IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BLEACHING POWDER BY THE USE OF CHLORINE WHEN DILUTED WITH INERT GASES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Deacon, of Appleton House, Widnes,
in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF BLEACHING POWDER BY THE USE OF CHLORINE WHEN
DILUTED WITH INERT GASES."
Scaled the 15th November 1870, and dated the 14th September 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Deacon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th September 1870.
I, HENRY DEACON, of Appleton House, Widnes, in the County of
Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BLEACHING POWDER BY THE USE OF CHLORINE
WHEN DILUTED WITH INERT GASES," to be as follows:-
-
Bleaching powder is made by exposing slaked quicklime to chlorine.
The chlorine is gradually absorbed by the lime. The object of the
manufacturer is to saturate the lime with chlorine as strongly as possible,
thereby producing strong bleaching powder; but strong bleaching powder
generally gives off chlorine when exposed to the air, and is therefore

page_text: difficult to make by the ordinary process with chlorine largely diluted
with air, nitrogen, and the like.
Now my Invention consists in so arranging the apparatus in which
the lime is exposed to the diluted chlorine that the gases containing
most chlorine always pass over the lime which has already absorbed the
most chlorine, and the most diluted chlorine always passes over the lime
containing the chlorine, that is to say, when the lime has absorbed some
chlorine and its avidity to absorb more is diminished, such gases only
are to be presented to it as yield chlorine with the greatest ease. When
the chlorine becomes largely diluted and the absorption of chlorine from
the mass of gases becomes more difficult lime only that possesses the
absorbing power with the strongest avidity is presented to it.
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In carrying out this Invention I arrange layers of lime in a scries of
-chambers-or-shelves, the gases entering at one end of the series and
passing over every surface of lime in succession until it issues at the end
of the series. Thus a series of chambers or shelves, or chambers filled
with shelves, are all charged with lime and are connected together in
series. For illustration this series may be called A, B, C, D, E, F, G,
or fewer or more as occasion requires. The gases enter " A and pass
over every surface of lime in succession, and then enter "B," when the
same process is repeated, and so on thro' "C," "D," and to "G." The
chlorine is absorbed most in the first part of the series, and the lime in
"A" gradually arrives at a point of saturation with chlorine depending
in part upon the amount of chlorine in the dilute gases and in part upon
other circumstances well known to practical manufacturers and not
necessary to allude to further herein, whilst in B, C, D, E, F, G, both
the lime and gases will contain chlorine in gradually lessening proportions,
both the lime and the gas which contain the least chlorine always being
together. When this point of saturation is reached "A" is isolated and
the gases are conveyed first to "B," which then becomes the first of the
series. "A" is emptied of the bleaching powder it contains and is
recharged with fresh lime and connected with G, and then becomes the
last of the series, "B, C, D, E, F, G, A." Similarly when " B" becomes
saturated, isolated, emptied, and refilled, the series will be "C, D, E, F,
G, A, B," and so on, each member in turn continuing the series. This
change of gases from one member of the series to another, and the isolation
of each chamber in turn for emptying and recharging with lime is effected
by valves or hydraulic lutes, which may be similar to those used in

page_text: working in much the same way the dry lime purifyers employed in the
manufacture of coal gas which are well known. Instead of passing
over surfaces of lime or in combination therewith, the diluted chlorine
may be passed through layers of slaked lime arranged in series in the
same way as the layers of slaked lime are arranged in the dry lime
purifyers for coal gas just referred to.
Diluted chlorine can be obtained by the means described in the
Specification of an Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to
me bearing date the 29th April 1868, No. 1403, or by the improved
apparatus for the manufacture of chlorine described in the Provisional
Specification filed by me on the 13th day of September 1870, this Inven-
tion being intended to be used in combination with the said prior
Inventions herein-before referred to.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Deacon in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th March 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
DEACON, of Appleton House, Widnes, in the County of Lancaster, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Henry Deacon, Her special license
that I, the said Henry Deacon, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry Deacon, my executors,
administrators, or 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 “IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF BLEACHING POWDER BY THE USE OF CHLORINE WHEN DILUTED WITH
INERT GASES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Henry Deacon, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in.

