Improved Method of Decolorizing Mineral, Animal, and Vegetable Oils, Fats, and the like, and the Employment of Silicic Acid for the purpose.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 7th May, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 6th Feb., 1891-Accepted, 21st Mar., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Method of Decolorizing Mineral, Animal, and Vegetable
Oils, Fats, and the like, and the Employment of Silicic Acid for
the purpose.
I, HENRYK STERN, of 25, Karmelicka, Warsaw, Russia, Chemist, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
:-
According to experiments made by me with respect to decolorizing means, I have
discovered the hitherto unknown fact that chemically pure silicic acid obtained by
precipitation from soluble silicates is an advantageous decolorizing means operating
rapidly in the treatment of oily, tarry, resinous, and waxy substances which had to
be hitherto purified in different manners differing in each case. For instance most
fats and oils of mineral, vegetable, or animal origin are now purified by treating
them first, with suitable quantities of sulphuric acid and neutralizing the latter acid
with alkaline lyes. Other substances are moreover treated with so called
decolorizing powders (chiefly animal charcoal).
Guided by my experiments, I now propose a new method which consists in either
adding directly to the above substances silicic acid such as obtained by precipitation
from soluble silicates and filtering the mixture while pressing and extracting the
residuum, or in passing through a filter filled with silicic acid, the above mentioned
substances, that is to say, solutions thereof either in a heated or cold state.
Any kind or construction of filters, such as are used for technical and practical
purposes in factories and works, or for household purposes may fulfil the required
object. For technical or industrial purposes, the most suitable are large filters,
such as are used in the manufacture of sugar, or in sugar refineries and distilleries
for purifying by means of bone charcoal, or such as battery filters consisting of
chambers and vessels which serve for the methodic removal of lyes from various
bodies or like Hagen's filter for example, used for edulcorating the slime in the
manufacture of sugar. The silicic acid used should be well washed and freed as
far as practicable from moisture by drying and roasting or calcining. The more
fluid the substance required to be purified the finer ground must be the silicic acid.
The filtration is carried out in such a manner that the liquid being filtered may be
caused to pass through a row of filters arranged to form a battery. As the silicic
acid becomes dirty after some time and has consequently to be replaced, one vessel
after another is removed from the battery in such a manner that it is always the
filter which has been longest in operation is first withdrawn. In order to prevent
any loss of the filtering material the filters thus removed are washed out by means
of easily movable liquids which act as solvents for the substance under treatment.
For oily substances, for instance, benzine would form a good solvent. It is however
of great importance that the liquid used to wash the silicic acid should not be
contaminated with any traces of the coloring matter absorbed thereby, so that the
silicic acid left in the filter should not remain dirty or colored after having been
washed.
The silicic acid fully freed in this manner from fatty matters is roasted and regain
thereby its natural color and decolorizing power, so that the revivification or
regeneration of the decolorizing means used according to my invention is successfully
effected. It is however equally possible and easy, instead of revivifying the silicic
acid by a roasting operation to attain the same results by a chemical process. Such
a mode of purification must be preferred in cases when the compounds and coloring
matter absorbed by the silicic acid have a technical or commercial value. In such
cases liquid solvents must be used for washing the silicic acid, which solvents will
dissolve when brought in contact with dirty silicic acid, the substances which it is

page_text: intended to recover. Amongst such extracting means for coloring matters benzol
and its derivatives, sulphide of carbon, and others may be mentioned. The silicic
acid regains, after such extraction, its natural color and decolorizing power and can
be likewise considered as fully regenerated.
The advantages of this new method as compared with the manifold purifying
processes hitherto used are as follows:-
--
1. Silicie acid is a cheap product and can morcover be easily regenerated in the
manner above described.
2. A great economy is thus realized by dispensing with expensive purifying
material or substances, such as sulphurie neid, lyes, and other similar products, a
great number of which have been hitherto employed.
3. Sulphuric acid and other chemicals which have been used before do not only
destroy the coloring matter but attack also a portion of the fatty matters, while the
silicic acid only retains the coloring material and thereby allows of a very large
profit being in many cases realized.
4. The arrangement of filters is of the simplest and cheapest kind, the work
proceeds in a continuous manner, while the new method requires a smaller amount
of space, capital, and power than was heretofore neviled.
5. Lastly, there are well known cases in which all purifying processes hitherto
resorted to have remained without result, so that many oily, tarry, resinous, and
waxy substances have never been able to be properly cleaned. The method
proposed by me is generally applicable and may be considered as far as I can
positively determine as thoroughly infallible.
Dated this 7th day of May 1890.
II. GARDNER,
Patent Agent, 166, Fleet Street, London,
Agent for the said Henryk Stern.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Method of Decolorizing Mineral, Animal, and Vegetable
Oils, Fats, and the like, and the Employment of Silicic Acid for
the purpose.
1, TENRYK SPERS, of 25. Karmelieka, Warsaw, Russia, Chemist, 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:
According to experiments made by me with respect to decolorizing means, I have
discovered the hitherto unknown fact that chemically pure silicic acid obtained by
precipitation from soluble silicates is an advantageous decolorizing agent operating
rapidly in the treatment of oily, tarry, resinous, and waxy substances which had to
be hitherto purified in different manners differing in each case. For instance, most
fats and oils of mineral, vegetable, or animal origin are now purified by treating
them first with suitable quantities of sulphuric acid and neutralizing the latter
acid with alkaline lyes. Other substances are moreover treated with so called
decolorizing powders (chiefly animal charcoal).
Guided by my experiments, I now propose a new method which consists in either
adding directly to the above substances silicic acid, such as obtained by precipitation
from soluble silientes and filtering the mixture while pressing and extracting the
residuum or in passing through a filter filled with silicic acid the above mentioned
substances, that is to say, solutions thereof, either in a heated or cold state.
Any kind or construction of filters, such as are used for technical and practical
purposes in factories and works, or for household purposes may fulfil the required
object. For technical or industrial purposes, the most suitable are large filters,
such as are used in the manufacture of sugar, or in sugar refineries and distilleries
for purifying by means of bone charcoal, or such as battery filters cousisting of

