AN IMPROVEMENT IN CERTAIN APPARATUS, RENDERING THE SAME APPLICABLE FOR DISTILLING
Year: 1831

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BRUNTON, of Park Square, Regent's Park, in the County of Middlesex,
Esquire, send greeting:
WHEREAS His present Majesty King William the Fourth, by His Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-eighth day of March now
last past, did give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Brunton, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Thomas
Brunton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Thomas Brunton, 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 of years therein expressed, 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, an' Invention communicated to me by a cértain Foreigner residing
abroad, of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN CERTAIN APPARATUS, RENDERING THE SAME
APPLICABLE FOR DISTILLING;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained
proviso obliging me, tho said Thomas Brunton; by an instrument' in writing
under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature

page_text: of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
and to cause the same 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 recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Brunton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is described and ascertained
by the Plans or Drawings hereunto annexed, and as follows, that is to say:-
Drawing 1, Figure 1, a represents a front elevation of a copper vessel or
receptacle, which I call a heating chamber. This is formed of two parts or
halves, the one part or half is made to overlap the other so as to allow them
to be rivetted together in the way shewn in this Figure. The back end of
this vessel is open, and its edges are turned over and spread so as to form a
broad flanch, which can be fixed by rivets to a chamber plate to be described
hereafter. Figure 2 represents a back elevation of the same chamber, in
which the internal cavity may be seen, and also a piece of copper, being a
broad flat bar b; the use of this bar will be explained hereafter. Figure 3
represents a side elevation of the same chamber, shewing the whole of the
rivets that unite the two parts together. The dotted lines at 6 shew the place
of the bar fixed by rivets which pass completely through both sides of the
chamber.
Figure 4 represents a vertical section made by a plane passing through the
line A, A, in Figure 3. The bar b, it will be seen, is placed midway, or nearly
so, and extends about two thirds of the chamber or compartment, as shown in
Figure 5, which is an horizontal section of a chamber, by a plane passing
through the line B, B, in Figure 3. The upper surface of the bar bis here
shewn, and also its extent in point of length.
Figure 6 is a vertical section taken through the line C, C, in Fig. 1, and it
shews the situation and extent of the bar.
Fig. 7, c represents a front elevation of a strong plate or sheet of copper,
which I call a chamber plate. This plate is pierced with eight apertures
to receive eight heating chambers; these are made fast by rivets, that pass
through the flanches formed on the back end of each chamber. In this Figure
four chambers are shewn fixed to the plate in the manner described, and four
apertures are left open.
Figure 8 shews an edge or end view of the chamber plate. Figure 9, c is
a side elevation of the chamber plate, shewing one of the chambers rivetted to
it in the manner before stated.

page_text: Figure 10 represents a plan or bird's-eye view of eight heating chambers,
a, a, a, a, a, a, a, a, arranged in proper order, and fixed to the chamber.
plate c.
Fig. 11, D, D, shews a furnace or fireplace, which may be combined with,
any suitable still, for the purpose of heating worts or any other fluids submitted
to the process of distillation. The front part, with two fire doors appended,
is represented (on the left-hand side), the parts behind are represented on the
right-hand side, by which the arrangement and combination of the heating
chambers will be plainly seen, and also their position with regard to the fire.
bars. The situation of the flue, which passes through the worts or other fluid,
will be seen at E.
Figure 12 shows a vertical section of Figure 11, taken by a plane passing
through the line F, F, in Figure 11; this Figure and also Figure 11 shows how:
the flame and heated air is applied to the chambers, the spaces between them
acting as flues to convey the heat to the whole surface of the chambers; and
then to the flue E, where it is applied to assist in heating the worts or other
liquids contained in the still.
Drawing 2, Fig. 13, represents a vertical section of the fireplace D, D,
combined with a still of a cubical form G, G, G, G. This section passes
exactly through the centre of one of the heating chambers, in order to shew
that the liquid in the still and that in the internal part of the chamber is so.
connected, that when any heat is applied to the liquid in the chambers it is
immediately imparted to the whole contents in the still, for owing to the bar b.
being fixed in the centre of the chamber in the manner shewn in this and the
previous Figures, it will be found that whenever heat is applied to the bottom
part of the chamber, the water contained in the lower division or compartment
e will be set in rapid motion in the direction of the darts, and this current
will increase in proportion to the degree of heat applied, thereby tending to
equalize the temperature of all the liquid contained in the still, and that in a
shorter period of time than has ever been effected by any method of heating
liquids hitherto adopted. This valuable effect, it will be evident, is produced
by constructing the chambers, so that their internal contents, although com-.
paratively small, are made to present a very large or extended surface to
the leat, and also by partially dividing or separating the contents of each
chamber into an upper and lower portion, currents will be generated in
a manner that will be found extremely advantageous in rapidly commu-
nicating heat or equalizing the temperature of any fluid in connection
therewith. A considerable saving of fuel will be the result of this peculiar and
advantageous mole of constructing, combining, and applying this improved

