Improvements in and Apparatus for Use in Subjecting Air or other Gases or Liquids or Solids to the Action of Air, Gases, or Liquids, applicable also for Mixing, Cooling, Heating, and other analogous Operations.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 24th July, 1897
Complete Specification Left, 25th Apr., 1898-Accepted, 4th June, 1898 -
Improvements in and Apparatus for Use in Subjecting Air or other
Gases or Liquids or Solids to the Action of Air, Gases, or Liquids,
applicable also for Mixing, Cooling, Heating, and other analogous
Operations.
We, FORBES, ABBOTT & LENNARD, LIMITED, of 70, Gracechurch Street, in the
City of London, and LEON GASTER, of 37, Maida Vale, in the County of London,
Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
In the ordinary operation of stirring or agitating materials for the purpose of
subjecting them to the action of air gases or liquids or for mixing liquids or
liquids and solids and in like operations the apparatus employed does not satis-
factorily effect the desired result owing it is believed principally to the fact that
when the materials are of different specific gravities the apparatus acts as a
centrifugal separator and the materials are separated instead of being properly
mixed or otherwise caused to co-act. It is the object of this invention to provide
an apparatus by means of which such operations can be very efficiently and rapidly
performed without this drawback.
According to this invention the apparatus is so constructed that the liquid
to be treated or which is to be used for acting on other materials is constantly
elevated from the lower part of the vessel in which it is contained and descends
again and so on continuously whilst the apparatus is in operation, whilst at the
same time it is prevented from taking a rotary course such as would cause
centrifugal action to be set up. The apparatus made according to this invention
may consist of a vessel which can be closed or open as required. In this vessel
is fixed a cylinder or cone communicating at top with the upper part of the
vessel and at bottom with the lower part of the vessel through which cylinder or
cone passes a shaft extending to outside the vessel and provided with means by
which it can be driven direct by, or by transmission gear from, any suitable motor.
This shaft carries helical blades constituting in effect a screw propeller, or several
screw propellers, which is, or are, rotated in the said cylinder or cone in such a
way that they elevate continuously the liquid from the lower part of the vessel
and up through the said cylinder or cone and over the top thereof into the
annular space between the exterior of the cylinder or cone and the interior of
the vessel and down therethrough to the bottom of the vessel to be again elevated
by the propeller, or propellers. In order to prevent the liquid acquiring a rotary
motion in the said annular space it is divided, or provided with obstructors, which
can conveniently be webs or arms connecting the cylinder or cone to the vessel.
At the upper part of the cylinder or cone may be a cap secured to the shaft
and rotating with it and provided with a perforated rim so that the liquid which
passes through the cylinder or cone enters this cap and passes into the annular
space outside the cylinder or cone through the perforations in the rim of the cap,
'

page_text: and the liquid is thereby finely divided so as to be in a condition to be subjected
very completely to the action of air or gases contained in the vessel. Where
the liquid is to be subjected to the action of air the vessel may be open but when
the liquid is to be subjected to the action of other gases the vessel can be closed
and the gas can be conveniently pumped in or admitted (through an orifice
provided for the purpose) from a container in which the gas to be used is stored
under pressure. The vessel may be jacketted for the reception of steam, or other
heating agent, or of water; or other cooling agent. The invention is not limited to
precise details of the apparatus, for example instead of one cylinder or cone in
which the elevating propeller acts, or propellers act, there may be several such
cylinders or cones side by side, or, for certain operations, they may be superposed
so that layers of the liquid at different levels are caused to take courses like that
described. Where solids are to be subjected to the action of liquids the solids
may be put in the apparatus (in a finely divided state) with the liquid; or they
may be supported or carried in any suitable way for example on perforated trays
in the annular space through which the liquid descends. The same liquid which is so
used to act on solids may during the same operation or before or afterwards be
exposed to the action of air or other gases contained in or introduced into the
apparatus.
The invention is applicable generally to any operation in which air or other
gases or liquids or solids are to be subjected to the action of air gases or liquid
or to other analogous operations such for example as washing or agitating.
Dated 24th day of July 1807
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.
Improvements in and Apparatus for Use in Subjecting Air or other
Gases or Liquids or Solids to the Action of Air, Gases, or Liquids,
applicable also for Mixing, Cooling, Heating, and other analogous
Operations.
We, FORBES, ABBOTT & LENNARD, LIMITED, of 70, Gracechurch Street, in the
City of London, and LEON GASTER, of 37, Maida Vale, in the County of London,
Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:-
In the ordinary operation of stirring or agitating materials for the purpose of
subjecting them to the action of air gases or liquids or for mixing liquids, or
liquids and solids, and in like operations, the apparatus employed does not satis-
factorily effect the desired result owing it is believed principally to the fact that
when the materials are of different specific gravities the apparatus acts as a
centrifugal separator and the materials are separated instead of being properly
mixed or otherwise caused to co-act. It is the object of this invention to provide
an apparatus by means of which such operations can be very efficiently and rapidly
performed without this drawback.
