IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING THE SOLUBLE CONSTITUENTS OF SUBSTANCES FROM THE INSOLUBLE CON- STITUENTS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Henry Johnson, F.C.S., of Lea Bank
Works, Stratford, in the County of Essex, Chemist, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING
THE SOLUBLE CONSTITUENTS OF SUBSTANCES FROM THE INSOLUBLE CON-
STITUENTS."
Sealed the 18th March 1873, and dated the 12th October 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 12th October 1872.
I, SAMUEL HENRY JOHNSON, F.C.S., of Lea Bank Works, Stratford,
in the County of Essex, Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS
FOR SEPARATING THE SOLUBLE CONSTITUENTS OF SUBSTANCES FROM THE INSOLUBLE
CONSTITUENTS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in an improved method and apparatus for
treating mixed soluble and insoluble substances with liquid solvents
(whether volatile or otherwise) for the purpose of dissolving out in the
solvent the soluble portions of the said substances, and separating them

page_text: from the insoluble portions, and so that the operation may be performed
in a continuous manner; and this I effect by causing a stream of the
solvent to pass through the substances, moving in an opposite direction
to the stream, and for this purpose I place the substances to be acted
upon by the solvents in a receptacle. I then introduce the liquid solvent
at the lower part of the receptacle, the liquid ascends by pressure
suitably applied, which may be by means of a pump or by letting it
flow in from a higher level until it flows out by an overflow pipe placed
near the top of the receptacle; the substance under treatment is caused
to move in the opposite direction by the force of gravity. The insoluble
residuum is removed by continuous acting machinery being consolidated
by pressing a large portion of the liquid solvent out of it, and then
forcing it through a tubular passage near the bottom of the receptacle.
The substance so pressed and forced into the passage forms an effectual
plug impermeable to the solvent, so that the solution of the soluble
substances finds its exit from the upper part only of the receptacle. It
is then apparent that by supplying the substances to be acted on by the
solvent at the upper part of the receptacle continuously as fast as it is
removed by the mechanism at the bottom of the receptacle, and by
causing the liquid to flow continuously into the lower part of the
receptacle in suitable quantity that I remove the soluble portion of the
substance or substances from the insoluble continuously.
For the purpose of forcing the undissolved portion of the substance
out through the aperture any suitable mechanical means may be resorted
to. I prefer to employ a plunger working in the receptacle with a
continuously reciprocating motion and actuated by an hydraulic ram. I
provide the plunger with a face which is permeable to the solvent. Thus
for example if it be desired to extract oil from crushed seeds or kernels
they are placed in a cylinder or other vessel, which may be open at the
top, and the solvent, say, bisulphide of carbon is admitted near the bottom
of the vessel, which it ascends for some distance, passing amongst the
seeds or kernels, and is then together with the oil which it takes up,
drawn off by a side passage, which the seeds or kernels are prevented
from entering by a perforated screen of sufficient area covered with
flannel. The oil is afterwards separated from the solvent by dis-
tillation.

page_text: moulds it into a continuous roll. Any of the solvent remaining with
this roll is separated by causing the roll to travel forward through a
steam heated pipe which evaporates the solvent, and it is collected in a
condenser.
The vessel is always kept full of the seed or kernel for some distance
above the point at which the solvent is drawn off for the purpose of
preventing the evaporation of the solvent.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Samuel Henry Johnson, in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 10th April 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, Samuel
HENRY JOHNSON, F.C.S., of Lea Bank Works, Stratford, in the County
of Essex, Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of October, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Samuel Henry Johnson, Her special license
that I, the said Samuel Henry Jolinson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Samuel Henry Johnson,
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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING THE SOLUBLE CON-
STITUENTS OF SUBSTANCES FROM THE INSOLUBLE CONSTITUENTS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Samuel Henry Johnson, 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 bo
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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Samuel Henry Johnson, 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 thereof, that is to say:
My Invention consists in an improved method and apparatus for
treating mixed, soluble, and insoluble substances with liquid solvents
(whether volatile or otherwise) for the purpose of dissolving out in the
solvent the soluble portions of the said substances, and separating them
from the insoluble portions, and so that the operation may be performed
in a continuous manner, and this I effect by causing a stream of the
solvent to pass through the substances moving in an opposite direction,
and for this purpose I place the substances to be acted upon by the
solvents in a receptacle. I then introduce the liquid solvent at the
lower part of the receptacle, the liquid ascends by pressure suitably
applied, which may be by means of a pump, or by letting it flow in from
a higher level until it flows out by an overflow pipe placed near the top
of the receptacle, the solid substance under treatment is caused to move
in the opposite direction by the force of gravity. The insoluble residuum
is removed by continuous acting machinery, being consolidated by
pressing a large portion of the liquid solvent out of it, and then forcing
it through a tubular passage near the bottom of the receptacle. The
substance so pressed and forced into the passage forms an effectual plug
impermeable to the solvent, so that the solution of the soluble substances
finds its exit from the upper part only of the receptacle. It is then
apparent that by supplying the substances to be acted on by the solvent
at the upper part of the receptacle continuously as fast as it is removed
by the mechanism at the bottom of the receptacle, and by causing liquid
to flow continuously into the lower part of the receptacle' in suitable
quantity that I remove the soluble portion of the substance or substances
from the insoluble continuously.
For the purpose of forcing the undissolved portion of the substance
out through the aperture, any suitable mechanical means may be
resorted to. I prefer to employ a plunger working in the receptacle with
a continuously reciprocating motion and actuated by an hydraulic ram.
I provide the plunger with a face which is permeable to the solvent.
Thus for example, if it be desired to extract oil from crushed seeds or
kernels they are placed in a cylinder or other vessel which may be open
at the top, and the solvent, say, bisulphido of carbon, is admitted near

