IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Muller, formerly of Wieden, in the Kingdom
of Bavaria, now of Dartford. in the County of Kent. Arthur Thomas
Weld. of Gravesend, in the same County, Civil Engineer, and John
Folliott Powell. of Albion Place. Hyde Park, in the County of Middle-
sex, Gentleman, for the Invention of" IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Muller. Arthur
Thomas Weld and John Folliott Powell at the Office of the Commis-
sioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 22nd May 1865.
We. RICHARD MULLER. formerly of Wieden, in the Kingdom of Bavaria,
now of Dartford, in the County of Kent. ARTHUR THOMAS WELD, of Gravesend,
in the same County, Civil Engineer, and JOHN FOLLIOTT POWELL, of Albion
Place, Hyde Park, m the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF
MATERIALS TO BE USED AS SUBSTITUTES FOR ANIMAL CHARCOAL," to
be as
follows:-
The object of our Invention is to produce by artificial means a substitute
for animal charcoal in its uses as a decolorizing agent, as in the case of sugar
refining, or as a purifying agent for the filtration of water.
In carrying out our Invention we first procure a porous stone-like substance,
and then impregnate such porous material with a concentrated solution of
Price Sd.1

page_text: carboniferous substances using. by preference, such as are of animal origin,
and especially a material known as ulmate of ammonia, the product of the
separation of the matters of animal origin from rags of mixed fabrics, under
a Patent granted to Frederick Oldfield Ward, and dated the 5th December
1857 (No. 3023).
The following is the manner in which we prefer to proceed-We take 5
parts of China clay. I part of whiting, and of a part of wood charcoal, all
in very fine powder; we mix the materials with water to make a stiff paste.
which we mould into slabs and dry; afterwards we subject the same to the
action of fire to burn out the charcoal. The ulmate of ammonia we digest
with caustic soda, and the concentrated solution we filter, and with it we
saturate the porous matrix. the slabs in which this is produced being broken
into small lumps and thrown into the solution. The matrix so impregnated
with a concentrated solution of carboniferous substances, after being thoroughly
dried, is subjected to a dull red heat in close chambers or retorts until all the
volatile particles are driven off.
It will generally be found advantageons to subject the material to repeated
impregnation with the carboniferous solution and to repeated drying and
burning, and we find that three such repetitions are advisable. The impreg
nation being complete. the material is to be broken to a suitable size for use.
and treated with hydrochloric or other non-sulphurous acid until perfectly
neutral it. is then to be purified by washing with water. The material so
prepared will be found superior to the animal charcoal from burnt bones in
decolorizing and purifying power, and may as frequently be revived after use
by any of the processes practised, and will be especially suited to revivification
by the hydrochloric acid gas process recently introduced.
The method of preparing the matrix may be much varied, or a natural
porous and fire-resisting substance, such as pumicestone may be employed in
place of an artificial matrix. Also for saturating the porous matrix other
carbonaceous solutions may be employed; but that which we have named we
believe to be the best.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Muller. Arthur Thomas Weld, and Jolm
Powell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd November 1865.
Folliott

page_text: in the County of Kent, ARTHUR THOMAS WELD, of Gravesend, in the same
County, Civil Engineer, and Jons FOLLIOTT POWELL, of Albion Place,,, Hyde
Park, in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five. in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors. give and grant unto us, the
said Richard Muller, Arthur Thomas Weld, and John Folliott Powell, Her
special licence that we, the said Richard Muller. Arthur Thomas Weld, and John
Folliott Powell, our executors. administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said Richard Muller, Arthur Thomas Weld, and John Folliott Powell,
our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE PRE-
PARATION OF MATERIALE TO BE USED AS SUBSTITUTES FOR ANIMAL CHARCOAL," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Richard Muller, Arthur
Thomas Weld, and John Folliott Powell, our executors, or administrators. by
an instrument in writing under our or their hands and scals, or under the hand
and seal of one of us or them, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 Folliott Powell, on behalf of myself
and the said Richard Muller, and Arthur Thomas Weld. do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:
We employ a porous artificially prepared matrix, which we impregnate with
a solution of carboniferons matter, using those of animal origin, by preference,
and then char and subject the same to the processes hereafter described.
The matrix in all cases is to be essentially of burned clay, and such as to
resist the action of acid; and also the action of such heat as is necessary to
char the animal or carboniferous matter with which the matrix is impregnated.
We would state that we are aware that it has before been proposed to combine
or mix animal matter with clay, and to subject the combined or mixed sub-
stances to heat, with a view to produce a substitute for animal charcoal; but

