Improvements in Apparatus and Method for the Subjection of Liquid Substances to the Action of Air and other Reagents, more especially for the Treatment of Manganate of Soda or other Alkali.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Oct., 1898-Accepted, 23rd Dec., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus and Method for the Subjection of
Liquid Substances to the Action of Air and other Reagents,
more especially for the Treatment of Manganate of Soda or
other Alkali.
I, FRANK BILLINGS FELT, of No. 5557, Monroe Avenue, Chicago, County of Cook
and State of Illinois, United States of America, Gentleman, 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:-
The invention more particularly relates to improvements in apparatus especially
designed for the manipulation and method of treatment of manganate of soda or
other alkali alternately with air and steam in the production of oxygen and nitrogen
from air.
In the production of oxygen from a liquid manganate by the action of steam those
molecules or particles which first come under the influence or action of the steam are
deoxidized and decomposed into caustic alkali and manganese dioxide according to the
following operation :
Na₂MnO4 + H2O = (NaHO), + MnO2 + 0
and the molecules or particles of caustic alkali and manganese dioxide are then in
a condition to again absorb oxygen. This reaction, namely, the absorbtion of oxygen,
apparently occurs when the proportion of free manganese dioxide has reached a
certain moderate percentage in the liquid manganate, and at this point oxygen is no
longer given off by the action of steam on said liquid manganate, the affinity for
ogygen of the free manganese dioxide and caustic alkali on the one hand seeming to
balance and neutralize the tendency of the manganate to decompose the steam with the
evolution of oxygen on the other hand, and under these opposing influences the desired
oxygen yielding reaction is stopped before any sufficient quantity of oxygen is obtained
to make the operation commercially profitable.
From the foregoing it is not only obvious that oxygen cannot be produced from a
liquid manganate with sufficient economy for general use when the steam is so
introduced as to diffuse through the entire mass or when the particles of manganate
are allowed to mix indifferently with those resulting from the decomposition above
referred to, but it is equally obvious that to successfully produce oxygen for general
use some mechanical means must be provided by which the deoxidized portion of the
liquid is caused to separate from the oxidized portion as fast as deoxidation takes
place.
The primary object of the invention therefore, generally stated, is the production
of a closed apparatus of such construction that a liquid substance may be exposed
alternately to the action of reagents and in such manner that will permit a reagent
throughout its operation to automatically separate and maintain separated those
particles of the liquid acted upon and as fast as acted upon and all this without
dividing mechanically the bulk of the liquid.
More specifically stated the object of the invention is an apparatus so constructed
for the purposes of producing oxygen from a manganate that the deoxidized portion

page_text: of the liquid is automatically caused to separate from the oxidized portion under the
action of steam as fast as the deoxidation takes place.
A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of such construction
that the reagents will be caused to successively come into contact with and operate
upon every particle or molecule of a given liquid mass however large its bulk
may be.
A still further object of the invention is to produce an apparatus with certain
details of construction with which the reagent employed in connection with its
contents will co-operate with mechanical means within the apparatus to break up and
separate the treated molecules or particles and in such manner as to facilitate and
cause the immediate release of the evolved oxygen from the mass of the material.
A still further object of the invention is to produce an apparatus of such construction
as will prevent the discharge therefrom of its liquid contents and particularly a liquid
manganate by the force of the reagent, such for example as steam, without
objectionably retarding the flow of the oxygen or other gas therefrom during the
action of the reagent.
And finally to attain certain other objects hereinafter specified by the devices and
combination of devices described and claimed, and shown in the accompanying
drawings, in which,
Figure 1 represents an apparatus embodying the invention with one side removed
so as to show in side elevation the internal structure thereof.
Figure 2 is a transverse section of the same taken on the line 2-2 Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a detail vertical section of the apparatus for more clearly showing the
relative arrangement of the leaders for the nipples and the connection of the steam
leaders with their supply pipe on the line 3-3 of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a perspective view of the pipes, diaphragms, perforated plates, etc.,
constituting the internal structure of the apparatus and the means for binding them
together for their simultaneous bodily removal therefrom.
Figure 5 is a vertical section through another form of the apparatus capable of
performing the methods hereinafter described, and
Figure 6 is a similar view of another form of apparatus likewise capable of
performing said methods 'as hereinafter described and claimed.
Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in all the views.
In Figures 1 to 4 inclusive is illustrated the preferred mechanical structure of the
invention for carrying out processes by which liquid chemicals may be treated with
a reagent without intermixing the treated with the untreated portions thereof during
said treatment and more particularly by which liquid manganates may be successfully
deoxidized by the action of steain without mixing the deoxidized portions thereof with
the oxidized portions during the action of said reagent.
The apparatus A shown in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive consists of a rectangular body square
in cross section but which may be of any other form adapted for the purposes of the
invention and for the internal structure hereinafter described, and is provided with a
flange a to which is removably secured by bolts or other suitable means (not shown) a cap
or cover B provided with a central opening benclosing and projecting above which is
a chamber C forming a controlled outlet between the apparatus and the open air and
with a pipe D for conducting oxygen during the action of the reagent from the
retort to any suitable reservoir or tank. The chamber C is also provided with a
removable cap or cover c which is caused to tightly close the end of the chamber by
means of a hand screw c¹ passing through an arch c² secured to the side walls of the
chamber C and through which, when opened, nitrogen, during the oxidizing process,
is discharged.
Instead however of discharging nitrogen into the open air the chamber C may be
connected by a pipe conducting said nitrogen to a suitable.reservoir or to some
apparatus wherein it may be purified for use, and in this connection it is proper to
add that any other form of coupling or connection than the chamber C for the
pipe D and the discharge of the nitrogen, may be employed without a substantial
departure from the invention.

page_text: Passing downwardly through the cover B at one corner of the apparatus and nearly
to the bottom thereof is an air supply pipe E provided at its lower end near the
bottom of the apparatus, with a header E¹ extending along the side of the apparatus,
and from which projects a number of leaders e to nearly the opposite side of the retort
as shown in Figure 2, which leaders e are closed at their free ends and provided at
intervals of their length with nipples e¹.
Likewise projecting down through the cover B at an opposite corner of the
apparatus is a steam supply pipe F terminating at its lower end near the bottom of
the retort and provided with a header F¹ from which extend a number of leaders f
parallel with and adjacent to and preferably corresponding in number with the
leaders of the air supply passage which leaders like the leaders e are provided at
intervals of their length with nipples f¹ inclined or bent towards the nipples e so as
to bring the discharging ends of the two sets of nipples adjacent to each
other.
So far have been described means by which air for oxidizing and steam for
deoxidizing a manganate may be introduced thereto, but as already explained
deoxidization would not be successful to a degree necessary for commercial success
where the steam discharges directly into the bulk of liquid because the deoxidized
molecules would become oxidized in passing upwardly through the mass and it is at
this point in the construction of the device that the most important feature of
the invention becomes necessary, viz., a means for dividing the mass into a current
or currents whereby portions of the mass are successively deoxidized and
simultaneously carried away from and prevented from mixing with the other and
oxidized portions of the mass without mechanically dividing the bulk in the
sense of isolating any portion of the mass from any other portion at any
time.
To these ends the apparatus is provided with a series of ducts preferably
consisting of a plurality of open end tubes G the lower ends of which terminate
near the bottom of the apparatus and about or above the steam and air nipples
before described or in such relation thereto that the steam and air from said
nipples will discharge into the suspended pipes which are preferably made flarring
at their ends opposing said nipples as shown at for facilitating the entrance of the
steam and air thereto.
The upper ends of the suspended pipes g as shown terminate somewhat below the
middle of the length of the apparatus but the length of these pipes is to be governed
by the desired level of the liquid in the apparatus, the exposure required for the
action of a reagent upon the liquid contents of the apparatus and the structure above
them, such for example, as the screens and diaphragms now to be described,
and these pipes may be in any number and in any size or length found best
adapted for the particular chemical to be treated in an apparatus of the described
construction.
In the operation of the invention upon a manganate however the best results are
found to accrue from the use of about the number shown in the drawings and of about
the same size and length relative to the apparatus therein shown.
