Year: 1888

page_text: I, WILLIAM STEVENS SQUIRE, of Clarendon House, St. Johns Wood Park, in the
County of Middlesex,. Chemical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
It is well known that many of the impurities contained in crude spirit can bo'
• eliminated by intimately mixing with the spirit certain hydrocarbon oils, and then
separating the oils which carry with them the impurities.
My invention relates to apparatus whereby I effect the intimate admixture of the
oil a spirit and their subsequent separation, and 'this repeatedly in a continuous
manner.
For this purpose, I employ apparatus generally resembling in construction a filter
press, having a series of chambers separated by plates or diaphragms. On each of
those plates, which are as usual channelled on the surface, I place several layers of
filter paper supported on porous fabric and from the channels of the plates I lead
passages arranged in the following manner. From the farther side of one plate and
from the farther side of the next plate in order I form passages into the chamber
between those two plates, preferably connecting those passages in an injector nozzle
that directs a stream tangentially into the chamber so as to give the liquid therein
rotary motion.
Before starting the apparatus, I wet the filter sheet on the one side of each chamber
with dilute spirit or water, and the sheet on the other side with the oil, the effect of
which, as is well known, is that only the spirit will pass through the former, and only
the oil will pass through the latter. Having thus prepared the filters, I force the
spirit to be purified into the chamber at one end of the apparatus and the pure oil into
the chamber at the other end... Each chamber is thus made to receive an intimate
admixture of oil and spirit which are separated by the pair of filtering sheets facing

page_text: the chamber the oil going to the next chamber in order in the one direction, the
Spirit going to the next chamber in order in the opposite direction. Finally, the
purified spirit passes from the last filter at the one end of the apparatus and the oil
carrying the impurities passes from the last filter at the other end.
2000
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Apparatus for Purifying Crude Spirit.
I, WILLIAM STEVENS SQUIRE, of Clarendon House, St. Johns Wood Park, in the 1
County of Middlesex, Chemical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
It is well known that many of the impurities contained in crude spirit can be
eliminated by intimately mixing with the dilute spirit certain hydrocarbon oils, and
then separating the oils, which carry with them the impurities.
My invention relates to apparatus whereby I effect the intimate admixture of the
oil and spirit and their subsequent separation, and this repeatedly in a continuous
manner.
For this purpose, I employ apparatus which I will describe referring to the
accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 being a vertical section and Fig. 2 being a sectional
plan on Z Z. There are a series of chambers, in the drawings three are shown A¹
A A but there may be a greater number. These are arranged as in a filter press,
being separated by plates or diaphragmns B which are grooved or channelled on each
side and have placed on them filtering sheets C on their lower sides and on their
upper sides, each of which may consist of several layers of filter paper supported on
porous fabric. The upper sheets (which would tend to drop away from the plates
are kept from dropping far by gratings D placed under them. From the channels of
the plates B lead channels to chambers E¹ E' E³, these channels being arranged as
follows. From the upper filters of A and A2 channels lead respectively into the
chambers E and E, from the lower filters of A' and A' channels lead into El and E³,
each of these four channels being provided with a check valve to prevent return of
fluid. Farther, from the lower filter of A' a channel leads to an outlet pipe F and
from the upper filter of A' a channel leads to an outlet pipe G. From each of the
chambers EE E' a pipe leads to an injector nozzle H directed obliquely. I provide

page_text: two pumps K and L; the one pump K being supplied with hydrocarbon oil by the
pipe M, and discharges by the pipe N into the chamber E¹, the other pump L is
supplied with the spirit to be treated by the pipe P and discharges by the pipe Q into
the chamber E. The pipes F G M and P are provided with stop cocks or valves
which are preferably arranged as shown at R so that they can all be simultaneously
moved by one action, closing G and M when F and P are opened and closing F
and P when G and M are opened. Before starting the apparatus, I wet all the
lower filter sheets (with dilute spirit or water and all the upper sheets C'
with oil, the effect of which, as is well known, is that spirit only will pass
through the former and oil only through the latter. Having thus prepared the
filters, I work the pump L for a time forcing spirit into E, thence through the
injector H and through the lower filter of A* into E, thence again by H2 and the
lower filter of A' into E¹, thence by H¹ into A¹ and through its lower filter to
the pipe F. Having thus partly filled the compartments with spirit, I stop the spirit
pump Land shift the cocks at R, then working the pump K, I send hydrocarbon oil
into E¹ through H¹ into A' where it floats up through the spirit, it passes through the
upper filter of A' into E' and thence through H and the upper filter of A³ to E³
through H and the upper filter of A³ to the pipe G. In this way, by first pumping
spirit and then oil, the wetting of the two sets of filters respectively by these liquids
may be effected without preliminary wetting. After starting, the operation is
continued as described alternating the action of the pumps and suitably shifting the
cocks at R. Each of the chambers A¹ A' A' is thus made to receive an admixture of
the oil and spirit. The injectors H H H being placed in the upper parts of the
chambers, where there is mostly oil, draw in oil laterally and project it mixed with
spirit, both minutely subdivided so that the contents of each chamber have the
character of an emulsion, which by the oblique direction of the injectors is made to
rotate in the chambers. The filtering sheets effect the separation of the liquids, and
finally purified spirit passes away by the pipe F and oil carrying with it impurities
passes away by the pipe G.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
Apparatus for purifying crude spirit by hydrocarbon oil, wherein several chambers
are arranged as in a filter press with interposed grooved partitions, each partition
provided on its opposite sides with filter sheets which are wetted respectively with
spirit and with oil, and the grooves of the partitions communicating by channels
provided with check valves with injector nozzles and outlets, arranged and operating
substantially as described.
Dated thie 24th day of December 1888
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.