IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING, CLEANSING, AND PURIFYING PETROLEUM AND OTHER KINDS OF OIL, AND IN THE APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING THE SAME
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Martin Benson, of No. 9, Southampton Buildings,
London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN WASHING, CLEANSING,
AND PURIFYING PETROLEUM AND OTHER KINDS OF OIL, AND IN THE APPARATUS
FOR PERFORMING THE SAME."-A communication from abroad by Henry
Francis Honell, of Saint Catherine, in the County of Lincoln,
Province of Ontario, Canada.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Martin Benson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 16th March 1872, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARTIN
BENSON, of No. 9, Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN WASHING, CLEANSING, AND PURIFYING PETROLEUM AND OTHER KINDS OF OIL, AND
IN THE APPARATUS FOR PERFORMING THE SAME," and have petitioned Her

page_text: Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn
Declaration that the same is a communication to me from abroad by
Henry Francis Honell, of Saint Catherine, in the County of Lincoln,
Province of Ontario, Canada.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Martin Benson, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement :-
The cruder petroleum and the residuum left after the ordinary process
of distillation contains much foreign matter, some of which may be
separated from it by settling or gravitation, but this process leaves the
oil more or less impure and unfit for use. To remedy this is the
principal object of my Invention, partly by distillation and partly by
washing the oil while in a heated and agitated state in suitably
constructed and arranged stills, provided with agitators and settling
tanks employed as hereafter described.
The principal use to which the improvement is applicable is redistilling
the residuum to obtain lubricating oils therefrom. This is effected by
first heating the residuum to a suitable temperature in a properly
constructed closed fire-still with means for agitating it during the
process of heating for the double purpose of mixing or uniting chemical
agents with the residuum, and causing some of the foreign matter
contained in it to precipitate by the action of the heat and chemical
agents. After the residuum is thus treated in the fire-still it is then
discharged into a second open top still provided with a steam jacket on
its entire outer surface for keeping the oil at a proper temperature by
steam or hot water while being treated. This still is also provided with
an apparatus for agitating the oil, and in the meantime jets of heated
water are applied to its surface for washing or cleansing it by passing
down through the oil, and with it carrying down the impurities. by
gravitation or absorption, which has been more or less separated from
the oil by the chemical agents, heating, and agitating process before
described, into the lower part of the still, which is made concave or cone
shaped to cause the impurities and the washing water to readily collect

page_text: and discharge from the still through a pipe attached to the bottom of it.
This still is usually constructed for the cone part of it to contain from
tord as much water in bulk as there is oil in the still. This proportion
however may be varied to suit the purity of the residuum or oil distilled.
After the oil has been treated in the second still by agitating and
washing as before described for purifying and restoring it, it is then
discharged into a third open top vessel or settling tank of increased
diameter compared with the stills, with its lower end made cone-shaped
and its entire surface steam jacketed similar to the still before described
for keeping the oil heated during the time of settling.
The treatment of the residuum in the closed top fire-still and by the
various processes including the settling tank as herein-before described
is but one part of the improvement by which the lubricating oil in the
residuum is restored and purified. The second treatment of the residuum
or oil is performed in a similar set of stills and a settling tank, that is to
say, the oil in the settling tank herein-before described is pumped again
into a closed top fire-still, where it is again treated with different
chemical agents to those first used, heated to a proper temperature
and agitated for purifying and mixing the chemical agents, and after
remaining long enough in the fire-still it is again discharged into
another open top still, agitated, and washed until it attains the required
purity, after which it is again discharged into a settling tank where it
may be rewashed, allowed to settle, and afterwards drawn off for use.
A portion of my improvement is the manner employed for setting
fire-heated stills. The usual method adopted is to rest the edge of the
bottom of the still on masonry constructed in the furnace. In place of
this I attach the sides of the still at suitable points several brackets of
metal which are riveted or bolted to the still. These brackets support
the still by resting on brickwork for enclosing the still and forming the
furnace; the brackets rest on the masonry sufficiently above the furnace
to prevent the heat from it having any effect on them, and at the same
time leaves the bottom of the still free to move by expansion and
contraction without breaking or damaging the furnace walls, and
prevents the still from getting out of level or being displaced from its
true position by the machinery employed for working the agitators';
screw bolts are passed down through the masonry to hold it together
firmly. These bolts pass opposite or near each bracket attached to the

