IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING AMMONIACAL LIQUOR
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Imray, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING AMMONIACAL LIQUOR." A communication from
abroad by Camille Alfred de la Martellière, President of La Société Anonyme
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Imray at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 19th July 1880.
JOHN IMRAY, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING AMMONIACAL
LIQUOR." [A communication from abroad by Camille Alfred de la Martellière,
President of La Société Anonyme des Produits Chimiques du Sud-Ouest, of Paris,
France.]
This Invention relates to apparatus for distilling ammoniacal liquor, so constructed
and arranged as to avoid the use of coils and other passages liable to become choked,
and by the treatment of the liquor in thin layers and under partial vacuum, so as
to disengage the ammonia and its salts at a temperature below that of boiling water,
to effect the separation of these products without sensible admixture of water vapour.
For this purpose a number of vessels are arranged at such relative levels that the
liquor and its products flow by gravity through them by suitable communications
in the following manner:-The highest vessel which is supplied with the liquor to
be treated operates as a surface condenser of the vapours, which pass through a large
flat pipe immersed in the liquor. The liquor, heated in the condenser to 80° or 90°
Fabr., descends by a pipe from this to the lowest vessel or heater, which is of flat
form, having a double bottom divided by longitudinal partitions into compartments
communicating with each other by pipes situated alternately at their opposite ends,
so that the liquor has to pass through these compartments in a zig-zag direction,
whilst the hot spent liquor passes in the opposite direction over these compart-
ments. The two liquors being separated by thin plate, there is a transference of
heat from the one to the other, the spent liquor becoming cooled and the fresh liquor
issuing at a temperature of about 180° Fabr. from the last compartment, whence it
rises by a pipe to a receptacle for the heated liquor. From this it flows into the

page_text: distilling boiler, where it is heated to about 195°, whilst the contents of the boiler,
are kept in constant agitation, for which purpose the boiler is made with partitions
so arranged that the liquid is forced in one direction by the pressure of the dis-
engaged vapours, and then regurgitates. The vapours rising from the distilling
boiler pass through the condenser pipe above mentioned, and the condensed liquid
descends through a check valve into a recipient, the check valve preventing return
of fluid, so that a partial vacuum is maintained in the condenser and in the boiler
connected with it. The distilling boiler is made in two compartments, each pro-
vided with partitions for agitation, and the one compartment which is heated to
about 212° Fahr. is situated at a level somewhat below that of the other, so that
the vapours disengaged in the former have to pass through the liquid in the latter
on their way to the condenser. From the lower compartment of the boiler the
spent liquor passes into a vessel charged with milk of lime, which is kept in agita-
tion by a stirring rake, and from this it passes into a settling vessel, whence the
liquid portion flows over the compartments of the heater, parting with its heat to
the fresh liquor as already described. The vapours emanating from the condensed
liquid in the recipient are led by a pipe to the acid vessels, and the residuary.liquid..
flows into the lower compartment of the distilling boiler. In cases where simplicity
and compactness are desirable some of the parts may be dispensed with, the appa-
ratus being arranged as follows:-It consists of three vessels, the lowest and the
next above it operating as distilling boilers, the highest as condenser. The liquor
to be treated is supplied to the condenser, and being warmed by the heat abstracted
from the vapour in condensation, it flows into the upper boiler, where it is partially
distilled at a temperature of 180° to 190° Fabr.; from this the partially spent liquid
descends into the lower boiler, where it is subjected to a higher temperature while
it is kept in agitation. The vapours from the lower boiler rise into the upper boiler,
and are caused by a vertical partition to descend therein and to bubble up through
its liquid contents, keeping them in agitation. The vapours from the upper boiler
pass through the condenser tube, and the condensed liquid descends by a pipe to
the acid vessel; this pipe is furnished with a check valve preventing access of air,
so that a partial vacuum is maintained in the condenser and boilers communicating
with it.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John Imray in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th October
1880.