Arranged above the suspended pipes G and constituting passages for the liquid are
one or more screens H which may be of wire gauze or consist of a perforated plate or
plates but which extend entirely across the apparatus so as to fit closely to its walls
or in any event across the pathway of any liquid which may be thrown against them,
which said screens are for the purposes of breaking up the liquid as it is thrown
against them by the force which causes its circulation whether it be air, steam or other
force for the purposes of more fully exposing its molecules to the action of a chemical
or on the other hand for discharging themselves of their product under the action
of a reagent.
As soon as the manganate is fully oxidized the air blast is shut off and the dome C
is closed and the pipe D leading to an oxygen holder or other reservoir is opened, and
thereupon the steam is admitted through the steam pipe F and discharged thence
through the nipples or nozzles f¹ up through the pipes G and, like the air blast,

page_text: causing a circulation of the liquid down between the pipes G and thence up through
them and in such a manner that the steam is brought in contact with and frees every
molecule of its oxygen, but in such manner that the deoxidized material is discharged
upon the oxidized material while at the same time the oxygen is driven on through
and out of the apparatus and as a result there is no such contact between the deoxi-
dized material and the oxidized material as will permit of a substantial reabsorbtion
of oxygen by the former while the latter descends into the lower open ends of the
pipes G and is in turn deoxidized and its oxygen discharged from the apparatus.
Above the screens H are a number of diaphragms or plates I so constructed and
arranged as to form a tortuous passage as for example, the upper and lower
diaphragms project from one side of the apparatus to nearly the opposite side but so
as to leave a passage-way between their free ends and the side of the apparatus while
the middle diaphragm extends clear across the apparatus but is provided with a
central opening and as a result the gases rising from the material below take a
tortuous passage from the apparatus as indicated by the arrows and while there is no
obstruction to the passage of the gases these diaphragms prevent the discharge of
any of the liquid material from the apparatus however much force may be exerted
by the force with which the air or reagent may be discharged into the liquid
mass.
Other forms of diaphragms adapted for forming a tortuous passage preventing the
discharge of liquid from the apparatus but permitting a free escape of gases
therefrom, may be provided, such for example, as shown in Figure 4, where, by
suspending the diaphragins at the corners the upper and lower diaphragms may
be cut away on all four of their edges and so the passage may be zigzag in its nature
by projecting the plates alternately on opposite sides of the apparatus and in fact
any arrangement of plates or passages in the apparatus by which the gases are
permitted free escape and which at the same time form an obstruction to the passage
of the liquid by the force which causes its circulation in the apparatus will be within
the spirit of the invention.
For the purpose of the bodily removal of the internal structure of the apparatus
its several parts may be framed together in any convenient manner as for example,
as shown in Figure 4, in which the steam and air pipe together with two standards J J¹
constitute the corner posts of a frame banded together by the bars K bolted to the
pipes and standards in such numbers and at such points thereon as will give the
frame the desired rigidity, the supply pipes and standards also furnishing a means
of support for the screens If and diaphragms I before described either by sleeving
thein on the corner posts or otherwise suitably attaching them thereto. The
bars K also furnish a means of support for the internal cross bars L to which
are secured in any suitable manner, such for instance, by screws, bolts or other
suitable means, the pipes G whereby they are suspended as and for the purpose
herein before described so as to constitute passages for the currents of liquid designed
to be circulated therethrough.
By thus banding together the internal structure so that it may be bodily
removed from the apparatus the facility with which repairs may be made therein
is very much promoted for it will be seen that whenever any part becomes
injured or needs replacing it is only necessary to disconnect the apparatus from its
discharge connections and lift the entire structure out with its cover and the
chamber C and as soon as the repair is made, quickly set the structure back in
place.
This is an important feature of the invention, for the reason that, owing to
the caustic character of the material employed, the degree of heat to which it is
subjected, etc., such repairs are frequently necessary to be made, and, to be able to
take out the entire structure in the manner above described and substitute any part,
is not only a great convenience, but a substantial saving of time and expense in the
running of the apparatus and the production of oxygen.
