IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PURIFICATION AND REFINING OF RAW SPIRITS AND OTHER ALCOHOLS
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Farnham Maxwell Lyte of the Science Club Savile
Row in the County of Middlesex, for an invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Farnham Maxwell Lyte
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th April 1882.
"
FARNHAM MAXWELL LYTE of the Science Club, Savile Row, in the County of
Middlesex, * IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PURIFICATION AND REFINING OF RAW
SPIRITS AND OTHER ALCOHOLS."
Various methods have been recommended for the elimination of the bad taste
inherent to certain classes of raw spirits and although considering the diverso
nature of the materials from which the disagreeable taste is liable to arise, it is
hardly to be expected that any universal mode of treatment can be successfully
applied to all classes of alcohols, still some more or less satisfactory and promising
results have from time to time been obtained from the use of certain reagents.
Filtration through some absorbent materials such as wood-charcoal, animal-black,
&c, have been tried but only with partial success, and certain methods both of
oxidation and reduction have been tried. As a matter of fact it has been observed
that most of the foreign substances which occur in raw spirits possessing a dis-
agreeable flavor are of a more or less reducing nature. This may easily be
observed if such spirits be mixed with a little silver nitrate when after a short
time, especially if exposed to the light, much of the silver becomes reduced often
in a beautifully metallised film on the interior of the bottle. This reduction does
not take place with pure ethylic alcohol. In consequence of the easy oxidability
of these impurities it has been recommended to destroy them by oxidation, and
for this purpose a slight addition of nitric acid previous to rectification has been
employed; the result however has been but partial, in that ethers being formed,
the sole result has been a substitution for one bad taste of another nearly, if not
quite, as bad. Ozone has been tried and appears to have succeeded better, but its
manufacture is costly and uncertain. Electrolysis has been used and is said to

page_text: partially succeed, but of all substances which can be employed, none appear to
answer so well as the peroxides of hydrogen or of some of the metals which I
employ for this purpose. Among these, one of the cheapest and most convenient
for use is the lead peroxide and especially the hydrated peroxide of lead obtained
by the reaction described in the Provisional Specification of my application for
Letters Patent No. 1721 of the present year.
The hydrated peroxide in its moist state, after being thoroughly washed, may
be added to the spirit to be defecated and agitated therewith till the impurities
have become oxidised and the alcohol may then be rectified as usual, producing a
well flavoured spirit. Red lead, which also contains lead peroxide, may be
employed but is not nearly so effective, or lead peroxide prepared by any other
method may be used. If hydrogen peroxide be employed, a solution of it may be
mixed with the spirit and the two digested together till the fetor of the spirit has
disappeared. Other metallic peroxides such as Barium Peroxide, Nickel, Cobalt,
and even Manganese peroxides may be employed, but none seem to be so
efficacious as the hydrated lead peroxide obtained by precipitation by the wet
method from salts of lead.
The Invention is also applicable for the removal of certain oxidizable impurities
with which crude glycerine is often contaminated.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Farnham Maxwell Lyte in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
18th October 1882.
FARNHAM MAXWELL LYTE of the Science Club, Savile Row, in the County of
Middlesex "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PURIFICATION AND REFINING. OF RAW
SPIRITS AND OTHER ALCOHOLS."
Various methods have been recommended for the elimination of the bad taste
inherent to certain classes of raw spirits, and although, considering the diverse
nature of the materials from which the disagreeable taste is liable to arise, it is
hardly to be expected that any universal mode of treatment can be successfully
applied to all classes of alcohols, still some more or less satisfactory and promising
results have from time to time been obtained from the use of certain. reagents.