page_text: the heat capable of being employed in such mode of preparation fails to
produce a satisfactory, or at any rate, such a beneficial result as when using
clay, as hereafter described, that is, by first subjecting it to such a heat as to
obtain the requisite hardness, and then impregnating the burned product with
liquid carboniferous matter, and then charring and treating the impregnated
matters, as hereafter described.
In practice we find that the best mode of carrying out our Invention is to
use pipe clay without admixture with other matters, though other clay may
be used, and wood charcoal, or other matters may be mixed therewith, in
order to obtain porosity with the requisite hardness in the artificial matrix.
The pipe clay is rendered plastic as when making tobacco pipes, and is rolled
out or otherwise formed into thin flat tiles or slabs, or it may be formed into
thin and small tubes by expressing machines or otherwise. We prefer to form
the tiles or slabs about three-sixteenths of an inch thick, which are dried and
then burned, so as to produce, as nearly as may be, a character of burned
product like tobacco pipes. This product is then broken into small pieces,
say, of about of a quarter of an inch square; these pieces are then impregnated
with carboniferous matter in a state of solution in caustic alkali. For this
purpose it is preferred to employ the animal matter; called ulmate of ammonia,
which is a product obtained under a Patent granted to Frederick Oldfield
Ward, dated 5th of December 1857, No. 3023, and this is best done by
boiling the small pieces of the matrix in a concentrated solution of such car-
boniferous matter till air bubbles cease to come off, and the pieces on test are
found to be thoroughly saturated. The saturated substance is then to be
removed from the solution, and allowed to cool and drain by being spread on
perforated plates, stirring or moving the pieces of the saturated substance
from time to time, and when as free as may be from the fluid and quite cold,
the substance is to be dried as quickly as possible on a hot plate, or in an
oven without charring, and this may be conveniently done by heating the hot
plate or oven with steam.
The solution of ulmate of ammonia is prepared as follows:--Take 12 per
cent. of caustic soda or other caustic alkali, and dissolve it in enough water
to form a concentrated solution of the ulmate employed, and boil the
mixture after adding the ulmate until all the soluble constituents are dis-
solved, subject it to a hydro-extractor or other strainer and remove impurities.
Other solutions of animal or vegetable matter may be employed in carrying
out our Invention, such as glue, or size, or resin, or coal tar, or blood, but
we believe not so advantageously. The diy product is next to be subjected to
heat to char it, as when charring bones to produce animal charcoal, we prefer

page_text: for this purpose to employ that class of apparatus where upright retorts are
used, which are heated at the middle, whilst the upper parts allow of the
heating of the substance to be gradual up to the front where the maximum
or moderate red heat is produced. and the lower parts of the retorts allow the
substance to cool gradually as it descends. A little practice will enable a
workman to ascertain the time that the substance should be heated in the
hottest part of the retorts; but we have found it convenient to have small
outlets at the parts of the retorts where the greatest heat is applied, as by so
doing a workman will know that the requisite heat has been applied when
the quantity of the substance at that part of a retort which is hottest ceases
to give off gas or vapour. The charred product thus obtained is then broken
up into grains of the size of those of ordinary animal charcoal, which grains
are again saturated with the animal solution as before, and again drained. dried.
and burned or charred in the retort, as above explained. If on breaking or
crushing some of the grains they are thoroughly saturated, which is ascer-
tained by their being uniformly black all through, the saturation and burning
is complete, if not, the grains are again to be saturated with the animal.
solution, and again treated as above explained. The grains are then to be
well washed in water to remove the alkali, after which the substance is to be
treated by dilute acid not containing sulphur; wc, by preference, use dilute
hydrochloric acid, the solution containing about 7 per cent, of the acid. The
grains of the charred substance are to remain subject to the acid solution till
all iron or sulphur is extracted, they are then to be well washed in water till
the water comes off clean. The grains are then by a hydro-extractor, or
otherwise, to be separated from the water and dried, when they will be fit for
use, and the same after having been used may, in like manner to animal
charcoal made from bones, he revivified and again and again used for deco-
lorizing syrups of sugar and for other purposes, as when using ordinary
animal charcoal.
In witness whereof. I, the said John Folliott Powell, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
J. FOLLIOTT POWELL. (L.S.)