IMPROVEMENTS IN CERTAIN APPARATUS FOR THE MANU THE MANUFACTURE OF CHLORINE AND OF SULPHURIC ACID
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Deacon, of Appleton House, near War-
rington, in the County of Lancaster, Alkali Manufacturer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CERTAIN APPARATUS FOR THE MANU-
Sealed the 15th August 1871, and dated the 27th June 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Deacon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with bis Petition, on tho
27th June 1871.
I, HENRY DEACON, of Appleton House, near Warrington, in the
County of Lancaster, Alkali Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature
of my said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CERTAIN APPARATUS FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF CHLORINE AND OF SULPHURIC ACID," to be as follows:-
The apparatus to which my improvements are applicable is such as
contains an active chemical substance in pieces, or pieces of some body
impregnated with an active chemical substance, and through which
heated gases are passed to the end that chlorine or sulphuric acid, as
the case may be, may be obtained therefrom, as for example, such

page_text: apparatus as is described in the Specification of Letters Patent dated
Twenty-ninth April One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight,
No. 1403, and granted to me for " Improvements in the Manufacture
of Chlorine," and in the Specification of Letters Patent dated Thirteenth
September One thousand eight hundred and seventy, No. 2469, for
"Improvements in Apparatus for the Manufacture of Chlorine," and
in the Specification of Letters Patent dated Twentieth March, One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, Number 753, and granted to
me for "Improvements in the Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid, and in
Apparatus to be employed therein," such apparatus consisting in the
main part of columns filled with pieces of various materials, small
interstices being necessarily left between such pieces.
Now the active chemical substance may become inert or may be
volatilized by accident, overheating, or otherwise, and the first part
of my improvements consists in providing apertures in the columns or
apparatus, such apertures being provided with doors, so that through
these apertures and without cooling the apparatus part or the whole
of the picces in any column may be withdrawn therefrom and fresh
material (or the old material cleansed, and if necessary re-impregnated)
may be introduced therein. The activity of the apparatus may also be
lessened by dust or other foreign material lodging in the interstices, and
the second part of my improvements relates to provisions for the
removal of this objectionable material. For this purpose I provide the
necessary pipes and connections, so that the directions of the current of
gases passing through the apparatus may be reversed, that is to say, if
the motive power in the ordinary course of working propel the gases
upwards or from left to right, then I arrange pipes and connections so
that the direction of the current of gases, or instead thereof a current
of air, may at pleasure be reversed, and may be propelled downwards
instead of upwards, or from right to left instead of from left to right,
and instead of this reversal of the current or in connection therewith I
arrange the necessary mechanical appliances, such as fans for giving
a much greater speed or power of propulsion to the current of gases
or to a current of air instead of gases, that by these means the dust or
other foreign material may be removed or swept out.
In the ordinary way of working a current of gases propelled by a
power equal to that due to a column of water a few inches in height is
sufficient, but for the purpose of this part of my Invention I employ

page_text: auxilliary apparatus capable of exerting a power equal to that of a
column of water of two or of several feet in height, and this auxiliary
apparatus may be applied at each end of the chief apparatus, that is,
the gases or air may be drawn through by an auxilliary apparatus
forming a partial vacuum at one end of the chief apparatus, and may
be forced through by an auxilliary apparatus causing compression from
the other end at the same time thus providing means of making a very
powerful current of air or gas to traverse the apparatus together with
or without the means of reversing the direction of this current at
pleasure. This increased current may also be obtained by providing for
the temporary necessary increase of steam power or other driving power
to the apparatus usually employed in propelling the gases.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Deacon in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 23rd December 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
DEACON, of Appleton House, near Warrington, in the County of
Lancaster, Alkali Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
35th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Henry Deacon, Her special license that
I, the said Henry Deacon, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Henry Deacon, my executors, adminis-
trators, or 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, excrcise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CERTAIN
APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CHLORINE AND OF SULPHURIC ACID,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Deacon,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my haud and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to

