THREE-WAY SEPERATION

Hokitika Guardian, 15 July 1929, Page 7

THREE-WAY SEPERATION

IJV. ENTION BY NEW ZEALANDERS GREAT POSSIBILITIES. Most people are familiar with twoway separation—the principle by which cream is separated from milk—but few realise that this system is far from being perfect. For instance, dirt and other foreign matter held in solution by the milk is not separated, but must follow either the cream or the skim milk. Scientists, and those who have studied the problem, have long realised that three-way separation is essential for perfect separation—a principle by which dirt in solution could be separated from cream and skim milk. The same problem has presented itself in the manufacture of lanoline, the cleansing and refining of oils, and in numerous other directoins all over the world. Since hundreds of thousands of pounds are being wasted annually through the inefficiency and costliness of two-way separation, numerous attempts have been mad© by inventors and manufacturers throughout the world to devise a simple and practical three-way system of separation but it has remained for a small party of New Zealanders to solve the problem and, when it is known that the New Zealanders in question all belong to Dunediri, local interest in the invention should he stimulated considerably. Realising the great possibilities of three-way separation, and the worldwide demand for such an improvement Air James Thomson, his sister, Aljss C. E. Thomson, and Mr J. E. Winsloe several years ago set out to apply themselves to the problem, and after much hard thinking numerous experiments, and needles to say, numerous disappointments, success has crowned their efforts at last. Persistence and determination have been rewarded, and three-way separation in a simple, practical and reliable manner ,is now an accomplished fact. As a result of the invention, it will now be possible to separate dirt in solution from cream and milk to separate' carbon and other foreign matter (from lubricating oil, and ,to extract lapolipe from Wool-scour wash. It is an invention of far-reaching importance, and. will be of immense benefit to a large number of industries, more particularly the woollen manufacturing industry industry, dairying industry, and oilblending industry. Thousands and thousands of pounds of material hitherto wasted . can now be saved, while, in other cases, it will simplify and cut down the cost of manufacture All over the world it will be in demand In Europe and America its scope will be enormous. The inventors have named the machine which separates on the three-way principle the Tripleway Extractor, and one is now being made by,Alessers J. and A. P. Scott for the Bruce AVoollen Manufacturing Company, who will use it for the extraction of laiioline from wool-scour wash.

The principle on which it separates is centrifugal. The bowl revolves at 6000 revolutions to the minute and the contents are subjected to a pressure of 50 tons to the square inch.. The j met-' od of three-way extraction is applied by the heavy particles, (jin solution) being thrown to the outer edge dropped and forced to the exits by means of small boles placed pit the greatest diameter of the bowl, thereby leaving the lighter or drier matter such as cream and milk to be separated by the ordinary two-way principle. So efficient- is the method that only 6 per cent, of moisture remains in the lanoline which as the ash and the alkali have been extracted, is practically ready for the manufacturing chemist. As lanoline is widely used as a basis of ointments lotions, If ace creams, etc., and therefore has a high marketable value all over tlie world, the advantages, of the tripleWny are apparent. It can produce lanoline from scour-wash that otherwise would go to waste. Another avenue to which the iqvoii tion can bo applied is for more efficient separation of whey butter, a highgrade superfine cream being produced enabling whey butter to be .exported as a hest-qualitv product. Still another use for the tripleway, and one which may prove the most valuable of all, is the purifying or cleansing of waste oils such as motor car crank case oils, by extracting the carbons and water etc. The tripleway is also likely to be of groat service at the oil wells, as it is expected that crude oils can be treated by the centrifugal process for the extraction of bitumen, and a simpler method will thus be obtained for the treatment of crude oils.

It is expected that, shortly every oil tanker ship will be equipped with a tripleway extractor for treating the residue oils after the ship has discharger her valuable cargo into the storage tanks, thus saving considerable waste that is at present being discharged into the sea menacing the fisheries and causing death to the sea bird along the coast of every country importing oils, it is known that the New Zealand Alarine Department has boon concerned regarding the seriousness of this menace for a number of years now. The Governments of all countries are likely to be interested in this wonderful invention, while the New Zealand Government Railways Department has been making investigations regarding the merits of the tripleway, and tests will shortly be made when one of the huge 1690-gallon capacity machines is available. A company for directing the destinies of this great invention has now been floated, and those connected with it are to be congratulated on their fore

sight, as it is recognised that the tions of its class of recent years. And it organised in the brains of Now Zealanders.