Improvements in or relating to the Treatment of Fish and Fish Offal, and in Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Sept., 1893
Complete Specification Left, 15th Nov., 1893-Accepted, 16th Dec., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Treatment of Fish and Fish
Offal, and in Apparatus therefor.
I, JOHN CHARLES WILLIAM STANLEY of 5 Dewhurst Road, West Kensington
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to a complete process for the sanitary and economical
treatment of fish, fish waste and offal whereby several products of commercial
value such as oil, manure, fish glue and cattle food may be obtained.
The process may be carried out in the manner hereinafter described but I wish
it to be understood that the working of the invention is not limited to the particular
apparatus described.
In carrying out my invention I prefer to proceed as follows;-
The fish or fish offal is placed in drums or cases into which may be poured
water either fresh or salt, and if necessary in case the fish is decomposed a chemical
agent may be added to act as a deodorizer. The drums or cases are then closed
with an air-tight lid in which a tap or valve may be fixed and the drums placed
in a tank or kettle and boiled until the flesh is entirely cooked and will readily
separate from the bone.
If the drums with the fish require to be stored for any length of time the tap
is opened and the air and steam allowed to escape or a pump can be applied to
the valve and the air exhausted; the contents of the drum will thus be prevented
from decomposing.
The cooking will free a quantity of oil which can be removed from the drums
by decanting; the drums may be constructed of any desired size but 1 prefer to
employ such a size as will allow the contents to be thoroughly heated through.
After the oil is removed the contents of the drum (fish fibre bone &c.) is placed
in a disintegrating machine preferably a cone-shaped worm with a reducing pitch;
this worm is placed in a casing with perforations in the bottom. The fish &c.
may be fed in by a hopper and the action of the screw will be to press out the oil
remaining and to reduce the fish to a pulp loosening the fibres from the bones.
To separate the fibre from the large bone and any shells that may be in the
material treated I introduce it into a machine which may consist of a horizontal
cone-shaped drum of any desired length and diameter, preferably suspended and
rotated by chains from an over-head shaft, this drum is covered with wire-gauze
of small mesh and in the interior there may be arranged projections to lift the
material and keep it moving forward. Each end of the drum is partly closed so
as to leave an opening of suitable size and blades are employed for lifting the large
bone and shell that will not pass through the mesh, the blades will deliver the
material into a worm conveyor. This drum is suspended in a tank in which water
is constantly flowing the depth of water being regulated by a suitable overflow;
the flesh and small bone that will pass through the gauze flowing away with the
water and the large bone and shell being removed by the worm.
These products
I treat preferably in the following manner.
The bones and shells may be delivered together with a supply of water by
suitable conveyors and elevators on to one or more gravitation shoots in which the
heavier and more solid material such as the shell is arrested by suitable stops
while the bones and the lighter material flow onwards into a suitable receiver.
The bone and shell may be used for manure or other industrial purposes such as
the manufacture of fish glue and the shell may be burnt for lime.
The fibre and oil which will be carried by the water from the strainer is pumped
or otherwise conducted into tanks where the fibre will sink and the oil rise to the

page_text: surface of the water from which it can be removed and the water allowed to drain
away from the fibre. As the manurial value of the product will be much
increased by being as free as possible from oil, to remove any trace of oil that
may still remain in it I subject it to a washing process in such a manner that all
the fibres will be opened out and the oil cells liberated. This can be most
effectively done in a machine such as is commonly used for reducing rags to pulp
and known as a "beating engine" and then washing. A certain weight of the
fibre to be washed is placed in this machine and the washing carried out until all
trace of oil is removed; the fibre is then placed in tanks to drain and the water
pressed out by any suitable means.
For the purpose of drying the fibre I may employ a machine with a false
bottom for steam heating or it can be set in brickwork and the heat obtained by
direct firing and an arrangement of flues; a vertical shaft is placed in the centre
with hollow projecting arms fixed horizontally to the edge with branch arms
dropping to scrape the bottom if desired. The machine is enclosed and an outlet
made connected with an exhaust fan and the fish fibre to be dried is placed in the
machine the inlet of air being through the hollow stirrers; the air drawn by the
fan has to pass through the agitated fibre and in this manner the steam and vapours
can be removed and burnt in the furnace of a steam boiler as forced draught thus
enabling a cheap fuel to be used for providing steam for the engine that operates
the machine.