According to this invention the apparatus is so constructed that the liquid
to be treated or which is to be used for acting on other materials is constantly
elevated from the lower part of the vessel in which it is contained and descends
again and so on continuously whilst the apparatus is in operation, whilst at the

page_text: same time it is prevented from taking a rotary course such as would cause
centrifugal action to be set up. The apparatus made according to this invention
may consist of a vessel which can be closed or open as required. In this vessel
is fixed a cylinder or cone communicating at top with the upper part of the
vessel and at bottom with the lower part of the vessel through which cylinder or
cone passes a shaft extending to outside the vessel and provided with means by
which it can be driven direct by, or by transmission gear from, any suitable motor.
This shaft carries helical blades constituting in effect a screw propeller, or several
screw propellers, which is, or are, rotated in the said cylinder or cone in such a
way that they elevate continuously the liquid from the lower part of the vessel
and up through the said cylinder or cone and over the top thereof into the
annular space between the exterior of the cylinder or cone and the interior of
the vessel and down therethrough to the bottom of the vessel to be again elevated
by the propeller, or propellers. In order to prevent the liquid acquiring a rotary
notion in the said annular space it is divided, or provided with obstructors, which
can conveniently be webs or arms connecting the cylinder or cone to the vessel.
At the upper part of the cylinder or cone may be a cap secured to the shaft
and rotating with it and provided with a perforated rim so that the liquid which
passes through the cylinder or cone enters this cap and passes into the annular
space outside the cylinder or cone through the perforations in the rim of the cap,
and the liquid is thereby finely divided so as to be in a condition to be subjected
very completely to the action of air or gases contained in the vessel. Where
the liquid is to be subjected to the action of air the vessel may be open but when
the liquid is to be subjected to the action of other gases the vessel can be closed
and the gas can be conveniently pumped in or admitted (through an orifice
provided for the purpose) from a container in which the gas to be used is stored
under pressure. The vessel may be jacketted for the reception of steam, or other
heating agent, or of water, or other cooling agent. The invention is not limited to
precise details of the apparatus, for example instead of one cylinder or cone in
which the elevating propeller acts, or propellers act, there may be several such
cylinders or cones side by side, or, for certain operations, they may be superposed
so that layers of the liquid at different levels are caused to take courses like that
described. Where solids are to be subjected to the action of liquids the solids
may be put in the apparatus (in a finely divided state) with the liquid; or they
may be supported or carried in any suitable way for example on perforated trays
in the annular space through which the liquid descends. The same liquid which is so
used to act on solids may during the same operation, or before or afterwards, be
exposed to the action of air or other gases contained in or introduced into_the
apparatus.
The invention is applicable generally to any operation in which air or other
gases or liquids or solids are to be subjected to the action of air gases or liquid
or to other analogous operations such for example as washing or agitating.
In order that the invention may be clearly understood we will further describe
the same with reference to the accompanying drawings of which Figure 1 is a
vertical section of an apparatus constructed according to this invention and
Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the line 1-2 Figure 1. Figures 3 and 4 are
views similar to Figures 1 and 2 of a modified construction of apparatus. Figure 5
is a longitudinal vertical section of another modified construction of apparatus
and Figure 6 is a plan of a still further modification.
Referring to Figures 1 and 2, A is a vessel of cast iron or other suitable material
in the interior of which is fixed a hollow inverted cone B of such length that when
in position there is a space between the lower end of the said hollow cone and the
bottom of the vessel A and also between the upper end of the hollow cone and the
top of the vessel A. This hollow inverted cone may be connected to the vessel A
in any convenient manner in the drawing it is shewn as being connected to the
interior of the vessel by radial plates C which also serve to prevent centrifugal
action being set up in the vessel as hereinafter described. The vessel A is closed

page_text: at its upper end by a cover D and through a stuffing box or bearing a in the said
cover, passes a shaft E which extends through the hollow inverted cone B and bears
at its lower end in a plumbago block or other suitable bearing F.
