A NEW APPARATUS DESTINED TO PRODUCE CHEMICAL DECOMPOSITIONS BY MEANS OF SUPERHEATED STEAM AND WATER."
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Alfred Wright, of Batignolles, near Paris,
Civil Engineer, and Louis Jules Fouche, of Paris, Steam Boiler Maker,
for the Invention of "A NEW APPARATUS DESTINED TO PRODUCE CHEMICAL
DECOMPOSITIONS BY MEANS OF SUPERHEATED STEAM AND WATER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Alfred Wright
and Louis Jules Fouche at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 1st April 1857.
We, ROBERT ALFRED WRIGHT, of Batignolles, near Paris, Civil Engineer,
and LOUIS JULES FOUCHE, of Paris, Steam Boiler Maker, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW APPARATUS DESTINED TO PRODUCE
CHEMICAL DECOMPOSITIONS BY MEANS OF SUPERHEATED STEAM AND WATER," to be
as follows:
The Invention is especially intended to be applied to the transformation of
tallow and other fatty substances into stearic & oleic acids & glycerine, by
means of superheated steam and water, which produce chemical decomposition
of the said fatty substances. It can also be applied to the purification of all
kinds of oil, as also for obtaining extractive matter of a fatty or other nature.
The apparatus which we apply for carrying our improved process into effect
is represented by the annexed Sketch, which is a front view thereof. A, strong
cylindrical metallic boiler (water and steam tight), suited for a pressure of at
PS1

page_text: least 20 atmospheres; B, furnace; C, ash-pit; D, stop-cock, provided with a
dipping feed pipe, which is also used for emptying it; E, man-hole; F, metallic
tube communicating from bottom of cylinder A to bottom of cylinder H;
G, metallic pipe carrying the superheated water from cylinder A to the top
part of cylinder H: the upper end of this tube is provided with a wide round
head perforated with numerous small holes like the rose of a watering pot,
for the better introduction & distribution of the water into the cylinder H.
I. funnel, provided with a stop-cock for introducing in a fluid state the material
to be treated; K, man-hole for cleaning the cylinder and for introducing the
more bulky or solid substances, such as rough tallow, &c. L. safety valve;
M, steam pressure gauge; N, N, N, trial cocks for ascertaining the level of
either water or fatty liquid; O, emptying cock.
For employing this apparatus, for instance, for the purpose of converting
tallow, concrete oil, or other fatty materials into fat acids and glycerine, the
operation is commenced by filling the cylinder A with water; water is also
introduced into the cylinder H, but only to about one-third of its height; the
oil or tallow is then introduced, if in a melted state, through the funnel I
or, if solid, by the man-hole K. The cylinder is then gradually heated by the
furnace B till the pressure of from 10 to 20 atmospheres is obtained, according
to the nature of materials operated upon; then the following reaction takes
place: The superheated water and steam in the cylinder A makes an ascending
movement, which is produced by the difference of the temperature between the
cylinders A and H, from which it results that the water heated in the cylinder
A flows upwards through the pipe G, and is there distributed over the surface
of the fatty material in the cylinder H through the small holes in its rose-
shaped termination: it then passes through the faity matter, descends through
the pipe F to the bottom of the cylinder A, when it becomes again heated and
reascends through the pipe G. and thus continues circulating.
When this operation has been carried on for a period of time varying from
4 to 8 hours, more or less, according to the nature of the material! submitted
to its action, and also according to the heat applied the pressure, varying
from 10 to 20 aimospheres, the fatty matter is decomposed into glycerine,
which remains in solution in the water, and the fat acid which floats on the
surface of the water in the cylinder H, from whence they are drawn off
through the cocks.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Alfred Wright and Louis Jules Fouche in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 30th September 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wc, ROBERT
ALFRED WRIGHT, of Batignolles, near Paris, Civil Engineer, and LOUIS JULES
FOUCHE, of Paris, Steam Boiler Maker, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Robert Alfred Wright and Louis Jules Fouche, Her special licence that we,
the said Rorbert Alfred Wright and Louis Jules Fouche, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Robert Alfred
Wright and Louis Jules Fouche, our 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 "A NEW
APPARATUS DESTINED TO PRODUCE CHEMICAL DECOMPOSITIONS BY MEANS OF SUPER-
HEATED STEAM AND WATER," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said Robert Alfred Wright and Louis Jules Fouche, our executors or admi-
nistrators, by an instrument in writing under our, 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 Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Robert Alfred Wright, on behalf of
myself and the said Louis Jules Fouche, do hereby declare the nature of our
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement, reference
being had to the Drawings therein referred to, that is to say:-
The apparatus, the subject of this Invention, is susceptible of several
industrial applications, in which decomposition or chemical changes are to be
effected, and in illustration thereof, we will describe it as applied to the
decomposition of fatty bodies.
It is composed of two bodies or vessels. The first boiler, heated by the
source of heat, contains the water. The second boiler, heated by the super or
highly heated water or steam from the first boiler, contains the water and the

