An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Bleaching Linseed Oil.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Apr., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 9th Dec., 1897-Accepted, 29th Jan., 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Bleaching Linseed Oil.
I, RICHARD WILLIAM ENGLISH, of 963, Washington Street, in the City of
Buffalo, Erie County and State of New York, Chemist, in the United States of
America, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:
--
Linseed oil when the impurities contained therein are removed, will become
clear and nearly white when exposed to a heat of about six hundred degrees
Fahrenheit. The object of my invention is to produce this bleaching effect while
the oil is in transit from the holding reservoir or tank into and out of the bleach-
ing tank..
This I accomplish. by means of the reservoir for holding the oil in combination
with a bleaching tank having a furnace below it for supplying the required supply
of heat and maintaining it at a temperature of six hundred degrees Fahrenheit or
thereabouts.
A pipe connected with the reservoir or oil-holding vessel extends to and connects
with a substantially vertical pipe having its top open to allow any gases or vapor
that may be generated in the heated oil to escape upward, and its lower end,
which extends down to near the bottom of the bleaching tank, provided with
one or more pipes extending radially therefrom in a horizontal direction or nearly
so and provided with a series of fine perforations at the bottom or lower side.
These perforations may be placed at the bottom or a little to one side of these
radiating pipes.
The object of the fine perforations is to spread the oil and throw it in fine jets
against the heating lower inside surface of the bleaching tank.
The pipe extending from the oil-reservoir to the substantially vertical pipe is pro-
vided with a valve of any well-known construction, to adjust the quantity of oil
passing to and through the bleaching tank, so that it will not carry off with it more
heat than the supply, too much oil passing through would draw the heat fast enough
to bring it down below a bleaching temperature, the object of the valve is to
avoid this by providing the means for exactly adjusting the flow of oil to the
heat-supplying capacity of the furnace.
The outlet for the heated oil is near the top of the bleaching tank so that the
oil the moment it becomes heated rises through the previously heated oil above
it before it reaches an outlet. The object of this is to continue the heat of about
six hundred degrees or thereabouts for a short time, as the bleaching requires
a short time to perfect it, and that time is obtained in this way, furthermore the
rising of the oil in this way produces a movement or mixing of the oil that is
beneficial.
If desired the holding tank or reservoir may be provided with a coiled pipe
having a communication with a steam-boiler, so as to heat the oil therein to
about three hundred degrees more or less. This construction requires less work from
the bleaching tank consequently a larger amount of oil can be bleached in a given
time

page_text: The bleached oil flows from the bleaching tank to a receiving tank and this
tank may be made, if required, a cooling tank by supporting or providing it with
a cuiled pipe and connecting it with a cold-water supply pipe.
Instead of the fine perforations in the perforated tubes or pipes above men-
tioned, one or more long fine slits may be made in the pipes. These fine perfora-
tions may be made to one side of the under portions of the pipe so as to cause
the oil to rotate by being projected in an inclined direction to the heating surface
of the bleaching tank.
From the above described construction it will be seen that the oil can be bleached
while it is moving in a continuous stream from the reservoir to the bleaching
tank and from the bleaching tank to a suitable storing tank.
My invention covers broadly the bleaching of linseed oil by heat while in
motion, and I may, instead of the above apparatus, use any other suitable means
to accomplish the result.
Buffalo NY Anril 8th 1807
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Bleaching Linseed Oil.
I, RICHARD WILLIAM ENGLISH, of 152-172, Elk Street, and also of 963, Wash-
ington Street, both in the City of Buffalo, County of Eric, State of New York,
United States of America, Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to an improved mode and apparatus for bleaching linseed
oil while under a continuous flow through the bleaching tank, and it also relates
to certain details of construction, all of which will be fully and clearly hereinafter
described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in
which,-
Fig. 1, is a sectional elevation cutting centrally through the oil and water tanks
and through the heating furnace, showing a suitable apparatus for illustrating my
invention.
Fig. 2, represents a horizontal section on or about line a a, Fig. 1, through the
bleaching tank and oil spreading tubes.
Fig. 3, represents a vertical central section through the lower part of a bleaching
tank, showing a modification of the oil spreading mechanism.
Linseed oil when the impurities contained therein are removed, will become
clear and nearly white when exposed to a heat of about six hundred degrees Fahren-
heit, the object of my invention is to produce this bleaching effect while the oil
is in transit from the holding reservoir or tank into and out of the bleaching
tank.
Referring to the said drawings for the details,--1 represents the steam heating
tank, or the oil holding reservoir; 2 is the bleaching tank; and 3, represents the
cooling tank, or the oil receiving tank.
The holding tank or reservoir 1, when used as a steam heating tank (which is the
preferred construction) is provided with a spirally coiled steam pipe, 4, having
its two ends 5 and 5º, connected with a steam boiler of any well known construction
so that the steam can circulate from said boiler through the coils, when this tank
is used only as a reservoir for holding the oil the heating coil is omitted.
The bleaching tank 2, is provided with a furnace 6, of any well known con-
struction adopted for the purpose of maintaining a heat of six hundred degrees