The waste water from the various operations of the process will contain very
fine particles of fibre and dissolved bone and to recover this product I add lime
alum or other precipitating agent, but preferably lime prepared from shells or
"coral lime " as it will possess some manurial value; the lime is thoroughly
mixed with the water and conducted into a series of tanks where it will deposit
the matter held in suspension which can be used for manure. The water which is
cleared and inoffensive can be led to waste or used for the requirements of the
process.
By the above process fish, fish offal whether wet fish alone or offal mixed with
shells can be separated into a uniform fibre and small bone (that will pass through
a small mesh) oil, large bone, shell, clean water recovered from the water in the
fish all of which when separated can be employed for industrial purposes, the whole
process being carried on in an inoffensive and sanitary manner. The fish fibre is
particularly valuable as manure, also the bones. The oil is washed to separate
particles of flesh that may have got mixed with it, and is allowed to settle in
suitable tanks and removed for sale.
Dated this 13th day of September 1893.
W. P. THOMPSON & BOULT,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Treatment of Fish and Fish
Offal, and in Apparatus therefor.
I, JOHN CHARLES WILLIAM STANLEY of 5 Dewhurst Road, West Kensington,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, 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 a complete process for the sanitary and economical
treatment of fish, fish waste and offal whereby several products of commercial value
such as oil, manure, fish glue and cattle food may be obtained.
The process may be carried out in the manner hereinafter described, but I wish
it to be understood that the working of the invention is not limited to the particular
apparatus described.
The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying drawings
which represent diagrammatically the apparatus employed in carrying out the

page_text: process. The fish or fish offal is placed in drums or cases A, Sheet 1, into which
may be poured water either fresh or salt and if necessary in case the fish is required
to be kept for a time before treatment a chemical agent may be added as a
deodorizer. The drums or cases are then closed with an air tight lid A¹, taps or
valves A being also provided. The drums when ready are placed in a tank or
kettle B and boiled preferably by steam either with the assistance of a jacket
or admitted direct to the water in the tank. In the drawing a pipe B is shown
for admitting the steam and another pipe B' for admitting water both being
provided with taps. The boiling is continued until the flesh is entirely cooked
when it will readily separate from the bone. If the drums with the fish in
require to be stored for any length of time the tap is opened and the air and
steam allowed to escape, the contents of the drum being thus prevented from
decomposing.
•
A
The cooking will free a quantity of oil which can be removed from the drums by
decanting, this in the arrangement of apparatus shown in the drawings taking place
into the tank C preferably arranged high up in the building, the oil and water
passing from the tank C by the pipe C₁ into the oil tank D on a lower floor.
winch A is shown on the top floor for raising the drums as the boiling tank B
is shown for convenience located on the bottom floor of the building. The solid
matter remaining in the drums after the oil and water have been decanted is
poured into the hopper E¹ of the screw compressing machine E in which the fish is
subjected to sufficient pressure to substantially dry it, the liquid expressed escaping
into the trough E from which by the pipe E it flows to the before mentioned oil.
tank D. The solid matter, consisting for the most part of flesh and bone passes
by the shoot E to the breaking machine or devil F to which water is admitted by
the branch F¹ of the main water supply pipe G, the fish being whirled about and
beaten and separated from the bones, both liquid and solid matters, and the water
admitted into F flowing by the shoot F into the revolving drum H formed of wire
gauze perforated zinc or the like. This drum is preferably carried by chains H¹
passing round pulley flanges H' upon the ends of the drum and also around
pulleys H' upon a shaft H driven by a pulley and belt or in other convenient
manner. The drum H is by the chains H revolved in the trough H into which
the water and fibre suspended therein flows from the drum through the openings
in the gauze. As the fish in the devil F is required to be in a somewhat stiff
condition an extra supply of water is provided for the drum H by the branch
pipe H of the main G; by the arrangement of these two branches H and F' each
of which is provided with its appropriate cock, the proper consistency of the
materials both in the devil F and the drum H can be ensured. The bones are
caused to travel through the drum by means of an open worm H³ and escape
from the drum H by the tube H7 the inner end of which is stopped and the upper
portion of the pipe cut away; the bones are lifted by the vanes or paddles H³ as
the drum revolves and fall into the open top of the pipe H' the outer end of which
delivers them to the shoot I whence they can be collected and dried in any con-
venient manner. Should any shells, stones or the like be mixed with the bones
these may be separated by gravitation shoots, consisting of inclined trays, or
channels with stops or baffles in them and water flowing down, the shells being
collected in the pockets formed by the baffles, and the bones flowing on with the
water.