page_text: fatty substance to be operated upon. These two boilers being put in com-
munication with each other by a suitable system of tubes, an automatic
continuous current or circulation necessary to produce the chemical action is
generated by the water alone, without the aid of mechanical manipulation.
The apparatus of our Invention is chiefly applicable to the decomposition of
fatty substances in fatty acids and in glycerine, by means of highly or super-
heated water and steam.
This apparatus is represented in the annexed Drawings, in which Fig. 1
shows the elevation complete: Fig. 2, the vertical section of a part of the
apparatus of a modified form; Fig. 3, the vertical section of another modifica-
tion of a part of the apparatus; Fig. 4 represents a horizontal section of a
third modification; and Fig. 5 the vertical section of another arrangement of
the same apparatus complete. The dimensions of the apparatus may vary
with the various purposes to which it may be applied. In these Figures the
same letters indicate the same parts where they recur. « is a metal (iron or
copper) boiler, of any form whatever, placed in a furnace in order to be heated
by a naked fire; this boiler is sufficiently strong to resist a pressure of from ten
to twenty atmospheres; it is of variable capacity according to the requirements
of the manufacture, and it may have its interior lined with lead, or with any
other metal which will not be attacked by the fatty or other bodies which are
to be introduced and produced therein. b, hearth or fire bars; c, ash-pit;
d, dipping pipe, furnished with a cock to empty the apparatus by pressure;
e, man-hole, serving for cleaning the cylindrical vessel a, and for the intro-
duction of substances if required; /, metal tube (of iron or copper) connecting
the bottom of the boiler a with the bottom of cylinder h; g. metal tube of
ascension, conducting the superheated or highly heated water from the boiler a
to the upper part of cylinder h. This tube terminates in the interior of the
cylinder by a rose jet, or more simply, holes are made in the extremity,
so as to distribute the water uniformly over the area of the cylinder h,
and to ensure a molecular or finely subdivided contact between the super-
heated or highly heated water and the substance submitted to the operation.
h, iron or copper upper cylinder, which should, like boiler a, be able to resist a
pressure of from ten to twenty atmospheres; this cylinder h receives the sub-
stances to be treated; i, funnel, furnished with a tube and with a cock, serving
for the introduction of the substance to be treated into the cylinder h, that is,
when this substance is of such a nature as may be introduced through a small
aperture; , man-hole, serving for cleaning the cylinder h, and for the intro-
duction of substances to be treated which cannot pass through the funnel i;
1, safety valve; m, pressure gauge, indicating the pressure in the whole of the

