IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OIL OF TURPENTINE AND RESIN, AND IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Joseph Hughes, of the City of Manchester,
in the County of Lancaster, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OIL OF TURPENTINE AND RESIN, AND IN THE
APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH."-A communication from abroad by
James Napier, of Brooklyn, U. S. of America.
Sealed the 19th September 1860, and dated the 31st March 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Joseph Hughes,
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
31st March 1860.
I, EDWARD JOSEPH HUGHES, of the City of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OIL OF TURPENTINE AND RESIN, AND
IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," as communicated to me from abroad
by James Napier, of Brooklyn, U. S., of America, to be as follows:-
For the manufacture of oil of turpentine, resin, and similar substances, I
use an improved apparatus as herein-after described, and dispense entirely with
the use of water in the distillation, as the common resin of commerce owes
its dark color as much to the action of lime or salts of lime, and other foreign
matters, which most waters hold in suspension or solution, as to that of heat.
A fine light colored resin may be made from crude turpentine, by merely passing
D1

page_text: steam through the mass, until the oil is expelled; but as in the latter part of
this process the heat has to be raised to a considerable height, and sometimes
for a comparatively long time, in order to expel the moisture, there is a liability
to injure the color of the residuum, so long as water is not used, and as long
'as any considerable quantity of oil of turpentine remains unexpelled, heat
does not appear to affect the color of the mass in any great degree.
The improved apparatus consists of a still, made of enamelled iron, copper,
tin, or other suitable material, with a condenser or receiver, and a vessel for
the generation of steam; the still is connected with the condenser by a still
head of suitable shape to prevent any return of liquid to the body of the still
by condensation. The still head and the condenser are surrounded by a
water jacket, receiving a constant supply of cold water by an entrance tap
which is discharged by an exit tap. The steam generator is connected with
the still by pipes fitted with taps, one of the said pipes extending to the
bottom of the still, and formed with a coil covering a considerable surface
and perforated with small holes. The still and steam generator are also
surrounded to about half their capacity with jackets, connected by a pipe and
tap; these jackets are supplied with steam or hot water. The vessel for
generating steam is supplied with water, and the still with a suitable quantity
of crude turpentine strained, which straining may be done in the manner.
herein-after described, or in any convenient way. The taps being then closed
and the man-holes in the still and steam vessel covered, so as to be perfectly
air-tight, other taps are opened and an air pump put in operation until a com-
plete or partial vacuum is formed. The vacuum being formed steam,
hot water, or other heating medium at about 130 Fahrenheit or 140 Fahrenheit
is admitted. The temperature being raised to about the height named, a tap
is opened and the steam generated in the vessel is admitted to the still
through the pipe and coil before mentioned, and the oil of turpentine goes off
with the steam to be condensed. The condenser should be of sufficient
capacity to hold all the condensed steam sent over, as well as the oil of tur-
pentine, thus for a still capable of distilling fifty barrels of crude turpentine
at once, a steam generator of about one thousand gallons, or one thousand
one hundred gallons capacity with steam room to spare would be required,
and a condenser capable of holding one thousand two hundred gallons, to one
thousand five hundred gallons, so as to allow plenty of room. The heat
necessary to form the steam may be obtained by using the waste heat from
the furnace employed by the boiler, that used for driving the air pump engine,
or in any other suitable economical manner. The still may be fitted with
bulls-eyes, so that the working may be seen, as in the case of a sugar pan,

