IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COLLECTION AND TREATMENT OF HUMAN EXCRETA AND OTHER REFUSE OR WASTE ANIMAL SUBSTANCES USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL MANURE, AND IN THE APPARATUS USED THEREFOR, PARTS OF PRO
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Henry Staples Wildsmith, of Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Analytical Chemist, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COLLECTION AND TREATMENT OF HUMAN EXCRETA
AND OTHER REFUSE OR WASTE ANIMAL SUBSTANCES USED IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF ARTIFICIAL MANURE, AND IN THE APPARATUS USED THEREFOR, PARTS OF
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Henry Staples
Wildsmith at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 26th November 1875.
I, JAMES HENRY STAPLES WILDSMITH, of Birmingham, in the County
of Warwick, Analytical Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of tho
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE COLLECTION AND TREATMENT OF
HUMAN EXCRETA AND OTHER REFUSE OR WASTE ANIMAL SUBSTANCES USED IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL MANURE, AND IN THE APPARATUS USED THEREFOR,
PARTS OF SUCH IMPROVEMENTS BEING ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES," to be
as follows:-
chief chinnt of this Tavention is to produce a more highly nitro-

page_text: genous and phosphatized manure from the materials named in the title,
and at a much less cost than heretofore.
Excrementitious matter from cesspits is collected by means of a cart
consisting of an air-tight tank, having a tap and flexible piping con-
nected therewith. A vacuum is formed in the tank, in a manner as
hereafter described, for producing a vacuum in the vacuum tank
presently referred to, before sending the cart to collect. The outer end
of the flexible pipo is lowered into the excrementitious matter in the
cesspit and the tap opened, when the pressure of the external atmo-
sphere forces the matter into the cart.
The apparatus employed in the process of treatment consists princi-
pally of three tanks and an exhaustor, ejector, or pump. The first or
storage tank, into which the excrementitious or other matter to be acted
upon is placed first is preferably at a higher level than the second or
separating tank, and the separating tank is preferably at a higher level
than the third or vacuum tank. The storage tank is a plain vessel,
covered or not, as may be desirable. The separating tank has a per-
forated tray or false bottom covered with cocoa-nut matting or similar
substance, and raised about two feet (more or less, as may be required)
above the bottom of the tank. The vacuum tank is made air-tight, and is
connected with the part of the separating tank under the false bottom
by means of two pipes, onc passing from a point about two inches under
the false bottom to the top of the vacuum tank, and the other from near
the bottom of the separating tank to near the bottom of the vacuum
tank, the latter either rising and bending down, forming a syphon, or
passing in a more direct manner, as required. The vacuum tank is
provided with a steam jet exhaustor, or ejector, or a vacuum pump.
As before stated the excrementitious or other matter to be acted upon
is first placed in the top or storage tank, it is then mixed with mineral
acid (preferably sulphuric), and afterwards, when desirable, with
ordinary deodorizing or disinfecting material. The matter so treated is
then run through a door in the storage tank, or otherwise, on to the
perforated tray or false bottom of the second or separating tank. A
vacuum or partial vacuum is then produced in the vacuum tank by
means of the exhaustor, ejector, or pump, and consequently (on account
of the pipe connection) in the part of the separating tank under the
false bottom, when the atmospheric pressure upon the material on the

page_text: false bottom forces out the liquid contained therein, while the cocoa-nut
matting or similar substance upon the false bottom effectually retains
the solid portions. This process of forcing out the liquid is continued
or repeated till the said excrementitious or other matter becomes
sufficiently dried, when it may be removed for mixture, as hereafter
stated.
In using the syphon pipe for communication between the bottom of
the separating tank and the bottom of the vacuum tank, the liquid
which is forced out of the mixture on the false bottom rises in the part
of the separating tank under the false bottom until it discharges itself
into the vacuum tank, from which it is drawn off by the exhaustor,
ejector, or pump, or otherwise, as may be required.
The liquid from the vacuum tank is conveyed into evaporating pans,
dried down, and mixed in proportion, as may be required with the solid
matter from the separating tank. The mixture thus obtained may be
employed as a powerful fertilizer, or used in the ordinary process of
making superphosphates.
The method of extracting the liquid from the solid part under atmo-
spheric pressure, as before described, is applicable also in the case of
various residual products arising in chemical and other manufactures, as
will be readily understood.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Henry Staples Wildsmith in the Great
Seal Patent Office on the 25th May 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, James
HENRY STAPLES WILDSMITH, of Birmingham, in the County of War-
wick, Analytical Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in
the thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said James Henry Staples
Wildsmith, Her special licence that I, the said James Henry Staples
Wildsmith, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others

