A METHOD OF AND APPARATUSES FOR SCOURING OF EXTRACTING OIL AND GREASE FROM WOOLS AND WOOLLEN FABRICS, AND FOR EXTRACTING GUM AND GUMMY MATTER FROM SILK
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, E.C., Editor of the Mechanics' Magazine and
Patent Agent, for the Invention of "A METHOD OF AND APPARATUSES
FOR SCOURING OF EXTRACTING OIL AND GREASE FROM WOOLS AND WOOLLEN
FABRICS, AND FOR EXTRACTING GUM AND GUMMY MATTER FROM SILK."-
A communication.
Scaled the 5th January 1858, and dated the 10th July 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 10th July 1857.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, E.C., Editor of the Mechanics' Magazine and Patent Agent, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A METHOD OF AND
APPARATUSES FOR SCOURING OR EXTRACTING OIL AND GREASE FROM WOOLS AND
WOOLLEN FABRICS, AND FOR EXTRACTING GUM AND GUMMY MATTER FROM SILK,"
(communicated to me by a foreigner residing abroad,) to be as follows:-
Oil and grease employed in the spinuing of wool is now generally extracted
by fullers' earth and soap, whereby great loss is occasioned not only of the oil
but also of the soap employed, as the products from the wash-waters are
rarely of much value. Now, this Invention consists in the employment of
the following dissolving agents, ether, chloroformi, alcohol, sulphate of carbon,

page_text: liquid carburets of hydrogen, essence of turpentine, benzine, naptha, schale
oil, &c., in apparatuses, whereby they are made to serve over and over again,
and whereby the oil or greasy matter is also recovered, which, after being
purified and decolorized, is again fit for use. The same solvents are also
applied in similar apparatuses to extract the gum or gummy matter from
silk, and after the extraction thereof the silk is to be washed in water slightly
acidulated with hydrochloric acid, in order to eliminate, in the state of soluble
salts, such carth or calcarious matters as may not have been extracted by
the solvent.
The apparatuses consist of five chief parts:-1, a distilling vessel in a bain
marie; 2, a digester; 3, a reservoir; 4, a refrigerator; and 5, a worm; and
their general arrangement will be understood from the following description
of their operation:-
Supposing wool to be about to be scoured, it is placed in bags in the
digester, which is hermetically closed, and has working through the cover
thereof a screwed shaft carrying at bottom a pressing plate, which, by turning
a nut on the outside of the cover, raises or lowers the plate. One or other
of the solvents before named, say sulphuret of carbon, is admitted upon the
wool, and pressed into and through it by working the plate up and down in
the digester; and after about an hour the solvent will be found to have dis-
solved out the oil, when by strongly pressing upon the wool, and opening a
passage through a pipe at the bottom of the digester, the oil and solvent will
be forced into the distilling vessel with which the pipe communicates. Then
the digester is heated in order to vaporize any portion of the solvent still
remaining in the wool, and communications being opened the vapor flows
and becomes condensed partly in the refrigerator and partly in the dis-
tilling vessel. The cover is then removed, and the wool being withdrawn
from the digester is spread out in the air to free it from the odour of the
solvent, after which it will be found to be scoured. The digester may be
filled while the distilling of the solvent from the oil and greasy matters in the
distilling vessel is being carried on. The vapor is conveyed through suitable
pipes into the refrigerator and worm, and finally reaches the reservoir in a
condensed state, ready to be admitted on to the fresh charge in the digester.
While the distillation is proceeding it is better to admit a certain quantity
of water into the distilling vessel, as by its boiling it facilitates the separation
of the solvent from the fatty and oily matters. After the whole of the solvent
has been distilled the fatty matters may be run off from the still to be purified
and decolorized. Although mention has been made of only one digester,
several may be used, and may be made to communicate by separate pipes