page_text: Figure 1 is a vertical section of apparatus constructed according to
my Invention, it is specially adapted to the use of a volatile solvent, in
such a case for example as the extraction of oil from palm kernels by
means of bisulphide of carbon; Figure 2 is an horizontal section taken
on the line 1, 1, in Figure 1; Figures 3 and 4 are sections taken respec-
tively upon the lines 2, 2, and 3, 3, in Figure 1; Figure 5 is an end
view of a portion of the apparatus.
a, a, is a cylindrical vessel at the upper part of which is a hopper b,
into which the grated nut kernels are placed, and the material is slowly
stirred by the stirring blades c upon the shaft c¹; d is a perforated pipe
through which the bisulphide of carbon is forced by a pump into the
vessel a; e is a pipe by which the solvent having passed through the
material and taken up, the oil or soluble matter is drawn off to be after-
wards separated from such material by distillation or otherwise, as may
be convenient, according to the nature of the solvent employed; fis a
wire cage covered with felt and inserted into the cylinder a, against the
interior of which it at its lower end fits tightly so that the felt may form

page_text: a filtering partition to stop back the solid material from the mouth of
the pipe e, thus an upward flow of the solvent is continuously main-
tained. The continuous descent of the solid matter is caused by the
reciprocation of the plunger g, this plunger passes a stuffing box h¹ in
the casting h, which forms the bottom of the vessel a. The plunger g
has formed upon it a ram g' cutering the hydraulic ram cylinder h³,
which is also a part of the casting h, and water forced by a pump into
the cylinder causes the plunger g to move forward, a weight draws it
back when the water is allowed to escape from the cylinder 4; i is a
taper nozzle fixed over the orifice in the casting h. When the
plunger g moves forward it pushes before it the grated palm, kernel, or
other solid material in front of it, and forces it through the orifice h³ and
nozzle i against the resistance of the material already in the nozzle. In
this way much of the solvent is pressed out, and the material is
discharged as a dry cylindrical roll.
If the solvent be valuable as the case with bisulphide of carbon, the
roll of material is caused to travel forward through a long steam jacketed
tube, large enough for the roll to pass freely, and long enough to permit
the whole of the solvent to be evaporated from it during its passage
through the tube, and this tube is connected with a condenser.
The plunger 9 is faced with two thicknesses of coarse wire gauze
covered with felt that the solvent may pass freely, and grooves are
made in the casting hat * with a similar object; k is a steam jacket
by means of which the contents of the vessel a are heated, but the
temperature is kept below the boiling point of the solvent.
In order to prevent loss of solvent at the stuffing box / I prefer to
surround it and the same cylinder with a water case, as is seen at
Figure 5, and from this case I carry a pipe up to a cistern at a suitable
level to balance the column of solvent in the vessel a.
It will be observed that the outlet by which the solvent is drawn off
is situate considerably below the top of the vessel a. By this arrange-
ment, although the mouth of the vessel a is left quite open for con-
venience of feeding, and although the solvent (bisulphide of carbon) is
very volatile, there is no loss, or inconvenience, or danger from the
evaporation of the solvent, as the solid material above the solvent level
effectually prevents the vapour rising. In place of discharging the
spent solid material in the manner above described a trunk may be

page_text: carried up from the bottom of the vessel a to the level of the top
thereof or thereabout, and the spent material may be scooped up this
trunk by scoops attached to an endless chain or otherwise, but the
arrangement described is preferred, a better separation of the solid
materials from the solvent is in this way obtained.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that I
claim the method herein described of separating insoluble ingredients
from soluble, by causing the tlid material to descend through a vessel
through which a stream of a solvent is caused to ascend, substantially as
described.
I also claim the method of removing the spent material from the
bottom of the vessel by means of a plunger, in order that fresh portions
thereof may be brought into contact with the ascending stream of
solvent, substantially as described.
I also claim the method of separating soluble from insoluble ingre-
dients where a volatile solvent is used, by causing a stream of the
solvent to rise up through a vessel in which the material is contained,
and to be drawn off beneath the level of the material in the vessel, so
that the material above the outlet for the solvent protects the solvent
from evaporation, substantially as described.
I also claim the general arrangement of the apparatus substantially as
described and shewn in the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Henry Johnson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Second day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three