IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER."
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Albert Edwin Reed, of the Henleys Wookey,
in the County of Somerset, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said, Albert Edwin Rced at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 26th July 1870.
I, ALBERT EDWIN REED, of the Henleys Wookey, in the County of
Somerset, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," to be as follows:-
In preparing straw, esparto grass, and other raw vegetable fibres
for the manufacture of paper, it is usual to boil the raw fibre in a
alkaline solution and afterwards to remove the alkali from it by washing,
in order to permit of the efficient action of the bleeching liquor in.
which the fibre is subsequently steeped. The better to effect this.

page_text: removal of the alkali the fibre or pulp has also in some cases been
pressed by hydraulic pressure, to expel by this means as much as
possible of the alkaline liquor, or the fibre (or pulp) has been washed
in a washing engine by means of a constant flow of fresh water until
the alkali has been carried off by the water.
It is also customary with some manufacturers to add sulphuric acid
at a late stage of the washing when the water, leaving the engine is
comparatively clear in order to sour the fibre and facilitate the subsequent
action of the bleaching liquor on the fibre and at the same time ensure
the destruction of any remaining alkaline taint.
66
It should be explained that the ordinary method of washing has
been to agitate the fibre in a machine, technically called a potcher or
washing engine. Revolving in this engine and connected to it is a
'drum washer," which contunuously draws out and discharges the
discolored water from the fibre, clean water at the same time being
supplied to the fibre through a tap. This process continues until the
colouring matter is removed and the water taken out by the drum washer
is comparatively clear. The general principle by which manufacturers
have been guided in this process is that the fibre after being boiled
contains a large quantity of objectionable refuse and coloring matter
which could only be removed by washing. The removal of the alkali
by washing, as above described, not only necessitates the employment
of a large amount of water, but there is also a loss of a considerable
quantity of fibre, and great inconvenience is caused by the pollution of
streams from the discharge of the wash waters into them.
My Invention consists in neutralizing the alkli without washing,
whereby great economy is effected and the polution of streams is
avoided.
To carry out my Invention I first remove as much as possible of the
black alkaline liquor from the fibre by pressing it in an hydraulic press
so as to leave only about 60 per cent. of moisture in the fibre and then
agitate the fibre in a bath containing dilute acid (by preference sulphuric
acid). I prefer to employ for this purpose the ordinary washing or
potching engine with the exception that the drum washer is dispensed
with, and that an acid solution is placed in the tank or bath of the engine.
This acid solution is sufficiently dilute to prevent the destruction of the
fibre and at the same time sufficiently strong to effectually neutralize

page_text: the alkali held in the fibre. The fibre having been delivered into the
acid solution is agitated until the fibre is effectually penetrated with it
and the alkali neutralized; this being effected the mixture is discharged
into drainers, and when the fibre has lost all the water which naturally
drains from it, it is ready for the bleaching liquor and will then be treated
by the method usually adopted for the completion of the manufacture of
paper. I would remark that the pressing process prior to the neutrali-
zation by acid is not absolutely necessary, inasmuch as the alkali which
the fibre contains, if it is not pressed, may be neutralized by acid, but
the quantity of acid required would be considerably increased, and
practically it is preferable to subject the pulp to the process of pressing.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Albert Edwin Reed in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th January 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALBERT
EDWIN REED, of the Henleys Wookey, in the County of Somerset, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Albert Edwin Reed, Her special
licence that I, the said Albert Edwin Reed, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Albert Edwin Reed,
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 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 " IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Albert Edwin Reed, my executors or admini,
strators, by an instrument in writing, under my, or their, or one of their
hands and scals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,

page_text: 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 Albert Edwin Reed, 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: -
In preparing straw, esparto grass, and other raw vegetable fibres for
the manufacture of paper, it is usual to boil the raw fibre in an alkaline
solution and afterwards to remove the alkali from it by washing, in
order to permit of the efficient action of the bleaching liquor in which
the fibre is subsequently steeped. The better to effect this removal of
the alkali the fibre or pulp has also in some cases been pressed by
hydraulic pressure to expel by this means as much as possible of the
alkaline liquor, and the fibre (or pulp) has then been washed in a washing
engine or bath by means of a constant flow of fresh water until the alkali
has been carried off by the water.
It is also customary with some manufacturers to add sulphuric acid at
a late stage of the washing, but always in connection with the washing
process, and at a stage when the water leaving the engine is comparatively
clear, in order to sour the fibre and facilitate the subsequent action of
the bleaching liquor on the fibre, and at the same time ensure the
destruction of any remaining alkaline taint. It has however always
been deemed necessary to have recourse to the washing process, and
hitherto it has not been dispensed with in the manner proposed by me as
herein-after described.
It should be explained that the ordinary method of washing has been
to agitate the fibre in a machine technically called a potcher or washing
engine revolving in this engine, and connected to it is a "drum washer"
which continuously draws out and discharges the discolored water from
the fibre, clean water at the same time being supplied to the fibre
through a tap; this process continues until the coloring matter is
removed, and the water taken out by the drum washer is comparatively
clear. The general principle by which manufacturers have been guided
in this process is, that the fibre after being boiled contains a large
quantity of objectionable refuse and coloring matter, which could only
be removed by washing. The removal of the alkali by washing, as above

