Process and Apparatus for Separating Out the Constituent Parts of Gaseous and Liquid Compounds.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Aug., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 1st May, 1893-Accepted, 8th July, 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Process and Apparatus for Separating Out the Constituent Parts of
Gaseous and Liquid Compounds.
I, FRANZ WINDHAUSEN of 106 Rathenower Strasse, Berlin, Germany,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be as follows:-
The present invention relates to the elimination from gaseous and liquid com-
pounds of a certain one or more of their constituent parts, and its object is to
effect the same by a cooling process, so that the remaining part, after the
separation has taken place, shall be obtained at its original temperature, or
somewhat warmer.
The process consists in causing a current of gaseous or aeriform body previously
rendered intensely cold by successive compression, cooling and expansion, to act as
a heat absorbing agent on the compound to be treated in order to separate there-
form those parts which are capable of being solidified or liquified at the temperature
of the said current and in utilising the part not rendered dense to act as a heat
absorbing agent on the compressed aeriform or gaseous body before the latter is
allowed to expand.
In this manner that part not rendered dense will be warmed and simultaneously
its cold employed for generating the intense cold necessary to effect the
elimination.
The process can be carried out in three ways, 1.) by continually renewing the
gaseous or aeriform fluid serving alternately as heat or cold conveying agent ;
2) by repeatedly employing the same (in circulation); 3.) by employing in the
same manner that part of the compound not rendered dense instead of any
particular gaseous or aeriform fluid. In the latter case the invention is confined
to gaseous or aeriform fluids.
The apparatus for performing the process consists mainly of tow sets of
refrigerators connected together and fitted up on the counter-current principle; an
apparatus arranged between the two sets of refrigerators in the course of the fluid
under treatment and adapted to catch any particles, already having been rendered
dense, and which have been drawn out of the first set of refrigerators; an expansion
cylinder arranged between the said refrigerator sets and in the course of the heat
or cold conveying agent, and a compression cylinder arranged at the beginning of
the latter course, to which the agent in question is fed or conducted.
As additional apparatus a condenser or cooler with water circulation may be
employed if necessary, the same being introduced after the compression cylinder in
order to cool down the heat or cold conveying agent to the temperature of the
water previous to its entering the above mentioned apparatus, and an apparatus for
removing solid deposits from the refrigerator and catching device previous
mentioned, as also finally the connecting pipes and valves necessary for th
methods described under 1.) and 2.) in the introduction to this Specification, *7*.
for 2.) between the outlet for the heat and cold conveying agents and the com-
pression cylinder and for 3.) between the latter and the outlet for that part of the
gaseous or liquid compound which has not been rendered dense.
D
ath don of snow 1902
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Process and Apparatus for Separating Out the Constituent Parts of
Gaseous and Liquid Compounds.
I, FRANZ WINDHAUSEN of 106 Rathenower Strasse, Berlin, Germany,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of said invention and in what manner
the same is to he performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
The present invention relates to the elimination from gaseous and liquid com-
pounds or mixtures of a certain one or more of their constituent parts, and its object
is to effect the same by a cooling process, so that the remaining part, after the
separation has taken place, shall be obtained at its original temperature, or some-
what warmer.
The process consists in causing a current of gaseous or aeriform body previously
rendered intensely cold by successive compression, cooling and expansion, to act as
a heat absorbing agent on the compound to be treated in order to separate there-
from those parts which are capable of being solidified or liquefied at the
temperature of the said current, and in utilising the part not rendered dense to act
as a heat absorbing agent on the compressed aeriform or gaseous body before the
latter is allowed to expand.
In this manner that part not rendered dense will be warmed and simultaneously
its cold utilized to assist in the production of the intense cold necessary to effect
the elimination.
The process can be carried out in three ways, 1) by continually renewing the
gaseous or aeriform fluid serving alternately as heat or cold conveying agent;
2) by repeatedly employing the same (in circulation); 3) by employing in the same
manner that part of the compound not rendered dense instead of any particular
gaseous or aeriform fluid. In the latter case the invention is confined to gaseous
or aeriform fluids.
The apparatus for performing the process consists mainly of one set of
refrigerators and one set of reheaters connected together and fitted upon the
counter current principle, an apparatus arranged between the said two sets in the
course of the compound or mixture under treatment and adapted to catch and
retain any condensed or solidified particles which the non condensed rest of the said
compound or mixture might carry with it from the set of refrigerators; an expansion
cylinder arranged between the said sets of refrigerators and reheaters and in the
course of the first heat and then cold conveying agent, and a compression cylinder
arranged at the beginning of the latter course, to which the agent in question is fed
or conducted and from which it is delivered in compressed and consequently warmed
state into the reheating set.
