IMPROVEMENTS IN CONDENSING VAPOURS IN DISTILLATORY OPERATIONS. THE MANUFACTURE OF VARNISHES, MELTING AND DISTILLING OF FATS, AND OTHER MANUFACTURING OR CHEMICAL OPERATIONS, AND OBTAINING USEFUL PRODUCTS THEREFROM."
Year: 1856

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to John Sharp Cromartie Heywood, of Battle Bridge,
in the County of Middlesex, and George Lloyd, of Great Guilford Street,
Southwark, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of IMPROVEMENTS
IN CONDENSING VAPOURS IN DISTILLATORY OPERATIONS. THE MANUFACTURE OF
VARNISHES, MELTING AND DISTILLING OF FATS, AND OTHER MANUFACTURING OR
CHEMICAL OPERATIONS, AND OBTAINING USEFUL PRODUCTS THEREFROM."
Sealed the 19th August 1856, and dated the 22nd February 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Sharp Cromartie
Heywood and George Lloyd at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 22nd February 1856.
We, JOHN SHARP CROMARTIE HEYWOOD and GEORGE LLOYD, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN CONDENSING
VAPOURS IN DISTILLATORY OPERATIONS. THE MANUFACTURE OF VARNISHES, MELTING
AND DISTILLING OF FATS, AND OTHER MANUFACTURING OR CHEMICAL OPERATIONS, AND
OBTAINING USEFUL PRODUCTS THEREFROM, to be follows:-
Our plan of operation consists in the use of a centrifugal fan to draw off the
vapours as soon as formed, and at the same time mechanically mixing with
them, either in the vessel in which they are produced, or afterwards, such
proportion of atmospheric air or steam, or both, as may be found sufficient to
effect condensation, and passing the mixture through pipes or condensers either
This
with or without the ordinary means of refrigeration at present in use.

page_text: mode of condensing and removing the vapours is applicable in distillatory
operations, the manufacture of varnishes, melting and heating and distilling of
fats, tar, naptha, oils, and turpentine, and various other manufacturing opera-
tions. The vapours become cooled and condensed by the admixture of the air
or steam, or both, and various liquids are thus obtained which are applicable
toilluminating purposes, the manufacture of lamp black, lubricating machinery,
dissolving resinous bodies, and various other purposes, according to the nature
of the materials and the operations to which they are exposed. Steam or
atmospheric air, or both, may also be driven through or over the surface of the
materials under operation, at any temperature or pressure that may be
required..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Sharp Cromartie Heywood and George Lloyd in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 21st August 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
SHARP CROMARTIE HEYWOOD,Of Battle Bridge, in the County of Middlesex,and
GEORGE LLOYD, of Great Guilford Street, Southwark, in the County of Surrey,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said John Sharp. Cromartie Heywood and George Lloyd, Her special licence
that we, the said John Sharp Cromartie Heywood and George Lloyd, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said John
Sharp Cromartie Heywood and George Lloyd, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter duringthe 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONDENSING VAPOURS IN DISTILLATORY OPERATIONS, THE
MANUFACTURE OF VARNISHES, MELTING AND DISTILLING OF FATS, AND OTHER MANU-
FACTURING OR CHEMICAL OPERATIONS, AND OBTAINING USEFUL PRODUCTS THEREFROM"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Sharp Cromartie
Heywood and George Lloyd, our executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under our or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of

