US81743A - Improved apparatus for rendering lard, tallow - Google Patents

Description

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UNITED STATES PATENT AMos BnoADNAx, or MONT oLAIE, NEW JEEsEY.

IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RENDERING LARD, TALLOW,v&c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. S 1,743, dated September 1,1868.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, AMos BRoADNAx, of the town of Mont Clair, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, doing business at 161 Broadway, in the city of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Rendering and Rening Lard, Tallow, and other Oleaginous Matter; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the annexed drawing, making part hereof, and in which different gures illustrate different parts of my invention, and various methods of applying the same.

To accomplish the objects sought after in rendering and refining lard, lallow, and other oleaginons matter, the apparatus employed for that purpose should possess, first, a certain means ofabstracting quickly, and at small cost of labor and fuel, all the fat out of the tissue treated, without burning or otherwise injuringthe product or the refuse, and without impregnating them with the offensive odor of the gases and vapors evolved in the process, leaving the fat well cooked, dried, and sweet, and the scrap crisp, sweet, and dry; second, a certain means of destroying the offensive gases and vapor evolved in the process lof rendering.

In the old process of rendering fat, which is still largely practiced, the material is put in an open pan or kettle, to which the re is directly applied, until the fat, which is constantl y stirred, is melted, cooked, and dried.7 rlhe tallow, when beef-fat is rendered, is then nearly all drawn or dipped out, leaving just sufficient to nicely cover the scrap or graves. rlhese are left in and cooked until they crisp.77 They are then taken out and pressed, and the remainder of the fat is dipped out in a separate vessel, which completes the process.

rJhe objections to this method are, lirst, the liability of burning the fat, making the constant attention of a man necessary` to stir it and regulate the fire, and the production of two qualities of fat, that in which the scrap is crisp not being so good as that at lirst dipped out of the pan; second, the offensive gases .and vapors developed in the process, all of which are ydriven off in the establishment,

making it a nuisance; third, the extravagant consumption of fuel and labor resulting from an injudicious application of the heat. This process is known among melters as theiold lire process, and is still adhered to by many on account of the superior quality of the rendered fat, and on account of the scrap, which in this method can be saved; but in many places this process has been superseded by what is known as the stealn process, of which there are various modifications, all of which, however, proceed. upon substantially the same principle. In this process the fat is put in a tight digester, in which the steam is generated, or introduced from a separate boiler, the pressure in the digester being raised high enough and continued long enough to yield and maintain the temperature necessary to melt the fat.

In this method all the grease can be abstracted from the matter rendered; but the process is subject to the following objections: First, on account of the inferior quality of the rendered fat, which is almost always impregnated withvan offensive odor, and is more or less soft in consistency and opaque in color, which is due to confining the gas and steam on the fat, and on account of the offensive odor from the digester when opened, or when the steam and gas are allowed to escape; second, on accountof theloss of the scrap, which l it is not only impossible to press, but which is also offensive with the foul gases and vapors, and is t for nothing but manure, and is very much injured even for that, as the gluten is nearly or; quite abstracted; third, on account of its liability to burst.

l have now described the two methods of melting fat, and have pointed out what I uit derstand to be the principal objections to them, respectively, as heretofore practiced. I have also described in a general w'ay what qualities a rendering apparatus should possess to avoid the objections above pointed out and answer the conditions required of it by the trade and the public.

ed to me on the 15th dayof October, 1867, embodies substantially the desired qualities; but since that invention was made further experience has suggested a more perfect detail, as well as many substantial additions, all of which I have developed and reduced to a practical form.

