IM- PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Felix Lieven Bauwens, of Pimlico, in the
County of Middlesex, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES."
aled the 11th January 1854, and dated the 11th July 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Felix Lieven
Bauwens at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 11th July 1858.
I, FELIX LIEVEN BAUWENS, of Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES" to be as follows:-
The first part of my Invention consists in a new method of pressing
tallow or any other fatty matter before saponification for the manufac-
ture of candles. 1. first cause the tallow to be purified by boiling for two
hours by means of free stream in a tub lined with lead, with half its
bulk of water, one per cent. of concentrated sulphuric acid, and a third
of its weight of rape seed oil, raw or refined; after due subsidence,
which will result in a space of time varying from two to eight hours,
according to the quantity of tallow operated upon, I take it over in a
larger tub, where the mixture is boiled again by steam for three to
A

page_text: four hours with its bulk of water. The object of the boiling is to wash
away every particle of the sulphuric acid, and the addition of the rape
seed oil is to facilitate the crystallization of the solid parts of the
tallow. When the water has subsided, and the mixture, being perfectly
clarified and transparent, has fallen to 120° Fahrenheit, it is drawn off
in sheet iron vessels or tins containing about 1ew, and the tins allowed
to cool gradually in a room where the temperature is kept at about
80° Fahrenheit for three days, then at a temperature of 70° for three
other days, and for six other days at a temperature of about 50°. In
suminer time, when this low temperature is only to be found in a
cellar or other place under ground, it is necessary to transfer the tins to
some such place for the above-mentioned period. During this time
crystallization will have gradually taken place, and on the 13th day or
thereabouts the fatty matter, which is thoroughly granulated and oily, is
put into bags of sail cloth, woollen or other woven fabric, and pressed
by means of an hydraulic press, care being taken that the layers shall
not exceed of an inch in thickness, that the pressure be applied
gradually and slowly at the beginning, and that the temperature of the
apartment should be at about 60°; the pressing will be concluded
in about 24 hours at least, including the time of charging the press.
The pressed tallow being taken out of the bags is to be saponified
for making candles. Any other sort of oil may be used with convenient
proportions of tallow, according to the softness of the latter and the
consistence of the former, provided the mixture be such as to melt at
about 100° Fahrenheit.
The second part of my Invention relates to the saponification with
lime of fatty bodies generally, but especially after they have been
pressed as aforesaid. Instead of a wooden tub and free steam, as
generally used, I employ a wrought or cast iron pan heated by fire;
the shape I prefer for this is similar to the upper half of the paddle
box of a steamer reversed, the curved portion forming the bottom of the
pan. If made of wrought iron the bottom should be a single plate, in
order to allow of stirring and scraping being performed while the
saponifying process is going on. The pan is built into a furnace
with a fire under it, half its surface only being reached by the flame.

page_text: A pan of the capacity of 2 tons is large enough to saponify a ton of
tallow; the fire being lighted under the pan, the tallow and the melted
lime is put in the pan, not diluted and in a milky state, as usual, but as
a paste. Ebullition will soon take place, and in about an hour and a
half or two hours, according to the age and quality of the tallow, the
mixture will become quite viscid and homogenous, and the water begin
to part in small globules; this part of the operation requires constant
attendance, and stirring or scraping on the bottom of the pan. If this
should not be done so as to keep the bottom of the pan perfectly clean,
large flakes of soap will be thrown up, and the pan overflow. The fire
is then removed, a sort of violent formentation takes place very soon
after, and when it subsides, which happens in about an hour, the cover
is taken off, the fire again lighted, and a hole of about a font in
diameter is made in the middle of the lime soap, which is then a half
solid and half spongy mass, and hollow at the bottom; the pan is kept
boiling and covered for a couple of hours, and boiling water is to be
added from time to time in order to keep the soap constantly covered
with water as it evaporates. The water is then drawn off' by a cock
near the bottom of the pan, and fresh water poured in to cool the
soap. When sufficiently cold the soap is dug out with a spade in
small pieces, and thrown into the separating vat. The advantages
resulting from this method of saponifying fatty bodies are, first, a
great saving of fuel, a tenth only of the usual quantity of fuel being
necessary. Secondly, the saponification being complete, 12 per cent.
of lime instead of 14 (as usual) is sufficient, and consequently, and
thirdly, less sulphuric acid is required for separating the fatty acids
from the basis.
The third part of my Invention is a new mode of employing steam
in the separating vat, and of stirring its contents. Free steam is
generally used for decomposing, and admitted into the tub by means of
a coil perforated with holes. Those who are acquainted with stearine
manufacture readily admit the inconvenience arising from this mode of
operating, owing to the extra supply of water produced by the con-
densation of steam, and hence the necessity of a rather too strong
solution of sulphuric acid at the commencement, while it becomes

