IMPROVEMENTS IN CLEANSING AND UTILISING OIL AND DIRTIED COTTON WASTE AND OTHER LIKE MATERIAL, ALSO IN EXTRACTING THE OIL THEREFROM THE SAME, ALSO IN APPARATUS AND CLARIFYING PURPOSES." EMPLOYED FOR THESE
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Kirton, of Queen's Walk, Nottingham,
in the County of Nottingham, Colliery Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CLEANSING AND UTILISING OIL AND DIRTIED COTTON
WASTE AND OTHER LIKE MATERIAL, ALSO IN EXTRACTING THE OIL THEREFROM
THE SAME, ALSO IN APPARATUS
AND
CLARIFYING
PURPOSES."
EMPLOYED FOR THESE
Sealed the 16th February 1875, and dated the 14th December 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Kirton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th December 1874.
I, WILLIAM KIRTON, of Queen's Walk, Nottingham, in the County of
Nottingham, Colliery Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CLEANSING AND UTILISING OIL AND DIRTIED
COTTON WASTE AND OTHER LIKE MATERIAL, ALSO IN EXTRACTING THE OIL THEREFROM
AND CLARIFYING THE SAME, ALSO IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR THESE PURPOSES," to
be as follows :—
My Invention has for its object the treatment of oiled and dirtied
cotton waste and other like material in such a manner as to cleanse it

page_text: and separate the oil from it, and to render both the material and the oil
available for other uses; and my Invention consists in pressing the
material in a heated state, and afterwards washing it in a vessel, into
which are introduced, besides steam and water, ammoniacal gas and
caustic alkalies or other suitable chemical agents, and in which vessel
the material is further pressed during the process of washing and
cleansing until it is dried, provision also being made in the same
washing and cleansing apparatus for separating foreign matter from the
material under treatment.
The first pressure applied to the material is effected by means of a
hydraulic press fitted by preference with moveable cylinders heated by
steam.
The washing and cleansing apparatus consists of a circular wrought-
iron steam-tight vessel, with a convex top or cover, containing a per-
forated iron disc or false bottom, which is caused to revolve, and on
which the material to be cleansed is placed, which material by the
revolution of the said disc is carried under a fixed roller, from which it
receives pressure.
Steam and ammoniacal gas are introduced at the bottom of the vessel,
and at the top of the same are two spargers extending half-way across,
with taps, through which can be introduced hot or cold water, or any
caustic alkali.
There is a space between the revolving disc or false bottom and the
bottom of the vessel to receive any metallic deposit from the material,
which may be afterwards separated in any convenient manner, and there
is a waste cock for the escape of dirty water.
The oil pressed out of the material by the hydraulic press is conveyed
into a receptacle, and thence into filters, which consist of circular funnel
shaped vessels of metal or other suitable material, each furnished with
a small steam-heated chamber.
The filters contain filtering bags or papers for passing the oil through,
which oil is kept in a heated state by steam during the process of
filtering. The oil after filtering is stored away in any suitable
receptacle.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Kirton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th June 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
KIRTON, of Queen's Walk, Nottingham, in the County of Nottingham,
Colliery Agent, send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Kirton, Her special licence
that I, the said William Kirton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Kirton, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any timo 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
CLEANSING AND UTILISING OILED AND DIRTIED. COTTON WASTE AND OTHER LIKE
MATERIAL, ALSO IN EXTRACTING THE OIL THEREFROM AND CLARIFYING THE SAME,
ALSO IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR THESE PURPOSES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Kirton, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Kirton, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention of "Improvements in Cleansing and Utilizing Oiled
and Dirtied Cotton Waste and other like Material, also in Extracting
the Oil therefrom and Clarifying the same, also in Apparatus employed

page_text: for these Purposes" has for its object the treatment of oiled and dirtied
cotton waste and other like material in such a manner as to cleanse it
and separate the oil from it, and to render both the material and the oil
available for other uses; and my Invention consists in pressing the
material in a heated state, and afterwards washing it in a vessel or
apparatus, into which are introduced, besides steam and water,
ammoniacal gas and caustic alkalies, or other suitable chemical agents,
such as those herein-after named, provision also being made in the same
washing and cleansing apparatus for separating foreign matter from the
material under treatment. After the material is removed from the
cleansing apparatus it is dried by pressure or by other suitable means.
The washing and cleansing apparatus consists of a wrought-iron steam-
tight vessel or outer cylinder with a steam-tight top or cover, within
which vessel an inner cylinder of perforated zinc, iron wire, or other
suitable material is caused to revolve, and in which the material to be
cleansed is placed, which material by the revolution of the said inner
cylinder is subjected to agitation under heat and steam pressure.
Steam, water, and the cleansing compound hercin-after named are
introduced through hollow beaters or stirrers from the hollow shaft of
the inner cylinder through longitudinal spargers extending from end to
end of the inner cylinder.
There is or may be a space between the revolving cylinder and the
bottom of the outer cylinder or vessel to receive any metallic deposit
from the material, which may be afterwards separated in any convenient
manner, and there are a channel and sluice for the escape of dirty water
or liquid.
.
The oil pressed out of the material by the hydraulic press is conveyed
into a receptacle, and thence into filters, which consist of funnel-shaped
vessels or apparatus of metal or other suitable material, each furnished
with a steam-heated chamber.
The filters contain filtering bags or papers or other filtering medium
for passing the oil through, which oil is kept in a heated state by steam
during the process of filtering. The oil after filtering is stored away in
any suitable receptacle.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention I will proceed to
describe more particularly in what manner the same is to be performed

