IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL GUMS FROM STARCH, FARINA. AND OTHER AMYLACEOUS SUBSTANCES, AND IN APPARATUS FOR SUCH MANUFACTURE
Year: 1858

page_text: Sealed the 26th October 1858, and dated the 14th August 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles O'Neill at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
August 1858.
CHARLES O'NEILL, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Manu-
facturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL GUMS FROM STARCH, FARINA.
AND OTHER AMYLACEOUS SUBSTANCES, AND IN APPARATUS FOR SUCH MANUFACTURE,"
to be as follows:-
The said Invention consists, first, in subjecting starch, farina, and other
amylaceous substances, to the chemical action of muriatic acid gas, or other
acid gas or vapour, or gas or vapour becoming acid during the process; the
said substances so acted upon being heated to a proper temperature either
before or after the admission to them of the gas or vapour employed.
[Price 8d.1

page_text: Secondly, in the following apparatus for effecting the aforesaid purposes:-
The starch, farina, or other amylaceous substance is enclosed within a
cylindrical or other conveniently formed chamber, into which the gas or vapour
employed is admitted, and which is surrounded by another chamber heated by
steam or other convenient agency for the purpose of imparting heat to the
amylaceous substance which is stirred about by revolving arms or other movers
within the inner chamber, in order that it may be more uniformly heated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles O'Neill in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th
February 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
O'NEILL, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturing Chemist,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight. in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles O'Neill. my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her
especial license that I, the said Charles O'Neill, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles O'Neill, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others.
from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term of years 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 THE MANUFACTURE, OF ARTI-
FICIAL GUMS FROM STARCH, FARINA, AND OTHER AMYLACEOUS SUBSTANCES, AND IN
APPARATUS FOR SUCH MANUFACTURE." upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Charles O'Neill, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Charles O'Neill, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,

page_text: and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement and description, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawings on one Sheet, and in which descrip-
tion and Drawings the same letters of reference are used to indicate the same
parts in all the Figures in which they occur.
My Invention consists, first, in subjecting starch, farina, and other amyla-
ceous substances to the chemical action of muriatic acid gas, or other acid gas
or vapour, or gas or vapour becoming acid during the process; the said sub-
stances so acted upon being heated to a proper temperature either before or
after the admission to them of the gas or vapour employed.
Secondly, in the following apparatus for effecting the aforesaid purposes:-
The starch, fariña, or other amylaceous substance is enclosed within a
cylindrical or other conveniently formed chamber, into which the gas or vapour
employed is admitted, and which is surrounded by another chamber heated by
steam or other convenient agency for the purpose of imparting heat to the
amylaceous substance, which is stirred about by revolving arms or other
movers within the inner chamber, in order that it may be more uniformly
heated.
In the Drawings, Figure 1 is an end elevation; Figure 2, a longitudinal
section; and Figure 3, a transverse section of an apparatus suitable for the
manufacture of artificial gums according to my improvements. a is a hori-
zontal cylinder of cast iron or other suitable metal, the ends of which are closed
by the lids b and c, both of which are made in two parts, an upper and a
lower, so that they can easily be removed for the convenience of charging the
cylinder a with the starch, farina, or other amylaceous substance, and removing
the same when converted into artificial gum. The cylinder a is surrounded by
the wrought-iron casing or jacket d, the space between the cylinder and casing
being filled or nearly filled with water, which is heated by the fire on the grate
bars e, and by the products of combustion passing along the flue under the
apparatus, or the requisite heat may be imparted to the interior of the cylinder
a in any other convenient manner; but as it is necessary to obtain a heat
higher than that at which water boils under atmospheric pressure, I make
the, cylinder a and jacket d sufficiently strong. to resist the required pressure,
and I place a safety valve upon the jacket d, to allow the steam. to blow off
when the pressure becomes too great, a mercury or other guage to indicate
the pressure, and a pipe to supply water, the level of which is indicated by
the glass tube f. The safety valve pressure guage and supply. pipe are not
shewn in the Drawing, but are similar to those usually applied to steam

page_text: boilers. To the upper part of the cylinder a is attached a pipe g, which passes
through the stuffing box h, in the lid of the man-hole j; the object of this
pipe is to allow the steam or vapours arising from the starch, farina, or other
amylaccous substance to escape. Within the cylinder a is the shaft, to which
are fixed the movers or agitating arms 1,1; this shaft with the agitators is
made to revolve slowly by a strap driving the pulley m fixed on the said shaft,
or by any other convenient means. The mode of operation is as follows,
and in describing the particulars I will limit my observations to the details requi-
site in treating farina or the potatoe starch of commence. The lids and e,
or one of them, having been removed, the cylinder a is charged with about
two hundred and eighty pounds of the farina to be operated upon, which in an
apparatus of the dimensions shewn on the Drawing will fill the cylinder about
one-third part full as indicated in Figures 2 and 3; when the cylinder is charged
the covers b and c, (or whichever has been removed,) are replaced, and the
agitators 1, 1, are set in motion. While the cylinder is being filled, the fire
on the grate bars e may be lighted to impart the requisite heat to the water in
the jacket for heating the farina in the cylinder a. I find that the tempe-
rature to which the farina must be raised varies from about two hundred and
forty degrees to three hundred degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer, that is
to say, the former temperature is about the lowest at which the process can
be successfully conducted, and the latter temperature is about the highest that
can be advantageously employed.
I would remark here, that the gun which is produced at different tem-
peratures has different properties, and taking the native or natural gums as
standards, it may be said as a general rule, that the higher the temperature
within those limits, the better the gum, but the color of the gum is usually in
close relation to the temperature at which it is produced, that is to say, the
lower the temperature the whiter the gum, and vice versa, so that when I
want to produce a very light colored gum, I operate at the lowest temperature
possible, and when color is not objectionable, 1 find it more economical to
operate at a higher temperature. The temperature within the cylinder a can
be ascertained within a few degrees by the indications of the pressure guage,
as it is well known that the temperature of the water and steam within the
jacket will gradually increase with the pressure, which pressure can be
regulated by the safety valve; or the temperature within the cylinder a
be ascertained from time to time by introducing the bulb of a thermometer
into the farina through one of the covers bor c, each of which has a hole
through it; these holes are marked n and o, in Figure 2, and each hole is
can