page_text: with the still and other parts of the apparatus; and various other modifications
for carrying out the method of operation before described will be pointed.
out in the Final. Specification..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th January 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,. RICILARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, E.C., Editor
of the Mechanics' Magazine and Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 thercin 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 "A METHOD OF AND APPARATUSES FOR SCOURING OR EXTRACTING OIL AND
GREASE FROM WOOLS AND WOOLLEN FABRICS, AND FOR EXTRACTING GUM AND GUMMY
MATTER FROM SILK," (a communication,) upon the condition (amongst others).
that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 Inven
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause tha
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 Richard Archibald Brooman;.co
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, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
Oil and grease employed in the spinning of wool is now generally extracted
by fullers' earth and soap, whereby great loss is occasioned not only of the oil

page_text: but also of the soap employed, as the products from the wash-waters are
rarely of much value. Now, this Invention consists in the employment of
the following dissolving agents, ether, chloroform, alcohol, sulphuret of carbon,
liquid carburets of hydrogen, essence of turpentine, benzine, naptha, schale
oil, &c., in apparatuses, whereby they are made to serve over and over again,
and whereby the oil or greasy matter is also recovered, which, after being
purified and docolorized, is again fit for use.
The same solvents are also applied in similar apparatuses to extract the
gum or gummy matter from silk, and after the extraction thereof the silk is
to be washed in water slightly acidulated with hydrochloric acid, in order to
eliminate in the state of soluble salts such earthy or calcareous matters as may
not have been extracted by the solvent.
The apparatuses consists of five chief parts:-1, a distilling vessel in a bain
marie; 2, a digester; 3, a reservoir; 4, a refrigerator; and 5, a worm; and
their general arrangement will be understood from the following description
of their operation:-
Supposing wool to be about to be scoured, it is placed in bags in the
digester, which is hermetically closed, and has working through the cover
thereof a screwed shaft carrying at bottom a pressing plate, which, by turning
a nut on the outside of the cover, raises or lowers the plate. One or other
of the solvents before named, say sulphuret of carbon, is admitted upon
the wool, and pressed into and through it by working the plate up and down
in the digester, and after about an hour the solvent will be found to have
dissolved out the oil, when by strongly pressing upon the wool, and opening
a passage through a pipe at the bottom of the digester, the oil and solvent
will be forced into the distilling vessel, with which the pipe communicates.
Then the digester is heated, in order to vaporize any portion of the solvent
still remaining in the wool, and communications being opened, the vapour flows
and becomes condensed partly in the refrigerator and partly in the distilling
vessel. The cover is then removed, and the wool being withdrawn from the
digester is spread out in the air to free it from the odour of the solvent, after
which it will be found to be scoured. The digester may be filled while the
distilling of the solvent from the oil and greasy matters in the distilling
vessel is being carried on. The vapour is conveyed through suitable pipes
into the refrigerator and worm, and finally reaches the reservoir in a condensed
state, ready to be admitted on to the fresh charge in the digester. While the
distillation is proceeding it is better to admit a certain quantity of water into
the distilling vessel, as by its boiling it facilitates the separation of the solvent
from the fatty and oily matters. After the whole of the solvent has been

