IM- PROVEMENTS IN DISTILLING RESINOUS, BITUMINOUS, FATTY, AND OILY MATTERS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Davies and John Milne Syers, both of
Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, and Charles Humfrey, of Cam-
berwell, in the County of Surrey, Merchants, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN DISTILLING RESINOUS, BITUMINOUS, FATTY, AND OILY MATTERS,
Sealed the 17th June 1856, and dated the 18th December 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Davies, John.
Milne Syers, and Charles Humfrey at the Office of the Commissioners
of Patents, with their Petition, on the 18th December 1855.
We, EDWARD DAVIES and JOHN MILNE SYERS, both of Liverpool, in the
County of Lancaster, and CHARLES HUMFREY, of Camberwell, in the County
of Surrey, Merchants, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN DISTILLING RESINOUS, BITUMINOUS, FATTY, AND OILY MATTERS,
AND IN THE TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PRODUCTS THEREFROM," to be as follows:-
Our improvements in distillation are as follows:-In distilled resinous,'
bituminous, oily, and fatty matters, it is desirable to obtain, first, a means of
easily regulating the heat in the still, raising it or lowering it at pleasure; and,
secondly, the separation of the still and its inflammable contents from the
furnace required to heat it.
Now, we propose to attain these objects by the following contrivance :-
The still is one of the ordinary form, into the bottom of which we introduce a
coil of iron or copper pipe, entering at the side and passing out at the centre of

page_text: the bottom. The furnace, placed at a lower level and at some distance from
the still, has also a coil of pipe placed in it. The two ends of the two coils are
connected, and the tube filled with some fluid or substance capable of bearing
a high heat without volatiling. For this purpose we prefer to use fusible metal.
The metal heated in the furnace will circulate rapidly through the two coils
of pipes, and transfer to the charge in the still any required degree of heat.
The various contrivances for filling the coils, for drawing off the metal when
the apparatus is out of action, for providing for the escape of any small for-
mation of gas or air, and for regulating the flow of the heated metal through
the coils, and thus regulating the heat of the charge, will be more fully described
in our final Specification.
\in
Our mode of refining paraffine is as follows:-The distillation of Rangoon
tar gives rise to the following products; first, naphtha, which comes over at a
moderate heat, and is nearly white; secondly, heavy oil requiring a higher heat,
and usually of a pale straw color; and, lastly, paraffine, which requires the
highest heat of all.
The heat required to bring over, the paraffine nearly always discolors it, and
the product of the still is usually of a reddish brown color, and consists of
paraffine and oil contaminated with pitch. From this on cooling the paraffine
crystallizes, and the crystals, though far from white, are of a much better color
than the mother liquour. Now, we propose to take these crystals and dissolve
them by the aid of heat in the colorless naptha, from which on cooling the
paraffine will crystallize white. The pitch and oil with which it was contami-
nated remains in solution in the mother liquor.
The paraffine may, if requisite, be again dissolved in fresh naphtha, and
thus perfect whiteness be obtained. The same parcel of naphtha will serve for
many cystallizations, and when discolored by the pitch, &c. can be returned
with the crude tar into the still and worked over again, and thus no waste will
arise.
The crystallized paraffine when brought to the requisite whitness and purity.
must be drained to free it from naphtha, then put into bags and pressed; all
of which processes are perfectly well understood. The paraffine thus prepared
will still retain a slight trace of naphtha. From this it is easily freed, by
heating it to about 250° Fahrenheit, and blowing free steam through it. By
conducting this operation in a still the naphtha could be saved, but the quantity
is so small that it is not worth the saving, and we prefer to perform the opera-
tion in open vats. The resulting paraffine is white, hard, and inodorous, and
in all respects fit for the manufacture of candles.

