IMPROVEMENTS IN THE RECTIFICATION OF ALCOHOL, AND IN THE APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE RECTIFICATION OF ALCOHOL, AND IN THE
APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN."-A communication from abroad by
Adrienne Anastasie Foubert, of Rue St. Sebastien, Paris, in the Empire
Sealed the 18th July 1865, and dated the 28th January 1865..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 28th January 1865.
1, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE RECTIFICATION OF ALCOHOL, AND IN
THE APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
Alcoholic vapoursas at presentobtained consistof a combination of vapours
of differentspecificgravities, and possessing different characteristics. Themost
volatile portions are the ethereal products which possess apungent odour and
taste, and when mixed with pure alcohol destroy its quality by imparting toit
an objectionable taste. Pure alcohol is not so volatile as the ethers, and doés
not come over so soon as these last. The third portion of the vapours consist
of amylaceous oils which are not so volatile as alcohol, but towards the end of
Price Rd

page_text: the distilling or rectifying process will come over with the alcohol and
thereby impart a taste thereto.
The object of the present Invention is to conduct the rectifying process in
such a manner that the several qualities of vapour may be obtained separately
and prevented from mixing together and thus becoming deteriorated. This is
effected bydrawing off the etherealvapourswhichfirst comeoff, and conducting
them into a separate apparatus, wherethey will becondensed, withoutallowing
them to pass into or through the rectifying column into which the alcoholic
vapours are subsequently conducted. By thus keeping the ethereal vapours
from passing into the column, the rectifying apparatus will not take up any of
the odour therefrom, and consequently the alcohol will not be deteriorated
thereby. When the ethereal vapours have passed off, a stop-cock on the pipe
of communication is shut, and the alcoholic vapours will pass up into the
rectifying column or analyser. When all the alcoholic vapours have passed
over, and have been condensed, the distilling process is continued, and the
amylaceous vapours are drawn off and are condensed by means of an energetic
refrigeration. The condenser or refrigerator which is used for the purposes of
the Invention consists of two concentric cylinderswitha narrowspace between
them to receive the vapours, a thin film or stratum of which is therefore
exposed on both sides to the condensing action of cold water which surrounds
the annular space on both sides. If preferred, the impure alcohol may be
submittedto a preliminary rectification in a separate apparatus for the purpose
of driving off the ether before the volatilization of the alcohol commences,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 28th July 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said
William Edward Newton,my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward Newion, my executors, administrators,

page_text: and assigns,should at anytime agree with, and no others, from time to time, and
at all times thereatter during the term therein expressed,should and lawfully
might make,use,exercise, and vend withinthe United Kingdomof Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE RECTIFICATION OF ALCOHOL, AND IN THE APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED
THEREIN," being a communication from abroad by Adrienne Anastasie Foubert,
of Rue St. Sebastien, Paris, in the Empire of France, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their,or one of their
hands and seals,should particularlydescribe and ascertainthe natureof thesaid
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 William Edward Newton,dohereby declare
the nature of the 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
Rectifying apparatus as hitherto constructed is composed of a boiler, still or
retort, a column with diaphragms and condensersoranalysers for thereception
of the alcoholic vapor on its leaving the column.
The operation of this apparatus is as follows:-The vapors from the boiler
pass through the different compartments of the column where theyare concen-
trated and successivelycome incontactwith alcoholic layers of greater richness
or strength, and then enter the analysers, where, by a temperature regulated by
means of currents of water, the aqueous particleswhich the vapors still contain
are condensed and returned to the column, and from thence to the retort or
still, and again submitted to evaporation. By this arrangement the first
vapors which escape from the retort, and which are usually the most volatile
and impure,are obliged to pass through the whole apparatus and impregnate
the whole surface, and from this cause a considerable quantity of the alcohol
first obtained is charged with an impure odor arising from the etherized
products deposited,andwhichgraduallydiminishes as the surfaces are purified
or cleansed from these deposits until the alcohol becomes quite pure.
This arrangementpossesses also the disadvantageof furnishingimpure products
at the conclusion of the operation which are impregnated with the impure
odors of the oils, which being less volatile than the alcohol, do not rise until
last; but as these oils can only be retained by the analysers, it is very
difficult to prevent their passage to the "prover" by reason of the short dis-

page_text: tance they have to travel in those parts of the apparatus before entering the
refrigerator.
In order to avoid these difficulties, and render the rectifying operation as
perfect as possible, the following arrangement, which forms the subject of this
Invention, has been a lopted.
In an ordinary apparatus, which is surmounted by its column A,(thelower
part of which is represented in vertical section at Fig.1,)and its analysers,is
inserted a diaphragm d to prevent the passage of the steam into the first
compartment, but which is furnished with a return pipe B leading into the
still. Upon the dome of the still C, is fixed the escape pipe for the steam
which leads into the analyser D, which is composed of two concentric cylinders
mounted in a casing E, in which cold water circulates; this vapor passing
through the pipe F, enters at the opening e between the concentric cylinders,
and is condensed and falls into the space d below. These condensed products
are drawn off by a pipe g furnished with a cock h.
The following are the operations and advantages of this arrangement. At
the commencement of the operation the first etherized and bad smelling
vapors are completely condensed by means of water and by continuing this
condensation until thecontents of thestill are entirelypurged of these etherized
products, the cock h which allowed them to escape is then closed; the
refrigerating process is then discontinued by allowing the water to become
heated, or by regulating its temperature to obtain a first analysis. This first
analysis of the vapor, previously to its entrance into the column, may be
obtained by several means,such as by serpentines U (as seen at Fig.2) placed
in the two or three first compartments, and which are immersed in the cold
water which is caused to circulate in them, and which is supplied to them
through the pipeU¹,and passes from the first to the second through the pipeu,
and from the second to the third serpentine through the pipe u¹, or the two
compartments may be closed, as shewn at Fig. 4, by means of plates of metal
forming the chamber v, which serves also for the passage of the water; the
operation is then continued in the ordinary manner. The products of conden-
sation in the analyser 1 enter through the tube G into the first compartment
of the column with the steam or vapor, and re-enter the still through the
return pipe B, the uncondensed pure vapors rising in the columns ; this is
continued until it is judged that the pure vapor being exhausted the impure
or oily vapors will begin to accumulate in the column; these may then be
separated by causing powerful condensation to take place in the analyser D,
and by opening the cock these vapors will be condensed, and thus prevented
from returning to the still. It will be seen that during this operation, sup-