In the operation of the device for the production of oxygen and also nitrogen if
desired, the apparatus is filled with a liquid manganate until the level of the liquid

page_text: is about or just below the level of the upper ends of the pipes G and when the
manganate is fully oxidized the supply of air is shut off and the steam turned on, the
force of the steam as it discharges from the nipples being not only sufficient to
force the liquid out the pipes but to atomize. it by forcing it upwards and through
the screens H, and against the diaphragms I, but for which diaphragms the liquid
would be discharged into the chamber C and enter the pipe D. When the steam
discharging from the nipples penetrates the oxidized manganate in the pipes G it is
immediately decomposed and as a result oxygen is evolved, but were it not for the
screens the oxygen would not be entirely released therefrom owing to its being held
between the molecules from which it is discharged and hence these screens or an
equivalent device are an important feature of the invention because of their breaking
up of the liquid and releasing the oxygen before the liquid falls back upon the surface
of the mass, and furthermore by thus breaking up the mass the oxygen is not only
permitted to escape from between the molecules but from the apparatus instead of
recombining with the deoxidized molecules. During the action of the steam every
portion of the oxidized material is forced up through the pipes or passages G but as
the deoxidized material overflows the upper ends of the pipes and falls back from the
screens upon the surface of the mass it does not mix with and consequently combine
oxygen from the oxidized portions to any substantial degree, and therefore in a sense
is so separated from the oxidized portions that there is practically no intermixing of
the deoxidized with the oxidized portions nor recombining of oxygen with the
deoxidized portions, while at the same time there is a successive presentation of every
molecule of an oxidized manganate to its reagent and simultaneously therewith a
circulation of the entire mass of the liquid in the apparatus.
The ducts serve as a means for consecutively raising the material entirely from
the bottom of a liquid mass, isolating from the mass a portion thereof for and
during treatment by a reagent, discharging the treated portion into space in the
apparatus above the mass for the escape of gases both from the liquid and from the
apparatus, and returning the treated liquid upon the surface of the untreated portion
of the mass for subsequent further treatment.
In other words, liquid occupying the ducts at any given time during the introduc-
tion of any reagent is very thoroughly mixed with the reagent and after being
expelled from the upper ends of the ducts, it falls back upon the surface of the mass
of the liquid in the apparatus where it rests quietly upon the surface of the untreated
mass, settling down as fast as the liquid from the bottom of the mass enters and
passes up through the ducts for treatinent by the reagent.
When the material has been deoxidized in the manner above described the steam
is shut off and an air blast is discharged through the nipples e¹ and by which blast
the liquid is forced up through the pipes and caused to circulate in the apparatus in
the same manner as it is caused to circulate by the action of steam and in this con-
nection it may be stated that while the pipes G are not absolutely necessary for fully
oxidizing a liquid manganate as they are necessary for deoxidation, yet these pipes
are of substantial advantage and none the less desirable for the purpose of oxidation
because for facilitating oxidation owing to the fact that every molecule is successively
maintained in contact with a blast of air and as it were detained in the pressure of a
blast of air until it is fully oxidized, and again by the separation that occurs between
the molecules as they are being oxidized from those not yet oxidized the advantage is
gained of not having to more than once subject any portion of the liquid to the
air blast during a reaction for the purposes of fully oxidizing every molecule
thereof.
Whether the liquid contents of an apparatus are a manganate or other chemical and
whether or not the circulation is caused by the action of a reagent or a combining
element, it will be observed that a forced circulation of any chemical up through the
pipes G results in dividing the body into a number of currents corresponding with
the number of passages formed by the pipes, and of separating these currents from
the main body of the liquid during treatinent and whereby a portion of the liquid
may be and is treated as fully and completely as though it were entirely isolated from
! !

page_text: the body of the mass and in such a manner that every portion of the mass is
successively so treated.
