IMPROVEMENTS IN EXTRACTING SULPHUR PROM PYRITES AND OTHER SUBSTANCES CONTAINING THE SAME
Year: 1840

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HARVEY, of Bazing Place, Waterloo Road, in the County of Surrey,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Eighth day of July, in the fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Harvey, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said James Harvey, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said James Harvey, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN EXTRACTING SULPHUR
PROM PYRITES AND OTHER SUBSTANCES CONTAINING THE SAME;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said James Harvey,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Harvey, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention of Improvements in Extracting Sulphur from Pyrites and other
Substances containing the same, consists in an improved process and novel con-
struction of furnace, by means of which sulphur is extracted from pyrites and
poor ores in a more expeditious and economical manner than in furnaces of the
ordinary construction. The pyrites or material containing the sulphur is to
be put into pots shaped as the fustrums of cones, which are placed in the flue
of a furnace and heated by coke, charcoal, or peat, and they are to be kept
continually at one regular temperature during the operation. The intensity
of the heat given out by the furnace should be such as to sublime or drive
off the sulphur from the ore without calcining or clinkering the ore as it would
do if the heat becomes too intense. In order that my Invention may be fully
understood I have shewn in the accompanying Drawing two views of my
improved furnace, in which similar letters of reference are used to denote
corresponding parts in both Figures.
Fig. 1 represents a horizontal top view of my improved furnace, some of
the parts being removed to shew in section certain parts beneath; and Fig. 2
is a vertical section of the same furnace taken longitudinally through the
furnace, flue pots, and chimney. The pots are shewn at a, a, a, a, a, a; they
may be made of iron, fire clay, or other suitable material. The conical pots
are suspended in the flues b, b, b, b, of the furnace by resting in circular
apertures cut in the square fire tiles c, c, c, c, c, c, which cover the top or roof
of the flues. The lower ends of the pots protrude through other circular
apertures in the tiles which form the bottom of the flues and roof of the
condensing chamber, as seen in Fig. 2. The sides of the flues are constructed
of fire bricks or tiles erected as walls between the cone-shaped pots, as shewn
by dots in Fig. 1. In fact, the pots may be said to form part of the sides of
the flues, and the whole furnace is surrounded by a strong casing of brick-
work or stone. The upper ends of the pots a, a, a, a, a, a, are closed by
covers d, d, d, d, d, d, and their lower ends are furnished with a perforated
plate or grating e, e, e, e, e, e, which supports the material contained in the
pots, but yet allows the sulphur in a state of vapour to escape through them.
The fuel in the furnace at f being ignited, the heat given out from the combus-
tion passes in the first instance along the central flue, as shewn by the arrows in

page_text: Fig. 1, acting upon the sides of the conical pots, and on arriving at the end of
the flue nearest the chimney the heated vapour passes round the two end pots
a', a', where the flue becomes divided into two channels. The heated vapour
then proceeds to the right and left as shewn by the arrows, and returns along
these channels to the front, and then round the pots a², and finally escapes
into the chimney at g, g. In order to conduct this improved process, the
conical pots must be furnished with sufficient quantities of pyrites or other ore
containing sulphur, such material being broken in pieces about the size of a
man's fist, when the heat from the flues acting upon the ore in the conical
parts will drive off the sulphur in the form of vapour, which as it cannot
escape upwards finds a vent through the perforated plate or grating e, e, at
bottom of each pot, and passes into the chamber a, a, below. This chamber
may be made of slate, metal, or any other suitable material, and its bottom
should be covered with a stratum of water a few inches deep. The water
will attract the sulphurous vapour, and cause it to be condensed at the lower
part of the vessel in the form of flowers of sulphur. When the charge of
pyrites has been worked off by the separation of the sulphur the furnace must
be allowed to cool, and the conical pots emptied and re-charged, which may
be done either in their place in the furnace, or they may be re-moved from
their seats by a crane provided for that purpose. The lids or covers d, d,
of the pots must not fit air-tight, but be sufficiently close to admit only a
small quantity of atmospheric air, and prevent the escape of any considerable
quantity of vapour. The draught through the pots is regulated by the pipe i,
leading from the condensing chamber, which must be furnished with a cock
or valve. By means of this pipe a very gentle current of air is maintained
through the conical pots, and through the condensing chamber, which current
is intended to promote the separation of the sulphur from the iron in the
pyrites, or the downward sublimation of that or any other volatizable product,
and the cock or valve in the pipe must be adjusted so as to moderate the
draft and prevent as much as possible the sulphur being burnt in thc pots.
The pure sulphur when condensed may be removed from the condensing
chamber through the doors j, j, and the liquid at the bottom of the cistern
may also be removed and converted into sulphuric acid, in any convenient
manner.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not intend to confine myself
to the exact proportions or materials of which the apparatus is composed, nor
to the precise arrangement of the parts as shewn in the Drawings, as the
same may perhaps under some circumstances be varied. But I claim as the

page_text: Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent,
the improved process of subliming the sulphur downwards into condensing
chambers by the means above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Harvey, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-one.
KOSE.
the year above mentioned, the aforesaid James Harvey came before our Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained, in form above written. And
also tho Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the
Statute in that case made and provided.