Apparatus: for Brewing and Distilling
Year: 1830

page_text: 1500
Apparatus: for Brewing and Distilling..
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COFFEY'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, NEAS
COFFEY, of the Dock Distillery, Dublin, Distiller, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present Most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifth day of August, in the first year of His reign, did
give and grant unto me, the said Eneas Coffey, His especial licence that
I, the said Eneas Coffey, my exors, admiors, and assigns, and such others
as I, the said Æneas Coffey, my 'exors, admors, or assigns; should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the térin of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and also in all His said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad,
iny Invention of CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPARATUS OR MACHINERY
USED IN THE PROCESS OF BREWING AND DISTILLING: "in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said Æneas Coffey, shall cause
a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in His said Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said 'in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
satue, 'reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in' compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Eneas Coffey, do hereby describe the manner in which ny said Invention

page_text: is to be performed by the following description thereof, reference being had
to the Drawing annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say :-
My first invention is an improved apparatus for cooling brewers' or dis-
tillers' wort; which apparatus is also applicable to other purposes in the
processes of brewing and distilling, and is constructed as follows:—
I cause a number of pipes or tubes to be made of thin sheet copper or other
metal, but copper tinned I consider to be the best material. These pipes or
tubes are to be straight, open at each end, of moderate length, and of small
diameter. By moderate length I mean such length as that each tube, when
in an upright or perpendicular position, can be conveniently cleansed by means
of a straight rod with a bit of sponge on the end of it, or by any similar
device. I have found six feet in length and one inch diameter to be con-
venient dimensions, but other sizes may perhaps answer equally well. It is
necessary, however, that all the pipes used in the same apparatus be of equal
length. Inext procure two vessels of size proportionate to the number of tubes,
which vessels I consider to be best made of copper, but other materials may
answer. One of these vessels, which I call the uppermost vessel, is open at the
top, and its bottom is to be perforated with holes equal in diameter and number"
to the diameter and number of the pipes intended to be used, and which holes
may be from one to three inches, or more, distant or separated from each
other. The other vessel, which I call the undermost vessel, is a closed vessel,
except that it has a pipe with a discharge cock at the bottom, and that its top
is to be perforated with holes exactly in the same manner as the bottom of
the uppermost vessel (that is to say), it is to be so perforated that if the
bottom of the uppermost vessel be laid on the top of the undermost vessel
the holes in each will correspond. One end of each of the tubes or pipes is to
be then firmly fixed in oneof the holes in the top of the undermost vessel and
the other end of each tube or pipe in the corresponding hole in the bottom of
the uppermost vessel; and the whole being erected in its proper position, the
uppermost vessel will be elevated perpendicularly over the undermost, and the
distance between them equal to the length of one of the pipes or tubes, each of
which pipes or tubes will form a perpendicular communication, through which
any liquid poured into the uppermost vessel may descend in the undermost,
and be drawn off through the discharge cock of the latter. When the appa-3
ratus is to be used for cooling wort, it is to be immersed in a cistern or bath
of competent dimensions, which bath should be fed by a sufficient supply of
cold water flowing in at the bottoni, and out at the top thereof. The hot

page_text: wort being then let into the uppermost vessel is cooled in its passage down the
perpendicular pipes or tubes, and may be drawn off through the discharge
cock in quantity proportioned to the sige of the apparatus. I do not make an
exclusive claim to the principle or practice of using pipes or tubes immersed
in water for cooling brewers' or distillers' wort; but I claim as new, and my
invention, the improved arrangement of such pipes, by dividing them into
short straight lengths perpendicularly fixed, and opened at the top, as herein-
before described and set forth; which arrangement almost'entirely prevents the
deposition of sediment in the pipes, and allows the person superintending them
at all times, even when they are in action, to keep them perfectly clean by the
simple application of a bit of sponge at the end of a straight rod, and thus
their conducting power is preserved in its full energy during the longest
process, which is not the case with any other arrangement of cooling pipes
The same arrangement of pipes may also be used with advantage to heat
wort or distillers' wash by making the external cistern or bath steam-tight,
and surrounding the pipes with steam instead of water.
The annexed drawing, Figure 1, shews a section ofan apparatus for cooling
wort. E, F, G, H, is the upper vessel; I, K, L, M, the lower vessel The
bottom G, H, and the top I, K, are united by the tubes or pipes 0, 0, 0, 0;
p, p, is a larger tube in the centre to allow room for a spindle for turning an
agitator, r, s. A, B, C, D, the bath or cistern, supplied through the pipe Y
with cold water, which flows off heated through T. The vessels E F G H,
1 KLM, may be of any shape; but I consider cylindrical vessels as the most
convenient in general.
My next improvements are in the apparatus used in the process of distilling
and I describe them with reference to the Drawing. annexed, marked Figure 2
A, B, B, is a section of the principal part of the distilling apparatus strictly so
called, wherein the wash is deprived of its alcohol, and the vapours analysed. It
consists of a cylindrical or rectangular vessel A, surmounted by a distilling
column B, B, the horizontal section of which may be either cylindrical or
rectangular; but I have found it most convenient when rectangular. The
lower part, forming about one-half the length of their column, is divided into
Each of
compartments by horizontal plates of thin copper or other metal.
these plates turns down at one end until it nearly touches the plate beneath it,
as shewn at d, d, d, d, &c. and leaves a passage by which any liquid falling on
a plate may descend to that next under it, and so on from plate to plate at the
alternate ends, until the liquid falls into the vessel A through the pipe W.
Each plate is furnished with several light valves opening upwards, through

