CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING AND PREPARING OIL OR FATTY MATTERS
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twelfth day of September, in the eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Newton, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said William Newton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as J, the said William Newton, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's
Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey,
Alderney, Sark, and Man, an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
TREATING AND PREPARING OIL OR FATTY MATTERS," being a communication
from a Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso obliging me, the said William Newton, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof (that is to say):-
These improvements in treating and preparing oily or fatty matters relate
more particularly to the treatment and preparation of palm oil, and render
the same more applicable to the various purposes for which it may be
employed.
The Invention may be divided into two heads or parts, consisting, first, of
an improved method of treating palm oil for the purpose of separating the
liquid from the solid parts, or the oleine from the stearine and margarine;
and, secondly, in an improved method of bleaching solid fatty matters.
The essential feature of novelty of the first head of the Invention is the
separation of the liquid from the solid constituents of the palm oil, without
employing the process of saponification, as is ordinarily the case. The manner
in which the operations are carried on is described by my correspondent in
nearly the following words :-The principle of this Invention or discovery, and
the manner of proceeding to effect the separation of the liquid from the
solid portions of the oil, is founded upon a fact that has hitherto escaped the
observation of manufacturers, and has never to my knowledge been usefully
and advantageously applied to the arts. This hitherto undiscovered fact is,
that the liquid and solid constituents of the palm oil exist naturally in a stato
of chemical separation in the palm oil of commerce, although their particles
are in mechanical contiguity, and that therefore nothing else is requisite to
effect their complete separation but a purely mechanical process unassisted by
any ingredients which would effect a chemical change in the oily or fatty
matters, as is the case when saponification takes place. The process which
forms the subject of the present Invention consists in causing the solid fats to
crystallize by first heating, and then gradually cooling the raw material; then
submitting it to pressure, to remove a certain portion of the oleine, after
which, it is again heated and cooled, so as to cause it to crystallize a second
time, when a fresh quantity of oleine may be expressed or removed by a
second pressure. By this means the separation of the solid and liquid fats is
effected without resorting to the process of saponification, and is conducted
as follows:-I take the raw palm oil as it is imported from Africa (or, if it is
thought more advantageous, palm oil previously bleached may be taken), and
a large quantity of the palm oil, whether bleached or unbleached, is put into
iron or other vessels, and heated to about 212° of Fahrenheit's thermometer,
of which temperature it is maintained for about one hour; after which, it is

page_text: run off into wooden or other convenient vessels, where it is allowed to cool
very slowly, and to remain until it begins to crystallize. The congealed mass
is then to be packed in cold woollen cloths, in quantities varying from sixteen
to thirty pounds each bundle, according to the capacity or size of the press.
Hydraulic pressure is preferred, and the mass of congealed fatty matters is in
the first instance submitted to a light or gentle pressure, whereby about one
third part of the mass is made to run off in a liquid state, and which will be
found to be nearly pure oleine; the other two thirds of the mass remain in a
solid state between the woollen cloths. The liquid obtained as above men-
tioned from this first pressure of the materials when cold, is pure or nearly
pure oleine; but as palm oil is generally considered to contain about sixty-
nine per cent. of oleine and thirty-one per cent. of stearine and margarine or
solid matter, it follows that one half the former is yet contained in the solid
cakes or mass that have been submitted to the first pressure above mentioned.
In order to facilitate the further separation of the remaining portion of the
oleine from the stearine, the cakes of fatty matters must be again heated in a
boiler or vessel to about 212° of Fahrenheit for from three to four hours, after
which it is again run off into a wooden or other convenient vessel, where it is
left to cool slowly and chrystallize a second time. The fatty matters are then
again packed in small parcels of from sixteen to thirty pounds weight each in
woollen cloths, and each parcel is to be placed in a horsehair bag or sack,
and between pressing plates, when the fatty matters are submitted to a second
pressure with a powerful hydraulic press. For this second pressing operation
the woollen cloth, the horsehair bags, and the pressing plates are to be warmed
before packing the mass in the press in bundles. It will be found that a
small portion of the solid fats will run off during the second or warm pressing
operation with the liquid oleine; such being the case, the oleine or liquid
matter thus obtained is added to a mass of fresh palm oil that has not yet
been operated upon, and is about to undergo the first pressing operation. The
cakes that remain in the cloths after the second or warm pressing operation
will be found to consist of the solid constituents or parts of palm oil, namely,
stearine and margarine. It has been found, that from one hundred pounds
weight of the raw palm oil of commerce, thirty per cent. or nearly so of
stearine may be obtained by my process, and about sixty-eight per cent. of
oleine. This latter substance, when obtained by the above process, is not
diminished in value as it would be if the old process of saponification were
employed, but will be found to be quite as good, and as equally applicable to
the purpose of making soap as the raw palm oil itself, as it undergoes no
chemical action. If the oleine is to be converted into white soap, it must of