page_text: gradually too weak at the conclusion of the process. Moreover, at
first the steam operates well enough as a stirrer or agitator, but
when it becomes necessary to allow the ebullition to subside gradually
the steam breaks only through the nearest holes, owing to its reduced
pressure and the precipitation of the sulphate of lime, and the stirring
is confined to those particular parts only where the steam continues
bubbling; whereas, if the bubbling is to subside gradually it should do
so over the entire area of the bottom of the vat, because when the
boiling, and consequently the bubbling, is stopped at once, the sulphate
of lime, settling almost immediately, carries with it many particles of
the fatty acids to the bottom of the vat, where they remain, unable to
escape. This effect is produced to some extent when the steam is par-
tially stopped; and to remedy this it is necessary to stir the sulphate
repeatedly with water after it is taken out of the vat, and even then
the separation is not completely effected, and some of the fatty matter
remains mingled amongst the sulphate. The present improvement is
quite free from these inconveniences, no steam is condensed, and the
boiling is gradually reduced at all points. According to my Invention
there is a coiled pipe on the bottom of the pan, with a space of four
inches between each convolution, but without perforations; the steam at
a pressure of 32 inches of mercury circulates through the coil, which has
a cock at each end, one for the inlet of the steam, and the other for the
outlet of the condensed water and waste steam. The vat is lined with
slicet lead as usual, and has a brass socket soldered to it in the middle
of the bottom to receive the lower end of a vertical copper pipe, which is
closed at bottom, and whose upper end passes through a stufting box
above the top of the pan connected with a cock and steam pipe; a
little above the socket is attached to the vertical pipe a horizontal
copper pipe of the same diameter, which extends to about an inch from
the circumference of the pan; it is closed at this end, and perforated
with holes underneath, and is supported at its further end by a copper
rod extending to the vertical tube, a little above the top of the pan;
rotary motion is given to the tube by a pulley or other convenient
means. The operation of this combination is as follows: all the
cocks being opened, the contents of the vat boiling, and the tube in
"

page_text: rotation, bubbling will ensue, and the steam and stirring will succos-
sively reach every spot of the bottom of the vat and of the coil so as to
cause the sulphate in the way to be removed. The separation being
thus effected, the precipitation of the sulphate and the rising of the
fatty acids is the next consideration. To effect these the cock of the
coil should be shut off, the speed of the rotating tube gradually lessened,
and the introduction of free steam checked, and finally stopped, about
2 hours after the separation is deemed complete, when the sulphate
will sink, first allowing the fatty matters to float above it. For a ton
of saponified tallow I use a vat that will contain 3 tons, and allow the
mixture, when water and acid are added, to fill it when boiling to about
a foot from the top. Atmospheric air (heated or otherwise) or any
other innocuous gas may be used in the rotating pipe instead of steam,
and supplied by an air pump or other suitable apparatus.
The fourth part of my Invention consists in washing the sulphate of
line in order to prevent any loss resulting from particles of the lime
soap remaining undecomposed, or from particles of the separated acids
remaining interspersed among the sulphate of lime. The sulphate, after
the fatty matters have been drawn off, is stirred, and drained along with
the remaining liquid into a cistern, where it is allowed to settle; the
sulphate very soon precipitates to the bottom, and the water being
drawn off, the sulphate is thrown over with a shovel into a hopper,
from which it is washed away by a jet of water kept constantly running
into a cylindrical bolter or sieve made of rather closely woven copper
wire cloth, slightly inclined towards one end, and put in motion by an
engine or otherwise. The axle of this sieve is a strong wrought iron
pipe, which is inserted in a stufling box at the upper end (the said
stuffing box being connected with a main water pipe), while it is
stopped at the other end and perforated throughout its length with
small holes, through which the water issues in all directions when
supplied to it under pressure. By theso means the sulphate is washed
through the sieve, and as it is carried down the small particles of lime
soap left undecomposed roll out of the sieve, while the sulphate and the
fatty acids fall thro' it into a second cistern, where they are com-
pletely separated from each other, the difference in their specific gravity

