IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER AND PAPER STOCK, AND IN THE UTILIZATION OF CERTAIN WASTE PRODUCTS RESULTING THEREFROM
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Routledge, of Ford, near Sunderland, and
William Henry Richardson, of Springwell, Jarrow-on-Tyne, Chemical
Manufacturer, for the Invention of. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF PAPER AND PAPER STOCK, AND IN THE UTILIZATION OF CERTAIN WASTE
PRODUCTS RESULTING THEREFROM."
Sealed the 8th December 1865, and dated the 13th June 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Routledge and
William Henry Richardson at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 18th June 1865.
We, THOMAS ROUTLEDGE, of Ford, near Sunderland, and WILLIAM HENRY
RICHARDSON, of Springwell, Jarrow-on-Tyne, Chemical Manufacturer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS. IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF PAPER AND PAPER STOCK, AND IN THE UTILIZATION OF CERTAIN
WASTE PRODUCTS RESULTING THEREPROM," to be as follows:-.
This Invention consists, firstly, in treating esparto or alfa, straw, and other
fibrous substances, or rags, in the boiling process with leys obtained from the
lixiviation with water of black balls, as usually. manufactured in alkali works,
or specifically made for the purpose.

page_text: Secondly, in pressing by hydraulic pressure or otherwise the fibrous
materials after being boiled and drained, or subjecting them to the action of
a centrifugal bydro-extractor, or of india-rubber, vulcanite, or other suitable
rollers so as to press out and save the whole or as much as possible of the
alkaline and extractine matter; and also flatten and open the fibres and free
them from extraneous matter ready for conversion into "stock," or for
bleaching.
Thirdly, in boiling down the liquor obtained by the above process of
pressing either alone or together with the spent leys or waste liquors obtained
from our first process, or spent leys or waste liquors produced in the ordinary
manner, and incinerating the mass so produced; the resulting mass may be
lixiviated in the usual way, and the liquor so obtained may be used alone or
mixed with the leys at present employed for treating esparto or other fibrous
material or rags.
Fourthly, in adding coal, coal tar, pitch, or other suitable substance to the
pasty mass, either alone or with any of the substances hitherto used, or which
are capable of being employed in the balling process of the alkali works.
Fifthly, in adding to the leys or liquors so obtained, or to the product
obtained by boiling them down, either caustic or hydrate of baryta, carbonate
or bicarbonate of baryta, or any other suitable salt of baryta, and applying the
solution thereby purified for boiling esparto, straw, or other vegetable fibrous
substances or rags.
Sixthly, in using the pasty mass resulting from boiling down the said waste
liquors for preventing incrustation in steam boilers.
Seventhly, in using an aqueous solution of chlorine gas in lieu of a solution
of bleaching powder, or in using a solution of chlorine in water containing
magnesia, alumina, soda, or potash for bleaching esparto, and other fibrous
substances or rags, and, if desirable, increasing the energy of the bleaching
agent by the addition of sulphuric, muriatic, oxalic, tartaric, or acetic acids,
or any one or all of them.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Routledge and Henry Richardson in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 13th December 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, THOMAS
ROUTLEDGE, of Ford, near Sunderland, and WILLIAM HENRY RICHARDSON, of 3
Spring well, Jarrow-on-Tyne, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the Twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Thomas Routledge and William Henry Richardson, Her special license that
we, the said Thomas Routledge and William Henry Richardson, our execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas
Routledge and William Henry Richardson, our executors, administrators, or
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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER AND PAPER STOCK, AND IN
THE UTILIZATION OF CERTAIN WASTE PRODUCTS RESULTING THEREFROM," upon the
condition (amongst others) that we, the said Thomas Routledge and William
Henry Richardson, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us,
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 we, the said Thomas Routledge and William
Henry Richardson, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, that is to say:-
Our said Invention consists, firstly, in treating esparto or alfa, straw, and
other fibrous subtances, or rags, in the boiling process with leys obtained from
the lixiviation with water of black balls, as usually manufactured in alkali
works, or specifically made for the purpose.
Secondly, in pressing by hydraulic pressure, or otherwise, the fibrous
materials after being boiled and drained, or subjecting them to the action of
a centrifugal hydro-extractor, or of india-rubber, vulcanite, or other suitable
rollers so as to press out and save the whole or as much as possible of the
alkaline and extractine matter; and also flatten and open the fibres and free
them from extraneous matter ready for conversion into "stock" or for
bleaching.
Thirdly, in boiling down the liquor obtained by the above process of
pressing, either alone or together with the spent leys or waste liquors obtained
from our first process or spent leys, or waste liquors produced in the ordinary

