AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING OR SEPARATING PARAFFINE FROM SCHISTOSE OR MINERAL OILS AND OTHER HYDROCARBONS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS 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 AND APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING OR
SEPARATING PARAFFINE FROM SCHISTOSE OR MINERAL OILS AND OTHER
HYDROCARBONS."-A communication from abroad by Paul François Morin,
of Paris, in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 22nd May 1860, and dated the 22nd December 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd December 1859.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING
OR SEPARATING PARAFFINE FROM SCHISTOSE OR MINERAL OILS AND OTHER HYDRO-
CARBONS," to be as follows:-
Mineral oils containing paraffine do not deposit this substance except at a
low temperature. In summer it is difficult, if not impossible, by the ordinary
means, to collect the dissolved paraffine, except by the employment of powerful
refrigerating apparatus, which hitherto has not been found to answer the
purpose in a commercial or economical point of view.

page_text: The inventor of the present process and apparatus proposes to reduce the
temperature of the mineral oils by submitting them in a finely divided state
to the action of a current or currents of air. To this end a stream of the
paraffine oil or liquid hydrocarbon is allowed to run into an apparatus, con-
structed somewhat on the principle of the centrifugal drying machine; this oil
passes through a metallic sieve or through holes perforated in the rotating drum
of the apparatus; by this means it enters the envelope of the drum in a finely
divided state, where it is operated upon by a strong current of air produced by
the rapid rotation of the drum. The paraffine will then become congealed in
the form of little crystals, and when mixed with the liquid portion of the oil
will form a paste, which will fall to the bottom of the envelope; as this
paste accumulates at the bottom it will gradually approach the under side of
the rotating drum, and consequently will experience the effects of the current
of air which is circulating in the various parts of the apparatus, and whereby
it will be set into a rapid whirling motion, which will cause it to run off
through a suitable tube into a second whirling apparatus placed below. By
setting this second apparatus into rapid rotation, the liquid portions of the
pasty mass will be driven off through the perforated drum, leaving the solid
paraffin in the interior of the drum. This second apparatus may be employed
for separating the liquid from the solid matters, by whatever process or appa-
ratus the paraffine may have been solidified in the oil, for instance, the tem-
perature of the oil may be reduced by any ordinary refrigerating apparatus, or
by the natural effect of the atmosphere, as in winter, when the paraffine will
crystallize naturally at the temperaturo of the surrounding atmosphere. The
pasty mass consisting of the mixture of liquid and solid matters may be put in
the second rotating apparatus, and the liquid and solid particles separated, as
above mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 21st June 1860.
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-second day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
3

page_text: Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward Newton, ny 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 AND APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING OR
SEPARATING PARAFFINE FROM SCHISTOSE OR MINERAL OILS AND OTHER HYDRO-
CARBONS," being a communication from Mr. Paul François Morin, of Paris,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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
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):-
Mineral oils containing paraffine do not deposit this substance except at a
low temperature. In summer it is difficult, if not impossible, by the ordinary
means, to collect the dissolved paraffine except by the employment of powerful
refrigerating apparatus, which hitherto has not been found to answer the
purpose in a commercial or economical point of view.
The Inventor of the present process and apparatus proposes to reduce the
temperature of the mineral oils by submitting them, when in a finely divided
state, to the action of a current or currents of air. To this end a stream of
the paraffine oil or liquid hydrocarbon is allowed to run into an apparatus
constructed on the principle of the well-known centrifugal drying machine;
this liquid oil passes through a metallic sieve or through holes perforated in
the rotating drum of the apparatus; by this means it enters the envelope of
the drum in a finely divided state, where it is operated upon by a strong
current of air produced the rapid rotation of the drum. The paraffine will
by this means become congealed in the form of little crystals, which being
mixed with the liquid portion of the oil will form a paste of more or less con-
sistence, and which will fall to the bottom of the envelope; as this paste
accumulates at the bottom it will gradually approach the under side of the

page_text: rotating drum, and consequently will experience the effects of the current of air
which is circulating in the various parts of the apparatus, and whereby it will
be set into a rapid whirling motion, which will cause it to run off through a
suitable tube, in such a manner that the discharge of the substance will be
effected continuously and with regularity. The mixture of solid paraffine and
oil may, if desired, be run off direct into a second rotating or centrifugal appa-
ratus, and by setting this second apparatus into rapid rotation, the liquid
portions of the pasty mass will be driven off through the perforated drum,
leaving the solid paraffine in the interior of the drum. It will of course be un-
.derstood that the separation of the solid paraffine from the liquid portion of the
mass will be effected more or less completely according to the speed at which
the centrifugal apparatus is driven. The rotating or centrifugal apparatus may
be employed not only for crystallizing or solidifying the paraffine contained in
the crude liquid paraffine oil, but also for separating the liquid from the solid
matters by whatever process or apparatus the paraffine may have been
solidified in the oil, for instance, whether the temperature of the oil be
reduced by any ordinary refrigerating apparatus or by the natural effect of the
atmosphere, as in winter (when the paraffine will crystallize naturally at the
temperature of the surrounding atmosphere), the paraffine when solidified may
be separated from the liquid portion of the oil by placing the pasty mass (con-
sisting of the mixture of liquid and solid matters) in a rotating or centrifugal
apparatus, such as that above referred to, and the liquid and solid particles
will be separated by driving off the liquid portion, as above mentioned, leaving
the solid paraffine dry, or nearly so. It will be found that the centrifugal
apparatus will do more work within a given time than the press which is now
used, and the employment of such an apparatus admits of dispensing
with the operation of draining through cloths or on frames, or, at least, will
have the effect of much shortening the operation of draining.
•
From the foregoing description of the improved process it will be evident
that one of the principal advantages resulting from the Invention will be, that
the process of extracting paraffine from oils of schist, tar, and other heavy oils
and analogous substances may be carried on uninterruptedly throughout the
year, and that a great economy in labor will result therefrom.
Having now described this Invention of an improved process of, and appa-
ratus for, extracting or separating paraffine from schistose or mineral oils and
other hydrocarbons, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, the
mode herein set forth of solidifying paraffine in oils or liquid bydrocarbons con-
taining that substance; I claim also the mode herein set forth of separating

page_text: the solid paraffine from admixture with the liquid portions of the oil or liquid
hydrocarbon.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)