page_text: causing the former to be precipitated at the bottom, and the latter to
float on the surface of the water. The sulphate may also be sifted and
washed by land, but I prefer to operate as before described.
The fifth part of my Invention consists of an improved method of
pressing fatty acids in order to produce stearine.
In the usual process
the produce of the separation is nixed with the refuse of the hot press,
commonly called grease or margarine, before being cold pressed, and
it is only after the process of cold pressing that it is submitted to the
hot press; the present improved process is the reverse of this. And
according to my improvements I press the margarine or grease sepa-
rately in the cold press, and I mix the pressed matter with the separated
fatty acids, whether the tallow has been pressed before or not (provided
it is hard enough), and cast it into cakes % of an inch thick, which are
afterwards submitted to the hot press to produce stearine lirect, or they
may be acted on by a slight pressure only at first, and then melted and
again hot pressed with a heavy pressure to produce a stearine of a superior
quality. The advantages which arise from this mode of operating are
as follows:-1, the stearine thus obtained is invariably of the same
quality, and superior to that commonly produced. 2ndly, the saving of
more than half the labor in the cold pressing, as the margarine only is
to be pressed, and yields its oleic acid more freely than the fatty acids
as they come from the separating vat; and altho' the labor at the hot
press would seem to be increased, owing to the larger quantity of matter
submitted to its action and the double pressing (when this is performed),
it is not so in reality, since the double pressing does not last altogether
so long as a single operation under the usual method of working, and
if. pressed twice, the last pressing yields a much larger quantity of
stearine.
The sixth part of my Invention consists of an improvement in em-
ploying nitric acid for the purpose of hardening and improving the
burning quality of fatty matters to be used in the manufacture of
candles and mortars, and also in mixing such prepared stuff with other
materials, as hereafter described, for the same purpose of manufac-
turing candles and mortars. In order to harden and improve pressed
faltty matters, principally pressed tallow or other hard fatty matter, such

page_text: as vegetable tallow, I cause the same to be mixed, when melted, with
diluted nitric acid, the vessel being heated outside by free steam or
boiling water, and the mixture being continually stirred. The propor-
tions of acid and water which I have found to answer best in practico
are 2 per cent. of concentrated nitric acid, and 6 per cent. of water; the
stirring and heating by steam are to be continued for 24 hours; and in
order to effect the stirring, and to improve the color as well as the quality
of the fatty matters under opération, I cause a current of air to be intro-
duced into the stuff' so as to make it bubble, and for this purpose I have
a pipe reaching to near the bottom of the pan, and at its upper end in
communication with an air pump or bellows. Care should be taken,
from time to time, to supply the evaporation of the water mixed with
the nitric acid by a fresh quantity, so as to keep up constantly as nearly
as possible the aforesaid proportions of the water and acid; after the
boiling the fatty matters are washed with twice their bulk of water
acidulated with a little oxalic acid, say 1 ounce for every cwt. of fatty
matters. The fatty matters prepared by this process are quite ready
to be manufactured into candles, either with a single plaited wick or
with a double wick of the same sort as those used in Palmer's metallic
wick candles. As regards the mixing with other materials for the same
purpose I operate in the following manner: for instance, when I use
fatty acids which are the produce of pressed or unpressed fatty matters,
saponified with lime and decomposed with an acid, I cause them to be
well decomposed, and then wash them in clear water, in which I put
a proportion of tartaric acid (say 1 to 3 per cent.), and boil the
whole for about an hour; the fatty acid thus refined may be mixed in
any proportion with the stuff treated with the nitric acid as aforesaid.
When cocoa nut oil is used it may be mixed in large proportions,
either pressed or unpressed, after being refined with tartaric acid, in
the same way as directed for fatty acids.
The seventh part of my Invention consists of a double pan or vat
for every part of the stearine manufacture where boiling or heating
stearine or fatty substances is required. Its object is to render leakage
impossible, which cannot be avoided with single vats. In this im-
proved arrangement there is an inner and an outer vat; the inner one

page_text: is made of wood, as is usual, and narrower at the top than at the
bottom, and an angle iron hoop is driven on a little below the upper
hoop; the outer one is made of sheet iron, the diameter being the same
at top and bottom, and such as to admit the inner tub freely. An
angle iron hoop is rivetted to the top and inside of the iron vat or
cistern; the inner vat being introduced, and wooden spars being
placed between the two angle iron hoops so as to keep the inner
tub close to the bottom of the outer tub, the space between the two
is filled with water. Care should be taken that the inner tub should
above the other, lest the water should overflow
By this arrangement the staves of the wooden
tub being constantly in a state of moisture can never be dried by the
fatty bodies when warm, which is the cause of leaking, and they may
consequently be made of much thinner wood than is generally used
for single wood tubs; on the contrary, the bottom ought to be made
of much thicker wood to withstand the pressure of the water outside
rise an inch or two
occasionally into it.
when empty.
The eighth part of my Invention consists in facilitating the cooling
of the stearine or other fatty matter, when prepared, for casting candles
or mortars, by forcing cold air into the same by means of a force pump
or bellows and a pipe reaching to the bottom of the vessel in which
the stufl' is put to cool. The force pump or bellows may be worked by
hand or by any other power. The advantages resulting from cooling
the stuff in this manner are, 1, that the rapidity of the operation
enables a less quantity of stuff to be in work at a time, and con-
sequently a less number of vessels is required to be used; and gdy,
that by the bubbling and quicker cooling the crystallization of the stuff
is more broken up, and a better gloss is given to the candles, without
the addition of wax, as is usually done, to break the grain or crystal-
lization of the stuff.
The ninth part of my Invention consists of improvements in appa-
ratus for moulding candles when endless wicks are used, and the
moulds placed in a closed box, and heated by steam and cooled by a
current of air. The arrangement ordinarily adopted for this purpose
consists of a box of sheet iron or copper, into which mould frames or

