AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR TREATING WOOD AND OTHER ANALOGOUS SUBSTANCES FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING THEREFROM USEFUL FIBRES AND OTHER VALUABLE PRODUCTS
Year: 1874

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR TREATING WOOD AND
OTHER ANALOGOUS SUBSTANCES FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING THEREFROM
USEFUL FIBRES AND OTHER VALUABLE PRODUCTS."-A communication from
abroad by Doctor Richard Mitscherlich, of Darmstadt, in the Empire
of Germany.
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR TREATING WOOD AND
OTHER ANALOGOUS SUBSTANCES FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING THEREFROM
USEFUL FIBRES AND OTHER VALUABLE PRODUCTS."-A communication from
abroad by Doctor Richard Mitscherlich, of Darmstadt, in the Empire
of Germany.
Scaled the 21st December 1874, and dated the 27th August 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 27th August 1874.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lanc, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR TREATING
WOOD AND OTHER ANALOGOUS SUBSTANCES FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING THERE-
FROM USEFUL FIBRES AND OTHER VALUABLE PRODUCrs," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to obtain from wood, bark, straw, and
other analogous substances, first, the fibres (contained therein) for the

page_text: purpose of using such fibres in the manufacture of paper, cardboard,
millboard, or textile fabrics; and, second, to obtain and utilize the
soluble matters contained in the wood or other analogous substances.
In carrying out the process the reducing materials, such for instance
as a solution of sulphurous acid, are heated for some time with the
above mentioned woody substances under strong pressure. The woody
matters remain as a fibrous mass, whilst the materials which cause tho
cementation of the ligneous fibres are reduced to an easily soluble state.
The quantity of fibres thus obtained from the wood or other substances
is usually equivalent to at least nine-tenths of the dried wood, and the
fibres, which are very long in many species of wood, are submitted after
the chemical process to a mechanical manipulation, such as crushing or
grinding, so as to disintegrate them or reduce them to a state of pulp,
when they can be used in the manufacture of paper and paper like
fabrics, or for the production of rough woven fabrics.
When (instead of wood) other analogous substances, such as bark,
straw, or flax, are used, fibres for fine textures such as linen may be pro-
duced in a much more simple and economical manner than has been
possible hitherto.
The dissolved substances are found partly in the fluid, and are partly
obtained by the mechanical manipulation of the fibres, as above men-
tioned. These substances will vary in quality, according to the nature
of the wood or other substance operated upon, and they can be used for
the manufacture of tannin for tanning leather, or making ink. Gum-
like substances obtained from this source may also be used for sizing
paper, or they may be subjected to fermentation and distillation.
The process can be carried out in different ways, but I will describe
one mode of procedure as an example. The wood, which should be in
pieces of moderate size, is heated for half an hour in steam in a copper
boiler capable of resisting a pressure of ten atmospheres. To this is
added (by pouring through a funnel) a quantity of water equal to, say,
one quart mixed with, say, two quarts of a solution of sulphurous acid
in water, to which is added sulphate of lime, partly dissolved, partly in
suspension. The vessel should be filled about three-quarters full, and
the liquid solution of the useful ingredients is obtained by adding
muriatic acid to the sulphate of lime (dissolved and suspended in the
water) till little bubbles of sulphurous acid gas are formed. The boiler

page_text: is then kept for four hours at a temperature of 110 centigrade, which is
about equal to a pressure of three atmospheres above that of the air.
The wood, which has now become reduced to a fibrous state, is removed
from the boiler and crushed or triturated between or under rollers, and
is then made in the usual manner into paper or other fabric.
is then kept for four hours at a temperature of 110 centigrade, which is
about equal to a pressure of three atmospheres above that of the air.
The wood, which has now become reduced to a fibrous state, is removed
from the boiler and crushed or triturated between or under rollers, and
is then made in the usual manner into paper or other fabric.
The soluble materials proper for the above mentioned and other manu-
factures are obtained from the resulting liquid solution and from the sap
pressed out by the rollers.
Office on the 27th February 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward Newton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter 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 PROCESS FOR TREATING WOOD AND OTHER ANALOGOUS SUBSTANCES
FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING THEREFROM USEFUL FIBRES AND OTHER VALUABLE
PRODUCTS," being a communication to me from Dr. Richard Mitscherlich,
of Darmstadt, in the Empire of Germany, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Edward 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

