IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF FATTY AND RESINOUS MATTERS, AND IN PREPARING THEM FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES AND OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of 166 Fleet Street, in
the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE TREATMENT OF FATTY AND RESINOUS MATTERS, AND IN PREPARING THEM
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES AND OTHER ARTICLES."-A communication.
Sealed the 5th October 1855, and dated the 13th April 1855.
FROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left bythe said Richard Archibald Brooman
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th April 1855.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF FATTY AND RESINOUS MATTERS, AND IN
PREPARING THEM FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES AND OTHER ARTICLES," (com-
municated to me by a foreigner residing abroad,) to be as follows:-
"The Invention consists in first purifying these matters by bringing them to
a state of ebullition, and by adding to them oxygenated muriatic acid or oxygen
gas; or I plunge them in the mother liquors produced in the solidification of
fatty and resinous matters, in the manner herein-after described.
For the solidification of the matters after having been purified as above, they
are submitted to one or other of the following processes :-

page_text: One process consists in melting the fatty and resinous matters without water,
and when they are in a state of fusion adding thereto carbonates or metallic
oxides combined with one of the following gases; carbonic acid or oxygen,
azotic hydrogen, or azotic or sulphurous hydrogen; or oxygenated muriatic
acid is added to the matters in fusion.
The other process consists in melting the matters with water, and in the
employment of the direct action of carbonic acid gas, oxygen, azote, hydrogen,
or azotic hydrogen without any salts.
To produce stearine or wax, essential oils are employed to act upon the
matters prepared and treated by one or other of the processes herein-before
described, and in the foregoing operations mother liquors are produced in a fit
state for purifying fatty and resinous matters.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th October 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
AROHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Fler
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 torm 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 IN THE TREATMENT OF FATTY AND
RESINOUS MATTERS, AND IN PREPARING THEM FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CANDLES
AND
OTHER ARTICLES," (communicated to me by Pierre Augustin Puis and
Ferdinand d'Albert, foreigners residing abroad,) upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain

page_text: 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 Richard Archibald Brooman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what mannerthesame is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
stateinent thereof, that is to say:-
The methods hitherto in use for preparing concrete fatty acids or neutral
fatty bodies for the manufacture of candles involve a number of different
processes and the employment of expensive mechanical means. A large portion
of the fatty bodies remain in a liquid state, and are entirely unfit for the
manufacture of candles, while the sulphate of lime, which results from the
saponification and washing processes, is, commercially speaking, a valueless
product.
Now, the present Invention effects the separation of the glycerine salts by
purely chemical means, while the solidification and transformation of the same
salts into concrete bodies intended for the manufacture of candles, and the
agents and re-agents employed in the process, are all soluble in water, and
produce useful and valuable substances. The matters to be treated are first
submitted to a process of purification which applies equally to auimal,
vegetable, and resinous substances.
The purifying process is as follows:-The substances are first divided into
minute particles, and placed in a boiler or other vessel made of tinned metal or
of wood lined with lead, or of other suitable materials, in which the substances
are melted, water being added, and heat applied either by steam, or by placing
the vessel (if of metal) over or near a fire, but the Inventor prefers the
employment of steam. As soon as the substances begin to melt, a quantity of
oxygenated muriatic acid, or of oxygen gas in solution, or of hydrochlorite of
calcium, is poured into the vessel. When the water which absorbs the coloring
principle of the fatty or resinous body and the glycerine assumes a reddish
bue, it is drawn off through a tap placed at or near the bottom of the vessel;
clean water is then poured in, and the melting process goes on. A quantity of
water saturated with pure ammoniacal gas or azoted hydrogen is next added,
and the contents of the vessel kept boiling for about 24 hours, more or less.
When the fatty or resinous substances have become entirely melted and
bleached, they are drawn off and left to cool, or they may be drawn off a little
at a time as they melt.
The substance being thus purified and bleached (although still containing

