IMPROVEMENTS IN PURIFYING HYDRO- CARBON OILS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Lambe and Arthur Charles Sterry,
both of Rotherhithe New Road, in the County of Surrey, Paraffine
Refiners, and John Fordred, of Blackheath, in the County of Kent,
Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PURIFYING HYDRO-
CARBON OILS."
Sealed the 21st April 1868, and dated the 26th February 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Lambe;
Arthur Charles Sterry, and John Fordred at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 26th February
1868.
We, FREDERICK LAMBE and ARTHUR CHARLES STERRY, both of
Rotherhithe New Road, in the County of Surrey, Paraffine Refiners,
and JOHN FORDRED, of Blackheath, in the County of Kent, Chemist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN PURIFYING HYDROCARBON OLLS," to be as follows:―
This Invention relates to an improved and economical method of
purifying petroleum or earth oil, and the oils obtained by the destructive
distillation of various kinds of coal or shale, of peat, of lignite, or brown

page_text: coal, or of bitumen; all the oils so obtained being known as hydro-
carbon oils and including the oils of low specific gravity and great
volatility, known commercially as spirit.
The Invention consists in the first place in treating oil of the above
description which has been partially refined by distillation and treatment
with sulphuric acid, with a solution of glue, or other gelatinous or
albuminous substance, or with flour or starch prepared with water, or
with milk; or we can take oil which has been wholly refined in the
usual manner, and treat that again with sulphuric acid and then proceed
to the treatment with glue or the other substances named, in either case
we heat the mixture to the proper temperature, and then well agitate it
mechanically, or by means of a jet of free steam, or by air from a forcing
pump. After being well mixed the whole must be allowed to rest and
the impurities of the oil will subside with the solution of glue or other
substance employed.
Or, in the second place, we take oil which has been refined in the
usual manner, either wholly or in part, and with or without subjecting
it to the treatment with glue, or either of the other substances
mentioned; we heat it to the required temperature and then add to
it a certain quantity of fuller's earth; we well agitate the mixture and
afterwards leave it at rest for the impurities to subside, and from these
the clear oil may be drawn off. This treatment with fuller's earth may
be repeated as frequently as may be found necessary, with or without
intermediate treatment with sulphuric acid.
In the treatment of oils in certain stages of purification we prefer
adding the fuller's earth without previously heating the oil.
When we apply the treatment with fuller's earth to oil which has
been once distilled and then treated with sulphuric acid only, we find
that by repeating the treatment with fuller's earth we can dispense with
any further distillation.
When the treatment with solution of glue, or the substances named,
or with the fuller's earth, is applied to the lighter hydrocarbon oils, or to
spirit, which would wholly or in part volatilize at the temperature
required for the purifying operation, the process may be conducted in a
closed vessel supplied with a proper outlet for the vapor resembling
indeed a still furnished with the requisite means for agitating the
mixture contained therein.

page_text: When the oil is drawn off from the deposit caused by the fuller's
earth, such deposit may be made to give up the oil which remains
adherent to it by agitation with water, steaming, or any other appropriate
means.
We can replace the fuller's earth, wherever it is mentioned above, by
marl, clay, or other natural silicate of alumina, or by silica or alumina,
any of which may be used alone or mixed together in various
proportions.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick Lambe, Arthur Charles Sterry, and
John Fordred in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th August
1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, FREDERICK
LAMBE and ARTHUR CHARLES STERRY, both of Rotherhithe New Road,
in the County of Surrey, Paraffine Refiners, and JOHN FORDRED, of
Blackheath, in the County of Kent, Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-first year of Her reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Frederick Lambe, Arthur Charles
Sterry, and John Fordred, Her special licence that we, the said Frederick
Lambe, Arthur Charles Sterry, and John Fordred, our executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Frederick Lambe,
Arthur Charles Sterry, and John Fordred, our 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN PURIFYING HYDRO-
CARBON OILS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said
Frederick Lambe, Arthur Charles Sterry, and John Fordred, our executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, 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.

