CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING, BOILING, AND CONCENTRATING BY EVAPORATION VARIOUS SORTS OF LIQUIDS AND FLUIDS
Year: 1822

page_text: TO ALL TO WHO
HESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, Sir
ANTHONY PERRIER, of the City of Cork, Knight, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, called England, bearing date at Westminster,.
the Twenty-seventh day of July 1822, in the third year of His reign, give
and grant unto me, the said Sir Anthony Perrier,; my exors, admors, and
assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Sir Anthony Perrier, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, during the term
of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and
also in all His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention
of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING, BOILING, AND
CONCENTRATING BY EVAPORATION VARIOUS SORTS OF LIQUIDS AND FLUIDS;" in which
said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, that if I, the said Sir Anthony
Perrier, shall not particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His
Majesty's High Court of Chancery, within six calendar months next. and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said
Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted,
shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, as in and by the same (relation
being thereunto had,) will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Sir Anthony Perrier, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto annexed, and the
following description thereof (that is to say):-
Fig. 1, a view in profile of a still or boiler, of copper or other suitable
material, the upper surface of its bottom divided by a ledge or ledges A, A,
&c. placed vertically, and of such height as that the liquid shall never in case
of ebullition pass their upper edge, the lower edge being attached by solder
or otherwise to the bottom, describing the line or lines as traced in the
Figs. 5, 9, 10, 14, 15, & 16, (which give a birds'-eye view of the stills
uncovered or their bottoms,) so as to form a channel B, B, &c., which, what-
ever direction it is made to take, conducts the liquid so as to cause it cover
in its course the whole surface of the bottom, from the place of its falling in
at C through the tube. E coming from the reservoir F, until it arrives at the
other end of the channel B, B, &c., where, after having experienced the full
effect of the fire, it enters and is discharged at the regulating tube D, the
apperture of which regulates the quantity or depth of liquid in the still, (and
which may be varied at will), maintaining it at the desired height. This tube
is composed of joints which slide one into another, so that its appertures inside
and outside the still may be raised or lowered, and the whole lengthened or
shortened as desired; and may also by this means be made to serve in place of
a cock, to empty the still. The length of the channel B, B, &c., and the quantity
of liquid allowed to pass along it should be in such proportion to each other
as to insure the perfection of the operation in hand, and especially the completo
distillation of the liquid in its passage to the regulating tube, where the
residue only is discharged, and being cut off from further evaporation the
spirits which arise are so much the stronger and purer as they are less clogged
with aqueous and empyreumatic vapor. Hence a continued or uninterrupted
distillation, boiling, or evaporation is established, and may be carried on
without intermission so long as the supply of liquid is furnished, and the fire
kept up.
In case it should be deemed expedient to expose the sides of the
still to the action of the fire, the height of the ledge next the sides should be
carried up nearly to the top or cover, and that part of the channel kept full of
liquid, causing it to flow after making the round of the still into the rest of
the channel. The length of the course of the liquid may be considerably
augmented by placing upright divisions at suitable distances between the
outside ledge and the sides of the still attached to both, and an open left under
the first and over the second throughout, so that the liquid should pass under

page_text: the one and over the other in succession the whole round. This principle
might occasionally be established generally over the whole channel. The
channel may be made to a considerable length on a bottom of any dimensions,
by proportioning the width of the former to the extent of surface of the
latter. The feeding and discharging tubes may be furnished with stop cocks
to regulate the supply and discharge, and the stills, with safety valves to guard
against excessive expansion or condensation; but in ordinary work neither the
one nor the other is found necessary, the column of liquid always contained in
the tubes of supply and discharge fully suffices against all contingencies. Stills
on this principle may be made of all sizes and shapes, and the proportions laid
down in the Drawings varied according to the nature of the work intended.
With respects to the shape of which stills on this principle are susceptible,
some examples are given in the annexed Drawings, for altho' Fig. 1 has its
bottom flat or horizontal, Fig. 2 has it convex, Fig. 3 concave, Fig. 7, 8, and
13 direct and inverted cones, all which are equally adapted as stills, or boilers,
or evaporators, by putting on or taking off their heads; and in all cases their
capacity for work may be sensibly increased by placing layers of pipes, Fig. 11,
(of which the length and calibre should be proportioned to the nature and
quantity of work,) either in the furnace under the still, in the flue between the
still and the chimney, or in the chimney itself, or in any other position more
convenient where they shall experience the effect of the fire, so that by letting
the liquid to be operated upon pass previously through these pipes, it arrives
at the still in any state of forwardness sought. These pipes may be used
independantly for all the foregoing purposes of continued distilling, boiling, and
evaporating, and there form and direction changed according to the application
intended; stills particularly, if made square or oblong, may have their bottoms
divided internally into several stills, each having its separate head and con-
densor, by which arrangement the spirits condensed from the first still may fall
into the second, be there re-distilled, and so on to a third, whereby a rectifi-
cation may be carried to any degree at one operation and with one fire. In
the still, Fig. 1, is a set of chains suspended from a bar G, G, supported in the
centre on a pivot, and put in motion in the usual way by cranks or cog wheels, a
portion of these chains falls into each division and sweeps the bottom and keeps
it from burning when thick or glutinous matter such as turpentine, potale,
syrops, &c., &c., are worked. In all these stills the liquid may be made to enter
at the centre or at the sides, and discharge at either or both; Figure 13, to which
Fig. 14 is the bottom applicable, differs from the others; the liquid falling on
the centre flows diverging over each succeeding circle like a cascade, until it
arrives at the sides where it is discharged like the others; ledges may be placed