page_text: and the condenser may have a graduated scale in gallons with a glass running
its whole depth or with bulls-eyes at given distances, in order to save
unnecessary trouble, as the quantity of oil sent over will then be visible, and
a near calculation of the quantity left in the still may be made by any one
skilled in distilling turpentine.
For straining the crude turpentine I employ a vessel of copper or other
suitable material of sufficient capacity to hold any desired quantity of crude
turpentine. This vessel is fitted at its lower extremity with a fine sieve, or
with a number of sieves of varying fineness, arranged so that they may be
drawn out and put in with ease; I connect the upper and lower portions of
the vessel by means of a pipe, which is closed at its upper end with a tap; the
vessel is fitted with a coil of pipes (or an equivalent for them) for the transmis-
sion of the heating medium through its contents. The lower part of the vessel
is connected with the still or with an intermediate vessel if desired by pipe
and tap or valve. The pressure in the vessel and in the still or intermediate
vessel) after the turpentine is introduced is removed by an air pump. A
vacuum being formed the turpentine is melted by gentle heat, and on its being
entirely dissolved, a tap in the top of the vessel is opened, so destroying the
vacuum in that part, and causing the atmospheric pressure to force the melted
material through the sieve into the still or vessel arranged to receive it, in
which a complete or partial vacuum still exists.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Joseph Hughes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
JOSEPH HUGHES, of the City of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her. Letters
Patent bearing date the Thirty-first day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Edward Joseph Hughes, Her special licence that I, the said
Edward Joseph Hughes, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
such others as I, the said Edward Joseph Hughes, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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,

page_text: 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 OIL OF TURPENTINE
AND RESIN, AND IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," being a communication
from abroad by James Napier, of Brooklyn, U.S. of America, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said Edward Joseph Hughes, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my or their, or one of
their hands and seals, 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 Edward Joseph Hughes, 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 fol-
lowing statement, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in an improved system of melting and straining crude
turpentine employed in combination with the distilling process in the manu-
facture of resin and oil of turpentine, the strainer, still, steam generator, and
condenser being all combined in one apparatus. In order to melt and strain
crude turpentine it is placed in one or more closed vessels, and a vacuum
employed, by which means the operations are effected at a low degree of heat,
thus preventing injury to the color of the material, and also the loss of the oil
of turpentine which occurs in the ordinary methods of straining. From the
strainer the material passes to the still, which is connected to the condenser,
and also to the steam generator; the pipe from the latter enters the interior of
the still, and terminates in a coil or series of bends, having a number of per-
forations for the passage of steam from the generator. An air pump is
employed to create a vacuum in the still, condenser, and steam generater, and
the process of distillation is carried on at a low degree of heat, and without
any water in the interior of the vessels, by which means a resin is procured of
a fine light color, the common resin of commerce, owing its dark color as much
to the action of lime, or salts of lime and other foreign matters, which most
waters hold in suspension or solution, as to that of heat.
The manner in which this Invention is to be performed will be clearly
understood by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
letters marked on the accompanying Drawing.
The main parts of the apparatus consist of the strainer a, the still b, the
steam generator c, and the condenser d. The strainer a is connected with the
still b by the pipe and tap e, and is furnished near its lower extremity, as at f,

