US1340653A - Apparatus and process for the continuous distillation of liquids - Google Patents

Description

F. GIBSON.

APPA-RATUS AND PROCESS FOR THE CONTINUOUS DISTILLATION 0F LIQUIDS-'- APPLICATION FILED JULY 301 i918.

1,340,653. Patented May 18,1920.

By Aiia r ney I. Ina- 5? UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREEMAN IFGIBSON, 0F SAVANNAH, GEORGIA.

APPARATUS AND PROCESS FOR THE CONTINUOUS DISTILLATION OF LIQUIDS.

erence being had to the accompanying drawings in which- Figure 1 is a side elevation and Fig. 2 an endelevation ofa type of still for the carrying out of my process.

he object of my invention is to provide a process for the distillation of liquids which may be operated continuously and which will yield uniform distillate and uniform.

residues. I have found the process very useful in distilling fatty acids, such as oleic acid, stearic acid and palmitic acid from crude mixtures containing them. It is obvious, however, that the process may also be used with advantage in the distillation of other liquids and that it is especially useful whenever a uniform distillate of mixed constituents and a uniform residue I aredesired. y

In the processes heretofore commonly used for the distillation of fatty acids the crude mixture is fed into a still and heated, usually both by the direct heat of a furnace or flame beneath the still and by blowing steam, often superheated, into the crude mixture through perforated steam pipes or spray coils arranged in the still beneath the surface of the crude-oil. "The distillation is usually. conducted under more or less of a vacuum so as to lower the boilin pointsof the fatty acids and cause the distlllationiofthe fatty acids to proceed at atemperature below that at which they arepa'pt to be decomposed by heat. Thedistillate is usually obtained in the form of a mixture" of several fatty acids such as oleic aci ea acid and'isfuS'ed tensivelyfor the manufacture of soap and similar purposesfor which a mixture of the acids of uniform valve 6 to maintain a constant level of liquid in otherindustries which' require a was of: uniform consistency."

It is important, therefore, that both the riciacid and palmitic;

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented May 18 1920. Application fil ed July so,

1918. Serial No. 247,449.

distillate and the residue of the process be of uniform composition. Yet as the process has been heretofore conducted the composition of both the distillate andthe residue ister part of the time the heavier fatty acids preponderate in the liquid. in the still and will therefore be found to'preponderate' in the distillate. After a time the amount of tar in the residue in the still preponderates to such an extent that the process must be stopped and the still cleaned out. The composition of the residue when the process is stopped and the still cleaned out is more or less a matter of chance. It usually contains a substantial 'portion of fatty acid which the final stage of theprocess of distillation did not remove effectively owing to the fact that the large amount of-tar present interfered with the complete distillation of the fatty acids. I According to my process, all the foregoing difliculties are overcome by feeding the crude mixture continuously into a still of the general type illustrated in Fig. 1. Referring to Fig. 1, 1 represents the still which maybe of any suitable shape, for example, rectan gular with a curved bottom and top as with several partitions 2 dividing it into chambers such as A, B, C and. D. These chambers communicate with openings 3, near the bottom of the still. The partitions 2 terminate below the top of the still so that the chambers A, B, C and D all communicate in the upper part of thestill above thepartitions. A'common outlet 4 is provided for the removal of the distilled vapors which are led to a condensing apparatus of the. proper type, not shown. The crude oil is fed into the chamber 'A through'the pipe 5 leading from a suitable reservoir which is automatically controlled by a suitable float the chamber B, thence to the chamber C and thence to the chamber D. The bottom of the still is heated b a suitable source, for example, the gas urner 7, and may also be provided With perforated steam spray coils 11. The withdrawal of the tar may be 001K H trolled by valves 12 on the pipe 10. sampler 13 ,is advantageously provided. The heat wl ich is applied to the still both by the burner 7 and by the steam coils 8 may be uniform in the several chambers or it may increase pr ogressively, if desired. In this connection 1t-should be noted that although a higher temperature is desirable in the successive chambers this temperature is automatically secured to a large extent if the chambers are uniformly heated, for in the chamber A vaporization of the more volatile fatty acids takes place comparatively rapidly, absorbing, in so doing, a

large. number of heat units as latent heat and thus cooling the contents of the cham-' ber. In the chamber B vaporization takes place less rapidly and therefore less heat units are absorbed as latent heat of vaporization and the contents of the chamber are somewhat warmer. Similarly, the contents of the chamber 0 are warmer than those of chamber B, and those of chamber D than the level of the liquid in each of said come partments by restricted openings and aving a common vapor chamber, heating the still to the distillation temperature, 'Withdrawing the distilled products from the common vapor chamber and withdrawing the residue from the last compartment.

2. A continuous process for distilling mixtures containing fatty acids, comprising continuously feeding the mixture into a still provided with compartments communieating progressively by restricted openings below the level of the mixture in each of said compartments and having a common vapor chamber, heating the still to the distillation temperature, withdrawing the distilled fatty acids from the common vapor chamber and withdrawing the residue from the last compartment.

3. Apparatus for the continuous distillation of liquids. comprising a still havingv compartments therein communicating sef'i ally by restricted openings near the bottom of each compartment, a common vapor" chamber above said compartments, means for feeding the liquid into the first .eompartment of the series, means for withdrawing the residue from the last compartment, and means for Withdrawing the distilled products from the common vapor chamber.

FREEMAN I. (HBSON.

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