IMPROVEMENTS IN. THE PURIFICATION AND DE- COLORATION OF OILS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ALL
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of the Firm of J. C. Robertson and Company,,, of
16 Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents, send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Brand Ireland; bearing date at Westminster, the Thirty-first day of
Ja, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the fifteenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my exors, adiчors, and
assigns, Her special licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, and
such others as I, the said Richard Archibald Broomau, my exors, adñors, or
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times during the terin of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the 'Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, and also in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, the-Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN. THE PURIFICATION AND DE-
COLORATION OF OILS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," communicated
to me by a certain Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, shall
ГД... 9.71

page_text: cause a particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, do hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed (that is to say):-
Firstly, my Invention consists of an improved method of purifying and
decoloring cotton oil. I employ. for this purpose an apparatus of the con-
struction represented in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Drawings hereunto
annexed. A, A, is a double sided vessel, the interior chamber of which E is
appropriated to holding the oil to be purifi ed, and the outer A", which may be
called the jacket to the steam by which the oil is heated. F is a pipe by
which steam is applied to the space Aª, and G a steam escape pipe. B is a
second steam supply pipe which leads to a steam box or chest C, which fits on
to the top of the oil chamber E. To the bottom of this steam box are attached
a number of open tubes D, D, D, which serve to convey the steam to the
bottom of the chamber E, whence it forces its way upwards in a number of
minute streams amongst the oil. Opposite to the mouth of the pipe B,
where it opens into the steam box C, a flat plates is placed as shewn
in Figure 4 for the purpose of dispersing the inflowing stream towards the
tubes 1, D. Figure 2 is a plan of the top plate of the box C, and Figure 3
a plan of the under plate. Hot air or any other airiform fluid containing
oxygen may be substituted for the steam. The tubes D, D, are of small
diameter, and from two or three inches apart; but they may be of any form
as straight, or spiral, and disposed in any manner whatever, provided always
they are in sufficient number to divide the inflowing steam, hot air, or other
fluid into a great many minute streams or currents. Supposing cotton
oil to be that required to be purified, I add to every 220 lbs. weight of
oil introduced into the oil chamber E about eighty-seven and a half pints
of sea water (of the density of 11 lbs. of salt in every one hundred and
seventy-five pints of water, or thereabouts), and then, opening communi-
cation between the steam supply pipe B and the steam box C, I leave the
mass to the action of the heat and steam upon it for about two hours. I then
throw in 1 pint of hypochlorite of soda or potash, and, after the lapse of about

page_text: thirty minutes,1 pour in from 2 to 4 lbs.of hydrochloric acid, or, in lieu thereof,
3 oz. of hydrofluoric acid. In from five to ten minutes more the oil is drawn
off and filtered, aud then transferred to a wooden vat in order to undergo a
course of mechanical agitation. But previous thereto I add about one hundred
and seventy-five pints of water (which may be either warın or cold),and a lye
of three and a half pints of hypochlorite of soda or potash. The vat turns on
a vertical shaft or spindle, which is furnished with a number of radial arms,
which during its revolution pass between a series of rods or pins which project
inwards from the sides of the vat. There also are several vertical pins which
project downwards from the lowest of the radial arms (passing clear of the
bottom of the oil chamber), so that the mass of oil is broken up and tossed
about in all directions by the action of the agitator. A very rapid rotation of
the agitator is not necessary, but it must be kept going until the decoloration
of the oil is apparent, which, if the rate amount to from seven to fifteen revo-
lutions a minute, will generally take about an hour; but if the quantity of oil
be larger the rotation may be more rapid.
Or, instead of the method just described, the cotton oil may be purified and
decolored by the following cold process alone, combined with mechanical agita-
tion. In this case I employ a wooden vat fitted with an agitator similar to
that last mentioned, and add to every two hundred and twenty pounds of oil
from four and a half to six and a half pounds of soda, or caustic potash, or
bluestone (pierre á cautère) dissolved in thirty-five pints of water. The
agitator is kept going for about an hour, after which the mass is allowed to
settle, and the supernatant fluid drawn off and filtered. Should the oil be
slow in coming to a fluid state, the operation may be expedited by passing
steam through a coil of piping or hose laid in the vat, and time will also be
saved by encreasing, even to the extent of doubling, thequantity of chemical
reagents employed.
Secondly, my Invention consists of an improved method or methods of
purifying and decoloring palm oil. I subject this to the action of numerous
streams of injected steam or hot air, or other aeriform fluid containing oxygen,
by means of an apparatus precisely similar to that before directed to be used
for the purification of cotton oil; but first I add to every two hundred and
twenty pounds of the oils about two pounds three ounces of either hypochlorite
of soda or potash, or chlorine, or a lye formed of a solution of two pounds
three ounces of bichromate of potash in eighty-seven and a half pints of water;
and after the oil has been exposed for about an hour to the action of the
streams of steam or hot air, or other ueriform fluid, and of the chemical agents
introduced as aforesaid, I make a farther addition to the mass of from two