page_text: the fluid body which forms part of its composition) acquires a great degree of
purity and hardness, is not liable to melt except under strong heat, and is thus
admirably adapted for the manufacture of candles of a quality superior to those
now in use. The waters employed in the foregoing purifying process may
be utilized in the following manner:-The water first drawn off, which holds
the glycerine in solution, is boiled again and mixed with alum, whereby an
aluminate or sulphate of alumina is obtained, which is useful as a mordant in
the printing of fabrics. The second water, which possesses strong decolorising
properties, may be substituted for pure water in the purifying process.
The fatty or resinous matters, having been purified as described, are ready to
undergo the next operation, the objects of which are to solidify them to separate
the fluid from the solid parts, and to transform the latter into a fatty acid, or
species of wax, suitable for the manufacture of stearine candles. This may
be effected by either of the following processes:-In the first process, salts are
used as intermediates between the agents and re-agents in their action on the
matters under treatment; in the second process, the same object is effected by
the direct action of re-agents either in the form of gas or of liquid solutions
saturated with gases.
First process. The fatty bodies are placed in a wooden vessel lined with
lead and re-melted (but without water), being subjected to heat obtained from
steam or otherwise. While the matters are melting, an equal weight of any
alkaline carbonate reduced to a fine powder is sprinkled over them, or else an
alkaline salt or metallic oxide is added. The temperature in the vessel is
maintained at from 122° to 145° Fahrenheit, and the mixture is kept stirred.
It acquires first a milky, then a frothy consistency, and lastly becomes quite
thick; the heat is then lowered to the temperature of lukewarm water, when
one portion of the substance forms a thick paste, and the other portion becomes
an oleaginous liquid, which is drawn off. The solidified portion which remains
in the vessel after the fluid has been removed is treated as follows: Twice or
three times its bulk of water is poured into the vessel, to which is added a
solution of hydrochloric acid gas or sulphuric acid, in order to effect the
neutralization of the substance, the only component parts of which are now
margarine and stearine. As long as the melting goes on, the matters are
kept stirred; they are afterwards left in a state of rest for seven or eight
hours at a low heat, and then allowed to cool, when the fatty body floats on
the surface of the water in the shape of a hard white dry crust. The
substance is then again melted in clear water in order to wash it and liberate
the terrous or other salts which it may contain, and this is again done in
warm water, and a third time in cold water. The water drawn off produces

page_text: by crystallization a hydrochlorate or sulplate of soda, which is a product used
in certain manufactures. The fluid portion of the fatty body which has been
drawn off, as before mentioned, is left to cool until it becomes solid, when it is
again melted and treated (as in the case of the solid portions) with a car-
bonate, or an alkaline salt or metallic oxide, but with this difference in the
proportions used, viz., that in this case the carbonate,alkaline salt,or metallic
oxide must be only half the weight of the fatty substance to which it is added,
or one-fourth the weight of muriate of ammonia may be added. When all
the fatty matter is not solidified by this operation, the solid part is separated
and treated with hydrochloric acid in order to effect its neutralization, and
washed as before described. The operation is theu repeated for the liquid
part. The fatty body solidified as described is now ready for being manu-
factured into candles.
Second process. Thefatty bodypurified bythemethodpreviously described,
is placed in an air-tight vessel with a quantity of water, which is added in
order to render it more liquid while melting, and to absorb such further
impurities as it may yet contain. The matter is then melted by means of heat
generated by steam or otherwise. When the melting begins, an aqueous solu-
tion of the ammoniacial gas of commerce is poured into the vessel or a current
of azoted hydrogen gas is admitted into it, for the purpose of decomposing
the matter, which is kept boiling for from 24 to 36 hours, and when completely
melted it acquires a liquid and milky state, and is then left to cool and subside,
when a complete separation of the different parts of which it is composed is
effected by the action of the agents and re-agents. The oleaginous portion
or oleine rises and floats on the surface, forming, as it were, the top layer, and
under it is a layer of margarine and stearine, partially mixed with water.
The oleaginous portion is then withdrawn, either while still in a liquid state,
or removed after it has become a concrete crust, which form, if left, it would
soon assume. The remaining portions (which are liquid) undergo a treatment
in a cold state; an aqueous solution of chloride of calcium or hydrochlorite of
clear lime is added, together with a certain quantity of oxygenated muriatic
acid gas, which facilitates the separation of the substances from the water.
They rise to the top and float there in the form of a thick paste or scum, and
are then placed on a filter and drained off; they are again melted with the
addition of water, either combined with oxygenated azote gas in solution, or
saturated with any of the following gases, viz., oxygen, carbonic azotic
hydrogen, or azoted hydrogen, which solidifies the matters and brings them to
a consistency resembling wax, and prepares them for being made to pass by
dissolution into a state of stearine.

