IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Wallace, of 20, College Square East,
Belfast, Ireland, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING."
Sealed the 2nd September 1870, and dated the 10th March 1870.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 10th March 1870
I, JOSEPH WALLACE, of 20, College Square East, Belfast, Ireland,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING," to be as follows :-
I, JOSEPH WALLACE, of 20, College Square East, Belfast, Ireland,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING," to be as follows :-
These improvements in the distillation of alcohol relate,—

page_text: Thirdly. To improvements in the application of heat to the still and
in the more perfect economising of the waste heat.
Fourth. To means for preventing the boiling over of the wash by
mechanically breaking the bubbles as they are formed.
The purification of alcoholic vapor according to this Invention is
affected by forcing it under pressure in a minutely divided state through
a series of baths of water, by which means it will be purified from the
fusel or other deleterious essential oils. To this end I construct the body
of the still head in the form of a column or cylinder, which may form
part of the head of the still, or be connected thereto by a pipe, and in
this cylinder I arrange a series of annular projecting diaphragms or
dishes one above the other. The central opening in these plates is pro-
vided with a rim so as to form troughs for containing water. Between
these annular troughs are a series of conical or hemispherical dises, or
they may be in the form of a truncated cone with their bases upward and
provided with a projecting lip to dip in the water in the troughs. They
are carried by a central rod; this rod is supported in a step at its lower
end, and its upper end passes through the head and is made capable of
vertical adjustment so as to regulate the depth that the edges of the discs
shall dip in the water in the troughs. Or this rod may be so balanced as
to be capable of being lifted by the pressure of the vapor. The lower
edges of these discs (when they dip in the liquid in the troughs) are to
be serrated or nicked with fine slits, or perforated with several rows of
perforations so as to minutely divide the alcoholic vapor which passes
through the apparatus on its way to the rectifier or condenser. The water
(for keeping up the supply in the troughs) may be cold or previously
heated by waste heat and is admitted at the top of the still head so as to
fall on the uppermost conical disc, from which it will run into the upper-
most trough; these troughs may if desired be provided with circular
or convolute divisions so as to cause the liquid to circulate upon the
annular plate before reaching the central opening. The water will flow
over the rim of the central opening and will fall on to the next
conical disc below, and so on throughout the series. The level of the
liquid in the troughs may be maintained in each of the
of the ordinary "dropping pipe," or the troughs may be connected
together by suitable pipes and cocks, which may be used for discharging
them separately if required and also for the usual cleansing after
the completion of a "back." From the central opening in the lower
series by means

page_text: provements on apparatus for ovany
trough the hot liquid falls into a well formed in the centre of a corru-
gated disc similar to that described in my Patent dated 8th October
1869. In the well of this disc the water and wash (which is here
introduced into the still by a pipe) commingle and fall on to an annular
projecting plate, from which they are finally received into a funnel and
conducted down to the centre of the bottom of the still, which is
divided into a convolute or tortuous passage from centre to circumference
by vertical partitions and the wash circulates around this passage to the
end, whence it passes by a pipe out of the still (being by that time ex-
hausted) into a closed chamber whose outlet is commanded by a self-
acting balance valve; by this means the process of distillation will be
rendered continuous. The alcoholic vapor from the boiling wash will
under considerable pressure pass in its passage to the condenser through
the shower of falling wash and through or round the edges of the whole
series of conical discs and bubble up through the water in the troughs.
By this means the flavor of the grain is retained and the distillation
more especially at the commencement and finish of a "back" of wash is
retarded, so that the rushing over of the vapor before it is purified is
prevented, and the alcoholic vapor is cleansed from fusel oil and other
impurities.
As a modification of the above the head of the still may be fitted with
horizontal troughs projecting alternately from either side and furnished
at their extreme end with a lip dipping into the trough below so as to
compel the vapor to travel in a zig-zag course. Or in place of being
arranged in the head or forming part thereof the rectifying apparatus
may be enclosed in a separate vessel, and the partitions (forming the
tortuous passage) may be made vertical and pendent from the top and
standing up from the bottom alternately, each partition being furnished
with a separate vertical pipe provided with a tap and joined to a common
horizontal pipe will maintain the level of the water in all the partitions
and allow of testing or washing out the apparatus when necessary.
The edges of the partitions as before will be serrated or nicked with fine
slits or perforated where they dip into the water. The wash in the still
is boiled by means of an outer and separate furnace having a passage
commanded by a damper leading to a cross flue immediately under the
still. From this cross flue lead two passages, which on their return pass
under the cross flue and up two vertical flues or chimneys. Openings
from the furnace to these vertical flues are provided so that the heat from