page_text: still. The furnace is constructed under the still so that any part or all of
it may be removed and reset without interfering with the outer walls
of the furnace and still. The flue from the furnace may be carried
. entirely around the still by division walls or made to pass out at one side
of the still direct from the furnace; this will depend upon the intensity
of heat required for use.
Another portion of my improvement is the manner of constructing
and working the agitators for stirring the oil in the fire and open top
stills. Six agitating arms or wings are commonly used or any other
even and suitable number may be employed; half of these arms are made
to revolve in one direction and the other half in the opposite direction;
this is done for thoroughly stirring and mixing the chemical agents with
the residuum. The agitating arms are attached to two vertical shafts,
one of these shafts is made hollow and works at the top of the still
through which the second shaft passes and works the lower agitators;
both of these shafts are provided with suitable bevelled gearing at the
top of the still to give them the requisite motion, and for causing them
to move in opposite directions, thereby working the lower half of the
agitators in one direction and the upper half in the opposite direction
for purposes before stated.
Another method may be employed for agitating the oil in the stills
besides that herein-before described, namely, by forcing currents of air
under sufficient pressure by any suitably constructed air pump into the
lower end of the still which would agitate the oil by rising up through
the body of it owing to its less specific gravity compared with the oil,
and thoroughly mix the chemical ingredients with it, and thereby
produce the same mechanical effect as would be accomplished by the
agitating arms before described, or if desired the agitating arms and air
could be used in combination. In all cases in using air the pump or
pipe for conducting the air into the still should extend a suitable
distance above the surface of the oil to prevent it from running back
into the air pump.

page_text: Fig. 1 is a plan of the stills and settling tanks; and Fig. 2 represents
a vertical section through the diameters of one set of the stills and
a tank.
A¹ and A are closed top stills suspended in furnaces of brickwork by
iron brackets M, M, M, M; these brackets may be secured to the sides
of the stills by screw bolts or rivets, and a sufficient distance from the
furnace to prevent the heat from having any injurious effect on them or
the brickwork on which they rest. This method of suspending the stills
by brackets instead of resting them on their lower ends in the furnace as
is usually done permits the stills to expand and contract by the action
of the heat without the risk of breaking or cracking, which often
happens when set in furnaces in the ordinary way, owing to the
great weight brought on the bottom of the still in a heated state when
filled with oil, which often results in an explosion and damage by fire.
Bolts W, W, W, W, are passed down through the brickwork directly
opposite or near the brackets to firmly hold the mass of it together.
The brackets M, M, as shewn in Fig. 2, is to represent the relative
position with the sides of the still and masonry; the structure of the
furnace is seen at N, and the flue O leading from it passes into a sub-
terraneous passage P which runs at a safe distance from the still to a
chimney stack to avoid danger by fire.
The stills A' and A are furnished with agitators or stirring arms J, J, J,
and k, k, k, which are revolved by the bevelled gearing H and pullics I
working in suitably constructed frames at the top of the stills as
represented. The arms J and k are made to move in opposite directions,
this is done by attaching them to separate shafts; the top shaft is made
hollow through which a second shaft passes for revolving the three
lower arms k, k, k; the lower end of the hollow shaft works on a cross
beam e, and the lower end of the inside shaft revolves in a step attached
to the bottom of the still by bevelled wheels H attached to the top end
of the hollow shaft and top end of the inside shaft, as represented in
Fig. 2, and the pinion working between them causes the two shafts and
consequently the agitating arms to move in opposite directions. The
structure and working of the agitating arms will be fully understood by
the Drawings without further Specification.

page_text: oil in any suitable manner through one or a series of jets, the heated or
washing water descending through the oil to the bottom of the still, and
with it dissolves and carries down the impuritics separated from the oil
by the heat and chemical agents which is discharged at the bottom of
the still through the pipe R before described; after the oil remains in
the still B¹ a sufficient time it is again discharged into the settling
tank C¹ when it is allowed to settle without being agitated, and again
rewashed with hot water if required.
At this stage of the process the oil is only partly purified and has
again to undergo a similar treatment of heating, agitating, and washing
in a similarly constructed set of stills and settling tank, represented in
Fig. 1. To do this the oil is pumped or otherwise conducted from the
settling tank C through the pipe W₁ into the fire still A, where it is again
heated and agitated and afterwards discharged into the open top still B,
agitated, and washed, and finally discharged into the settling tank C,
where the washing water and impurities are allowed to settle from it,
when it is drawn off for use into barrels, as shewn at Y.
Instead of using the arrangement of stills and settling tanks as repre-
sented in Fig. 1, the fire still A could be arranged below the settling
tank C, so that the oil could run out of the tank into the still to undergo
its second distillation, thereby dispensing with pumping the oil from the
settling tank into the still A, as shewn in Fig. 1, or in other words the
whole of the distilling apparatus could be placed on an incline or steps
so that the oil could flow from vessel to vessel by its own gravity until
it is fit for use or barrelling.
Having now described the nature and object of my Invention and the
manner of constructing and working the same, what I claim is,―
Firstly. Setting or suspending the stills A', A, in furnaces by
brackets M. M. M. M. attached to the sides of the stills as specified and

page_text: Thirdly. The construction and combined arrangement and use of the
stills A', A, and B¹, B, and settling tanks C¹, C, as represented and for
the purposes specified in the foregoing Specification.
In witness whereof, I, the said Martin Benson, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Sixteenth day of March, in the year of 5
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
MARTIN BENSON. (L.S.)