IMPROVED PROCESSES OF SAPONIFICATION
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Henri Frederic Melsens, of Brussels, Belgium,
Professor of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy, and of 4, South
Street, Finsbury, London, for the Invention of "IMPROVED PROCESSES OF
SAPONIFICATION."
Sealed the 2nd March 1855, and dated the 18th December 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Henri Frederic
Melsens at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 18th December 1854.
I, LOUIS HENRI FREDERIC MELSENS, of Brussels, Belgium, Professor of
Chemistry and Natural Philosophy, and of 4, South Street, Finsbury, London,
do hereby declare the nature of my Invention of "IMPROVED PROCESSES OF
SAPONIFICATION" to be as follows, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in the employment of water, either alone or lightly
acidulated, in a boiler, heated from 180° to 200° centigrade, for the saponifi-
cation (or separation of glycerine and the fatty acids) of animal and vegetable
fatty matters.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Louis Henri Frederic Melsens in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th June 1855.
year
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
HENRI FREDERIC MELSENS, of Brussels, Belgium, Professor of Chemistry and
Natural Philosophy, and of 4, South Street, Finsbury, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of December, in the of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Louis Henri Frederic Melsens, Her special license that I, the
said Louis Henri Frederic Melsens, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Louis Henri Frederic Melsens,
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 of "IMPROVED PROCESSES OF SAPONIFI-
CATION," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Louis Henri
Frederic Melsens, by an instrument 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 Louis Henri Frederic Melsens, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawing hereto
annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in the employment of water, either alone or slightly
acidulated, in a boiler, heated from 340° to 400° Fahrenheit, for the saponifi-
cation of animal and vegetable fatty bodies, that is to say, for the separation of
the glycerine and the fatty acids from the said bodies.
By my process, natural fatty bodies of all kinds are decomposed into fatty
acids and glycerine by being exposed during a certain length of time to a
temperature of 340° to 400° Fahrenheit with the following liquids:-1st, with
water acidulated with a few hundredth parts of sulphuric or other powerfu
acids; 2ndly, with water saturated with boric or other weak acids; 3rdly, with

page_text: common water. By these means the decomposition is either partial or com-
plete, according to the conditions or duration of contact with the common or
acidulated water. When the fatty acids are separated, they may be subjected
to the press, and be transformed into candles by the ordinary processes; they
can also be employed to simplify the manufacture of soap by well-known
processes. Water under the influence of a temperature from 340° to 400°
Fah is sufficient for obtaining the above stated results.
Figures 1 & 2 of the annexed Drawing represent a section and elevation of
one of the arrangements by which I obtain the setting free of fatty bodies
either by means of water alone or acidulated water at a temperature of about
400° Fah*.
In this Figure, A, A, is the main boiler, capable of holding about 50 gallons
of melted fatty bodies with about 25 gallons of water, leaving empty a space
for 20 to 30 gallons. This boiler is made of sheet iron or brass of the
necessary strength, and is constructed for receiving at will an internal lining of
any kind of metal which experience during the working of the process may
suggest as useful. The front part is closed with a wrought or cast-iron or
brass plate a, a, secured to the body of the boiler by bolts; a man-hole o
serves for the introduction of tallow or other fatty body in a solid state. The
boiler A, A, must be constructed to support a pressure of 10 to 12 atmospheres,
and is provided with the following accessories, that is to say, with a safety
valve S, S', one or two tubes T, each disposed to contain a thermometer X, one
of which is immersed in the water, the other in the fatty body, for indicating
their temperature; a steam guage M, two levels N, N¹, set so as to indicate,
one, the elevation of the water, the other, that of the fatty bath, and two purge
cocks R&R. A second boiler B, B, is set above the first, at a distance
and in the situation most convenient for the working of the process, and is
provided with similar accessories to the first, namely, a man-hole H, a thermo-
meter, a steam guage, two levels, and one or two purge cocks; but the man-
hole alone is indispensable for the introduction of the fatty body. This boiler
is also provided with two tubes having the taps Q, V, as in feeding steam
boilers, which are not provided with feeding pumps. The boiler B, B, is
represented in the Drawing as being only th of the capacity of the boiler
A, A. The boilers are united by means of four pipes C, D, E, F, having each
of them a tap c, d, e, f, serving to produce the result herein-after described.
The working of the taps c, d, e, f, v, & q, which are moved by the hand,
constitutes the whole mechanism of the apparatus. The tube D is connected

