IMPROVEMENTS IN DISTILLING AND RECTIFYING TAR, RESIN, OILS, TURPENTINE, BITUMEN, AND AND IN THE APPARATUS FOR THE SAME." OTHER MATTERS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jean Eugène D'Arcet, of Paris, in the Empire of
France, Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DISTILLING AND
RECTIFYING TAR, RESIN, OILS, TURPENTINE, BITUMEN, AND
AND IN THE APPARATUS FOR THE SAME."
OTHER MATTERS,
Sealed the 15th September 1857, and dated the 31st March 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jean Eugène D'Arcet at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st March 1857.
I, JEAN EUGÈNE D'ARCET, of Patis, in the Empire of France, Chemist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
DISTILLING AND RECTIFYING TAR, RESIN, OILS, TURPENTINE, BITUMEN,
MATTERS, AND IN THE APPARATUS FOR THE SAME," to be as follows:-
My Invention has for its object to obtain continuity of action in the distil-
lation of tars, of turpentines, resins, bitumens, of oils produced from schistus
and all analogous substances, as also in the rectification of oils or essences
produced from the said matters, and generally from all hydro-carburetted
liquids or substances that may be liquified, by means of which process the
several volatile products capable of being produced by distillation from the
above-described substances can be separated spontaneously, if necessity requires
their separation for that purpose. In the apparatus I shall now describe, a
tube or pipe is filled, containing the substance to be distilled or rectified; if
the substance is a solid resin, for instance, it is first liquified by heat; the tube
conducts it into a vessel, the form of which I prefer to be cylindrical, closed,

page_text: and furnished at its part receiving heat with metal sufficiently fusible, (lead,
for example, or a metallic alloy,) so that the temperature to which the substance
to be distilled or rectified shall be nearly constant and unable to be raised
rapidly. The liquid traverses the vessel where the metal or alloy is situated.
The metal or alloy is chosen so that its degree of fusion may be rather higher
than the temperature for the volatilization of the products desired to be
obtained, so that the liquid to be distilled or rectified enters at one end of the
vessel, the vapours produced escape at the upper part, while the residue from
the operation is drawn off at the other end of the vessel. When it is wished to
separate (one from the other) the several volatile products produced, instead
of one vessel, several vessels are employed, communicating one with the other,
each having metals or alloys fusible at different temperatures. The vessel which
the liquid passes into first is the least heated, from which the most volatile
product escapes; in passing from the first, the liquid enters a second vessel,
more highly heated than the first, and it is from this vessel that another
volatile product escapes, but less volatile than the first, and so on, through a
number of vessels, varying according to requirements. The vessels are placed
near to or distant from the furnace, according to the greater or less heat
required to volatilize the matters to be operated on. The operation can be
conducted in a continuous manner without the necessity of the vessels having
a fusible metal if the temperature does not exceed the proper degree; the
interposition of fusible metal is, however, preferable. The volatile products
are conducted through the worms of a refrigerator. A jet of steam may be
directed into the several volatilizing vessels to facilitate the departure of the
volatile products therefrom.
The form and arrangement of the apparatus may be varied. Instead of a
number of vessels, a single vessel may be used, with compartments formed by
partitions, so that the liquid may pass from one compartment to the other.
The chief feature or aim of the Invention and in the use of the apparatus
is to obtain a continuous distillation analagous to the distillation of alcoholic
liquids, and to heat the substances to be distilled as little as possible.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jean Eugène D'Arcet in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th September 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE
PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEAN
EUGENE D'ARCET, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Chemist, send greeting.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JEAN
EUGENE D'ARCET, of Paris, in the Empire of France, Chemist, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of March, 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 Jean Eugène D'Arcet, Her special licence that I, the said Jean
Eugène D'Arcet, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Jean Eugène D'Arcet, 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 DISTILLING AND RECTIFYING TAR, RESIN, OILS, TURPENTINE, BITU-
MEN, AND OTHER MATTERS, AND IN THE APPARATUS FOR THE SAME," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Jean Eugène D'Arcet, 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 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 Jean Eugène D'Arcet, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
My Invention has for its object to obtain continuity of action in the distil-
lation of tars, of turpentines, resins, bitumens, of oils produced from schists and
all analogous substances, as also in the rectification of divers oils or essences
produced from the said matters, and generally from all hydro-carburetted
liquids or substances that may be liquified. By means of this process the several
volatile products capable of being produced by distillation from the above-
mentioned substances can be separated if required. For this purpose, in the.
apparatus hercin-after described, if the substance is a solid resins, for instance,
it is first liquified by heat; the feed pipe conducts it into a vessel, the form of
which I prefer to be cylindrical, closed, and furnished at its parts receiving
heat with metal sufficiently fusible, (lead, for example, or a metallic alloy,) so
that the temperature to which the substance to be distilled or rectified shall
be nearly constant and unable to be raised rapidly. The liquid traverses the
vessel in which the metal or alloy is placed. The metal or alloy is chosen so