page_text: posing all the other parts of the apparatus to be such as are commonly known,
all the impure vapors are arrested at the commencement and end of the
operation in a condenser or analyser which does not allow these impure vapors
to pass either through the compartments of the column or through the analysers
belonging to them, it follows that the pure vapors need never enter compart-
ments which have contained impure vapors, and thus their separation is
perfect.
use
A precaution to be taken towards the end of the operation consists in
having a cock above the liquid in the first compartment of the column, the
of which is as follows:-When it is desired to stop the passage of vapors
in the column, and to convert the analyser D into a refrigerator by filling it
with cold water, a vacuum is produced in the column by the condensation of
the vapors with which it is filled, and to avoid a draught from the exterior by
which uncondensed vapors might be introduced from the refrigerator, the
cock is opened for the admission of air; this cock may also be employed
during the operation for the purpose of testing the vapor from the first com-
partment by directing it into a small testing worm; it then serves to test the
term of distillation of the pure vapors. This principle of the separation of
the vapors, and their elimination through different channels, may be obtained
by various arrrangements of apparatus, such as a stopper of any kind, a register
cock, or other appliance applied to the first compartment of the column, and a
pipe with a cock by which the vapor from the still may be conducted direct
to a special refrigerator. Fig. 2 shews this arrangement in section, and Fig..
is a plan of the register. In this arrangement the lower plate P, instead of
being entirely closed, is furnished with a slide valve which allows of the vapor
from the still being either shut off from the column or allowed to enter
therein. The analyser D is in this instance simply a worm or serpentine
contained in the vessel E, in which cold water is made to circulate. The
impure vapors are conducted from the still to this worm by the pipe F, fur-
nished with a cock or jump valve b; upon the same rod t as this latter is
mounted the slide valve c in such manner that the jump valve and slide valve
are both acted upon simultaneously on turning their screwed rod by means of
the hand wheel V: The slide valve of the plate P being closed, and the
valve b open, as shewn at Fig. 2, the vapors from the still pass into the
worm D, and are there condensed, whence they flow off without having entered
the column. As soon as the first impure products have ceased to pass over,
the slide valve c is opened, and the jump valve b closed simultaneously; the
pure vapors will then pass through the column and be analysed in the ordinary
manner.

page_text: The last impure products which are condensed direct in either refrigerator
may be of too low a strength or degree, in which case, in order to obtain them
at a higher degree, it is sufficient to interpose between the still and the refri-
gerator either an analyser having a pipe leading back into the retort, or a
column with several compartments. This elimination of the first ethereal
products might also be effected in a special vessel or apparatus, and before
the employment of the retort without departing from the nature and object of
this Invention.
The arrangement of condensor with double casing D, (Fig. 1,) produces an
energy and perfection in working which result from the fact that the vapor is
forced to divide itself into thin layers, and may be used with advantage in
place of worms or other tubular condensers.
In order to complete this apparatus, and facilitate its operation, a steam
regulator, shewn at Fig. 5, is applied thereto; this regulator simply consists
of a manometer open to the air worked by the pressure in the boiler. The
tube or body X of the manometer is sufficiently large for the reception of a
float X, which by means of the beam Y works the valve y of the steam
pipe y'; by this means the apparatus is rendered self-regulating.
In order to prevent the condensation of the alcoholic vapor, it is advisable
to cause hot water to flow through the tube x¹, the overflow of which enters
the boiler through the steam pipe a, this latter being of somewhat larger
diameter than is absolutely necessary for the passage of the steam only. The
body Xof the regulator is provided with a covering of wood in order to prevent
it from cooling.
In order to vary at pleasure the action of this apparatus, and bring it into
relation with the pressure of the various rectifying apparatuses, the rod T may
be lengthened or shortened by means of a right and left-handed female screw t¹,
which serves at the same time to vary the different degrees of pressure which
may be required during the operation.
Having now described the nature of this Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, as communicated to me by my foreign cor-
respondent, I desire it to be understood that I do not confine myself rigidly
to the construction and arrangement of parts, above shewn and described, as
they may be varied without departing from the nature and object of the
Invention; but that which I desire to claim, under the herein before in part
recited Letters Patent is, the separation of the vapors, and their elimination or
condensation in special and distinct vessels, the object of which is to preserve
the colunin and all the parts which are intended to receive pure vapors from
all the impure odors which may injure valuable rectified products, and

page_text: also the substitution for all ordinary condensers and analysers composed of
cylindrical tubes of channels with annular surfaces or rectilinear sides, and
other forms having for their object the division of the vapors into thin streams
or layers.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Other
or layers.
naving
Object
vapors to the cams
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
0
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E.
(L.S.)