page_text: the hearth may be shut off from the flues underneath the still and caused
to pass direct to the chimney, by which the damping out of the fire with
water or wet ashes (as is ordinarily the case) will be avoided. The
condenser (containing the usual worm) is divided into two chambers by
a diaphragm in which is a valve provided with a float. The partially
heated wash may be led either direct to the still from the condenser (or
through hollow passages formed in the discs, annular projections, or
partitions as described in the before-mentioned Patent), and through
coils of pipe placed in the spent wash reservoir, by which means the
wash will be raised to nearly boiling heat previous to its introduction to
the still. The water for the supply of the rectifying apparatus may also
be passed through coils of pipe immersed in the condenser or spent wash
reservoir and partially heated previous to passing into the head of the
still. In order to prevent the boiling over of the wort or wash I form
the convolute partitions of the bottom of the still with serrated edges, or
form the partitions with numerous fine slits setting them out crosswise,
that is, I bend them alternately outwards so that these fine points will
project over the boiling wash and cut or break the bubbles as they rise.
Or the top edges of the partitions may be filled with numerous fine pins
or points projecting over the space in which the wort is boiling.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Wallace in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 10th September 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
WALLACE, of 20, College Square East, Belfast, Ireland, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Tenth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Wallace, Her special
licence that I, the said Joseph Wallace, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Wallace, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the

page_text: term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Joseph Wallace, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands
and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to 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 Joseph Wallace, 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 Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
These improvements in the distillation of alcohol relate,―
First. To the purification of the alcoholic vapor from fusel or other
essential or injurious oils.
Secondly. To the means for rendering the process of distillation
continuous.
Thirdly. To improvements in the application of heat to the still and
in the more perfect economising of the waste heat.
Fourth. To means for preventing the boiling over of the wash by
mechanically breaking the bubbles as they are formed.
The purification of alcoholic vapor according this Invention is effected
by forcing it under pressure in a minutely divided state through a series
of baths of water, by which means it will be purified from the fusel or
other deleterious essential oils.
In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn various views of the
improved apparatus whereby these objects are effected. Fig. 1, Sheet I.,
is a vertical section of one form of apparatus; Fig. 2 is a horizontal
section of the fire-place shewing the arrangement of the flues or passages
for conducting the heated vapors from the fire to the bottom of the
still.

page_text: The body of the still head is constructed in the form of a column or
cylinder a, a, a, a, which may form part of the head of the still, or it
may be connected thereto by a pipe. In this cylinder a series of annular
projecting diaphragms or dishes or close horizontal compartments b, b, b, b,
are arranged one above the other. The central openings c, c, c, c, in
⚫these compartments is provided with a projecting vertical rim 6¹ so as to
form annular troughs or spaces d, d, for containing water. Above each
of these annular troughs is mounted one of a series of conical, flat, or
hemispherical discs e, e, e, e, provided with a projecting lip to dip into
the water in the troughs. These discs are mounted on a central rod f,
which is supported at its lower end in a step g, and its upper end passes
through a bearing in the head of the still, and is made capable of vertical
adjustment by means of the screw f¹ so as to regulate the depth that the
edges of the discs e, e, shall dip into the water in the troughs. Or this
rod f¹ may be so balanced as to be capable of being lifted by the
pressure of the vapor acting on the under sides of the discs e, e; the
lower edges of these discs (where they dip in the liquid in the troughs)
are to be serrated, as shewn in the plan view, Fig. 3, or they may be
nicked with fine slits or perforated with several rows of perforations (as
shewn at Fig. 3*, Sheet II.,) so as to minutely divide the alcoholic vapor
which bubbles up through the water in the troughs d, and passes through
the apparatus on its way to the rectifier or condenser. The water (for
keeping up the supply in the troughs) may either be cold or previously
heated by waste heat, and is admitted through the pipe h into the upper-
most trough d at the top of the still head. These troughs may, if
desired, be provided with circular or convolute divisions, so as to cause
the liquid to circulate upon the annular plate before reaching the
central opening c. The water will flow over the rim 6' of the central
opening c, and will fall on to the next conical disc e below and into the
next trough, and so on throughout the series until it reaches the bottom
of the apparatus, where it becomes mixed with the wash in the
reservoir i below. The level of the liquid in the troughs may be
maintained in each of the series by means of the ordinary dropping
pipe j, as shown in Fig. 4, Sheet II., which represents a modification of
the apparatus shewn in Fig. 1. Or the troughs may be connected
together by suitable pipes k provided with cocks, as shewn at Figures 1
and 4. These cocks may be used for discharging the troughs separately
if required, and also for assisting in cleansing the apparatus after the
completion of a "back." The wash which is partially heated in the