page_text: that its degree of fusion may be rather higher than the temperature for the
volatilization of the products desired to be obtained. The liquid to be distilled
or rectified enters at one end of the vessel, the vapours produced escape at
the upper part, while the residue from the operation is drawn off at the other
end of the vessel.
When it is desired to separate the several volatile products the one from the
other, instead of one vessel, several vessels are employed communicating one
with the other, each having metals or alloys fusible at different temperatures.
The vessel which the liquid passes into first is the least heated, from which
the most volatile product escapes; in passing from the first, the liquid enters a
second vessel, more highly heated than the first, and it is from this vessel that
another volatile product escapes, but less volatile than the first, and so on,
through a number of vessels, varying according to requirements. The vessels
are placed near to or distant from the furnace, according to the greater or less
heat required to volatilize the matters to be operated upon. The operation
can be conducted in a continuous manner without the necessity of the vessels
having a fusible metal if the temperature does not exceed the proper degree
(640 to 850 degrees Fahrenheit); the interposition of the fusible metal is,
however, preferable. A jet of steam may be directed into the several volati-
lizing vessels to facilitate the departure of the volatile products therefrom.
The form and arrangement of the apparatus may be varied. For instance,
instead of a number of vessels, a single vessel may be used, with compartments
formed by partitions, so that the liquid may pass from one compartment to
the other.
The chief feature or aim of the Invention and in the use of the apparatus
is to obtain a continuous distillation analogous to the distillation of alcoholic
liquids, and at the same time to heat the substances to be distilled as little as
possible.
This process is based, firstly, on the continuity of the operation of distillation
or rectification; secondly, on the spontaneous separation of the volatile pro-
ducts arising from these operations.
In order to attain such a result, the substances naturally liquid, or liquified
by heat when they are solid at the common temperature, are subjected to tem-
peratures more and more elevated, until they attain the utmost temperature to
which the substances in question are required to be brought under for the
purposes required. By obtaining such a succession of increasing temperatures,
the liquid or liquified substance is caused to pass through a succession of
compartments in the same vessel, disposed in such a way that their tempera-
ture may be successively more and more elevated, so that the substance

page_text: evolves in the first vessel or the first compartment its more volatile parts,
while its less volatile parts are evolved in the next vessel or compartment,
so that it is easy to collect them separately without changing the recipient
in the progress of the operation, as it is now a necessity to do when the desire
is to obtain such a separation.
Each vessel or compartment is supplied with an orifice, through which
the vapours evolved in the said vessel are allowed to escape; this orifice is
connected with a worm wherein the vapours are condensed. The liquid or
liquefied substance enters the first vessel or compartment through a suitable
opening, and the last one is provided with a discharging pipe, through which
the residuum of the substance whose volatile parts have been extracted flows
out. The number of the vessels or compartments may be varied, according to
the subdivisions required of the volatile productions.
Such is the general principle of the process. Several apparata are suited to
establish the working of this process, which may, however, be quite independent
of any apparatus whatever. I will describe one apparatus in particular adapted
for the process, and constituting part of my Invention.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
A, A', A, are three cylindrical vessels or boilers, in cast iron, sheet iron, or
copper, but by preference of cast iron; x, x¹, the axis common to the three
vessels, placed in line or nearly so. A is directly above the fire grate;
A & A are heated merely by the products of the combustion passing to the
flue of the chimney. Every cylindrical vessel may have a separate fire-place;
but in case the three vessels, instead of being in a right line, are arranged
parallel to each other, each of the fires must be arranged according to the
temperatures required. At its upper part, every boiler is supplied with a
large aperture enclosed with a cover plug C, C1, C2, and an orifice D, D', D2,
which is in communication with the worm pipe for condensing the vapours.
Fig. 1 shows a section of the apparatus, having the boilers or vessels
arranged with their axis x, x', in a line with each other; Fig. 2 shows a plan
of the apparatus; Fig. 3 shows a section of the cylindrical vessel A, taken
on the line S, S₁. F is the fire-place.
Each cylindrical vessel is provided at the side with two connecting orifices
I, K, I', K', I', K². The orifices I, I, I, are disposed above the line x, x¹,
while the orifices K, K', K2, are disposed below that line and immediately
above the line b, b1, which is at the fourth part of the diameter of the cylindrical
vessels A. The orifices K and I', K' and 12, are connected together by means
of the bend pipes M, M, M, M', M', M', M², M2, M². Through these pipes