page_text: plates with the moulds soldered in them at top and at bottom arc
introduced. The steam enters at one side and passes off at the oppo-
site side. When the moulds are at the desired temperature the stuff'
is run in, and immediately after the air is turned on in the same
manner and at the same side of the apparatus that the steam had been
previously introduced. The current of air is produced by a fan or
other equivalent means. The mould frames are placed side by side,
and are filled one after the other. To withdraw the candles the
gratings to which the wicks are hooked are lifted out by any conve-
nient means. These gratings are provided with notches corresponding
to the centre of each wick, and on which the wicks are hooked and
maintained by knots. When the gratings are lifted with the candles
the wicks are cut and their ends attached to a new grating. This is put
in its place, and the wicks are drawn through by the bottom end, and
secured against the extremity of the moulds by means of a hinged bar
or bars of iron covered with vulcanized india-rubber. The improve-
ments consist principally in effecting a more regular heating and
cooling by means of small pipes which enter the casing at the side.
The steam and air enter by small holes arranged in the top of the
casing on cach side. By these arrangements the time required for the
operation is considerably reduced, and instead of casting once only
every two hours with the same moulds, it can be done every 20
minutes. The apparatus may be modified so as to enable all the
moulds to be filled at once, instead of using mould frames, but par-
titions must then be placed at intervals, as it is hardly possible to raise
more than 25 to 30 candles at once froin the moulds, while the whole
apparatus may contain 300 or 400. Hot air may be used instead of
steam, and the hot and cold air may be passed successively through the
same pipes.
The last part of my Invention consists of a rubbing or polishing
machine for the purpose of glossing the candles after they are cast,
and before packing. In this machine the polish is obtained by rubbing
the candles with woollen stuff, the rougher the better for candles of the
first quality, and the friction takes place in the direction of the cir-
cumference instead of lengthwise of the candles. The machine

page_text: resembles a turning lathe with a hollow axis supported upon a table,
and driven by a pulley which should make from 300 to 600 revo-
lutions per minute, according to the size of the candles. The interior
diameter of the hollow axis is about 1½ inches, and its exterior dia-
meter about 2 inches. One of its extremities carries a disc or circular
plate, upon which is fitted by a screw a ring of metal, the interior
flange of which is perforated with holes for attaching a lining of rough
woollen cloth padded with horse hair, an opening being left through
the centre a little smaller than the candle. Rings of various sizes
may be employed to adapt the machine for operating on candles of
different sizes. The mode of operating with the machine is as follows:
the machine being in motion, I introduce a candle by the top with
the right hand, and draw it through with the left hand as it emerges
at the other side; the candle is then put in a box or basket, while
another candle is introduced, and so on continuously.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Felix Lieven Bauwens in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 11th January 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1,
FELIX LIEVEN BAUWENS, of Pimlico, in the County of Middlesex,
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Felix Lieven Bauwens. Her special
licence that I, the said Felix Lieven Bauwens, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Felix Lieven
Bauwens, 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 Inven-

page_text: tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Felix Lieven Bauwens,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manuer 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 Felix Lieven Bauwens, 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 thereof (that is to say):
The first part of my Invention consists in a new method of preparing
for pressing tallow or any other fatty matter before saponification for
the manufacture of candles. I first cause the tallow to be purified
by boiling it for about two hours by means of free steam in a tub
lined with lead, with half its bulk of water, one per cent. of concen-
trated sulphuric acid, and a third of its weight of rape seed oil, raw or
refined; after due subsidence, which will result in a space of time
varying from two to eight hours, according to the quantity of tallow
operated upon, I take it over into a larger tub, where the mixture is
boiled again by steam for three to four hours with its bulk of water.
The object of the boiling is to wash away every particle, of the
sulphuric acid, and the addition of the rape seed oil is to facilitato
the crystallization of the solid parts of the tallow. When the water
has subsided, and the mixture, being perfectly clarified and transparent,
has fallen down to about 120° Fahrenheit, it is drawn off in sheet iron
vessels or tins containing about 1 cwt., and the tins allowed to cool
gradually in a room where the temperature is kept at about 80° Fah-
renheit for three days, then at a temperature of about 70° for three
other days, and for six other days at a tenperature of about 50°. In
summer time, when this low temperature is only to be found in a cellar
or other place under ground, it is necessary to transfer the tins to some
such place for the above-mentioned period. During this time crystal-
lization will have gradually taken place, and on the thirteenth day or
thereabouts the fatty matter, which is thoroughly granulated and oily;"