And now, to enable those skilled in that branch of the arts to which this invention appertains to make and use the same, I will proceed-to describe the different parts, modiiications, and forms thereof, as I propose to apply them, and some of which are illustrated by the different figures in the accompanying dra'wings.

aIiigure l shows a longitudinal vertical section, and Fig. 2 a transverse vertical section, through a rectangular brick chamber, A, in the bottom of which a brick-covered furnace, B, is formed, with flues a a radiating on all sides into the chamber A. In this brick chamber an iron chamber, (l, is placed, made in the same form as the chamber A, only smaller by from eight to twelve inches in each dimension, the metal chamber being arranged in the brick one so as to leave a flue or open space on all sides of it from four to six inches wide, the chamber C being` supported in a rectangular metal piece arranged in relation to the Iiues a so as to divide the heat from the furnace, causing a portion of it to iiow under the chamber C, and a portion of it up around the sides and over the top thereof. This chamber() should be made tight and fitted with a man-hole, H, supplied with a cover and the usual mountings to make and keep it tight. In the inside of this metal chamber C there is set an open rectangular pan, D D, the end plates whereof extend up and form a bearing for the gudgeon f of a large perforated cylinder, G, the said end plates being stiffened with angle-iron, as shown by j j. This pan is in length and breadth from eight to twelve inches less than the internal diameter of the chamber in which it is set, and arranged to leave an open space between it and the said chamber of from four to six inches wide, the pan being supported by brackets, so as to continue the space under the bottom as well as at the sides thereof, as shown by the drawing. The space under the bottom, however, may be dispensed with, though I think it best to retain it, to avoid even the possibility of burning the fat. This panis also fitted with a perforated partition, E, and a nozzle or man-hole, F, made to pass through the chainber C, to which it should be riveted or other'- wise secured, so as to make a tight joint between the chambers A and C. Said nozzle is also iitted with a cover, which should be steamtight, and with the usual mountings to secure it. Said nozzle should be applied to said pan so as to bring the bottom thereof on the same plane with the perforated partition, making the bottom of the nozzle and the top of the partition one unobstructed surface, to facilitate the removal of the scrap. The perforated BIJ/13 cylinder G is made of boiler-iron, and is provided with a door or doors, l l, hinged to the shell of the cylinder, and secured in any convenient manner, s'o as to open outward, that when the fastenin gs by which they are secured are cast oif, and the cylinder turned upside down in relation to the position it is shown to occupy by the drawing, the doors will fall open and the contents of the cylinder out on the perforated partition. This perforated cylinder is also fitted with prongs d d, set in the inside thereof opposite the doors, for the purpose of carrying the fat over with the cylinder when it is made to rotate upon its axis. The gudgeon or central shaft f of the cylinder is made longenough to reach to the outside of the brickwork and receive a crank by which the cylinder can be turned. Where said shaft passes through the chamber O it should be iitted with a stuffing-box, c, to make a tight joint between the two chambers. To the upper part of the chamber C a pipe, I, is attached, which leads to a pipe, J, set in the brick work, forming the wall of the furnace B, the gratebars of which are shown by t'. This pipe J is made to surround the furnace on all sides, excepting that part immediately in front ot' the furnace-door, and is provided with numerous branch pipes leadinginto the furnace through the wall, upon which it is supported. The pipe I should be about two and a half .inches internal diameter, and the pipe J about four and a half inches in the same dimension, and the area of all the branch pipes should bea little in excess of that of the main pipe J, so that the steam and gas from the chamber C will flow into the fire with a constantly-decreasing resistance. p

The operation of this apparatus is as follows, that is to say: The rough fat is put into the perforated cylinder, a fire is made in the furnace, the heat of which ascends and envelops the chamber C on every side, and through it the heat is radiated upon the fat. As the rendering proceeds the cylinder G should be turned occasionally to break the mass of melting fat, and expose the dili'erent parts thereof to the heat, the prongs d keeping the cylinder from slipping around the fat, throwing it over, tumbling and parting the mass, and admitting the heat to the interior thereof.

In this process, as fast as the melting advances, the lard or tallowv runs through the perforations in the cylinder, and through the perforated partition into the pan D, the steam and gas going oft' through the pipes I and J into the fire. After the fat is all melted out of the tissue the latter, after it has been thoroughly dried and crisped, is allowed to fall out ot' the cylinder through the doors Z on the partition E, from whence it is drawn, by means of a hoe or rake, out through the nozzle F; and the rendered fat, after the water is driven out of it, is drawn out through the pipe h into suitable receivers.

