IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Thomas Walker, of Highgate, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS
4
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Thomas
Walker at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 23rd December 1875.
I, WILLIAM THOMA'S WALKER, of Highgate, in the County of
Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS, SCRUBBERS AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to that description of scrubbers or apparatus
for purifying coal gas from ammonia and other impurities in respect of
which Letters Patent were granted to me bearing date the Third October
1871, No. 2606, and has for its object rendering such apparatus more
efficient, simplifying its construction, and providing increased facilities
for operating and regulating the various parts of the mechanism.
".
i

page_text: One part of my present Invention has reference to means to be
employed for ensuring the delivery of the water from the service tank
to the scrubber in a constant quantity, and at a uniform pressure,
according to the varying depth of the water in the service tank may
render necessáry, and also for indicating the effect produced by the
water as it passes through each of the tiers or columns of coke inside
the scrubber.
a
In carrying out this part of my Invention I employ a tube leading
from the water service tank at the top of the scrubber inside or outside
of the same, to a convenient distance from the bottom of the scrubber
outside, where it is fitted with a regulating valve which is thus brought
within the reach of the attendant; the tube is thence conducted to a
receiver situate at the top of the scrubber below the water service tank,
and consisting by preference of a central vessel in which the water is
maintained at a uniform level by means of a float, and of outer vessels
connected with the central vessel by branch passages, and whence the
water is constantly delivered at an approximately uniform pressure into
receptacles which conduct it into the scrubber. I next place à gas testing
cock of the description for which Letters Patent were granted to me
the 30th of September 1875, No. 3398, in the inlet and a similar one in
the outlet to ascertain the temperature of the gas in entering and leaving
the apparatus. I also employ a trough in connection with each of the
tiers or columns of coke with the exception of the lowest tier or column
(as has previously been practised) for collecting samples of liquor
for testing, but according to my present Invention in lieu of with-
drawing the liquor direct from the troughs I improve the troughs by
the application thereto of a screen to stop pieces of coke or dirt from
passing, and I employ tubes leading one from each trough inside or
outside the scrubbers downwards to near the bottom of the apparatus
within reach of the attendant, at which point outside they are fitted with
stop cocks. These cocks with the regulating valve before mentioned it
is preferred to arrange in close proximity to each other, so as to afford
facility for the attendant obtaining samples of the liquor from each tier
or column and testing the same, and regulating the water supply
according as the result of the testing of the liquor may indicate to be
necessary.
The regulating valve consists of a slide which is enclosed in a casing

page_text: a series of circular apertures, to which slide there is attached an external
indicating slide, having a pointer arranged in connection with a
graduated scale in such a manner, that the valve slide and indicating
slide work in unison, and that the indicating slidė denotes the quantity of
water passing in accordance with the adjusted position of the valve.
It is proposed to enclose the regulating valve with the testing cocks
from each tier or column of coke in a suitable box, in which may also
be contained tubes with stop cocks leading from the inlet and the outlet
respectively of the scrubber, for the facility of testing the gas as it
enters and leaves the apparatus.
}
Another part of my Invention relates to the apparatus for receiving
the water from the receivers before mentioned, and distributing it to the
scrubber by a regular continuous motion, avoiding jerks, catches, and
other interruptions in the motion, and it consists of a series of crank
discs corresponding in number to the outer receiving vessels above
and operated from a central eccentrically recessed disc through the
intervention of levers or connecting rods with suitable guides if
necessary. The crank discs are formed of a cup or annular trough
shape for the reception of the water discharged from the receiver above,
and which thence passing through the tubular revolving arms (on the
axes of which they are fitted) is distributed continuously over the
revolving frame situate at the top of the scrubber at a variable speed,"
so as to diffuse the water uniformly over the entire surface.
Motion may be imparted from a central shaft driven from the main
shaft by means of bevel or frictional gearing or otherwise,) either direct
to the central eccentrically recessed disc, or through the intervention of
suitable spur or frictional gearing in order to increase the speed of the
water spreading arms. In lieu of using crank discs the required
variable speed. may be obtained by the employment of cams or
eccentrics, operated by frictional contact or otherwise than by toothed
gearing.
Another part of my Invention relates to an improved means of lifting
the hollow central spindle of the water spreaders when required,. in order
to admit of the oil which is supplied through its interior passing beneath
its bottom face, and consists in the employment of a cam collar fast on
the spindle, forming an inclined plane, which is caused: to pass over a
suitable roller or projection, whereby the spindle is alternately lifted and

