IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SULPHATE OF SODA, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS, OR PARTS THEREOF, ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1837

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BELL, of South Shields, in the County of Durham, Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS His late most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighth day of May, in the seventh year of His reign, did,
for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas
Bell, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the
said Thomas Bell, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Thomas Bell, my exors, adiñors, 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 expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SULPHATE OF SODA, WHICH
IMPROVEMENTS, OR PARTS THEREOF, ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Thomas Bell,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His said 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
Thomas Bell, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention relates to the application of a peculiar construction of oven
or furnace in which muriate of soda is to be converted into sulphate of soda,
and to the application of a similar construction of furnace to that hereafter
described to the purpose of evolving chlorine.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents a front elevation; Figure 2, a transverse section; and
Figure 3, a plan in section, of a furnace or oven suitably arranged for the
purpose of my Invention. a, a, are the fire bars below the bottom of the
oven (in which the process of converting mnriate of soda into sulphate of soda
is to be performed), hence the materials in the oven are subjected to a bottom
heat, which, in combination with the mode of constructing the oven, is an
important feature of my Invention. b, b, is the oven or chamber in which
the materials to be operated on are to be put. This oven consists of the
quadrangular iron triangle c, c, which is lined on the inside by the fire brick
or tile, or slabs of stone d, d, being that on which the muriate of soda and
sulphuric acid are placed, and the under part of the iron trough c, c, is covered
or protected by means of the fire bricks or tiles e, e, by which the iron trough
is on the one hand protected from the action of the fire, and becomes the
means of retaining the lining d, d, suitably for the bottom or bed of the oven
on which the materials to be operated on are to be placed, and the oven is so
set as to have a side and top heat in addition to a bottom heat, as is shewn in
the Drawing. f. f, is an arch or cover of fire brick, or other suitable material
in order to produce a close oven. g is the fire door, and h the door at which
the oven is supplied, and through which a proper rake or instrument may be
inserted by the workman in order to stir the matters under operation. i is an
opening to permit of the flow of the muriatic acid gas as it is evolved to a
suitable condenser or other vessel or apparatus into which it is desired to
receive the muriatic acid gas as it passes off from the oven. j is an opening
for the passage of a suitable pipe to introduce sulphuric acid when the furnace
is employed to convert muriate of soda into sulphate of soda. It should be
stated that, according to the present manufacture of sulphate of soda, two
classes of apparatus are employed, one being ordinary reverberatory furnaces,

page_text: of which there are various modifications, but in which the fire in heating the
oven passes through the same, the other description being cast-iron retorts or
ovens, to which external heat is applied, which more or less surrounds the
external surface of the retort or oven; and it has been proposed to construct
retorts or ovens for this manufacture of fire brick, covered with fire brick or
other substance, and heated by furnace and flues passing over the upper
surface. I have mentioned this in order to state that I do not make any
claim thereto, and in order more clearly to point out the peculiar features of
novelty of the oven or retort employed by me; the novelty consisting in pro-
tecting the iron, by means of fire-brick, tile, or slabs of stone, from the action
of the fire and from the action of muriatic acid gas, whereby an oven or retort
so constructed will allow of bottom external heat, and not be so liable to
destructions as when the iron is exposed either to the action of the fire or to
that of the muriatic acid; and the lining d, which constitutes the working
surface or bed of the oven, will be retained securely by the iron trough. I
would here remark, that although I have described the iron trough as
being rectangular, it will be evident that it may be of other figures, provided
it is protected by fire brick or tile, as above described. The manufacture of
sulphate of soda being well understood it will not be necessary further to
describe the same, as a workman conversant with the process will readily
conduct the same in the furnace and oven above described, and he will obtain
the advantageous results of a reverberatory furnace, with the additional utility
of having the muriatic acid gas separate from the smoke of the fuel, in like
manner to when the process is conducted in closed iron retorts as above
mentioned.
I will now proceed to explain the nature of the process of evolving chlorine
by means of the furnace or oven above described, dispensing with the iron
trough c. The oven having been already explained, and the process of producing
chlorine being well known, I need only further remark that the black oxide
of manganese being put into the oven, and muriatic acid applied thereto,
the heat of the furnace will cause chlorine to be evolved.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I lay no claim to the
various parts of apparatus, nor to the processes herein described or mentioned,
other than has been herein-before mentioned, and more particularly defined as
follows:-
What I claim as my Invention is the mode of combining the parts
c, c, and d, d, when applied to the manufacture of sulphate of soda, and I

page_text: claim the application of an oven or retort, according to the construction above
described, for the purpose of evolving chlorine.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Bell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord
ousand sight hundred and thirty-seven
year of our Lord 1837, the aforesaid Thomas Bell came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also that the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-seven.