IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE PURIFICATION OF COLZA, RAPE, AND OTHER OILS
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City
of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE PURIFICATION OF COLZA, RAPE, AND OTHER OILS."-A com-
munication from abroad by Charles Henri Michaud, of Paris, in the
Empire of France.
Sealed the 31st October 1862, and dated the 13th May 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th May 1862.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
5. Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PURIFICATION OF COLZA, RAPE, AND OTHER OILS," a com-
munication from abroad by Charles Henri Michaud, of Paris, in the Empire
of France, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to an improved process for purifying colza, rape, and
other oils, whereby a superior product is obtained with a considerable economy
of time, and at a reduced cost.
According to this Invention it is proposed to subject the oil under treat-
ment to violent agitation in a suitable vessel, with a view to the mixing of

page_text: air or gas therewith, sulphuric acid being poured gently into the oil during
such aerating process.
process. In lieu of employing beaters, agitators, or other
mechanical means for introducing and mixing the air with the oil, a perforated
pipe may be placed near the bottom of the vessel, and air or gas forced
therein, such air or gas permeating the oil in innumerable small streams or
jets. The scum which rises to the surface is then removed, and the agitating
process is repeated, the fresh scum being removed between each agitation. At
the last agitation a small quantity of water is added, so that the oil becomes
thoroughly mixed with air and water. The sulpho-fatty acids are then
destroyed, and the sulphuric acid is drawn off, and the impurities removed
by washing the oil in hot water or by steam. The oil is now dried over a
fire or by steam heat, and is afterwards cooled by any suitable refrigerator,
when it will be found to be perfectly pure and ready for the market.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th November 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN HENRY
JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and of
166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Henry Johnson, Her special license, that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PURIFICATION OF COLZA, RAPE, AND OTHER OILS,"
a communication from abroad by Charles Henri Michaud, of Paris, in the
Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
"John Henry Johnson, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of them,

page_text: 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 Henry Johnson, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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:-
The said Invention relates to an improved process for purifying colza, rape,
and other oils, whereby a superior product is obtained with considerable
economy of time, and at a reduced cost...
According to this Invention it is proposed to subject the oil under treatment
to violent agitation in a suitable vessel, with a view to the mixing of air or
gas therewith, sulphuric acid being poured gently into the oil during such
aerating process. In lieu of employing beaters, agitators, or other mechanical
means for introducing and mixing the air with the oil, a perforated pipe may
be placed near the bottom of the vessel, and air, or gas forced therein, such
air or gas permeating the oil in innumerable small streams or jets. The
scum which rises to the surface is then removed, and the agitating process
is repeated, the fresh scum being removed between each agitation.
last agitation a small quantity of water is added, so that the oil becomes
thoroughly mixed with air and water. The sulpho-fatty acids are then
destroyed, and the sulphuric acid is drawn off, and the impurities removed
by washing the oil in hot water or by steam.. The oil is now dried over a
fire or by steam heat, and is afterwards cooled by any suitable refrigerator,
when it will be found to be perfectly pure, and ready for the market..
At the
In practically carrying out this Invention, the oil to be purified is poured
into a wooden vessel or one lined with lead, such vessel being deeper than it
is wide, and provided near-its bottom with a spiral perforated lead pipe, which
is continued outside, and rises vertically up the side of the vessel, so as to
communicate with a blower. This induction of air has been found to be the
best mode of intimately mixing a gas with, the oil, but a brisk agitation by
mechanical means, especially in a closed vessel containing the oil and the gas,
will also produce a good result. In the vessel which I employ the oil is
usually subjected to four successive and distinct agitating processes. After
such agitation the oil is allowed to stand, and the scum is removed. . The
first agitation is effected during and after the gradual addition of sulphuric
acid; the second agitation is for the purpose of forming a further collection
of scum similar to the first; the third agitation serves not only to incorporate

page_text: still more air with the oil, as in the previous agitations, but at the same time
to mix therewith a small quantity of water, equal to one, two, or three per
cent. of the weight of oil; finally, the fourth and last agitation, which may
sometimes be dispensed with, is for the purpose of facilitating the removal of
the remainder of the scum. These various agitations having been continued
intermittantly during a period of six or seven hours, the oil will be found to
bave assumed as good an appearance as the oil purified by the lengthy and
tedious processes hitherto adopted, and requires only to be filtered. This
operation may be carried out either immediately, or, which is better, after the
oil has been washed in cold water, and allowed to stand a day or two.. This
would amount to a combination of the old system with the present improved
process, but as I prefer to dispense with the filtering process, I propose to
treat the oil as follows:-The oil which is to be washed falls into a wooden
vat, or, by preference, a copper vat, but a copper vat silver plated is still more
preferable, This vat is placed underneath the first-mentioned vessel, but if
it is desirable that the second vat should be alongside of the first at the same
height on the same floor of the manufactory, the oil must be brought there by
pumps. This washing vat is closed, but has several openings in the top.
Steam is introduced into this vat. through a perforated spiral copper pipe
placed near the bottom, which is inclined from the back to the front, or from
the circumference to the centre. At the lowest point in the bottom of the
the water, and in the side of the vat one or
Water is first introduced, which is made to
vat there is an outlet cock for
two outlet cocks for the oil.
boil, and then the oil is added.. The oil and water are then boiled for about
one hour, after which the acidulated water is drawn off; in order to remove
the least trace of acid, a second washing is effected. Subsequent washings
cannot but be serviceable, but they are not necessary, especially if burning or
lamp oil is being treated. When the last washing has been performed, and
the oil by repose is well separated from the water, the oil is allowed to fall
into the drying vat. This vat is internally of the same form as the preceding
one; it is made of wood, and covered internally with tinned metal, or better
still with tin. It contains a close coiled tinned or tin pipe, which receives all
the steam which comes from the preceding vat. This vat contains also at the
lower part a perforated coil of pipe, which communicates with the blowing
engine, and by means of which the air agitation is produced in the oil, which
is highly favourable to the drying of the same. It is evident that this drying
may be effected in a boiler placed over an open fire, and it is equally obvious.
that the oil may be agitated by means of any suitable mechanical agent.
The oil after this treatment is in a heated state, but in order to cool the.

page_text: same before filling the casks I cause the heated oil to flow into such casks
through a long length of tin pipe, in the form of a coil or serpentine, placed
inside a large reservoir or tank of cold water. This reservoir or tank may at
the same time serve to supply the generator. By the aid of a refrigerator
similar to the preceding one, and communicating with the lower extremity of
the coil inside the drying vessel, all the vapours will be condensed, thereby
avoiding the impregnation of the works and immediate neighbourhood with
noxious and disagreeable effluvia, which without this precaution would spread
in all directions. A distilled water of a high odour is obtained, which is
particularly applicable for the washings herein-before mentioned, and may be
used to the exclusion of all others. By an agitation for the space of from a
quarter to half an hour of the oil, before the addition of the acid, it will be
dried should it be found to contain watery matter. This drying is rendered
much more rapid and effective if the air, before being injected into and
through the oil, be dried or freed from moisture in any way, for example, by
causing it to pass in the form of small bubbles through concentrated sulphuric
acid. The scums are composed of air, strongly acidulated water, and oil.
After being allowed to stand for a few hours they become divided into three
layers or strata; the lowest of these consists of a small quantity of acidulated
water, the greater part of which is readily drawu off. The middle layer is
composed of oil, which should be returned to the agitating vessel before the
third agitation, and the top layer or surface is thrown into a sediment vat,
where a still further quantity of oil is ultimately obtained from it.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is, the system or mode of treating oils
with a view to their purification, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Tenth day of November, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-two.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.s.)