page_text: furnished with a lid marked p and q. The time required for raising the farina
to the requisite temperature is generally about four hours, but it depends in
great measure on the state of the farina itself before it is put into the cylinder
a; if the farina is very dry when put in the cylinder, less time is required
for bringing it up to the desired heat, and more time if the farina is damp or
wet. During the process of making the farina into artificial gum, the steam
arising from it is at liberty to escape through the pipe-g, and when the farina
has attained the desired temperature, the acid gas is introduced into the
cylinder a, in the following manner; taking for an example the case in which
muriatic acid gas (otherwise called hydrochloric acid gas) is to be used, the
process will be the same for any other acid gas whatever, with only such
differences as the peculiar manner of producing those gases or vapours may
require. find the liquid muriatic acid of commerce the most convenient
source for producing the gas or vapour required, though it may be produced
by any of the means well known to chemists. I take about six ounces, by
measure, of the strong commercial muriatic acid, having a density of one
thousand one hundred and eighty, and marking by Twaddle's hydrometer a
strength of thirty-six degrees, and to this quantity I add two ounces of water.
and place the whole in two retorts of glass, earthenware, or lead, an equal
portion, that is. four ounces, by measure, in each retort. the said retorts
having a capacity of at least six ounces; then I insert that part of one of the
retorts, known as the neck. into theehole . which is in the end cover of the
cast-iron cylinder a. and into a corresponding hole o, in the opposite cover c
insert the neck of the other retort, then I apply heat to the belly of the
retorts, or that part containing the liquid muriatic acid and water until it
boils, the vapour or gas is driven along the neck into the interior of the
cylinder a, where it mixes with the air, and is absorbed by the farina, which
must be kept in agitation, in order that every particle of the farina may be
influenced by the vapour or gas. thereby accomplishing the conversion of the
farina into gum. The pipe serves to carry away the excess of acid vapours,
and by creating a current in the interior causes a more equable diffusion or
action of the acid vapours; in order to obtain the best product, this amount of
acid should not be boiled off in less than fifteen minutes, for it takes about
this length of time for the whole of the farina to be exposed to its influence,
and it is best to allow a small space around the neck of the retort where it
goes into the cover of the cylinder, that a small current of air may be drawn
in, and mixing with the vapour, cause it to be more generally diffused through
the whole interior. Gums made by this process have always a slightly acid.

page_text: reaction to test papers, and when this might be a source of inconvenience, I
add to the gam a sufficient quantity of alkali, in powder, to neutralize the
acid; or I pass a current of ammoniacal gas over the gum in the apparatus,
which neutralizes the acid left in the gum, but generally the acidity of the gum
is too slight to produce any ill effects when used for the purposes of calico
printing but for finishing or stiffening fine colored fabrics it should be neu-
tralized, and in such cases I prefer the use of ammoniacal vapors, but dried
carbonate of soda or any other alkali or alkaline material that can be brought
into a powdered state may be used, as is now customary. When the process
is complete, the artificial gum is removed from the cylinder a, the ends of which
project beyond the ends of the casing d, for the convenience of placing the
receiver or receivers into which the artificial gum is collected.
to
Having now described an apparatus suitable for carrying my Invention into
practical operation, and given the requisite details for converting farina or the
potato starch of commerce into artificial gum, I wish to observe, that in
treating wheaten starch, sago flour, rice flour, rice starch, or any other suitable
amylaceous substance used in the manufacture of artificial gum, the details
may require to be slightly modified, but such modifications will readily suggest
themselves to any practical chemist conversant with such manufacture.
Instead of using muriatic acid gas or vapours for converting the heated
amylaceous substance into artificial gum, as described, I also propose
employ, the vapour of nitric acid, sulphurous acid gas, hydrofluoric acid gas,
the vapours of acetic, formic, sulphuric, and oxalic acids, also other acid gases,
which acid gases and vapours may be produced by any of the known
processes; the quantity of gas or vapour requisite for converting the amyla-
ceous substances into artificial gum must be ascertained by experiment. By
means of these improvements in the manufacture of artificial gums, a con-
siderable saving in time, labour, and fuel is effected; the liability to injury by
burning or charring is reduced, and the artificial gums produced are of a
better quality and lighter color than those produced in the ordinary manner.
I would observe, in conclusion, that acids have before been used in the manu-
facture of artificial gums, either by moistening the farina starch or other
amylaceous substance with an acid solution, or certain acids have been
reduced io a fine powder and then mixed with the amylaceous substance. I
therefore do not claim as of my Invention the use of acids in the manufacture
of artificial gums, but what I do claim is,-
First, the use of acids in a gaseous or vapourised state in the manufacture
of artificial gum from farina starch or other amylaceous substances.

page_text: Secondly, the apparatus described and shewn in the accompanying Drawings
for effecting such manufacture of artificial gums.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles O'Neill, have hereunto set toy
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the said
Charles, O'Neill, in the presence of
CHARLES O'NEILL. (L.s.)
CHARLES ASTON, Attorney,
Manchester.