IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR THE MANU- FACTURE OF SULPHUROUS ACID
Year: 1883

page_text: 56
LETTERS PATENT to Charles Arthur Allison, of the firm of Allison Brothers,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR THE MANU-
FACTURE OF SULPHUROUS ACID communicated to him from abroad by
The National Chemical Machine and Manufacturing Company (Incorporated),
of Newark, New Jersey, United States of America
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Charles Arthur Allison at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th September 1883.
CHARLES ARTHUR ALLISON, of the firm of Allison Brothers, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF
APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF SULPHUROUS ACID >>
communicated to me
from abroad by The National Chemical Machine and Manufacturing Company
(Incorporated), of Newark, New Jersey, United States of America.
This invention relates to an improved construction for the condenser and the
furnace employed in such machines as are provided with a series of shelves over
which water flows in contact with the sulphurous acid fumes.
The improvement in the condenser consists in the construction and arrangement
of the shelves and the improvement in the furnace consists in the construction of
the sulphur retort and the combination with it of an inlet air pipe to furnish the
oxygen required for the most efficient combustion.
The nature of the invention will be understood from the annexed drawings in
which Fig. 1 is a vertical section at the centre of a condenser and furnace provided
with my improvements; and Fig. 2 is a side view of the condenser at right angles
to the position shown in Fig. 1.
A is the shell of the furnace having a plate B extending across its body inside
below the level of the door b, to receive the charge of sulphur and form a
retort.

page_text: In the plate B is fitted an air inlet pipe O, which enters the furnace_below
the plate B, and passes up through it far enough to prevent any outflow of
sulphur.
A gas pipe, E, provided with burners d, is situated beneath the plate B to heat
it for the first melting of the sulphur, and openings d, are formed in the casing for
lighting the burners and supplying them with air.
From the combustion chamber above the plate B, a vapor pipe D extends to the
condenser F, which is usually formed of two inch yellow pine planks bolted
*securely together in the shape of a square box, and supported upon legs G BO
as to receive the vapor at the middle of one side a little above the bottom.
A water inlet H inserted at the middle of the top, admits the water for
absorbing the gas, and an outlet I, at the bottom removes the liquid product as it
accumulates at that point.
An escape pipe J at the top carries off the vapors that have passed through the
apparatus without being condensed and a similar pipe K may be placed at an equal
distance on the opposite side, to equalize the draft.
The shelves are arranged horizontally to secure the slowest possible movement
of the descending water current over them, and to further retard the movement of
the water, and to expose it more perfectly to contact with the sulphurous fumes,
the shelves are preferably formed with transverse grooves or gutters, across which
the water flows in its passage through the machine.
To further divide the body of water, the shelves are formed preferably of
unplaned and roughly sawed boards, having fibres projecting from their surface
upon the ridges between the grooves.
The boards or shelves are lettered a, a³, and the grooves 6, 6; the spaces between
the edges of the shelves being marked o, o¹.
4
To secure a tortuous channel for the upward passage of the vapor the shelves
are arranged as shown in Fig. 1, a single broad shelf (having an opening between
two of its edges and the sides of the condenser), being alternated with two
narrower shelves, in continuous series from the top of the condenser box to the
space at the bottom where the gas is admitted.
a are the end shelves, and a¹, a', the narrow ones, which are secured to the sides
of the condenser, and arranged with a space o¹ between them underneath the
middle of the wider shelves a.
The gas inlet D is arranged beneath the middle of the wide shelf at the bottom
of the series, and the water inlet H is similarly inserted in the top over the middle
of a wide shelf.
The entering gas and water are therefore divided toward the sides of the box F,
whence they pass by the spaces o along the surface of the narrow shelves a¹ to the
central opening o' between them and similarly to the other shelves in the entire
series.
The water is necessarily obstructed by the numerous transverse grooves e, all of
which it has to cross in its progress through the machine as well as by the rough
surface of the space between the grooves.
The horizontal position of the shelves also retards the movement of the fluid,
and the ascending gas is thus kept in contact therewith in the most efficient
manner.
The water after absorbing the gas falls into the bottom of the machine, whence
it is drawn off by the pipe I into any suitable receptacle.
In the furnace, I secure the heat necessary to melt the charge of sulphur and to
start the primary combustion, by igniting the gas jets d, which are turned off as
soon as the vaporizing is established, and a great saving in fuel and time in
operating the machine is thus secured.
By the insertion of the air pipes C through the bottom of the sulphur retort I
secure a perfect admixture of the air with the sulphur fumes, and greatly increase
and improve the combustion.
The door b affords access to the sulphur retort for supplying the charge and

page_text: renewing it when necessary; and any other feeding arrangements may be made
that are found desirable. The object of the inlet pipe C is obviously to inject air
into the midst of the retort and the pipe may therefore be constructed differently
without affecting the result. It may therefore be originated inside the shell A and
receive its air supply from the openings d².
I am fully aware that various arrangements of perforated and unperforated
shelves have been used in machines for the same purpose as mine and I do not
therefore claim the same except as herein set forth. The method of joining the
parts of the box F and attaching the shelves and pipes I have not shown herein as
that does not constitute any part of my invention but the improvements I
have devised have been fully specified above and I therefore claim the same as
follows.
1 The combination with the box F containing the wide and narrow shelves
a, a', arranged as described, of the pipes D and H, admitting gas and water at the
middle of such wide shelves, as and for the purpose set forth.
2nd The combination with a condenser for hydrating sulphurous acid, of
shelves formed of rough or unplaned wood substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
3rd The combination with a condenser for hydrating sulphurous acid, of the
furnace A, constructed with the air inlet O as and for the purpose set forth.
4th The combination with a sulphur retort for making sulphurous acid, of the
gas burners d for starting the preliminary combustion as herein shown and
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Arthur Allison have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this
day of
in the year of our Lord one
thousand eight hundred and eighty-three.
СНА" А ALLISUN
(L.S.)