AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OP NAPHTHA. PARAFFINE. AND PARAFFINE OIL
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Kilgour, of Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Merchant, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE
OP NAPHTHA. PARAFFINE. AND PARAFFINE OIL."
Sealed the 20th March 1855, and dated the 22nd January 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Kilgour at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Fetition, on the
22nd January 1855.
I, WILLIAM KILGOUR, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Merchant,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MANU-
FACTURE OF NAPHTHA, PARAFFINE, AND PARAFFINE OIL," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a mode of obtaining naplitha, paraffine, and
paraffine oil with greater facility than heretofore. To this end, I employ, as
the bituminous material which is to yield up these substances, a mineral
product of the Burman empire, as yet unknown to naphtha manufacturers,
and called "earth oil." The component parts of this substance I propose
to separate in the following manner:-The earth oil being only semi-fluid
at ordinary temperatures, or, rather, having the consistence of soft butter,
and containing certain impurities in mechanical suspension, is submitted to
steam or other heat to render the oil fiuid, and permit of the separation
by subsidence of the water and carthy impurities therefrom. The clarified
oil is then drawn off. A certain quantity of the clarified earth oil is now
to be run into a still or retort, having the usual appendages, such as charging

page_text: doors, and pipe or worm for the conveyance of the products to the receivers;
and by means of steam or direct heat the temperature of the contents of
the still or retort is raised sufficiently high to drive off the naphtha in
vapor, which is then condensed in the cooling apparatus and collected
in any suitable vessel. When the naphtha ceases to flow, the temperature
of the contents of the still is raised higher, until an oily liquid begins to
flow, which is condensed in a similar manner to the naphtha, and this
higher temperature is kept up so long as the yield of the oily liquid con-
tinues. By a further increase of temperature, the paraffine which now
remains in the still, together with a portion of the oily matter yet remaining
in combination, may be distilled over, and allowed to congeal in a proper
recipient. But I prefer at this period of the process, when the paraffine oil
ceases to flow, to run off the whole contents from the still into a proper
receptacle, and after cooling recover the remaining paraffine oil by pressure in
bags. The earth oil (however) may be distilled so far only as to separate the
first product naphtha, and then the paraffine oil and paraffine which remain
in the still may be transferred to a cooler, and may be subjected to pressure to
effect their separation.
If it be required to pursue the purification of these various products to a
further extent, I place them in a vessel lined with lead, and to the naphtha or
paraffine oil I add sulphuric acid, and mix them well together. The mixture
is allowed to remain undisturbed till all the floating impurities completely
subside. The naphtha or oil thus purified is now to be transferred to other
suitable vessels, and as much caustic potass, soda, or lime is to be added thereto
as will neutralize the sulphuric acid which may still adhere to the products
under treatment. In the purification of the paraffine itself, I prefer mixing
it with sulphuric acid, and distilling it off in a suitably constructed retort, by
which means the paraffine is rendered perfectly pure in one operation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Kilgour in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3
21st July 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
KILGOUR, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Hor Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of January, in the year of our Lord 3.
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,

page_text: did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Kilgour, Her special license that I, the said William Kilgour, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Kilgour, 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 IMPROVED MANU-
FACTURE OF NAPHTHA, PARAFFINE, AND PARAFFINE OIL," upon the condition'
(amongst others) that I, the said William Kilgour, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 William Kilgour, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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 (that is to say):-
This Invention relates to the adoption of certain means of obtaining
naphtha, paraffine, and paraffine oil whereby the manufacture of these substances
is greatly facilitated.
To this end, I propose to employ as the material from which to obtain the
naphtha, paraffine, and paraffine oil, a certain mineral substance, a product of
the Burman empire, called "earth oil," and which has not hitherto been
employed for such manufacture.
Having stated these preliminaries, I shall proceed to describe the manner
in which the manufacture or separation of the above-named products is
effected (namely):-The "earth oil" in its natural state being of a viscid con-
sistency, varying from that of treacle to that of soft butter, according to the
atmospheric temperature, and containing in this state certain impurities
mechanically mixed or suspended in it, I take a quantity of the "earth oil"
and put it in a tank, cistern, or other suitable vessel constructed of iron, wood,
or stone, and which I call a "settler;" I then raise the temperature of the
"earth oil" by steam, or the direct application of heat, to from 100 degrees
to, 200 degrees on Fahrenheit's thermometer, according to circumstances,
until the oil becomes sufficiently fluid to allow the water and mechanically
suspended matters to subside with facility..
The earth oil" having its impurities thus separated from it, is now to be.