page_text: described, not only necessitates the employment of a large amount of
water, but there is also a loss of a considerable per centage of fibre, and
great inconvenience is caused by the pollution of streams from the
discharge of the wash waters into them. My Invention consists in the
employment of acid, as -herein-after described, for the purpose of
neutralizing the alkali and enabling the ordinary washing process to be
dispensed with, whereby great economy is effected and the pollution of
streams is avoided.
In carrying out my Invention I proceed as follows:-After the raw
fibre has been boiled in an alkaline solution I remove from it as much as
possible of the black alkaline liquor by pressing it in an hydraulic press, so
as to leave only about sixty-five per cent. of moisture in the fibre. I then
agitate the fibre in a bath containing dilute acid, by preference sulphuric
acid or hydrochloric acid. I prefer to employ for this purpose a washing
or potching engine similar in form to that ordinarily used, with the
exception that the drum washer and other apparatus for washing is
dispensed with. In the Drawings annexed I have shewn such an
engine.
Figure 1 is a plan view, and Figure 2, a longitudinal section of the
engine; a is the tank or bath; b, the agitating roll; c, the plate; d, the
sand trap; e, the midfeather dividing the central portion of the bath into
two channels; fis the outlet valve through which the pulp is drawn off;
b, the valve through which water used in cleaning out the engine is run
off. The position of these valves may be altered to suit convenience.
The tank or bath, and the agitating roll and other parts of the
engine, should be made of materials which will not be acted upon by
the acid solution and the use of iron should be avoided.
.
I prefer to form the agitating roll of hard wood with bars of copper
projecting from it, or the bars may be of other metal which will not be
acted on by the acid solution. The emptying valve at the bottom of the
tank and the sand trap I also form of copper or other metal that will
not be acted on by the acid.
Before introducing the fibre into the engine the acid solution with
which the fibre is to be treated is prepared in the bath; this I do by first
introducing into the bath the requisite quantity of water and then
gradually adding to it the desired proportion of acid. I prefer that the
acid solution should be of a strength of about one gallon of sulphuric acid

page_text: of commerce or an unequivalent quantity of hydrochloric acid to about
four hundred gallons of water, this will vary more or less according to
the strength of the alkali which the fibre contains; these quantities are
suitable for the treatment of the material obtained from about two
hundredweight of crude fibre of ordinary quality. The amount of acid
in the bath should be slightly in excess of the quantity required for
neutralizing the alkali in the quantity of fibre, which is agitated with it.
When the liquor is drained off from the pulp any fibre-passing away with
the liquor separates from it much more readily if there be a slight excess
of acid, and thus the small quantity of fibre carried off with the liquor can
readily be recovered, and the liquor may be allowed to flow away. in a
clear state by allowing it to settle. When the acid bath has been
prepared to the requisite strength, the fibre is introduced into the engine
and is agitated in the solution by the revolving roll of the engine for
about half an hour. Afterwards the pulp is run off through the outlet
valve on to perforated tiles or other draining, surfaces to separate the
water from it. It will be found that pulp treated as above described
will require a longer time for draining than pulp washed in the ordinary
way. To expedite the extraction of liquid from the pulp a partial
vacuum may be formed beneath the perforated tiles or other draining
surface, upon which the pulp is placed to drain, or the pulp may be
submitted to hydraulic pressure or other mechanical application for
separating the liquid from the pulp. After the liquid has been separated
from the pulp, say, to such an extent that more cannot readily be
expressed by squeezing it in the hand, it is ready to be acted on by the
bleaching liquor. I prefer that the chlorine solution in which the fibre
is to be ultimately steeped for bleaching should be of about three
degrees of Twaddle's No. 1 hydrometer. The bleaching may be conducted
in the ordinary manner, and the pulp afterwards treated as usual for the
manufacture of paper. I would remark that the pressing process prior to
the neutralization by acid is not absolutely necessary inasmuch as the
alkali which the fibre contains if it is not pressed may be neutralized by
acid, but the quantity of acid required would be considerably increased,
and practically it is preferable to subject the pulp to the process of
pressing.

page_text: claim in the treatment of esparto grass and other fibrous substances
the use of acid, as herein-before described for the purpose of neutralizing
alkali and enabling the washing process hitherto employed to be
dispensed with.
In witness whereof, I, the said Albert Edwin Reed, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Twenty-fifth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
ALBERT EDWIN REED. (L.S.)