page_text: Fahrenheit or thereabouts. From the reservoir 1, a pipe 7, extends to and is con-
nected with a pipe 8, which extends down into the tank 2. The pipe 7, is provided
with a valve 9, to control the flow of oil from the reservoir 1, to the bleaching
tank.
The top end of the pipe 8, is open to allow any gases generated in the heated
oil to pass out. At the lower end of the pipe 8, is attached one or more substan-
tially horizontal pipes 10, placed very near to the bottom of the tank 2, each having
a series of perforations 11.
These perforations may be located directly at the bottom of each pipe 10, or pre-
ferably placed a little to one side so as to cause a rotation of the heated oil and
thereby more equally distribute the heat through it.
The pipe 8, instead of passing down vertically through the oil to the pipes 10,
may pass in a substantially horizontal direction through the side of the bleaching
tank as shown by the dotted lines 8".
A thermometer 12, of any well known construction may be placed in the tank 2,
to indicate the temperature.
At the upper part of the bleaching tank is the outlet pipe 13. It is shown as
having its outlet directly over a funnel 14, which is connected with a coiled
pipe 15, having at its lower or outlet end a valve or faucet 16, through which the
oil passes to a suitable receiving vessel.
This tank when used as a cooling tank is provided with inlet and outlet pipes 17
and 18, so that a constant stream of cold water may be made to circulate through
it. The main object of this construction is to cool the oil instantly and thereby
prevent it from oxidising or thickening.
When time is not of so much importance and a cooling tank is not required,
the coiled pipe 15 may be omitted and the tank 3, will then act as a receiving
and holding tank only.
The object of the fine perforations is to project the oil in a fine spray on the heat
bleaching surface, a long fine slit in each tube would answer the same purpose,
or it may be forced through a single pipe 8*, under a disk 19, substantially as
shown in Fig. 3, which would cause it to spread in a thin layer over the entire
heating surface between it and said disk then up through the annular opening 20,
around the disk as shown in said Fig. 3.
The operation is as follows:-
When the tank 1, is used as a steam heating tank, steam is preferably used at a pres-
sure sufficiently high to give about three hundred degrees of heat so that the oil
passes from said tank at that heat down into the bleaching tank where its temperature
is raised to six hundred degrees or sufficiently high to produce a satisfactory
bleaching effect.
The oil is forced to the bottom of the tank 2, or to where the greatest heat is,
in such quantities as the heating capacity of the furnace will permit, this is regu-
lated or adjusted by the valve 9, by which the oil may be made to flow as fast or
as slow as may be desired, or as fast as the furnace can supply the required amount
of heat. It then passes out to a suitable receptacle, or to a cooling tank.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. An improved mode of bleaching linseed oil, which consists in subjecting the
oil to the influence of a bleaching head, as above set forth.
2. An improved mode of bleaching linseed oil which consists in subjecting a
stream of oil to the influence of bleaching heat, and then to a quickly cooling tem-
perature during its flow through a suitable apparatus.
3. The herein described mode of bleaching linseed oil, which consists in pro-
jecting a continuous flow of oil against a bleaching heat supplying surface colâted
below the surface of previously bleached oil, as described.

page_text: 4. The herein described mode of bleaching linseed oil, which consists in project-
ing the oil against a bleaching heat supplying surface and allowing it to flow
from said bleaching-surface-into-a-quickly cooling or receiving-vessel.
5. The combination in a linseed oil bleaching apparatus, of an oil reservoir, a
bleaching tank connected with a furnace, a pipe connecting the oil reservoir with
a pipe extending into the bleaching tank and communicating therewith, an oil
spreading device connected with the pipe in the bleaching tank and located near
the bottom of the same, means for controlling the flow of oil to the bleaching tank,
and a cooling tank communicating with the bleaching tank.
G. The combination in a linseed oil bleaching apparatus, of an oil reservoir, a
bleaching tank having an outlet near the top, a furnace for supplying the heat
located under the bleaching tank, a pipe having one end connecting with the oil
reservoir near the bottom and its opposite end connecting with a pipe having
its upper end open and its lower end extending down into the bleaching tank
to near the bottom of the same and provided with an oil spreading device, for the
purposes described.
Tinied this First day of December 1807
RICHARD WILLIAM ENGLISH.