IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING CERTAIN OILS AND FATS, SO AS TO EFFECT THE SEPARATION OF CONSTITUENT PARTS OF SUCH OILS AND FATS
Year: 1858

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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING CERTAIN OILS AND FATS, SO AS TO
EFFECT THE SEPARATION OF CONSTITUENT PARTS OF SUCH OILS AND FATS."-
A communication.
Sealed the 2nd August 1858, and dated the 15th February 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th February 1858.
2. 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING CERTAIN OILS AND FATS, SO
AS TO EFFECT THE SEPARATION OF CONSTITUENT PARTS OF SUCH OILS AND FATS,"
to be as follows:-
The Inventor of the present improvements in treating certain oils and fats
has discovered that when such oils or fats are heated with a solution of
carbonate of soda, or of carbonate of potash, or of caustic soda, or of caustic
potash, of a suitable strength, or with a mixture of lime and water; the alkali
or alkaline earth employed being used in such proportion as to be less than
sufficient for effecting the conversion of such oils or fats into perfect soap,

page_text: the alkali or alkaline earth by preference unites with and converts into soap
that constituent part of the oil or fat employed which is of a soft quality, and
causes the separation of fatty matter which is of a harder and less fusible
quality, which swims on the surface of the saponaceous compound produced,
and being separated therefrom may be applied to the fabrication of candles or
to other purposes for which fatty material of a hard quality is desirable.
After such separation has been effected the saponaceous compound produced
can be treated by well-known means, so as to produce useful soap, or the same
can be decomposed by means of acids, and fluid oils be thereby obtained.
The said Invention is usefully applicable to such animal and vegetable oils
or fats as contain constituent parts differing in their degrees of hardness when
these become separated.
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 14th August 1858.
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 Fifteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of
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, 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 TREATING CERTAIN OILS AND FATS, SO AS TO EFFECT THE SEPARATION OF
CONSTITUENT PARTS OF SUCH OILS AND FATS," being a communication from
abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward,
Newton, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly 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

page_text: 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 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):
The Inventor of the present improvements in treating certain oils and fats
has discovered that when such oils or fats are treated with a solution of
carbonate of soda, or of carbonate of potash, or of caustic soda, or of caustic
potash, of a suitable strength, or with a mixture of lime and water (the alkali,
alkaline carbonate, or alkaline earth employed being used in such propor-
tion as to be less than sufficient for effecting the conversion of such oils or
fats into perfect soap), the alkali or alkaline earth by preference unites with
and converts into soap that constituent part of the oil or fat employed which is
of a soft quality, and causes the separation of fatty matter which is of a harder
and less fusible quality, and which floats on the surface of the saponaceous
compound produced, and being separated therefrom is applicable to the
fabrication of candles, or to other purposes for which fatty material of a hard
quality is desirable. After such separation has been effected, the saponaceous
compound produced can be treated by well-known means, so as to produce
useful soap, or the same can be decomposed by means of acids, so as to produce
fluid oils or fats.
For the purpose of explaining the said Invention, I will describe the means
which I consider to be the best adapted for effecting the objects of the said
Invention when applied to treating palm oil with solution of caustic soda, so
as to separate fatty material of a hard quality therefrom, at the same time
producing a saponaceous compound of soda with the softer portion of such
palm oil; the same means being also applicable to treating other oils and fats
for separating their constituent parts!
I take one thousand parts by weight of palm oil (preferring to have this
well bleached), and I put this into an ordinary soap pan; I.apply heat thereto
(either by fire or steam, or otherwise) until the temperature of the oil becomes
about one hundred and eighty degrees of Fahrenheit; I then add four hundred
to five hundred parts by weight of solution of caustic soda, having a specific
gravity of about 1.200. I mix the oil and soda solution together by means
of paddles or crutches, and when this mixing has been well effected I allow
the mixture to remain quiet for some-hours; I then find that the mixture has
become separated into two portions, the upper portion being fatty matter,

page_text: which I lade off into casks ready for sale or use; and the lower portion being
a saponaceous compound. I add water to this compound and boil it up in the
ordinary manner of manufacturing soap, and by the addition of more caustic
soda liquors, I convert it into good useful soap, which I deliver for con-
sumption.
I proceed in a similar manner when I use solution of caustic potash in
place of solution of caustic soda, but in this case the soap produced is of the
quality known as "soft soap."
I also proceed in a similar manner when I use solution of carbonate of
soda, or of carbonate of potash, in place of solution of caustic soda, except that
I use the carbonate solutions at a specific gravity of about 1.250.
When I use caustic lime for effecting the objects of the said Invention, I
prepare a fine cream of lime containing sixty parts by weight of caustic lime
mixed with nine hundred and forty parts by weight of water, and I add such
cream of lime to one thousand parts by weight of palm oil, or other oil or fat
contained in an ordinary soap pan, and previously heated to about one hundred
and eighty degrees (Fahrenheit). I mix the oil or fat and the cream of lime
by crutching, also by injection of steam into the mixture, and I continue such
mixing for six or eight hours, and then allow the mixture to remain quiet for
some hours; I then find the mixture has become separated into two portions; I
lade off the fatty portion which is of a hard quality, and I transfer the other
portion (which is a soap of lime) into a wooden vessel, and I decompose such
lime soap by means of muriatic acid, or other suitable acid, and I thus obtain
the softer portion of the oil or fat employed in a state fit for use as a liquid oil
or soft fat.
The said Invention is usefully applicable to such oils and fats of animal or
vegetable origin as contain constituent parts differing in their degrees of
hardness when these become separated.
I have herein-before described the means which I have found to be the best
adapted for effecting the objects of the Invention for which I have obtained
the grant of the Letters Patent herein-before partly recited, but I do not
confine myself precisely in effecting the said Invention to the use of the said
means, or to the employment of the special proportions of materials herein-
before particularly indicated, as these may be varied to some extent without
deviating from the nature of the said Invention.
I claim as the Invention for which I have obtained the grant of Letters
Patent as aforesaid the separation of the constituent parts of such oils and
fats as contain constituent parts, differing in their degrees of hardness by the

page_text: employment of the alkalies, alkaline carbonates, or alkaline earth herein-
before mentioned, in such manner as to effect a partial saponification of such
oils or fats, and the consequent separation of the harder constituent portion
from the softer constituent portion of such oils and fats.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fourteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)