A Process of Improving and Preserving Oils and Fats.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 30th June, 1893
Complete Specification Left, 24th Feb., 1894-Accepted, 24th Mar., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A Process of Improving and Preserving Oils and Fats.
I, ETIENNE WATEL, of 95 Boulevard Beaumarchais, Paris, in the Republic of
France, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to a process of improving and preserving oils and fats.
By this process I am enabled to force from oils or fats the volatile substances
which give them a characteristic odour and flavour. It is applicable to fatty
substances extracted in any suitable manner, such as pressing, fusion, or by means
of solvents.
The apparatus employed for this purpose must be constructed so as to ensure an
intimate contact between the oil or seed to be purified and a current of steam
under such circumstances that the steam cannot be condensed in contact with the
fatty material.
For this purpose the fatty material must be preliminarily heated to a definite
temperature which should not be too high so as not to deteriate the quality of the
oil and sufficient for melting the solid fats at the surrounding temperature.
The fatty material is then introduced into a closed apparatus wherein a definite
vacuum is produced and maintained by a condenser and a vacuum pump with
which it is in communication.
The degree of vacuum is determined by the consideration that the temperature
of the steam under this vacuum shall be below the temperature to which the fatty
material has been heated.
I then introduce into the apparatus a current of steam which is as dry as
possible and at a low pressure.
If the vacuum and the temperature of the fatty material have been regulated as
above stated there will be no condensation of water in contact with the fatty
material, because the latter is at a higher temperature than that at which the
steam can condense under the vacuum produced.
The apparatus must be constructed so as to ensure as intimate a contact as
possible between all the fatty particles and the steam arriving in great quantity,
in order that the latter may carry away to the condenser all the materials to be
eliminated. This result may be achieved either by forcing steam into the apparatus
by injectors to the midst of the hot fatty material so as to cause an energetic stirring
of the same, or, the steam passing to the lower part of the apparatus, by causing
the fatty material heated outside to enter in the form of pulverized jets, or at
the upper part of the apparatus in such a manner that it spreads in a column
upon surfaces or discs of metal or cloth, the steam circulating from the top to the
bottom or in the opposite direction.
In this latter case the arrival of the hot fatty material to be purified is regulated
so that the purification shall be complete when it arrives at the lower part of the
apparatus.
The extraction of purified oil may then be effected in a continuous manuer by a
pump, whilst in the first case the extraction has to take place intermittently. The
difference of temperature between the fatty material to be purified and the
temperature of condensation of the steam for the vacuum produced in the apparatus
must be the greater the less volatile the materials which are to be eliminated.
In the case of oils which would be deteriorated by too great a heat and if
intimate contact be established between the fatty material and the steam by
injectors forcing steam into the midst of the material it may be useful to expand

page_text: the steam supplied to the injectors to a lower pressure than the atmospheric
pressure for lowering the temperature of the same and thus obviating any dangerous
rise of temperature of the material during the treatment.
If this process is applied to oils and fats extracted by any other process, such as
by pressing, fusion, or the like, it may sometimes be useful to dissolve the material
in a volatile solvent before the purification; the solvent will be carried away by
the current of steam and will aid in the departure of the volatile materials.
The treatment herein before described has the effect of improving the quality of
the oils and enabling them to be preserved better by eliminating from the oils or
fats which have to be treated, certain volatile materials giving to the oils and fats
special odours and flavours; and certain traces of water which oils extracted by
pressure and seeds extracted by fusion contain.
Dated this 30th day of June 1893.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Process of Improving and Preserving Oils and Fats.
I, ETIENNE WATEL, of 95 Boulevard Beaumarchais, Paris, in the Republic of
France, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My invention relates to a process of improving and preserving oils and fats.
By this process I am enabled to force from oils or fats the volatile substances
which give them a characteristic odour and flavour. It is applicable to fatty
substances extracted in any suitable manner, such as by pressing, fusion, or by
means of solvents.
The apparatus employed for this purpose must be constructed so as to ensure an
intimate contact between the oil or seed to be purified and a current of steam under
such circumstances that the steam cannot be condensed in contact with the fatty
material.
For this purpose the fatty material must be preliminarily heated to a definite
temperature which should not be too high so as not to deteriorate the quality of the
oil and sufficient for melting the solid fats at the surrounding temperature.
The fatty material is then introduced into a closed apparatus wherein a definite
vacuum is produced and maintained by a condenser and a vacuum pump with which
it is in communication.
The degree of vacuum is determined by the consideration that the temperature
of the steam under this vacuum shall be below the temperature to which the fatty
material has been heated.
I then introduce into the apparatus a current of steam which is as dry as possible
and at a low pressure.
If the vacuum and the temperature of the fatty material have been regulated as
above stated there will be no condensation of water in contact with the fatty
material, because the latter is at a higher temperature thanjthat at which the steam
can condense under the vacuum produced.
The apparatus must be constructed so as to ensure as intimate a contact as
possible between all the fatty particles and the steam arriving in great quantity, in
order that the latter may carry away to the condenser all the materials to be
eliminated. This result may be achieved either by forcing steam into the
apparatus by injectors to the midst of the hot fatty material so as to cause an
energetic stirring of the same, or, the steam entering the lower part of the
apparatus, by causing the fatty material heated outside to enter in the form of

