IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND PURIFYING NAPHTHA, PARAFFINE, AND OTHER OILS, AND ALSO SPIRITS
Year: 1858

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Stephens William Pugh at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th December 1858.
J, STEPHEN WILLIAMS PUGH, of Nelson Square, Commercial Road, New
Peckham, in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING AND PURIFYING NAPHTHA,
PARAFFINE, AND OTHER OILS, AND ALSO SPIRITS," to be as follows:-
As regards that part of this Invention which relates to improvements in
obtaining parrafine oil, the improvement consists in operating upon bituminous
coals when they are mixed with the following ingredients, matters, or sub-
stances, namely, charcoal made from gas pitch, and blood chalk lime, or
other earthy matters, also any of the oxides of iron or other metallic
carbonates or hydrates; the coal, &c., is to be placed in retorts of the
ordinary construction, and operated upon by heat, according to the well-known
method of conducting destructive distillation. The paraffine oil thus obtained
it is proposed to purify in the following manner, and by the following means:-
Place the oil in an iron vessel coated with zinc, and proceed to treat it with
from 10 to 20 per cent. of sulphuric acid, and well stir the whole; when it has
well settled and the impurities are precipitated, then draw off the oil into
another iron vessel, and treat it with a solution of caustic alkali, caustic lime,
and chalk, and well stir the whole to neutralize the acid, then proceed to
draw off the oil and place the same in another vessel, and mix with the oil
the following ingredients, matters, or substances, namely, bituminous charcoal
or peat charcoal, marl, chalk, or lime, and water containing oxide of iron, in
the proportion of from 6 to 10 gallons of this mixture to every 100 gallons of

page_text: the oil, according to the crude state thereof; apply steam heat thereto, and boil
for 4 or 6 hours, after which well wash the oil with a strong solution of
chloride of sodium, or a strong natural brine, and then distil the oil in my
improved apparatus of the following construction:-It is proposed to employ
three cylinders or stills placed side by side, and to connect them with a steam
boiler by a pipe which enters the top of No. 1 cylinder, and extends to within
a few inches of the bottom of said cylinder, from whence small pipes radiate
so as to cover as near as may be the bottom of the cylinder; said radial pipes
are perforated with small holes for the escape of steam. The cylinder No. 1
is connected to cylinder No. 2, by a pipe proceeding from the top of No. 1,
which said pipe enters cylinder No. 2, and passes off in a radial direction as
in No. 1 aforesaid; No. 3 cylinder is also similarly connected to No. 2, and
fitted with radial pipes, and No. 3 cylinder is connected by a pipe directly
with the steam boiler; No. 3 cylinder has an outlet pipe attached thereto,
which communicates with a refrigerator of large dimensions, which should
have a good supply of cold water to enable distillation to be carried on at a
low temperature, say about 54° Fahrenheit; the aforesaid cylinder should be
formed with suitable openings for charging them, also screw plugs for
cleansing them, and furnished with proper taps or cocks for the escape of
gas, &c. The apparatus thus constructed is to be operated with in the
following manner :-For conducting the purifying of paraffine oil, that is to say,
in No. 1 cylinder, place the charge of oil, filling the cylinder about three
parts full, also place therein bituminous and peat charcoal and pynate or
silvate of soda, the quantities to be used depending upon the state of the oil;
No. 2 cylinder, fill rather more than one-third full with water, also from
about 4 to 10 per cent. of chloride of lime, and about the same quantity of oxide
of iron and of peroxide of manganese; No. 3 cylinder, fill about one-third
full, with a solution made from the following ingredients, namely, lavender,
vetiper, Florentine iris, mint, parsley, and carraway seeds. The quantities to
be used will depend upon the foul state of the oil which is to be operated upon
In some cases it is proposed to use, in addition to the, above ingredients
essence of patchouly, cloves, and cassia. The contents of this cylinder are to
be distilled to separate the light oils, and the process of washing in a solution
of chloride of sodium repeated as before; it should here be observed tha
the foregoing method of purifying paraffine is equally applicable by appropriate
modifications to the purification of naphtha and other oils, and also spirits.