AN IMPROVEMENT IN MANUFACTURE OF PAPER
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Marie Amédié Charles Mellier, of 47, Rue de Seine,
St. Germain, Paris, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN
MANUFACTURE OF PAPER."
Sealed the 26th October 1855, and dated the 2nd May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Marie Amédié Charles
Mellier at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 2nd May 1855.
I, MARIE AMÉDIÉ CHARLES MELLIER, of 47, Rue de Seine, St. Germain,
Paris, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object a peculiar process for the treating of
straw, and other vegetable fibres requiring like treatment, preparatory to the
use of such fibres in the manufacture of paper; and the improvement con-
sists in subjecting straw or such other fibrous material to a pressure of at
least seventy pounds on the square inch when boiling such fibrous matters in
a solution of caustic alkali. For this purpose the straw or fibrous matters
are cut into short lengths, soaked in warm water, and washed. The straw or
fibrous substances are then placed in a suitable boiler; and I use for such
purpose a rotatory boiler provided with a coil or coils of steam pipe for the
purpose of beating the contents; and I prefer that the boiling should be carried
on at a temperature to produce at or above eighty pounds on the square inch
in the boiler, but so high a temperature is not absolutely necessary; but I
have found by experiment that it is essential that a temperature equivalent to
seventy pounds on the square inch must be employed. The quantity of alkali
used is at the rate of about sixteen per cent. of caustic soda or potash of the
straw or fibrous substances under process. The fibrous material may then be
bleached by the use of a comparatively small quantity of chloride of lime.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Marie Amédié Charles Mellier in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 30th October 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARIE
AMÉDIE CHARLES MELLIER, of 47, Rue de Seine, St. Germain, Paris, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Marie Amédié Charles Mellier, Her special licence that I, the said Marie
Amédié Charles Mellier, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Marie Amédié Charles Mellier, my executors, adminis
trators, 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 In-
vention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Marie Amédié Charles Mellier, 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 Marie Amédié Charles Mellier, do
bereby 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 thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object a peculiar process for the treating of straw,
and other vegetable fibres requiring like treatment, preparatory to the use
of such fibres in the manufacture of paper; and the improvement consists
in subjecting straw or such other fibrous material to a pressure of at least
seventy pounds on the square inch when boiling such fibrous matters in a
solution of caustic alkali. For this purpose the straw or fibrous matters are
cut into short lengths, soaked in warm water, and washed. The straw or
fibrous substances are then placed in a suitable boiler, and I use for such
purpose a rotatory boiler provided with a coil or coils of steam pipe for the
purpose of heating the contents; and I prefer that the boiling should be carried

page_text: on at a temperature to produce at or above 80 lbs. on the square inch in the
boiler, but so high a temperature is not absolutely necessary; but I have found
by experiment that it is essential that a temperature equivalent to 70 lbs. on
the square inch must be employed. The quantity of alkali used is at the rate
of about sixteen per cent. of caustic soda or potash of the straw or fibrous
substances under process. The fibrous material may then be bleached by
the use of a comparatively small quantity of chloride of lime.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed
more fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
The straw or other fibrous material requiring a like process to prepare the
same for the paper manufacture, is first, as heretofore, to be cut in a chaff-cutting
or other machine into short lengths, and to be freed from dust and dirt, and
then steeped for a few hours in hot water. The straw or fibrous material and a
weak solution of caustic alkali are then to be placed in a suitable close boiler
heated by steam, as hereafter explained, and the heat is to be raised to such a
degree as to attain and maintain for a time a pressure internally of the boiler
equal to or exceeding seventy pounds on the square inch, that is, about 310° of
Fahrenheit; by which means a considerable saving of alkali, as well as time
and of fuel, results, as compared with the means of using a bot solution of
caustic alkali, as now practised in preparing straw and other fibres for paper-
makers.
matters.
The boiler employed for this purpose and the manner of heating it by
steam may be varied, but the construction of boiler and the arrangement of
steam pipes which is preferred are as follows:-The boiler is cylindrical, with
hemispherical ends, constructed with hollow axes at the ends, in order that it
may be made to rotate slowly in bearings. The boiler is made with a suitable
man-hole for charging and discharging the boiler with fibrous and other
Near each end of the boiler is fixed a partition, which partitions are
connected together by numerous tubes, which are arranged in a circle near
the outer circumference of each partition. By this arrangement the steam is
introduced through the hollow axis at one end of the boiler, and it passes
through the steam pipes, and thence into the compartment at the other end of
the boiler, where it and the condensed steam is conveyed away, as is well
understood; hence the steam does not mix with the caustic alkaline solution
in the middle portion of boiler, but is kept separate, and does not therefore
in condensing dilute the caustic alkaline solution used. I prefer that there
should be a safety valve on the steam pipe as near the boiler as may be. The
boiler is to be strong and well put together in order to sustain the necessary
pressure, and I prefer to work at a pressure of eighty pounds on the square

page_text: inch, or about 322° of Fahrenheit. The strength of caustic alkaline solution
(soda or potash) which I prefer to use is such as will mark from one and
a half to three degrees of Beaumé, and from seventy to eighty gallons of such
solution are used to each cwt. of straw or other similar fibrous matter. The
boiler is to be filled with straw and alkaline solution, and then closed fluid-
tight. The boiler is made to revolve slowly, say, about one or two revolutions
per minute, and the steam is to be admitted. I find it desirable to keep up
the heat and pressure during about three hours after the desired pressure
above mentioned has been obtained in the boiler, when the process of boiling
will be complete; and in order to cool down the apparatus and the fibres
under process, before withdrawing the same from the boiler, I shut off the
steam and cause water to flow through the tubes, and thus cool the apparatus
and the fibres. And in order to remove the alkaline solution and other matters
from the fibres after taking the same from the boiler, I first use the hot water
obtained in cooling the apparatus, and then steep the fibre for about an hour
in hot water acidulated with a quantity of mineral acid equal to about two
per cent. of the fibre under process, and finally the washing is completed with
cold water. The straw or fibre may then be bleached in the ordinary manner,
and it will be found to be accomplished by a comparatively small quantity of
chloride of lime.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I do not claim the
general use of caustic alkaline solutions, nor the employment generally of a
close boiler for boiling straw or other fibrous substances; but what I claim is,
the subjecting straw or other vegetable fibrous substances (requiring like
treatment) to a boiling process in a weak solution of caustic alkali under con-
siderable pressure, such as is herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Marie Amédié Charles Mellier, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of October, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
S. CARPMAEL.
A. MELLIER. (L.S.)