IMPROVED METHODS OF AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING LINSEED AND OTHER OILS AND FATS
Year: 1861

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Christopher Binks at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th August
1861.
I, CHRISTOPHER BINKS, of Gray's Inn, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED METHODS OF
AND APPARATUS FOR TREATING LINSEED AND OTHER OILS AND FATS," to be as
follows:-
The objects of my Invention are, firstly, to improve the drying properties
of linseed oil and other drying oils, but more especially of linseed oil.
Secondly, to obtain such drying oils in certain cases free or comparatively
free from colour, and especially from the deep or dark colour usually pertaining
to linseed oil which has been boiled or treated by the methods hitherto com-
mouly resorted to in order to quicken its drying properties; (such colourless
or comparatively colourless or light-coloured oils are herein-after designated
"refined drying oils ").
Thirdly, to provide improved methods of obtaining dark-coloured drying oils
or drying oils similar in appearance and uses to those known as boiled oils.
Fourthly, to impart to such drying oils at pleasure, and by improved
methods of operating, different degrees of thickness or of "
body."
And, fifthly, to provide improved methods of operating and improved kinds of
apparatus by which to carry on certain operations requisite for obtaining these
or like effects or products, or for bleaching and refining linseed and other oils
and fats.

page_text: The first part of my Invention consists in the application to the oil of certain
materials, or of improved forms of materials, in order to improve its drying and
other properties.
The application of certain materials for improving the drying and other
properties of drying oils was secured by me under Letters Patent, dated
11th June 1853, No. 1425, and among these materials were the hydrated
protoxides of manganese, as described in the Specification of the said Letters
Patent.
Now my improvements under this head of my present Invention consist in
substituting for some of the materials specified under my former Patent one
or other of the following materials or compounds, it being understood that the
operations, in applying these new materials or compounds, are the same gene-
rally as those described in reference to other materials under my said Patent.
These new materials or compounds are:-
(1.) For the hydrated protoxide of manganese prepared in the usual manner
(when that form of manganese oxide is the one used to act upon the oil)
I substitute and employ this oxide dissolved in aqueous ammonia in place of
using it (as formerly) in its simple form. I use this solution in order to effect
n more ready and perfect diffusion through and consequent combination with
or action upon the oil than follow its application in the solid form.
(2) That oxide of manganese which is formed by exposing moistened
hydrated protoxide of manganese to the action (under ordinary atmospheric
temperatures) of atmospheric air. This oxide is in composition an inter-
mediate one between the proto and the sesqui-oxide, or is analogous to the
anhydrous (so called) red oxide of manganese in respect of its relative propor-
tions of metal and of oxygen, or it has (shown en formula) the composition
Mn₂O₁.
(3.) The hydrated sesqui-oxide of manganese, Mu₂O₂HO; and
(4) The anhydrous sesqui-oxide of the same metal, Mu.O..
These oxides, one or other of them, or mixtures thereof, are added to the
oil and macerated in it, that operation being carried ou at ordinary atmo-
spheric temperatures or at pleasure, aided by heat applied to the mixture.
And these oxides of manufacture used severally or conjointly are so applied to
the oil, either alone or with the conjoined application of atmosphericair passed
into and through the oil, or the mixture are otherwise exposed to the action
of atmospheric air, either as described in the Specification of my said Patent
or as herein-after described.
(4.) A mixture composed of one or other, or of mixtures of the above-
named oxides of manganese and the hydrated or the anhydrous protoxide of

page_text: form of litharge.
(5°.) A mixed precipitate of the hydrated protoxides of lead and of man-
ganese obtained most conveniently by precipitating such oxides, by means of
well-known agents, from a mixed solution of some soluble salt of lead and salt
of manganese, or by forming each oxide separately and then intimately mixing
one with the other mechanically.
(6°.) A mixture of one or other of the higher oxides of manganese, the
sesqui and the peroxides, one or both, and either hydrated or anhydrous, with
some acid capable of forming a proto-salt with and at the same time of
liberating oxygen from the oxide when in contact with the oil, as the oxalic,
tartaric, boracic, and other acids.
And such treatment of the oil may at pleasure be varied by (subsequently
to this application or operation) decomposing the salt of manganese thins
formed in the oil, and whilst it is still in contact with it, by means of the
addition to the resulting mixture of some other reagent capable of decom-
posing the salt of manganese and of throwing out from it, whilst in contact
with the oil, its hydrated protoxides.
(7°.) A mixture of the higher oxides of lead (as the red lead, the sequi, and
the peroxides, the latter being used either anhydrous or hydrated) and of
some acid capable of forming a proto-salt of the lead and of liberating oxygen
in contact with the oil, such operations to be used alone or combined with the
analogous operations in which the higher oxides of manganese are employed,
as just described.
(8.) A mixture of the following kind, namely, along with subacetate of
lead, 2 PbO AHO, is mixed a large excess of protoxide of lead, and this
mixture diffused through the oil. There is then added to the oil a solution
of some salt of manganese, preferably the sulphate, in quantity equivalent, or
thereabouts, to the quantity of subacetate of lead. The result is a series of
reactions bringing into contact with the oil drying compounds of great activity,
with, the ultimate production of a fine drying oil.
(90.) A mixture of the higher oxides of lead, as the red lead (Pb₂O)
and the peroxide, the latter either with or without water, in combination
(PbO,HO, or PbO.) along with some proto-salt of manganese, as the
sulphate, using the lead oxide in excess.
The result under the influence of reactions in contact with the oil is the
developement of highly active dryingreagents, and the consequent formation
of a fine drying oil.
The second part of my Invention consists in certain improved operations or

