Iм- PROVEMENTS IN REFINING OR: TREATING OILS AND FATS AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Townsend, Manufacturing Chemist, and
Peter Forbes, Analytical Chemist, both of Glasgow, in the County
of Lanark, North Britain, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Townsend and
Peter Forbes at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 13th May 1869.
We, JOSEPH TOWNSEND, Manufacturing Chemist, and PETER, FÖRBES,
Analytical Chemist, both of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain; do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN REFINING OR: TREATING OILS AND FATS AND IN APPARATUS
THEREFOR," to be as follows, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object the refining or treating of oils and
fats in such a manner as to obtain comparatively pure products directly;
simply, and economically; and so as to avoid the formation of empy-
reumatic and other objectionable constituents.

page_text: The Invention consists in re-distilling the crude or partly refined oil or
fat by means of saturated steam of high pressure, that is to say, of a pressure
of fifty pounds or upwards per square inch. The process may be carried out
in various kinds of apparatus, but in one modification a still of any suitable
form is employed and is furnished with internal piping or external jacket
spaces which are supplied with the high-pressure steam. One portion
of the piping or jacketing is unperforated, its office being to heat the
oils or fats, whilst the other portion is perforated for the steam from
it to blow into the oils or fats. Or, in some cases, the distillation may
be partly or wholly effected without blowing steam into the oils or
fats, and solely by the heat applied through the unperforated piping or
jacketing, or the unperforated piping or jacketing may be dispensed
with, and the operation be entirely effected by blowing in steam. The
still is by preference also fitted with a revolving agitator, the action of
which prevents priming and the accumulation of water due to con-
densation, and causes the oils or fats to be more uniformly acted upon
by the heat.
In another modification the action is continuous and the distilling
apparatus consists of a long tube or vessel slightly inclined from the
horizontal. This tube or vessel is encompassed by a jacket space, or is
fitted with internal piping which is supplied with the high-pressure
steam, and perforations or perforated pipes are also in some cases pro-
vided for blowing steam into the oils or fats. These oils or fats are run
into the vessel at the higher end, and are acted upon whilst passing along
to the other end from which the undistilled residues are withdrawn,
whilst the vaporised constituents pass off by one or more pipes provided
for the purpose.
In practising the Invention in the case, for example, of crude or par-
tially refined mineral oil, and in apparatus such as is herein-before
described as the first modification, steam of 50 pounds per square inch
may be at first employed, and the pressure may be gradually increased
to 150 or 180 pounds, the increase of pressure being adjusted approxi-
mately so as to maintain a regular flow of the distillate. In this way
all the comparatively light or "burning" oils are distilled off in a
comparatively pure condition, whilst the residue after treatment with
acids and alkalies and crystallising may be separated into lubricating oil
and paraffin wax by the ordinary process of pressing.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Townsend and Peter Forbes in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 13th November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOSEPH
TOWNSEND, Manufacturing Chemist, and PETER FORBES, Analytical
Chemist, both of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
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-nine, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Joseph Townsend and Peter Forbes,
Her special licence that we, the said Joseph Townsend and Peter Forbes,
our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the
said Joseph Townsend and Peter Forbes, our 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, usc, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands,
and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN REFINING OR TREATING
OILS AND FATS AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOB," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Joseph Townsend and Peter Forbes, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our, or:
their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 imme--
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Joseph Townsend and Peter..
Forbes, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement in writing, reference being
had to the accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
Our said Invention relates mainly to the branch of manufacture
having for its object the treatment of shale oil or other crude mineral
oil or fat with the view of deriving therefrom various qualities of refined
or purified oils which have various uses in the arts and manufactures,