And the invention so far as relates to the method involved and as herein before
described is not limited to the use of a chemical or reagent which in itself forces a
circulation of the mass, nor when such circulation exists is it limited to injecting the
chemical or reagent at any particular point in these pipes, passages or equivalents
nor with the steam, for it will be no departure from the invention to inject the
chemical or reagent at any other point in the passages and against the current or at
any angle relative thereto. Neither is the carrying out of the method dependent
upon the particular construction of apparatus so far as described, for, as shown in
Figure 5, by the substitution in the apparatus A for the suspended pipes G of a
diaphragm M dividing the apparatus but so as to form below and above it
passages m¹ m² and substituting for the screens and diaphragms a deflector N, the
same process is performed, viz., an enforced circulation of the liquid mass, in the
direction indicated by the arrows, there is produced a continuous and defined current
into which a reagent may be injected through the nipples e¹ and in which circulates
a liquid in a continuous defined current in such a manner that the treated portions
are not mixed with the untreated portions during the injection of either a chemical
or reagent. This will be understood by bearing in mind that when in the apparatus
shown in Figure 5, a liquid manganate for example, is placed in the apparatus until
on a level or about a level with the upper edge of the diaphragm M steam or air
injected therein from the nipples e¹ will force the material up against the deflector N
and over the diaphragm through the passage m¹, the portion of the mass so treated
being replaced by the untreated portions thereof flowing under the diaphragm through
the passage m¹ and then subjected to the action of the discharge from the nipples,
and whether it be the action of steam or air the treated mass will be conducted to
and fall upon the untreated mass in the opposite chamber, that is to say, on the
opposite side of the diaphragm.
The same process is also performed by the device shown in Figure 6 in which the
diaphragm is entirely omitted and in which the apparatus forms a continuous annular
passage O for the liquid which when treated whether by the injection of air through
the nipples e¹ or by steam through the nipples f¹ the treated portions are forced into
circulation and fall upon the untreated portions in their movement towards the
nipples for treatment, and by this device the treated portions are prevented from
mixing with the untreated portions and the liquid is caused to circulate in a
continuous defined current, and have the chemical or reagent, as the case may be,
injected into one arm of this current to the exclusion of another arm and to have
every portion thereof successively brought into contact therewith.
Although I have described and shown herein currents under the process for producing
oxygen from a manganate to result from air and steam under force, it is no substantial
departure from the spirit of the invention in the practice of the process upon other
liquids to induce the current or currents by other means, as for example, by a force
or exhaust pump, for the process broadly includes the production of these currents by
any means and the injection of a reagent into said current or currents with an
absence of sufficient force to produce said currents.
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 what I
claim is :-
1: In an apparatus of the kind described the combination of a plurality of pipes
suspended therein and one or more jet pipes discharging into one end of said pipes,
of diaphragms arranged beyond the opposite ends of said pipes and forming a tortuous
passage in the apparatus and one or more plates or screens arranged between said
diaphragms and pipes, substantially as set forth.
2: The method of chemically treating a liquid manganate in bulk and simultaneously
maintaining separated the treated matter from the untreated portions thereof, the
same consisting in circulating said liquid in a closed vessel in a continuous defined

page_text: current and simultaneously injecting a reagent into said current and discharging the
resulting gases therefrom, substantially as set forth.
3: The method of chemically treating a liquid manganate in bulk and
simultaneously maintaining separated, the treated matter from the untreated portions
thereof, the same consisting in circulating said liquid in a continuous defined current
or currents and simultaneously injecting steam into said current and discharging the
resulting oxygen therefrom, substantially as set forth.
4: The herein described method of subjecting every molecule of a mass of liquid
manganate to the action of steam, the same consisting in successively conducting
portions of the liquid mass through an open duct or ducts within the main body of
said liquid mass and discharging a reagent into said duct or ducts during the
circulation of the liquid manganate therethrough, substantially as set forth.
5: The herein described method of producing oxygen from a liquid manganate, the
same consisting in conducting every portion of the liquid mass to an open duct or
ducts in an apparatus, alternately discharging air or steam into said duct or ducts
during the flow of the liquid mass therethrough and simultaneously discharging from
the apparatus the gases released from the manganate during said discharge,
substantially as set forth.
6: The combination of an apparatus having a series of tubes g air and steam
nipples discharging into said tubes, leaders from which said nipples project, headers
and air and steam supply pipes connected therewith and posts J, J¹, said posts and
supply pipes etc., being arranged and secured together substantially as described
whereby they are bodily removable from the apparatus without disarrangement,
substantially as set forth.
7: The method of treating a liquid manganate with a fluid reagent which
consists in atomizing the manganate in the presence of such reagent, substantially
as set forth.
8: The method of treating a liquid manganate with a fluid reagent which consists
in forcing the reagent upwardly into space through the surface of and thereby
atomizing the manganate, substantially as set forth.
pated this 10th day of October 1898.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.