This apparatus involves substantially the same principle as that for which the patent was granted tome as af'oresaid on the 15th day of October, 1867, differing from that, however, in that the fat in this case is put into a perforated cylinder hung upon its axis, to re- Y volve, tumble, andeXpose every partof the fat `to the direct rays of the heat, instead of `relying upon the surface of the digester for its rendering efficiency. This apparatus, moreover, furnishes a -much more,v efficient method of drying andcrisping the scrap 5 butthe heat is applied in substantially the same \vay,and

into practice is fully shown and described. I.

will, therefore, briefly state the principle here, as it will lead to a better understanding of the modifications of `the invention to be hereinafter described.` t The principle is this; Animal matter, after having been slaughtereda short time, becomes sour, and emits an offensive odor, even at vthe ordinary temperature of the atmosphere, showing that the gases evolved in its decomposition go off at a low temperature. Now, if this sour matter be put in a vesseh such as above W'described, for example, and the temperature raised to about 2000 of Fahrenheit, this gas will go off very rapidly, and most of it before V.the constitutional water inthe fat is liberatedr and vaporized. By t-hese means most of the gases will be separated from the water and other matter, and will present themselves to the fire unmixed with steam, and in a proper condition for consumption. lThese gases are all combustible, and will readily burn if properly presented to the fire. They must come mixed with as little steam as possible, and they must come slowly, not under pressure, with a high velocity, for, in that case, they will escape before they have had time for consumption. The gas and steam pipes must be large enough to let the gas first -and then the steam pass off as fast as it is evolved, leaving it to l flow slowly into the furnace in numerous comparatively small `jets, and the consumption will be perfect.

The use of the apparatus completely verifies the theory, for, after the sour fat has been thoroughly heated and cooked, the cocks may.

be opened and the steam allowed to flow into 'the building without being in the least offensive.

Fig. 3 is another modification of my inven- V tion. It illustrates a vertical, section through an apparatus embodying all of the features of that last described, excepting the revolving perforated cylinder. In this apparatus the fat is put into an open kettle, A, inclosed in a close chamber, B, which, in its turn, is inclosed in a brick chamber, C, all of the vessels being cylindrical in form'and set over the furnace, .the same as iu the other case, the furnace here being also cylindrical.` The melting-.pan in this apparatus is divided by a perforated partition, D, under which the cylindrical shell is perforated, as shown by a a a, to admit the hotair under the partition D and into the fat, which is put in the upper part of the pan and rests on the partition, the melted fat running through the holes in the dividing-plate into the bottom part of the pan, from whence it is drawn through the pipe b. After the rendering is completed and the fat and scrap sufficiently cooked, dried, andcrisped, the scrap is drawn out from o' the division-plate through the nozzle E.

In this case the bottom of the metal chamber B is perforated a't the center over a surface of about two feet in diameter, to allow the heat to flow up around the melting-pan and throng-h the fat, and this may also be done in` the case of the apparatus last described, if it should be found desirable 5 but I think it will be found safer to rely upon the heat radiated through the metal, which will be found ample, there being' no difficulty whatever in maintaining the temperature at from 4500 to 5000 of V/ Fahrenheit. The construction of the furnace and the pipe for conveying the gas and steam to the fire, and their relation to each other, are the same, substantially, as in the apparatus last described. This apparatus is, however, provided with a nozzle, F, to ventilate and cool the melting-pan after the rendering is compl eted. The pan is, of course, charged through the man-hole G, which is fitted with a steamtight cover and the usual mountings to secure it, as is also the nozzle E, substantially as shown. l-

