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Previous Next The best candle and soap tips online! 226 TECHNICAL TREATISE ON SOAP AND CANDLES. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SOAP FACTORY. 227 the tun, between the diaphragm and the bottom, can be drawn oft' into tubs below for use, as may be wanted. Close Fig. 24. by these vats there must be a pump or hydrant, with its outlet spout conveniently arranged for a supply of water, in quantity as required. An excellent substitute for the cock is a long-handled plug of wrought iron, Fig. 25. Its conical tip must be Fig. 25. tightly and smoothly wrapped with, tow, so that when in use, it may make a tight joint. It is placed in the hole from the interior of the vats, so that being always in position, it is only necessary to give the handle a push when it is desired to draw off the lye, and draw it outwards again when the flow is to be stopped. In large establishments, where there are a number of lye vats in constant operation, it is necessary to have a tightly covered reservoir for the reception of the lye as fast as it runs through; for there is not space enough below the false bottom for any great accumulation of liquid. There are generally several vats to each laboratory, but the number depends entirely upon the amount of soap manufactured, and consequently the proportion of lye necessary for the steady prosecution of the work. In a Marseilles soap house, the lye vats are in sets of four. No. 1 is the fresh vat which receives the fresh mixture of alkali and lime; the next' one, or No. 2, being the avancaire, or an advanced stage. No. 3 is the small avan-caire, being two steps in advance, and, therefore, containing weaker liquor; and No. 4 is the water-vat, because into that the water is directly introduced. Into No. 3 the moderately exhausted or somewhat spent lyes are thrown. From No. 3 the lye is pumped into No. 2, to be strengthened, and in like manner from No. 2 into No. 1. Upon the lime paste, in No. 4, which has been taken from No. 3, water is poured, and the lye thus obtained runs upon the paste of No. 3, which has been taken from No. 2. No. 3 is twice lixiviated, and No. 2 once. The receiver under No. 1 has four compartments, into No. 1 of which the first and strongest lye is run ; into No. 2, the second lye; into No. 3, the third lye ; and into No. 4, the fourth lye, which is so weak as to be used instead of water, for lixiviation. The lime in vat No. 4, when exhausted, is emptied out of the window near which it stands, in which case the water is poured upon the contents of No. 3; and upon No. 2, the somewhat spent lyes. No 1 is now the avancaire of No. 4, because this has become.Jn its turn, the fresh vat, into which the fresh soda and quicklime are put. The lye discharged from No. 3 comes then upon No. 2, and after having been run through it, is thrown upon No. 1. In some factories iron vats in the form of inverted cones are used, the outlet for the lye being through an opening at, the apex of the cone. Then it is judicious to have, also, a lead-lined vat for the finer qualities of soap; as it is requisite, especially for toilet soaps, to have the lye perfectly clear and colorless, and free from iron. In the apartment containing the lye vats there should be two pieces of auxiliary apparatus for the preparation of the lye materials. These are a mill for grinding the alkali when 228 TECHNICAL TREATISE ON SOAP AND CANDLES. THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A SOAP FACTORY. 229 lumpy; and a drum sieve for thoroughly mixing it with the lime. Both are to be driven hy steam power. The siphon should be of half-inch lead pipe, and may be made after Coffee's pattern, for moderate volumes of liquid, as it possesses many advantages over the usual forms in delivering the liquid without any inconvenience to the operator. It is shown by Fig. 26, and consists of a bent tube, Fig. £6. The best form of grinding apparatus is Bogardus's eccentric mill, Fig. 27; for it does its work economically, both as to time and cost; and, moreover, is not an expensive machine. It is so constructed that "both plates revolve in the same direction (with nearly equal speed) on centres, are apart Fitr. 27. one leg of which is longer than the other, and a smaller lateral tube B, capped with a large, hollow India-rubber ball A. The long leg has also a stopcock near its lower end. It is put in operation by closing the cock, compressing the bag, and quickly immersing the short leg in the clear lye, to within an inch or less of the subsident carbonate of lime, as represented in the drawing. The act of compressing the ball produces diminution of the elastic force of the internal air by expelling the most of it, so that as soon as the hand is removed from the ball, the outward pressure of the air drives the liquid up to the highest point of the bend, whence it drops, by the force of gravitation, on the opening of the cock, and flows out in a continuous stream, as long as the mouth of the short leg is covered by it. Previous Next
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