page_text: 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 Henry Deacon, 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 :-
The apparatus to which my improvements are applicable is such as
contains an active chemical substance or substances in pieces or pieces
of some body impregnated with an active chemical substance, such for
example, as sulphate of copper, and through which the several heated
gases are passed to the end that chlorine or sulphuric acid, as the case
may be, may be obtained therefrom, as, for example, such apparatus, as
is described in the Specification of Letters Patent dated Twenty-ninth
April One thousand cight hundred and sixty-eight, No. 1403, and
granted to me for "Improvements in the Manufacture of Chlorine,"
and in the Specification of Letters Patent dated Thirteenth September
One thousand eight hundred and seventy, No. 2469, for "Improvements
in Apparatus for the Manufacture of Chlorine," and in the Specification
of Letters Patent dated Twentieth March One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-one, No. 753, and granted to me for " Improvements in
the Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid and in Apparatus to be employed
therein," such apparatus consisting in the main part of columns filled
with pieces of various materials, small interstices being necessarily left
between such pieces.
.
Now the active chemical substance or substances before referred to
may become inert or may be volatilized by accident, overheating, or
otherwise, and the first part of my improvements consists in providing
apertures in the columns or apparatus, such apertures being provided
with doors so that through these apertures and without cooling the
apparatus part or the whole of the pieces in any column may be with-
drawn therefrom and fresh material or the old material cleansed and if
necessary re-impregnated may be introduced therein.
•
Although my improvements relate in this part only to the removal
and renewal of substances that have become inert, &c., yet I desire in
this place to point out that inertness may arise from a degree or

page_text: ceases.
continuance of overheating which causes the absorption or combination
of the small quantity of active chemical substance with the much
larger mass of the body impregnated therewith in such a manner as to
mask or
overcome the activity of the comparatively small quantity
of chemical substance. Such absorption or combination will usually
take place quickly at very elevated temperatures with all such materials
and will proceed slowly at lower temperatures. By lowering the tem-
perature however a point will at length be reached at which this action
This point varies both with different chemical substances
impregnating the same body, and with different bodies impregnated with
the same chemical substance, as will be evident to practical men. Those
materials therefore should be selected which, whilst otherwise suitable,
cither do not combine at the temperatures employed, or at least do so
with the greatest difficulty. Thus when sulphate of copper is the active
chemical substance employed, if the temperature or conditions of the
manufacture be such as to decompose it, the body to be impregnated
with the sulphate of copper should be selected of such a. character as
will at that temperature best resist the action of the oxide of copper
or other body which results from the decomposition of the sulphate of
copper. The activity, of the apparatus may also be lessened by dust
or other foreign material or matter lodging in the interstices, and the
second part of my improvements relates to provisions for the removal
of this objectionable material or matter.
Similarly as before observed respecting my remarks as to the inertness
of the active agent, although this second part of my improvements relates
only to the removal of dust, yet I desire in this place to point out how
the presence of dust may in some degree be avoided. Metals like arsenic
forming comparatively volatile oxides or other compounds are one cause
of dust; materials free from such substances are therefore best. When
the use of these is not convenient then some mode of preventing the
metals entering the apparatus may be employed. For instance if the
vitriol used in liberating hydrochloric acid by its action on common
salt, &c. contains arsenic, chloride of arsenic accompanies the hydro-
chloric acid into the apparatus and is there decomposed and forms dust.
Purifying such sulphuric acid from arsenic prevents this..
Sulphuretted hydrogen applied to the vitriol either in a tower filled
with flints, &c., or by blowing through it or on to its surface, or by the
addition to the vitriol of a sulphide, as the sulphide of sodium for example,