page_text: writing under my hand and seal, 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 Henry Deacon, 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, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
aunexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:-
My said Invention relates to a mode of and arrangement of apparatus
for the manufacture of bleaching powder by the use_of_chlorine-when-
diluted with inert gases. Bleaching powder is made by exposing slaked
quicklime to chlorine. The chlorine is gradually absorbed by the lime.
The object of the manufacturer is to saturate the lime with chlorine as
strongly as possible, thereby producing strong bleaching powder. But
strong bleaching powder usually gives off chlorine when exposed to the
air, and is therefore difficult to make by the ordinary process with
chlorine largely diluted with air, nitrogen, and the like.
Now my Invention consists in so arranging and working the apparatus
in which the lime is exposed to the diluted chlorine that the gases.
containing most chlorine shall always pass over the lime which has
already absorbed the most chlorine, whilst the most diluted chlorine
always passes over the lime containing the least chlorine, that is to say,
when the lime has absorbed some chlorine and its avidity to absorb more
is diminished, such gases only are to be presented to it as yield chlorine
with the greatest ease. When the chlorine becomes largely diluted and
the absorption of chlorine from the mass of gases becomes more difficult,
lime only that possesses the absorbing power with the strongest avidity
is presented to it.
In carrying out this Invention I arrange layers of slaked lime in a
series of chambers or shelves, the gases entering at one end of the series
and passing over every surface of lime in succession until it issues at the
end of the series. Thus a series of chambers, or shelves or chambers,
filled with shelves are all charged with slaked lime and are connected
together in series. For illustration this series may be called A, B, C, D,

page_text: E, F, G, or fewer or more as occasion requires, and cach member of the
series A, B, C, D, E, F, G, may either be one shelf or one chamber or
any piece of apparatus containing one or more shelves: The gases enter
A and pass over every surface of slaked lime in succession, and ther
enter B, when the same process is repeated and so on through C, D, and
to G. The chlorine is absorbed most in. the first part of the series,.
and the slaked lime A gradually arrives at a point of saturation with
chlorine, depending in part upon the amount of chlorine in the dilute
gases, and in part upon other circumstances well known to practical
manufacturers, and not necessary to allude to further herein, whilst in
B, C, D, E, F, G, both the slaked lime and gases will contain chlorine
in gradually lessening proportions, both the slaked lime and the gas
which contain the least chlorine always being together: When this
point of saturation is reached A is isolated and the gases are conveyed
first to B, which then becomes the first of the series, A is emptied of the
bleaching powder it contains and is recharged with fresh slaked lime
and connected with G, and then becomes the last of the series
B, C, D, E, F, G, A. Similarly when B becomes saturated, isolated,
emptied, and refilled the series will be C, D, E, F, G, A, B, and so on,
each member in turn continuing the series. Instead of passing over
surfaces of slaked lime or in combination therewith, and by preference
after passing over the surfaces of the slaked lime or the shelves or in
the chambers, the diluted chlorine may be passed through layers of
slaked lime arranged in series in vessels in series in the same way as the
layers of slaked lime are arranged in the dry lime purifyers for coal gas.
The pipes of the apparatus may be made of cast iron, and the shelves or
chambers holding the lime may be constructed of slates or stone or of
other suitable material, and all iron work may be painted or varnished as
is well understood. The changes of gases from one member of the series
to another and the isolation of each member of the series in turn for
emptying and recharging with slaked lime may be effected by moveable
valves or moveable connecting pipes suitably arranged and luted or
jointed as is well understood.
Diluted chlorine can be obtained by the means described in the
Specification of an Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to
me, bearing date the Twenty-ninth April, One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-eight, Number 1403; or by the improved apparatus for the
manufacture of chlorine described in the Specification of Letters Patent

