Improved Means for Drying or Desiccating Substances or Materials.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Apr., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 10th Feb., 1890-Accepted, 15th Mar., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Drying or Desiccating Substances or Materials.
I, PHILIP CORNISH the Younger of 1 Osborn Place Leyton, Essex, Stonemason,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My Invention is devised primarily with the object of removing the moisture from
such materials as contain a considerable proportion of moisture as would occur in the
case of the residual matter arising from the chemical treatment and subsequent
pressure of foscal sludge and the like at sewage works; and thus, by means of my
Invention to convert into a valuable manurial base what would otherwise owing to
the large percentage of water contained in it be a comparatively useless substance for
manure.
In accordance with my Invention the substance or substances to be dried is or are
fed into a hopper and caused to travel through cylinders or troughs the latter
perforated or having other provision for the exit of moisture. The conveying of the
substances under treatment through said cylinders or troughs would be preferably
effected by the employment of revolving archimedean screws or of sections of said
screw conveyors. Said drying cylinders or troughs would be enclosed or disposed in
a suitable furnace; and, they may be arranged in any desired level or inclination in
accordance with the requirements.
The material to be dried may either be fed in at the top of a tier of said
cylinders or troughs in which case the material under process of desiccation would
fall at each alternate end of said cylinders or troughs into another of the series until
it emerges from the apparatus sufficiently dried; or otherwise, the order of procedure
may be reversed the material to be treated in such case entering at the lower of the
series of said cylinders or troughs and being elevated by any of the usual well known
devices to each of the superposed cylinders or troughs would finally emerge from the
top of the apparatus.
JAMES
STEVENSON,
Gray's Inn Chambers, 20, High Holborn, W.C., Agent for Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Means for Drying or Desiccating Substances or Materials.
I, PHILIP CORNISH the Younger of 1 Osborne Place, Leyton, Essex, Stonemason,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
My Invention is devised primarily with the object of removing the moisture from
such materials as contain a considerable proportion of water as would occur in the case
of the residual matter arising from the chemical treatment and subsequent pressure of
foocal sludge and the like at sewage works; and thus, by means of my Invention to
convert into a valuable manurial base what would otherwise owing to the large
percentage of water contained in it be a comparatively useless substance for manure.
In accordance with my Invention the substance or substances to be dried is or
are fed into a hopper and caused to travel through cylinders or troughs the
latter perforated or having other provision for the exit of moisture. The conveying
of the substances under treatment through said cylinders or troughs would be
preferably effected by the employment of revolving archimedean screws or of sections

page_text: of said screw conveyors. Said drying cylinders or troughs would be enclosed or
disposed in a suitable furnace; and, they may be arranged in any desired level or
inclination in accordance with the requirements.
The material to be dried may either be fed in at the top of a tier of said
cylinders or troughs in which case the material under process of desiccation would
fall at each alternate end of said cylinders or troughs into another of the series
until it emerges from the apparatus sufficiently dried; or otherwise, the order of
procedure may be reversed the material to be treated in such case entering at the
lower of the series of said cylinders or troughs and being elevated by any of the
usual well known devices to each of the superposed cylinders or troughs would
finally emerge from the top of the apparatus.
In order that the nature of my improvements may be the better understood I
have appended the accompanying explanatory drawing illustrative of the application
of same to the drying of focal sludge; in the drawing
Figure 1 represents a front elevational view, Figure 2 a side elevation, Figure 3
a plan view partly in section and Figure 4 a side sectional elevation of the
improved means according to my Invention for effecting automatically the drying
or desiccating of substances or materials.
an
Referring to the drawing A represents the enclosing brickwork or iron of which
the furnace is composed and within which the appartus is disposed. The focal
sludge or other substance or material to be treated is elevated by any suitable
means and fed into the hopper a disposed as shown at the side of the furnace, or
at the top thereof. The cylinders or troughs B through which the material or
substance is conveyed during the process of drying are preferably of iron or they
may be of any other suitable metal. The material or substance is conveyed through
the cylinders or troughs B by sections of screw conveyors C-mounted on the
shafts D carried in bearings d-or by blades mounted radially on said shafts in a
helical form and set at any required angle. Each shaft D revolves in an opposite
direction to the one following it thus conveying the material alternately from one
end of each cylinder to the other, the material or substance passing into the topmost
cylinder and conveyed to the opposite end thereof from whence it falls through
opening b into the adjacent cylinder or trough through which it is conveyed in
the direction of the arrows to the opposite end where it passes through another
opening 6 into the cylinder below, this operation being repeated until the material
or substance has passed through each cylinder or trough whereupon it finally
emerges from the last of the tier of cylinders or troughs through the hopper f in a
thoroughly dried state. The shafts D are preferably driven by motive power which
is transmitted through a train of toothed wheels c by the pulley e or by a fly wheel
keyed to the driving shaft e¹. The cylinders or troughs, which are secured in
position in such a manner as to compensate for the expansion and contraction of the
metal composing same, may be, if so desired, separate from each other to permit of
the flames passing between the cylinders or troughs, but the arrangement I prefer
to adopt for heating the cylinders or troughs is that shown in the drawing by which
arrangement the flames would first come in contact with the under portion of each
cylinder, and, after passing over the cylinders or troughs would finally ascend through
the chimney E as indicated by the arrows. It will thus be obvious that as the
flames impinge upon the lower convex surface of each cylinder preparatory to passing
over same that the cylinders or troughs act as baffles and are thus heated to a very
considerable extent.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
First: The improved means for drying or desiccating substances or materials sub-
stantially as herein described and shown.
Second In the improved means for drying or desiccating substances or materiala
:

page_text: the combination of cylinders or troughs heated in the manner described and the
arrangement employed for conveying the materials or substances alternately through
each cylinder or trough in opposite directions substantially as herein set forth and
shown and for the purposes specified.
Dated this 10th day of February 1890.
JAMES STEVENSON,
Gray's Inn Chambers, 20, High Holborn, London, W.C., Agent for Applicant.