AN IMPROVE- MENT IN TREATING FATS AND OILS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Sussex Place, Lough-
borough Road, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN TREATING FATS AND OILS."-A communication.
Sealed the 25th April 1856, and dated the 12th February 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson Bous-
field at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 12th February 1856.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Sussex Place, Loughborough Road, in
the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for
"AN IMPROVEMENT IN TREATING FATS AND OILS," to be as follows:-
Heretofore fats and oils have been decomposed, and the acids and glycerine
of which they consist separated by means of water at a high temperature and
pressure, such temperatures having ranged from 350° Fahrenheit to upwards
of 600° Fahrenheit, and it has been considered that such high temperatures
and pressures are necessary; and it has been stated on high chemical authority
that water does not act on fats and oils when so low a temperature is used as
329° Fahrenheit.
Now, the present Invention, which is the result of numerous experiments,
consists of and is founded on the discovery that water, at comparatively low
temperatures and small pressures, aided by length of time, will decompose fats

page_text: and oils, and by such means the acids and glycerine may be separated in
comparatively large vessels of easy construction, by reason of the high
For
temperatures and pressures heretofore. resorted to being reduced.
this purpose, an ordinary high-pressure steam boiler or other close vessels
may be employed; the decomposition will be facilitated by the use of mecha-
nical or other agitation; alkalies, alcohol, or other chemical substances,
tending to make the fat and water dissolve each other, may also be employed.
The decomposition will be obtained by temperatures commencing somewhat
above boiling water, and the time occupied will be shortened as the tempera-
ture is increased; but such increase need not be such as to render the use of
tubular or other very strong vessels necessary. Soap is produced in the
same manner as the fat acids by dissolving the proper quantity of carbonated
alkali in the water used.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 12th August 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Sussex Place, Loughborough Road, in the County
of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special licence that I, the said George
Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN TREATING FATS AND OILS," (a
communication,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said George
Tomlinson Bousfield, 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-

page_text: 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 Tomlinson Bousfield, 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:-
Heretofore fats and oils have been decomposed, and the acids and glycerine
of which they consist separated, by means of water at a high temperature and
pressure, such temperatures having ranged from 350° Fahrenheit to upwards
of 600° Fahrenheit, and it has been considered that such high temperatures
and pressures are necessary; and it has been stated on high chemical authority
that water does not act on fats and oils when so low a temperature is used as
329° Fahrenheit.
Now, the present Invention, which is the result of numerous experiments,
consists of and is founded on the discovery that water at comparatively low
temperatures and small pressures, aided by length of time, will decompose fats
and oils, and by such means the acids and glycerine may be separated in com-
paratively large vessels of easy construction, by reason of the high temperatures
and pressures heretofore resorted to been reduced. For this purpose, an
ordinary high-pressure steam boiler. or other close vessel may be used; the
decomposition will be facilitated by the use of mechanical or other agitation;
alkalies, alcohol, or other chemical substances, tending to make the fat and
water dissolve each other, may also be employed. The decomposition will
be obtained by temperatures commencing somewhat above boiling water, and
the time occupied will be shortened as the temperature is increased; but
such increase need not be such as to render the use of tubular or other
very strong vessels necessary. Soap is produced in the same manner as the
fat acids by dissolving the proper quantity of carbonated alkali in the water
used.
It results from the experiments, that in effecting the decomposition of fatty
substances by means of water, heat, and pressure, the three conditions of degree
of heat, extent of surface of contact, and length of time, may, in great part,.
replace each other. Thus, it is found that at comparatively low temperatures,
and without any artificial multiplication of the surfaces of contact of the oil and
water, the said decomposition may be produced by continuing the operation for.
a considerable length of time, and that the temperature remaining the same.
in proportion as the surface of contact of the water and fat is rendered more
extensive, the time required to produce the decomposition becomes less; also;