page_text: apparatus; and it may with ease be applied to all stills where economy or
fuel is an object of importance.
E, Fig. 13, represents a section of the principal flue leading into the
chimney 4; this flue is surrounded with a jacket H, containing water, which
will effectually prevent the ignition of the vapourized spirit which would take
place from the heated surface of the flue. I is a cistern for supplying the
jacket when necessity requires. The height of the worts to be distilled will
be seen by the lines f. f. The external part of the still here shewn is formed
of wooden planks bolted together in the usual manner, and the inner part is
lined with copper, to which the fireplace or furnace is attached or combined,
as may be seen in the different Figures included in Drawings 2 and 3.
Drawing 3, Figure 14, represents a plan or bird's-eye view of the same
still; and in order to shew the parts more completely, the upper part or cover-
ing of the still is removed, and the crown or upper covering of the fireplace
is also supposed to be taken off, by which means the heating chambers and
fire bars are exposed to view, and the method of combining the whole will be
more plainly seen.
Having explained so much of my improved apparatus, consisting, in this
department, of heating chambers constructed and combined in the manner and
way I have described, I shall now describe another part of my improved
apparatus for obtaining spirit of a very high state of purity by a single ope-
ration or distillation only; viz, in the said Figure 14, y represents the capital
or conducting pipe that conveys the spirit in a vapourized state from the still,
when working, into the recipient shewn at 1, descending down a pipe attached
by flanches to g, which pipe reaches nearly to the bottom of the recipient; it
then ascends and passes through the arched pipe into the recipient 2, where it
descends in a similar manner, and again ascending it enters the recipient 3,
and when it ascends from this third or last recipient, it enters a worm or any
It will be
other refrigerator where it is reduced by cooling to the liquid state.
seen that these recipients 1, 2, and 3 are actually placed within the still and
partly surrounded with the worts or other liquid to be distilled; therefore,
while the operation of distillation is proceeding, these vessels or recipients and
their contents will be at all times at the same temperature as the worts,
or nearly so, and by this means the spirit will be kept vapourized until it
passes through the whole of them, and finally escapes into the worm tub as
before described. It is a well-established fact that the oftener spirit in the
state of vapour can be made to ascend the purer will it become, because the
essential or vegetable oils with which it is contaminated are in reality heavier
than pure spirit, therefore the spirit, being most volatile, will, every time it

page_text: ascends, leave a portion of impurity below; and hence the advantages of the
repeated ascents obtained by my improved arrangement, which, in principle,
is the same as that generally known by the name of Woolf's distilling appa-
ratus, except that in this case they are combined with and actually placed
within the still, by which means the vapourization is continued until it has
made repeated ascents, a subject of the utmost importance in the process of
obtaining pure spirit.
shall now describe the means that I employ to govern or regulate the
action of these vessels or recipients.
Figure 15 represents a vertical section of three recipients, their descending
pipes, and other parts combined therewith, by a vertical plane passing through
the linek, k, in Fig. 14. In Figure 15, L, L, L, shows a quantity of water
or any other suitable fluid or compound placed in the lower part of the reci-
pients, and into which the descending pipes i, i, i, dip; the water or other fluid
contained in these vessels is made to pass from one to the other by means
of the apertures seen at j. j. The water may be introduced at any convenient
part by a pipe from a cistern, and the height may be regulated or the whole
drawn off by the cock k. The height of the water or other fluid contained in
these vessels will be indicated externally by the glass tube shown at M. Tho
height of the worts in the still will also be shown by the glass tube N. In
the lower part of each recipient an arched or curved bottom-is formed, a
section of which is seen at 0, 0, 0; beneath these the remaining. portion of
cach recipient is formed into a chamber, communicating with each other by
means of the apertures P, P. These chambers are filled with water from the
pipo 1, 1, which enters the bottom of the worm tub m, but when-tho-cock n
is closed and the cock O opened, then it may be supplied from the top of the
worm tub, as occasion may require. Q is a regulating cock by means of which
the passage of the water from these chambers is adjusted so as to permit any
desired quantity to pass off. The practical use of these lower chambers is as
follows:-Should the temperature of the recipients become too great from their
being so nearly surrounded with the worts (whether they be used empty or have
a certain charge of liquid in them), a gentle stream of water-from-the worm
tub may be permitted to pass through them, and when it is made to enter
under the recipient 3 first, it will have the effect of cooling that vessel the most,
which will be precisely what should take place, for-the cooler the vapourised
spirit leaves the third or last recipient the purer will it be and the higher the
proof when it enters the worm to assume the fluid-state. By thus arranging
and combining the recipients so that they may be heated by the worts or
other fluid to be distilled, such repeated ascents of the vapourised spirit may