page_text: and of the water in cylinder ; 0, COCK, serving to empty the cylinder when
the operation is completed.
ACTION OF THE APPARATUS.
Supposing everything arranged as shewn in the Drawing, then, in order to
decompose fatty substances into fatty acids and into glycerine, the boiler a is
completely filled with water, and the cylinder h is filled with water up to one-
eighth of its height, and it is then filled up to the level of the upper guage
cock with the fatty bodies to be decomposed; the introduction of the fatty
bodies takes place as aforesaid, either through the funnel i or by the man-hole k.
The boiler a is then gradually heated till the pressure gauge indicates a
pressure of from ten to twenty atmospheres, according to the nature of the
substances submitted to the operation, when the following takes place.
The superheated or highly heated water in the boiler a acquires an ascending
motion on account of the difference of the temperature of the two capacities a
and h, a current is thus created, whence it results that the heated water in
boiler a ascends through the tube g into the cylinder h, and being forcibly
driven out through the holes in the rose jet passes through the fatty bodies
and descends again through the tube to the bottom of the boiler . where it
is again heated in order to recommence its ascending motion, and so on.
When this operation has been thus continued during a length of time, which
may vary, say from five to eight hours, according to the nature of the fatty
bodies operated upon, and also according to the variation of pressure (varying
from ten to twenty atmospheres), the fatty bodies are decomposed into
glycerine, which remains dissolved in the water, and into fatty acids which
float in the cylinder h; the contents are now emptied out and separated from
each other.
In Figures 2, 3; and 4, we have represented modifications of the heating
boiler a. Thus, in Fig. 2 the boiler is heated by a continuous current of
steam. For this purpose, p is a double casing receiving the steam; r and q
are the entering and exit pipes.
This same apparatus having the double casing may be placed on a furnace
with a naked fire, so as to form a water bath at a high temperature; it is
furnished with a man-hole and safety valve, not represented in the Drawings.
In Fig. 3 the water in the boiler a is heated by a worm s, having one
branch leading from any steam generator whatever, and returning to the same
generator by the other branch.
.
In Fig. 4 the water in boiler a is heated by a horizontal worm t, having one

page_text: branch coming from any suitable steam generator, and returning to this same
generator by the other branch.
We will now proceed to describe a second apparatus, represented at Fig. 5,
which is based on the same principles and produces the same results; it is
represented in the annexed Drawing, which is a vertical section, and fully
illustrates the Invention. a, first boiler, heated by a naked fire, or by a water
or sand bath, by a worm pipe, or by a current of high-pressure steam;
b, second and upper boiler, containing the water and fatty matters, and having
the vacant space,, above the fatty matters; c, c, tubes communicating from
the bottom of the second boiler to the bottom of the first hoiler «; d, d,
tubes communicating from the upper part of the first boiler to the upper part
of the second boiler; e, e, tubes or chambers pierced with holes terminating the
upper part of tubes d, d, and extending over the area of the second boiler b;
1. f, gauge cocks to indicate the levels of the contents; g. g, man-holes;
h, h, pipe and emptying cock; i, i, pipe for the supply of water; i, funnel for
the introduction of the fatty matters; k, safety valve; I, pressure gauge.
Supposing the whole mounted and furnished as represented in the Drawing,
and that the apparatus is heated, and the pressure within raised to from ten to
twenty atmospheres, it will be readily understood that a continuous and auto-
matic current will be generated, which causes the water to ascend through the
tubes d, d, whence it flows through the tube pierced like a rose jet on to the
liquified fatty bodies, and then returns to boiler a through the tubes c, c, some-
what reduced in temperature; when it arrives in boiler a it will again be
heated, and will resume its action, make another ascent, and so on.
In conclusion, we would remark, we are aware that the decomposition of
fatty bodies by water and steam, or by the aid of water and steam under the
influence of heat and of pressure, is a well-known scientific fact, but the
methods hitherto suggested for rendering that fact available are subject to
various objections; we mention this in order that we may not be supposed to
claim the discovery of that principle.
In the apparatus constructed according to our Invention, the water and the
fatty matters are heated separately in two different boilers, the first boiler is
heated by the source of heat, while the second boiler is heated by the first
boiler. In this apparatus the agitation and diffusion necessary for the che-
mical action and combination is produced by the difference of pressure of the
heated water in the first and second boiler; this water circulates continuously
from this first boiler to the second boiler, and from the second to the first
in a continuous and self-acting or automatic manner without interruption.
So that the distinctive features of our apparatus are the producing agitation

page_text: and diffusion by circulation alone, such circulation being due to the difference
of the specific gravity of the ascending and descending columns, and the
attaining the chemical action in a continuous manner without the aid of any
manual or other assistance.
Having described the nature of our Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, we would remark that we do not claim the exclusive
application of superheated or highly heated water and steam for decomposing
fatty bodies; but what we claim as the Invention intended to be secured by
the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is. the construction and use of
apparatus in which water superheated or highly heated in one vessel circulating
through and heating the contents of another vessel continuously in a minutely
divided state, causes the substances under operation to be decomposed or
purified by the continuous action of the water, and without the use of other
mechanical means.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Alfred Wright, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
WILLIAM CLARK, Patent Agent,
53, Chancery Lane.
ROBT. A. WRIGHT. (S.)