page_text: distilled, the fatty matters may be run off from the still to be purified and
decolorised.
Although mention has been made of only one digester, several may be
used, and may be made to communicate by separate pipes with the still and
other parts of the apparatus; and various other modifications for carrying out
the method of operation before described may be effected.
From the experiments which the Inventor has made he has observed, that
in order to expel the sulphuret from the wool or other material treated as
above described, it is desirable first to apply beat and afterwards steam, the
latter getting rid of what the heat leaves unexpelled. He effects this in the
case of wool or waste by means of an improved double-action digester, and
in the case of fabrics by means of two purging cylinders. At the commence-
ment of the operations the air contained in the apparatus is driven out by the
heat, and carries with it a certain quantity of sulphuret in the form of a
vapor with which it is saturated, which if allowed to pass away would
occasion a sensible loss of material. To avoid this loss the Inventor uses the
saturated air over and over again in the apparatus, retaining it meanwhile in
a gasometer, into which the escape pipe of the apparatus opens.
Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed represents a sectional elevation
of the digester employed for cleansing wool and woollen waste in the best
form which the Inventor bas succeeded in giving it. This digester is com-
posed of an internal cylinder a, a, enclosed in an external cylinder b, b, with
a space between the two for receiving the heating steam. The bottom c, c,
is connected to both these cylinders, is formed convex downwards to facilitate
the outflow of the liquid, and is furnished at the centre with a cock leading
to a still. The cover d is convex upwards, and is connected to the two
cylinders a, b, by screwed joints e, e. It is furnished with an internal per-
forated plate or partition f, for spreading the liquid uniformly over the material
in the cylinder a. It is also furnished at the centre with a cock leading to.
the reservoir containing the sulphuret of carbon, supposing that to be the
chemical substance used. Within the cylinder a is placed a curved steam
pipe g. 9, which communicates at one end with a steam generator, and at the
other with the space between the cylinders a, b. This pipe introduces the
stean used for heating the material and driving off as much of the sulphuret
as is capable of being vaporised by heat only. The water of condensation
produced between the cylinders is drawn off through the pipe p. At the
middle of the digester is fixed another pipe, pierced with numerous holes,
and opening into the cylinder a, beneath the upper curve of the pipe g. These
two pipes are connected by a cock, the former, h, serving to inject steam into

page_text: the apparatus after the other has completed its heating action. In using this
digester the cylinder a is first filled with wool or woollen waste; the cock in
the cover is then opened, and the sulphuret of carbon admitted; the cock in
the bottom is next opened, to allow the liquid to run through the wool or
waste; steam is next admitted to the pipe 9 for about three-quarters of an
hour; steam is next injected through the pipe h for about a quarter of an
hour; air is next forced by a ventilator through a cock or valve placed for the
purpose in the bottom, the cover having first been raised, and the pipe which
communicates with the still closed, and finally the wool or waste having been
thus dried by the air is withdrawn. Similar operations may then be performed
on a fresh supply of material.
In Figure 2 of the Drawings hereunto annexed is shown in sectional
elevation the apparatus employed for treating cloths or fabrics in the best form
which the Inventor has succeeded in giving to it. This apparatus is composed
of a still A, a digester B, a heater C, a steaming vessel D, a vessel for heated
water E, a principal refrigerator F, a second refrigerator G, a third refri-
gerator H, a reservoir for the chemical liquid J, a separator K, a roller L,
an indicator M., and a gasometer N. The still A is formed of strong galvanised
iron, capable of supporting a pressure of 5 atmospheres. Its escape com-
municates with the refrigerator F, its feed pipe with the digester B. In the
interior of it and around its bottom is placed a serpentine pipe c, c, heated by
steam. Its bottom is also furnished with a cock for withdrawing the oil.
The digester B is formed of iron perfectly steam-tight. Within it are placed
the pressure cylinders or rollers a, a, of a length corresponding to the breadth
of the cloth, and formed of an alloy of copper with zinc and antimony. Their
axes all pass steam-tight through stuffing boxes in the digester B, and are
furnished with pulleys on the outside, and all driven at a uniform speed. This
digester B communicates with the still A by the pipe b, with the refri-
gerator G by the outflow pipe c, c, with the reservoir J by the pipe d, d, and
with the heater C by the passage ff. The opening or passage g, g, serves
for the introduction of the cloth and for closing the digester, as will be seen
hereafter. The heater C is composed of a cylinder of galvanized sheet
iron h, h, capable of sustaining a pressure equivalent to 5 atmospheres. It
is fitted so as to turn in an outer cylinder of similar material j, j, which com-
municates at its upper part with the digester B by the passage f, f, and with
the refrigerator G by the pipe 1, 1. The cylinder h, h, receives steam by one
of its axes, which are hollow and supported in stuffing boxes ou the outer
cylinder j, j The steam condensed or not condensed escapes by the other
axis. On the cylinder h, h, and between the two cylinders are placed two