page_text: pounds to four and a half pounds of hydrochloric acid. It may also with
advantage, be mixed with the solution of bichromate of potash.
Or I adopt for the treatment of palm oil the method following:-İ employ
for the purpose a circular iron vat, provided with an agitator and such
appliances as may be necessary to give that agitator any degree of rapidity or
rotation which may be desired(which appliances any workman of competent
skill can readily supply). The axis of the agitator may be made hollow, so as
to serve as a channel for the injection of steam, hot air, or other aeriform fluid.
To every two hundred and twenty pounds of the oil to be purified I add about
three quarts of a lye composed of one pound of wood ashes for thirty of
water, or three quarts of hypochlorite of soda or potash, then grdually raise
the temperature of the mass from one hundred and fifty degrees to about three
hundred degrees Fahrenheit, and, finally, put the agitator in motion at the
rate of from fifty to five hundred revolutions a minute; in less than an hour
afterwards the purification and decoloration will be found complete,or nearly
so. Rapidity of agitation is in this case of essential importance, for in
proportion to the number of revolutions made by the agitator in a given time
will be the quantity of steam or hotair, or other aeriform fluid, forced through,
and, consequently, the quantity of oxygen absorbed or come in contact with
during that time. If this oil were naturally liquid,it could be bleached simply
by such rapid mechanical agitation as the above, but the ingredients which
impart its color to it being both solid and volatile, it becomes necessary to keep it
during the entire operation in a state of fusion, which is done partly by the
heat derived from the steam jacket, and partly by the beat arising from the
injected currents of steam or hot air, or other aeriform fluid.
Another method I sometimes adopt to bleach palm oil is to subject it, in a
close vessel, to a temperature of from 240° to 320° Fahrenheit, and pass hot
or cold air through it by means of a perforated pipe introduced at one side of
the vessel, and fitted with a regulating valve at the opposite end. After the
oil has been treated by any of the three methods last herein-before described,I
usually add two per cent. of chlorine, more or less, according to the degree of
color still exhibited by the oil, and then expose it in shallow pans to the light
and air until every trace of color disappears. The employment of chlorine
alone will suffice without the aid of any other of the operations before described
to effect the complete discoloration, but not so expeditiously. Linseed and
: rape oils can be depurated like palm oil by heat alone, provided always the
temperature is not allowed to exceed 194° of Fahrenheit.
Thirdly, iny Invention consists of certain improved methods of treating
cocoa-nut oil. To every two hundred and twenty pounds by weight of the

