US634154A

US634154A - Composition of matter for use in extracting vegetable fibers.

Info

Publication number: US634154A
Application number: US63893897A
Authority: US
Inventors: William Warburton
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1897-06-01
Filing date: 1897-06-01
Publication date: 1899-10-03
Anticipated expiration: 1916-10-03

Description

NITED STATES PATENT FFICYE.

COMPOSITION OF MATTER FOR USE IN EXTRACIING VEGETABLE FIBERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 634,154, dated October 3, 1899.

Application filed June 1, 1897. Serial No. 638,938. (No specimens.)

["0 all whom zit may concern:

Be it known that LWILLIAM WARBURTON, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, and a resident of Adswood Lane, East, Stockport, county of Chester, England, have invented a certain new Composition of Matter for Use in Extracting Vegetable Fibers, of which the following is a specification.

My said invention relates to a new compo-' sition of matter treating the various fibrous plants of the nettle family commonly known as ramie, rhea, china-grass, or other similar fibrous vegetable products for the purpose of extracting fibers therefrom. Acids of various kinds have been used heretofore for such apurpose but in practice they are found to reduce the strength and to otherwise damage the fibers.

I subject such fibrous material to the action of an emulsion or solution containing carbonate of soda in combination with'soap and petroleum and bicarbonate of soda (or an equivalent quantity of carbonate of ammonia) in a closed vessel or keir under steam-pressure.

I prefer to treat the vegetable material in the form of ribbons, such as are usually found in commerce. These are for convenience of handling laid in baskets of galvanized wire,

which are then placed in an ordinary high-' pressure keir, such as is commonly found in bleach-works. Sufficient water is run into the keir to cover the material. Meanwhile in a separate receptacle I prepare a liquid mixture as follows: For everyhundred parts, by weight, of fibrous material to be treated I usually take seventeen parts of pure alkali, seven parts of soap, eleven parts of petroleum, ten parts of bicarbonate of soda. These are mixed with water in the proportion of three hundred parts, by weight, to form a solution, emulsion, or mixture which will readily flow into the keir. By pure alkali I mean the form of sodium carbonate (Na OO known commercially under that name and which contains about fifty-eight per cent. .of sodium oxid, (Na O.) For the bicarbonate of soda (NaHOO an equal weight of commercial carbonate of ammonia, which ordinarily consists chiefly of NILJ IOO with NH,,NH CO and a trace of (NH )2CO may be substituted. This mixture is run into the keir containing the submerged fibrous material, whereupon the keir is closed, steam is admitted, and the whole is kept under steam-pressure for a suitable time, depending to some extent on the nature or kind of material being treated. For the ordinary ramie ribbons of commerce I find that if it is subjected to the action of the above-described mixture under a steam-pressure of fifty to fifty-five pounds per square inch for four to five hours it is sufficient. The proportions of pure alkali and bicarbonate of soda are subject to variation, accord ing to the nature and origin of the material to be treated. Some materials require more or less pure alkali, (with a corresponding diminution or augmentation of the bicarbon ate of soda.) For example, in treating ramie grown on a limestone soil I should use ten parts only of pure alkali and seventeen parts of bicarbonate of soda, (or of carbonate of am monia.) The proportions of soap and petroleum remain practically the same in any case. After such treatment it will be found that the gummy or resinous constituents of the fibrous material and also the skin are dissolved, decomposed, or altered in such a Way that subsequent Washing with pure water suffices to eliminate them from the fiber. This subsequent washing may be accomplished by hand or with the aid of machinery or mechanical appliances of various kinds, as will be well understood by those conversant with the treatment of fibrous materials Without further description.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A composition of matter for use in extracting vegetable matters and consisting of pure alkali, soap, petroleum and bicarbonate of soda substantially as defined and in the proportions set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM WARBURTON.

Witnesses:

JOHN HALL, A. T. WHITELOW.