page_text: condenser p, p', is conducted therefrom by a pipe m to the close
chambers or hollow diaphragms b, b, and it passes in a zig-zag or
serpentine direction from one to the other of these chambers until it is
finally discharged by the pipe m¹ below into the centre of the bottom of
the still. From the central opening in the lower trough the hot liquid
falls into a well formed in the centre of a corrugated disc 7. In the well
of this disc the water from the central openings c and the wash from
the pipe m¹ commingle and fall on to an annular projecting plate n,
from which they are finally received into a funnel o and conducted down
to the centre of the reservoir i at the bottom of the still. This reservoir i
is divided into a convolute or tortuous passage from centre to circum-
ference by a convolute vertical partitions i, i, as shewn in the plan view,
Fig. 5, and this convolute partition is serrated at its upper edge, as
shewn in the detached view, Fig. 7*, and the wash circulates around this
passage to the outer part or circumference of the chamber i, from whence
it passes in an exhausted state through the pipe q out of the still, and is
conducted into a closed chamber q whose outlet is commanded by a
self-acting balance valve, as shewn by dots in the Drawing. By this
means the process of distillation will be rendered continuous. Or the
alcohol may be carried off by a syphon tube, as shewn at Fig. 4,
Sheet II. The alcoholic vapor from the boiling wash in the reservoir i
will (under considerable pressure) pass in its passage to the condenser
through the shower of falling wash and through or round the edges of
the whole series of conical discs, and will bubble up through the water
in the troughs. By this means the flavor of the grain will be retained,
and the distillation (more especially at the commencement and finish of
a "back" of wash) will be retarded so that the rushing over of the vapor
before it is purified will be prevented, and the alcoholic vapor will be
cleansed from fusel oil and other impurities. It will be seen that either
of the troughs can be emptied through its branch pipe without interfering
with the other troughs, each branch pipe being provided with a cock, so
that by opening some of the lower cocks the whole of the alcohol in the
troughs can be driven over and the "back" of wash finished up by
emptying the contents of the coil of wash pipe into the still. The wash
in the reservoir i, Fig. 1, is heated by the heated vapors from a furnace
or fire-place shewn at Fig. 2 and already referred to, but in Fig. 4,
Sheet II., the wash is heated by steam passed through the coil of pipe r, r,
which is arranged in a convolute, as shewn in the sectional plan view,
Fig. 4.