Y By Fig. 4 of the drawing there is illustrated a central vertical section through an apparatus substantially the same as that for which the said patent of the 15th of' October, 1867, was granted to me, differing from that, however, in that the iiues in this case are put in the digester A horizontally, leaving the whole bottom of the tank unobstructed, to facilitate the removal of the scrap, through the nozzle B, off of the perforated false bottom C, this apparatus being fitted with ventilators D,` as in the case of the patent above referred to. The furnace of this apparatus is nevertheless different from that; and the fines thereof also differ somewhat, in their relation to the apparatus, from the two forms of apparatus last described,

in this, that the whole heat of the furnace is thrown into the space between the brick and the metal chambers which inclose the digester, relying, in this case, upon the heat radiated through the chamber E and the iron of the digester to melt the fat, which has hitherto been found ample for thatpurpose. In other respects the furnace of this apparatus is the same as that of those last described, and the means of disposing of the noxious gasesand vapors is also the same 5 but to this apparatus there are additions not shown in any of the others, and which I will now proceed to describe. One of these additions consists in drawing hot air, by means of a pump, Gr, out of the chamber in which the digester is placed through a pipe, H, and forcing the said hot air, by means of the same pump, back into the digester through the pipe 1, the pump being the ordinary air-pump for forcing and drawing air. The object of this addition is to hasten the operation of rendering by forcing the hot air into immediate contact with the tissue.

Another of these additions consists in creating a vacuum in the digester by means of an air-pump, J, and a condenser, K, and by that means draw the hot air out of the chamber around the digester to the inside thereof through the pipes ft a, which reach up inside of the chamber nearly as high as the digester, to keep the melted fat from running out into the chamber. The pump in this case is the common air-pump, and the pipe leading from it to the condenser is shown by e, and the delivery-pipehthereof is shown by and the pipe leading from the digester to the condenser is shown by b, the injection-pipe by c. The condenser is of the ordinary open -jet variety, fitted with a perforated plate, d, to cre-ate a spray, and induce a more complete condensation. i'

When this condenser is used, or any similar device, the steam and gas pipe R is left olf, the steam being condensed and the offensive gas absorbed in the water. N ow, this water in hot weather will give up the gases held by it in solution, and will consequently emit a very oli'ensive and unhealthy odor, due to the. gases which are constantly going olf under the high temperature of summer. 1t is therefore desirable to separate these gases from the water, and consume them before they leave the apparatus. This object I accomplish by delivering the water from the pump into an evaporator or heater, by which I raise the temperature of the Water high enough to set the gases free without evaporatin g it into steam, allowing the water to run out of the bottom of the heater into the sewer or gutter, and the gases to escape through a pipe into the re for consumption.

rl`he heater in this'case consists of a plain metal cylinder, w, set on suitable supports in a heating-chamber, '0, formed inside of a brick or colnposition wall, m.

In the inside of the cylinder w there are fitted, upon four standards, k lc, a series of conical plates, i t' andjj, the upper cone, t, be ing arranged with its apex directly under the center of the dclivery-pipef, and with its base, which is serrated, setting in the inverted side ot' the conej, in the center of which a hole is made, into which the apex of the succeeding cone fi is arranged, and so on through the series. N ow, t-he water, in entering this heater,

first strikes the apex of the top conc, and spreads over its upper surface, and then over the inside surface of the conej; thence over the outside surface of 'the succeeding cone, and so on from one surface to the other, heating and driving off the gases, until it reaches the bottom and escapes through the pipe I), the gas escaping through the pipe h into the fire, and the smoke and other unconsumed product of the furnace I escape through the pipe ginto the smoke and fire flue of the appa- TELUS.

To prevent the heater from getting too hot and from burning out, there is a fire-brick or plate, z, placed over the furnace, with iiues c made in its periphery to let the heat into the chamber; but `the furnace of this heater may be dispensed with altogether by setting the heater on the apparatus, or in such relation to it as to draw the heat for its operation directly from the main furnace of the apparatus.

