IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING CERTAIN HYDROCARBON OILS, AND IN VESSELS FOR CONTAINING THE SAME
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Fordred, of Blackheath, in the County of Kent,
Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING CERTAIN
HYDROCARBON OILS, AND IN VESSELS FOR CONTAINING THE SAME."
Sealed the 16th May 1865, and dated the 28th February 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Fordred at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
February 1865.
I, JOHN FORDRED, of Blackheath, in the County of Kent, Gentleman, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING
CERTAIN HYDROCARBON OILS, AND IN VESSELS FOR CONTAINING THE SAME," to be as
follows:-
Hitherto considerable loss and waste have been experienced in purifying
coal, shale, and peat oils, caused principally by the use of large quantities of
sulphuric acid applied during the refining processes.
Now my Invention consists in materially diminishing this loss and waste
by washing out or removing the major portion of the coloring matter of these
oils by treating them with a strong solution of caustic alkali, either cold or in.
conjunction with heat. This caustic alkali I apply to them in the first stage
of the refining process, instead of using sulphuric acid, as is done at
present.

page_text: After the application of the caustic alkali the oils require to be treated
with sulphuric acid, and with caustic alkali again, and also to be distilled,
but so much of the coloring matters having been previously removed,
less of these chemicals will effect the final purification than would otherwise
be necessary.
The hydrocarbon oils differ much according to their origin, therefore it
is more advantageous in some cases to apply the caustic alkali to them in
their crude state, whilst others should be distilled first.
The oils are lastly mixed with or filtered through a bed of fullers earth, or
an argillaceous earth or marl.
Oil can be recovered from the alkaline foots, and a grease made by mixing
the alkaline and acid foots together, and in order to produce as much burning
oil as possible I return the spirit and heavy oil to the still, and draw them
over together.
In storing the finished oils I line the casks previously with a compound of
glue and treacle to prevent leakage and discolorization.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Fordred in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th August 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
FORDRED, of Blackheath, in the County of Kent, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the 28th year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Fordred, Her special license that I, the said John Fordred,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said John
Fordred, 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 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
CERTAIN HYDROCARBON OILS, AND IN VESSELS FOR CONTAINING THE SAME,
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Fordred, my exe-
cutors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
upon

page_text: seal, 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 John Fordred, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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-
In the ordinary purification of oils derived from the distillation of coal,
shale, or peat at low temperatures, and which are commercially known as:
coal, shale, and peat oils, it is usual to treat the crude or distilled products.
with sulphuric acid as a preliminary process of purification.
Now my
Invention has for its object the substitution of an alkaline pre-
liminary treatment in lieu of the acid process. I have found that when the
crude or distilled oils or products are submitted to the previous action of a
caustic alkali, that a very large proportion of the coloring matter and other
constituents are separated therefrom, and that when such partially purified
oils are subsequently treated according to the ordinary or any well known
method of purification, that not only is the subsequent purification facilitated,
but the proportions of acid and alkali are materially lessened, and the pro-
ducts obtained are of superior quality.
In carrying out this first part of my Invention I proceed as follows,
but I adopt modifications according to the quality of the oil under. treat-
ment:-I place the oil, either crude or distilled, in a suitable vessel, provided
with an agitator, and to every one hundred parts by measure of oil, I add
about from two to five parts by measure of a solution of caustic soda,
marking 37° Baumé, or thereabouts. Caustic potash may be employed,
but I prefer soda on account of its cheapness; the proportion of the alka-
line solution will vary according to the quality of the oil to be operated
upon, as in some cases it will be found advisable to increase the amount,
in others it may be diminished, but I have found that from two to five
per cent. by measure of the alkaline solution generally effects the desired>
purpose. I then, if necessary, elevate the temperature of the mixture, but
by preference I do not exceed 100° Fahrenheit; agitation is continued>
until thorough admixture of the alkali and the oil has been effected; the i
flocculent and other insoluble matters which have been formed are then
allowed to subside, and the clear supernatant oil is to be drawn off. Oil
thus treated may be acted upon by a small quantity of sulphuric acid, and
after agitation and subsidence of the impurities thus separated, the clear

page_text: :
oil may be drawn off and be again submitted to an alkaline treatment, but
the proportion of alkali (for example, of caustic soda) which will be found
necessary for this operation will not generally exceed about one part by
measure of a solution of caustic soda marking 37° Baumé, or thereabouts, to
every one hundred parts by measure of the oil under treatment. These pro-
cesses may if necessary be repeated, or the oil, after the preliminary alkaline
treatment, may be subjected direct to distillation, or as before mentioned may
be submitted to any of the well known processes of purification. After the
oils have been subjected to any of the foregoing processes of purification or
refining, or when such oils have been refined by any other process, I have
found that a turbidity which is possessed by some of these oils may be re-
moved, and that they may be made bright by filtration through a bed or filter
composed of what is known as fullers earth, or that the fullers earth may
be mixed with the oil and then allowed to subside, the oil will then be found
to be much brighter and quite freed from the dull or opaque appearance it
originally possessed.
In the treatment of the crude or distilled oils with the caustic alkali as
before mentioned, a deposit is obtained, and a deposit also results from the
treatment of the oils with sulphuric acid. Now one other part of my Inven-
tion consists in the suitable admixture of these deposits or foots so as to free
or liberate the compounds or bodies united with the alkali on the one hand
and the acid on the other, and in addition to obtain a residuum of a sulphate
of the alkali. I effect the separation of the salt thus formed by the addition
of a small proportion of water with the injection of steam, and the oils, grease,
or compounds thus liberated may be separated and stored for use.
The re-
sulting solution of sulphate of soda or potash may be evaporated and may be
employed in the arts.
In order to store or transport the refined or finished oils it is customary
to line or paint the interior of the wooden casks or other similar vessels
with a solution of glue; now this portion of my Invention relates to the lining
or coating the interior of such casks or vessels with a mixture of glue and
treacle of such a composition as will be found adhesive and elastic. I have
found that a mixture made in the following manner will answer, but I do not
confine myself to the proportions given:-I take one hundredweight of hard
glue and soak it in water till it becomes soft; I then place it in a steam pan,
and add thereto two hundredweight of treacle, and incorporate them together;
this composition I apply whilst hot to the interior of the wooden casks or
other similar vessels, in place of glue alone, as now generally employed.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the employment of a solution of caustic soda or potash as a prelimi-
nary treatment or process of purification of the crude or of the distilled oils
or hydrocarbons resulting from the distillation of coal, shale, or peat at a low
temperature.
Second, the treatment of the deposit or foots resulting from the action of
the caustic soda or potash on the crude or unrefined oils, and also in the
treatment of the deposit or foots resulting from the action of sulphuric
acid on the partially refined or impure oils, in the manner herein described.
Third, the lining or coating the interior of the wooden casks or similar
vessels employed for the storing or transport of the refined or finished oils
with an admixture of glue and treacle, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Fordred, have to this my Specification
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-five.
JOHN FORDRED. (L.S.)