Instead of the drum H being arranged as above described it may be revolved by
the chains H¹ out of contact with the water in the trough H' water being supplied
to the drum by a pipe perforated on its underside and carried along near the top
inside the drum, the spraying of the water under pressure having the effect of
assisting to beat the fibre clear of the bones. Otherwise the construction and
operation of the drum would be substantially the same as that above described and
in either case the drum may be provided with a worm or Archimedean screw or
equivalent either revolving with the drum or fixed, for the purpose of causing the
bones etc, to travel towards the delivery end of the drum,

page_text: The compressing apparatus E above described is composed of a tapered or
conical tube or case in which revolves a tapered screw or worm of reducing
pitch the effect being to compress the contents of the apparatus towards its delivery
and smaller end thus expelling the oil and other liquid or moisture and also forcing
out the solid and substantially dry matters at the other end. The fluids escape by
perforations in the under side of the body the perforations extending preferably
the whole length of the machine.
The devil or disintegrating machine F is of the well-known type used particularly
in the manufacture of paper and consists of a casing lined with spikes or knives
and a drum or shaft revolving therein and also provided with spikes or knives
which pass between those of the casing and thus tear or cut the contents of the
apparatus.
From the trough H' the water and fibrous matter suspended therein pass by
shoots J¹ to the strainers J where the fibrous matter is retained in the form of a
stiff paste while the water escapes by the pipes J' to the chemical mixing tank K
cocks J being provided if required upon the pipes J2. The strainers J may be
variously constructed, but satisfactory results may be obtained by forming them
with double walls and bottom the outside walls and bottom being solid and the
inner ones perforated thus providing an extensive straining surface; the pipe J'
would communicate with the space between these two sets of walls.
In some cases the fibrous material from the strainers J will be in suitable
condition to be dried and used for various agricultural and other purposes; in
other cases however it may be desirable to still further purify the fibre from oil
and when this is necessary it is conveyed by travelling bands, elevators or other
suitable means, to the washer L which may be of the well known construction
commonly employed in the manufacture of paper for pulping and washing pulp or
fibrous materials. The fibrous material is delivered into the trough L' containing
water in which revolve the paddle wheel L and gauze drum Ls; the paddle L
beats and mixes the fibre with the water thus liberating any oil that it may still
contain, the oil and the water from the trough L' escaping through the fine mesh
of the gauze drum L* from the interior of which they are lifted by paddles or the
like inside the drum to an open-topped pipe L into which they escape in a manner
similar to that described with reference to the open-topped pipe H' of the drum H,
the pipe L entering the drum L for this purpose. The pipe or channel L
delivers to the chemical mixing tank K; water is supplied to the trough L¹ by
the pipe Lo.
From the washer L the fibrous material in a stiff pasty condition falls through
the opening L into the tray M and from that through an opening in the bottom
into the compresser N preferably of similar construction to compresser E already
described. The opening in the bottom of the tray M may be controlled by a sliding
door M¹ but the feed is chiefly regulated by the revolving stirrer M³ which
travelling slowly round prevents the material from settling and causes it to pass
through the opening into the compresser N. From the compresser N the fibrous
material is delivered by any suitable means-automatic or otherwise-into the
closed vessel O (in the drawing a portion of the cover is removed to show the
interior) in which it is stirred by the revolving stirring device O¹ which is made
hollow to allow heated or ordinary air to enter by the hollow spindle O' and pass
through the stem and arms of the stirrer, escaping by small perforations in the
latter into the body of the material in the drier; the circulation of the air being
effected either by supplying compressed air at O' or by suction by the pipe 03
which may be connected with a fan or other suction device, or a steam jet 0%, so
as to exhaust the air from the drier O. The drier may be heated or not; when
heated it is convenient to form it as a steam jacketed pan but other means may be
adopted for the purpose. When the drying operation is completed the contents
may be discharged by the shoot O' in the bottom, a suitable door or slide O' being
provided for closing this shoot. The cover or lid may be made in sections or a
portion of it may be removable to facilitate the introduction of the material.