US1170468A - Sulfo-fatty-aromatic acid salt. - Google Patents

Description

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nnustr 'iWITCI-IELL, or WYOMING, 01-110;

SULFO-FATTY AROMA'1IC ACID SALT.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that LEnnsT TWITGHELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at \Vyom'ing, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sulfo-Fatty- Aromatic Acid Salt, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new product comprising a salt of a saponifying (hydrolyz erate an active, stable, pure and concentrated, sulfonic acid saponifier, of an oily nature, and which will not decompose at the temperature of boiling water under which the process is carried on, and the metal component of the reagent uniting with the acid to form a product capable of beingseparated from the glycerin as a precipitate. This sulfonic material, being a stable powder or solid, can be safely shipped in ordinary packages and does not requirethe use of sealed vessels, as when the conventional liquid saponifier is used. The dry solid sulfonic material can be more efficiently administered in the treatment than a liquid saponifier, and can be used'in smaller quantities. But of still greater importance is the fact that the sulfonic acid when so liberated from the combination existing as-a dry solid or powder in the presence of the boiling fats or oils, becomes a concentrated, pure and stable saponifier, far more intense in its saponifying action than any liquid material adapted and used for the same purpose. More specifically, it is the object of my invention to refine and concentrate the crude product known generically as sulfo-fattyaromatic acid. such a product and a process of producing it being described and claimed in my prior Patent No. 682,503, dated July 11, 1899.

A specific example ofthis ,saponifving reagent may be designated as naphthalenestearo-sulfonic acid, and this example will Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 1, rate.

Application filed January 29, 1913. Serial No. 744,820.

serve to illustrate the principles on which my present invention is based, the conversion of said product into a salt constituting one of the concrete embodiments of the series of products which it is the object of this invention to produce. Under manufacturing conditions obtaining, this product when produced in accordance with-the process described in my said prior patent, exists as about a forty per cent. component of aviscous, dark-colored liquid, containing as impurities approximately about thirty-five per cent. of oleic acid, which has been acted upon, polymerized and colored by the sulfuric acid, and approximately twenty-five per cent. of water containing some sulfuric acid and naphthalene-sulfonic acid. This crude product is an oily or tarry liquid almost black, and while it is and has been for many years advantageously employed in the manufacture of fatty acids and glycerin, it is open to the objection that the active saponifying acid exists in a nonrefined and non-concentrated condition.

"Also the oil slightly colors the fatty acid in the ultimate 'saponifving process, while the naphthalene-sulfonic acid somewhat contaminates the glycerin. Furthermore, inasmuch as this crude product exists as a heavy liquid, it requires shipping in sealed vessels the bulk of the product being considerable in proportion to the Weight of the active saponifying acid component.

It is the object of my present invention to refine and concentrate this crude product and convert it into a water-insoluble salt of the naphthalene-stearo-sulfonic acid,

which can be separated, dried and powdered and shipped in condensed form. The'preferred process of treating this crude product'constitutes the subject-matter ofa sep- ,arate application for Letters Patent, filed January 29, 1913, Serial No. 744,818. It will sufiice for the present purpose to briefly recite the steps of this process as it is pref-- erably employed.

The crude product of the naphthalenestearosulfonic acid is first treated with a solution of common salt in orderto Wash out the greater part of thesulfuric acid' and aromatic sulfonic acid which it contains as impurities. This treatment also converts part of'the sulfo-fatty-aromatic acid into its sodium salt (Water alone would not do for this washing as the reagent is soluble in 'pure water, but insoluble in water containing salt). Second, the material is put into a suitable extraction apparatus and extracted with naphtha or other solvent which dissolves fats and fatty acids but not the sulfofatty-aromatic acid. This operation removes the free fatty matter which had been acted on and colored by the sulfuric acid in the manufacture of the original reagent but had not been converted into sulfo-fatty-aromatic acid. Operations one and two may be advantageously combined into one. Third, the extracted material is dissolved in a large quantity of water and precipitated with a salt of such a metal as will form an insoluble compound with the fatty-aromatic-sulfonic. acidsuch metals are barium, calcium, aluminum, magnesium, etc. As the sulfofatty-aromatic acid has not been completely neutralized with the salt water treatment, it may be necessary at this stage to add a small quantity of a base to neutralize the mixture and cause. complete precipitation. It is to be understood, however, that the neutraliz- 'ing step need only be suliicient to neutralize the sulfonic component of the crude product, as the fatty acid component, being a relatively weak acid, need not be completely neutralized. The remainder of the soluble impurities have been washed out by the process. Fourth, the precipitate, which sinks to the bottom of the tank as a viscous mass, is removed, dried and ground to powder.

The powder is stable and the major portion comprises a concentrated saponifying agent. To test the strength of this product it is only necessary to determine the percentage of the sulfonic component thereof (radical, S0 11) as this constitutes the active saponifying principle of the material.

The residue of my new product, amounting to approximately fifteen or twenty per cent, consists of oil or a little water, but without any appreciable deleterious characteristics.

I thus obtain a solid which can be powdered as distinguished from the liquid product. The powder is nonhygroscopic, can be cheaply packed for shipping without danger of loss through leakage, and it is extremely stable.

I thus obtain a condensed, concentrated and stable sulfonic material, existing as a commercial dry solid or powder, the active, sulfonic saponifier of which is relatively double strength as compared to the original or crude product, and it can be administered as a powder or broken up solid in the treatment process, in connection with a suflicient amount of mineral acid, such as sulfuricor hydrochloric acid, to react upon the material and liberate the active, stable sulfonic acid saponifier, the metal component of the material forming a combination with the mineral acid which can be separated out as a precipitate. nitely, shipped conveniently in reduced bulk as a dry solid, and used conveniently and economically when required, the saponifier efficiency is increased, and a better product produced. This powdered form of reagent is of a dull-grayish color, as a considerable amount of the dark-colored oil has been eliminated, so that lighter products result from the use of this new reagent, and as all of the naphthalene-sulfonic acid has been removed, the glycerin produced as a result of the use of my present reagent is much purer than that obtained'by using the crude reagent.

Having described my invention, 1 claim A sulfonic material for the manufacture of glycerin and fatty acids from fats and oils, consisting of a dry, stable solid, insoluble in Water, consisting of a neutral body having the property when treated with a mineral acid of yielding an active, concentrated sulfonic saponifier, of an oily nature, which will not decompose at the temperature of boiling water, and a residue of innocuous character adapted to be removed as a precipitate.

\ In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

ERNST TWITCHELL.

Witnesses OLIVER B. :KAISER, LOUISE A. BECK.

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