page_text: granted to me and bearing date the Thirteenth day of September, One
thousand eight hunderd and seventy, Number 2469, this Invention being
intended to be used in combination with the said prior Inventions herein-
before referred to.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I
shall now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
purpose shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheets of
Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts
in all the corresponding Figures. In these Drawings I have shewn as
examples merely two out of many forms of apparatus which may be used
for carrying out my improved system.
Figure 1 (Sheet 1) represents a front elevation of one arrangement
of apparatus with the doors removed; Figure 2 is a corresponding plan
-with-the-back portion of the chambers broken away; and Figure 3.
is a transverse section taken along the line 1, 2, in Figure 1. In this
arrangement there is represented a series of 8 chambers lettered from
A to H inclusive, each chamber containing 6 shelves or layers of lime,
as shown in Figures 1 and 3, but of course the same connections might
be used if each chamber were used without shelves, or with other number
of shelves than 6. As shown the chambers A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, are
constructed of slabs of slates, the pipes of cast iron, and the doors closing
the chambers of wrought iron. The course of the current of gases is
indicated by colored arrows. Arrows of three colors are used to shew
how the series can be worked when the gases enter either of the three
chambers A, or C, or G as first of the series, and for example it is shown
as circulating through all eight chambers, and through six chambers, and
through seven chambers. When it enters chamber A first, as indicated by
the arrow colored red, the series will be A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and the
gases will pass through all eight chambers. When entering chamber C
first, as indicated by the arrow colored yellow, chamber B is shewn
isolated, and the series will be C, D, E, F, G, H, A, and similarly by
arrow colored blue the series will be G, H, A, B, C, D, the two chambers
E and F being shewn isolated, and similarly other changes of series can
be effected in like manner. The horizontal pipe P¹ is the main entrance
pipe, and the pipe marked P² is the main outlet pipe. P¹ is connected
with the source of chlorine, and P with the chimney or other outlet.
Each chamber is furnished with connecting pipes fixed to it to provide
inlet and outlet openings as P A', P A2, P B³, P B², &c., &c. P³ I

page_text: call a circulating pipe, and its office will be evident upon tracing in turn
the course of the current of gases as indicated by each set of coloured
arrows. The course of the currents is governed by the connecting pipes
U¹, U³, U³, &c.; they are drawn as arranged for the currents indicated
by the set of arrows colored blue. The joints with the pipes P¹ and P³,
PA, PA, &c. &c., are luted in the ordinary way. The openings
of the pipes not connected by these U pipes are closed by suitable
covers luted. When the directions of the currents are to be changed
these connecting U pipes are to be correspondingly rearranged. The
way in which this is done will be evident on following and comparing
the courses of the colored arrows. The outlet openings P A², P B³,
&c. are so placed with reference to the openings in the main P² that the
same connecting piece U can connect as required the same opening
in the main with either of two openings into a chamber, as, for instance,
a connecting piece U* is shewn connecting the main P³ with the outlet
PD, but it can be turned, so that whilst the same end remains at the
same opening in the main P2 the other end can communicate with
the outlet P, C², instead of the outlet P, D. The rest of the Drawings
need no particular description. The wrought-iron doors are marked S.
The
Figures 1 and 2 (Sheet 2) represent respectively in section and plan
another modification of apparatus for the same purpose. In this
arrangement four pieces of apparatus are employed, in which the gases
instead of being passed over surfaces of slaked lime are passed through
layers of the material arranged on gratings or perforated shelves
3 resembling ordinary coal gas purifiers worked with dry lime.
vessels and shelves may be constructed of slate slabs, the covers of slates
or of iron, and the inlet and outlet pipes and mode of circulation may
be arranged and worked and each vessel be in turn isolated for filling
and emptying, as is practised in ordinary gas purifiers similarly arranged,
or the circulation may be effected by the arrangement shewn. There
are four separate vessels shewn K, L, M, N, but the number may be
´ varied at pleasure. P₁ is the main central inlet pipe; P2, the main
outlet pipe. P¹ has only one opening forming the centre of a circle;
P has four openings p², p², each at equal distances round P¹. The
branch inlet and outlet openings p' and p² of the vessels K, L, M, N,
are arranged round P¹ in two concentric circles. The moveable connecting
piece U¹ is used to connect P¹ with the inlet branch p' of each vessel
K, L, M, N, in turn. U³, U³, and U are other connecting pieces which

page_text: Third. The use of layers of slaked lime on perforated shelves or
gratings, through which layers the currents of gases pass when arranged
in series similar to that herein described for use with surfaces, that is
to say, so arranged that each shelf or grating or member containing
one or more shelves or gratings shall become the first one of the series
in rotation, and be isolated in turn for filling and emptying for the
purpose specified.
Fourth. The application and use of either one or of both of the
aforesaid apparatus in combination with the methods of producing
chlorine for which Letters Patent were granted to me bearing date the
Twenty-ninth April One thousand eight hundred and sixty, No. 1403, or
in combination with the improved apparatus for the manufacture of
chlorine described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me,
bearing date the Thirteenth day of September One thousand eight
hundred and seventy, No. 2469.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Deacon, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal this Tenth day of March One.
thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.