page_text: with one or more sieves, the lowest of which is sufficiently fine to arrest and
retain the finest mechanical impurities contained in the crude turpentine.
These sieves can be removed and replaced at the opening g. At the top of
the vessel a is a man-hole h for the admission of the crude material. This
man-hole and the opening for the sieves are both fitted with covers i and k,
which can be made air-tight. From the upper part of the vessel a a small
pipe extends to a short distance below the bottom sieve, as at 1', thereby
forming a communication with the upper and lower portions of the vessel.
This pipe may be closed when desired by a valve or tap m, and may also be
arranged to extend direct to the still, or to an intermediate vessel, as may be
required. To the side or top of the vessel a is a pipe and tap n, which com-
municates with an air-pump, and heat is applied to the vessel by a hot-water
jacket, or by any other mode which admits of the regulation of the heat. The
still is connected with the condenser d by the still head o, which, with the
condenser, is surrounded by a cold-water jacket p, having its inlet at q and its
outlet at r. On the condenser are the taps s and t, one for communicating
with the air pump, and the other for closing the communication between the
still and condenser, as may be required. The still is connected with the steam
generator c by the pipe u and tap v, and also by the pipe w and tap x, the
pipe w extending to the bottom of the still, and forming a coil or system of
pipes pierced with numerous small holes for the distribution of steam through
the mass. The still b and steam generator c are heated either by hot-water
jackets, or by any other plan in which the temperature can be prevented
from becoming too high; the steam generator c has a man-hole y, a water
supply tap z, and an exit or waste tap a¹, the still being also furnished with an
exit tap 6', and the condenser with an exit tap c¹.
The operations of straining and distilling are as follows:-The strainer or
vessel a is charged with crude turpentine through the man-hole h, the sieves
being adjusted beforehand. The covers i and k are then put on, and luted
air-tight, the taps e, m, and n, are opened, and all the others in the various
connections of the apparatus are closed. The air-pump is then set in operation,
and a vacuum is formed above and below the material in the vessel a. Heat
is then applied to the vessel in any suitable manner, and its contents melted.
When this is sufficiently effected, the tap m is closed, and the vacuum above
the crude turpentine destroyed, that below being allowed to exist. The
pressure of the atmosphere at once causes the fluid turpentine to percolate
through the sieves, and charges the still, but leaving the chips, leaves, dirt, or
other foreign matter on the sieves in the strainer a.. The operation of
straining being completed, the tap e is to be closed, and the taps s, t, and v,

page_text: opened, the tap a being still shut. The air pump is again employed to create
a vacuum in the still b, the steam generator c, and the condenser d, which
vessels are connected as described. This being done heat is applied to the
still and steam generator c, and the tap v is closed and the tap a opened,
when the steam generated in the steam generator c passes through the pipe w
into the still, and assisted by the heat carries with it the volatile oil of
turpentine to be condensed in the condenser d. When the whole of the oil
has come over, the tap a must be closed, and the heat continued in the still b
until all the moisture is expelled from the mass. The residuum in the still is
fine white resin, which can be discharged by the tap bi.
Crude turpentine cannot be strained effectually at natural temperatures,
say, up to 100° Fahrenheit, that is, without the assistance of artificial heat
(otherwise such heat would be unnecessary in this operation in some
countries). If strained, as is usually the case in open vessels, there is a
considerable loss of the volatile oil, and if in closed vessels and by a high
degree of heat, the color is injured. By melting and straining in vacuo
several desirable ends are attained, namely, the melting at a low temperature,
so preserving the color, the prevention of loss if the volatile oil by the use of
closed vessels, and rapidity in the whole process. The amount or degree of
heat required for the process depends upon the state of the vacuum, if it be
perfect, 90° Fahrenheit will be emply sufficient for the operations of melting
and straining, and 140° Fahrenheit for that of distilling; but if the vacuum
be imperfect, higher degrees of heat must of necessity be required. A closed
condenser is preferred, because it obviates the necessity of the constant use of
the air pump during the process, but a condensing worm may be employed
when desired instead of the closed condenser d. The vessels of the apparatus
may be made of copper tinned inside, of galvanized iron, or of any suitable
substance or material, and also of any size or shape.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention as communicated to
me from abroad, I desire it to be distinctly understood that I do not claim the
use of a vacuum pan for distilling purposes, the inspissation of vegetable juices
in vacuo being known and practised for many years, neither do I claim the
passing of steam through a mass in the distillation, as this has been long
practised by turpentine distillers; but what I claim in the manufacture of oil
of turpentine and resin is,-
Firstly, the melting and straining of crude turpentine in one or more closed
vessels heated in any convenient manner, and having a complete or partial
vacuum in the interior.
And, secondly, the peculiar system or arrangement which combines in one

page_text: apparatus the processes of melting and straining with those of distilling and
condensing, as all such improvements are herein described and illustrated in
the accompanying Sheet of Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Joseph Hughes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the within-
named Edward Joseph Hughes, in the
presence of
GEO. SEP. HUGHES,
17, Cross Street,
Manchester.