page_text: cocoa oil I add four pounds and a half of hydrochloric acid, or one and
three-quarter pints of a solution of storax calamite or from one to two pounds
of chlorine, and subject the mixture to the action of injected streams of steam,
hot air,orother aeriform fluid in an apparatus of the same description as that
represented in Figure 1, till the purification and disinfection are effected; or
the same result may be obtained by applying to the cocoa-nut oil the same
process of agitation which is herein-before described, and employing as the
chemical reagent about three and a half pints of hydrochloric acid for every
two hundred and twenty pounds of oil. The same processes are equally
applicable to the treatment of linseed, rape, and most other vegetable oils with.
this difference, that you may then employ either acids or hypochlorites
indifferently. When acids are used, I prefer in all cases the hydrochloric
using for every 220 lbs. of oil about 4 lbs. of the acid. When bypochlorites
are had recourse to, any quantity of hypochlorite of potash will have double
the effect of twice the quantity of hypochlorite of soda. I have used with
great success from 3 to 7 pints of lye composed of one part of wood ashes to
thirty parts of water lye for every 220 lbs. of oil.
Fourthly, my Invention consists of certain improvements in purifying and
decoloring olive oil. I first treat it in a cold state with hypochlorite of soda
or potash, or with chlorine, and then subject it to mechanical agitation for
an hour or two. If the oil is of a very foetid kind, as that coming from the
Levant and from Tunis commonly is, I add to every 220 lbs. of the oil about
4 lbs. of hydrochloric acid or of chlorine, and subject the mixture to the
action of injected streams of steam, hot air, or other aeriform fluid in au
apparatus similar to that represented in Figure 1 and before described.
The oil becomes under such treatment completely depurated in two or
three hours.
Fifthly, my Invention consists of certain improvements in the purification
and decoloration of fish oils. I treat the whole of this class of oils, with the
exception of whale oil, by the same cold process or processes as I have herein-
before directed to be used in the case of certain of the vegetable oils, after
which, in order to deprive them of their offensive odour, I add to every
220 lbs. of the oil about 4 lbs. of hydrochloric acid, and then subject the
mixture to the action of injected streams of steam, hot air, or other.aeriform
fluid in an apparatus such as has been already.herein-before described. Iu
the case of whale oil, besides subjecting the oil to the action of injected
streams of hot air or other aeriform fluid as aforesaid, I add at half-hour
intervals (to every 220 lbs. of the oil) 1 pint of the solution of azotic acid,
1 pint of dilute oxalic acid, 2 lbs. of dilute hydrochloric acid (divided into

page_text: two or three doses), and from 2 to 4 lbs. of chlorine. All the before
mentioned processes, or at least with slight modifications only, may beapplied
effectually to the purification and decoloration of mineral oils, such as those of
naptha, shale, petroleum, &c. But it must be observed of all oils, of
whatever sort, which have been treated with acids, that the acids must be
In those cases
washed out of them (before use) by hot or boiling water.
where a minute subdivision of the injected streams of steam, hot air, or other
aeriform fluid is of importance, as in the second process herein-before given
for the purification of palm oil, there might be substituted with advantage for
the vertical injecting tubes (D,D,) two, three, or more diaphragms or discs of
wire gauze or perforated metal inserted crosswise into the oil chamber, the
meshes of which would have precisely the same effect in the separation of the
inflowing streams as if they were so many tubes.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare the improvements which I
claim are as follows:-
First, I claim the method of purifying and decoloring cotton oil before
described, in so far as regards the combination therein of heat and certain
chemical reagents with mechanical agitation, and the employment for the
purpose of the particular apparatus before described, or any modification
hereof.
Second, I claim the cold process of purifying and decoloring cotton oil
before described, in so far as regards the mode therein followed, of combining
mechanical agitation with chemical reagents.
Third, I claim the first of the methods of purifying and decoloring palm
oil before described, in so far as regards the employment therein of a combi
nation of injected streams of steam, hot air, or other aeriform fluid with heat
and certain chemical reagents.
Fourth, I claim the second of the methods of purifying and decoloring palm
oil before described, in so far as regards the mode in which mechanical
agitation and certain mechanical reagents are there combined (with heat
indirectly applied) and a rapid injection of streams of steam or hot air or
other aeriform fluid into and through the oil to be purified.
Fifth, I claim the method of treating cocoa-nut oil before described, in so
far as regards the combination of injected streams of steam, hot air, or other
aeriform fluid with the chemical reagents employed.
Sixth, I claim the method of treating olive oil, before described, in so far as
regards the reagents employed for the purpose, and their combination with
mechanical agitation.

page_text: Seventh, I claim the method or methods before described, of treating fish
oils (whale oil included) in so far as regards the particular reagents employed
for the purpose, and the injection in numerous minute streams of steam, hot
air, or other aeriform fluid into and through the same.
Eighth, I claim the employment of diaphragms or discs of wire gauze, or
perforated metal for the purpose of passing steam, hot air, or other aeriform
fluid in numerous minute streams through oils requiring to be purified.
And,
Ninth, I claim the application of each of the methods or processes which
have been before described, and and claimed in respect of certain specified oils,
to all other oils to which the same are applicable.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
R. A. (L.s.) BROOMAN.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the 'l hirty-first day of July, in the
year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid Richard Archibald Brooman came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Thirty-first day of July, in the year ofour Lord One thousand