page_text: As a modification of the stills above described the head of the still
may be fitted with horizontal troughs 6 projecting alternately from
either side (as shewn in the sectional view, Fig. 6, Sheet II.,) and each
furnished at their extreme end with a lip 61 dipping into the trough
below so as to compel the vapor to travel in a zig-zag course as indicated
by the arrows. Or in place of being arranged in the head or forming
part thereof the rectifying apparatus may be enclosed in a separate
vessel, as shewn in the sectional view, Fig. 7, and the partitions b
(forming the tortuous passage) may be made vertical and pendent from
the top and standing up from the bottom alternately, as shewn in Fig. 7,
Sheet II. Each division or compartment is furnished with a separate
vertical pipe h¹ provided with a cock, and connected to a common
horizontal pipe h, so that the level of the water may be maintained in
all the compartments. The testing of the water or washing out the
apparatus may thus be effected with facility when necessary. The
lower edges of the partitions which dip into the water will, as before,
be serrated or nicked with fine slits or perforated where they dip into the
water. The wash in the still in the arrangement shewn at Fig. 1 will
be boiled by means of an outer and separate furnace & shewn in the
sectional plan, Fig. 2, having a passage s¹ commanded by a damper or by
fire-brick doors t, t, leading to a cross flue u under the still. From this
cross flue u lead two flues v, v, for the passage of the heated vapors,
which on their return, indicated by the arrows, pass under the cross
flue u and up two vertical flues or chimneys x, x; openings from the
furnace to these vertical flues are provided by the dampers or doors t, t,
so that the heat from the hearth or fire-place may be shut off from the
flues v, v, underneath the still and caused to pass direct to the chimney.
By this arrangement the damping out of the fire with water or wet ashes
(as is ordinarily the case) when the operation of the apparatus is
required to be temporarily arrested will be avoided. The condenser p, p¹,
(containing the usual worm y) is divided into two chambers p and p¹ by
a diaphragm or space, in which is a valve z provided with a float z¹.
The wash is supplied by the pipe p² to the lower compartment p¹ of the
condenser, and passes through the valve into the upper compartment,
and when this is filled the float z¹ will close the valve. The heated
-alcoholic vapor will warm the wash, and by parting with its caloric will
itself be condensed and run out at the bottom of the worm y. The
condenser p in Fig. 4 acts in a somewhat different manner. The wash
is conducted from a reservoir A to a coil of pipe A¹ at the top of the

page_text: condenser. The alcoholic vapors from the still pass into another coil of
pipe B of decreasing diameter, as shewn in Fig. 4, and are condensed by
the action of cold water supplied from the reservoir C to the bottom part
of the condenser. The water as it rises in the condenser becomes heated
and thus communicates heat to the wash in the coil A¹. The partially
heated wash may be led either direct to the bottom of the still from the
condenser, as shown at Fig. 4, Sheet II., or through hollow passages
formed in the discs, annular projections, or partitions, as shewn in Fig. 1
and already described. Or the wash may be partially heated by passing
it through coils of pipe placed in the spent wash reservoir q³, by which
means the wash will be raised to nearly boiling heat previous to its
introduction to the still.
Various devices for utilizing the waste heat from the heated vapors by
bringing them in contact with the cool surfaces of the wash passages
may be arranged either within or around the still head.
The water for the supply of the rectifying apparatus may also be
passed through coils-of-pipe-immersed in the condenser or spent wash
reservoir, and partially heated previous to passing into the head of the
still. It will be obvious that the heated water may be drawn from the
top of the condenser and used for this purpose if desired. For high
rectification the condensed spirit may be drawn off from the three upper-
most coils of the condensing worm and conducted by the branch
pipes 1, 2, 3, to one of the upper compartments of the still, so as to be
redistilled.
In order to prevent the boiling over of the wort or wash I form the
top edges of the convolute partitions of the bottom i of the still with
serrated edges, as shewn in the detached view, Fig. 7*, Sheet I.; or
I form the partitions with numerous fine slits, setting them out cross-
wise (that is) I bend them alternately outwards, so that these fine points
will project over the boiling wash, and thus cut or break the bubbles as
they rise.
Or the top edges of the partitions may be filled with
numerous fine pins or points projecting over the space in which the wort
is boiling.
Having now described my Invention of improvements in apparatus
for distilling, and having explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as
aforesaid,―

page_text: First. The mode of and apparatus herein shewn and described for
heating the wash preparatory to introducing it into the still by causing
it to pass through a worm placed in the upper part of the condenser (so
that it may be heated by the water which has served to condense the
alcoholic vapors), and then passing the partially heated wash direct to
the bottom of the still or through hollow diaphragms or partitions
combined and arranged with open water troughs in the still head, as
herein set forth.
Second. I claim causing the alcoholic vapors to pass in a finely
divided state through water, as herein set forth, so that the fusel oil
and other empyreumatic impurities may be separated from the alcohol
and deposited in the water.
I claim particularly the use of the discs e, e, or their equivalents with
serrated or perforated edges at the parts which dip into the water, and
also making the convolute vertical partitions i, i, at the bottom of the
still with serrated edges, as shewn in Fig. 7*, so that as the alcoholic
vapors bubble up through the water they may be minutely divided in
order to break the bubbles and prevent the water or wash from frothing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Wallace, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Third day of September, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.