page_text: as I, the said James Henry Staples Wildsmith, my executors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter 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 Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE COLLECTION AND TREATMENT OF HUMAN EXCRETA AND OTHER
REFUSE OR WAste Animal SuBSTANCES USED IN THE MANUfacture of ArtIFICIAL
MANURE, AND IN THE APPARATUS USED THEREFOR, PARTS OF SUCH IMPROVEMENTS
BEING ALSO APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said James Henry Staples Wildsmith, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, 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 Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Henry Staples Wildsmith,
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 (that is to say) :-
The chief object of this Invention is to produce a more highly nitro-
genous and phosphatized manure from the materials named in the title,
and at a much less cost than heretofore.
According to the first part of my Invention, which refers to the
collection of the matter to be afterwards acted upon, the said matter from
cesspits and other receptacles is collected by means of a cart, having
an air-tight tank with a tap and flexible piping connected therewith.
Before sending the cart to collect, a vacuum is formed in the said tank
by means of an exhaustor, ejector, or vacuum pump (preferably pump).
The tap is preferably fixed close to the tank, and the flexible piping is
attached at one end to the outer end of the tap. The loose end of the
flexible piping (which is preferably provided with a funnel mouth) is
lowered into the excrementitious or other matter, as aforesaid, in the
cesspit or other receptacle and the tap opened, when the atmospheric
pressure forces the matter into the tank.

page_text: The method of and apparatus for collection will be readily understood
without need for illustration. I wish however to observe that the said
matter must be in a fluid or semi-fluid state for collection, in the manner
herein-before described, and not mixed with ashes or other refuse.
According to the second part of my Invention, which refers to the
treatment of human excreta and other refuse or waste animal substances
used in the manufacture of artificial manure, the apparatus employed
consists principally of three tanks and an exhaustor, ejector, or pump
(preferably a pump). The first, namely, the deodorizing or storage tank,
into which the excrementitious or other matter to be acted on first is
placed, is fixed preferably at a higher level than the second or separating
tank, and the separating tank is fixed preferably at a higher level than
the third or vacuum tank. The deodorizing tank is a plain vessel,
covered, and preferably provided with a laterally perforated steam pipe,
with stopped ends, running the length thereof inside, and connected at
the centre with piping to a steam boiler, and provided also with a con-
denser coil connected to the top and passing through a tank of water,
at the top of which it is connected to a pipe passing to a fire. This
condenser coil I much prefer to use, although it is not essential to the
working of the Invention.
The separating tank has a double perforated or grated tray or false
bottom raised above the bottom of the separating tank, and between the
plates of which is placed cocoa-nut matting or similar substance to
prevent any residual solid particles from passing through. The vacuum
tank is made air-tight, and is connected with the part of the separating
tank under the false bottom by means of two pipes, ono passing from
just under the false bottom to the top of the vacuum tank, and the other
from near the bottom of the separating tank to near the bottom of the
vacuum tank, the latter pipe rising within the space underneath the
false bottom, and then bending down to near the bottom of the vacuum
tank, thus forming a syphon. The vacuum tank is provided with a
steam jet exhaustor or ejector or vacuum pump (preferably with a
vacuum pump) fixed in any convenient place, but preferably communi-
cating with the bottom of the vacuum tank, so as to draw off any liquid
entering thereto.
As before stated the excrementitious or other matter as aforesaid to be
acted upon is first placed in the top or deodorizing tank. It is then
mixed with deodorizing or disinfecting material such as nitrate of potash

