AN ENTIRE NEW MACHINE, ENGINE, OR INSTRUMENT FOR MAKING WHITE SALT, WHICH WILL BE MUCH MORE USEFUL AND ADVANTAGEOUS TO THE PUBLIC THAN ANY MACHINE, ENGINE, OR INSTRUMENT THERETOFORE INVENTED FOR THAT PURPOSE
Year: 1808

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
STEEL, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Glass Dealer, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters, Patent under the Great Seal of His United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-ninth day of
December, in the forty-ninth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the
said William Steel, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, His especial licence that I,
the said William Steel, my exñors, adññors, and assigns, during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England and Wales and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and
have and enjoy the whole benefit accruing from my Invention of "AN ENTIRE
NEW MACHINE, ENGINE, OR INSTRUMENT FOR MAKING WHITE SALT, WHICH WILL BE
MUCH MORE USEFUL AND ADVANTAGEOUS TO THE PUBLIC THAN ANY MACHINE,
ENGINE, OR INSTRUMENT THERETOFORE INVENTED FOR THAT PURPOSE;" in which
Letters Patent now in recital there is contained a provisoe that if I, the
said William Steel, should not describe the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same was to be performed, by an instrument under my
hand and seal, to be enrolled in the High Court of Chancery within one
calendar mouth froin the date thereof, that then those Letters Patent should
become utterly void, reference being thereunto had, will more fully appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Steel, in pursuance of the said
proviso, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention above mentioned
is particularly described and ascertained by the following description thereof,
together with the Drawings or Plan of the same hereunto annexed.
To make salt upon the present plan, a pan or boiler of very thick and strong
iron plates is built or rivetted together; the size barely exceeds forty feet in
length by twenty-seven or twenty-eight feet in breadth, and sixteen or eighteen
inches in depth. Four large fires are placed underneath one end, with partitions
between each fire, and directly opposite each fire at the other end of the pan
or boiler is a chimney, which receives the smoke and heated air. By this
method a much greater expenditure of fuel is occasioned than is necessary, for
at the chimney at the further end of the pan the flame or heated air is capable
of making iron red hot, and of keeping it generally in that state, and conse-
quently able to communicate a great deal more heat to the evaporating liquid
had it an opportunity of acting upon it.
To obtain every advantage that can possibly be had from the fuel expended
in making of salt it is proposed to use at least three distinct and separate pans
or boilers; the first pan or boiler, for the sake of distinction, shall be called
No. 1, which is fitted with a cover that is air-tight to collect the steam pro-
duced. This cover is furnished with a valve of safety doors or openings for
getting out the salt when made, for cleaning and repairing it, &c., and a pipe or
pipes to conduct the steam, as shall afterwards be explained; underneath this
pan or boiler a fire is placed exactly in the usual way; but instead of
allowing the heated air and flame to ascend the chimney when it reaches the
other end of the pan, as is the case in the present practice, it is conducted by
a fluc underneath a second pan or boiler considerably larger, which shall be
called No. 2. By this flue the heated air is conducted underneath every part
of the pan No. 2; and when the heat is all expended the smoke ascends a
chimney situate at the other extremity of the pan. By this means the advan-
tage of all the heat produced from the fire underneath No. 1 is obtained.
Another pan or boiler is also used called No. 3, about the same size as No. 2,
which is placed upon a frame of wood or other substance having divisions or
partitions in the form of flues. To this framework the pan is fastened air-tight.
In this framework, and underneath the pan, the steam produced in No. 1 is forced
or allowed to pass, whereby the liquid contained in No. 3 becomes considerably
beated; but as the heat thus communicated is not sufficiently strong to cause
the brine to boil, which is requisite in the making of salt in order to throw off
the impurities it contains, to effect this important purpose a weight is applied
to the safety valve of No. 1, by which means that point is completely obtained;