page_text: course be bleached, which may be done in the usual way. The cakes of
stearine that remain in the woollen cloths after the second and warm pressing
operation are then to be bleached, if the palm oil from which they were
obtained has not been previously operated upon for that purpose.
The operation of bleaching the stearine or solid fat, and which forms the
second part of the Invention, is not conducted in the usual way by means of
chlorine, manganese, or sulphur, but upon an entirely different and what I
conceive to be a new plan. The cakes of stearine obtained as above are
placed in a tub or vessel, and melted, the temperature being maintained at
about 212° Fahrenheit. When the mass has been reduced to a perfectly
liquid state it is to be run out into a trough or conduit, which is kept supplied
with a running stream of clear cold water in the proportion of about two parts
of water to one of stearine or the solid fatty matter, so that the latter always
meets about double its own quantity of water, and by this means it becomes
almost instantaneously solidified and converted into minute particles or crystals.
The water carrying the stearine and margarine in this state with it is run into
a vessel from whence the stearic and margarie crystals are removed and
exposed to the action of the air and the light of the sun, whereby they become
perfectly white in a very short time. The bleached solid fats, or stearine and
margarine, are then to be remelted in a bath of water; that is to say, they are
placed in a vessel containing water, and are mixed therewith. The water is
then heated by means of steam pipes, or in any other convenient manner, and
a small quantity of sulphuric acid is added in the proportion of about two
pounds by weight of acid to one hundred pounds by weight of the stearine or
fatty matter, for the purpose of clearing the latter from all particles of iron
or any other foreign or extraneous matters which might have gone over or
become mixed therewith during the different processes of boiling. After the
mass has been cleansed in this manner it is removed to another vessel, where
it is again melted in water, with the addition of the whites of five eggs to
every one hundred pounds weight of stearine or fatty matter. The whole
must boil for some time (about one hour), and be kept well stirred, after
which it should be left to itself, for the purpose of allowing all the dirt and
other impurities to settle at the bottom of the vessel. The stearine and mar-
garine is then run off into moulds, and when solid will be found to be a fine
white crystallized fat consisting of stearine and margarine ready for use. This
improved process of bleaching may also be employed for bleaching wax or
other materials of which candles may be manufactured, and is also applicable
to bleaching stearine obtained from other substances than palm oil.
If it is proposed to use the stearine for the manufacture of candles, it will

page_text: be found desirable to prepare the candle-wicks in the following manner, as their
burning will be thereby very much improved :-Dissolve one part of boracic acid
(well ground) in twenty-four parts of alcohol, or of dilute sulphuric acid (but
alcohol is preferable); let the wicks that are intended to be used remain in
this liquid for twelve hours, after which, press them gently to remove any
superfluous liquor, and use the remaining portion of the liquor for another
operation.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, and also the manner of carrying the same into
effect, I would observe, that although I have described and explained a means
or method of effecting the separation of the fatty matters, which has been
found fully to answer, yet I do not mean or intend to confine myself strictly
to the precise order, time, and temperature above set forth, as these points
may be considerably varied according to the state of the weather and other
circumstances without departing from the nature of the Invention.
And I also wish it to be distinctly understood, that I lay no claim to the
broad principle of submitting palm oil to pressure for the purpose of effecting
the separation of the stearine and other solid fats from the oleine or liquid fats
when saponification is employed, the object of this Invention being to effect
the crystallization of the solid fats, and ultimately their separation from the
liquid fats, without resorting to the process of saponification.
That which I consider to be new in the above-described process, and
therefore wish to claim as the Invention to be secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, operating upon raw palm oil (either bleached or unbleached) in the
manner above set forth, so as to cause the solid fats to crystallize without
employing the process of saponification.
I claim as new in the above-described process, crystallizing the solid fats
by alternately heating and gradually cooling the whole mass from which
the whole of the liquid particles are then removed by pressure.
Secondly, I claim the method above set forth of bleaching stearine or other
matters of which candles are or may be manufactured, whether such stearine
or other matters is or applied to the manufacture of candles or to other
purposes to which it or they may be applicable.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
WILLIAM (L.B.) NEWTON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Twelfth day of March,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Willian Newton came before our
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And
also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Twelfth day of March, in the year above written.