page_text: allowed to fall as it revolves, so as to give free passage to the oil between;
the bearing surfaces.
My Invention also relates to the means adopted for driving the
apparatus, and it consists in attaching the steam or other motive-power
engine employed to the side of the scrubber by preference at the lower
part thereof, and in obtaining the required reduction of speed by means
of an endless screw or worm and a worm wheel, whereby the foundations
for the engine and the shafting and gearing ordinarily required are
dispensed with, and considerable economy is effected in tlie cost of
erecting the apparatus.
VITO
filed by the said William Thomas Walker in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd June 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
THOMAS WALKER, of Highgate, in the County of Middlesex, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
39th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Thomas Walker, Her special
license, that I, the said William Thomas Walker, my executors, admini-
strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Thomas
Walker, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there.
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS SCRUBBERS AND IN APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Thomas Walker, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the

page_text: Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Thomas Walker, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:
My said Invention relates to that description of scrubbers or appa-
ratus for purifying coal gas from ammonia and other impurities, in
respect of which Letters Patent were granted to me bearing date the
3rd October 1871, No. 2606, and has for its object rendering such
apparatus more efficient, simplifying its construction, and providing
increased facilities for operating and regulating the various parts of the
mechanism.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I
shall now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
purpose. shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed four Sheets
of Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts
in all the Figures.
One part of my present Invention has reference to means to.be
employed for ensuring the delivery of the water from the service tank
to the scrubber in a constant quantity and at a uniform pressure,
according as the varying depth of the water in the service tank may
render necessary, and also for indicating the effect produced by the
water as it passes through each of the tiers or columns of coke inside
the scrubber.
Figure 1 (Sheet 1) of my Drawings represents a sectional elevation of
a gas scrubber, with some of the improvements which form the subject
of this part of my Invention applied thereto according to one modifica-
tion; and, Figure 2 is a similar view of the upper portion of the appa-
ratus, but taken at right angles to Figure 1. - According to this part of
my Invention I employ a tube A leading from the water service tank. B
at the top of the scrubber to a convenient distance from the bottom of
the scrubber outside, where it is fitted with a regulating valve C, which
is thus brought within the reach of the attendant; a continuation A' of
the tube A is thence conducted upwards to a receiver situate at the
"

page_text: top of the scrubber below the water service tank B, and consisting, by
preference, of a central vessel D in which the water is maintained at a
uniform level by means of a float E, as shewn in the detail Figure 3,
Sheet 2, and of outer vessels F, F, connected with the central vessel D by
branch passage a, a, and whence the water is constantly delivered at an
approximately uniform pressure by pendent tubes a, a¹,into receptacles
G, G, which conduct it into the interior of a frame H containing
brushwood, as described in the Specification of my said former Letters.
Patent.
It is obvious that the pipes A, A¹, may be arranged within the
scrubber in lieu of the exterior thereof if preferred. In some cases the
float E may be dispensed with and the supply to the vessel D, or to an
equivalent, receiver be simply regulated by the hand adjustment of
the valve C at the lower end of the pipe A and the vessels F, F,
may also be dispensed with, and ordinary bends or tees substituted
therefor.
Figure 4, Sheet 2, is a sectional elevation of the upper portion of the
scrubber illustrating another modification. According to this arrange-
ment I dispense with the pipes A, A', and cause the vessel D to commu-
nicate directly with the service tank B by means of an aperture 6 (shewn
in the detail Figure 5), and I employ a float E arranged in such a
manner that the opening and closing of the aperture 6 shall be regu-
lated by the height of the water contained in the vessel D, and an
approximately uniform level therein be thereby maintained.
Figures 6 and 7, Sheet 1, and Figure 8, Sheet 2, illustrate other
improvements. Figure 6 represents a vertical section taken through a
portion of one of the tiers or colums I for containing coke, of which
there is a series arranged one above the other, as described in my said
former Specification; and Figure 7 is a vertical section taken at right
angles to Figure 6. K represents a trough, one of which is employed
in connection with each of the tiers or columns of coke I, with the
exception of the lowest tier or column (as has previously been practised)
for collecting samples of liquor for testing, but according to my
present Invention in lieu of withdrawing the liquor direct from the
trough I provide at the exterior of each of the troughs K a box or
chamber L, fitted with a screw c for preventing the passage of pieces of
coke or dirt; and I employ tubes M, M, leading one from each box or