page_text: the temperature is thereby raised sufficient to cause the whole of No. 8.to boil;
thus by adding or diminishing the weight of the safety valve of No. 1 the brine
in the pan No. 3 can be regulated and kept at any required temperature; and
this heat will be equal or nearly so throughout the whole of the pan. The con-
densed water formed under No. 3 escapes at the bottom of one end of the trough
by a small pipe or pipes so constructed as to prevent the steam from escaping.
Two very important advantages are hereby acquired: the fire placed under
No. 1 produces as much salt in that pan as is obtained from the same quantity
of fuel expended by any method now practised, while the heated air passes
under No. 2, where, by the peculiar construction of those flues, the effect of
the whole of the remaining heat is obtained, by which a great quantity of salt
is there produced. At, the same time the steam from No. 1 is forced or
allowed to pass beneath No. 3, and boils that pan also, whereby a great
quantity of salt is likewise formed; there is therefore a clear additional gain
of all the salt made in the pans Nos. 2 and 3 without the consumption of any
more fuel. Further, if a cover be applied to No. 3 in every respect as
described for No. 1, the steam of No. 3 will be rendered capable of boiling and
making salt in another pan or vessel. In like manner a similar cover being
applied to pan No. 2, the steam arising from it will also, by being passed
underneath a pan or other vessel, make salt there, and so on to any other pans
or boilers until the heat is entirely exhausted. Covers to salt pans' are useful
-in other respects as they prevent the agitation of the liquid by currents of wind
or other causes, whereby the formation of the chrystal is deranged. This is
particularly injurious to what is termed large-grained fishery salt. Besides, with
open pans a considerable condensation of the vapor takes place above the
surface of the pan, consequently a portion of the water just raised falls back
into the same. There are different qualities of salt in commerce all produced
from the same brine, viz., stove salt, common salt, and large-grained fishery
salt. To produce the first the pans are boiled as fast as possible; the.quicker
the operation is, the finer will the grain of the salt be. The second.is performed
much slower, by which the chrystals are larger'; and the last requires a much
longer time, for the slower and more equally the heat can be applied, the better
the salt.
for.
By the above plan the operation may be regulated as may
be necessary,
by adjusting the weight of the safety valve of No. 1, the heat applied to No. 3
is thereby regulated, and this plan will then make any of the kinds of salt
required. The pan No. 2, from the way by which the heat is communicated,
will have the supply of heat more uniformly than it can possibly be applied
on the plan practised at present'; of course a more regular sized salt will be

page_text: produced. Thus, with one fire, and at the same time, all the three kinds of
salt can be made, and for the same expence of fuel that the salt produced in
No. 1 alone would cost. The brine contains a portion of lime and other
matters which are deposited upon the pan, forming what is called a scale.
This scale over the fire becomes very hard, and forms such an incrustation as
to prevent the liquid from touching the pan, which, in this case, burns and
tends much to its injury. There is also a great difficulty in separating this salt
from the pan, which frequently must be stopped from working for the purpose
of removing the scale, an operation which wastes the pan much. To guard
against this inconvenience as much as possible the pans in the first construction
are made remarkably strong, much more so than otherwise would be necessary.
The preceding plan remedies this defect, for, excepting in pan No. 1, this
scale cannot have any injurious tendency because the pan No. 3 is boiled by
the heat of the steam proceeding from No. 1. It never can be hotter than
the steam is by which it is heated; the scale therefore cannot have any effect
upon it; and the pan No. 2 being removed from the immediate action of the
fire, no incrustation will attach to it. It is therefore unnecessary that the
pans Nos. 2 and 3 be made any stronger than is sufficient to carry the brine,
and consequently a great expence in the first erection of a manufactory will be
saved. The pans will work with much less heat, and on that account will last
a much longer time. If instead of brine, fresh water be used in the pan or
boiler No. 1, then this destructive incrustation will be completely avoided. The
extra quantity of steam that will be produced in this case more than would be
obtained if brine were used will cause a greater deposition of salt in pan No. 3,
the profits arising from which, together with the saving of the waste of the pans,
and of the time and expence in repairing the same, will compensate for the salt
that would have been produced in pan No. 1. It may, therefore, under certain
circumstances, be advisable to use fresh water in the pan or boiler No. 1 in
preference to brine. The pan No. 1, instead of being the size as described by
this Figure, may be made of any other size, and have any number of fires
applied to it; and a flue or flues to conduct the flame or heated air in any
manner whatever underneath the pan No. 2 to as many chimneys, situate at
the opposite end, side, or extremity of that pan, as may be most convenient
and suitable to the situation. By this method all the benefit that can be
received from the heat or matter of heat produced by the fire or fires of pan
No. 1 is obtained, first by its immediate action upon that pan; secondly, by
the application of pan No. 2, by which the heat that escapes No. 1 is rendered
effectual; lastly, the steam produced in each of these pans carries the heat
combined with it to act upon other pans, boilers, or vessels (as is repre-ented