page_text: or nitrate of soda (preferably the latter), or any other alkaline or earthy
nitrate capable of being decomposed by sulphuric acid, in the proportion
of about 1 hundredweights to 25 tons of matter composed wholly or
chiefly of human excreta. I then prefer to heat the said matter in the
deodorizing tank to boiling point. During the heating sulphuric acid is
allowed gradually to run in in the proportion of about 9 cwt. of
sulphuric acid to 25 tons of matter to be acted upon, if the latter is
composed wholly or chiefly of human excreta. By heating as aforesaid
the processes are thus hastened, and all noxious matters and odours more
speedily destroyed. After deodorizing as aforesaid charcoal, soot, or
other light carbonaceous matter is thrown into the deodorizing tank in
the proportion of about 2 parts of the said carbonaceous matter to 100
parts of the deodorized matter in the deodorizing tank, to effect the
absorption of
any excess of acid or acid vapours remaining. The steam
is then shut off.
The vapours given off during the process in the deodorizing tank with
any watery vapour pass through the condensing coil and are with the
watery vapour condensed and returned to the tank in a liquid state; or
if any noxious gas should escape, the same passes off from the coil and
is drawn through a fire and consumed. The deodorizing tank may be
heated in any convenient manner, but I prefer to employ high pressure
or superheated steam passed through a pipe pierced laterally on each
side, and extending nearly the whole length of the deodorizing tank
before mentioned, on account of the mechanical action it affords in
keeping the whole contents of the deodorizing tank in a state of
agitation or admixture with the deodorants.
When 25 tons (or a boat load of excreta) is acted upon at once in the
deodorizing tank by the steaming process, the process therein occupies
about 8 hours, that is, till the boiling point is attained, but of course
the time can be varied according to the rapidity with which heat is
imparted.
The sulphuric acid is run in through a leaden pipe inserted into the
top of the deodorizing tank, and may be run in during the whole of the
time the process is taking place in the deodorizing tank, or may be run
in more quickly depending partly on whether the excreta is old or fresh,
if the excreta is old a greater action takes place and slower addition of
acid is required than when the excreta is fresh. I usually run the acid
in for about 1 hour from the commencement of the process.

page_text: Instead of employing the nitrates and sulphuric acid before mentioned
for mixing with the matter in the deodorizing tank, nitric acid, hydro-
chloric acid, or chlorine may be used, but they are neither so effective
nor convenient.
When the process in the deodorizing tank is completed, the matter
therein is run through a door in the deodorizing tank, or otherwise on to the
double perforated or grated tray or false bottom of the second or separating.
tank. A partial vacuum, usually of from 3 lbs. to 9 lbs. per square inch,
is then produced in the vacuum tank, by means of the exhaustor,
ejector, or pump (preferably pump), and consequently (on account of
the pipe connection) also in the part of the separating tank under the
false bottom, when the atmospheric pressure upon the material on the
false bottom forces out the liquid contained therein, while the cocoa-nut
matting or similar substance between the two plates of the false bottom
effectually retains the solid portions. This process of forcing out the
liquid is continued or repeated till the matter upon the said false bottom
becomes sufficiently dried, when it may be removed for mixture as
hereafter stated.
In using the syphon pipe for communication between the bottom of
the separating tank and the bottom of the vacuum tank, the liquid
which is forced out of the matter on the false bottom rises in the under
part of the separating tank until it reaches the highest point of the
syphon, when the syphon acts and the liquid is discharged into the
vacuum tank, and from thence drawn off by the exhaustor, ejector,
or pump, or otherwise, as may be required.
The tanks and pipes may be made of any suitable material, but I
prefer to make them of iron.
The liquid from the vacuum tank is conveyed into evaporating pans,
dried down and mixed in proportion as may be required with the solid
matter from the separating tank. The mixture thus obtained may be
employed as a powerful fertilizer, or used in the ordinary process of
making superphosphates.
The evaporating pans are similar to those used for analogous purposes,
and do not therefore require illustration.
The mixture from the deodorizing tank may be passed direct into the
evaporating pans when the process in the deodorizing tank is complete,