page_text: '
chamber L, downward to near the bottom of the apparatus within
reach of the attendant, at which point, outside, they are fitted with
stop cocks. These cocks (which are shewn in Figure 1, Sheet 1, and
also on an enlarged scale in Figure 8, Sheet 2, and marked N) are
arranged with the regulating valve C before mentioned in close
proximity to each other as shewn, so as to afford facility for the
attendant obtaining samples of the liquor from each tier or column,
and testing the same and regulating the water supply according as
the result of the testing of the liquor may indicate to be necessary.
The regulating valve C consists of a slide, which is enclosed in a
casing and works over an aperture by preference of a rectangular shape,
or over a series of circular apertures, to which slide there is attached an
external indicating slide having a pointer & arranged in connection with
a graduated scale in such a manner that the valve slide and indicating
slide work in unison, and that the indicating slide denotes the quantity.
of water passing in accordance with the adjusted position of the valve.
I enclose the regulating valve C with the testing cocks N, N, of the
tubes M, M, from the several tiers or columns of coke I in a box O, as
shewn most clearly in Figure 8, Sheet 2, (the cover with which it is
provided being assumed to have been removed,) in which box may also
be contained stop-cocks P, P', connected with tubes e, e¹, leading from
the inlet and the outlet respectively of the scrubber for the facility of
testing or ascertaining the temperature of the gas as it enters and leaves
the apparatus.
These last mentioned test-cocks are constructed in accordance with
the Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to me the 30th
September, 1875, No. 3398. The stop-cocks P, P¹, with their respective
tubes e, e¹, are represented in different relative positions in the two
Figures (Figure 1, Sheet 1, and Figure 8, Sheet 2).
Another part of my Invention, which is illustrated in Figures 9 and
10, Sheet 3, Figure 11, Sheet 4, and Figure 12, Sheet 1, relates to the
apparatus for receiving the water from the receivers before mentioned
and distributing it to the scrubber by a regular continuous motion,
avoiding jerks, catches, and other interruptions in the motion, and it
consists in the employment of a series of crank discs corresponding in
number to the outer receiving vessels above and operated from a central
eccentrically recessed disc through the intervention of levers or con-
necting rods, with suitable guides if necessary..

page_text: Figures 9 and 10, Sheet 3, are vertical sections taken at about right
angles to each other, of the upper portion of the scrubber, illustrating
one mode of. carrying out this part of my Invention; and Figure 11,
Sheet 4, is a corresponding plan of the same. G, G, are the crank discs,
each formed of a cup or annular trough-shape for the reception of the
water discharged from the corresponding receiver F, above which discs
are mounted on tubular vertical spindles f. f, carrying tubular revolving
spreading arms g, g, through which the water is distributed continuously
over the brushwood contained in the revolving frame H situate at the
top of the scrubber at a variable speed so as to be diffused uniformly
over the entire surface.
This variable speed is obtained in the following manner :-On the
central vertical shaft R of the scrubber which may be driven from the
main shaft R' by bevel gearing R2, as shewn or otherwise, I loosely mount.
à disc S, having having formed in one therewith a smooth frictional
wheel T, to which motion is imparted by a train of frictional wheels
T1, T2, Ts, from the central shaft R, on which the last wheel T³ is fast.
The disc S is provided with an eccentric groove or recess h, to which are
adapted rollers U, U, U, mounted respectively on the upper end of
short vertical spindles i, i, i, each carried by one extremity of a con-
necting rod V attached eccentrically at its opposite extremity to a
corresponding crank disc G. The spindles i, i, i, are each provided with
a slide k fitted in a corresponding guide 7 in such a manner that as the
disc S is rotated the surface at the side of the groove or recess h, by
reason of its eccentricity, will be caused to act upon the rollers U, U,U,
and move the slidės k, k, k, with which they are respectively connected
to and fro along their guides 1, 1, 1; and through the intervention of the
connecting rods V, V, V, impart variable rotary motion to the crank
discs G, G, G, the variation in which motion will be proportional to
the degree of eccentricity of the groove or recess / in the eccentric
disc S.
In the case of scrubbers of small dimensions, where it is desirable to
economize space, the modification shewn in Figure 12, Sheet 1, may be
adopted. According to this arrangement the slides & are attached to the
outer ends of the rods V in lieu of to their inner ends, as in the arrange-
ment, Figures 9, 10, and 11, the inner ends of the rods, where the
rollers U are situate, being supported on a smooth rotating disc m fast on
the main vertical shaft R. The rods V, in-lieu also of being attached

