Improvements in the Process of and Apparatus for Deodorizing Oil.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Apr., 1897-Accepted, 29th May, 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Process of and Apparatus for Deodorizing Oil.
We, JAMES RAYNOR WHITING, Manufacturer of Hop Extract, of Stamford,
in the County of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, and WILLIAM APPLETON
LAWRENCE, Manufacturer of Hop Extract, of Waterville, in the County of
Oneida and State of New York, United States of America, do hereby declare the
nature of our invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates particularly to a process and apparatus for refining and
deodorizing the lighter products of petroleum. That the object and usefulness of
our invention may more clearly appear, it is necessary that it be understood that
all the lighter products of the destructive distillation of coal and petroleum, known
in commerce and the arts as petroleum ether, gasoline, benzine, naphtha, etc. have,
even in the lightest and purest form obtainable for use in the arts, a certain
rank and offensive odour, which greatly detracts from the value and usefulness of
the lighter products of petroleum, especially as they are largely used as solvents,
and the offensive odour is to a certain extent retained by the substances even after
the complete evaporation and separation of this solvent.
To remove from these lighter products of the destructive distillation of coal or
petroleum, a large and appreciable proportion of this disagreeable and damaging
odour, and thereby greatly increase the value of products resulting from their use
as solvents, is the object of our present invention.
We will describe a process embodying our invention, and an apparatus for
carrying out the same, and then point out the novel features in the appended
claims.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this
specification, in which the figure is a sectional elevation of an apparatus that may
be employed for carrying out our process.
The apparatus comprises a heating cylinder 1, in the lower portion of which is
arranged a coil of pipe 2, through which a heating medium such as steam is
designed to pass. This pipe 2 has a valve-controlled inlet 3 and a valve-controlled
outlet 4. Arranged in the upper portion of the cylinder 1 and extended longitudinally
thereof, is an inlet pipe 5, provided with perforations throughout its length, and
having a valve-controlled inlet 6.
Arranged near the cylinder 1 is a charcoal container 7, within which bone
charcoal is placed. Preferably this container 7 will be provided with a number
of perforated partitions 8, thus forming the container into a number of communicating
chambers. The object of the partitions 8 is to prevent the charcoal from packing.
by its own weight. A valve-controlled pipe 9 communicates with the interior of
the cylinder 1 at its top portion, and communicates with the interior of the
container 7 at its lower end, and this container 7 may have a valve-controlled
outlet 10 through which condensation may be drawn off should any accumulate in
the container.
Arranged near the container 7 is a lime water cylinder 11, having a valve-
controlled outlet 12, and communicating with the container 7 by means of a pipe 13.
The said pipe 13 enters the upper end of the container 7 and is extended down-
ward in the cylinder 11 nearly to its bottom, and at the lower end the pipe 13 is
turned in a horizontal direction and provided with a number of perforations, as
indicated at 14. The cylinder 11 is provided with a suitable water gauge 15, and
a pipe 16 leads from the upper portion of the cylinder to a condensing coil 17,

page_text: arranged in a condensing chamber 18. Arranged above the plane of the cylinder 11
is a lime water tank 19 having a valve-controlled pipe 20 leading into said cylinder.
The tank 19 is designed to contain a saturated solution of quick lime, intended
for replenishing the amount of lime water in the cylinder 11.
The operation is as follows:-
A heating medium, such for instance as steam, is admitted to the pive 2, and
then the solvent, that is, any of the lighter products of the destructive distillation
of coal or petroleum to be treated is admitted to the pipe 5, from which it
discharges in small jets onto the hot pipe 2, which quickly changes the solvent to
vapour, and during this process a sufficient pressure is generated to force the
vaporized solvent through the apparatus. The vapour passes from the cylinder 1
into the container 7, and thence upward through the charcoal therein, and down-
ward through the pipe 13, and discharges through the perforations 14 into the
cylinder 11, which has been previously charged with lime water. The vapour will
rise through the lime water and discharge through the pipe 16 into the condenser 18,
from which it may be drawn off in any desired manner. The condenser pipe 17
would be immersed in water of any convenient temperature below 55° F.
We find in practice that the passage of the vaporized solvent through the bone
charcoal, as described, frees the solvent from a large portion of its offensive odour,
and that the further passage of the vaporized solvent through the lime water as
described, eliminates from the solvent a further appreciable proportion of the
offensive odour, so that the refined solvent after being carried through the entire
process is greatly enhanced in value and usefulness.
Although we have shown and described an apparatus by means of which our
process may be best carried out, we do not limit ourselves to the precise
construction and arrangement shown.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. A process of deodorizing oil, consisting in first reducing the oil to a vapour,
then passing said vapour through charcoal, then through lime water, and then
condensing said vapour, substantially as specified.
2. An apparatus for deodorizing the lighter products of coal or petroleum,
comprising a heating cylinder in which the material under treatment is to be
vaporized, a container for charcoal having communication with said cylinder,
a lime water cylinder comununicating with the container, and a condenser
communicating with said lime water cylinder, substantially as specified.
3. An apparatus for deodorizing the lighter products of coal or petroleum,
comprising a heating cylinder, a perforated inlet pipe in said cylinder, a heating
coil in said cylinder, a container for charcoal, a perforated transverse partition
in said container, a pipe connection between the upper portion of the cylinder
and the lower portion of the container, a lime water cylinder, a pipe leading from
the upper part of the charcoal container through the wall of the lime water
cylinder and nearly to the bottom thereof, the lower portion of said pipe being
provided with perforations, a condenser communicating with the upper portion of
the lime water cylinder, and a supply tank having a pipe communication with
the interior of the lime water cylinder, substantially as specified.
4. A process of deodorizing the light products of oil consisting in first passing
the same in the form of a vapour through charcoal and subsequently subjecting
it to the action of lime, substantially as described.
Dated this 27th day of April 1897.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53 Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.
A. M. & WM. CLARK,
53 Chancery Lane, London, Chartered Patent Agents.