page_text: is put into bags of sail cloth, woollen or other woven fabric, and pressed
by means of a hydraulic press, care being taken that the layers shall
not exceed 3/4ths of an inch in thickness. The pressure should be
applied gradually and slowly at the beginning, and the temperature
of the apartment should be at about 60°; the pressing will be con-
cluded in about 24 hours at least, including the time of charging the
press. The oil produced in this operation is filtered in an apartment
at about 60° Fahrenheit, and the solid part left on the filter is to be
again mixed and pressed with the next batch of fresh materials. The
pressed tallow being taken out of the bags is to be saponified by the
usual process for that purpose, and may then be used for making
candles. Any other sort of oil may be used, with convenient pro-
portions of tallow or other fatty matters used in candle making,
according to the softness of the latter and the consistence of the former,
provided the mixture be such as to melt at about 100° Fahrenheit.
The second part of my Invention relates to the saponification with
lime of fatty bodies generally, but especially after they have been
pressed as aforesaid. Instead of a wooden tub and free steam, as
generally used, I employ a wrought or cast iron pan heated by fire;
the shape I prefer for this is similar to the upper half of the paddle
box of a steamer reversed, the curved portion forming the bottom of
the pan. If made of wrought iron the bottom should be a single plate,
in order to allow of stirring and scraping being performed while the
saponifying process is going on. The pan is built into a furnace with
a fire under it, half the surface of the bottom only being reached by
the flamic. A pan of the capacity of two tons is large enough to saponify
a ton of tallow. The fire being lighted under the pan containing the
tallow, the wetted lime is put in the pan, not diluted and in a milky
state, as usual, but as a paste. Ebullition will soon take place, and in
about an hour and a half or two hours, according to the age and
quality of the tallow, the mixture will become quite viscid and homo-
genous, and the water begin to part in small globules; this part of the
operation requires constant attendance and stirring or scraping on the
bottom of the pan.
If this should not be done so as to keep the
bottom of the pan perfectly clean, large flakes of soap will be thrown

page_text: up, and the pan overflow. The fire is then removed, a sort of violent
fermentation takes place very soon after, and when it subsides, which
happens in about an hour, the cover is taken off, the fire again lighted,
and a hole of about a foot in diameter is made in the middle of the
lime
soap, which is then a half solid and half spongy mass, and hollow
at the bottom; the pan is kept boiling and covered for a couple of
hours, and boiling water is to be added from time to time in order
to keep the soap constantly covered with water as it evaporates. The
water is then drawn off by a cock near the bottom of the pan, and fresh
water poured in to cool the soap. When sufficiently cold the soap is
dug out with a spade in small pieces, and thrown into the separating
vat. The advantages resulting from this method of saponifying fatty
bodies are, first, a great saving of fuel, much less than the usual
quantity of fuel being necessary. Secondly, the saponification being
complete, 12 per cent. of lime instead of 14 (as usual) is suflicient, and
consequently, and, thirdly, loss sulphuric acid is required for separating
the fatty acids from the basis.
The third part of my Invention is a new mole of employing steam
in the separating vat, and of stirring its contents. Free steam is
generally used for decomposing, and admitted into the tub by means of
a coil perforated with holes. Those who are acquainted with stearine
manufacture readily admit the inconvenience arising from this mode
of operating, owing to the extra supply of water produced by the
condensation of steam, and hence the necessity of a rather too strong
solution of sulphuric acid at the commencement, while it becomes
gradually too weak at the conclusion of the process. Moreover, at first
the steam operates well enough as a stirrer or agitator, but when it
becomes necessary to allow the ebullition to subside gradually the
steam issues out only through the nearest holes, owing to its reduced
pressure and the precipitation of the sulphate of lime, and the stirring
is confined to those particular parts only where the steam continues
bubbling; whereas, if the bubbling is to subside gradually it should do
so over the entire area of the bottom of the vat, because when the
boiling, and consequently the bubbling, is stopped at once, the sulphate
of lime settles almost immediately, and carries with it many particles of