page_text: one of us or them, 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 John Sharp Cromartie Heywood,
on behalf of myself and the said George Lloyd, 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
thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing and to the figures
and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
Our plan of operations consists in the use of a centrifugal fan to draw offthe
vapours as soon as formed, and at the same time mechanically mixing with
them, either in the vessel in which they are produced or afterwards, such
proportion of atmospheric air or steain, or both, as may be found sufficient to
effect condensation, and passing the mixture through pipes or condensers, either
with or without the ordinary means of refrigeration at present in use. This
mode of condensing and removing the vapours is applicable in distillatory
operations, the manufacture of varnishes, melting and heating and distilling of
fats,tar, naptha, oils, and turpentine, and various other manufacturing opera-
tions. The vapours become cooled and condensed by the admixture of the air
or steam, or both, and various liquids are thus obtained which are applicable
to illuminating purposes, themanufactureof lampblack,lubricatingmachinery,
dissolving resinous bodies,and various other purposes, according to the nature
of the materials and the operations to which they are exposed. Steam, or
atmospheric air, or both, may also be driven through or over the surface of
the materials under operation, at any temperature or pressure that may be
required.
gums
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is a section of an apparatus
constructed according to our invention. A is an ordinary pot, used for the
manufacture of varnishes. By the ordinary process, the various and
other materials are melted and heated in this pot, which is placed over a fire,
and a quantity of fumes or vapours are given off during the operation. As it
is necessary to stir the materials during the operation and to watch theprocess,
so as to avoid the boiling over of the material under operation, the workman
or attendant is partially exposed to the fumes and vapours which are given off.
By our Invention these fumes and vapours are carried away and condensed,
or partially condensed, in the following manuer: B is a hood or cover, which
fits on the top of the pot A, and has a lateral aperture communicating by an
elbow pipe C with the pipe D leading to the centre of a centrifugal fauE. The

page_text: 'fan case.
exit pipe F of the fan communicates with a condenser or refrigerator. The
condenser may be an ordinary worm pipe immersed in water, or it may consist
of several pipes G,G,exposed to the air like the condensers frequentlyused at
gasworks. H, H..are small pipes, which convey the condensed liquids into a
cistern. The cover B of the pot has a funnel-shaped opening I, through which
the air enters, and the workman watches the operation and stirs thematerials.
The fan E being put in motion draws the fumes and vapours out of the pot A.,
and also draws in a current of air at the opening I, and thus prevents the
escape of the fumes or vapours at that opening. The mixed air and vapours
passinto the fan, which thoroughly mixes or churns them together; and by thus
mixing the hot vapours with the comparatively cold air, the vapours are to a
great extent condensed,and a considerable quantity of liquid is obtained inthe
The mixture of air and vapours afterwards passes through the
condenser, where a further portion of liquid is obtained. Should any vapours
escape this mode of condensation which it may be wished to condense, they may
be ultimately passed through or in contact with water in a washing vessel,
such as is used for washing or purifying coal gas. When, however, the vapour
is easily condensed, the condenser may be dispensed with, and the condensed
liquid may be collected from the case or chamber in which the fan revolves.
The fan may be of any of the ordinary constructions, or it may be constructed
as described in the Specification of certain Letters Patent granted to the said
George Lloyd, and bearing date at Westminster, on or about the Eighth day
of March,in the year of our LordOne thousand eight hundred and forty-eight,
in the eleventh year of the reign of Her present Majesty. Or,in lieu of making
the fan with plates or blades, in the ordinary manner, it may be made with a
series of bars, with spaces between them in lieu of each blade, as shewn in
Figures 2 and 3. This construction of fan beats up and mixes the air and
vapours together more than the ordinary fau, although it does not draw so
much air through it. Or, the air and vapours may be passed through an
ordinary centrifugal fan, and also through a fan like that shewn in Figures 2
and 3.
When the operation is completed in the pot A the cover B is raised a little,
so as to lift its edge out of the pot, and it is then swung round out of the way.
The pot A may then be carried away and emptied and recharged. In lieu of
swinging round the cover B to one side, the pipe C may be made with a joint
or hinge, so as to allow of the cover B being raised and turned back on the
hinge. J in Figure 4 is a funnel-shaped tube, which fits into the opening I,
so as to carry the current of air lower down into the pot A.. If the varnish
begins to boil up and rise in the pot, we insert the tube J in the opening I;

