USRE2048E - Improved apparatus for rendering lard, tallow - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARROL E. GRAY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR RENDERING LARD, TALLOW, &c.

Specification forming part Aof Letters Patent No. 46,103, dated January 31, 1865; Reissue No. 2.0118, dated August 8, 1865.

'To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, GAREOL E. GRAY, of

the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements -in Rendering Apparatus for Rendering Lard, 'Iallow, and other Similar Animal or Vegetable Substances; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, making part of this speciiication, in which* Figure lis a front elevation of the apparatus and furnace, and Fig. 2 a vertical section through the same.

' To enable others skilled in the arts to which my invention appertains to make andnse the same, I will proceed to describe the object, nature, and extent thereof, and the manner of making and operating the same.

There are four important considerations ,which should govern the construction and erection of a rendering apparatus. The first object should be to obtain the best quality of rendered fat, the second to obtain the largest possible yield, the third to reduce the fat Without making the rendering establishment a nuisance, andthe fourth economy of fuel, time, and labor. To answerthese conditions the apparatus should be made to render by the application of adry heat, and possess means of exactly regulating the temperature applied thereto. It should be made air-tight, possess Aa large rendering or heating surface, be fitted with a properly arranged pipe to provide for and control the escape of the noxious vapors and gases, to the end that they may be deodorized or consumed in the furnace, and should be so arranged in relation to the heating source that little or no heat will be wasted.

' The old process of rendering was to put the -fat in an open tank or kettle and apply the iire to the bottom, and continue to stir the fat until the rendering was completed. By this means a good quality of rendered fat was obtained, but the process is atedious and laborious one, and is objectionable on account of the noxious gases and vapors driven of in the atmosphere, which makes it a nuisance, and also on account of its liability to scorch or burn the fat, there being no'certain means of regnlating the temperature.

Renderin g by steam in tight and open tanks i, has also been extensively practiced, and,so far as regard yield in the case of tight tanks, with very good results, but the rendered fat is of inferior quality, it being mixed with more or less dirt, water, and gluten or gelatine. The water and steam in rendering dissolves the gluten and mixes it Withthe fat and dirt which unavoidably gets in the tank, making the fat soft, impure, and liable to spoil when stored; and, moreover, by the use ot' these with which their establishments are chargeable, for in blowing oli' steam and opening the tanks after rendering, the stench is terrible, especially if the fat be a little sour before charging the tank, which frequently happens. In the course of my practice, however, I have applied pipes to the tops of these tanks to provide for the' escape of the noxious vapors furnace for consumption, superheating the vapors and gases in the pipes before introducin g it in the furnace. rlhis practice has been attended with very good results.

The objections urged against tight steamtanks are also applicable to open steam-tanks, but in the latter case the yield is not quite so large, nor is the fat quite so soft nor so liable to spoil; the temperature being lowerthere is not so much gluten abstracted from the ani mal tissue.

Ienderingtanks have also been made and used with a steamjacket-that is, with a narrow chamber made around the outside of the tank to receive steam from a boiler provided to supply it, thus rendering by a dry surface heat vin a close vessel. But these apparatuses are objectionable on account of the first cost, which is considera-ble, as a steam-boiler must always accompany the tanks, which adds very much to the cost of an establishment; besides, the expense for fuel in such cases is large, owa ing to the loss of heat which unavoidably happens from radiation and condensation, which are incidental to the large surfaces exposed in such cases 5 and these tanks are also objectionable because they provide no means of disposing inoiensively of the vapor and gases set free in rendering. c The` Water which is found in combination with the rough fat, amounting to about ten per cent. of the weight, is in these tanks liberated and kept tanksv renderers do not avoid the nuisance and gases to a deodorizing-chamber or to the in contact with the fat, s o that `all the inj urious e'ects resulting from the presence of water may be urged against the use of these tanks with nearly as much force as `in the case of close or open steam-tanks. first-rate results in tanks ot' this kind, the vapor and gases should be conveyed away as fast as generated, or nearly so.

