AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDENSING AND PURIFYING SMOKE AND VAPORS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William James Johnson, of Allendale, in the
County of Northumberland, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDENSING AND PURIFYING SMOKE AND
VAPORS."
Sealed the 17th December 1872, and dated the 24th October 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William James Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 24th October 1872.
:
I, William JaMES JOHNSON, of Allendale, in the County of North-
umberland, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN"
IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR CONDENSING AND PURIFYING SMOKE AND.
VAPORS," to be as follows:-
This Invention is designed to effect the condensation and purification
of smoke, vapors, fumes, and gases evolved from furnaces, hearths, or
other places where combustion is carried on, the object of the said,

page_text: Invention being to condense or extract the soot or unconsumed carbon
and any metallic, sulphurous, deleterious, and other particles that may
be contained therein, and to allow the purified vapor only to escape into
the atmosphere, and the apparatus to be employed for this purpose con-
sists principally of a revolving wheel or drum with projections dipping
into water or other liquid for the purpose of producing a shower or
spray in combination with an inclined screen, constructed as hereafter
explained of a number of partitions provided with horizontal ribs, between
which the smoke, fumes, or vapor is caused to pass under the influence
of the shower or spray.
.1
In any convenient part of the flue between the furnace or hearth and
the chimney or outlet I form a chamber, the bottom part of which
serves as a tank to contain water or other liquid. Above the surface of
such water or liquid is mounted a revolving wheel or drum having pro-
jections or wings on the periphery which dip into the water, and as the
wheel or drum revolves throw up a shower or spray in an inclined
direction. In advance of this wheel and near to the chimney I form
an inclined screen. constructed of a number of vertical partitions of
graduated heights, those nearest to the wheel being the lowest, so that
the top of the partitions forms an incline at about the same angle that
the shower or spray is thrown off from the wheel or drum. These
partitions are provided with laths, ribs, or gratings set horizontally or at
an inclination, and the whole screen is so arranged and situated that the
smoke, fumes, or vapor passing from the furnace or hearth to the
chimney or outlet must necessarily pass through the
'between
spaces
these said partitions, whilst the shower of water is projected over the top
of the same and falls down in a minutely divided state from one lath, rib,
or grating to the other between the partitions. By these means all soot
or carbon in a solid state is washed out of the smoke, and also all, acids
or soluble or insoluble metallic, sulphurous, or other particles are
removed therefrom. In fact the smoke, fume, or vapor becomes
thoroughly washed and purified on its passage through the shower or
spray and between the partitions, and only the purified vapor escapes by
the chimney or otherwise to the atmosphere. The water from the
partitions falls again into the tank and is used over and over again.
The soot or carbon,. and also. the other matters extracted from the smoke
.or.vapor, whether solid or in the form of a solution, may be extracted

page_text: from this wash water and utilized in a variety of ways according to the
nature of material under combustion.
Instead of a drum or wheel as above described any other means of pro-.
ducing a shower or spray by water under pressure or by the condensation
of steam might be employed in combination with the screen, and by
putting vanes on the wheel and admitting the smoke, fume, or vapor at.
the centre the draught may be greatly accelerated. In some instances
also I propose to place a jet of steam in the chimney for the same
purpose.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William James Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 24th April 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
JAMES JOHNSON, of Allendale, in the County of Northumberland, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her.
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of October, in the.
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William James Johnson,
Her special license that I, the said William James Johnson, my.
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said >
William. James Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR
CONDENSING AND PURIFYING SMOKE AND VAPORS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William James Johnson, 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
.

page_text: of smoke, vapors, fumes, and gases evolved from furnaces, hearths, or
other places where combustion is carried on, the object of the said
Invention being to condense or extract the soot or unconsumed carbon,
and any metallic, sulphurous, deleterious, and other particles that may be
contained therein, and to allow the purified vapor only to escape into the
atmosphere. And the apparatus to be employed for this purpose consists
principally of a revolving wheel or drum with projections dipping into
water or other liquid for the purpose of producing a shower or spray in
combination with an inclined screen, constructed as hereafter explained
of a number of partitions provided with horizontal ribs, between which
the smoke and fumes or vapor is caused to pass under the influence of
the shower or spray.
In any convenient part of the flue between the furnace or hearth and the
chimney or outlet I form a chamber, the bottom part of which serves as a
tank to contain water or other liquid. Above the surface of such water
or liquid is mounted a revolving wheel or drum having projections or
wings on the periphery which dip into the water, and as the wheel or
drum revolves throws up a shower or spray in an inclined direction. In
advance of this wheel and nearer to the chimney I form an inclined
screen constructed of a number of vertical partitions of graduated
heights, those nearest to the wheel being the lowest, so that the top of
the partitions forms an incline at about the same angle that the shower
or spray is thrown off from the wheel or drum. These partitions are
provided with laths, ribs, or gratings set horizontally or at an inclination,
and the whole screen is so arranged and situated that the smoke, fumes,
or vapor passing from the furnace or hearth to the chimney or outlet
must necessarily pass through the spaces between these said partitions,

