IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE EXTRACTION OF OILS, COLORING MATTERS AND ESSENCES, AND TO THE PURIFICATION OF GUMS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City
of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE EXTRACTION OF
OILS, COLORING MATTERS AND ESSENCES, AND TO THE PURIFICATION OF GUMS."
-A communication from Poe Edouard Lemettais and Michel Boniere,
the younger, both of Rouen, in the Empire of France.
caled the 15th September 1857, and dated the 29th April 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th April 1857.
J, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE EXTRACTION OF OILS,
COLORING MATTERS AND ESSENCES, AND TO THE PURIFICATION OF GUMS," a com-
munication from Poe Edouard Lemettais and Michel Boniere, the younger,
both of Rouen, in the Empire of France, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of dis-
tillatory apparatus, and to a mode of applying the same to a variety of useful
purposes, such as the extraction of oil from all kinds of oleaginous grain
or seeds, the extraction or preparation of coloring matters from the materials
or substances containing them, the obtainment of the aromatic principles from

page_text: plants, the various purposes of ordinary distillation, as in the production of
ardent spirits, and to the purification of gums, resins, and other similar
substances. This improved distillatory apparatus, as at present constructed,
consists of two external cast-iron chambers, each containing an inner cylindrical
closed chamber, in which latter the process is carried on.
The matters under treatment are contained within a sheet-metal casing
fitted with a perforated top and bottom, the whole being placed inside the
upper one of the two inner chambers, herein-before referred to, one chamber
being placed at a higher level than the other. A volatile solvent, such as
sulphuret of carbon, ether, chloroform, benzine, turpentine, or any chemical
substanco possessing similar properties, contained in a suitable reservoir,
brought to bear upon the matters under treatment, for the purpose of
extracting therefrom oil or essences, according to the nature of the operation.
The matters are heated during the process by the admission of steam to the
outer chambers which surround the inner ones, and the oil or other extract
passes off with the solvent to the lower chamber, which is also heated by
steam, when the solvent is volatilized and passes up by a pipe and to an overhead
serpentine contained in a cistern of cold water, for the purpose of being con-
densed and again employed, the condensed solvent returning to the original
supply reservoir. A pipe also leads from the first chamber to the serpentine to
carry off and condense any of the volatilized solvent which may arise there-
from.
The extraction having been completed, the process of distillation is carried
on simultaneously in both chambers by the action of the highly heated steam,
as before described.
A third chamber is now brought into operation, such chamber being at
about a mid-level between the other two before referred to, and having
an inclined partition or false bottom fitted inside it, which divides it into
an upper and lower chamber. Steam is admitted into both these chambers,
and when the air has been thereby completely expelled the air cocks are closed,
and a regulated jet of cold water is introduced into the upper chamber, such
upper chamber communicating by means of a side pipe with the lower chamber,
so that
on the condensation of the steam a vacuum will be formed, the water
from the jet and the condensed steam running along the inclined bottom to tho
side pipe which conducts it to the bottom chamber, leaving the upper chamber
perfectly void both of air and water. The vapor from the other two chambers,
before mentioned, are now directed by suitable pipes into this vacuum, and are
condensed therein by the jet which is readmitted.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th October 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,,
and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentle-
man, send. greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto mo, the said
John Henry Johnson, Her special license that I, the said John Henry Johnson,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as. I, the said John
Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or 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 I!!
APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING, APPLICABLE ALSO TO THE EXTRACTION OF OILS, COLORING
MATTERS AND ESSENCES, AND TO THE PURIFICATION OF GUMS," a communication
from Poe Edouard Lemettais and Michael Boniere, the younger, both of Rouen,
in the Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
John Henry Johnson, 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 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 John Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
The said Invention relates to a peculiar construction & arrangement of dis-
tillatory apparatus, and to a mode of applying the same to a variety of useful
purposes, such as the extraction of oil from all kinds of oleaginous grain or seeds,
the extraction or preparation of coloring matters from the materials or. sub-
stances containing them, the obtainment of the aromatic principles.from plants,
the various purposes of ordinary distillation, as, in the production, of ardent