JOHN IMRAY, of No. 28, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING AMMONIACAL
LIQUOR." A communication from abroad by Camille Alfred de la Martellière,
President of La Société Anonyme des Produits Chimiques du Sud-Ouest, of Paris,
France.
This Invention relates to apparatus for distilling ammoniacal liquor, so constructed
and arranged as to avoid the use of coils or other passages liable to become choked,
and by the treatment of the liquor in thin layers and under partial vacuum, so as
to disengage the ammonia and its salts at a temperature below that of boiling water,
to effect the separation of these products without sensible admixture of water
vapour. For this purpose the apparatus is arranged as shewn diagrammatically in
section by Fig. 1 of the accompanying Drawings.
A, A1, A2, are three vessels at different levels, each communicating freely at its
upper part with the next higher, and having lower communications by stopcocks
a, a¹, a². In the two higher vessels A, A¹, there are partitions S, S', with horizontal
bases, these partitions reaching nearly to the bottoms of the vessels; B is a rectangular
condensing tank in which is a flattened tube C communicating at one end with A
by the passage L, and having at the other end an outlet pipe H in which is a check
valve h opening outwards; R is a rectangular vessel, shewn in perspective at Fig. 2,
divided by longitudinal partitions into compartments, in each of which is immersed
a vessel of thin plate, these vessels communicating with each other by pipes
arranged alternately near their opposite ends. The spent liquor decanted after
subsidence in the settling vessel D flows through a stopcock M and along the com-
partments of R, while the fresh liquor flows in the opposite direction through the
vessels, this fresh liquor descending by the pipe from the tank B, in which it
has been heated to about 85° Fahr. by the condensation of the vapour in C. In
passing through the vessels k it becomes farther heated by conduction through the
thin plate from the spent liquor to about 185°, and rises by the pipe ¹ to the
recipient E, whence it flows through the stopcock e into the upper vessel A, which
is kept at a temperature not exceeding 195°, as indicated by a thermometer at K.
Vapours generated in the vessel A¹ entering the vessel A under its partition S cause
undulating movements of the liquid contents as they pass through them, the aquous
portions of these vapours becoming condensed, while the ammoniacal portions along
with those liberated in A rise by the passage L to the condensing tube C, the con-
densation producing a partial vacuum, which is maintained by the check valve h
closing against access of air from without. In the vessel A' the temperature is 212°,
so that the ammoniacal products are almost entirely liberated from the liquor before
it passes into A². This vessel has a safety valve through which lime is supplied,
from which it can be cleared by a rake worked by a handle N passing through a
stuffing box without stopping the action of the apparatus. The last traces of
ammonia being liberated from the liquor in the lime vessel A2, the spent liquor
descends into the settling vessel D, whence after subsidence it passes, as already
described, through the compartments of R. In a vessel F is collected the condensed
liquid from the condenser C, while the dry ammoniacal gas passes by a pipe I to
the acid vessels. From F the liquid passes into another vessel G which is kept hot
by conduction from A³, and a farther quantity of ammonia liberated from the liquid
passes by a pipe J to the acid vessels, the liquid itself flowing into A¹.
Fig. 3 represents a simpler form of the apparatus suited for small gas works. A¹
is the distilling vessel, kept at a temperature of about 190°, and A is the lime vessel

page_text: with its rake. The vapours from A ascending by a pipe a of considerable area force
their way under the partition a¹ agitating the contents of A', and the gases and
vapours liberated from the liquid in A' rise by the passage L to the condenser, the
discharge pipe H of which is furnished with a check valve h, so that a partial
vacuum is maintained in the apparatns.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, I
claim,―
First. The use for distilling ammoniacal liquor of apparatus arranged substan-
tially as herein described with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 of the accompanying
Drawings.
Second. The use of the modified arrangement of apparatus, substantially, as
herein described with reference to Fig. 3..
In witness whereof, I, the said John Imray, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Twenty fifth day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred-and eighty.
JOHN IMRAY. (L.S.)