page_text: squarewise with a horizontal tube 8, 8, which extends over the whole of the
upper part of the boiler; this tube is pierced over the whole of its length,
to insure a better division of the substances passing through it.
In order to complete the description of the apparatus and explain the
mode of working, I will describe an operation on tallow in the crude state.
Having introduced water into the boiler A, A, up to the level n, n³, and
tallow up to m, m', the whole is gradually heated until the thermometer
marks about 400° Fahrenheit, when the reaction of the water on the fatty
body begins and continues. After a certain length of time, in order to increase
that reaction by multiplying and renewing the surfaces of contact, I operate by
means of the four pipes C, D, E, F, and tap U, as follows:-
The cock & being opened, the steam escapes from it into the boiler B, B,
and by opening the cock V, that steam escapes into the atmosphere at this
moment from all the points of the boiler A, A; a tumultuous current of steam
charged with water is formed, which passes through the layer of tallow m, m³,
and produces a first contact between the two liquids; some minutes after, the
cocks d & v are shut, and the boiler B, B, becomes cool; in case of need,
the cooling can be hastened by sprinkling cold water on it, producing a partial
vacuum within the boiler. The taps e & f being then alternately and simul-
taneously opened, forces a mixture of melted tallow and water to ascend into
the boiler B, B, and the taps c & f being afterwards shut, and the taps e
&d opened, the steam introduced through the tube C acts upon the water
and tallow contained in the feeding boiler B, B, so as to force them into the
main boiler A, A, through the pipes D, 8, 8; the two liquids fall in showers on
the surface of the tallow bath, which is only traversed by the water running
to the bottom of the boilers A, A; this double current acting in a contrary
direction, forces the water into close contact with the tallow. This double
current is reproduced as often as necessary to disengage the glycerine from the
fatty acids, which is dissolved in water as soon as it is separated from the fatty
acids. When the water contained at the bottom of the boiler becomes too
much charged with glycerine, it is partly or wholly drawn off by the tap R,
care being taken, however, that the fatty bodies which the water may hold in
suspension should not be lost. The solution of glycerine is used when it is
required. The water containing the glycerine which has been withdrawn is
replaced by pure water; for that purpose, the vacuum is made in the boiler
B, B, by means of the tap d & v, and the tube Q is then put in communi-
cation with the reservoir of water, and when the water is introduced into the
boiler B, B, it is forced into the boiler A, A, by opening the taps c & d. The
same mode of operating serves for introducing into the boiler A, A, the tallow

page_text: taken from a vat in which it is maintained in a liquid state; but I prefer
operating in a direct manner on the feeding boiler. After first introducing the
tallow through the man-hole, it is melted either by heat externally applied,
or, what is still better, by means of water and steam supplied from the main
boiler; when the tallow is melted, the action of the taps herein-before
described forces it into the main boiler. The mode of introducing crude
tallow into the boiler necessitates the lining of the entrance of the tubes with
metallic cloth or with bored plates, to keep back the parts of tallow, not
completely decomposed, which, remaining in the liquid, might close the taps..
The operation is carried on with non-intermittent fire. In order to give to
the process all required surety, I put the steam guage in communication with
an alarum, to warn the stoker in case the pressure should be allowed to go
beyond the required degree.
To prevent the temperature rising above the necessary point, I construct
the furnace in such a manner that the heated gases can be withdrawn with
rapidity from the body of the boiler, which can also be cooled by means of a
current of air. Figure 3 represents the arrangement for obtaining such result.
And having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise quantity of water, proportion of acids, temperature
of liquids, nor to the capacity or dimensions of the apparatus, herein-before
described, as the same may be varied without deviating from the principal or
main features of the said Invention; but what I claim as new, and intended to
be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the decomposing of fatty bodies into fatty acids and glycerine without
the use of any other re-agent than common or acidulated water, at a pressure
differing slightly from the pressure usually employed, as herein-before described
and referred to in the annexed Drawing.
Secondly, the transforming by means of a single operation crude tallow or
any fatty body into fatty acids, as herein-before described and referred to in
the annexed Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis Henri Frederic Melsens, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.