page_text: and otherwise; it is however also applicable for treating any crude or
partially refined oil or fat. And whereas in the branch of manufacture
referred to it has hitherto been customary to frequently re-distil tho
oils with superheated steam, which is dangerous and difficult to manage,
or by the aid of direct fire heat, whereby various impurities, such as
empyreumatic essences and objectionable coloring matters, are generated,
whilst considerable loss is caused.
Now by our Invention we so conduct the re-distilling processes as to
avoid the defects referred to to a considerable extent, and we arc thereby
enabled to produce refined and purified oils for the market of better
quality and at less expence than heretofore.
Our improvement consists in re-distilling the oil or fat by means of
saturated steam of high pressure, that is to say, of a pressure of sixty
pounds or upwards per square inch, such steam being partly blown into
the oil or fat, and partly applying its heat thereto by closed pipes,
jackets, or the like, whilst direct fire heat is entirely avoided.
And in order that our said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, we have hereunto appended a Sheet
of explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing
two modifications of apparatus which we employ for carrying out our
improvements.
We sometimes use a still such as is shown in vertical section in Figure 1
on the Sheet of Drawings, but by no means restrict ourselves to the
precise form or arrangement of the details, as our Invention does not
merely relate to the construction or arrangement of the apparatus, but
mainly to processes to be carried out by any apparatus that may be
found suitable. This still is furnished with two internal pipes for the
steam, one A entering at the upper part and passing round the inside of
the still in a helical coil, and the other B entering at the bottom and
extending across. The first steam pipe A is not perforated but serves
for heating the oil or fat by the conduction of the heat of the steam
through the metal of which it is composed, and it is at its bottom end
let out of the still again, as at C, to carry off water due to the condensation
of the steam in it. The other steam pipe B is perforated, and the steam
entering by it blows into the oil or fat and assists in vaporising it and
in carrying forward the vapor out at the neck D. We also prefer to
provide the still with an agitator consisting of a number of blades E

page_text: fixed on a vertical shaft F, passing out through a stuffing box G in the
dome of the still so as to be turned by any convenient external power.
This agitator prevents priming and causes the oils or fats to be more
uniformly acted upon by the heat. Further, as some of the vapor is apt
still, we introduce an inner shell H
to be condensed in the dome of the
with a central aperture, which shell retains any condensed matters and
prevents their falling back into the lower part of the still to be again
acted on by the heat. These condensed matters caught by the shell H
are drawn off by a separate pipe I provided for the purpose.
In practising our Invention in the case, for example, of crude or
partially refined shale oil we run it into the still (by a door K or by a
special pipe provided for the purpose), and by preference at first admit
saturated steam of a pressure of 50 pounds per square inch into the
pipes A, B. Then when the flow of distillate which this produces
begins to slacken steam of higher pressure is admitted into the pipes,
and the pressure is gradually increased to 150 or 200 pounds per square
inch, the increase of pressure being by preference adjusted approximately
so as to maintain a regular flow of the distillate. In this way all the
comparatively light or "burning" oils are distilled off in a comparatively
pure condition, whilst the residue may be treated with acids and alkalies
in the ordinary way for purification, and with the view of separating
it into "lubricating" oil and paraffin wax. If preferred the highest
pressure of steam may be used at the commencement and throughout
the re-distilling operation, or any intermediate pressure above 50 pounds
may be commenced with, the pressure being afterwards increased to 200
pounds or upwards.
Another modification of the apparatus which we employ is
shown in transverse vertical section in Figure 2, and in sectional side
clevation in Figure 3. It consists of a long cylindrical vessel
or tube placed in a position slightly inclined from the horizontal.
This vessel is furnished with an internal coiled pipe A which is supplied
with the high-pressure steam and with a perforated pipe B by which the
steam is blown into the oils or fats. These oils or fats are run into the
vessel by an inlet K at the higher end, and are acted upon whilst
passing along to the other end from which the undistilled residues are
withdrawn by the discharge cock L, whilst the vaporised constituents
pass off by one or more pipes D provided for the purpose. The apparatus
is fitted with an agitator consisting of inclined blades E fixed upon a

page_text: horizontal shaft F, which passes out through a stuffing box G and is
driven externally by any convenient gearing.
The distilling vessels such as are herein-before described may be used
singly or in sets of two, three, or more arranged on different levels so
that the oils or fats may be run from one to the other. Then the steam
of the highest pressure is first used in the lowest vessel, and thence
passes to the next, wherein it works at a lower pressure, and so on in
succession until its heating power is considered to be sufficiently utilised.
In this way the fresh crude oil first admitted into the higher vessel is
gradually heated, and its more volatile constituents are thrown off and
may be collected separately from what distils over from the lower
vessels.
Having thus described our said Invention we have to state that by it
we avoid on the one hand the practical difficulties of preparing and
working with superheated steam, and on the other the formation of
objectionable matters difficult to get rid of and ordinarily produced by
direct fire heat; what then we claim as our Invention and desire to secure
by Letters Patent is, the refining of oils or fats by re-distilling them by
means of saturated steam of a pressure of sixty pounds and upwards per
square inch, and substantially in the manner and by apparatus such as
is herein-before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Joseph Townsend and Peter Forbes,
have hereunto set our hands and scals, this Eleventh day of
November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-nine.
JOSEPH TOWNSEND. (L.S.)
PETER FORBES.
(L.S.)