page_text: be obtained that by one simple distillation a purer spirit will be produced that
could be effected by any single process now made use of.
I shall now describe a refrigerator, which may be used with the before-
described apparatus; it may be constructed in the following manner :-
Drawing 2, Figure 16, n, n, represents a vertical section of one of these refri-
gerators or condensers, constructed of very thin sheet copper; each division or
compartment is formed of two frustrums of an obtuse cone, their bases and
sections nearest the apex being alternately joined or united by the extreme edge
of one being made to overlap the other, and closed by soldering, by which means
they will when thus united form a series of compartments, like what is seen
in this Figure. The dotted lines o, 0, 0, 0, shews a direct space for the vapourized
spirit to
pass from P, where it enters upon the still, to the worm tub q; but as
it will expand in every direction the moment it comes into the refrigerator, it
will of course completely fill every compartment, and being condensed, it will
run down into the pipe 2, which is united to each compartment, and be imme-
diately conducted to a receiver through the worm; but should any portion
pass off not condensed in the refrigerator, it will be completely effected in the
worm, with which it is connected. The vat R, in which the refrigerator is
placed, is made of such capacity as to contain a sufficient quantity of worts to
charge the still; therefore, while the process of refrigeration is going on, the
worts will be simultaneously heated and ready to enter the still when the wash
is drawn off from it, and whenever the temperature is raised sufficiently to
vapourize any of the spirit, it will pass through the pipe S, and be condensed
by the worm. The vat T, shewn at the upper part of this Figure, is so placed
to receive a charge of worts, which may be pumped up into it at leisure, and
then it will be ready to fill the vat R by opening the cock U. By this arrange-
ment and application of the parts a great economy of fuel will be effected, an
object of the greatest importance in the process of distillation.
Figure 17 represents the hollow sido of one half of a division or compart-
ment of the refrigerator, shewing the method of connecting the pipe r to the
lower edge for the purpose of receiving the condensed spirit.
Figure 18 is an elevation of the reverse side of Figure 17.
Figure 19 represents an edge view of a complete division or compart-
meut, combined, on each side, to a fragment of an adjoining compartment
(Figures 17, 18, 19, 20, are all drawn upon a larger scale for the purpose of
illustration).
Figure 20 represents a vertical section of Figure 19, by a plane passing
through the centre of Figure 19.
Figure 21 represents a front elevation of my improved heating chambers

page_text: applied to a still, the lower part of the front of the fireplace, with its fire
door, being removed so as to shew the internal arrangement of the parts. As
this fireplace is intended to burn coke, the heating chambers are placed
further apart, and only four are here combined. The arrangement and com-
bination of the chamber plate c, and the fireplace, with the still, is the same
as that before described; but in this case the fire is placed horizontally, as
shewn by the dotted line S. The vapourised spirit rises through the pipe V,
and entering the condenser or refrigerator it will ascend to the upper part;
but in its passage it will meet with the chilling properties produced by a
stream of cold water, which is brought on the domed portion of the condenser
or refrigerator seen at t, which is found to produce the valuable effect of con-
densing the various impurities that rise with the vapourised spirit, and they
fall perpendicularly into the still again, while the pure spirit being condensed
will run down the compartments of the refrigerator, and being collected in the
bottom compartment, seen at u, they will be conveyed into a receiver through
the pipe v.
The small or internal dome w is found to increase the effect of
refrigeration by increasing the surface of this particular part of the vessel,
the stream of refrigerating fluid being continually applied immediately over
that point. The recipient 3, Drawing 3, Figure 15, has a thermometer placed
within it, so as to indicate the temperature of the vapour when passing into
the worm. This will enable the operator to regulate the heat in this vessel by
admitting more or less water to flow from the worm tub through the chambers
at the bottom of the recipients, the coldest water being obtained from the
lower part of the worm tub, and that at a higher temperature from the upper
part of the same vessel.
And I hereby further declare that the said Improvement in certain
Apparatus, rendering the same applicable for Distilling, for which the said
Patent has been granted, is of a two-fold character, that is to say :-
The first part consists in constructing, combining, and applying heated
chambers, with the bars above stated, to any suitable kind of still, in the
manner and way I have described, which will heat worts or any other fluids to
be distilled in much less time, and, consequently, with very considerable
economy, when compared with the apparatus now in general use for that
purpose.
The second part of the said improvement consists in the arrangement and
combination of certain vessels, commonly called recipients, which being
arranged, combined, and placed within any suitable still in the way I have
described, and being also combined with separate chambers, capable of holding
or permitting any refrigerating liquid or fluid to remain in or pass through

page_text: them, they will, by their peculiar action when so combined, produce a more
pure and perfect spirit at one single operation or distillation than by the pro-
cess now in use. I do not claim the said refrigerator as part of the said
improvement under the said Patent.
them, they will, by their peculiar action when so combined, produce a more
pure and perfect spirit at one single operation or distillation than by the pro-
cess now in use. I do not claim the said refrigerator as part of the said
improvement under the said Patent.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Brunton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-one.