page_text: "
"
or
"
causes the formation of sulphide of arsenic, as is well understood. This
substance is separated from the vitriol with difficulty, but if without being
separated the vitriol is run upon common salt, &c., in the ordinary salt
cake "pan
or "pot" the hydrochloric acid evolved from the mixture
will be free from arsenic and the sulphide of arsenic resisting the action
of acids at the temperature usually employed in the “pan
" pot
no arsenic will be given off in the hydrochloric acid until the materials
are more strongly heated in the "calciner" or "roaster." By separating
the "pot" or "pan gas from the "calciner" or "roaster"
using vitriol thus treated the larger portion of the hydrochloric acid gas
may be obtained free from arsenic and therefore not creating dust or
deposit from this cause in the apparatus.
>
gas when
For the purpose of the second part of my improvements I provide
the necessary pipes and connections, so that the directions of the
current of gases passing through the apparatus may be reversed, that
is to say, if the motive power in the ordinary course of working propel
the gases upwards or from left to right, then I arrange pipes and con-
nections so that the direction of the current of gases, or instead thereof
a current of air, may at pleasure be reversed and may be propelled
downwards instead of upwards or from right to left instead of from left
to right, and instead of this reversal of the current or in connection
therewith I arrange the necessary mechanical appliances, such as fans,
for giving a much greater speed or power of pulpulsion to the current
of gases, or to a current of air instead of gases, that by these means the
dust or other foreign material may be removed or swept out.
. In the ordinary way of working a current of gases propelled by a
power equal to that due to a column of water a few inches in height is
sufficient, but for the purpose of this part of my Invention I employ
auxiliary apparatus capable of exerting a power equal to that of a
column of water of two or of several feet in height, and this auxiliary
apparatus may be applied at each end of the chief apparatus, that
is, the gases or air may be drawn through by an auxiliary apparatus
forming a partial vacuum at one end of the chief apparatus, and may
be forced through by an auxiliary apparatus, causing compression froni
the other end at the same time, thus providing means of making a very
powerful current of air or gas to traverse the apparatus, together with
or without the means of reversing the direction of this current at
pleasure. This increased current may also be obtained by providing

page_text: for the temporary necessary increase of steam power or other driving
power, to the apparatus usually employed in propelling the gases.
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 Sheets of Drawings,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
corresponding Figures.
In these Drawings I have shewn as examples only some out of many
modes which may be used in carrying out my Invention.
One form of apparatus for carrying into effect the first part of my
improvements is indicated by Figures 1 to 4 inclusive (Sheet 1), and
another form of apparatus for the same purpose is indicated in Figures 5
to 8 inclusive, on the same Sheet.
.
Figures 1 and 2 (Sheet 1) represent vertical sections, and Figures 3
and represent horizontal sections of an apparatus similar to that
represented in the respective Drawings attached to the two Specifications
of my Letters Patent dated Thirteenth September One thousand eight
hundred and seventy, No. 2469, for " Improvements in Apparatus for
the Manufacture of Chlorine," and of those dated Twentieth March. One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, No. 753, for "Improvements
in the Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid and in Apparatus to be employed
therein," which apparatus is particularly described in the said Speci-
fications and need not be again described here. a, a, a, are the parts
of the apparatus filled with an active chemical substance in picces or
with pieces of some body impregnated therewith; b, b, b, are man-holes
or doors at the top of cach division of the apparatus which contains the
materials referred to, which doors are provided with suitable lids and
which may be covered with brickwork easily removeable. Through
these doors the materials are introduced into the apparatus. At c, c, c,
are other openings at the bottom side of each of the said divisions.
Each opening by means of the projecting channel or pipe is lead to
the outside of the brickwork, and is there provided with a suitable door
or lid. Through this channel or pipe the contents of the divisions may
be withdrawn. I prefer to make the opening in the division extending as
shewn below the bars which carry the materials so that the space below
the bars can be cleaned through the same opening. This opening
below the bars is closed by the three cornered piece d, d, d, to prevent
the materials above from falling below the bars, but as indicated by the