page_text: shewn funnel-mouthed, so as the more readily to receive the vapours
from the tank A. The top end of the coil 6 communicates with piping
passing direct to a fire. f is a leaden pipe through which the sulphuric
acid is supplied to the deodorizing tank, and may be provided with a
funnel or may communicate direct with an acid tank placed in any
convenient position above the deodorizing tank. The flow of the acid
is regulated by a leaden tap in the pipef. The bottom of the tank A is
preferably inclined from all directions towards the door O, so that the
matter in the tank A may more completely run out through the
door O. H is the separating tank; I, the double perforated tray
therein which may be divided into as many parts endways of the tank H
as convenient; K is the space under the tray I; L is the vacuum tank;
M is a pipe passing from just under the tray I to the top of the vacuum
tank L, and is shewn in section in Figure 1; N, N, N, is a pipe passing
| up from nearly the bottom of the space K. to about 2 inches underneath
the tray I, and thence outside the tank H through the top of the
tank L to near the bottom of the said tank L.
Cocoa-nut matting d, or similar substance, is laid between the two
plates of the perforated tray or grating I. A pump O is connected by
piping to the bottom of the vacuum tank L. The pump O may be
worked by hand or other power.
With the description of the process before given the Invention will
now be readily understood.
The materials are charged into the tank A through the opening B
3 (except that the sulphuric acid is supplied through the pipe), and the
chemical treatment takes place in the tank A, after which the contents
of the tank A. are discharged through the door O on to the perforated
or grated tray I in the tank H. The pump O is then worked and first
draws the air from the vacuum tank L, and also from the space K
through the pipe M and vacuum tank L, and delivers the air as
required. The atmospheric pressure upon the matter on the tray I
forces the liquid portion through the perforations and cocoa-nut matting
(which thus acts as a filter) into the space K. When the liquid in the
space K has reached the highest point of the pipe N, N, N, the said
5 liquid is syphoned over into the vacuum tank L, and from thence drawn
off by the pump O and delivered into the evaporating pans.
The advantage of using the syphon pipe N, N, N, instead of a direct
pipe is, that the pump sooner causes and better maintains a vacuum by

page_text: first drawing the air than if it were partly occupied in drawing the
liquid at the same time.
A staging is formed on the tank H, and properly fenced to enable the
operator to open and close the door C.
Two or more openings and doors similar respectively to B and C may 5
be employed if desired.
The delivery pipe for the pump may be provided with a two-way cock
if desired, baving one opening for the air to pass out, and the other con-
nected to the piping to the evaporating pans.
Instead of pumping direct into the evaporating pans the liquid may 1
be pumped into a reservoir and run therefrom as required into the
evaporating pans.
It is desirable to insert a tap in the bottom of the tank H so as at
any time to draw off any liquid which has not passed off through the
syphon, or the bottom of the syphon leg in the tank I may dip into a 1
recess in the bottom thereof, when practically all the liquid may be
syphoned off.
The perforations in the tray I, when round holes are used, should be
about one-half an inch diameter, and about one inch apart between
them.
The openings, when gratings are used, should be about as shewn in 2
full size section at Figuro 3. In this Figure the two plates are shewn
with the cocoa-nut matting between them.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I
declare that I claim as my Invention,―
1st. The method of and apparatus for collecting the excreta or other
matter named in the title, substantially as described.
2nd. The treatment of the excreta or other matter named in the title,
in the deodorizing tank in the manner and for the purpose herein-before
described and set forth.
3rd. The method of separating the liquid and solid portions of the
material acted upon according to my first claim, for the purpose as
herein-before described and set forth; and I claim the adoption of this
method of separation, also in the case of other materials as previously
2
3

page_text: set forth in this Specification, namely, in the case of various residual
products arising in chemical and other manufactures.
4th. The entire process, as a whole, whether first in the deodorizing
tank and then in the evaporating pans, or first in the deodorizing tank,
next in the separating tank, and afterwards the liquid portion in the
evaporating pans, in the manner and for the purpose described and set
forth; but I do not claim the process of evaporation except as a combi-
nation with the other part of the process.
5th. The apparatus, in so far as relates to the deodorizing tank, to the
separating tank, and to the vacuum tank, and pump or other exhaustor,
and pipe connections taken in combination with the separating tank, all
as and for the purpose described and shewn; and also as relates to the
evaporating pans, as described, when taken in combination with the
other apparatus, or with the deodorizing tank only, for the purposo set
forth, but not otherwise than in such combination.
6th. The general arrangement or combination of parts of apparatus
herein-before described and represented in the accompanying Drawings,
for treating human excreta and other refuse or waste animal substances,
and manufacturing manure therefrom.
And I declare that I do not limit myself to the exact details, either as
to method or apparatus as described and. shewn, as such are not
necessary to the utility of my Invention; but I claim all such modi-
fications and variations as follow obviously from and are in harmony
with the foregoing description.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Henry Staples Wildsmith,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of
May, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-six.
30 Witness,
STEPHEN WATKINS,
Patent Office,
Wolverhampton.
J. H. S. WILDSMITH. (L.s.)