Improvements in Electrolytic Apparatus.
Year: 1892

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Electrolytic Apparatus.
I, THOMAS CRANEY, of 624 Harrison Street, South Bay City, in the County
of Bay, State of Michigan, United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This invention relates to new and useful improvements in electrolytic apparatus,
and refers more specifically to the construction of the anode.
The process of electrolysis has been applied heretofore for the decomposition
of solutions of metallic salts, but none of the attempts have been of practical
success as far as the commercial exploitation of the process on a large scale is
concerned. The reason for this is mainly due to the fact that the permanency
of the anodes and cathodes could not be maintained for any reasonable length of
time.
In electrolizing metallic salts, such as chloride of sodium, it is especially difficult
to prevent the anode from disintegration, as it is exposed to the destructive action
of the chlorine.
The one material which has been found to have suitable conducting qualities and
to be practically indestructible is carbon, and the way it has been employed is in
the form of a solid body or pencil made of carbon or powdered carbon held together
by a binding material carbonized by baking. While such solid carbon bodies or
pencils are sufficiently good conductors, they are not permanent enough to make
their use in a commercial plant a success, as they soon disintegrate either by the
mechanical action of the current or the chemical action of the acid radicals, such
as chlorine gas, the chlorates, or other products formed by electrolysis of chloride
of sodium, and which act upon the impurities in the carbon.
The object of my invention is to make a carbon anode in such a manner that
neither the action of the electric current nor the disintegrating chemical action of
the products of the electrolysis can break it down and thereby destroy its
permanency, and to this end my invention consists in encasing the carbon into a
cell or cells formed on non-porous and non-conducting material and confining the
electrolytic action of the anode to a segregated portion or portions of the body.
The material which forms the cell is made of stone ware, glass or other like
substance unaffected by the action of the current, as well as by the chemical action
of the products of electrolysis, and the segregated portions are inclosed or contained
in vertical or substantially vertical interstices formed in the walls of a cell or
between the walls of two or more superimposed cells or sections. In this way the
disintegration of the segregated portion of the anode will not in any way affect
the permanency of the anode, all as more fully hereinafter described and shown in
the drawings, in which―
Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic section on an electrolytic apparatus embodying the
principle of my invention.
Fig. 2 is a vertical, central section through the electrolytic apparatus embodying
the principle of my invention in a modified form.
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on line x-x thereof, and Fig. 4 is a similar section
on line y-y.
Fig. 5 is a vertical section through a modified form of cell, and Fig. 6 is a side
elevation of one of the cups.
A represents a suitable electrolytic vessel or vat in which the chloride of sodium
or other solution to be treated is contained.
B is a cell placed within the vessel A; it is made of a material which remains
1

page_text: unaffected by the solution under treatment or any of the products of electrolysis
thereof.
C is a smaller cell of the same material projecting with its lower end into the
cell B, and with its upper end above the surface of the solution in the vessel A,
the two cells forming the interstital space D between their walls.
The tube C and cell B are preferably filled with some finely divided carbon
packed into the same so as to form a continuous conductor of electricity from the
top above the liquid to the exposed surface in the solution. In this manner a
portion of the carbon is segregated from the body and is exposed to the solution in
the tank A at its upper horizontal surface in the cell B around the tube C, while
the vertical surfaces are permanently protected therefrom as well as from the
products formed at the anode.
The construction of the electrolytic vessel itself forms no part of this invention,
and it may be of any suitable form to permit the proper charging and discharging
of its contents and the collection of any gaseous products should any arise. The
walls of the vessel A may represent the cathode, or a separate cathode or cathodes
may be used.
The terminals of the battery or generator are secured to the cathode and anode
in the usual manner.
It is within the spirit of my invention to have the carbon either in finely divided
particles firmly packed into the vessel B and tube C, or have it solidified by the
usual process of baking it with carbonicable binding material, or it may be formed
partly of one and partly of the other, as for instance, the mass in the tube C could
be formed solid while all, or a portion of the material in the vessel B may be in a
finely divided state. In either form it will be seen that the vertical surfaces are.
absolutely protected, while the horizontal surface left exposed, may be disintegrated
to a considerable depth without affecting the permanency of the anode, and no
falling away or breaking down of the anode can take place, while at the same time
a free discharge is provided for any gaseous products.
For the commercial exploitation of my invention I preferably construct the
anode in the form, as shown in Fig. 2, in which the cell B is formed of conical
sections partly inserted into each other with interstices left between the walls of
the superimposed sections. These spaces may be obtained by providing the sections
of the outside with suitable ribs or projections a, or other suitable means may be
employed for the purpose. The cell C may or may not be used, its object is to
extend the carbon anode above the surface of the solution, which object could
be obtained by using enough sections in forming the cell B.
The carbon is either packed in, in a finely divided state or baked solid as before
described, and the interstices between the walls of the sections are again filled in
to form segregated portions of the body with the horizontal surfaces of these
portions exposed to the electrolytic action.
In this construction a series of horizontal surfaces is formed on the outside of the
anode in which the carbon is brought in direct contact with the solution in the
vessel and which may be disintegrated to a considerable depth without affecting
the permanency of the anode, the body of which is permanently protected.
Instead of building the cell B in sections, it may be formed integrally in one
piece as shown in Fig. 5, in which the interstices are formed by perforations in
the walls of the cell as nearly as possible in a vertical direction as required
to form interstices of the required depth to form segregated portions for the
carbon body.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. In an electrolytic apparatus, a carbon anode incased within a cell or cells,
of non-conducting material, and having a segregated portion or portions exposed

page_text: 2. In an electrolytic apparatus, a carbon anode incased within an outer supporting
cell of non-conducting material, said anode consisting of a central homogeneous
body within the wall of the cell and having segregated portions contained within
pockets or interstices formed in the walls of the cell and forming exposed horizontal
surfaces, substantially as described.
3. In an anode for electrolytic apparatus, the combination of a cell of non-
conducting material formed with open interstices in the wall thereof, and a carbon
body incased within said cell and provided with segregated portions contained in
the interstices of the cell and forming exposed horizontal surfaces of the anode,
substantially as described.
4. In an anode for electrolytic apparatus, the combination of a cell consisting of
a series of superimposed sections projecting within each other and forming open
interstices between such sections, and a body of carbon incased within said cell and
having segregated portions extending into the interstices between the sections and
forming the exposed sections of the anode, substantially as described.
100.
THOMAS CRANEY.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.