AN IMPROVED MODE OF REFINING & PURIFYING OILS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Watson Burton, of Leeds, in the County of
York, Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF REFINING
& PURIFYING OILS."
Sealed the 28th April 1863, and dated the 2nd March 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Watson Burton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd March 1863.
I, JOHN WATSON BURTON, of Leeds, in the County of York, Gentleman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF
REFINING & PURIFYING OILS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in first washing the oils in the usual manner or in the
manner herein-after named, then mixing them with spirits, and lastly, in
filtering and separating the impurities therefrom.
For this purpose the oils are washed in the usual manner, or when very
impure or greatly discoloured they are washed and purified by means of mimo-
tannic acid, catechine, and other tannic acids. They are then mixed with
either pure spirit or methylated spirit or other suitable alcoholic solution, and
the mixture is put into a vessel in which it is subjected to violent agitation.
It is afterwards allowed to settle and the oil allowed to run off through a
cock at the bottom of the vessel. The spirit is then drawn off from the
impure sediment, and the oil and spirit are again mixed, agitated, and allowed
to settle, when a further separation of impurities is effected. And this process
or these processes is or are repeated as often as required.

page_text: The oils, after being treated in the foregoing manner, are filtered through
charcoal or other suitable filters, and the filtering is either applied to the oil
and spirit in a mixed state, the spirit being afterwards drawn off, or the spirit
is first separated from the mixture, and then the oil is filtered.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Watson Burton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st September 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN WATSON
BURTON, of Leeds, in the County of York, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Watson Burton, Her special license that I, the said John Watson
Burton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Watson Burton, 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 "AN
IMPROVED MODE OF REFINING AND PURIFYING OILS," upon the condition (amongst
others, that I, the said John Watson Burton, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, 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 John Watson Burton, 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 (that is to say) :-
My Invention of "An Improved Mode of Refining and Purifying Oils"
consists in first washing the oils in the usual manner or in the manner herein-
after named, then mixing them with spirits, and lastly, in filtering and
separating the impurities therefrom.
The oil or fatty matter to be treated is first washed in the usual manner, or,
if required, owing to its greater impurity, it is mixed with mimotannic acid,

page_text: catechine, or other tannic acid, and then gently agitated, in order to effect a
complete mixture of the acid and the oil. I prefer that the temperature of
the oil should be maintained at about seventy degrees Fahrenheit, but this
may be varied.
After the oil and mimotannic acid have been thoroughly
mixed, they are allowed to stand for a short time, when the mucilage, gelatine,
albumen, and other matters which constitute impurities in the oil will have
parted therefrom, and will have formed a separate layer between the oil and
the mimotannic acid. The oil is then decanted or run off free from the
mucilage into a separate vessel, and the mucilage is separated from the acid
and put into filtering bags which are suspended in a warm place, when any
oil remaining in the mucilage will drip or filter from it, and can be added to
the former oil. The oil or fatty matter being now freed from the mucilage
previously contained in it, is mixed or treated either with methylated spirit
or with nitric or sulphuric acid or the gases derived therefrom, according to
the nature or quality of the oil or the purpose for which it is required. And
for the purpose of further refining and purifying the oil when it is treated
with methylated spirit, it is put into a suitable air-tight vessel and subjected to
a violent agitation, and after being allowed to stand until the agitation has
subsided, it is run off into a separate vessel in order that it may receive a washing
with clean water either hot or cold. When the oil is required to be still more
perfectly refined and purified, so as, for example, to render it fit for lubricating
purposes, or for burning in lamps with wicks, then after the removal of the
mucilage from the oil by means of mimotannic acid the oil is treated with nitric
or sulphuric acid, or the gases derived therefrom, for the purpose of charring
any remaining gelatine, albumen, mucus, or other impure matters, which are
removed from the oil by passing the same through a charcoal or other suitable
filter. The oil is then washed with water containing a small quantity of
carbonate of soda or other suitable alkali, in order to remove the acid, and
then dried by heat, when it will be found to be refined and purified to the
degree required.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that I do not claim as
of my Invention the use of the materials nor the process or processes herein-
before described otherwise than as herein-after stated, but what I do claim as
of my Invention is,-
First, the use of mimotannic acid for refining and purifying oils and other
fatty matters as herein-before described.
Secondly, the use for the same purpose of methylated spirit in combination
with mimotannic acid as herein-before described.

page_text: And, lastly, the use of nitric and sulphuric acid and the gases derived there-
from for refining and purifying oils and other fatty matters, when such oils or
fatty matters have been previously purified by means of mimotannic acid or
similar tannin matters as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Watson Burton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirty-first day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
Witness,
PHILIP H. SHARP,
East Parade, Leeds.
JOHN WATSON BURTON. (L.B.)