An Improved Apparatus for Extracting from Various Substances Matters Soluble in Volatile Solvents.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 4th Apr., 1893-Accepted, 2nd June, 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Apparatus for Extracting from Various Substances
Matters Soluble in Volatile Solvents.
I, CHARLES ARTHUR ALLISON, Patent Agent, of 52 Chancery Lane, London,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of this invention in and
for AN IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING FROM VARIOUS SUBSTANCES
MATTERS SOLUBLE IN VOLATILE SOLVENTS, and in what manner the same is to
be performed (a communication from abroad by The Merz Universal Extractor
& Construction Company, of New York City, a corporation duly organized and
existing under the laws of the State of New York, United States of America), to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Said invention relates to improvements for extracting from various substances,
and particularly garbage, such of its constituents as are soluble in volatile solvents,
whereby I am enabled to separate them from the mass, leaving a residuum which is
frequently of value as a fertilizer and by thereafter separating the water from the
liquid parts and recovering the solvent to obtain the fatty matter &c., in condition
for use and to again use the solvent in the same apparatus.
It is necessary that this should be accomplished in an inexpensive manner or the
expense of the process will more than equal the value of the product and the net
result would be a loss.
In the apparatus I have devised, the operation of the devices are automatic. I
make use of gravity for the greater part of the separation and am thereby enabled
to attain satisfactory results with great economy, though in addition to the main
feature of the invention, there are minor ones which also add to the efficiency of the
apparatus as a whole.
"B" is the receiving part or digesting tank provided with a charging orifice for
the introduction of the material to be treated, closed by a door B, and an outlet
for the residuum closed by B2. It has also a perforated false hotton B between
which and the bottom face of the tank a heating coil and outlet B₁ is arranged
with inlet pipes governed by valves B³ and B. I also provide a live steam pipe
controlled by valve B' and opening into tank B, preferably below the bottom B
for use-in.heating the mass at any time when the coil should be insufficient.
"A" is a tank for-holding the solvent preferably located above the level of
tank B and below the level of condenser E. Said tank "A" is provided with an
inlet pipe F and valve F and an outlet pipe a¹ and valve.a. These two pipes are
connected by a third pipe F3 having a valve F, the joints being made-further_from
tank "A" than are valves F and a³, that the liquid may be led directly from
pipe F to tank "B" without entering tank "A," if that should be desired.
prefer
"E" is a condenser of ordinary construction with an inlet at the top and an
outlet at the bottom and in the connection between it and tank 66 A,"
to locate a separator "F" to be presently described.
From the lower end of tank "B," a discharge pipe C¹ leads to a separator C and
from thence a pipe C³ leads to the vaporizer D whence a connection D³ extends to
the condenser E. Pipe C¹ may be, and usually is, provided with a drip valve C³
and a controlling valve C², but they are only preferable features.
The main feature is separator C. As shown, it consists of two cylinders con-
nected at right angles to the horizontal one of which pipe C is an inlet and pipe C³
an outlet, the latter being located above the bottom of the device. The vertical
pipe or wall is provided with a gravity overflow pipe C+; that is, a pipe extending
from, at or near the bottom of the separator to a point some distance above said
bottom but below the level of the port of exit C³; a pet cock Cº may also be

page_text: connected to separator C. The separator F and attachments are substantially
similar to separator C, but, of course, differently lettered.
The vaporizer "D" is preferably provided with inclined and overlapping plates
or shelves d, it has a live steam inlet governed by valve D2 and a gravity over-
flow D' extending from its lower part.
Connections between 1³ or some source of pressure and tank B may be made by
a pipe B8 to enable the apparatus to be operated under pressure if desired.
The operation is as follows:
Tank "A" is charged with a volatile solvent having an affinity for grease or
fats and a specific gravity less than that of water, such, for instance, as benzine or
naphtha and tank B is charged with garbage or the substance to be treated. Then
valve a² is opened and the solvent flows into tank B and into and through the
substance therein, which meanwhile has been heated from the coil B' and if desired,
live steam through B'.
I may close valve C³ and permit the mass to be digested by steeping in the
solvent, or I may leave it open and permit the solvent to percolate through the
matter under treatment. In either case it will take up the grease, oils, fatty
matter &c., and displace whatever water there may be. The charged solvent and
water will pass out through pipe C'. Now, to recover the grease and the solvent,
a separation must be effected and to do this by vaporization of the entire liquid
would be too expensive, though that is the best method of finally recovering the
solvent. I therefore arrange the gravity separator C in the path of the liquid
between the extractor and the vaporizer. The liquids enter the separator through
pipe C¹ and the water having the greater specific gravity, of course, seeks the
bottom, the solvent and fatty matter being borne upon it. This water will continue
to rise until in both the separator and the overflow pipe it reaches the level of the
orifice of the overflow from which time any increase will flow out of said overflow
and escape automatically though effectually preventing the escape of the solvent
and other matters held in suspension thereby the quality of said solvent will
increase on the surface of the water until it reaches the level of outlet C when
any further increase will escape through pipe C to the vaporizer and this separation
will proceed continuously so long as there is any flow from tank B. The great
task of the process therefore, that of freeing the solvent and suspended matter from
the water, is automatically, continuously and economically accomplished.
:
It will be readily manifest that the separator need not be in the exact form
shown, the requisites are an enclosed space sufficient to present opportunity for
separation, an inlet for the material, an outlet for the solvent, an outlet for the
water with its opening at a point lower than the outlet for the solvent and an
overflow extending from said water outlet upward to a point above it but below the
level of the outlet for the solvent. These features being present, the exact form or
arrangement is not material. So, too, while I prefer to locate the separator below
the level of the bottom of tank B, it might be otherwise placed and as long as the
water and solvent could find its way into it by gravity, it would act in the manner
described.
The water having been eliminated, the solvent and suspended matter pass on
into vaporizer D where they are subjected to heat and this is most conveniently
applied by introducing the liquid at the top and causing it to flow, as gravity will
cause it, down one plate and upon another and another. By the time the last plate
is reached, the volatile solvent will be almost, if not quite, all vaporized and the
fatty matter may fill and finally escape through overflow pipe D', this, too,
providing a continuous, ready and automatic means for removing the fatty matter.
The vaporized solvent rising through pipe D³ will pass into condenser E and
there be condensed, whence it escapes through pipe E¹ and connections to tank A
and is again ready for use.
To provide for separating from it any water which in the form of aqueous vapor
may have passed over and been condensed with it, I have inserted a second
separator in the connection between the coudenser and tank A, the operation of