page_text: directly to their respective crank discs G, G, G, are connected thereto
through the intervention of links V', whereby a variable motion is
obtained similar to that produced by the arrangement of apparatus
shewn in Figures 9, 10, and 11, the degree of such variation being;
proportional to the degree of eccentricity of the groove or recess h in
the disc S, as herein-before described. The crank discs Gare provided
on their periphery with teeth, with which engage the teeth of a pinion
n mounted on a vertical spindle n¹, and carrying on its upper end a fly
wheel o serving as an accumulator of power for carrying the crank discs.
past the dead centres. The tubular arms 9, 9, may also be provided on
their extremities with balls or weights for a similar purpose. The crank
discs G are also made of a suitable weight and construction to serve as
fly wheels. In this arrangement I have represented the speed gearing
T, T¹, T2, T3, as consisting of serrated frictional wheels, but either smooth
or serrated gearing or spur gearing may be employed in either modifica-
tion, or if desired the eccentric disc S may be driven from the main.
shaft R¹ without the intervention of multiplying gearing.
My Invention further relates to an improved means of lifting the
hollow central shaft R when required in order to admit of the oil which
is supplied through its interior passing beneath its bottom face. This
part of my Invention is illustrated by the sectional elevation, Figure 13,
Sheet 2, which is exaggerated in order to indicate more clearly the
principal, the rise and fall in practice being slight. It consists in the
employment of a cam collar or flange W fast on the spindle, and
forming an inclined plane at o¹, which is caused during the rotation of
the spindle to pass over a roller P inserted, when the bearing surfaces of
the spindle are to be lubricated, in a groove or recess formed in any
fixed surface p' in the plane of rotation, whereby the spindle is alter-
nately lifted slightly and allowed to fall as it revolves, so as to give free
passage to the oil between the bearing surfaces.
My Invention also relates to the means adopted for driving. the
apparatus, and it consists in attaching the steam engine X, or other
motive-power engine employed to the side of the scrubber, as shown in
Figure 1 (Sheet 1), by preference at the lower part thereof, and in
obtaining the required reduction of speed by means of an endless screw or
worm q and a worm wheel r; the latter communicating by means of the
shafts Y; R', and the bevil gearing Y', R², with the main central shaft-R,
}

page_text: by means of which arrangement the foundations for the engine and
the additional shafting and gearing ordinarily required are dispensed
with, and considerable econcomy is effected in the cost of erecting the
apparatus.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my 5
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider
to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The employment of a water receiver, arranged intermediately 1
between the water service tank and the water spreaders, and provided
with means for regulating automatically the supply of the water, sub-
stantially as herein-before described and illustrated by my Drawings.
Secondly. The combination with an intermediate water receiver, for
regulating automatically the supply of the water, of appliances arranged 1
within reach of the attendant for controlling the supply by hand, and
indicating the quantity of water passing, substantially as herein-before
described and illustrated by my Drawings.
Thirdly. The combination of a valve or cock for controlling and
indicating the water supply of testing cocks communicating with the
several tiers or columns for the supply of samples of liquor, and of
testing cocks communicating respectively with the inlet and the outlet
of the scrubber, for the facility of ascertaining the temperature of the
gas on entering and on leaving the apparatus, all arranged so as to be in
proximity to each other and within reach of the attendant, substantially a
as herein-before described and illustrated by my Drawings.
5
Fourthly. The employment of crank discs or crank receivers, operated
from an eccentric or from an eccentrically grooved disc or plate, for
receiving the water and distributing the same continuously at a variable
speed, substantially in the manner herein-before described.
Fifthly. The mode or method of effecting the lubrication of the
bearing surfaces of the central vertical shaft by the aid of a cam collar
or flange and roller, substantially as hercin-before described and illus-
trated by my Drawings.
Sixthly. Mounting the motive-power engine for driving the scrubber a

page_text: such mechanism therefrom, substantially in the manner and for the .
purposes herein-before described, and as illustrated by my Drawings.
In witness whereof I, the said William Thomas Walker, have
to this my Specification set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first
day of June, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
:
WILLIAM THOMAS WALKER. (L.S.)