A PROCESS FOR THE MORE RAPID CRYSTAL- LIZATION, AND FOR THE EVAPORATION OF FLUIDS, AT COMPARATIVELY LOW TEMPERA- TURES, BY A PECULIAR MECHANICAL APPLICATION OF AIR
Year: 1822

page_text: TO ALL
WHOM
ODALL
COME, WC, MICHARD
KNIGHT, of Foster Lane, Cheapside, London, Ironmonger, and RUPERT KIRK,
of Osborne Place, Whitechapel, in the County of Middlesex, Dyer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster the Ninth day of May, in the third year of His said Majesty's
reign, did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Richard Knight and Rupert Kirk, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority that we,
the said Richard Knight and Rupert Kirk, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, by ourselves, or by our deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or
such others as we, our executors, administrators, or assigns, at any time should
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend our Invention of "A PROCESS FOR THE MORE RAPID CRYSTAL-
LIZATION, AND FOR THE EVAPORATION OF FLUIDS, AT COMPARATIVELY LOW TEMPERA-
TURES, BY A PECULIAR MECHANICAL APPLICATION OF AIR," within that part of
His Majesty's Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, His
Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad; in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso requiring us, the said Richard Knight and Rupert

page_text: Kirk, by an instrument in writing under our hands and seals, or the hand and
seal of one of us, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of our said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause
the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within two
calendar month next and immediately after the date of the said recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same Letters Patent, reference being thereunto had,
will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Richard Knight and Rupert Kirk; do by these Presents particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, as follows; that is to say:-
It is well known that in the common process of boiling fluids, the fire being
usually applied at the bottom of the vessel containing the fluid, the strong heat
which is essential to many operations passes more rapidly through the
metallic vessel than the conducting property of such fluid can carry it off, the
pernicious effect of which is generally experienced in the boiling of sugar,
which sugar frequently becomes burnt by the excessive heat of the vessel, to
the great injury and discoloration of the sugar. In order to obviate this and
similar difficulties, and also for the purpose of facilitating the process of
evaporation of fluids in general, we declare this our Invention to be peculiarly
adapted, and we do hereby set forth and describe the means by which we
effect the same, that is to say:-
We propel a quantity of heated air into the lower part of the vessel con-
taining the liquor, syrup, or fluid, whether in a cold or heated state, and
cause such heated air to pass through the whole body of the liquor in
finely divided streams, by the means herein-after described. The means used
by us for heating and applying the air to the fluid are as follow: that is to say,
a quantity of air is propelled by means of a blowing engine, bellows, or other
machine used for propelling air through a pipe or pipes, made of lead, copper,
iron, or other fit material, into the lower part of the copper, pan, or vessel con-
taining the heated syrup, liquor, fluid, or other matter to be operated on, coiled
or otherwise shaped and accommodated to the nature or form of the vessel,
the said coil of pipe within and lying at the bottom of the said vessel being
perforated with a number of small holes. The heated air, being thus forcibly
driven out in minutely divided currents, passes rapidly through the liquid; and
according to the quantity and temperature of the air so passing through the
liquid, a greater or less quantity of the liquid will be converted into vapour,
and carried off with the air. In lieu of the perforated pipe, a shallow_metallic
vessel, of the nature of a cullender, within the boiler may be connected with

page_text: may
the air pipe; and the cullender being perforated with small holes, the heated air
may be driven through this perforated cullender, or any similar contrivance
that best suit the form of the vessel, or the nature of the fluid or material
to be acted upon. The air thus applied may be heated by forcing it through
metallic or other pipes, tubes, or worms surrounding the inside or bottom of
the same vessel which contains the matter to be acted on, or by an arrangement
of pipes included between an inner and outer vessel, and heated by fire, water,
steam, or otherwise, or by causing the air to pass through heated iron, lead,
copper, or other pipes or tubes, or by means of flues, ovens, chambers, retorts,
or other similar apparatus.
We further declare, that our Invention consists in the application of currents
of heated air when forced or made to pass through the body of any fluid, for
the purpose of facilitating evaporation. And we also declare that the same
may be advantageously applied to processes dependent upon the disengage-
ment of aqueous vapour during the evaporation, concentration, and crystalliza-
tion of various substances when dissolved in fluids, as in the manufacture of
sugar, glue, salt, allum, soap, tallow, and similar processes.
We claim no exclusive privilege for making, using, and vending any of the
vessels, pans, pipes, or other apparatus described herein in their individual
characters; but we do claim the exclusive privilege granted to us by the said
recited Letters Patent for making, using, and vending such vessels, pans,
pipes, and apparatus, when employed for carrying our Invention into effect,
as herein-before described.
And we further declare, that this our Invention may in most cases be
rendered applicable, by the means herein-before described, to the vessels now
in common use at a moderate expence and by ordinary workmen.
In witness whereof, we, the said Richard Knight and Rupert Kirk, have
hereunto set our hands and seals, the *
day of July, in the "
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-two.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of July, in the
year above written, the aforesaid Richard Knight and Rupert Kirk came
before our Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.
Inrolled the same Sixth day of July, in the year above written.