page_text: the liquid runs from the cylinder A into the cylinder A', and from A¹ into A²;
but on account of the height of the orifices I, K, I', K', I², K², it is the lower
part of the liquid, namely, the densest part, which passes into A', and so on.
The liquid to be distilled or rectified is conveyed into the apparatus by
the feeding pipe T, T, and the inflow is regulated by means of a cock; or the
supply may be regulated by self-acting means.
Suppose the apparatus in full work, the more volatile and lighter essences
or oils, call them a, are conveyed by the orifice D into the corresponding worm.
Deprived of a, the parts most easily volatilized, the liquid flows into A¹,
wherein another portion, call it c, separated by volatilization, which passes off
by its pipe D'; so deprived of a and c, the liquid passes into A2, where a third
part f, the least volatile, (if there are but three boilers,) is vaporized. The
residuum of the distillation flows away through the orifice K2, which residuum
will be black or coarse resin if tar is operated upon; coarse oil, more or less
paraffined, if coarse schist oil is operated upon; and common resin if turpentine
is operated upon.
In order to prevent a waste of vapours, it will be a considerable saving to
pass the residuum through a worm, wherein it will be cooled, but not so much
as to render it a solid body.
The liquid flowing through the feeding pipe T, T, may have been previously
heated, especially if it is not sufficiently fluid to flow at the natural temperature;
if a solid substance is operated upon, it is quite indispensable to heat it in the
tank or reservoir feeding the apparatus.
The working of this apparatus is continuous; when you wish to stop or
interrupt it you can empty the boilers by means of the cocks R, R¹, R².
The introduction of a jet of steam into the cylinders produces likewise a
good effect in facilitating the deposit of the volatile oils; in this case worm
condensers will be most effectual.
It will be remembered that the three cylinders contain a melted metal or
alloy, such metal or alloy being susceptible of changing their own nature,
according to the substances distilled or rectified, and, moreover, according to
the desiderata sought for. If necessary the cylinders can be supplied with an
open part, Fig. 4, which leaves the melted metal or alloy open to the atmo-
sphere, thereby constantly insuring the required temperature that may be
necessary in delicate operations.
Instead of various metals, the three cylinders can be supplied with the same
metal; there is no inconvenience if the metal in the cylinder A does not melt
so soon as the essence or oil operated on becomes volatile, that is to say,
although it becomes volatile at a lower temperature than the melting point of

page_text: the metal used. The metal is introduced into the cylinders by the apertures
C, C, C, taking off the covers for the purpose. This process may be carried
on without the metallic baths, but for the apparatus herein-before described
the form of the vessels would require some alteration.
Fig. 5 shows a section on the line S, S', of a vessel modified in form, which
is partially cylindrical, having its bottom curved inwards; the lower apertures
K, K', K2, should be applied to the lower curved part of the cylinder, so as to
be enabled to empty them.
Instead of cylindrical vessels, common boilers having their bottom rising in
the interior (see Fig. 6) may be employed.
A single vessel having two partitions in its interior can be substituted for the
three cylindrical vessels or boilers; each diaphragm or partition is perforated
with two apertures supplying the place of the communication pipes M, M¹.
The length of the cylinders or boilers may be unequal if you desire to heat
the liquid for a longer time in one vessel than in another, so that if you require
a larger quantity of the produce c than of the produce a, the surface of the
cylinder A exposed to the heat must be larger than the same surface of A.
However the flowing of the liquid through the vessels A1, A2, when they have
been already deprived of a and afterwards of c, the surfaces of the vessels
exposed to the heat proceed much in the same order.
Having described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention, intended to be secured
by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,
First, the distillation and rectification of the substances herein-before men-
tioned by the means or process and in the manner herein-before described.
And I further claim the apparatus herein-before described applied to such
purpose of rectification and distillation, or any mere modification of the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jean Eugène D'Arcet, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
J. E. D'ARCET. (L.S.)