page_text: the fatty acids to the bottom of the vat, where they remain unable to
escape; this effect is produced to some extent when the steam is par
tially stopped, and to remedy this it is necessary to stir the sulphate
repeatedly with water after it is taken out of the vat, and even then
the separation is not completely effected, and some of the fatty matter
remains mingled amongst the sulphate. The present improvement is
quite free from these inconveniences, no steam is condensed, and the
boiling is gradually reduced at all points. According to my Invention
there is a coiled pipe on the bottom of the pan with a space of 4
inches between each convolution, but without perforations; the stean
at a pressure of 32 per square inch circulates through the coil,
which has a cock at each end, one for the inlet of the steam and the
other for the outlet of the condensed water and waste steam. The vat
is lined with shect lead as usual, and has a brass socket soldered to it
in the middle of the bottom to receive the lower end of a vertical
copper pipe, which is closed at bottom, and whose upper end passes
through a stuffing box above the top of the pan connected with a cock
and steam pipe. A little above the socket is attached to the vertical
pipe a horizontal copper pipe of the same diameter, which extends to
about an inch from the circumference of the pan; it is closed at this
end, and perforated with holes underneath, and is supported at its
further end by a copper rod extending to the vertical tube a little
above the top of the pan. Rotary motion is given to the vertical tube
and its connections by a pulley or other convenient means. The
operation of this combination is as follows: all the cocks being
opened, the contents of the vat boiling, and the tube in rotation,
bubbling will ensue, and the steam and stirring will successively reach
every part of the bottom of the vat and of the coil so as to cause the
sulphate in the way to be removed. The separation being thus
effected, the precipitation of the sulphate and the rising of the fatty
acids is the next consideration. To effect these the cock of the coil
should be shut off, the speed of the rotating tube gradually lessened,
and the introduction of steam into the coil checked, and finally stopped,
about two hours after the separation is deemed complete, when the
sulphate will sink, first allowing the fatty matters to float above it.

page_text: For a ton of saponified tallow I use a vat that will contain three tons,
and allow the mixture, when water and acid are added, to fill it when
boiling to about a foot from the top. Atmospheric air (heated or other-
wise) or any other innocuous gas may be used in the rotating pipe
instead of steam, and supplied by an air pump or other suitable
apparatus.
The fourth part of my Invention consists in washing the sulphate of
lime in order to prevent any loss resulting from particles of the lime
soap remaining undecomposed, or from particles of the separated acids
remaining interspersed among the sulphate of lime. The sulphate,
after the fatty matters have been drawn off, is stirred and drained
along with the remaining liquid into a cistern, where it is allowed to
settle; the sulphate very soon precipitates to the bottom, and the water
being drawn off, the sulphate is thrown over with a shovel into a
hopper, from which it is washed away by a jet of water kopt constantly
running into a cylindrical bolter or sieve made of rather closely woven
copper wire cloth, slightly inclined towards the outlet end, and put in
motion by an engine or otherwise. The axle of this sieve is a strong
wrought iron pipe, which is inserted in a stuffing box at the upper end
(the said stuffing box being connected with a main water pipe), while it
is stopped at the other end, and perforated throughout its length with
small holes through which the water issues in all directions when sup-
plied to it under pressure. By these means the sulphate is washed
through the sieve, and as it is carried down the small particles of lime
soap left undecomposed roll out of the sieve, while the sulphate and
the fatty acids fall through it into a second cistern, where they are
completely separated from each other, the difference in their specific
gravity causing the former to be precipitated at the bottom, and the
latter to float on the surface of the water. The sulphate may also
be sifted and washed by hand, but I prefer to operate as before
described.
The fifth part of my Invention consists of an improved method of
pressing fatty acids in order to produce stearine. In the usual process
the produce of the separation is mixed with the refuse of the hot press,
commonly called grease or margarine, before being cold pressed, and it

page_text: is only after the process of cold pressing that it is submitted to the hot
press; the present improved process is the reverse of this, and accord-
ing to my improvements I press the margarine or grease separately in
the cold press, and I mix the pressed matter with the separated fatty
acids, whether the tallow has been pressed before or not (provided it is
hard enough), and cast it into cakes 3/4ths of an inch thick, which are
afterwards submitted to the hot press to produce stearine direct, or they
may be acted on by a slight pressure only at first in the hot press, and
then melted, and again hot pressed with a heavy pressure to produce a
stearine of a superior quality. The advantages which arise from this
mode of operating are as follows: first, the stearine thus obtained is
invariably of the same quality, and superior to that commonly produced;
secondly, the saving of more than half the labor in the cold pressing, as
the margarine only is to be pressed, and yields its oleic acid more freely
than the fatty acids as they come from the separating vat; and although
the labor at the hot press would seem to be increased, owing to the
larger quantity of matter submitted to its action, and the double press-
ing (when this is performed), it is not so in reality, since the double
pressing does not last altogether so long as a single operation under the
usual method of working, and if pressed twice, the latter pressing
yields a much larger quantity of stearine.
The sixth part of my Invention consists of an improvement in
employing nitric acid for the purpose of hardening and improving the
burning quality of fatty matters in a neutral or acid state, to be used in
the manufacture of candles and mortars, and also in mixing such pre-
pared stuff with other materials, as hereafter described, for the same
purpose of manufacturing candles and mortars. In order to harden
and improve fatty matters, principally pressed tallow or other hard fatty
matter, such as vegetable tallow and palm oil, I cause the same to be.
mixed, when melted, with diluted nitric acid, the vessel (which is of
earthenware or enamelled so as to resist the action of acid) being
heated outside by free steam or hot water, and the mixture being con-
tinually stirred. The proportions of acid and water which I have found
to answer best in practice are two per cent. of concentrated nitric acid,
and 6 per cent. of water; the stirring and heating by steam are to be