page_text: methods of treating the oil, and these are as follow:-One important property
of the drying oils prepared according to directions given for carrying out my
Invention secured to me by the Letters Patent aforesaid, and prepared as
herein described under my present further improvements is, that on drying or
exposure to air they finally bleach or become lighter in colour to a greater or
less extent according to the kind and relative proportions of reagents employed
in their preparation, that is, they whiten and become the "refined drying oils,"
products of my Invention.
But it is desirable for certain special applications of these oils that they
should not so bleach, but continue to possess a dark colour, and consequently
that this tendency to finally bleach should by some means be arrested. Now
for this purpose I proceed as follow:-When a solution in the oil of the
reagents has been made I treat this solution, to convert it into a permanently
dark-coloured drying oil, by one or other of the following methods, viz. :-
First method. I subject the solution, by the application of heat to the
vessel containing it, to a temperature ranging between 350° and 600° Fahren-
heit, or till certain hydrated and other compounds held in the solution have
been decomposed and other changes accomplished, which terminate in im-
parting the required deep or dark color to the oil, and which colour will then
be permanent and of a depth proportionate to the strength of the solution and
to the length of time of exposure to the heat.
Second method. I effect the same object by using a strong solution of the
reagents and passing atmospheric air, of ordinary temperatures, into and
through it in profusion, and till, through the ensuing reactions in the mixture,
it has spontaneously acquired the temperature needed to effect the required
changes and give permanency to the deep color so developed in the oil.
Third method.-I vary these operations with the same results by
previously warming the air employed, or by warming the oil, and I do this
preferably by the external application of steam to the vessel containing the
solution or mixture, and sending the air into and through it at its ordinary
temperatures, till the acquired changes in the oil are accomplished. On
aerating the solutions or mixtures as and for the purposes just described, or on
aerating finished drying oils for the purpose of thickening them as and forthe
purposes herein-after described, considerable quantities of volatile and gaseous
matters are thrown off during the operation, and a further part of my
improved operations consists in so conducting these aerating processes, that
their volatile or gaseous products shall be collected, in order to obviate, by
decomposing or destroying them, any nuisance their escape into the atmo-
sphere might give rise to, or to apply them to some useful purposes. With

page_text: this view I conduct these aerating operations in closed vessels fitted with
contrivances for conveying away and treating or destroying these products.
And I prefer (though I do not confine my Invention thereto) to employ the
kind of aerating vats that are with their several appendages herein-after
described. When it is a dark coloured drying oil that is intended to be
thickened by aeration, then the temperature under which the operation is
carried ou may be permitted to rise as high as 500 Ft. But if it be one
of the light-colored varieties of the oils, then I effect its thickening by the
aeration carried on at temperatures not exceeding 212° Fahrenheit. But
it is preferable to conduct it at temperatures of from 70° to 30°, or not
exceeding 100° Fahrenheit.
In operating upon linseed oil for rendering it more drying, or for
thickening or refining it, or in operating upon any other oil or fat for bleaching
or refining it, and for which purposes it has to be mixed or kept in
contact with materials or reagents, either not readily mixable with or of
different specific gravities from itself, or has to be brought in contact with
atmospheric air or other gaseous matters, or with steam or water, it is
desirable to have some effective contrivance for agitating the mixture for
keeping such materials suspended in it, or for bringing them or the
gaseous or other matters in contact with every particle of the oil or
fat successively. And my Invention for this purpose is as follows:-
My principal agitating agents are atmospheric air or steam, or both.
A cylindrical or other shaped tube (or two or more such tube) is placed
vertically within the vat and left open at both ends, the lower end either
perforated or raised a little above the bottom of the vat, so as to allow of a
free passage of the oil into and through this tube. Its upper end is raised
above the level of the surface of the oil in the vat; within this tube at the
bottom end is inserted concentrically, another tube or pipe opening upwards
and extending a few inches upwards. This inner tube or jet pipe is connected
with an air-blowing apparatus placed and working externally to the vat, and
also with a steam generator, so that at pleasure there may be sent into and
through it, and consequently into and up the larger tube, a current of either
air or steam, or both, or by other suitable connections of this inner or jet pipe
in the exterior apparatus, other kinds of gascous or fluid matters can at
pleasure be sent into and through it to react with or upon the oil. The
effect is (with the fat charged with oil and the reagents employed to act
upon it) the production of a current of the oil and its flowing up and through
the larger tube with a velocity proportioned to the strength of the propelling
current sent in.