page_text: whilst the shower of water is projected over the top of the same and
falls down in a minutely divided state from one lath, rib, or grating to
the other between the partitions. By these means all soot or carbon in
a solid state is washed out of the smoke, and also all acids or soluble or
insoluble metallic, sulphurous, or other particles are removed therefrom..
In fact, the smoke, fume, or vapor becomes thoroughly washed and
purified on its passage through the shower or spray and between the
partitions, and only the purified vapor escapes by the chimney or other-
wise to the atmosphere. The water from the partitions falls again into
the tank and is used over and over again. The soot or carbon, and also
the other matters extracted from the smoke or vapor, whether solid or in
the form of a solution, may be extracted from this wash water and
utilized in a variety of ways according to the nature of the material
under combustion. Instead of a drum or wheel as above described any
other means of producing a shower or spray by water under pressure or
by the condensation of steam might be employed in combination with
the screen, and by putting vanes on the wheel and admitting the smoke,
fume, or vapor at the centre the draught may be greatly accelerated. In
some instances also I propose to place a jet of steam in the chimney for
the same purpose.
Such being the nature and object of my said Invention I will now.
proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which the same is to be:
or may be performed or carried into practical effect, and in order that the
same may be clearly understood I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of
Drawings illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with figures
and letters of reference corresponding with those in the following
explanation thereof :-
In the annexed Drawing, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section taken
vertically through the apparatus; Fig. 2 is a similar section taken
horizontally, and Fig. 3 is a transverse section through about the
line A, B.
a, a, is part of the flue leading from the furnace hearth or other
place where the combustion is carried on, and b, b, is the lower part of
the chimney; c, c, is the purifying chamber, the bottom part of which
forms a tank d, d, for containing the water or other liquid employed. It.

page_text: tank is carried outside the flue, and is open at the top so as to allow of
access to remove the solid or other matters extracted from the smoke or
fumes, which may be utilized in a variety of ways, according to the
nature of the material under combustion. The escape of smoke or gases
at this point is prevented by placing the openings e, e, (communicating
with the interior) below the level of the water or other liquid. ƒ,ƒ, is
the wheel for throwing up the spray or shower of water or other liquid
(as seen at Fig. 1). It is mounted on a shaft g, g, which passes through
the wall of the flue, and is driven at the requisite speed by means of a
band pulley or toothed wheel in connection with the steam engine or
other motive power. This wheel is shown in the Drawing with lines
or pegs dipping into the water or other liquid, but as previously men-
tioned it may be made in the form of a fan so as to increase the draught
(in which case the flue would be carried outside the ends, and the smoke
or fumes be drawn in round the axle) or other means for throwing up a
spray or shower in the manner indicated at Fig. 1 might be employed.
The inclined screen or grating is shown at Figs. 1 and 2, and consists
of a number of vertical partitions h, h, of graduated heights, the parti-
tion next to the wheel being the lowest and dipping into the water or
other liquid so as to prevent any smoke or fumes from passing to the
chimney excepting through the screen. On each side of each partition
there are fixed (either horizontally or at an inclination) several laths or
ribs i, i, of an angular or other suitable section, the whole forming a
screen, in passing through which the smoke or fumes become thoroughly
washed and purified as previously described. The arrows in Fig. 1 show
the course of the smoke or fumes.
I may here remark that although only one wheel and one screen are
shown in the Drawing it will be evident that two or more wheels and
screens may be placed in one flue if found desirable.
k, k, represents a jet of steam which may be placed at the foot of the
chimney if further aid to the draught should be required.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention,
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be per-
formed or carried into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I
claim as my Invention the combination of a spray or shower of water
or other liquid, with an inclined screen constructed and applied in the

page_text: manner previously described and represented by the Drawings annexed,
or any mere modification or imitation thereof constructed and operating
in substantially the same or a similar manner.
In witness whereof, I, the said William James Johnson, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of April, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
WILLIAM JAMES JOHNSON. (L.S.)
Witnesses,
EMERSON HUMBLE,
Curate of Earsdon,
JOHN M. JOHNSON, C. & M. E.,
40, Market Place, Whitehaven.