IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF HYDRO-CARBONS
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Puls, Chemist, of Roxburgh Terrace,
Haverstock Hill, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
Sealed the 31st August 1859, and dated the 10th June 1859..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis Puls at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 10th
June 1859.
I, FRANCIS PULS, Chemist, of Roxburgh Terrace, Haverstock Hill, in
the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare 'the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF HYDRO-CARBONS," to be as follows:-
My Invention in the treatment of hydro-carbons has reference to the heavy
oils and fatty matters obtainable by the distillation of gas pitch, asphalte, gas
tar, coal, coal tar, bituminous matters, and other such substances, which give
by distillation hydro-carbons not containing oxygen, or not in sufficient
quantity to combine with alkaline leys to soap, or to be saponified by alkaline
leys. I oxydise these hydro-carbons by means of acids or otherwise, and use,
them in this oxydized state, either alone or mixed with other fatty or oily
substances, for the purpose of combining them with alkaline leys, which com-
bination I use as a lubricating material.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis Puls in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 26th
November 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
PULS, of Roxburgh Terrace, Haverstock Hill, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Francis Puls, Her special licence that I, the said Francis
Puls, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Francis Puls, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 THE
TREATMENT OF HYDRO-CARBONS," for the term of fourteen years thence next
ensuing, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Francis Puls, 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 Francis Puls, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say) :-
My Invention of improvements in the treatment of bydro-carbons has
reference to the heavy oils and fatty matters obtainable by the distillation of
gas pitch, gas tar, coal, coal tar, asphalte, bituminous and resinous matters,
and other such substances which give by distillation hydro-carbons not con-
taining oxygen, or, not containing it in a sufficient quantity to enable them to
combine with alkaline leys so as to form soap, or be saponified by combination
with the alkaline leys. For the purpose of rendering these distilled hydro-
carbons capable of saponification or combination with alkaline leys, I oxydise
them, or produce an effect upon them which I deem to be oxydation by means

page_text: of a mineral acid, or some other chemical agent capable of oxydizing them, so
as to render them capable of combination with alkaline leys.
When the hydro-carbons have been thus oxydized or operated upon,. I
combine them, either alone or mixed with any other fatty or oily matters, with
alkaline leys, so as to form a saponified material to be used for lubricating, or
for any other purpose for which it may be applicable. If I intend to oxydise
such a hydro-carbon as above mentioned by means of an acid, I mix it with
about ten per cent. of the acid, preferring sulphuric acid, because of its being
cheaper than other mineral acids, but hydrochloric acid and nitric acid may
be used. The acid may be used alone or mixed, or together with some
material capable of evolving or being made to evolve oxygen by the action of
a portion of the mineral acid, such as bichromate of potash, chromic acid, and
black oxide of manganese, for the purpose of assisting in the oxydising of the
hydro-carbon. The hydro-carbon and oxydising material or materials are
then to be stirred for about ten hours, in order to ensure the action of the
oxydising material upon every part of the hydro-carbon. The acid or other
material is then to be washed out of, or otherwise separated from, the hydro-
carbon; and I prefer to wash acid out by means of hot water, because it
effects the object more speedily and more effectually than cold water.
Although I have described the above mode of oxydising a hydro-carbon, it
must not be understood that I claim it as being separately any part of my
Invention, and any means by which the oxydising of the hydro-carbon may be
thoroughly effected may be adopted. When I intend to use the saponified
hydro-carbon as a lubricator for railway carriage axles (usually called railway
grease), I prefer to mix the hydro-carbon to be oxydised either before or after
oxydation with some animal or vegetable fatty or oily matter, and I find that
about twenty per cent. of such fatty or oily matter is sufficient. I melt the
hydro-carbon and fatty or oily matter together, whether I mix them before
or after the oxydation of the hydro-carbon, and stir the mixture in order to
ensure a thorough incorporation of them with each other.
I prefer to mix the hydro-carbon with fatty or oily matter before the
oxydation of the hydro-carbon, because the mixture of oxydised hydro-carbon
and oily or fatty matters is of much less specific gravity than the oxydised
hydro-carbon alone, and therefore separates more (readily from the pitchy
matters generated by the process. I thus combine the oxydised hydro-carbon
(either alone or mixed with such animal or vegetable fatty or oily matters as
aforesaid) with a concentrated alkaline ley, so as to form a soapy or saponified
material. In order to make a lubricating material for railway purposes, I
prefer to use the leys of such a strength, or state of concentration, as will,

page_text: with the mixture of hydro-carbon and fatty or oily matter. used, produce a
material of the consistence of ordinary railway grease, or nearly so.
I make the alkaline leys of soda because it is cheaper than potash (either
of which, however, or a mixture of the two, will answer the purpose), ánd: I
prepare the leys in the usual way. I use such a proportion of leys in saponifying
a hydro-carbon as contains the quantity of caustic alkali necessary for con-
verting the whole of the hydro-carbon and any fatty or oily matter it may
contain into soap, or a soapy mass of the consistence of ordinary railway
grease. If an oxydised hydro-carbon be mixed with about twenty per cent.
of some animal or vegetable fatty or oily matter, in order to be made into a
lubricating material, I find that one hundred pounds of the mixture may be
saponified by a quantity of leys containing about twelve to fifteen pounds of
caustic soda.
The quantity of alkaline leys necessary for saponifying any particular
hydro-carbon may be ascertained by testing a small portion of it, mixing such
portion gradually, with small portions of leys until the hydro-carbon is com
pletely saponified and converted into a neutral soap, that is to say, a soap
without any excess of alkali or hydro-carbon. The distilled hydro-carbon
(either containing fatty or oily matter or not, as the case may be,) and alkaline
leys, upon being mixed, are to be stirred until the materials are thoroughly
incorporated, and the mixture is then ready for use.
Having now particularly ascertained and described the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which it may be performed, I declare that I
claim as my said Invention, the manufacture of a saponified hydro-carbon, by
first oxydising such hydro-carbon, and then combining it with alkaline leys, so
as to form a material for lubricating, or any other purpose for which it may
be applicable.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Puls, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of November, One thousand eigh
hundred and fifty-nine
FRANCIS PULS. (L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the said
Francis Puls, in the presence of
ALEXANDER FORSYTH,
10, Lombard Street, London,
Solicitor.