page_text: by No. 3), causing an evaporation in them, and the steam arising therein
proceeding to other pans or boilers in like manner successively until the
whole of the heat is exhausted.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Steel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and nine.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-fourth day of January,
in the year of cur Lord 1809, the aforesaid William Steel came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.

page_text: ding
No 1 to the back end of which an Apparatus is applied whereby the salt may be drawn while the pain is at work a similar application may be made to the other pans if found necessary Let then the letters A.A. WT. Figure 1t represent the ground buil-
or brickwork adjoining No 2. at a. a. upon which the pan N°1. is placed. B. the fire chamber and to the ash pit belonging to it the letters C.C. represent an end view of pan N°1. and the dotted lines D. II. joining thereto represent the body of said pan
resting upon its bave A. A. E. E. a cover fitted air tight upon the pan C. C. joining at d.d. I a door that fits uir tight into the end of the cover F... the vafety valve. H. a pipe furnished with a stop cock for conducting the steam produced in N: 1 underneath
No 3. The letters I.I.I. Nº 2 represent a base of brickwork, (see figure 2nd) on which are fleus built of the same materials or of any other materials or metal so constructed as to receive the flame and heated air as they leave No I. _ I, the Chimney belonging to the flaces
the letters I. I an end view of this pan which is formed of iron or other metal or materials the dotted lines Q. Q. the body of the pan
seated.
upon the flues
m. m. a top or cover that fits air tight joining at d. d. furnished with a door or opening N. a safety valve O und a pipe
P. furnished with a stop cock from whence the steam collected may be converted beneath another pan or boiler as may be found most suitable the letters R. R. N° 3. represent a frame of wood or metal or other material made air tight with divisions or partitions comunic
nicating with each other in the form of fluces resting upon a building of brickwork (See figure 2nd, S.S. the und of the pan made of iron or of any other metal the dotted lines T. T. the body of the pan fastened air tight to the frame V. V. a top or cover fitted air tight
•upon S.S. joining at d.d. W. a door opening into I also fitted air tight V. a safety valve. I a pipe fitted with a stop cock by which the steam there collected is conducted underneath another pan or vessel similar to Nº 3. y.y 3.r. several small openings into the
bottom of the hough or frame by which the condensed water as it is formed escapes into a pipe or tube common to them all (see figure 2nd) and the column of water that always remains in the bent end of this tube prevents the escape of steam by these apertures
while the water has free egress. Figure 37% is a longitudinal section of pan No 1. to which a cistern A. is attached for the purpose of receiving the salt as it is drawn to it by the rake or instrument B. C. a Stuffing box through which the handle of B. passes airf
tight. The dotted line D. represents the top of the Cistern A. it may either be left open. or have a cover applied to it for as the back end of the pan descends into the cistern A. considerably below the level of the bottom of the pan no steam can therefore escape...
the rate or instrument E. is for the purpose of drawing the salt from the Cistern A. The dotted lines F. F. represent the height of the brine in both the pan and the cistern when the safety is loaded the height of the brine in the cistern will then be raised
considerably above the level of the brine in the pan and in proportion to the wright applied the brine in the cistern will rise or fall By this means the pan or boiler can never be in any danger of burning from the two great accumulation of salt over the fire, for by
of the instrument B. it.
· be drawn into A. at anytime required from whence it can be teiken at pleasure In this view the covers for the pans and chambers for the steam are represented as being made of wood this substance being
means
of heat
may
valve,
an excellent non conductor