page_text: At some little distance from the upper orifice of this tube is fixed a dish-
shaped or other form of deflector, against which the oil beats as it is propelled
through and beyond the upper end of the tube, and by which it is thrown back
into the mass of the oil outside the tube to be again drawn in at its
bottom end, and thus a circulating current is maintained, serving to keep
agitated and to commingle together the whole contents of the vat. That
current tube with its associated jet pipe may be placed in the centre of the
vat, or two or more of them round its side. The circulating of the oil may be
further effected by employing a number of separate pipes conveying into it air
only, separately or in conjunction with the steam pipe or pipes; and I employ
sometimes an air distributor in addition, consisting of a perforated plate
or resting above the orifices of the air pipes, among which perforations the air
divides and spreads itself over a greater area on its passage through the oil.
For certain of the operatious this vat may be left open or uncovered at the
top, but for others it is desirable or necessary that it should be covered, in
which case it is also furnished with an outlet pipe or conduit for carrying
off or conveying away any gaseous or volatile products of the operations, to
be collected and treated as may be desired.
In certain cases I so far vary these arrangements as (in place of forcing in
the air to cause it to be drawn into and through the oil by means of any
convenient exhausting apparatus, placed and acting externally to the vats, an
arrangement that has for its object (as well as to aerate and agitate the oils
and its associated materials as first described) to draw off and dispose of, if
desired, at any time any gaseous or volatile products of the operations. In
operating for the general purposes herein-before stated upon large quantities
of oil, it is desirable to facilitate the separating from the finished oil of
any excess of reagents used, or of extraneous products formed during the
operations, the presence of which in the oil may prevent it from readily clearing
and brightening. This separation is at present generally accomplished by a
long-continued exposure of the oil to air by leaving it at rest so as in time to
dissipate or throw down such matters to the bottom of the mass of oil, a
process both tedious and uncertain. Now my improved methods of treating
the oil for clearing or brightening it more rapidly, consist, first, in filtering it
under conditions that have not previously been considered as essential for
procuring it permanently bright; and secondly, in the peculiar disposition or
mechanical arrangements of apparatus for effecting this filtering. These
conditions relate to the temperature of the oil, and are founded chiefly on the
fact that such oil, when warın, holds in solution certain elements which it
cannot retain when cold, and consequently its permanent brilliancy and

page_text: transparency depend upon the oil being freed from all particles of solid or
floating matter after it has become cold; and my improvements for this purpose
consist practically in passing the oil through any convenient filtering medium,
first, when it is warm (as for example when taken direct from the warm
aerating process), and again after it has become cold; or in filtering or
straining it only after it has become cold, that is, when reduced to ordinary
atmospheric temperatures, or when artificially cooled below those points. By
this system of double or successive or of cold filtration are removed in the first
place all excess of reagents, and all products not soluble in the warm oil;
whilst by the second filtering are removed other products thrown out of
combination when the oil becomes cold, thus leaving the oil, after this second
filtration, or filtration only when cold, free from further disturbing actions or
changes in its appearance, consequently keeping it clear and bright per-
manently. The kinds and arrangements of apparatus I prefer to employ to
carry out these filtering, straining, or brightening operations, are as follows,
namely, the filtering part of the apparatus is so constructed that the medium
through which the oil passes for clearing it from insoluble matters mixed with
or floating on it, is always kept covered with or immersed in fluid oil, in order
fully and continually, whether the filter be in active use or not, to protect the
exterior surfaces of the filtering medium from all contact with the atmospheric
air, and so prevent the drying of the oil upon its surfaces, and consequent
destruction of the porosity or permeability of the material.
My apparatus or double filter for filtering the oil when warm and again
when cold, or for effecting both purposes by a continuous operation, consists,
1st, of reservoir capable of being warmed by steam, within which is spread
and fixed upon a grating or false bottom the filtering material, and below
this is fixed a pipe for carrying off the filtered oil. This pipe is made to dip
at its lower end into another reservoir of oil or receiver of the filtered oil, and
its length between the two reservoirs is sufficient, by the vertical columns of
oil on it, to exert an efficient pressure upon the surface of the oil in the upper
reservoir to force it through the filtering medium and also to allow of the
cooling of the oil as it passes through the pipe from the one reservoir to the
other. Or the pipe is artificially cooled outside by being placed within
another pipe through which a current of cold water is made to flow, after the
manner of refrigerating that is well known.
The second reservoir or receiver into which this once filtered and now
cooled oil falls is also, in like manner, provided with its filtering medium and
outlet pipe from the bottom, in its turn dipping into oil contained in another
vessel placed some distance below, and acting there as the final receiver of

page_text: the finished or now cold and twice filtered oil. The agency through which
the pressure is exercised for forcing the cold oil through the filtering
material in the second reservoir, may be that of connecting its outlet pipe
with a closed reservoir, to which is attached an air-exhausting contrivance, by
the action of which to draw the oil into this reservoir, and consequently
through the filtering medium in the other; or the second filtering reservoir
may itself be capable of being closed (after being partially filled from the one
above), and have attached to it an air-forcing contrivance, by which to compress
the air resting upon the oil, and thus force instead of draw it through the
filtering material.