IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING BURMESE AND SUCH LIKE PETROLEUM
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Fergusson Wilson, of Belmont, Vauxhall, in
the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING
BURMESE AND SUCH LIKE PETROLEUM."
Sealed the 24th March 1857, and dated the 28th January 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Fergusson Wilson.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
28th January 1857.
I, GEORGE FERGUSSON WILSON, of Belmont, Vauxhall, in the County of
Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TREATING BURMESE, AND SUCH LIKE PETROLEUM," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists principally in a modification of the process for which
a Patent was taken out by Mr. Warren de la Rue, on the 25th July 1853, for
means of treating and preparing certain tar or naptha, and applying products
thereof. Whereas, he proposed to distil over the lighter parts of the petroleum
by means of steam, then the heavier portions by means of superheated steam,.
and then to treat the products of such distillation by sulphuric acid. I find it
advantageous to treat the petroleum with sulphuric acid after its lighter pro-
ducts have been separated by the agency of steam or otherwise, and whether
the heavier portion be afterwards distilled or not.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Fergusson Wilson in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd July 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
FERGUSSON WILSON, of Belmont, Vauxhall, in the County of Surrey, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of January, 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 me, the said
George Fergusson Wilson, Her special licence that I, the said George Fergusson
Wilson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Fergusson Wilson, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
TREATING BURMESE, AND SUCH LIKE PETROLEUM," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said George Fergusson Wilson, my executors or administra-
tors, 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 Inven-
tion, 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 George Fergusson Wilson, 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 principally in a modification of the process for which
a Patent was taken out by Mr. Warren de la Rue, on the 25th July 1853, for
means of treating and preparing certain tar or naptha, and applying products
thereof. Whereas, he proposed to distil over the lighter parts of the petroleum
by means of steam, then the heavier portions by means of superheated steam,
and then to heat the products of such distillation by sulphuric acid. I find it
advantageous to heat the petroleum with sulphuric acid after its lighter pro-
ducts have been separated by the agency of steam or otherwise, and whether
the heavier portion be afterwards distilled or not..

page_text: Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, I will proceed more fully
to describe the manner of performing the same.
After having distilled over the lighter products, the residue left in the still
is to be agitated for several hours (say, twelve) with about ten per cent. of its
weight of sulphuric acid, either concentrated or diluted with half its weight of
water, after which the product is to be well washed in water, when it will be
found to be a suitable material for lubricating machinery; or the purified pro-
duct may be further distilled, and, by preference, with heated free steam, by
which valuable distilled products will be obtained.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Fergusson Wilson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
GEO. PITT.
GEO. F. WILSON. (L.S.)