page_text: rollers m, m, for directing the fabric and keeping it in contact with the
cylinder h, h. The cylinder h, h, is driven by a pulley on its axis connected
with those on the rollers a, a, of the digester B. The vessel D is composed
of a cylinder n, n, of metallic gauze, around which the fabric is passed, and
at the centre of which is a steam pipe pierced throughout its length with
numerous holes. The cylinder n, n, turns in a space o, o, which communicates
with the refrigerator H and with the heater C by the passage ff. The
heated water vessel E is a continuation of the vessel D, being separated from it
by the side q. 7, only. A steam worm s, s, is placed within it. The passaget, t,
of which the inner side is a diaphragm, leads the fabric from this vessel E to
the roller L, which is similar to the rollers employed in the manufacture of
paper for winding the manufactured paper upon, and which winds up the
fabric as fast as it leaves the apparatus. The refrigerator F serves to con-
dense the sulphuret vaporized in the still A, and to conduct it into the
reservoir J. It serves also to refrigerate from bottom to top the uncondensed
products which escape from the apparatus to be conducted to the gasometer.
It is fed by cold water, which passes out into the refrigerator II, and thence
to the refrigerator G. This last refrigerator serves to condense the vapour
driven off from the heater C, and to lead it into a liquid state into the
digester B. The refrigerator II serves to condense the chemical vapour and
the steam driven off from the steam vessel D, together with those produced
in the vessel E, conducting both these products to the separator K. The
vessel J has simply to receive and supply the sulphuret of carbon; it is formed.
of strong galvanized iron, and, as far as possible, surrounded by water to
prevent accidents. The separator K receives the condensed products from the
refrigerator II, and separates them as follows:-The sulphuret being heavier
than the water falls constantly to the bottom of the vessel, the water is drawn
oll from above it by the pipe a, and from time to time the cock connecting
the separator K and the reservoir J is opened, and the sulphuret passed into
the latter. The indicator M, which may be arranged as a safety valve or
outlet, indicates on which side the excess of pressure is exerted. If the
outward pressure is in excess, the apparatus requires additional heat; if the
inward, the beat is too great. This indicator M also. closes the connection
between the apparatus and the gasometer N, the bottom of which is convex,
and communicates with a syphon for withdrawing from time to time the
sulphuret, which will be condensed by sudden changes in the temperature
of the air contained in the gasometer. This gasometer is also furnished with
means for permitting any excess of gas to escape when the quantity contained
becomes too great.

page_text: In using the apparatus just described, the digester B is filled with sulphuret
of carbon by opening the cock of the reservoir J. Heat is next applied by
the admission of steam to the still A, the heater C, the steaming vessel D,
and the hot water vessel E, and motion is imparted to the rollers which draw
in the fabric, which becomes scoured or cleansed on its passage through the
digester B. The outflow of the sulphuret and of the oil from the digester
into the still is then permitted, and a fresh supply allowed to arrive con-
tinuously into the digester. The process is then conducted uniformly and
without stopping.
The apparatus employed for recovering the oil by means of currents of
steam, which are found well adapted for the purpose, is represented in
sectional clevation in Figure 3. This apparatus is composed of a heater
surmounted by a lengthening piece in the form of a chimney. At the bottom
of this heater is placed a tube a, a, pierced with holes, which introduces steam
into the apparatus. The chimney communicates with refrigerators for con-
densing the products and conducting them into the separator b, which is
similar to that before described. A suction and force pump II takes the oil,
&c. from the bottom of the heater, and forces it rapidly through a rose rat
the top of the chimney, and within it. The cock c serves for the introduction
of the oil, &c., and the cock d for the withdrawal of the oil when completely
separated, the steam and sulphuret passing off together into the condenser,
and when condensed into the separator, where they are separated.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the method of scouring or extracting oil and grease from wools and
woollen fabrics, and gum and gummy matter from silk, by the employ-
ment of ether, chloroform, alcohol, sulphuret of carbon, liquid carburets of
hydrogen, essence of turpentine, benzine, naptha, schale oil, &c., as herein-
before described.
Second, the several apparatuses for the purpose herein-before described,
and represented in the Drawings hereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Ninth day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-eight.
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)