page_text: manner, and incinerating the mass so produced; the resulting mass may be
lixiviated in the usual way, and the liquors so obtained may be used alone or
mixed with the leys at present employed for treating esparto or other fibrous
material or rags.
Fourthly, in adding coal, coal tar, pitch, or other suitable substance to the
pasty mass, either alone or with any of the substances hitherto used, or which
are capable of being employed in the balling process of the alkali works.
.
Fifthly, in adding to the leys or liquors so obtained, or to the product
obtained by boiling them down, either caustic, or hydrate of baryta, carbonate
or bicarbonate of baryta, or any suitable salt of baryta, and applying the
solution, thereby purified for boiling esparto, straw, or other vegetable fibrous
substances or rags.
Sixthly, in using the pasty mass resulting from boiling down the said waste
liquors for preventing incrustation in steam boilers.
Seventhly, in using an aqueous solution of chlorine gas in lieu of a solution
of bleaching powder, or in using a solution of chlorine in water containing
magnesia, alumina, soda, or potash for bleaching esparto and other fibrous
substances, or rags, and, if desirable, increasing the energy of the bleaching
agent by the addition of sulphuric, muriatic, oxalic, tartaric, or acetic acids,
or any one or all of them.
Having thus set forth the essential features of our Invention, we shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the mode of practically carrying out
the same.
It is well known that the liquor obtained from lixiviating black
balls, as usually manufactured in alkali works, contains both carbonate and
caustic soda, but when the. proportion of carbonate is too large, we add a
quantity of quick lime to increase the quantity of caustic soda present, so that
the liquor can be used for treating esparto, alfa, straw, or other vegetable
fibrous substances or rags; but when the black balls are manufactured
specially for the purpose, we add such a quantity of chalk or limestone in the
balling process as will ensure the proper proportion of caustic soda necessary
for our purpose. Without limiting ourselves to such proportions, we believe
that the liquor suitable for our purpose should contain about 10% (say ten
per cent.) of carbonate of soda. The materials above mentioned (destined for
paper stock) after being boiled and drained still retain a large quantity of
liquor loaded with organic or coloring matter and soda in one form or another;
these drained materials are submitted to pressure in any convenient manner.
The liquor so, obtained; is treated as herein-after described, and we find that
the fibre thus freed, as, much as possible from the liquor thus expressed, is
much more susceptible to the action of bleaching agents, the fibre being

page_text: bleached in less time and with a considerable saving of bleaching material.
An incidental advantage resulting from this process of subjecting the boiled
and drained fibres to pressure consists in the fact that inasmuch as the liquor
is nearly all expelled by the pressure to which it is subjected, thereby carrying
away all the soluble matters, we are enabled to use a much stronger ley for
boiling the fibre, thereby reducing the quantity of liquor, which must be sub-
sequently removed by evaporation. The liquor thus obtained by pressure may
be boiled down alone, or mixed with the spent leys or waste liquors produced in
the ordinary manner. These liquors are then boiled down in a reverberatory
furnace heated either from above or below, and the resulting mass is car-
bonized so as to render the organic matter insoluble, and drawn from the
furnace while hot, so that the carbonaceous matter may gradually burn away.
The material thus obtained may be lixiviated in the usual way, and the liquor
resulting therefrom may be used alone or mixed with the leys at present
employed for treating esparto, alfa, straw, or other fibrous material or rags.
To the pasty mass obtained by boiling down the waste liquors before alluded
to may be added coal, coal tar, pitch, or other similar substances, either alone
or with any of the substances bitherto used, or which have been proposed to
be used in the balling process of the alkali works, for the purpose of ensuring
more complete decomposition of the soda compounds existing in these waste
liquors or spent leys, the quantity to be added must depend on the nature of
the material treated, and the operation is conducted in the same way and with
the same precautions as now practised in the balling process of the alkali
works. The liquor or liquors obtained by the lixiviation of the incinerated
mass resulting from the simple boiling down of the waste liquors, or the leys
or liquors obtained from the lixiviation of the black ball, herein-before
described, must be rendered caustic, and then sufficient carbonate of baryta
or bicarbonate of baryta, or other suitable salt of baryta added to free the
solution from any sulphates present. The liquor so purified can be used for
boiling esparto, straw, or other vegetable fibrous substances or rags. The
pasty mass obtained from boiling down the waste liquors resulting from the
treatment of esparto, straw, or other vegetable fibrous substances or rags
forms a valuable material for preventing incrustation in steam boilers used in
the manner usually adopted for this purpose, the proportion depending upon
the hardness or impurity of the water.
We propose to employ an aqueous solution of chlorine gas in lieu of a
solution of bleaching powder, or a solution of chlorine in water containing
magnesia, alumina, soda, or potash for bleaching esparto, straw, or other
vegetable fibrous substances or rags, and if desirable increasing the energy of

page_text: the bleaching agent by the addition of sulphuric, muriatic, oxalic, tartaric, or
acetic acid, or any one or all of them in small proportions.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Routledge, on behalf of myself
and the said William Henry Richardson, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Ninth day of December, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-five.
THOS. ROUTLEDGE. (L.s.)