page_text: 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 we, the said Frederick Lambe, Arthur Charles
Sterry, and John Fordred, do hereby declare the nature, of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
(that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to an improved and economical method of
purifying petroleum or earth oil, and the oils obtained by the destructive
distillation of various kinds of coal or shale, of peat, of lignite, or brown
coal, or of bitumen, all the oils so obtained being known as hydro-
carbon oils and including the oils of low specific gravity and great
volatility known commercially as spirit.
The first head of this Invention consists in treating oils of the above
description which have been refined or partially refined, first by the
well-known sulphuric acid treatment, and then with a solution of gluc,
or other gelatinous or albuminous substance, or with flour or starch
prepared with water or with milk. The solution of glue is made by
dissolving five pounds of glue in sixty gallons of water, and the
gelatinous and albuminous equivalent solutions as well as the mixture
of flour and water are brought to a strength equal to that of the solution
of glue. The acid of the strength of the ordinary sulphuric acid of
commerce in the usual proportions is added to and agitated with the oil
in the usual manner, and after subsidence the oil is run off into another
vessel where the solution of glue or its equivalent is added to it in the
proportion of one part of the solution to four parts of oil. This mixture
is agitated mechanically, or by means of air from a forcing pump; or in the
case of the heavy oils by a jet of free steam, the light oils require in this
operation to be at a temperature of seventy or eighty degrees Fahrenheit,
but the heavier oils should be raised to a temperature of from one
hundred and fifty degrees to one hundred and sixty degrees Fahrenheit.
After being well agitated the mixture is allowed to rest, and the
impurities of the oil will subside with a solution of glue or other
substance employed.
The second head of the Invention consists in the employment of
fuller's earth as a substantive mode of purifying hydrocarbon oils. To
this end we take oil which has been refined, either wholly or in part, and

page_text: after or without subjecting it to the treatment with glue or its equivalent
as already described we add to it about twelve per cent. by weight of
fuller's earth in fine powder; we well agitate the mixture for about
one hour, raising the temperature to from seventy degrees to eighty
degrees Fahrenheit in the case of the light oils; and to about one hundred
and fifty degrees to one hundred and sixty degrees Fahrenheit in the
case of the heavy oils; we then leave. the mixture at rest for the
impurities to subside, and from these the clear oil may be drawn off.
This treatment with fuller's earth may be repeated as frequently as
may be found necessary:
.
When we dispense with the treatment with glue or its equivalent, as
already described, we take the oil which has been subjected to a pre-
paratory sulphuric acid treatment, and add thereto fuller's earth
gradually and in the proportion above stated, the mixture of oil and
fuller's earth being kept agitated by a stirrer for about half an hour.
The light oils may be operated upon at ordinary temperatures, but the
application of artificial heat (as above noticed) will facilitate the action
of the earth upon heavy oils.
When we apply the treatment with fuller's earth to oil which has
been once distilled, and then treated with sulphuric acid, we find that
by repeating the treatment with fuller's earth and sulphuric acid
alternately (the final treatment being with fuller's earth) we can dispense
with any further distillation.
When the treatment with solution of glue, or the substances named as
its cquivalent, or with the fuller's earth, is applied to the lighter hydro-
carbon. oils or to spirit which would wholly or in part volatilize at the
temperature required for the purifying operation, the process may be
conducted in a closed vessel supplied with a proper outlet for the vapor
like a still and furnished with the requisite means for agitating the
mixture contained therein.
When the oil is drawn off from the deposit caused by the fuller's
earth, such deposit may be made to give up the oil which remains
adherent to it by agitation with water, steaming, or any other appropriate
means.
We can replace the fuller's earth wherever it is mentioned above
wholly or in great part by marl, clay, or other readily obtainable natural
substance of like character.

page_text: Wherever we have specified any particular quantity of material or
temperature to be employed or duration of the processes described, we
have only done so to indicate the mode of operation which we have
found most convenient, but we do not confine ourselves to such periods,
quantities of material, or temperatures, but intend to cover by this
Patent all such durations of time, quantities of material, and temperatures
as will produce the end which we have in view, through the means which
we have described above.
Having now stated the nature of our Invention, we wish it to be
understood that we claim under the above in part recited Letters
Patent :-
First. The treatment of hydrocarbon oils after treatment with sulphuric
acid in the manner specified with a solution of glue, or other gelatinous
or albuminous substance, or starch, or flour, or milk in the manner and
with the object above described.
Secondly. The treatment of refined or partially refined hydrocarbon
oils with fuller's earth, or the substances mentioned as its equivalent, in
the manner and for the purpose above set forth.
In witness whereof, we, the said Frederick Lambe, Arthur Charles
Sterry, and John Fordred, have hereunto set our hands and
seals, the Twenty-sixth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
FREDE LAMRE
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