page_text: which being similar to the first, needs no further explanation. I have thus devised
a simple, efficacious and economical apparatus, substantially automatic in its
action which will continuously digest and extract from the mass to be treated the
soluble parts, separate the water therefrom, recover the solvent and return it to
the reservoir and lead off the fatty matters requiring but little attention and yet
complete in its operation.
Whenever desired, the valve a² may be closed, the liquids allowed to escape as
described and thé solid residuum then removed through door B². New charges of
material may be at any time introduced through door B' with or without suspending
the operation meanwhile.
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:
1st. In an extracting apparatus the combination with a solvent holder and
digesting tank connected by a gravity feed, of a vaporizer, a gravity separator,
connections between the digesting tank and separator and the separator and
vaporizer, a condenser, suitable connections between the latter and the vaporizer,
and a gravity separator connecting the said holder and condenser, substantially as
set forth.
2nd. In an extracting apparatus the combination with a solvent holder and
digesting tank, gravity feed connections between the same, a vaporizer, connections
between the latter and the tank, including a device for automatically separating
the heavier from the lighter liquids, a condenser and suitable connections between
the latter and the vaporizer and between the condenser and the holder, substantially
as set forth.
3rd. In an extractor the combination of a digesting tank, and an escape pipe
leading therefrom, a gravity separator, substantially as described, connected to said
escape pipe, a vaporizer, a pipe connecting said vaporizer with the upper outlet of
the separator, a gravity overflow connected to said vaporizer, together with a
condenser, a vapor pipe leading from the vaporizer to the condenser, and a solvent
holder with connections, one leading into it from the condenser and one out of it to
the digesting tank, substantially as set forth.
4th. The combination in an extractor with a digesting tank and a vaporizer,
connections between the two, the inlet to which vaporizer is located below the final
outlet of the digesting tank, of a separator located in a connection between the
digesting tank and the vaporizer, and consisting of a vessel provided with an inlet
located below the level of the outlet of the digesting tank, an outlet for the lighter
liquid-leading-to-the-vaporizer and entering above the level of the bottom of said
vaporizer, au outlet for the heavier liquid, whose inner-port_is_below the port of
the outlet for the lighter liquid, and an overflow leading from the outlet port to the
heavier liquid to a spout above said port but below the outlet port for the lighter
liquid, whereby through gravity the water is separated from the solvent and grease
and carried off automatically, substantially as set forth.
5th. The combination in an extractor with a solvent holder and a digesting tank
of a vaporizer and a separator located somewhere in a connection between the
digesting tank and the vaporizer, and below the level of the bottom of said
digesting tank, and consisting of a vessel provided with an inlet, an outlet for the
lighter liquid, an outlet for the heavier liquid whose inner port is below the port of
the outlet for the lighter liquid, and an overflow leading from the port or outlet for
the heavier liquid to a point above said port, but below the outlet for the lighter
liquid, substantially as set forth.
6th. The combination in an extractor with a digesting tank and a vaporizer, of
connections between said vaporizer and tank, including a separator, connected to
an outlet for liquids leading from said tank and consisting of a vessel provided
with an inlet, an outlet for the lighter liquid, an outlet for the heavier liquid,
whose inner port is below the port of the outlet for the lighter liquid, and an

page_text: overflow leading from the port or outlet for the heavier liquid to a point above
said port, but below the outlet for the lighter liquid, substantially as set forth.
7th. The combination in an extractor with a digesting tank and vaporizer, of
connections between said vaporizer and tank, including a separator, connected to
said outlet for liquids leading from said digesting tank, and consisting of a vessel
provided with an inlet, an outlet for the lighter liquid and an outlet for the heavier
liquid, whose inner port is below the port of the outlet for the lighter liquid,
whereby the lighter liquid being carried on the surface of the heavier liquid will
separate therefrom and pass on through its outlet, while the heavier liquid is below
the level thereof, substantially as set forth.
11000
ALLISON BROS.,
Agents for the Applicant.