page_text: the surfaces of contact being the same in proportion as the temperature is
increased, the time required becomes less.
The following is a description of an apparatus which is employed to work
at a pressure of about 90 lbs. per square inch-A, A, is an iron cylin-
der, lined with lead or copper, and provided with a copper agitator B, B,
the blades of which are made of wire guaze, and the shaft passing through
a stuffing box C. receives a reciprocating motion from any prime mover.
The contents of the boiler are heated by means of the close steam coil
of copper pipe e, e, e, which receives high-pressure steam from à common
steam boiler. The boiler A, A, is provided with the ordinary.guages;
and.with proper tubes and cocks to fill and empty. The mode of operating
is as follows:-The boiler being about four-fifths full of a mixture of equal;
bulks of oil and water, steam is caused to circulate through the internal close;
coil, the agitator is put in motion, and the operation is continued until.
samples of the materials show that the decomposition is sufficiently perfect.
The contents are then discharged by the cock G and the cooling worn H, H,
and the boiler is refilled with a fresh charge., It has, been found that when
the motion of the agitator is very quick and violent, the mixture of oil and
water is apt to become of a pasty consistence, and if allowed to remain in this
condition the decomposition does not appear to proceed so quickly as when the
two liquids remain as visible globules. I therefore either regulate the
agitation so as to produce this latter state of mixture, or if the more rapid
motion is used, I apply it in an intermittent manner, so as to allow the oil and
water to separate in the intervals, and I rather prefer this imode of operation.
If desired, the mixture may be heated and agitated at the same time by injecting
into it high-pressure steam through a pipe pierced with fine holes, which
steam, after having traversed the liquids, is allowed to escape by a valve suit-
ably loaded.
I do not confine myself to the degrees of heat or pressure, proportion of
mixture, or form of apparatus above described, as it is evident they may be
varied at pleasure, the general principles of the operation remaining the same.
When the charge of decomposed fatty materials is run out, it is to be separated
from the glycerine water, and may then be purified, distilled, or pressed in the
usual manner, according to the use to which it is to be applied. "
When it is desired to convert the fatty material into soap, I dissolve in the
water of the above-described operation the quantity of carbonated alkali, soda
ash, or potash necessary for the weight of oil employed, and proceed to heat
and agitate the mixture, as above directed. In proportion as the combination
proceeds, the carbonic acid gas is liberated and is allowed to escape, mixed with

page_text: steam, by a safety valve suitably loaded. This carbonic acid may, if desired,
be purified and utilized in various ways. To hinder the foam of the mixture
escaping along with the gas by the safety valve, I place the said valve on the
top of a dome or cylinder, in which I cause to revolve a fan or centrifugal ven-
tilator, the blades of which break the bubbles of the foam and throw the liquid
parts against the sides of the cylinder, while the gas escapes by the valve. The
quantity of water used need be but little more than is intended to remain in
the soap, so as to allow of a constant small escape of steam during the opera-
tion, which I find to facilitate the liberation of the carbonic acid; or a small
current of high steam may be blown through the mixture from a pierced coil
placed in it, so as to aid the disengagement of the gas. When a sample of the
materials shows that the combination is complete, the soap may be run at once
into frames, or may be put into coppers, and finished in the usual manner.
What I claim as the Invention is, first, the decomposition of fatty sub-
stances into fat acids and glycerine by the action of water at temperatures
below 340° Fahrenheit.
Second, the making of soap from fatty substances and carbonated alkalies
by the action of water at a temperature below 350° Fahrenheit.
Third, the application of ordinary high-pressure steam boilers for making
soap from fatty substances and carbonated alkalies by the action of water and
heat.
Fourth, the use of mechanical agitators inside of the vessels in which fatty
substances are decomposed into fat acids and glycerine, or in which soap is
made from fatty substances and carbonated alkalies by the action of water,
heat, and pressure.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
0 Witness,
GEO. T. BOUSFIELD. (L.S.)
W. S. HARRISON,
2, New Court, St. Swithins Lane,
London.