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 2 a transverse section of the
cleansing machine; and Fig. 3 is a sectional representation of the
clarifying filter.
After the material to be cleansed and made ready for further use has
been pressed as required to extract the oil by means of a hydraulic press,
(fitted by preference with movable cylinders heated by steam) it is intro-
duced into the machine represented in Figures 1 and 2, which consists
of an outer cylinder A supported, as shewn in a horizontal position,
and which may be made of iron or other suitable material of such
dimensions as may be required, furnished with a steam-tight lid B at the
top, and at the bottom a channel with taps or sluice doors for carrying
off the dirty liquid. The cylinder is also provided with a safety valve
and water gauge. An inner cylinder C made of perforated zinc, iron
wire, or other suitable material is caused to revolve within the outer
cylinder A upon a hollow shaft D (which passes through stuffing
boxes E, E, in the ends of the outer cylinder) by means of a driving-
pulley F. On the shaft inside are fixed hollow beaters or stirrers G, G,
radiating from this shaft to the circumference of the inner cylinder C
for the purpose of conveying water, steam, and other liquids to longi-
tudinal spargers H, H, extending from end to end of the inner cylinder.
The cylinder C is also divided into two or more separate compartments
or chambers, extending from end to end; divided with perforated zinc or
other suitable material. The cylinder C is provided with suitable doors,
as at I, to each compartment, arranged opposite the lid B of the outer
cylinder A for introducing the dirty material to be cleansed, and removing
it after cleansing. Along the interior of the outer cylinder A will be
fixed a pipe or pipes perforated for sparging or distributing steam or
liquid as required. K is the channel, and L the sluice for carrying off
dirty liquids.
The cleansing compound used in the machine is composed of sixty
per cent. of saponified and aqueous matter, twenty-five per cent. of
custic soda, and fifteen per cent. of hydrate of ammonia, but I do not
confine myself to these exact proportions, and the ingredients may be
varied while preserving the essential character of the compound.

page_text: For the sake of economy in the cleansing process suitable receptacles
are arranged to catch the lees which come from the machine, and are
not entirely spent. These lees may be returned and used again two or
more times before their chemical properties are entirely spent.
After the cleansed material has been taken out of the machine it is
subjected to hydraulic or centrifugal pressure or other convenient means
for the purpose of drying it.
The dirty oil that has been extracted by hydraulic pressure is clarified
as required by passing it through a filter constructed in the manner
represented at Fig. 3, in which M is a vessel which may be funnel
shaped, or otherwise, and is surrounded by a chamber m heated by steam
admitted at N, and having an outlet at O. The vessel is covered by an
air-tight lid P fastened by screws. In the lower part of the vessel Mare
fitted two metal rings Q, Q, with arms extending to a central boss,
between which rings are enclosed two discs of perforated zinc or other
suitable material for the purpose of compressing or holding together the
required filtering medium. The rings Q, Q, are also provided with a
screw R passing through central bosses, by means of which screw the
required degree of compression to be imparted to the filtering medium
can be regulated. S is a vertical tube passing through the lid or cover P,
and extending downwards to near the perforated discs, where it terminates
in an enlarged open mouth. The oil to be clarified is supplied through
this tube S on to the perforated discs between the rings Q, Q, in the
I vessel N, which is kept heated by the steam in the chamber m during
the whole of the process, which is accelerated by the pressure given to
the discs or filtering medium. The oil, as it becomes clarified by this
means, passes down the funnel M, and is collected in the receptacle T at
the bottom of the apparatus, whence it may pass off by the pipe U, and
be received in suitable iron or tin vessels for decanting.
.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I claim
as of my Invention is,
First. The treatment of oiled and dirtied cotton waste by hydraulic or
other suitable pressure to separate the oil from it, afterwards by cleansing
it in the apparatus and by means of the chemical substances described,

page_text: Secondly. Lue
escribed.
washing and cleansing apparatus represented and
And, lastly. The filtering apparatus represented and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Kirton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Seventh day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
Witness,
JN°. G. MARTIN,
Olerk to Mr. Martin,
Sol.,
Nottingham.
WILLIAM KIRTON. (L.S.)