Fig. 5 illustrates another modification of my invention. This figure is a vertical section through the apparatus, which consists of a close cylindrical digester, A A, with a large flue, B, through the center thereof. In this case the digester is set in a brick chamber over the furnace, which is constructed substantially the same as those heretofore described, differing from them, however, in thatit hasa separate flue, C, leading to the chimney, by which the heat can be turned off of the di gester altogether. This furnace is also provided with a damper, a a, over the dues leading to the space l) under the tank, and the iiue leading up and enveloping the tank is also provided with a damper, c, by which, with the aid of thermometers, the temperature around the digester can be regulated with absolute certainty, the dampers being Worked by a lever through the Ventilating-hole F. The smoke and other unconsumed gases that escape from the furnace when the heat is turned on the apparatus pass up through the pipe E, each smokeilue being provided with a damper to regulate the draftof the furnace. rlhe provision in this apparatus for carrying oft' and consuming the gases is the same as in Figs. l and 2. The drawing in this case shows but one nozzle, G, for taking the scrap out of the apparatus; but there should be two, one arranged on each side of the central flue, B. The digester is, of course, charged through the manholes H H.

Fig. 6 illustrates the same form of the inventlon as that shown in Figs. l and 2, with the gas and steam pipe leading to a surface -condenser, consisting of a series of plates riveted together and coiled up in the form of a scroll, as shown by b b.

The steam and gas enter a main pipe, c, and pass from that into each coil of the condenser through the branch pipes made on said main pipe, and leading to the holes shown in the respective coils on the line b I) of the plan.

This coil is set in a tank on brackets, so as to Lhave a water-space bet-Ween it and the bottom of the tank, and the tank is supplied -With a'Water-pipe, d, leading through the tank and down to the space `under the coil, by which the cold Water is introduced into the bottom, and the hot or Warm water is discharged through the flow-pipe c, and the water of condensation is discharged through the pipe f into the heater, which is precisely the same asthat above described, and shown inconuection with Fig. 4, and :is used for precisely the same purpose; but in this case only the water `of condensation has to be heated, whereas in the other case, the condenser being an open ber, to which the heatcan be applied and regulated, substantially in the manner described.

2. Rendering fat by putting it in a tumbling perforated chamber, out of which the f'at and water can be drained as fast as the melting proceeds, andin which the scrap can be dried when said perforated tumbling chamber is confined in a chamber which can Vbe heated tothe required temperature.

3. Combining av perforated rendering-vessel which can be rotated, and whichis confined in a hot chamber, over or 'in connection with a pan arranged to receive the fat and water set free in the process. Y Y

`4.. Constructing a covered furnace with radiating lines, substantially as described, in the bottom of a chamber, and. arranging in said chamber and over said furnace a rendering apparatus, substantially as set forth.

5. Combining in a chamber tol which the heat can be applied and the temperature regulated, substantially as described, an open rendering-kettle, divided by a perforated partition-plate in such manner as to form an upper and a lower chamber, making the lower chamber large enough to hold all the grease or oil which can be extracted from a full charge of fat in the upper chamber, leaving the scrap, afterthe process is completed, on the plate above the surface of the rendered fat.

6. Rendering fat by forcing hot air out of a chamber in which the temperature can be regulated into the digester by means of a pump, substantially as described. 1 7. Rendering fat or other oleaginous matter by drawing a-current of hot air into the digester or upon the fat out of a chamber in which the temperature can be regulated, by means of a partial or complete vacuum created in the digester through the agency of a condenser and pump, or in any ofthe well-known methods of creating av complete or partial vacuum, substantially as described.

8. Separating the offensive gases from the Vcondense-water, and destroying the same by passing said condense-water, whether out of an open or surface condenser, through a heater combined or connected with the apparatus, by which the gas is driven out of the Water as it ows from. the condenser into the fire, or is otherwise disposed of, substantially in the manner described.

AMOS BROADNAX. Witnesses ELS. FIRMAN,

EDWARD P. FLINT.

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