Improved Apparatus and Process for the Treatment of Rainie or other Textile Plants.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Dec., 1898-- Accepted, 13th May, 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Apparatus and Process for the Treatment of Rainie or
other Textile Plants.
I, CHARLES LÉON BACHELERIE, of 60, Rue Caumartin, Paris, in the Republic
of France, Chemist, 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:-
This invention relates to an improved apparatus to be employed in combination
with a process for treating ramie or other textile plants with the view of extracting
the fibre without having recourse to an ulterior chemical treatment for freeing
said fibre from gummy substances.
The apparatus is shown in the accompanying drawings in which,--
Figure 1 is a longitudinal elevation; Figure 2 a plan view; Figure 3 an end
elevation and Figure 4 a vertical section of the gas producing vessel.
The apparatus is composed of a cylinder A having a fixed end B and a movable
end or door C capable of being tightly closed. This door is mounted on hinges
and is pressed to its seat by means of hinged bolts and lug screws. The cylinder
is capable of supporting a pressure of about two atmospheres. It is placed in
communication with the gas generator by means of a pipe E provided with a
tap F. It has also a safety valve ]) and pressure indicator.
The gas producer connected to this cylinder is an hermetically closed vessel G
also capable of supporting a pressure of two atmospheres. It has inside (see
Figure 4) a container or dish M mounted on a spindle which may be turned or
rotated from the outside by means of a handle N. This dish is intended to
receive a suitable acid such for instance as hydrochloric acid which is supplied
to it by means of a pipe K provided with a tap and having a funnel at the top.
An opening provided in the side of the vessel and which is closed by a screw
door Hallows of the introduction of the pulverulent material necessary for the re-
action. This apparatus is completed by a safety valve I, a pressure indicator J
and a discharge pipe with a tap L.
The apparatus works in the following manner, taking for instance the treatment
of ramie which I have more particularly in view, but of course the process and
apparatus may be employed for other textile plants such as flax, hemp and the
like.
The freshly cut stalks of ramie are introduced into the cylinder A, the door C
of which is then closed and pressed firmly to its seat in such a way as to form a
tight joint. The gas producer G is then charged by spreading on the bottom a
suitable quantity of pulverised bicarbonate of soda or other suitable material
capable of giving off carbonic acid. The door H is then closed. A given quantity
of hydrochloric or other suitable acid is then supplied through the pipe K to the
dish M and the tap of the pipe K is then closed. The apparatus is then ready
for working

page_text: After the tap F of the communication pipe E has been opened the dish M is
brusquely oscillated or tipped whereby the acid is caused to fall on the bi-carbonate
thus producing a very active reaction. Carbonic acid in a nascent condition is
thereby given off carrying with it a certain proportion of finely subdivided hydro-
chloric acid and passes into the cylinder A. The air in the latter escapes by a
vent not shown on the drawing. When the said vent is closed, the pressure rises
in the cylinder A but it need not exceed two atmospheres and it remains mora
frequently below that.
After a period of time which varies according to the quantity of ramie to be
treated, but which never exceeds 8 to 10 minutes, the operation is terminated. The
tap is then closed and the gas allowed to escape from the cylinder A. The
door C is thereupon opened and the ramie withdrawn and allowed to dry on the
ground or it is conveyed beneath sheds according to the district and season of
the year and the cylinder is again charged with fresh ramie. The vessel G is also
cleaned and recharged with bi-carbonate of soda and acid for a fresh operation.
These operations are thus very short and economical in view of the low price
of the substances employed. The operations are preferably carried out at the
place where the ramie is harvested, and for this object the cylinder A instead of
being mounted on a pedestal or base l' as shown in the drawings may be mounted
on a car, together with the gas generator and thus a large quantity of stalks may
be treated in a day.
The stalks thus treated dry without alteration. When once dried they are
subjected to the action of any suitable decorticator, where they are freed not only
from their husks and woody constituents but also of part of the gummy substances
which glue the fibres together. These substances in fact after the treatment before
described are found to be disintegrated and fall off easily in the form of dust.
Some fall off during the bruising or scutching, the remainder disappears with the
other impurities during the carding of the fibre. The textile fibre is thus not
weakened as in the processes at present employed, having a special chemical
treatment, but it preserves all its resistance and further the extraction of the fibre
is very economical.
The same treatment in the apparatus hereinbefore described may be applied to
dried or semi-dried stalks, or to china grass or to fibre undeprived of its gum but
in that case the material introduced into the cylinder A must be moistened before
treatment. A bleaching gas such as chlorine or sulphurous acid or the like may
also in certain cases be added to the gas coming from the vessel G in order to obtain
a perfectly white fibre. For this purpose any ordinary apparatus for producing
such a bleaching gas may be employed, all that is requisite being to connect said
apparatus to the cylinder A by means of a pipe provided with a valve. The
bleaching gas is preferably introduced in the desired quantity into the cylinder A
a little before the arrival of the gas from the vessel G which latter will then
exert its pressure upon the whole gaseous mixture in the cylinder.
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:
1. An apparatus for the treatment of ramic or other textile plants consisting
of a cylinder (A) having a fixed end (B) and a tight fitting door (C), in communica-
tion with a closed vessel (G) provided internally with a tilting dish (M), and having
a pipe (K) for introducing acid, a tight fitting door (H), a safety valve (I) and a
discharge tap (L) substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the
accompanying drawings.
2. For the treatment of ramic or other textile plants, the production of gas and
its use under pressure in a nascent condition, in an apparatus formed of a closed
vessel (G) having a carbonate or bi-carbonate on its bottom and hydrochloric or
other suitable acid in a tilting dish (M) within said vessel, the latter being in
communication by means of a pipe having a tap, with a tightly closed cylinder (A),

page_text: containing the plants to be treated, substantially as herein before described and
shown in the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 12th day of December 1898.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.