AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING OR DECOLORIZING OILY AND FATTY BODIES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Adkins, of Edgbaston, near Birmingham, in
the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, for. the Invention of "AN
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING OR DECOLORIZING OILY AND
FATTY BODIES."
Sealed the 12th June 1855, and dated the 16th January 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Adkins at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th
January 1855.
I, HENRY ADKINS, of Edgbaston, near Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING OR DECOLORIZING
OILY AND FATTY BODIES" to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists in bleaching oils and fats in the following
manner; namely, I add the salt called chlorate of potash to the oil or fat,
the said oil or fat being heated with water or otherwise; I add sulphuric or
muriatic acid to the said oil or fat, or mixture of the same, with water. The
said acid decomposes the chlorate of potash, and the chlorine compound or
compounds liberated effect the bleaching or decolorization of the said oil or fat.
Although I prefer using chlorate of potash, yet other chlorates may be employed;
and although I prefer decomposing the chlorate with sulphuric or muriatic acid,
yet other acids or decomposing agents may be employed in lieu thereof.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Adkins in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
16th July 1855.
TO ALL TO. WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ADKINS, of Edgbaston, near Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Henry Adkins, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Adkins, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Adkins,
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 for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN BLEACHING
OR DECOLOURIZING OILY AND FATTY BODIES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Henry Adkins, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said
Invention, and in what iṇanner 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 Henry Adkins, do hereby declare the
nature of 'the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say):-
My said Invention consists in bleaching or decolourizing oily and fatty bodies
by means of chlorine. or compounds of chlorine liberated from the salt called
chlorate of potash, or other chlorate, by the action of hydrochloric or other
mineral acid on the said chlorate.
In order that the method of carrying my said Invention into effect may be
understood in its details, I will describe the process of bleaching palm oil
according to my Invention. I take palm oil in the state in which it is met
with in commerce; I put the said palm oil into water, and I heat the said
water until the said palm oil is perfectly fused; I add chlorate of potash or
other chlorate to the water either before or after the application of heat, and
when the palm oil has been fused, as before described, and the chlorate of

page_text: +7
are
potash dissolved, I add hydrochloric or other mineral acid to the mixture
of palm oil, chlorate of potash, and water, the whole being maintained at a
boiling heat during the process. The said acid decomposes the said chlorate
of potash, and chlorine, or a compound or compounds containing- chlorine,
liberated from the said chlorate of. potash. The said chlorine, or compound
containing chlorine, coming in contact with the said palm oil, bleaches or
decolourizes the same. Although I prefer using water for the purpose of fusing
the palm oil and dissolving the, chlorate of potash, as described, yet the same
or nearly the same effect may be produced without the use of water, that is to
say, by fusing the palm oil by applying heat to the vessel containing it, and
adding the chlorate of potash and hydrochloric acid to the fused palm oil.
The quantities of the several ingredients-which I have found to answer well in
practice are the following, namely; for every ton of palm oil, three hundred
pounds of water, forty pounds of chlorate of potash, and one hundred pounds
of hydrochloric acid. These quantities, however, require to be increased or
diminished, according as the palm oil is more or less coloured. The time in
which the bleaching is effected varies from ten minutes to half an hour.
Although I prefer to carry my Invention into effect by the use of chlorate of
potash and hydrochloric acid, as described, yet any other chlorate may be
substituted for the chlorate of potash and sulphuric acid, or any acid or
chemical agent capable of decomposing the chlorate may be substituted for
sulphuric acid. The method I have described of carrying my Invention into
effect with reference to palm oil may be applied to fatty and oily bodies
generally.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I am
aware that chlorine or compounds of chlorine evolved by the decomposition
of chlorate of potash have been used for the deodorizing of oily and fatty
bodies, and also for the removal of the color produced in oily or fatty bodies
by the distillation of the same; and that I do not claim such application
as part of my Invention, my said Invention consisting in the removal or
destruction of the coloring matters found naturally in oily or fatty bodies,
or in oily or fatty bodies in the state in which they are found in com-
merce. I also wish it to be further understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described, as the same may be varied
without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I claim as my In-
vention, the bleaching or decolourizing of oily and fatty bodies, as herein
described, that is to say, the removal or destruction of the colouring matters
which exist in oily or fatty bodies, as the same are found in commerce, by the

page_text: use or application of chlorine or chlorine compounds, liberated from chlorate
of potash or other chlorate by the use of hydrochloric acid, or other acid or
agent capable of decomposing chlorates, and evolving chlorine or compounds of
chlorine therefrom.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Adkins, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
HENRY ADKINS. (L.S.)