Filtration through some absorbent materials such as wood charcoal, animal-
black, &c., have been tried, but only with partial success, and certain methods both
of oxidation and reduction have been tried. As a matter of fact it has been
observed that most of the foreign substances which occur in raw spirits possessing
a disagreeable flavor are of a more or less reducing nature. This may be easily
observed if such spirits be mixed with a little silver nitrate when, after a short
time, especially if exposed to the light, much of the silver become reduced, often
in a beautifully metallised film on the interior of the bottle. This reduction does
not take place with pure ethylic alcohol. In consequence of the easy oxidability
of these impurities, it has been recommended to destroy them by oxidation, and
for this purpose a slight addition of nitric acid previous to rectification has been
employed; the result however has been but partial, .in that ethers being formed,
the sole result has been the substitution for one bad taste of another nearly, if not
quite, as bad. Ozone has been tried and appears to have succeeded better, but its
manufacture is costly and uncertain. Electrolysis has been used and is said to
partially succeed.
Of all the substances however which can be employed I have found none to
answer so well as the peroxides of lead, hydrogen, barium, strontium or calcium
which I employ for this purpose. It is true that the peroxide of some of the other
metals might be used, but not with such advantage for the following reasons,
viz. (1.) The peroxide of lead is cheaply procurable; (2:) Its oxidising action on
ethylic alcohol is but slight, whereas it acts as a powerful oxidiser upon the fusel
oil, on the amines (trimethylamine for instance) and certain aldehydes, which
constitute the noxious impurities of many of the fetid ethylic alcohols, beet root
and potatoe spirit for instance.
For the better comprehension of the foregoing, I may observe that the metallic
peroxides might be ranged with respect to their oxidising action on alcohols in a
certain order. Some of the peroxides (such as chromic acid, which may be regarded
as a peroxide of chromium and which we may place at the head of the list) exert
a powerful action even upon ethylic alcohol itself, not only altering and destroying
the substances accompanying it, but also oxidising and destroying the ethylic
alcohol. Passing from this peroxide to others whose oxidising properties gradually
decrease, we arrive at a group of which peroxide of lead may be considered to
form the centre, that is to say, peroxides which on the one hand have sufficient
oxidising property to destroy the flegmous matter (fusel oil, &c.), and on the other
are not sufficiently powerful oxidisers to materially affect the ethylic alcohol. This
group consists of the peroxides above mentioned, that is to say, the peroxides of
hydrogen, lead, barium, strontium and calcium.

page_text: The lead peroxide (which I merely instance as being the best and most suitable
of the group) by preference in its moist state, after being thoroughly washed, is
added to the spirit to be defecated, and agitated therewith till the impurities have
become oxidised. The alcohol may then be rectified as usual, producing a well
flavored spirit. Red lead, which also contains lead peroxide, may be employed, but
is not nearly so effective.
If hydrogen peroxide be employed, a solution of it may be mixed with the
spirit and the two digested together till the fetor of the spirit has disappered.
The hydrated peroxide of lead obtained by the reaction described in the speci-
fication of my Patent No. 1721 of the present year, is the cheapest and most
convenient for the purpose of this Invention.
This deflegmation or purification of the spirit may be carried out either in the
cold (in which case longer time is required for the reaction, the action being
however perhaps steadier and more perfect) or it may be performed with heat, the
spirit being even distilled off from the requisite quantity of peroxide of lead. The
quantity of peroxide to be employed will, of course, depend on the quantity of the
impurities mixed with the ethylic alcohol to be purified, as well as upon the nature
of the impurities, some of them being more easily oxidisable than others. It is
therefore impossible to lay down any rule that would answer for all classes of
spirits. For the same reason it is impossible to state any exact time during which
the reaction should be allowed to proceed, the index that the reaction is complete
being the improved flavor and smell of the alcohol.
This Invention is particularly advantageous for the deflegmation of beet
root spirit which, after being treated with the lead peroxide as above described,
loses all its bad taste and smell and becomes an excellent mixing alcohol.
Having described the nature of my Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as my Invention to be protected by the
herein before in part recited Letters Patent is.
The employment of the peroxides of hydrogen, lead barium strontium, and
calcium for the refining, deflegmation, or purification of alcohols, substanially as
above specified.
In witness whercof I the said Farnham Maxwell Lyte have hereunto set my
hand and seal this ninth day of October A.D. 1882
Witness
C. M. LYTE
41 Coleman St
London, E.C.
F. MAXWELL (LS.) LYTE.