page_text: between each circle, on the principle inore particularly explained in the follow-
ing Fig. 12, which is square, or oblong, or round, its bottom intersected with
parallel ledges fastened at the ends and bottom, if square or oblong, and only
to the bottom if round, except that under each alternate ledge is left a space
of any width required between it and the bottom, so that the liquid on entering
at the end or centre, passes over the one and under the other ledge, until it
arrives at the point of discharge; thus, the whole mass, at whatever depth it
may be in the still, is submitted to the full effect of the fire in a layer of the
thickness of the space between the ledge and the bottom. Fig. 6 'differs
essentially from all the others in this, that the bottom is doubled up and down
in plaits, and presents a surface commensurate with the length, depth, and
number of these plates, between each of which, as in Fig. 12, a ledge is run
from side to side of the still and fastened to both, leaving a passage the whole
length underneath between its lower edge, and the bottom of the groove formed
by the plate, by which the liquid in its whole course is reduced to a stratum of
any thickness required along a surface of immense extent, occupying compara.
tively but a small space, and exposed to all the ardour of the fire; hitherto these
stills have been represented as in direct contact with the fire, they may be
worked by steam applied externally or internally, or both, as shewn in Fig. 4,
where N is a steam boiler, furnished with safety valves, and supplied with
water in the usual way, surmounted by three stills upon the foregoing principles
of continued distillation, the bottoms perforated at certain distances o, o, &c.,
throughout their whole extent; into each of these apertures is inserted a tube,
branching into ramifications of smaller recurved tubes M, M, &c.; the
extremities of which are bent down so as to be immersed to a proper depth in
the liquid flowing through the still. Thus, when the steam from the boiler N
enters the inferior apertures at 0, 0, &c., it is forced through the smaller tubes,
and made to pervade with all its energy the liquid in its progress. To each of the
stills, except the lower one, the steam is conveyed by the tube L, issuing from
the side of the boiler N, and communicating with the stills by cocks a, a, a,
(this tube might be carried inside,) by which means one or more to any num-
ber of stills may be worked at a time, and may be placed laterally, or in any
other position more eligible. Should it be deemed more convenient or
advantageous to use the caloric transmitted by the steam through the
metal, without allowing the steam to pass into the liquid, it may be
done by shutting the ends of the tubes M, M, &c., and placing them
horizontally along the channel B, B, &c., giving them sufficient inclina.
tion to allow any steam that might condense there, to pass by the orifice o, o, &c.,
into the steam boiler N; here also it is evident that the spirit condensed from

page_text: )
one still may be made to pass into another, and distillations of every degree,
and of various substances, may be carried on in one continued operation at the
same time, and by one moderate fire, which, upon this principle, would suffice
for the largest establishment known. N.B.-I have used the word still
or stills frequently to represent equally boilers and evaporators, and I have said
liquids, which word often signifies also fluids, the same letters have the same
reference in all the Figs.
EXPLANATION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 12, and 13, view in profile of the stills, boilers,
or evaporators; Figs. 5, 9, 10, 14, 15, and 16, birds'-eye view of the stills
uncovered, or their bottoms; Fig. 11, layer of pipes; A, A, &c., ledge or
ledges; B, B, channel; C, that part of the channel where the liquid falls on
entering the still; D, regulating and discharging tube; E, feeding tube; F,
reservoir; G, bar, from which the chains are suspended; II, handle which works
the two cog wheels; I, cock to empty the still; K, man-hole; L, L, L, tube
of communication between the boiler N, and the superincumbent still;
M, M, &c., small curved steam tubes; N, steam boiler; 0, 0, &c., interior
apertures of the steam tubes; P, P, &c., necks of the stills; Q, Q, Q, cocks
to admit steam from boiler N to the stills; R, R, two cog wheels.
In witness whereof, I, the said Sir Anthony Perrier, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this 11th day of January One thousand eight
hundred and twenty-three.

page_text: George Perrier, of Fleet Street, in the City of London, Esquire, maketh
oath and saith that he is well acquainted with the handwriting of his brother
Sir Anthony Perrier, and further saith that the seal and signature to the
annexed Specification, is the seal and signature of the said Sir Anthony Perrier.
Sworn at the Public Office, this Twenty-
GEO. PERRIER.