page_text: spirits, and to the purification of gums, resins, and other similar substances.
This improved distillatory apparatus, as at present constructed, consists of
two external cast-iron chambers, cach containing an inner cylindrical closed
chamber, in which latter the process is carried on.
The matters under treatment are contained within a sheet-metal casing a
fitted with a perforated top and bottom, the whole being placed inside the
upper one of the two inner chambers, herein-before referred to, one chamber
being placed at a higher level than the other. A volatile solvent, such as
sulphuret of carbon, ether, chloroform, benzine, turpentine, or any chemical
substance possessing similar properties, contained in a suitable reservoir, is
now brought to bear upon the matters under treatment, for the purpose of
extracting therefrom oils or essences, according to the nature of the operation.
The matters are heated during the process by the admission of steam to the
outer chambers which surround the inner ones, and the oil or other extract
passes off with the solvent to the lower chamber, which is also heated by
steam, when the solvent is volatilized and passes up by a pipe to an overhead
serpentine contained in a cistern of cold water, for the purpose of being con-
densed and again employed, the condensed solvent returning to the original
supply reservoir. A pipe also leads from the first chamber to the serpentine to
carry off and condense any of the volatilized solvent which may arise therefrom.
The extraction having been completed, the process of distillation is carried
on simultaneously in both chambers by the action of the highly heated steam,
as before described.
A third chamber is now brought into operation, such chamber being at about
a mid-level between the other two before referred to, and having an inclined
partition or false bottom fitted inside it, which divides it into an upper and
lower chamber. Steam is admitted into both these chambers, and when the
air has been thereby completely expelled the air cocks are closed, and a
regulated jot of cold water is introduced into the upper chamber, such chamber
communicating by means of a side pipe with the lower chamber, so that on the
condensation of the steam a vacuum will be formed, the water from the jet and
condensed steam running along the inclined bottom to the side pipe which
conducts it to the bottom chamber, leaving the upper chamber perfectly void
both of air and water. The vapor, from the other two chambers, before men-
tioned, are now directed by suitable pipes into this vacuum, and are condensed
therein by the jet which is readmitted.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
-refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto. annexed, the

page_text: same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1, on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, represents a vertical section
of the apparatus complete and ready for use; Figure 2 is a plan on a reduced
scale, by which the arrangement of the pipes and the positions of the chambers
is clearly seen. This apparatus is composed of two external chambers A and
B, each containing an inner cylindrical chamber C and D, all being of cast
iron. These internal cylinders are cast with circular rims d³, resting in
grooves cut in the upper part of each of the external chambers, the joints
being packed with felt steeped in essence of turpentine to prevent any leakage.
These two cylinders C and D are made to communicate with one another
by a pipe L, furnished with a stop-cock X, by which the communication can
be interrupted when necessary. Between the two external chambers A and
B is a third cylindrical chamber E of cast iron, also furnished with pipes and
stop-cocks, and fitted with a safety valve like the other two. This cylinder
E communicates with the cylinders C and D by the pipes t and t, furnished
with stop-cocks T and T. A receiver J (into which the water contained in
the reservoir I can be introduced at pleasure by the pipe j) is furnished with
a serpentine II, surmounted by a small cup h. To this cup each of the pipes
a, D, and F lead, communicating respectively with the cylinders C, D, and
E. The lower end of the serpentine communicates by means of the tube b
with a reservoir G, which is itself in communication with the first cylinder C,
containing the substances under treatment.
The following description of the process will naturally be required to
complete a general explanation of the apparatus. I shall commence with a
process in which displacement, distillation, and a vacuum are used. Let it
be supposed that it is required to extract the oil contained in the colza seed,
using, for example, sulphuret of carbon as a solvent:-The sulphuret is
enclosed in the reservoir G. Into the cylinder C is introduced a case C³ of
zine or other suitable metal, containing the colza seed previously ground:
The bottom of this cylinder is prevented from touching that of the apparatus
by a tripod R. which keeps it a short distance above the bottom of this
apparatus.. This cylinder is closed at the top and bottom by the wire gauze
c. The apparatus being thus arranged the cock V is opened, thereby allowing
the sulphuret from the reservoir G to flow in upon the colza seed. The
sulphuret dissolves all the oil in the colza seed, and is in this state made to
pass along the tube L into the cylinder D, the cock X being open; as much
of the sulphuret is thus allowed to flow into the cylinder as will suffice to
dissolve or nearly dissolve all the oil contained in the colza seed, after which