page_text: chambers and vessels which serve for the methodic removal of lyes from various
bodies, or like Hagen's filter for example used for edulcorating the slime in the
manufacture of sugar.
The silicic acid used should be well washed and freed as far as practicable from
moisture by drying and roasting, or calcining. The more fluid the substance
required to be purified the finer ground must be the silicic acid. The filtration is
carried out in such a manner that the liquid being filtered may be caused to pass
through a row of filters arranged to form a battery. As the silicic acid becomes
dirty after some time and has consequently to be replaced, one vessel after another
is removed from the battery in such a manner that it is always the filter which has
been longest in operation is first withdrawn. In order to prevent any loss of the
filtering material, the filters thus removed are washed out by means of easily
movable liquids which act as solvents for the substance under treatment. For oily
substances, for instance, benzine would form a good solvent. It is however of great
importance that the liquid used to wash the silicic acid should not be contaminated
with any traces of the coloring matter absorbed thereby, so that the silicic acid left
in the filter should not remain dirty or colored after having been washed.
The silicic acid fully freed in this manner from fatty matters is roasted and
regains thereby its natural color and decolorizing power, so that the revivification
or regeneration of the decolorizing means used according to my invention, is
successfully effected. It is however equally possible and easy instead of revivifying
the silicic acid by a roasting operation to attain the same results by a chemical
process. Such a mode of purification must be preferred in cases when the compounds
and coloring matter absorbed by the silicic acid have a technical or commercial
value. In such cases liquid solvents must be used for washing the silicic acid, which
solvents will dissolve, (when brought in contact with dirty silicic acid), the
substances which it is intended to recover. Amongst such extracting means for
coloring matters, benzol and its derivatives, sulphide of carbon, and others may be
mentioned. The silicic acid regains after such extraction its natural color and
decolorizing power, and can be likewise considered as fully regenerated.
The advantages of this new method as compared with the manifold purifying
processes hitherto used are as follows:-
:-
1. Silicic acid is a cheap product and can moreover be easily regenerated in the
manner above described.
2. A great economy is gained by obviating the use of expensive purifying
material or substances, such as sulphuric acid, lyes, and other similar products, a
great number of which have been hitherto employed.
3. Sulphuric acid and other chemicals which have been used before not only
destroy the coloring matter but attack also a portion of the fatty matters, while
the silicic acid only retains the coloring material and thereby allows of a very large
profit being in many cases realized.
4. The arrangement of filters is of the simplest and cheapest kind, the work
proceeds in a continuous manner, while the new method requires a smaller amount
of space, capital, and power than was heretofore needed.
5. Lastly, there are well known cases in which all purifying processes hitherto
resorted to, have remained without result, so that many oily, tarry, resinous, and
waxy substances have never been able to be properly cleaned."
The method proposed by me is generally applicable and may be considered as far,
as I can positively determine, as thoroughly infallible.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be perforined, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The improved method of decolorizing mineral, animal, and vegetable oils, fats,
and the like, as hereinbefore described.
2. The use of chemically pure silicic acid produced in the manner described as a
decolorizing agent for crude naptha, refined naptha, mineral oils, paraffin, ozocerite,

page_text: animal and vegetable fatty matters, and other tarry, waxy, resinous, and oily
substances, or their solutions, as well as for colored solutions of various other
chemical products or substances.
3. The regeneration of the silicic acid-colored by the coloring matter-by
roasting, baking, or caleining, or by extracting from the above acid, the coloring
matter retained therein by means of suitable liquids, or chemicals.
F
R
JI. GARDNER,
Patent Agent, 166, Fleet Street, London,
Agent for the said Henryk Stern.