page_text: this
continued from 8 to 24 hours; or instead of nitric acid, which is not
always pure, I produce nitric acid by decomposing any nitrate by a due
proportion of concentrated sulphuric acid. I prefer nitrate of potashi
or soda. I proceed by first mixing the nitrate with the required
quantity of water, and afterwards adding the concentrated sulphuric
acid, or first diluting the said acid with water, and then adding the
nitrate. In order to effect the stirring, and to improve the color as well
as the quality of the fatty matters under operation, I cause a current
of air to be introduced into the stuff' so as to make it bubble, and for
purpose I have a pipe reaching to near the bottom of the pan, and
at its upper end in communication with an air pump. Care should be
taken from time to time to supply the evaporation of the water mixed
with the nitric acid by a fresh quantity, so as to keep up constantly, as
nearly as possible, the aforesaid proportion of the water. The fatty
matters prepared by this process are quite ready to be manufactured
into candles, either with a single plaited wick, or with a double wick of
the same sort as those used in Palmer's metallic wick candles. As
regards the mixing of fatty matters, treated as before described, with other
materials for the purpose of making candles, I cause such other mate-
rials, principally fatty acids, to be well decomposed and refined, and I
then mix the fatty acids or other materials thus refined in an earthen-
ware pan in any proportion with the fatty matters treated with nitric
acid as aforesaid, and I cause the whole to be heated and stirred for
about six hours. When cocoa nut oil is used it may be mixed in largo
proportions, cither pressed or unpressed, (after being refined,) with the
fatty matters treated with nitric acid, as above described.
The seventh part of my Invention consists in the employment of a
double tub or vat for every part of the stearine manufacture where
boiling or heating stearine or fatty substances is required. The object
of the double vat is to prevent leakage, which cannot be avoided with
single vats. In this improved arrangement there is an inner and an
outer vat; the inner one is made of wood as usual, and narrower at the
top than at the bottom, and an angle iron hoop is driven on a little
below the upper hoop; the outer vat is made of sheet iron, the diameter
being the same at top and bottom, and such as to admit the inner tub
B

page_text: freely. An angle iron hoop is rivetted to the top and inside of the
iron vat or cistern; the inner vat being introduced, and wooden spars
being placed between the two angle iron hoops so as to keep the inner
tub close to the bottom of the outer tub, the space between the two is
filled with water. Care should be taken that the inner tub should rise
an inch or two above the other, lest the water should overflow
occasionally into it. By this arrangement the staves of the wooden
tub being constantly in a state of moisture can never be dried by the
fatty bodies when warm, which is the cause of leaking, and they may
consequently be made of much thinner wood than is generally used for
single wooden tubs; on the contrary, the bottom ought to be made of
much thicker wood to withstand the pressure of the water outside when
empty.
The eighth part of my Invention consists in facilitating the cooling
of the stearine or other fatty matter when prepared for casting candles
or mortars by forcing cold air into the same. For this purpose I make
use of a force pump or other means (but I prefer to use a pump), and
a pipe reaching to the bottom of the vessel in which the stuff is put to
cool; the air forced into the pipe passes down it, and escaping at the
lower end rises up through the stuff in a continuous stream. The force
pump may be worked by hand or any other power. The advantages
resulting from cooling the stuff in this manner arc, first, that the
rapidity of the operation enables a less quantity of stuff to be in work
at a time, and consequently a less number of vessels is required to be
used; and, secondly, that by the bubbling and quicker cooling the
crystallization of the stuff is more broken up, and a better gloss is
given to the candles without the addition of wax, as is usually done, to
break the grain or crystallization of the stuff.
The ninth part of my Invention consists of improvements in apparatus
for moulding candles when endless wicks are used, and the moulds
placed in a closed box, and heated by steam to the proper temperature
for casting, and afterwards cooled by a current of air. The arrange-
ment I adopt for this purpose consists of a box of sheet iron or copper,
unto the upper plate or plates of which the moulds are screwed at top,
and soldered to the bottom plate or plates. The steam should enter at

