minutes;
I then add the sodium amalgam or alloy in proportion as to have present 15 to
20 grammes of sodium for each 100 litres of liquid. I use more or less according to
the degree of purity of the crude spirit. The amalgam or the alloy is placed in the
vat preferably in small pieces in order to offer a large working surface.
I place the amalgam in an earthenware tray on the bottom of the vat so that the
mercury may be retained.
The agitator should be kept in motion for half an hour or more.
After some time the spirit is transferred from the vat to the rectifier; a very
convenient arrangement is to submit the impure alcohol to the cold treatment over-
night and to transfer it the rectifier in the morning.
The rectification is conducted in the usual manner except that it will be found on
testing that the good alcohol comes over at an earlier stage than heretofore and that
the yield is better in quality and larger in quantity than heretofore. As usual the
spirit which first and last comes over and which is more or less impure, is collected
separately and is again treated as before in the vat..
In the preparation of the sodium amalgam or alloy I use such a proportion of
sodium that the product may decompose water tolerably freely but without violence
and without the aid of heat. One part of sodium-to seven parts of mercury is about
a suitable proportion.
Although it is industrially advantageous to submit the impure alcohol to treatment
in a cold state before the commencement of the rectification nevertheless the treatment
may take place in the rectifier itself.
Dated this 1st day of Santamber 1888

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Rectification of Alcohol.
1. ANDRE THEODORE CHRISTOPHE of 5 rue Meyerbeer Paris in the Republic of
France Civil Engineer do hereby declare the pature of this Invention and in what
manner the same is to be perforined to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:"
This Invention has for its object improvements in the rectification of alcohol.
In the rectification of alcohol it is usual to take the impure spirit at a strength of
about thirty to sixty per cent., and by rectification to separate it into three successive
products. The middle product (or that which comes after about thirty per cent. of
the whole has been distilled over) is good alcohol of a strength of about ninety
per cent.
Now according to this Invention I obtain both a better middle product and a
larger yield of the same by submitting the impure alcohol preferably when in a cold
state to a preliminary treatment before it is passed into the rectifier.
In this preliminary treatment I make use of sodium alloyed with tin or it may be
amalgamated with mercury or alloyed with other metals for instance lead. I also
treat the impure alcohol with hypochlorite of lime (bleaching powder) or other
hypochlorite as in some cases has before been the practice and this I do previously or
simultaneously in acting on the impure alcohol with the alloy or amalgam of
sodium.
Potassium and other alkaline metals may be substituted for sodium but probably
not with commercial advantage.
By preference proceed as follows:-into a large vat containing an agitator I place
the impure spirit and by the addition of water if necessary, its strength is reduced
to 40 per cent. or thereabout. I then mix with this diluted spirit hypochlorite of lime
(bleaching powder) in the proportion of one gramme .per litre of the diluted spirit
and having stirred this well in 1 allow the spirit to stand for some minutes; I then
add the sodium tin alloy or amalgam in such proportion as to have.present 15 to
20 grammes of sodium for each 100 litres of liquid. I use more or less according to
the degree of purity of the crude spirit. The alloy or the amalgam is placed in the
vat preferably in, small pieces in order to offer a large working surface. If using, the
amalgam I place it in an earthenware tray on the bottom of the vat so that
the mercury may be retained.
The agitator should be kept in motion for half an hour or more.
After some time the spirit is transferred from the vat to the rectifier; a very
convenient arrangement is to submit the impure alcohol to the cold treatment over-
night and to transfer it to the, rectifier in the morning.
The rectification is conducted in the usual manner except that it will be found on
testing that the good alcohol comes over at an earlier stage than heretofore and that
the yield is better in quality and larger in quantity than heretofore. As usual the
spirit which first and last comes over and which is more or less impure, is collected
separately and is again treated as before in the vat.
In the preparation of the sodium, alloy or amalgam I use such a proportion of
sodium that the product may decompose water tolerably freely but without violence
and without the aid of heat.
Although it is industrially advantageous to submit the impure alcohol to treatment
in a cold state before the commencement of the rectification nevertheless the
treatment may take place in the rectifier itself.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
** $4.
1. My improvements in the rentification of alechal consisting in the treatment of

page_text: 2. My improvements in the rectification of alcohol consisting in the employment
in this operation of an alloy or amalgam of sodium or other alkaline metal in conjunction
with hypochlorite of lime or other hypochlorite substantially as herein described.
3. My improvements in the rectification of alcohol consisting in mixing with the
impuro spirit suitably diluted and in a cold state hypochlorite of lime or other
hypochlorite; in afterwards or simultaneously treating it with an alloy or an amalgam
of sodium or other alkaline metal and then after a suitable interval transferring the
spirit to the rectifier and distilling it substantially as herein described.
Dated this 21st day of Mar 1889.
A. T. CHRISTOPHE.