IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF MATERIALS USED IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF PAPER
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Burnett Houghton, of Upper Gloucester
Place, Dorset Square, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF MATERIALS USED IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF PAPER."
Sealed the 4th August 1857, and dated the 17th February 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left. by. the said Frederick Burnett
Houghton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 17th February 1857.
I, FREDERICK BURNETT HOUGHTON, of Upper Gloucester Place, Dorset
Square, in the County of. Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF MATERIALS USED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," to be as follows:-
This Invention. has. for its object improvements in the preparation of
materials to be used in the manufacture of paper. It has before been
proposed to. reduce the fibres of wood and the woody fibres of vegetable
matters by the aid of heated alkaline solutions in closed vessels under pressure
into a condition suitable for making pulp. Now, I have after numerous
experiments. ascertained that for practical purposes it is necessary to carry the

page_text: process on under a far higher degree of heat and pressure than have hereto-
fore been resorted to, and that the alkaline solution employed must at the
same time be greater than has heretofore been used.
In carrying out the present Invention it is preferred to use an alkaline
solution of a strength equal to from 6 to 7° or more of Beaumé, and heated
in a suitable boiler to such a temperature as to produce a pressure of from
180 lbs. to 190 lbs. on the square inch, at the same time it should be stated
that less heat and pressure may be resorted to when using the strength of
alkaline solution above mentioned, but the same must be continued during
a greater length of time. The strength of the alkaline solution above
mentioned may also be reduced to some extent, say, to 4° Beaumé, provided
the heat and pressure be greater or continued for a greater length of time
than is required when using a solution of 7° Beaumé. Under no cir-
cumstances, however, is any claim made to a process where less heat and
pressure than are equal to 90 lbs. on the square inch are employed, whatever
be the strength of alkaline solution used. In constructing suitable boilers
for these purposes it is preferred to heat the contents by means of tubes in
which hot water is circulated, according to the system. originally invented by
Mr. A. M. Perkins, as by such means the process above explained may be
carried on more safely and advantageously.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederick Burnett Houghton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th August 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
BURNETT HOUGHTON, of Upper Gloucester Place, Dorset Square, in the County
of Middlesex, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most. Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her Letters
Patent, bearing date.. the. Seventeenth. day of February, in the year. of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in, the twentieth year. of
Her reign, did, for Herself;. Her, heirs and successors,. give and grant unto
me,..the said Frederick Burnett, Houghton, Her special licence that I, the
said Frederick Burnett Houghton, my, executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as. I, the said Frederick Burnett Houghton,. 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.

page_text: 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 PREPARATION OF
MATERIALS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Frederick Burnett Houghton, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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 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 Frederick Burnett Houghton, 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:
This Invention has for its object improvements in the preparation of
materials to be used in the manufacture of paper. It has before been
proposed to reduce the fibres of wood and the woody fibres of vegetable
matters by the aid of heated alkaline solutions in closed vessels under pressure
into a condition suitable for making pulp. Now, I have after numerous
experiments ascertained that for practical purposes it is necessary to carry the
process on under a far higher degree of heat and pressure than have here-
tofore been resorted to, and that the alkaline solution employed must at the
same time be greater than has heretofore been used.
'
In carrying out the present Invention it is preferred to use an alkaline
solution of a strength equal to from 6° to 7° or more of Beaumé, and heated
in a suitable boiler to such a temperature as to produce a pressure of from
180 lbs. to 190 lbs. on the square inch, at the same time it should be stated
that less heat and pressure may be resorted to when using the strength of
alkaline solution above mentioned, but the same must be continued during
a greater length of time. The strength of the alkaline solution above
mentioned may also be reduced to some extent, say, to 4° Beaumé; provided
the heat and pressure be greater or continued for a greater length of time
than is required when using a solution of 7° Beaumé: Under no cir-
cumstances, however, is any claim made to a process where less heat and
pressure than are equal to 90 lbs. on the square inch are employed whatever
be the strength of alkaline solution used. In constructing suitable boilers
for these purposes it is preferred to heat the contents by means of tubes in
which hot water is circulated, according to the system originally invented-by

page_text: Mr. A. M. Perkins, as by such means the process above explained may be'
carried on more safely and advantageously.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
The form and arrangement of apparatus preferred for carrying out the
Invention are as follows:-A strong cylindrical boiler with hemispherical
ends, the upper. end being formed in such manner as to act as a moveable
cover, on which is a safety valve; at the lower end of the boiler there is
introduced coils of: wrought-iron tubes suitably arranged to have highly-
heated water circulated therein according to the system known as
i Perkins"
system of hot water circulation," by which the interior contents of the boiler
can be more conveniently heated up to and retained at the high degree of
temperature requisite for carrying out my Invention than by any other system
of heating I am acquainted with. The vegetable fibrous matters to be treated
are introduced into the interior of the boiler by means of a cylindrical basket
or open metallic frame surrounded on all sides with strong wire gauze. The
vegetable fibrous materials to be treated are packed into such basket in a
succession of layers, supported on a series of moveable partitions or circular
frames of wire gauze, which are retained in position within the cylinder by
pins or bolts passed through the uprights of the frame of the cylinder, and
the same is lowered into the boiler, the upper end of which is then closed.
The boiler is then filled with the alkaline solution of a strength such as is
above mentioned from a suitable cistern, and such solution may be introduced
in a heated or cold state. The highly-heated water caused to circulate in the
coils of tubes within the boiler will quickly raise the temperature of the
contents of the boiler. I find that a temperature varying from 376° to 380°
of Fahrenheit, equal to about 175 to 185 lbs. on the square inch, and con-
tinued from ten to thirty minutes, according to the nature of the vegetable
fibrous matters for the time being under process, are the best for general
purposes. I would state that the time of the process varies according to the
nature of the vegetable fibrous matters, and no more precise or exact rule
can be given; but a workman will quickly become acquainted with the proper
time for a particular description of vegetable fibrous matter; and it will only
under any case be necessary from time to time to allow the apparatus and its
contents to cool down and to remove the cover in order to ascertain whether
the desired result has been obtained; but this will seldom be necessary after
some practice, and principally when for the first time acting on some vegetable
fibrous substance not previously treated. The strength of alkaline solution

page_text: which I prefer is from 4° to 7° of Beaumé, but I do not confine myself
thereto, neither do I confine myself to the range of temperatures above
mentioned, as they may be varied; but I make no claim to any process, what-
ever be the strength of the alkaline solution, if the temperature is not equal
to produce 90 lbs. pressure on the square inch.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Burnett Houghton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
GEO. PITT.
F. B. HOUGHTON. (L.S.)