page_text: pulverized jets, or at the upper part of the apparatus in such a manner that it
spreads in a column upon surfaces or discs of metal or cloth, the steam circulating
from the top to the bottom or in the opposite direction.
In this latter case the arrival of the hot fatty material to be purified is regulated
so that the purification shall be complete when it arrives at the lower part of the
apparatus.
The extraction of purified oil may then be effected in a continuous manner by a
pump, whilst in the first case the extraction has to take place intermittently. The
difference of temperature between the fatty material to be purified and the
temperature of condensation of the steam for the vacuum produced in the
apparatus must be the greater the less volatile the materials which are to be
eliminated.
In the case of oils which would be deteriorated by too great a heat and if
intimate contact be established between the fatty material and the steam by
injectors forcing steam into the midst of the material it may be useful to expand
the steam supplied to the injectors to a lower pressure than the atmospheric
pressure for lowering the temperature of the same and thus obviating any dangerous
rise of temperature of the material during the treatment.
If this process is applied to oils and fats extracted by any other process, such as
by pressing, fusion or the like, it may sometimes be useful to dissolve the material
in a volatile solvent before the purification; the solvent will be carried away by
the current of steam and will aid in the departure of the volatile materials.
The treatment herein before described has the effect of improving the quality of
the oils and enabling them to be preserved better by eliminating from the oils or fats
which have to be treated certain volatile materials giving to the oils and fats special
odours and flavours; and certain traces of water which oils extracted by pressure
and seeds extracted by fusion contain.
In the accompanying drawing I have represented by way of example the
apparatus which I employ for carrying my process into effect.
Figure 1 relates to the first arrangement in which the steam is forced into the
hot material by injectors.
Figure 2 indicates the second arrangement in which the hot material circulates
in a very divided state in a column in the opposite direction to that of the current
of steam.
As above stated the fatty material is heated to a temperature of 140 degrees
Fahrenheit in the boiler A (Figure 1) having a double bottom traversed by a
current of steam. From the boiler A the fatty material passes through the pipe B
into the closed apparatus C, or a certain vacuum is established and maintained by
the condenser D, and the vacuum pump E with which it is in communication
through the pipe F.
The steam is introduced into the apparatus C through the pipe H and the
injectors I, which corresponds to the first arrangement which I have shown.
Instead of producing the intimate contact of the fatty particles and the steam by
forcing the steam into the midst of the hot material, the intimate contact may be
obtained, as shown in Figure 2, by introducing the steam through the pipe K into
the chamber C surmounted by a column C' in which the fatty material descends,
which arrives at the desired temperature, from the boiler A.
The apparatus are completed by vacuum indicators L, thermometers T, glass
plates G enabling the operation of the apparatus to be watched.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
The process for improving and preserving oils and fats of animal or vegetable
origin, as hereinbefore described, based upon the simultaneous employment of the
vacuum and steam brought into intimate contact with the fatty material to be
treated, this material being kept at a sufficiently high temperature so that the steam

page_text: employed may not condense therein by operating under the before-described
conditions and that this current of steam will carry away with it to the condenser a
great part of the volatile products which are odorous or have a bad flavour and
the traces of water which the fatty material contained.
Dated this 24th day of February 1894.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.