page_text: 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 Scal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward 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): -
'
and
The object of this Invention is to obtain from wood, bark, straw,
other analogous substances-First the fibres (contained therein) for the
purpose of using such fibres in the manufacture of paper, cardboard,
millboard, or textile fabrics; and, second, to obtain and utilize the
soluble matters contained in the wood or other analogous substances.
In carrying out the process the reducing materials, such for instanco
as a solution of sulphurous acid, are heated for some time with the above
mentioned woody substances under strong pressure. The woody matters
remain as a fibrous mass, whilst the materials which cause the cemen-
tation of the ligneous fibres are reduced to an easily soluble state. The
quantity of fibres thus obtained from the wood or other substances is
usually equivalent to at least nine-tenths of the dry wood, and the
fibres, which are very long in many species of wood, are submitted after
the chemical process to a mechanical manipulation, such as crushing or
grinding, so as to disintegrate them or reduce them to a state of pulp,
when they can be used in the manufacture of paper and paper like
fabrics, or for the production of rough woven fabrics.
When instead of wood or other analogous substances, such as bark,
straw, or flax, are used, fibres for fine textures, such as linen, &c., may
be produced in a much more simple and economical manner than has
been possible hitherto.
The dissolved substances are found partly in the fluid, and are partly
obtained by the mechanical manipulation of the fibres, as before men-
tioned. These substances will vary in quality according to the nature.
of the wood or other substances operated upon; and they can be used for
the manufacture of tannin. for tanning leather, or making ink. Gum-
like substances obtained from this source may also be used for 'sizing
paper, or they may be subjected to fermentation and distillation.

page_text: The process can be carried out in different ways, but I will describe
one mode of procedure as an example. The wood, which should be in
pieces of moderate size, say, of a size such as is used for domestic firing,
is heated for half an hour in steam in a copper boiler or in an iron boiler
lined with copper, tin, or. lead, and capable of resisting a pressure of
three atmospheres. To this is added, by pouring through a trough or
funnel, a quantity of water, equal to, say, one quart mixed with say two
quarts of a solution of sulphite of lime in water, to which is added.
sulphate of lime, partly dissolved, partly in suspension. The vessel
should be filled about three-quarters full, and the liquid solution of the
useful ingredients is obtained by adding muriatic acid to the sulphate of
lime (dissolved and suspended in the water) till all the lime or carbonate"
of lime is neutralized, and little bubbles of sulphurous acid gas are
formed. The boiler is then kept for a few hours at a temperature of one
hundred and ten centigrade, which is about equal to a pressure of three
atmospheres above that of the air. The wood, which has now become
reduced to a fibrous state, is removed from the boiler, and crushed or
triturated between or under rollers, and is then made in the usual manner
into paper or other fabric.
The distinguishing feature of this improved process, irrespective of
the chemicals used, is that the woody fibre after the heating operation
comes away without being discolored, but retaining its natural tint or
color, so that if a white fibre be required white woods, such as poplars,
lime trees, willows, and other white woods, may be used, and any sub-
sequent bleaching operation will not be necessary. Moreover the same
chemicals may be used many times over, as it will only be necessary to
add some fresh sulphate of lime and muriatic acid, so that the consump-
tion of chemicals (which however are not costly) will be reduced to a
minimum. The process is quite free from danger, as for the production
of white fibre the temperature of the chemical solutions need not be
raised above one hundred and eight degrees centigrade, and therefore
the pressure in the boiler will never exceed three atmospheres.
The soluble materials proper for the above mentioned, and other
manufactures, are obtained from the resulting liquid solution and from
the sap which is pressed out of the rollers.
Having now described this Invention of "An Improved Process for
Treating Wood and other analogous Substances for the Purnose of

page_text: Obtaining therefrom useful Fibres and other valuable Products," as
communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and having explained
the manner of carrying the same into effect,-
I claim as the Invention secured to me by the above in part recited
Letters Patent, the combination of the chemical process above described
for dissolving out the soluble matters contained in the wood with the
mechanical operation for disintegrating the fibres so as to bring them
into a state suitable for use in the arts.
I also claim, treating the soluble matters obtained from the wood as
herein mentioned for the purpose of obtaining useful substances there-
from.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have herc-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of February,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.