page_text: run into a general receptacle or tank, similar to the "settler," from which it
has been transferred, preparatory to the next operation.
I now run the "carth oil" into a series of stills or retorts constructed of
iron or other suitable material, and built in brickwork, with fire-place and
flues in the ordinary way, having the usual appendages of charging doors,
pipes, or worms for the conveyance of the products of the stills to the receiver,
discharging taps or plugs, &c., all which mechanical arrangements are well
known and understood by distillers of oils, resins, &c. Having charged the
stills with the "carth oil," the heat is now to be gradually raised by means of
the fire till the naphtha begins to rise in vapour from the "earth oil." The
vapour thus evolved is conducted from the stills by the usual worm or pipe,
and is condensed into liquid as it approaches the cooler or receiver, which is
a common cistern or other receptacle. When the naphtha ceases to flow, the
temperature of the stills or retorts is to be further increased to effect the
separation of an oily liquid, which I propose to call "paraffine oil," and which
is condensed and collected in another cooler or cistern, similar to that which I
use for the reception of the naphtha, and this higher temperature is to be
maintained or increased until the oil is all or nearly all driven off. What now
remains in the stills or retorts is paraffine, with a portion of the paraffine oil.
By increasing the temperature of the apparatus still further, these substances
may be distilled over in the same manner as in the former operations, and may
be conducted in like manner by the pipe or worm to a separate recipient or
cooler, there to become sufficiently congealed or stiff, so as to be fit to be
put into bags and subjected to pressure, after the manner of the well-known
stearic acid press.
I would here state, that the "earth oil" in the first stage of the distillatory
process, as herein-before described, may be distilled only so far as to separate
the naphtha, which is the first product of distillation; and then the paraffine
oil and paraffine which remain in the stills, as before mentioned, may be trans-
ferred to a separate vessel and left to cool down. When cool, the whole may
be transferred to bags and subjected to pressure in order to separate the oil
from the paraffine.
If it becomes desirable or necessary to refine or purify the products of these
operations herein described, I place them in a sufficiently large vessel lined
with lead; and to every thousand pounds of naphtha or paraffine oil I add
eighty to a hundred pounds of concentrated sulphuric acid (of specific gravity
1.845), and when well mixed by thorough agitation, I allow the whole to
remain undisturbed at a temperature of about 150 degrees Fahrenheit
till all the floating impurities completely subside. The naphtha or oil thus

page_text: purified is now to be transferred to another vessel or vessels (also lined
with lead), and as much caustic potass, soda, or lime added to it as will
neutralize any sulphuric acid which may remain in the products under
treatment, and this state of neutralization may be easily ascertained by the
application of one drop of the liquid to common test or litmus paper. In
the purification of the paraffine itself, I prefer mixing it thorouglhy with its
own weight of concentrated sulphuric acid, of specific gravity 1-845, in a vessel
lined with lead, and then transferring it to a still or retort well protected in
all its parts from the cooling influence of the atmosphere. The paraffine is
then distilled off from the sulphuric acid by the agency of the fire in the
usual manner, and conducted by a pipe or worm into a proper receptacle,
by which means the paraffine is rendered pure and colorless in one operation.
Having now described the nature of my Invention of "An Improved
Manufacture of Naphtha, Paraffine, and Paraffine Oil," and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I
do not claim the use of bituminous substances generally; neither do I claim
the mechanical arrangements indicated in the foregoing description of pro-
cesses, or by which the processes are to be conducted; nor do I claim the
precise chemical applications by which the purification of the products is to
be effected, because these may be varied or modified without deviating from
the character or principle of my Invention or improvements. I am also aware
that naphtha, paraffine oil, and paraffine have been manufactured from bitumi-
nous substances, both solid and liquid, and that similar substances are pro-
cured from petroleum, peat, bituminous coal, and schist, some of which have
been made the subject of Letters Patent. But what I do claim is, the
extraction or separation of paraffine, paraffine oil, and naphtha from a certain
mineral substance called "earth oil" from the Burman empire by the means
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Kilgour, have hercunto set my
hand and seal, the Eighteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
GEORGE CANNING HUSON,
of Liverpool.
WILLIAM KILGOUR. (L.S.)