The object of the invention making the subject-matter of this application is to avoid the objections and supply the deficiencies above pointed out.

y The apparatus is shown in the drawings. I t consists of a tight tank, A, tted with a water and steam jacket, B, well braced to the tank' to insure against explosion. The tank is pro vided with a pipe, C, for drawing oft' the rendered fat, and the jacket is provide-d with a paiifot ga ge-cocks,:E E, to ascertain the waterlevel, and said jacket is also fitted with a safety-valve, F, and a pressuregage, H, which latter instrument also communicates with the tank by means of a branch pipe, I, by which the pressure in the tank may be ascertained as well as in the jacket by closing the cock AX and opening the cock in said branch pipe.

Said tank is also provided with a pipe, J, to carry the noxious gases and vapors from the tank, either to the furnaces through the pipe K and the superheating-pipes r 1^, shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2, around the furnaces or through the coil L in the condenser U, and from thence th rough the pipe r to the deodorizing-chamber M, out of which the condensed water escapes through the cock or pipe n. The connection between the pipe J and the coil-pipe is made by a branch pipe, 0, the whole of the pipes being iitted with suitable cocks to turn the vapor, gases, and water in the required direction, either in the deodorizer through the cock S, or in the condenser, as described.

This apparatus is set in brickwork, as shown in the drawings, directly over a furnace, l), from whence the draft-dues are carried to the chimney Q up around the tank as high as may be thought necessary to abstract the heat from the furnace. vThe furnace-frontv is shown by R, the grate-bars by I), and the gasdelivering and superheating pipes in dotted lines by 'u n, the lower one of which is perfo rated to jet the gas into the fire.

In operating the apparatusy the tank is charged with rough fat, and the jacket lled with water to just above the iiues. The manhole G is closed, and the safety-valve is set to blow ott a pressureot' about sixty pounds per square inch fj fire is then started in the furnaces and the rendering commences.

The temperature can be ascertained and regulated either by the blowing oft' of the safety-valve, or by the direct application of a thermometer to the jacket. The rough fat is rapidly and evenly rendered. The legitimate To obtain yield is as large as by any other process, and the rendered fat is of the, best quality. The noxious gases are driven oli' through the pipe J, either in the deodorizer or in the furnace, by the pressure of steam generated in the tank from the water held in combination with the fat, and which is set free and evaporated during the process of rendering. This pressure thus generated in the tank from the constitutional water of the fat also serves to force the rendered fat out of the tank and deliver it in any part of the establishment. It will be seen that this tank supplies the require- .ments of a iirst-rate rendering apparatus. It

answers all the conditions-viz., a close tank, a dry heat, a ready means of regulating the temperature, a means of driving ot't', controlling, disinfecting, deodorizing, superheating,

consuming, or condensing the gases and vapors as they escape from the tank, and a direct application of the steam and water jacket to the fire, thus avoiding any material loss of heat by condensation orradiation.

The apparatus I have here described is more especially intended for rendering lard and tallow; but it is equally well adapted for other purposes. I do not intend, therefore, to contine myself to the use of the apparatus for this particular purpose, as it is just as applicable i'or other uses. It is, for example, an excellent apparatus for cooking and refining food for preservation.

I therefore wish it distinctly understood that the use of my apparatus for any purpose to which it is especially applicable, without any substantial change in principle or construction, will fall within the scope of my invention.

Having now described the object, nature, and extent ot' my invention, and the manner of making and using my apparatus, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isl

l. Making a close water-jacket, in combination with the tank and a part otit, and arranging said waterjacket, so made a part of said tank, in direct communication with the furnace, so that the water-jacket shall intervene between the tire and the tank, and act as a means of conducting and distributing the heat from the tire to and around the substance contained in the tank.

2. Using the steam generated in a close tank from the constitutional water in the fat, for the purpose ot' aiding' kand controlling the escape of the noxious gases and vapors either to a superheater for consumption in the furnace, or to a deodorizer, for the purpose of condensing them, in the manner substantially as described, for the purpose specified.

G. E. GRAY.

Witnesses:

AMos BRoADNAx, PETER D. KENNY.

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