page_text: one end of the box, and pass off at the opposite end. An india-
rubber band about th of an inch thick and % of an inch wide is
fixed against the bottom of the moulds (which are placed in files
of eight or ten from side to side, and so on from one end to the
other of the box) by an iron bar screwed at both ends to the bottom
sides of the box, and perforated with small holes corresponding to the
centre of each mould, a small hole being made in the india-rubber
with a wire before passing the wick for the first time. No stearine or
any other stuff employed in the making of the candles is thus allowed
to run through the pipe. When the moulds are at the desired
temperature the stuff' is run in, and immediately after the air is turned
on in the same manner, and at the same end of the apparatus that tho
steam had been previously introduced. The current of air is produced
by a fan or other equivalent means. But a more regular heating and
cooling may be effected by means of small pipes which enter the box
by the side, and are perforated with small holes for the introduction of
steam and air; the outlet of steam and air is effected by means of small
holes made at the top of the long side of the box. In the former case
a fan would suffice, but in the latter a force pump would be necessary.
Hot air may be used instead of steam, and the hot and cold air may be
passed successively through the same pipes; as it is hardly possible
to lift up at once from more than 24 to 30 candles, partitions should
be made at each three rows, so as to separate the tops after the
casting; each three rows or frame is provided with a frame or grating
with notches corresponding to the centre of each mould, and on which
the wicks are hooked and maintained by knots. To withdraw the candles
after sufficient cooling the gratings are lifted up by any convenient
means. When the gratings are lifted with the candles the wicks are
cut, and their ends attached to new gratings, which are put in their
proper place, and the wicks are drawn through by the bottom end.
The last part of my Invention consists of a rubbing or polishing
machine for the purpose of glossing the candles after they are cast, and
before packing. In this machine the polish is obtained by rubbing the
candles with woollen stuff, the rougher the better for candles of the first
quality, and the friction takes place in the direction of the circum-
B 2

page_text: ference instead of lengthwise of the candles. The machine resembles
a turning lathe with a hollow axis supported upon a table, and driven
by a pulley which should make from 300 to 600 revolutions per
minute, according to the size of the candles. The interior diameter of
the hollow axis is about 1 inches, and its exterior diameter about
two inches. One of its extremities carries a disc or circular plate, upon
which is screwed a ring of metal, the interior flange of which is
perforated with holes for attaching a lining of rough woollen cloth
padded with horse hair, an opening being left through the centre a
little smaller than the candle. Rings of various sizes may be employed
to adapt the machine for operating on candles of different sizes. The
mode of operating with the machine is as follows: the machine being
in motion, I introduce a candle by the top with the right hand; and
draw it through with the left hand as it emerges at the other side;
the candle is then put in a box or basket, while another candle is
introduced, and so on continuously.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim
as my Invention is,-
First, the preparing of fatty matters for pressing before saponifica-
tion for the manufacture of candles, by causing the same to be mixed
with rape seed or other oil, and refined by boiling with acid, in the
manner and for the purpose herein-before described.
Second, the employment for heating fatty matters in the process of
lime saponification for the manufacture of candles of wrought or cast
iron pans heated by fire applied directly thereto, and the introduction of
the lime into the fatty matters in such process in a state of paste instead
of diffused in water, as ordinarily used, both as before described.
Third, the improved mode of heating and stirring saponified fatty
matters in the separating vat by means of steam or other heated fluid
circulating through pipes set in motion in the vat by mechanical
means, as herein-before described.
Fourth, the washing of the sulphate of lime produced in the process
of lime saponification in order to prevent any loss resulting from
particles of the lime soap remaining undecomposed, or from particles

page_text: of the separated acids remaining interspersed among the sulphate
of lime.
Fifth, the improved mode of pressing fatty matters in order to pro-
duce stearine, by first cold pressing the margarine or grease separately,
then mixing the pressed matters with the separated fatty acids, and
then hot pressing this mixture; or first slightly hot pressing the mix-
ture, then melting it, and again hot pressing the melted mixture, as
herein-before described.
Sixth, the employment of diluted nitric acid for the purpose of
hardening and improving the burning quality of fatty matters, either
in a neutral or acid state, and also in causing a current of air to be
introduced into the stuff, as herein-before described.
Seventh, the construction of tubs or vats employed in the stearinc
manufacture for boiling purposes with double sides and bottoms, having
water introduced between them, as herein-before described.
Eighth, the cooling of fatty matters prepared for the manufacture
of candles by forcing cold air into and through the same by means of a
force pump or other mechanical means, as herein-before described.
Ninth, the improvements in apparatus for moulding candles with
endless wicks described under the ninth part of this my Specification.
Last, the construction of machines for glossing and polishing candles,
with the rubbing surface or surfaces arranged so as to act circum-
ferentially and longitudinally, instead of longitudinally only, on the
candles to be glossed and polished.
In witness whereof, I, the said Felix Lieven Bauwens, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Eleventh day of January,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
F. L. BAUWENS. (L.S.)