AN IMPROVED PREPARATION FOR THE REMOVAL AND PRE- VENTION OF INCRUSTATION IN STEAM BOILERS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Wallace Honeyman, of Gateshead-on-
Tyne, in the County of Durham, Manufacturing Chemist, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVED PREPARATION FOR THE REMOVAL AND PRE-
VENTION OF INCRUSTATION IN STEAM BOILERS,'
"
Sealed the 7th June 1870, and dated the 14th December 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Wallace
Honeyman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 14th December 1869.
I, GEORGE WALLACE HONEYMAN, of Gateshead-on-Tyne, in the
County of Durham, Manufacturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PREPARATION FOR THE REMOVAL AND
PREVENTION OF INCRUSTATION IN STEAM BOILERS," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to remove incrustation from and
prevent its formation in steam boilers. To this end I prepare a solution
which if applied to an incrusted boiler will loosen or break up the
deposit, and allow of its easy removal by blowing out or otherwise, or

page_text: if added from time to time to the water under evaporation will effectually
prevent the deposit that takes place from forming a hard crust over
those parts of the boiler most exposed to the heat of the furnace. To
this end I throw into boiling water cuttings of young ash and oak, or
other vegetable matters having astringent properties, and I add thereto
sulphate of soda and soda ash or refined alkali until the hydrometer
indicates, say, from 15 to 16 degrees. Into this mixture I stir caustic
lime, and boil the same under agitation for from 15 to 20 minutes. To
the solution thus prepared I add a further supply of alkali and finish
the preparation of the incrustation solvent by the addition to the
solution of oxalate of ammonia, and equal parts of sulphuric and oxalic
acids. This solution when diluted may be used for cleaning paint work,
and when applied undiluted it will effectually remove old paint.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Wallace Honeyman in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 14th June 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
WALLACE HONEYMAN, of Gateshead-on-Tyne, in the County of Durham,
Manufacturing Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-
third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George Wallace Honeyman, Her special
licence that I, the said George Wallace Honeyman, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George Wallace
Honeyman, 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 PREPARATION FOR THE REMOVAL AND PREVENTION OF INCRUSTA-
TION IN STEAM BOILERS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said George Wallace Honeyman, my executors or administrators; by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and

page_text: seals, 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 George Wallace Honeyman, do
hereby declare the nature of my 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 (that is to say) :-
:-
The object of this Invention is to remove incrustation from and
prevent its formation in steam boilers. To this end I prepare a solution
which if applied to an incrusted boiler will without injuring the tubes
or plates loosen or break up the deposit, and allow of its casy removal
by blowing out or otherwise, or if added from time to time to the water
under evaporation will effectually prevent the deposit that takes place
from forming a hard crust over those parts of the boiler most exposed
to the heat of the furnace, and will to a great extent preserve the metal
from oxidation. To this end I throw into boiling water cuttings of
young ash, oak, or other vegetable matters having astringent properties,
and I add thereto soda ash or refined alkali. Into this mixture I stir
caustic lime, and boil the same under agitation. To the solution thus
prepared I add a further supply of alkali and finish the preparation of
the incrustation solvent by the addition to the solution of oxalate of
ammonia and equal parts of sulphuric and oxalic acids.
Having described the general character of the liquid compound I will
proceed to explain more in detail the process of manufacture.
Into a dissolving pan containing sixty gallons of boiling water I put
about three pounds young ash, oak, or other vegetables having astringent
properties, and add to the solution or water in which the vegetables are
put two pailfuls of soda ash or alkali (forty-eight per cent. to fifty-two
per cent. strong), which two pailfuls is about seventy pounds weight,
when Twaddell's hydrometer will indicate fifteen or sixteen degrees. To
this preparation or solution I add caustic lime, one pailful or thirty
pounds weight or thereabouts, which is boiled and well agitated for about
fifteen or twenty minutes. After this I add a further supply of soda
ash or alkali until the hydrometer indicates thirty to thirty-five degrees
and I then add oxalate of ammonia. This ingredient I prepare in a
separate vessel by mixing a quarter of a pound oxalic acid with half a

page_text: pound carbonate or muriate of ammonia in a pailful of hot water, and
after stirring, I add it to the solution in the dissolving pan. The con-
tents of this pan are now to be allowed to settle, after which the liquor
is syphoned off into another vessel, thus leaving the lime, the vegetable
cuttings, &c. at the bottom of the pan as refuse. I would remark that
the oxalate of ammonia is used principally for the purpose of throwing
the lime, &c. to the bottom, and thereby obtaining a clear liquid.
The equal parts of sulphuric acid and oxalic acid above-mentioned,
viz., half an ounce of each, may be added after the liquid has been,
syphoned off or it may be added while the boiling process is being
conducted. This solution when diluted with water about six times its
bulk of water may be used for cleaning paint work, and when applied.
undiluted it will effectually remove old paint.
Having now set forth the nature of my Invention of "an improved
preparation for the removal and prevention of incrustation in steam
boilers, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect I wish
it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent
I claim the incrustation solvent prepared in the manner above described..
In witness whereof, I, the said George Wallace Honeyman, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.