page_text: the current of cool air is thus thrown down upon the boiling varnish, and the
ebullition is thus checked. The fire door is opened! and the fire damped or
checked. The necessity of lifting the pot off the fire, as in the ordinary mode
of proceeding, is thus to some extent avoided. If, however, the pot or the
furnace has been allowed to become too hot, it is necessary to raise the cover B
and lift the pot A off the fire. This is objectionable, as the fumes and vapours
then escape and incommode the workman, and there is also some danger of
the materials under operation catching fire. We avoid these inconveniences
bydispensing with the ordinary fire and heating the pot by jets of ordinary coal
gas, or by a mixture of gas and air burnt above a wire gauze surface. The
temperature of the pot can be regulated with great accuracybymerelyadjusting
a cock or valve in the gas pipe. If the varnish boils too rapidly, or shows
symptoms of being about to boil over, the gas may be instantly extinguished,
and thus the ebullition is checked and the danger of setting fire to the varnish
is avoided, even if it should actually boil over.
Figure 5 is a vertical section and Figure 6 is a sectional plan of a gas furnace
and apparatus adapted for heating a varnish pot A. K is a gas burner,
consisting of several concentric rings or burners, which are supplied with gas
from a pipe L and regulated by a cock M. The pressure of the gas in the
pipe L is regulated by a gas regulator or moderator, so that it may not be
affected by accidental variations in the pressure of the gas supplied to it.
Ordinary coal gas, or hydrogen, or hydrocarbon gas, or "water gas," or other
combustible gas or vapour, may be employed. The gas burner K is inclosed
in a casing N of brickwork or of sheet iron, having an opening at a for the
admission of air, and a flue or chimney at 6 for the escape of the products of
combustion. c is a small door for lighting the gas. The vapours condensed
during the process of manufacturing varnish may be employed for dissolving
resinous bodies, or for mixing with varnishes, and for burning in lamps, or
converting into gas for illuminating purposes, and for lubricating machinery,
and for the manufacture of lamp black, and various other purposes, according
to the nature of the materials and the operations to which they are exposed.
We apply our Invention in a similar manner to distillatory operations, the
melting and distilling of fats, and other similar manufacturing or chemical
operations,byconlucting the vapours into or through the fan. In some cases,
when access to the interior of the pot, or still, or other vessel, is not required
during the operation, we construct the cover or head B without the aperture I,
and we make an aperture in the side of the head or cover, or in the pipe
leading from it to the fan, so that the vapours may be mixed with air before
entering the fan. Or, in lieu of allowing air to enter at such aperture, we

page_text: connect a steam pipe from a boiler to it, and thus cause the vapours to be
mingled with steam before entering the fan. Or, we introduce steam and hot
or cold air, either separately or combined, into the vapours while in the still or
boiler; when the mixed vapours condense, the water separates from the other
liquids or remains in combination with them, according to their nature. In
some cases, as, for instance, in distilling napthas and other liquids, the air or
steam may be introduced by a pipe or pipes dipping down into the still or
vessel, so as to conduct the air or steam into or close over the surface of the
liquid.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention and in what manner
the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that what we claim
is,―
First, the condensing vapours in the manufacture of varnishes, melting of
fats, and other manufacturing or chemical operations in which access to the
vessel is required during the operation, by means of an open moveable head or
cover applied to the varnish pot or other vessel and connected to a case.com-
taiting a revolving fan, by means of which the vapours are intimately mixed
and agitated with air or with air and steam, and condensed in the fan case, or
partly in the fan case and partly in a condenser into which they pass from the
fan case, as herein-before described.
Second, the condensing vapours in the distillation of fats andotherdistillatory
operations, by intimatelymixing and agitating them with air, or steam, or both,
bymeans of a fan revolving in a case or chamber and collecting the condensed
liquids from the fan case, or partly from the fan case and partly from a con-
denser into which the vapours pass from the fan case, as berein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Sharp Cromartie Heywood, have
hereunto set my hand aud seal, this Twentieth day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
JOHN SHARP CROMARTIE HEYWOOD. (L.s.)