IM- PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF SHI Am
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Deacon, of Widnes, in the County of
Lancaster, Manufacturing Chemist, and Edmond Leyland, of Saint
Helens, in the same County, Builder, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF
SHI Am"
Sealed the 8th March 1854, and dated the 2nd December 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Deacon and
Edmond Leyland at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 2nd December 1853.
We, HENRY DEACON, of Widnes, in the County of Lancaster, Manu-
facturing Chemist, and EDMOND LEYLAND, of Saint Helens, in the same
County, Builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF
SULPHURIC ACID " to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the employment of sulphur as a cement in
the construction of sulphuric acid cbambers or other vessels in which
sulphuric acid is formed. It is preferred to mix with, the sulphur a

page_text: quantity of fine siliceous sand, ground potsherds, coke, or other
materials capable of resisting the action of the acid and the gases
of
sulphuric acid chambers. The application of this sulphur cement
is limited by the fact of the sulphur being liable to melt from heat, and
by its being necessary to melt it by heat in using it, but with these
limitations it may be applied in the construction of sulphuric acid
chambers or other vessels in which sulphuric acid is formed, just as
cements are used in buildings, and any cracks or defects in the cement
of such acid chambers or vessels, may be repaired by the application
of heated tools or appliances, and more cement if required. This
cement is peculiarly well adapted for constructing sulphuric acid
chambers or other vessels, on the plan for which provisional protection
was granted to the said Edmond Leyland, on the 10th day of September
1858. In certain localities or under certain circumstances, stone, or
other mineral substances, either natural or artificial, and which are
capable of resisting the corrosive action of the acids and gases incident
to the manufacture or production of sulphuric acid may be used as the
body materials for the acid chambers or vessels.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent.
filed by the said Henry Deacon and Edmond Leyland in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 29th May 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we,
HENRY DEACON, of Widnes, in the County of Lancaster, Manufac-
turing Chemist, and EDMOND LEYLAND, of Saint Helen's, in the same
County, Builder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Ifer
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of December, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-
teenth year of Ifer reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto us, the said Henry Deacon and Edmond Leyland,
Her special license that we, the said Henry Deacon and Edmond Ley-
land, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said Henry Deacon and Edmond Leyland, our executors, admi-

page_text: nistrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
rom 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA-
BATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OR PRODUCTION OF SULPHURIC ACID," upon
the condition (amongst others) that we, 'the said Henry Deacon and
Edmond Leyland, by an instrument in writing under our hands and
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 we, the said Henry Deacon and Edmond
Leyland, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement, that is to say:-
Our said Invention relates, in the first place, to the employment
and use of sulphur as a cement, in the construction of sulphuric
acid chambers or the vessels in which sulphuric acid is formed
and manufactured. This cement is particularly well adapted for
use in effecting the junctions of suitable bricks, as employed in the
construction of sulphuric acid chambers, according to the manner
described in the Specification of the Patent granted to Edmond
Leyland, bearing date the Tenth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-three; or the sulphur cement may be used in
joining blocks of natural or artificial stones or mineral matters, as
herein-after described. In using this cement in practical construction
the sulphur is mixed with as much fine silicious sand, or other finely
divided or reduced material, which is unacted upon injuriously either
by melted sulphur or by the acids and gases incidental to the manu-
facture or production of sulphuric acid, as the sulphur will bear
without injury to its fluidity when heated such added thickening or
inert matter must be in a state of comparatively fine powder, at least
the finer powder is preferred to be present in considerable proportion,

page_text: but the mass of added matter need not necessarily be uniform as
regards the magnitude of its particles. The system of preparation
which we prefer is, to grind the sulphur and mix it in a state of
imoderately fine powder with the other componentt materials of the
cement, finally melting tho sulphur by submitting it to the action of
heat in any convenient vessel, with frequent stirring to prevent the
seperation of the siliceous and other matters from the sulphur, as would
occur if the matter were left in a quicscent state. In selecting special
materials for our cement, we prefer to use the best Neapolitan or
Sicilian sulphur, and the finest Isle of Wight sand or other very finely
divided siliceous sand, free from lime and other foreign matters, as
ordinarily supplied to flint-glass makers; and in forming this cement
we prefer to use somewhat more sand than sulphur, adding as a
general rule more sand in proportion as the joints or spaces to be filled
up are wide or large. In applying the cement we prefer to heat it so
far above the melting point of sulphur that it may begin to thicken,
and we consider it to be ready for use when it has attained a consistence
resembling that of treacle or molasses. When so treated, the siliceous
or other added matters are better held in suspension by the sulphur,
and as the cement cools in contact with the parts or surfaces to which
it is intended to adhere, it reaches or attains its most fluid condition, in
the best position for penetrating any small crevices in the junction
surfaces, and the adhesion is made more perfect when the cement is
used in this heated condition than when it is applied in its cooler and
more fluid state.
The application of this cement is necessarily limited by its low
melting point, and hence it must not be used in any parts of the
chambers or vessels which are heated up to or near that temperature,
but must be confined to such portions or localities as are uniformly of
lower temperature than the objectionable point referred to. The
highly heated parts of the chamber or apparatus must be formed of
lead, bricks, or iron, in the usual way. With such limitation, the
cement may be used just like any other building compost, which is
applied hot and rapidly sets in cooling; but, as a general rule, we prefer
to use the new cement after the manner of grouting. In putting the