page_text: the cock X is closed as well as that at V, communicating with the roservoir
G. A current of steam is then allowed to pass into the external chamber B
by opening the cock P. This steam then passes by means of the pipe B
into the external chamber A, the cocks P¹ and P2 being of course closed.
This steam volatilizes the sulphuret contained in the reservoir C, from which
it escapes in the form of vapor through the pipe a, the cock a¹ being open.
The sulphuret thus volatilized is condensed by passing through the serpentine
H, and is conducted to the reservoir G by the pipe b, a part of which at M
is of glass to enable the quantity of sulphuret passing over to be seen. A
similar operation is at the same time going forward in the other cylinder D,
the volatilized sulpburet passing through the tube D', the cock & being open.
The external chamber B is filled with steam, brought thither through the
'opening of the cock p. The vapor of the sulphuret is, as in the former case,
condensed in the serpentine H, and passes by the pipe 6 into the reservoir G
in the same manner as that from the cylinder C. If it should happen that
one operation of displacement, performed on the contents of the cylinder C,
is not suflicient a second one is gone through. In this case I simply distil
'the substance which comes charged with oil into the apparatus D. The cock
X is closed and the cock V is left open during the distillation, so that the
"operation of displacement goes on continuously.
When the sulphuret in the apparatus D is completely distilled, which is
observed through the glass tube M, the cock d is closed and that at X opened,
the only matter remaining in the cylinder D being withdrawn through the
tube O. The cocks P, P, and X' are then closed, those at d and X being at
the same time opened to allow the sulphuret to flow once more into the
cylinder D. It is then only necessary to open the cock X, and to receive a
little of the sulphuret in a capsule, in order by evaporation to ascertain if all
the oil has been extracted from the colza seed. If this means be considered
insufficient, it suffices to weigh the quantity of oil-obtained, a method that may
be perhaps the best in all cases.
Supposing that the extraction is complete, I distil at the same time in the
two apparatus C and D, as I have already stated. During the distillation the
steam cocks P and Ps of the pipe C are left open, and the steam is allowed
to pass into the apparatus E, care being taken to open in each of the two
compartments of the apparatus (separated by an inclined bottom g) the cocks
m and n, in order to allow the air to escape. The apparatus A and B are
provided with cocks U and U (Figure 2), which serve the same purpose.
When the steam has completely replaced the air, the cocks m, n, and Pare
closed, and that at Y in connexion with the reservoir N is opened, care being

page_text: taken to shut the cock Z of this same reservoir (which contains cold water) from
the chamber I, which serves at the same time to supply it to the serpentine H:
The jet of cold water, condensing the steam contained in the reservoir E,
passes, augmented in volume by the water resulting from the condensed steam;
into the space forming the bottom of this reservoir, passing by the pipe c
and the cock P³.
The chamber E being now completely deprived of water as well as of air,
the cocks Y and Ps are closed, and that at Z opened.
The water contained in the reservoir I descends into the chamber
to effect a second operation. The extraction having been performed, the
resulting oil cake niust undergo powerful treatment to deprive it of any
sulphuret of carbon that it may contain. For this purpose the cocks X
and a' are closed, that at V having been closed ever since the operation by
duplacement was complete. The cock T is then opened, and the steam in the
external chainbers Band A is made to pass through it.
The apparatus being thus arranged, the following is the effect produced:-
The vacuum exercises a powerful attractive force upon the vapour of sulphuret
existing in the oil cake. The heat also arising from the steam in the appa-
ratus A powerfully assists the action of this vacuum.
If a single operation is not sufficient it may be renewed, though it is
necessary previously to close the cock T, and open that at Q belonging to the
apparatus F, in order to let the water of condensation escape.
So soon as the vacuum is produced in the chamber E, F, the cock P² is
opened, allowing the steam to enter, as also is that at d belonging to the
pipe D' in communication with the syphon H. The steam will volatilize the
sulphuret, whether it is condensed or whether it remain in a state of vapour.
This done, the operation with the vacuum upon the oil cake can if necessary
be renewed. Closing then the steam cock P, the pipe a and the cover C' can
be removed, allowing the zinc case C containing the oil cake to be withdrawn,
completely deprived both of the oil and the sulphuret.
Supposing it is required to operate with sulphuret of carbon upon the fatty
wool of sheep; for example, I open the cock V of the tube L communicating
with the reservoir G, and allow the necessary quantity of sulphuret to flow
into the chamber D, the cock X being opened. The wool to be. treated is
placed in the cylinder C, and the sulphuret is submitted to the action of the
steam in the external chamber B. This vapour is made to pass into the
cylinder C, wliere it rapidly dissolves the fatty substances, which, through their
weight in comparison with the vapour of the sulphuret, fall through the pipe.L
into the apparatus D..
:

page_text: The vacuum may also, if found desirable, be made use of in this instance,
whenever it is necessary to extract the fatty matters from any substance.
Suppose now that it is necessary to treat gutta percha; for example, I
enclose this substance in the case or chamber C, and then introduce the
sulphuret of carbon or any other suitable agent; then heat the apparatus by
a current of steam, previously produced, at the required temperature. Care
should be taken previously to place a filter in the interior of the apparatus, in
order to retain all impurities and to allow nothing to pass but voluble matter.
If necessary, I assist the solution by means of an agitator of some kind,
placed in the centre of the cylinder and driven by external mechanism.
It will now be seen that the apparatus may be arranged in any position,
either horizontal or vertical, and that the solutions may be made in vessels of
an oblong form instead of cylindrical, and may enclose a horizontal agitator.
Figure 3 represents a small apparatus of a simple construction for working
with steam by displacement on all kinds of substances; though with the
apparatus, already described, a similar operation may be carried on. It is only
necessary in this case to invert the order in which the distillations are per
formed, by arranging the vessels Cand Ein such a manner that the distillations
can be carried on at the same time that the fatty matter is being collected.
Whatever may. be the form and arrangement of the apparatus, I place decan-
tation cocks along the side of the chamber at different heights. As fast as the
solution is made, I leave the substance to stand, or filter it at pleasure; and
then distilling it to separate the sulphuret from the gutta percha, the latter will
solidify.
I adopt the same process when working with all other gums, whether
resinous, or elastic, like india-rubber.
When colouring matters are under treatment, such as cochineal, turmeric,
orchanel, &c. a precisely similar method is adopted. I enclose the substance
in the cylinder C, and then passing ether, benzine, sulphuret of carbon,
turpentine, or some other.solvent over them, I obtain a colouring matter either
in the state of a liquid, or in that of an extract, soluble in essences, and oils,
another colouring substance more or less soluble remaining also in the water
or alcohol. The extract of colouring matters, soluble, for example, in sulphuret
of carbon, may be used for dyeing gutta percha, india-rubber, and other similar
substances. These substances also when thus coloured may be again dissolved
in oils and applied to the colouring of candles, wax, soap, &c.
I apply these colouring substances also by the same process, with or without
the dissolution of the gunis, to all kinds of threads, tissues, paper, card, wood,.
furniture, &c.

page_text: Finally, for extracting the taste and smell from spices, and the aromatic oils
and perfumes from flowers. I make use of the same apparatus and the same
processes, and of some volatile agent, such as sulphuret of carbon, alcohol,
&c. The substances may be then rapidly treated, and their products utilised
with great success and facility. The odoriferous substance once obtained
nothing remains but to treat the substances with it that are required to be
spiced or scented. These substances are sometimes articles of food, such as
salt, sugar, &c. and at other times pomade, soap, toilette water, &c.
I reserve the right of using, in certain operations, such as the treatment of
odourous substances, the common alembic, or any similar contrivance.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to; as variations may be made therefrom without cleviating
from the principles or main features of the said Invention; but what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the peculiar construction and arrangement of extracting, distilling,
and purifying apparatus, herein-before described and illustrated by the annexed
Drawing.
Second, the extraction by means of the said apparatus, and with the
assistance of the chemical agents above enumerated, of all oily matters, of
colours, and of aromatic substances, by the processes herein-before described.
Third, the application of the apparatus and processes, herein-before described,
to the ordinary distillation of all kinds of liquids and other substances.
Fourth, the application of the samo system to the extraction and purification
of all kinds of gums.
Fifth, the application and use of the various products, herein-before
enumerated, resulting from the action of the apparatus and processes, herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-seven.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.s.)