AN IMPROVE- MENT IN EMPLOYING (IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP) A PRODUCT OBTAINED WHEN MANUFACTURING PULP FROM STRAW
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Simpson, of Tovil, Upper Mills, near
Maidstone, in the County of Kent, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN EMPLOYING (IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP) A PRODUCT OBTAINED
WHEN MANUFACTURING PULP FROM STRAW."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Simpson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
.28th February 1854.
I, WILLIAM SIMPSON, of Tovil, Upper Mills, near Maidstone, in the County
of Kent, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "AN IMPROVE-
MENT IN EMPLOYING (IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAP) A PRODUCT OBTAINED WHEN
MANUFACTURING PULP FROM STRAW" to be as follows:-
In the manufacture of pulp from straw, much alkali is used in a caustic
state, and heretofore it has been usual, after the alkali has been employed to
act on a quantity of straw, to evaporate the water combined with the alkali,
and to burn the product, in order to its being again used on fresh quantities of
straw; but by reason of the great cost of evaporation and burning, and also by
reason of the impurities mixed with the alkali, and the offensive character
thereof, the second use of such alkali on straw is objectionable; and, further,

page_text: there is much of the alkali thrown away by reason of its being too much
diluted to compensate for the cost of evaporation. Now I have discovered,
that notwithstanding the impurities and the condition in which the alkali is,
after it has been employed for acting on straw, preparatory to making pulp,
such alkali may be beneficially used for acting on fats and oil for the making
of soaps, and the offensive and other impurities taken from the straw are got
rid of in this second use of the alkali, which manufacture of soaps is carried
on in a similar manner to that heretofore practised. The residuum from the
straw and resulting from the soap' manufacture is useful as a manure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Simpson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
24th August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SIMPSON, of Tovil, Upper Mills, near Maidstone, in the County of Kent, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Simpson, Her.special licence that I, the said William Simpson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Simpson, my 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, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT
IN EMPLOYING A PRODUCT OBTAINED WHEN MANUFACTURING PULP FROM STRAW," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Simpson, by an instru-
ment 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 William Simpson, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained, in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say):-
1,
In the manufacture of pulp from straw much alkali is used in a caustic
state, and heretofore it has been usual, after the alkali has been employed to
act on a quantity of straw, to evaporate the water combined with the alkali,
and to burn the product, in order to its being again used on fresh quantities of
straw; but by reason of the great cost of evaporation and burning, and also
by reason of the impurities mixed with the alkali, and the offensive character
thereof, the second use of such alkali on straw is objectionable; and, further,
there is much of the alkali thrown away, by reason of its being-too-much
diluted to compensate for the cost of evaporation. Now I have discovered,
that notwithstanding the impurities and the condition in which the alkali is,
after it has been employed for acting on straw, preparatory to making pulp,
such alkali may be beneficially used for acting on fats and oil for the making
of soaps, and the offensive and other impurities taken from the straw are got
rid of in this second use of the alkali, which manufacture of soaps is carried
on in a similar manner to that heretofore practised. The residuum from the
straw and resulting from the soap manufacture is useful as a manure.
Having thus stated the nature of the Invention, I will proceed to describe
the manner of performing the same. In place of throwing away the weaker
alkaline solutions, and in place of evaporating the stronger alkaline solutions
after they have been used in acting on straw, preparatory to making pulp
therefrom, as heretofore, I mix all the solutions of alkali drawn off, and also
obtained by washing the straw, and I employ them in the manufacture of soap,
using these solutions as the first or weak alkaline leys to act on the fats or oils
used in making of soap, as is well understood by soap-makers when using
alkaline solutions prepared for the purpose; and it is found, that although there
are some of the matters taken from the straw that it is not desirable should
be combined with the soap, they are removed in the ordinary cleansing of the
soap; but I find it desirable to separate the rougher impurities by filtering the
solution through a filter bed, composed of a layer of unslacked lime and a
layer of carbonate of soda, which process of filtering, in addition to separating
the coarser matters, has also the advantage of rendering the solution more
caustic.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to the
treating of straw with caustic alkali, neither do I claim the use of caustic
alkaline solutions generally when acting on fats and oils to produce soap; but

page_text: what I claim is, the combining of those alkaline solutions which have been
employed to act on straw with fats and oils in the manufacture of soap.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Simpson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
WILLIAM SIMPSON. (L.S.)
Witness,
WILLIAM THOMAS.