On the end of the shaft E which projects outside the cover D is fixed a driving
pulley G round which passes a driving band from any suitable motor for rotating
the said shaft. Fast on the portion of the shaft E which is within the hollow
cone B, and near the bottom of the said cone, is a screw propeller H the blades
of which are preferably arranged laterally at an angle of inclination of say about
from 25° to 30° from a horizontal line and the ends of the blades are in close
proximity to the inner surface of the hollow cone. Secured to the said shaft E
over the upper end of the hollow inverted cone is a hollow conical cap I having an
inwardly curved perforated rim i. Surrounding the hollow inverted cone at a
short distance from the upper end thereof is a perforated plate or tray K to carry
solid material which is to be acted on, and surrounding the vessel A is a jacket L
into which steam or other heating medium, or a cooling medium, as required, can
be introduced by an inlet passage L' and, be discharged through a passage M
or vice versa. In the cover I) are apertures N for the reception of a thermometer,
pressure gauge or other testing instruments, other openings, not shewn in the
drawings, being provided in the said cover for the introduction of solid or other
matter into the vessel. P is an inlet for gas or other vapour to the interior of
the vessel A and Q is a draw-off cock for discharging liquid from the said vessel A.
The apparatus can be used for various purposes for example for thickening or
oxidizing linseed oil, cotton seed oil, rape seed oil, or the like, the oxidation of
the oil being effected by air only if desired, or turpentine or other suitable matter
can be added to the oil in the apparatus to facilitate the oxidation of the said oil
and any suitable liquid or solid or gaseous matter may be introduced into the
apparatus for bleaching the oil. The apparatus can also be used for cooling oil or
other liquids, or for the manufacture of vinegar, acetic acid; for making aniline
for example by mixing nitro-benzole with sulphuretted hydrogen, for the
preparation of dyes and colours; extracting oil from seeds or fatty matters;
extracting tannin from substances containing it; for treating sewage matter;
for disinfecting and deodorizing purposes; and for mixing different liquids and
gases together or with solid matters. The liquid or liquids to be treated or which
is to be used for acting on other materials, either liquid gaseous or solid is fed
into the vessel A to the requisite height, and if gas or vapour is to be acted on
by the said liquid, the said gas or vapour is admitted to the interior of the vessel A
by the passage P, and the shaft E together with the propellōr H being rotated in
the direction of the arrow in Figure 1 the liquid is forced by the propellor up
through the hollow cone B and over the upper end thereof into contact with the
gas or vapour contained in the vessel A above the surface of the liquid, a con-
tinuous circulation of the liquid through the hollow inverted cone B, being con-
tinued as long as the propeller is being rotated. The radial plates C serve as
obstructors or baffles to prevent a centrifugal action being set up in the liquid
which if allowed would injuriously affect the mixing efficiency of the apparatus.
By reversing the direction of motion of the propeller shaft the liquid will be
drawn into the upper end of the inverted hollow cone, and forced out from the
lower end thereof and so the circulation of the liquid will be in the reverse
direction to that before described thus the direction of circulation may be
frequently changed and thereby effect a more perfect mixing of the liquid with
the gas or vapour or other material admitted to the vessel. In cases where seeds
or other solid matter is to be acted on by the liquid, the solid matter may be placed
on the perforated plate or tray K and the liquid by the rotation of the propeller
be caused to rise in the hollow inverted cone B and pass over the upper edge
thereof onto the solid material contained on the tray the said liquid passing thence
through the perforations in the tray into the annular space between the hollow
cone and the wall of the vessel A. The circulation of the liquid may be thus con-

page_text: tinued as long as required. If liquid or a mixture of liquids and solids is to be
subjected to the atmosphere the vessel A may be open at top suitable bearings
being provided for the propeller shaft E but if liquids or solids are to be subjected
to the action of gases or vapours the vessel should be closed and the gas can be
pumped into the vessel through the passage P, the admission of the said gas being
regulated as required by suitable cocks or valves. The liquid passing upward
through the hollow inverted cone may be caused to enter the cap I before it passes
into the annular space between the cone and the vessel A. the said liquid passing
from the said cap through the perforations in the rim i of the cap in a disintegrated
or divided condition whereby it is more completely subjected to the action of
the gas or vapour or air contained in the vessel or in case of mixing one liquid
with another liquid, the said liquids are, by being passed through the perfora-
tions in the cap, more intimately commingled. For mixing powdered materials
seeds or the like together, the perforated tray K and the cap may be dispensed
with. The materials while being commingled in the apparatus may be subjected
to either heat or cold by admitting as required either a heating medium or a
cooling medium to the jacket L surrounding the vessel A. Instead of providing
only one propeller on the shaft E several similar propellers may be keyed thereon
the said propellers being of increased size towards the upper end of the inverted
cone or if instead of the cone, a cylinder be employed the several propellers on
the shaft E may be all of the same size. The apparatus may be made of any.
suitable material that will resist the action of the materials to be acted on, whether
they be acids or alkalies.