page_text: blocks or masses of materials together suitable spaces or cavities are
left between them at the junctions, and these solid matarials are made
very dry and as warm as they can be made with convenience, all the
contiguous surfaces being carefully freed from dust. When so placed
the melted cement is poured into the spaces or joints and over each
course in the manner pursued in grouting with fluid mortar, taking
especial care to fill all the joints, the courses being levelled down as
required, with a hot iron. Practical experience is necessary for the
determination of the sizes of joints that can be run at once; as, if
in running through the joints the cement should become too cool, with
increased fluidity of the sulphur, the adhesion is incomplete, and tho
sulphur is extremely liable to drain away from the matters mixed with it,
and in the subsequent cooling down considerable contraction takes place
inducing an objectionable separation from the junction surfaces.
As
to the practicable size of joint that can be safely cemented at once, the
restriction is somewhat narrower than that applying to melted lead,
that is to say, it is not safe to fill quite such long and narrow spaces as
could be properly filled with lead heated but slightly above its melting
point. Any openings through which the cement has any chance of
escape must be closed, either by pointing or filling up with moistened
siliceous fire clay, or by wood or metal or other convenient filling-up
matter. Any cracks or flaws in the cement may be stopped up by the
application of a heated iron, provided the surfaces are dry and fresh;
hot cement will adhere to clean and dry surfaces of the cold mass with
greater security, however, if the old material is first warmed by the
application of a heater. We find that this cement adheres least to
dusty surfaces, such as most sandstones usually possess; it adheres well
to well cleansed broken surfaces of vitrified stoneware, and it adheres
inoderately well to the surface of ordinary salt-glazed stoneware, but
only slightly to the surface of polished glass, and this holds good as
regards other surfaces in proportion as they resemble the articles we
have enumerated.
The second general head of our Invention relates to the substitution
of certain natural or artificial stones or mineral substances for the
bricks described in the aforesaid Specification of Letters Patent,

page_text: granted to Elmond Leyland, as adopted for the erection of sulphuric
acid chambers. In certain localities and under certain circumstances
Such mineral materials may be advantageously used in the con-
struction of sulphuric acid chambers, the junctions being effected by
means of the sulphur cement herein-before described, or by the aid
of other convenient cement. For this purpose we prefer to use that
class of natural stones or minerals which is capable of resisting the
corrosive action of the acids and gases incidental to the manufacture of
sulphuric acid, selecting as the most suitable materials such as are
known as plutonic or volcanic matters, all the basic substances therein
contained, as the metallic oxides, alkalis, and alkaline earths, being in
chemical combination with large proportions of silicic acid or silica, and
free from water chemically combined, their distinctive feature being that
of having apparently undergone igneous fusion. It is necessary for our
purpose that such materials should contain neither alkaline nor earthy
carbonates, and we find the materials to be generally suited for our
object in proportion to their powers of resisting natural processes of
decay or disintegration as well as their resistance to the very long
continued action of the weather in exposed situations. Amongst the
suitable mineral matters we prefer to employ the most durable granite,
after these we take basalts and other minerals of like character, and,
finally, sandstones, in which the natural cement holding the siliceous
the acids and gases
particles together is siliceous, and is unacted upon
of the chambers, and possessing as well the characteristic powers of
resistance to which we have herein-before referred. The artificial stones
or mineral matters which we employ in this way must partake of the
resisting powers to which we have herein-before referred; these artificial
materials are generally of two kinds, those composed of a nearly homo-
geneous mass throughout, such as basalt or the fusible lavas, fused and
cast in suitable moulds or otherwise brought into the required shape, and
either rapidly cooled down and vitrified or slowly cooled and devitrified,
and compounds, generally silicates, possessing strong chemical and
mechanical relations to such basalts as are to be found under the form
of various slags, sometimes produced in the manufacture of iron, copper,
and other metals. Common window glass may be taken and considered

page_text: as the type of this class of chemical compounds, the whole or part of
the alkaline constituents of the glass being replaced by metallic oxides,
generally the oxide of iron. The second class of artificial stones bears
a resemblance to conglomerates or sandstones, in consisting of various
particles of inert materials, held together by an inert cement, as sand or
particles of siliceous matter bound together by a fusible silicate, so as to
be capable of the powers of resistance which we have herein-before
mentioned, such stones or minerals being commercially known as patent
impervious siliceous stone, and manufactured by the Patent Stone
Company, of Ipswich, or by other parties in an analogous manner. An
artificial stone of this general class can also be made with sulphur and
finely divided inert matter, as herein-before described, in reference to
the manufacture of cement; in such case the proportion of the inert
matter to the sulphur is considerably increased mainly for the purpose
of economising sulphur. For example, in making an artificial sandstone,
we mix three parts of sand with one part of sulphur, submitting the
mass to the action of the heat, as we have herein-before described; such
a mixture is too thick to pour, but it may be conveniently brought to
shape in moulds. If the porosity of the stone is not a material point,
the quantity of sand may be increased.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our
said, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, we may observe, in conclusion, that we do not confine or
restrict ourselves to the precise details or arrangements which we have
had occasion to describe or refer to, as many variations may be made
therefrom without deviating from the principles or main features of our
Invention; but what we consider to be novel and original, and therefore
claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general arrangements and use of materials, apparatus, or
means in the construction of apparatus for the manufacture or produc-
tion of sulphuric acid, as herein-before described.
Second, the application and use of sulphur as an ingredient in
the cement of sulphuric acid chambers or vessels, as herein-before
described.

page_text: Third, the application and use of natural or artificial stones or
mineral matters, as herein-before described, in the erection and
construction of sulphuric acid chambers or vessels, in which the
formation and condensation or the actual manufacture of sulphuric
acid is effected.
In witness whereof, we, the said Henry Deacon and Edmond
Leyland, have hereunto set our hands and seals, the Twenty-
seventh day of May, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
four
HENRY DEACON.
(L.S.)
EDMOND LEYLAND. (L.S.)
HENRY DEACON.
(L.S.)
EDMOND LEYLAND. (L.S.)