page_text: which the steam may ascend, and it may also be perforated with holes for that
purpose; but these holes must not be so numerous or so large as to admit of
all the steam passing up through them without raising the valves. C is a
pipe through which the alcoholic vapour, after having been an alized and raised
to the required strength, is conveyed, into a close vessel D, in which it is
condensed on the surface of the pipe o, o, o, and falls in a liquid state
into the pipe E, and is carried forward to a small worm or refrigeratory
of the ordinary construction, which is not shewn in the Drawing; F, a vessel
through which the spent wash flows after being discharged from the distilling
apparatus in a state of ebullition; G is a wash charger or elevated vessel,
containing the wash to be distilled. Instead of this elevated vessel a force
pump may in most instances be advantageously substituted to drive the wash
through the distilling apparatus with the required velocity. 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, is
the pipe through which the wash is to be forced with considerable velocity,
either from a wash charger sufficiently elevated, or by the use of a force pump.
It is necessary that this velocity should be such as to prevent the deposition of
sediment in the pipe. The requisite velocity and the diameter of the pipe may
therefore vary according to the thickness or thinness of the wash; I would
not recommend with any corn wash a less velocity than au hundred feet per
minute. The pipe o, o, o, through which the wash is thus forced, passes first
into the spent wash cistern F, then through the close vessei D, and lastly
through the upper part of the distilling column, in each of which, by a number
of coils or turns into the pipe, the wash is detained long enough to acquire a
considerableincrease oftemperature, until it is at last dischargednearly boiling
on the upper plate at m,and comes into contact with the vapours rising from
below. Care must be taken that the wash shall not reach its boiling tempera-
ture while enclosed in the pipe o, o, for which purpose a thermometer is to be
fixed at n,by attending to which and by increasing or diminishing the supply
of wash through the cock x, this temperature may be regulated at pleasure.
The wash as discharged from the pipe o,o, flows along the upper plate, falls at
d on the next plate, flows over this and again falls, and so on alternately until
it reaches the vessel below through the pipe w, from whence it is discharged
into the spent wash cistern through the cock P; at the same time a sufficient
quantity of steam generated in a proper boiler, not shewn in the Drawing, is
conveyed into the apparatus through the pipe R, R, the lower part of which
within the vessel A is perforated with small holes, the better to spread and
divide the steam. This steam passes up through the plates, partly by the
holes perforated in them, and partly through the light valves, which yield to a

page_text: very slight pressure. In thus passing up through the column, the steam goes
through the layer or stratum of wash flowing over the plates, and thus the
steam is made to pass through every portion of the wash as many times as
there are horizontal plates in number. The wash, during its course, parts
with some of its alcohol to the steam on every plate until it is entirelydeprived
of its strength or spirit, which it will be in general on seven or eight plates;
but itwill be prudent toguard against accidents or inattention by employing a
greater number, as shewn in the Drawing. a is a steam pipe, about half an
inch diameter, rising from the vessel A, and opening into a small box b, from
which rises a small worm, immersed in a water bath. The steam enters the
lower part of the worm, and a sufficient supply of water is given to the bath to
condeuse the much greater portion which falls back through the pipe o; a very
small quantity of this steam is allowed to pass up uncondensed, and issues at
the upper orifice of the worm, which is contracted to about one-eighth or one-
tenth of an inch diameter. The flame of a lighted taper or small lamp is to be
kept constantly at the orifice, and should the smallest quantity of alcohol find
its way
down with thewash to the lower vessel itwill be immediately detected
by the vapour taking fire, and thereby warning the attendant to increase the
supply of steam from the boiler, or to diminish the supply of wash, or both, as
he may see fit. The distilling apparatus, which I have herein described, may
be varied in many of its details according to local and other circumstances, but
the improvements which I claim as new, and as my Invention, are,-
First, the plan and practice of forcing the wash to pass rapidly through a
pipe or pipes of small diameter, during the time it is acquiring heat and
before it reaches its boiling temperature.
Second, the plan and practice of causing the wash, after it has come in
contact with the vapours, to flow into a continued and uninterrupted stream
over numerous metallic plates, furnished with valves, as herein described.
And third, the method of ascertaining whether or not the wash exhausted of
its alcohol by means of the apparatus herein described or anysimilar apparatus,
whereby the vapour to be tried undergoes a process of analyzation or rectifica-
tion, and is deprived of much of its aqueous part before it is submitted to trial.
In witness whereof,
the said Eneas Coffey, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifth day of February, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-one.
ANEAS COFFEY. (L.s.)

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifth day of February, in the
year of our Lord 1831, the aforesaid Æneas Coffey came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Fifth day of February, in the year of our Lord One