Figures 3 and 4, illustrate a modification of the apparatus in which several
inverted hollow cones B are superposed, and in each cone is arranged to rotate a
propeller H, the propellers all being fast on one and the same shaft E. The
cones B are attached by plates & to angle irons b' secured at their lower ends to a
casting c in which the shaft E rotates and to the said angle irons are also attached
the inner edges of radial plates C fixed at their outer edges by angle irons c¹ to the
interior of the vessel A which radial plates serve as interrupters or baffles to
prevent centrifugal action being set up as before described. Through the several-
cones B passes a shaft E carrying propellers H, one to each cone, the blades of
each propeller can be arranged at the same angle and in the same direction as
shewn in Figure 3, or the angle of the blades of one or more of the propellers
can be arranged in the reverse direction to the blades of the other propellers as
shewn in Figure 3 for the purpose hereinafter described. When the angle of
the propeller blades are all arranged in the same direction; the liquid will be
agitated and circulated in the same direction by all the propellers, and at different
levels, for instance, if the level of the liquid in the vessel A be at the said
liquid will be acted on by the lower propeller only, if the level of the liquid be
increased to y-y the two lower propellers will operate on the said liquid, and if
the level of the liquid be raised to the line 2-2, the 'whole of the propellers will
operate on the said liquid so that the agitation of the liquid is effected at various
levels, whereby the contents of the vessel can be most efficiently agitated and
mixed. Above the uppermost cone, there may be carried on the shaft E a cap I
with a perforated rim i as and for the purpose herein before described the said cap
being adjustable in position on the shaft so that when not required to distribute
the liquid it can be fixed in a position shown by dotted lines Figure 3 in which
position it will act as a fly wheel. The shaft E may be screw threaded at the part
which passes through the cap I the boss of the cap being provided with a
corresponding internal thread so that when the spindle is rotated in one direction
the cap will be caused to descend onto the cone and when the said shaft is rotated
in the reverse direction the said cap will rise into the position shewn by dotted lines.
By arranging the blades of some of the propellers at reverse angles to the blades
of the adjacent propellers the agitation of the liquid will be increased, as the
direction of circulation of the liquid will be alternately reversed through the

page_text: adjacent cones, as shewn by the arrows in Figure 3*.. Instead of the cones being
superposed, there may be arranged side by side any desired number of cylinders
or cones B and propellers as shewn for example in Figure 5, each propeller being
fast on a separate shaft E and the whole of the shafts of the several propellers may
be simultaneously driven from one driving shaft, or each shaft may be separately
driven if desired. Figure 6 shows in plan three vertical shafts arranged to rotate
in suitable bearings in a vessel A, each shaft carrying a propeller H working in a
hollow cylinder or cone B. Each shaft E receives rotation from a central shaft E¹
by endless bands a passing round pulleys on the said central shaft E¹ and round
pulleys E3 on the shafts E the shaft E being driven by a strap E or by gearing
from a shaft E outside the vessel A. Suitable baffle plates or obstructors (not
shewn) may be arranged in the vessel A to prevent centrifugal motion to the liquid
in the said vessel.
If desired, two or more propellers may be superposed on each of the shafts E,
and corresponding cones or cylinders be arranged for the propellers to rotate in
similarly to those shewn in Figures 3 and 3^.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. In apparatus for use in subjecting fluids or solids to the action of air gases or
liquids, or for mixing, heating, or cooling and analogous operations, the combina-
tion with a vessel to contain the material or materials to be operated on of a hollow
cylinder or hollow cone, supported in the vessel so that the liquid or other material
in the vessel can pass therethrough; a shaft passing through the hollow cylinder
or cone, a screw propeller or screw propellers fast on the shaft, so as to rotate there-
with, inside the hollow cylinder or cone, and cause a circulation through the said
hollow cylinder or cone of the liquid or other material contained in the vessel,
and obstructors or baffle plates arranged in the vessel outside the hollow cylinder
or hollow cone to prevent centrifugal motion being set up in the liquid or other
material in the vessel substantially as herein before described.
2. The combination with the subject matter of the preceding claiming clause, of
a cap with a perforated rim arranged over the upper end of the hollow cylinder or
hollow cone and caused to rotate with the shaft carrying the propeller or helical
blades substantially as and for the purpose herein before described.
3. In apparatus for the purposes herein before described an arrangement of super-
posed hollow cylinders or hollow cones in the vessel in which the materials are
acted on a shaft passing through the said superposed hollow cylinders or cones;
helical blades or propellers fast on the shaft and arranged to rotate inside the
superposed hollow cylinders or cones, so that the material can be acted on by the
propellers at different levels, substantially as herein before described.
4. In apparatus such as herein before described and claimed, an outer casing to
the vessel, in which materials are acted on, the said outer casing forming a space
into which steam or other heating medium or a cooling medium may be admitted
for the purpose of heating or cooling, as the case may be, the material contained
in the vessel, substantially as hereinbefore described.
5. The combinations and arrangements of parts constituting apparatus for the
purposes mentioned, substantially as herein before described and illustrated by the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 25th dow of Anni 1000
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.