page_text: The process of dissolution and that of crystallization of the fatty matter are
effected by melting it in four or five times its weight of alcohol, or three or four
times its weight ofether, or in an essential oil, or else in a sulpho-vinate, com-
posed of sulphur and wood spirit, which generates a methylic ether or spirit,
which may be bichloruretted or perchloruretted. The fatty matter crystallizes
as it cools, and thus prepared is ready for being made into caudles. Candles
thus manufactured are similar in appearance to wax candles, and are trans-
parent, hard, and dry, of a fine white color, and only melt under strong heat.
The oleaginous portion which has been separated from the other is manu-
factured into a superior oil.. If it has become concrete it may be melted
without the assistance of water, and when in this condition, as also if it has
remained in a liquid state, it is mixed with a siccative oil which has passed
through (or has been slightly charged with) hydrogen gas, when it forms a
pure, colorless, and clear oil, which remains in a fluid state without either
congealing or thickening even at very low temperatures. This oil has neither
smoke nor sinell, and is well adapted for lighting purposes, and also for the
lubrication of machinery (even of the most delicate description), on account
of its not thickening and not attacking metals; and it is well suited for
exportation to cold climates.
The two processes just described for producing the solidification, separation,
and transformation of fatty bodies (the one by means of salts, the other by
gases,) may be carried into effect by employing the substances specified as
being used in the two methods just described, some being taken from one and
some from the other of the two methods.
Resin, which I use as a material for the manufacture of candles, yields a
peculiar spirit or species of ether, which I employ as a solvent of the fatty
bodies; it is prepared in the following manner: - The resin is first pounded
and then melted in water with an alkali, salt, or alkaline metallic oxide, or
with ammoniacal gas in solution, or azoted hydrogen; or one of the sulphates,
carbonates, or bicarbonates of soda or potash may be employed, the resin being
combined with these salts in order that it maybe the more completely dissolved
while melting. The surface of thedissolving substance becomes covered witha
colored scum, which may be removed and used separately; it may be employed
in the manufacture of soap. The process of dissolution being effected,a clear
solution of hydrochlorite of calcium is added, when thesubstanceimmediately
assumes a milky white hue. The resin is liberated by means of a solution of
a strong mineral acid diluted with water, or else a composition prepared as
follows-Sulphuric acid is poured over a quantity of common salt,or chloride
of sodium, and the two mixed intimately together, when muriatic acid gas is

page_text: instantaneously evolved. To hold the gas in suspension, water is added until
it assumes a greenish yellow hue. The liquid thus produced possesses the
properties of oxygenated muriatic acid, or any other powerful acid. The resin
when liberated appears in the shape of snowy flakes, resembling stearine, and
separates from the liquid, which is drawn off, and the substance poured through
a filter and washed so as to purify it. It then assumes the appearance of a
fatty acid, i. c., stearate of resin, and is ready for the manufacture of candles,
or it may be combined with fatty bodies for that purpose.
It may also be
combined with powerful mineral acids, and gives off by distillation, together
with an acid, an ether or spirit possessing strong properties as a solvent, and
acting powerfully on neutral and other fatty bodies.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as of the said
Invention,―
First, the purification of fatty and resinous bodies by the employment of
oxygenated muriatic acid and of oxygen gas, as herein-before described.
Second, the separation of the fluid from the solid parts of oily and fatty
bodies by means of azoted hydrogen gas, as herein-before described.
Third, the solidification of fatty and resinous bodies by chloride of calcium,
as herein-before described.
Fourth, the transformation of oily and soft fatty bodies into hard or waxy
bodies, by dissolving them, or by means of alcohol, ether, or essential oils, as
herein-before described.
Fifth, the production from fatty and oily bodies of an oil not affected by any
ordinary changes of temperature.
Sixth, the production of sulphate of alumina, sulphate of soda, sulphate of
potash, and other salts by the crystallization of the mother waters when metallic
oxides are employed.
And, seventh, the preparation of resin in order to adapt it to the manu-
facture of candles and production of ether, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of October, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
R. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)