page_text: dotted lines e, e, the channel or space c may be divided into two parts,
or two separate and distinct channels or pipes may be made, one of
which communicates with the space above the bars and the other with
the space below them.
As shown in Figures 1 to 4 the arrangement is best adapted to the
complete emptying or refilling of any division at one time.
Figures 5 to 8 represent similar sections to those last referred to of a
similar apparatus, but with the apertures at bottom so arranged that a
portion of the contents of cach division may be emptied at a time. The
channel c, c, c, is at the bottom of each division a and is of a funnel
shape, and is supplied with a door f which is conveniently made double,
one to carry the weight of the filling working in a slide, and the other
closed from the outside to prevent admission of air. The filling in this
case rests on the bottom, and the gas passes from one division to another
through the filling in the aperture in the plates separating the divisions,
as indicated in the Drawings. An outside door f having been removed
then by means of the slide above it some of the contents of that division
may be removed and the rest retained. The apertures at the top may
be similar to those shewn at b, b, b, herein-before referred to, or may be
provided with a hopper-like appendage represented in dotted lines at g,
Figure 5. In this latter case the filling will assume the shape indicated
by the dotted red line. When doors like b, b, are used they admit of
the filling being more easily levelled.
If it be desired to use this Invention for the refilling the divisions
without material loss of heat it is evident that if any material quantity
of fresh material is introduced, it must be heated to the required point
at the time of its introduction.
In an arrangement like that shewn in Figures 5 to 8 I prefer to
make the apparatus a, a, a, taller than is necessary in an arrangement
like that represented in Figures 1 to 4.
In carrying out the second part of my Invention as no particular
construction of apparatus is necessary to produce or reverse the currents.
or blasts of air or gas, but any apparatus suitable for producing the
current or blast may be employed, and as the form or construction
of apparatus from which the dust is to be removed may likewise vary,
I have not thought it necessary to give any detailed drawing, but in
order that my Invention may be fully understood and carried out, I
have given in Sheet 2 indication by block plans how the necessary

page_text: valves, pipes, apparatus, &c. may be arranged. The same letters refer
to the same parts throughout.
A is the apparatus in which the chlorine or sulphuric acid is made,
and from which the dust, &c. is to be removed. In ordinary course
of working the gases enter by the pipe B and exit by the pipe C.
Figure 1, Sheet 2, shews how a separate or auxiliary fan or apparatus
for producing a powerful blast or current may be applied. D may be
the auxiliary fan, &c., it may be connected with the pipes B and C
by pipes, as shewn. Each pipe is provided with valves or means of
isolation indicated at I, F, G, and H. An inspection will suffice to
shew how, by means of these valves and pipes, the blast or current
produced by the fan D is directed into A, cither through the pipe B or
through the pipe C, and according to the construction and connection
of the auxiliary fan or apparatus D it may either aspire or compress the
air in either pipe at will.
Figure 2, Sheet 2, is an arrangement similar to Figure 1, Sheet 3,
but connected with two auxiliary fans or blast producers or aspirators D
and E, which by any ordinary and well-known arrangement may be
used together, one as a blower and the other as an aspirator, or each
alternately as blower or aspirator, or both alternately as either blower
or aspirator, that is, D may always blow and E always aspirate, or vice
versa, or D or E alone may alternately blow and aspirate, or D may
either blow or aspirate, whilst E simultaneously but conversely either
aspirates or blows.
Figure 3, Sheet 2, shews an arrangement of pipes and valves, whereby
the pipe C being connected with one source of motion, either a blower
or aspirator, and the pipes B and M being connected with the air or a
supply of gases, the direction of the current passing through A may be
reversed at will by suitably arranging the valves I, F, G, H, and K, as
for example, when the pipe C is connected with an aspirator, and tho
valves I and H are open and the others shut, the current will enter A
by B and pass out at C. When the valves I and H are shut and the
others. F, G, and K are open, the current will enter A at its junction
with C and will leave it by its junction with B, that is, the direction of
the current passing through A will be reversed.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
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

page_text: 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 construction and use of the apparatus for the production of
chlorine and of sulphuric acid herein-before described, the said apparatus
having apertures at bottom and top, through which apertures the
contents of the apparatus may be charged and discharged and removed
with facility.
Second. The cleansing of apparatus for producing chlorine or sul-
phuric acid as herein described by the aid of powerful blasts or currents
of air.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Deacon, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, the Twentieth day of
December One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.