As additional apparatus a cooler with water circulation may be employed if
necessary, the same being arranged after the compression cylinder in order to cool
down the heat or cold conveying agent to the temperature of the water previous to
its entering the above mentioned set of reheaters, and devices for removing solid
deposits from the refrigerators and catching device previously mentioned, as also
finally the connecting pipes and valves necessary for the methods described
under 2) and 3) in the introduction to this Specification, viz. for 2) between the
outlet for the heat and cold conveying agent and the compression cylinder and
for 3) between the latter and the outlet for that part of the gaseous or liquid
compound which has not been solidified or condensed.
In order to make this Specification more clearly intelligible, reference is had to
the accompanying drawings, in which similar letters denote similar parts throughout
the several views:
Fig.
invention.
illustrates in section one form of the apparatus for carrying out my

page_text: Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the changes of temperature that take place during
the process.
Fig. 3 is a section through a device for removing solid deposits from the coolers
and reheaters.
Throughout the following description the word "compound" is used to designate
the liquid or aeriform body under treatment, and the word "medium" for the heat
or cold conveying agent. C is the compression cylinder, V V₁.... are the reheaters.
E is the expansion cylinder, T T' the set of coolers, and W the cooler with water
circulation. The coolers as well as the reheaters are supposed to be constructed
on the same principle as the well known tubular condensers. The circulation
chamber formed by the tubes of the outer or end cooler is provided with an inlet G,
and the corresponding chamber of the outer or end reheater V with an outlet Gi
for the compound respectively for the not condensed part of the same, whilst the
chamber enclosing the tubes of the end reheater V has an inlet L, and the corre-
sponding chamber of the cooler T an outlet L' for the medium. The connections
for the circulation from inlet G to outlet G¹ through the tubes for the compound,
and from the compression cylinder to outlet L' through the tube chambers for the
medium are formed for the latter, by pipe / between the compression cylinder C and
the inlet L, pipe between the reheaters V and V₁, pipe between reheaters V₁
and cooler T by way of the expansion cylinder E, and pipe between the coolers T¹
and T, and for the former by pipe g' between the coolers T and T', pipe g² between
cooler T and reheater V by way of the catching device F, and pipe g³ between the
reheaters V¹ and V.
The medium is drawn by suction through pipe c into the compression cylinder C
where it is compressed, and passes then through pipe (and if it is to be reduced
to water temperature through the tubes of the condenser W) into the set of
reheaters V V through the tubes of which circulates the not condensed rest of the
compound. The said medium here passes between the tubes, where it is. cooled,
and through pipe into the expansion cylinder E, which is provided with positive
acting in- and outlet-valves, as in ordinary refrigerating engines. The medium is
here extremely cooled down by expansion to atmospheric pressure, and flows then
through pipe into the chambers enclosing the tubes of the coolers T¹ T whence it
escapes through exit orifice L' and pipe
P
The compound is simultaneously caused to pass into the tubes of the first cooler T
through the inlet pipe g, i.e. in direction opposite to the course of the medium, and
from said tubes it passes through pipe y' into the tubes of the second cooler T', from
whence it passes through the left hand pipe g2 into the apparatus F which, as above
mentioned, serves to catch and detain any solidified or condensed particles carried
by the non-condensed rest of the compound from the coolers. On its passage
through the said coolers the compound undergoes the action of the cold which has
been produced on the medium by expanding it before it reaches the cooler series,
and which is the more intense the more the compound approaches the left hand
pipe 92, so that such of its constituents as are capable of being solidified or condensed
by said cold, are caused to separate out and in doing so collect partly on the walls
inside the tubes and partly on the bottom of the coolers. From the apparatus F
the non-condensed remainder of the compound passes through the right hand pipe g
into and through the tubes of reheater V₁, the pipe 9 and the tubes of reheater V
successively to the exit orifice G¹ and pipe y'. On this passage the more the said
rest of the compound approaches the pipe g the more it takes up heat from the
compressed medium circulating in the other way and thus leaves the apparatus in
warmed state.
In Fig. 2 the line represents the rise of temperature produced in the
compressed medium, and line shows the relative diminution in temperature
from the beginning to the end of the expansion. The thermic curve xxx² x³ z
corresponds to the variations in the temperature of the medium, and the curve y y¹ y³
to those of the compound.
If according to the second method of carrying out the process-the medium is

page_text: required to circulate continually, communication must be established between the
outlet pipe and the compression cylinder, as by a pipe connected with pipe l* by
a three way cock k', the feed pipe c being dispensed with in this case.