page_text: :
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Edward Davies, John Milne Syers, and Charles Humfrey
in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th June 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDWARD
DAVIES and JOHN MILNE SYERS, both of Liverpool, in the County of Lan-
caster, and CHARLES HUMFREY, of Camberwell, in the County of Surrey,
Merchants, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Edward Davies, John Milne Syers, and Charles Humfrey, Her special
licence that we,. the said Edward Davies, John Milne Syers, and Charles
Humfrey, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said Edward Davies, John Milne Syers, and Charles Humfrey, our exe-
cutors, 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 for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DISTILLING RESINOUS, BITU-
MINOUS, FATTY, AND OILY MATTERS, AND IN THE TREATMENT OF CERTAIN PRODUCTS
THEREFROM," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Edward
Davies, John Milne Syers, and Charles Humfrey, our executors or administra-
tors, by an instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals, or
under the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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 Charles Humfrey, one of the parties
hereto, do hereby declare the nature of the 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, that is to say:
Our improvements in distillation are as follows:-In distilling resinous,
bituminous, oily, and fatty matters, it is desirable to obtain, first, a means of
easily regulating the heat in the still, raising it or lowering it at pleasure;
and, secondly, the separation of the still and its inflammable contents from the
furnace required to heat them. Now, we propose to attain these objects by

page_text: the following contrivance:-The still is one of the ordinary form, into the
bottom of which we introduce a coil of iron or copper pipe, entering at the side
and passing out at the centre of the bottom or otherwise, as may be found
most convenient.
The furnace, placed at a lower level and at some distance from the still, has
also a coil of pipe placed in it. The two ends of the two coils are connected,
and the tube filled with some fluid or substance capable of sustaining a high
degree of heat. For this purpose we prefer to use fusible metal, which, being
heated in the furnace, will circulate rapidly through the two coils of pipes, and
transfer to the charge in the still any required degree of heat.
Should it be inconvenient to arrange the furnace in which the coil of pipe is
heated at a lower level than the still, the circulation of the heated metal or
other heating medium can be effected by introducing into the pipe connecting
the two coils a spiral fanner, and this being made to rotate by any convenient
machinery will cause the heated metal to circulate through the apparatus, and
by adjusting the speed of this fanner the heat transferred from the furnace to
the still can be adjusted. If fusible metal is used as the heating medium it
will be requisite to have the facility of emptying the coil when the still is out
of action, and filling it again when required for use, but this is so easily done
that we do not consider it requisite to specify any particular mode of doing it.
The flow of the heating medium can be regulated by a stop-cock or valve.
We will now proceed to describe the methods we employ to free paraffine
from oil and coloring matter. We first subject the rough paraffine to pressure
in an ordinary hydraulic or other press, by which means the greater portion of
the oil will be separated from it; we then boil the pressed cakes with.free
steam, and towards the close of the operation add about one per cent. of their
weight of ordinary sulphuric acid, and continue the ebullition a short time.
This will throw down all the dirt and mechanical impurities; and as soon
as these have settled, we draw off the paraffine into any convenient vessel,
and add to it about one-fourth of its weight of naptha, and stir them well
together. This vessel should be covered closely, to avoid the loss of naphtha.
When this mixed paraffine and naphtha has cooled down to about 130
Fahrenheit, we draw it off into tins, such as those used in the stearine manu
facture, and allow it to cool. We press the cakes thus obtained between coir
mats or otherwise, as in pressing stearine, when the naphtha runs out freely,
carrying with it the oil and pitch with which the paraffine was contaminated.
By repeating the process and using fresh naphtha the paraffine can be obtained
of perfect whiteness, and we find that even the darker samples of Irish and
Prussian paraffine can be made white by three such operations. The naphtha

page_text: used in the third operation will be scarcely discolored, and will serve for the
second, and that used in the second for the first, but it will then have become
so charged with oil and pitch as to be unfit for further use, and must be
returned into the still and worked over again; thus no loss will arise. The
paraffine from the last pressing will always retain a slight trace of naptha,
from which it can be easily freed, by heating it to about 250° Fahrenheit,
and blowing steam through it. In thus purifying paraffine we prefer to use
the naphtha that has been obtained in distilling the paraffine itself; thus, the
naphtha obtained from Rangoon tar is the best to refine the paraffine obtained
from that same material, as when it becomes charged with oil and pitch it can
very conveniently be returned into the still and worked over again. This,
however, is not essential, and any naphtha or other spirit can be used to refine
any paraffine; we find rosin spirit very well adapted to this purpose.
Having now described the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, we hereby declare that we do not confine
ourselves to the precise details, nor to the exact materials used; but we claim
as the Invention intended to be secured by the said Letters Patent, the
distilling resinous, bituminous, fatty, and oily matters, and the purification of
paraffine, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Humfrey, one of the parties
hereto, have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of
June, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-six.
CHARLES HUMFREY. (L.S.)
Witness,
ALEX. PRINCE, Patent Agent,
4, Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross.