AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE PROCESS OF DISTILLING PETROLEUM AND OTHER OILS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE PROCESS OF DISTILLING
PETROLEUM AND OTHER OILS."-A communication from abroad by Orazio
_ Lugo and Theodore Otto Ludwig Schrader, both of the City and State of
Now Vork United States of Americe
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th September 1866.
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 IMPROVEMENT IN THE PROCESS OF DISTILLING
PETROLEUM AND OTHER OILS," to be as follows:
This Invention relates to the introduction of atmospheric air or other
gaseous substance during the distilling process among the vapours eliminated
from petroleum or other oils by the heat applied to the still, for the purposes of
expediting the distilling process and improving the quality of the distilled oils.
In the Specification of Letters Patent granted to William Edward Newton,
and dated January 4th, 1866 (No. 31), and being a communication from one
of the present communicants, the admission of air into the still during dis-

page_text: tillation is described. Subsequent experiments have, however, led to the
discovery that after the vapours of lighter oils have passed over the still, and
the temperature of the still is raised to evolve the vapours of heavier oils, it is
desirable to introduce the air or gas into the goose neck or exit pipe of the
still, in order that it may not become, by passing too great a distance in contact
with the hot vapours, so highly heated as to combine with the hydrocarbon
vapours in such manner as to generate or form ammoniacal gases; and the
point of admission of the air or gas requires to be varied as the increase of
temperature is continued, in order to shorten the distance between such point
and the condensing apparatus. This Invention therefore consists in the
admission of the air or gas into the goose neck or exit pipe of the, still, and in
varying the point of admission to the still and goose neck or exit pipe as the
distilling process progresses.
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 27th March 1867.
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.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth 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 there-
after 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 IMPROVEMENT IN
THE PROCESS OF DISTILLING PETROLEUM AND OTHER OILS," being a communication
from abroad, 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

page_text: 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :—
This Invention, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondents,
relates to the introduction of atmospheric air or other gaseous substance
during the distilling process among the vapors eliminated from petroleum or
other oils by the heat applied to the still, for the purposes of expediting the
distilling process and improving the quality of the distilled oils.
In the Specification of Letters Patent dated January Fourth, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-six, No. 31, and communicated to the Patentee by
one of the present communicants, the admission of air into the still during
distillation is described. Subsequent experiments have, however, led to the
discovery that after the vapors of lighter oils have passed over the still, and the
temperature of the still is raised to evolve the vapors of heavier oils, it is
desirable to introduce the air or gas into the goose neck or exit pipe of the
still, in order that it may not become, by passing too great a distance in
contact with the hot vapors, so highly heated as to combine with the hydro;
carbon vapors in such manner as to generate or form ammoniacal gases; and
the point of admission of the air or gas requires to be varied as the increase
of temperature is continued, in order to shorten the distance between such
point and the condensing apparatus. This Invention therefore consists in the
admission of the air or gas into the goose neck or exit pipe of the still, and in
varying the point of admission to the still and goose neck or exit pipe as the
distilling process progresses.
'
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is an elevation, mainly in section, of
a distilling apparatus illustrating the manner of carrying out the Invention,
and Fig. 2 a plan of the same. Similar letters of reference indicate corre-
sponding parts in both Figures.
A is the still, which for the purpose of varying and regulating the distance
from the condensing apparatus at which the air is admitted is preferred to be
made of a horizontally elongated form. It is heated by a furnace below and
filled through a pipe G. a is the goose neck or exit pipe, which is continued
through the cooling tanks of two condensers C, C¹, of ordinary construction.
Beyond the second condenser C¹ the pipe is continued upward, as shown at O,
to the induction opening of a rotary or other pump F, the eduction pipe P of

page_text: which leads to the receiver E for the condensed products. The pump F
draws the vapors from the still and the oil from the condensers C, C', and at
the same time draws air or gas into and through a pipe K, at the inlet end of
which there is a stop cock K³ to shut off or regulate the supply. The pipe K
is connected with the end of the still A furthest from the exit pipe a at
different heights by means of stop cocks K1, K2, Ks, also with the top of the
still by a stop cock K', and with the exit pipe a by stop cocks K, K, and K7;
at different distances from the still. From the receiver E a pipe Q leads to a
third condenser D, to convey thereinto such condensible volatile products as
may arrive in the receiver E, and be not condensed therein, and this pipe is
continued in the form of a coil through the said condenser, with an exit at N
for the condensed volatile liquid substances; M is an exit pipe for the dis
tilled oil from the receiver E; R is an exit pipe for the uncondensible vapors
or gases from the third condenser D, and R' is an exit pipe leading from a
trap in the exit pipe outside of the second condenser C¹ for the escape of gas
or light vapors when the distilling process is conducted in the ordinary manner,
with the pump and the air pipe K shut off, as may be temporarily necessary
in case of the pump being out of order, or for any other cause; L is the exit
for the oil from the still when the pump is not in operation and the air shut
off, furnished with a stop cock L', which is closed when the pump is in
operation and air is admitted among the vapors. Other stop cocks not
necessary to mention, but the necessity of which will suggest itself to the
practical distiller, may be used in the various pipes.
I will now describe the operation as it has been practically conducted on a
large scale. The still is filled within about three inches from the stop cock K³,
the fire applied, and as soon as distillation commences stop cock L' is closed;
and communication of the exit pipe with the pump F and the stop cock KB are
opened, and the pump is set in motion, and at the same time the stop cock K³
is opened to admit air into the still, first for the purpose of creating a current
in connection with the pump F to counterbalance the diminishing pressure of
the gases inside of the still, which if not counterbalanced would force the
formation of vapors to such a degree as to carry them undistilled into the
condensers. The temperature of the vapors may be supposed at this stage of
the distillation to be about one hundred and fifty degrees, and the gravity of
the product about eighty degrees. Stop cock K³ may be kept open until the
gravity of the product has fallen to about seventy degrees, by which time the
temperature having increased the stop cock K* is opened and the stop cock K³
shut, in order to shorten the distance which the admitted air will have to
travel before reaching the. condensers, for if K³ had remained open and K'

page_text: remained shut the distillation must have stopped, or nearly so, on account of
the air getting overheated and combining with the hydrocarbon vapors, thus
generating ammoniacal gases. The cock K' is kept open until the gravity of
the distilled product falls to about sixty-two degrees, when the heat having
again increased with the gravity of the oil it again becomes necessary to
shorten the distance which the air bas to travel, in order to prevent its
becoming overheated and giving rise again to the formation of ammoniacal
gases. Proceeding on this principle the cock K is opened until the gravity
falls to fifty-five degrees; then for the reasons already given the cock K® is
opened, either alone or with K³, until the gravity of the product falls to about
forty-nine degrees; then K' is opened, and all the other stop cocks but Ks are
closed. The stop cock K' is kept open until nothing remains but the tar,
which is then run off from the bottom of the still into the condenser B.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improvement
in the Process of Distilling Petroleum and other Oils," 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, admitting air or gas
into the goose neck or exit pipe of the still, and varying the point of admission
as the process of distillation progresses, substantially as and for the purpose
herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (LS.)