The said cock ¹ is then first adjusted to close the chamber of the cooler T and
open up communication between pipe and the compression cylinder, thus allowing
the medium to flow through the pipes , & k to the compression cylinder, and along
the way described to exit orifice L, so as to be able to return to the compression
cylinder after the cock k¹ has been turned so as to close and open up connection
between exit orifice L' and pipe k. As long as the cock k¹ is left in this latter
position the medium will continue to circulate round and round. The course of the
compound is the same as previously described. The variations in the temperature
of the medium correspond to the closed curve a x²x²x²x²x, Fig. 2.
If it is desired, in the case of an aeriform compound to cause that part of the
compound not solidified to act as medium, the exit pipe 9 must be connected to
the compression cylinder for instance by a pipe z and a three way cock. The
compound entering through orifice G. takes its course as described to exit orifice G¹,
from whence it flows through cock z¹ and pipe into the compression cylinder, and
takes then the course described for the medium to the inlet orifice L. The successive
thermic variations of the aeriform fluid will correspond to the curve y y¹ y³ x x¹³ ³
xx, Fig. 2.
2
If the apparatus is to be adapted for working in any of the various ways herein-
before described, the pipe connection between feed pipe c and outlet pipe g* must
be provided with two three way cocks z¹ and . In carrying out the process
according to the manner at first described the various cocks must be adjusted as
shown in Fig. 1, in the second case cock k¹ will be adjusted as described and cocks =¹
and as shown in the drawing (Fig. 1); in the third case however cock k¹ will be
adjusted as in Fig. 1 and cocks ¹³ so as to open up communication between inlet
orifice G¹ and feed pipe c.
That part of the compound which undergoes solidification or liquefaction will be
deposited partly in the cooler tubes and partly on the bottoms of the coolers, whilst
any solidified or liquefied particles held in suspension in the current will be detained
by the apparatus F. The latter consists of a vertically arranged receptacle having
at its upper end between the inlet and outlet orifices a circular disc f mounted on a
spindle, said disc having on its sides wings ff. When the spindle f³ is caused
to rotate, these wings act as beaters to drive down the condensed or frozen particles
the entering current may carry with it from the coolers T and F, that is to say, the
said particles in impinging against the disc fare first stopped by the latter and then
are met with by the wings which by virtue of their more or less rapid rotation
beat against them and thus deflect them down into the vessel F where they descend
by their gravity whilst the gaseous current passes at the periphery of the disc.
Any particles that may have got past the disc fare deflected by the wings f
acting in the same manner. When a liquid is to be treated the vessel F. is filled
with liquid of like nature up to the spindle f³ so that the disc fand its wings f¹ f
rotate at the places of in-and-out flow through the liquid filling the vessel F.
To enable liquid deposits to be drawn off, the receptacle Fas also the coolers,
the reheaters and the chambers enclosing tubes thereof are provided with
cocks a, a¹. In order to remove solid deposits the same are thawed by aid of the
device shown in section in Fig. 3. Each cooler and reheater is provided with a
double bottom D and this latter connected by a pipes and cocks to the front
chamber of a box divided by a partition wall, the back chamber of said box
opening into the tube chamber of the cooler or reheater on one hand and com-
municating on the other hand by means of a tube with the double bottom. The
box is connected by a pipe s with a pipe s branched off from the pipe l.
The said partition wall may, as shown, be constituted by a valve in order
to permit the thawing agent being directly led into the tube enclosing chamber, the
cock being closed.
If now the cock is opened the warm medium euters the double bottom D

page_text: through pipes s s' and box and passes through pipes into the tubes enclosing
chamber, whilst the deposits, thus thawed, are drawn off by the cocks a or a'.
In order to thaw the solidified deposits in the apparatus F the same is provided
with an exterior shell, forming a space s between the outer and inner shells, which
space is connected at the bottom by a pipes and cock to the pipe leading to
the expansion cylinder so that by opening said cock part of the medium is led into
the said space before being subjected to expansion.
The arrangement of two coolers and two reheaters as shown in the figure only
serves as an example, the number of coolers and reheaters employed depending
entirely on the nature of the compound. Tubular coils or spirals may also be used
in the coolers instead of the straight tubes described, provided that with sufficient
tubular surface the counter current principle is retained.
The invention is particularly adaptable for concentrating liquids containing
alkohol by freezing out a part of the water contained in the same, as also for gases
containing hydrocarbons or paraffin, for condensing and separating out such parts
of the same as are capable of condensation.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The process consisting in causing a gaseous or aeriform liquid (medium)
rendered intensely cold by successive compression, cooling and expansion, and an
aeriform or liquid compound to meet each other on the counter current principle, so
that, first, the compound is subjected to the action of the medium cooled down by
expansion after compression and such constituent parts of the former as are capable
of solidification or liquefaction separated out, and then the not condensed rest of
the same is caused to take up heat from the medium warmed by compression thus
reheating itself and rendering the compressed medium fit for being cooled by
expansion, substantially as described.
2. The combination of reheaters V V₁ and coolers T T', a compression cylinder C
and expansion cylinder E, pipe connections for the passage of the compound
through the tubes of said coolers, and through the tubes of the reheaters
successively, pipe connections for the medium from compression cylinder through
the tube enclosing space of the reheaters, thence to expansion cylinder, from the
Intter to the tubes enclosing space of the coolers, suitable inlets and outlets to the
reheaters and coolers for the compound and medium, substantially as described.
3. The combination of reheaters V V and coolers T T', a compression cylinder C
and expansion cylinder E, pipe connections for the passage of the compound
through the tubes of said coolers and through the tubes of the reheaters
successively, pipe connections for the medium from compression cylinder through
the tubes enclosing space of the reheaters, thence to expansion cylinder, from the
latter to the tubes enclosing space of the coolers, suitable inlets and outlets to the
rebeaters and coolers for the compound and medium, and cooler W arranged in
the pipe system for the medium between the compression cylinder and the reheaters,
substantially as described.
4. The combination of reheaters V V₁ and coolers T T', a compression cylinder C
and expansion cylinder E, pipe connections for the passage of the compound
through the tubes of said coolers and through the tubes of the reheaters
successively, pipe connections for the medium from compression cylinder through
the tubes enclosing space of the reheaters, thence to expansion cylinder, from the
latter to the tubes enclosing space of the coolers suitable inlets and outlets to the
reheaters and coolers for the compound and medium, and catching or retaining
device F for solidified or liquefied particles of the compound, said device having
rotary wings f³ f' arranged between its inlet and outlet and being placed in the
pipe system for the compound between the reheating and cooling sets, substantially
as described.
5. The combination of reheaters V V' and coolers T T', a compression cylinder C

page_text: and expansion cylinder E pipe connections for the passage of the compound
through the tubes of said coolers and through the tubes of the reheaters
successively, pipe connections for the medium from compression cylinder through
the tubes enclosing space of the reheaters, thence to expansion cylinder, from the
latter to the tubes enclosing space of the coolers, suitable inlets and outlets to the
reheaters and coolers for the compound and medium, cooler W arranged in
the pipe system for the medium. between compression cylinder and reheaters, and
catching or retaining device F as specified arranged in the pipe system for the
compound between the reheaters and coolers, substantially as described.
6. The combination of reheaters V V! and coolers T T₁, a compression cylinder C
and expansion cylinder E, pipe connections for the passage of the compound
through the tubes of said coolers and through the tubes of the reheaters
successively, pipe connections for the medium from compression cylinder through
the tubes enclosing space of the reheaters, thence to expansion cylinder, from the
latter to the tubes enclosing space of the coolers suitable inlets and outlets to the
reheaters and coolers for the compound and medium, and pipe k with cock k¹ from
the outlet L' for the medium at the end of the cooler set back to the compression
cylinder, as and for the purpose substantially as described.
7. The combination of reheaters V Vland coolers T T¹, a compression cylinder C
and expansion cylinder E, pipe connections for the passage of the compound
through the tubes of said coolers and through the tubes of the reheaters
successively, pipe connections for the medium from compression cylinder through
the tubes enclosing space of the reheaters, thence to expansion cylinder, from the
latter to the tubes enclosing space of the coolers, suitable inlets and outlets to the
reheaters and coolers for the compound and medium, and pipe k with cock k¹ from
the outlet L' for the medium back to the compression cylinder, and pipe connection,
with cocks between outlet G₁ for not condensed rest of the compound and
medium inlet to the compression cylinder, as and for the purpose substantially as
Bet forth.
8. In an apparatus for separating out constituent parts of liquid or aeriform
compounds, the combination of the reheaters and coolers, expansion cylinder,
compression cylinder, and pipe connections arranged as specified, said reheaters and
coolers having double bottoms D and having a device consisting of a front box s²
or compartment, and rear box s³, open connection between the latter and tube
chamber of its respective cooler, a stop valve between front and rear boxes, a
pipe connection shaving stop cock from front chamber to double bottom,
pipe connections from said front box to a branch pipes of pipe 1, and pipe
connection from the rear chamber to the double bottom substantially as
described.
Dated the First dor of New 1802
WM. BROOKES & SON,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Agents for the Applicant.