AN IMPROVED MODE OF TREATING WOOD AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES FOR THE PREPARATION OF PULP BUITABLE FOR MAKING PAPER
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF TREATING
WOOD AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES FOR THE PREPARATION OF PULP
BUITABLE FOR MAKING PAPER."-A communication from abroad by
Vincent Elijah Keegan, of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts,
United States of America.
Bealed the 29th August 1871, and dated the 27th May 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th May 1871.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF
TREATING WOOD AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES FOR THE PREPARATION OF
PULP SUITABLE FOR MAKING PAPER," to be as follows:-
The nature of this Invention is separating the fibres of wood and other
vegetable substances preparatory to the conversion of the same into
paper pulp, and the means by which it is to be carried into effect are the
following:-The wood or other vegetable substance is saturated with an

page_text: alkaline or acid solution (by preference under pressure), and after
drawing off the surplus solution, except such as is contained in the pores
of the wood or other vegetable substance, the wood or other vegetable
substance so saturated is subjected to a high degree of heat, whereby
the proximates of the wood, plant, or the substances adhering to the
fibres, and by which the fibres are agglutinated or bound together, are
thoroughly decomposed or reduced, so that by washing they can be
readily and effectually separated from and without injury to the fibres.
I
I will now describe the mode of working my said process which
I prefer. I take by preference any of the soft woods, such as spruce or
pine, which have been sawed into thin strips of about half an inch in
thickness, and cross cut them into lengths of from six to twelve inches
for the convenience of getting them into a suitable vessel. Larger or
smaller pieces can be used, but the smaller the pieces the quicker the
process can be worked. It will be found best to reduce the pieces to
about an equal size. The pieces or chips of wood to be treated are
charged into a suitable vessel through a man-hole. I prefer to use for
this purpose a cylindrical vessel on a horizontal shaft, so that it can be
in a suitable
prepare
rotated slowly during the working of the process.
vat a solution of caustic soda of about 20% gravity, and by a suitable pipe
run it into the cylinder containing the wood to be treated; and the
man-hole having been well and carefully closed and secured, I apply by
means of a hydraulic pump a heavy pressure to the liquor to force it
completely and thoroughly into the pores of the wood. The wood so
saturated with the alkaline solution is then to be subjected to a high
degree of heat, say 300 Fahrenheit, for about two hours, at the end of
which time all the proximates will have been dissolved or reduced so
that they can be separated by washing in water, which can be done in
any suitable vessel with an agitator.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 23rd November 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence
that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereaftér 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE
OF TREATING WOOD AND OTHER VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES FOR THE PREPARATION OF
PULP SUITABLE FOR MAKING PAPER," being a communication to me from
abroad by Vincent Elijah Keegan, of Boston, in the State of Massa-
chusetts, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my 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 six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 (that is to say)
This Invention consists in saturating the wood or other vegetable
substance intended to be converted into pulp with an alkaline or an
acid solution, and after drawing off the surplus solution except such as
is contained in the pores of the wood or other vegetable substance
subjecting the wood or other vegetable so saturated to a high degree
of heat, whereby the "proximates" of the wood, plant, or the substances
adhering to the fibres, and by which the fibres are agglutinated or
bound together, are thoroughly decomposed or reduced, so that by
washing they can be readily and effectually separated from and without
injury to the fibres.

page_text: I will now describe the mode preferred of working the improved
process. Take by preference any of the soft woods, such as spruce or
pine, which have been sawn into thin strips of about half an inch in
thickness and cross cut them into lengths of from six to twelve inches
for the convenience of getting them into a suitable vessel. Larger or
smaller pieces can be used, but the smaller the pieces the quicker the
process can be worked. It will be found best to reduce the pieces to
about an equal size. The pieces or chips of wood to be treated are
charged into a suitable vessel through a man-hole. It is preferred to use
for this purpose a cylindrical vessel mounted horizontally on trunnions
so that it can be rotated slowly during the working of the process. A
solution of caustic soda of about 205 gravity prepared in a suitable vat is
run by a pipe into the cylinder containing the wood to be treated, and
the man-hole of the cylinder having been well and carefully closed and
secured heavy pressure is applied by means of a hydraulic pump to the
liquor to force it completely and thoroughly into the pores of the wood.
Experience has shewn that a pressure of fifty pounds to the square inch
applied for about thirty minutes when the pieces of wood are about half
an inch thick will suffice, but I do not wish to be understood as
limiting myself to the degree or duration of pressure nor to the gravity
or strength of the solution as these may be varied. It has also been
found that the solution when marking 23º Beaumé will answer a good
purpose. After the chips have been thoroughly saturated the liquor
which has not been forced into the pores of the wood is then drawn
from the vessel and pumped back into the vat for use in other charges
as it is not reduced in strength by the operation of saturating the wood.
The wood so saturated with the alkaline solution is then to be subjected
to a high degree of heat.
The cylinder in which the wood is saturated with the alkaline solution
is formed with an outer jacket so as to leave a steam-tight chamber
all around and at the ends thereof (such vessels are well known in the
arts), and this chamber is then supplied with superheated steam so as to
heat the saturated wood to a temperature of about three hundred
Fahrenheit for about two hours, at the end of which time all the
"proximates" will have been dissolved or reduced so that they can be

page_text: off clean, after which the fibres will be found to be in a suitable con-
dition to be worked into half stuff and then into pulp suitable for the
manufacture of paper in the engines such as are usually employed for
that purpose, and this can be done without or after bleaching according
to the quality or color of the paper desired to be produced.
Instead of saturating the wood with the alkaline solution by pressure
applied to force the solution into the pores it can be done by boiling the
wood in the alkaline solution for about thirty minutes, and then after
drawing off the solution subjecting the saturated wood to the heating
process as above described.
It has been found that after the wood has been well saturated with
the alkaline solution the pores not only contain the quantity of the
solution required for dissolving the "proximates," but that the chemical
agent required to dissolve the "proximates" is thus brought into
proximate if not immediate contact with the substances to be dissolved
or put into the required condition for being effectually separated from
the fibres by the action of the heat afterwards applied, and that the
action is not only much more rapid, but more effectual than when the
wood or other vegetable substance is immersed in the alkaline solution,
while at the same time the quantity of alkali required is much less than
by any other process.
The small quantity of alkali present and the short space of time
required to dissolve the "proximates" by reason of the presence of the
chemical agent within the pores of the wood permits of the required
result being obtained without reducing the strength of the fibres.
And although caustic soda has been named as the material for treating
the vegetable matters (because it has been found to give satisfactory
results) other bases of an alkaline or acid nature will answer the
purpose under the mode of treatment above described, as the object
is to introduce into the pores of the wood the chemical agent which is
to dissolve or separate the proximates from the fibre, and then by
applying heat to effect the chemical change without the presence of a
surrounding liquid.
And although wood has been named as the substance to be treated
it will be obvious that any other fibrous vegetable substance can be
treated in like manner by the said process.

page_text: Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved
Mode of Treating Wood and other Vegetable Substances for the Pre-
paration of Pulp suitable for Making Paper," as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, and explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I wish it to be understood that under the above in part
recited Letters Patent I claim, treating wood and other fibrous vegetable
substances by saturating the same with an alkaline or acid solution and
while so saturated subjecting it to a high degree of heat, substantially
as and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-third day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.