IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING THE WASTE LIQUORS RESULTING FROM THE PREPARATION OF ESPARTO GRASS, ALPA, STRAW, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUBSTANCES, AND IN PURIFYING THE ALKALI RECOVERED THEREFROM, AND IN FURNACES OR EVAPORATING PANS CONNECTED THEREWITH.”
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Routledge, of Ford Works, near Sunderland,
Paper Manufacturer, Thomas Richardson, of the Town and County of
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Chemist, and William Henry Richardson, of
Springwell Paper Works, Jarrow-on-Tyne, Paper Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING THE WASTE LIQUORS RESULTING
FROM THE PREPARATION OF ESPARTO GRASS, ALPA, STRAW, AND OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES, AND IN PURIFYING THE ALKALI RECOVERED THEREFROM, AND IN
FURNACES OR EVAPORATING PANS CONNECTED THEREWITH.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Routledge,
Thomas Richardson, and William Henry Richardson at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 19th March
1866.
WC, THOMAS ROUTLEDGE, of Ford Works, near Sunderland, Paper Manu-
facturer, THOMAS RICHARDSON, of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-
Tyne, Chemist, and WILLIAM HENRY RICHARDSON, of Springwell Paper-
Works, Jarrow-on-Tyne, Paper Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING THE WASTE LIQUORS RESULTING
FROM THE PREPARATION OF ESPARTO GRASS, ALFA, STRAW, AND OTHER FIBROUS
SUBSTANCES, AND IN PURIFYING THE ALKALI RECOVERED THEREFROM, AND IN FURNACES
OR EVAPORATING PANS CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows:-
The waste liquors from the boiling process, and those obtained by submitting
the boiled fibres to pressure, are run while hot when possible into reservoirs or
pans, and evaporated in a reverberatory furnace and exposed to heat so as to

page_text: consume the organic matter wholly or in part; the dry mass while still in a
red hot condition is withdrawn from the furnace, and if the carbonaceous
matter is not all burnt off the incandescent mass is exposed to heat in a car-
bonating furnace or to the air until all or nearly all the carbon is consumed.
Or instead of burning off all the organic matter or the residual carbonaceous
particles left in the ash by exposure to heat in the carbonating furnace, or
while hot by exposure to the air, we limit the working of the pasty mass in the
pan or in the second bed of the furnace until the organic matter has been
merely charred and thus rendered insoluble in water. The charred mass from
the above operations is then digested in water to dissolve the soda salts, and
when the liquor is clear it may be either be boiled down to dryness or mixed
with lime for subsequent treatment hereafter described. We mix the ash
thus obtained with quicklime, both being in the dry state, and grind them
together to powder to obtain an intimate mixture, and expose this mixture to
heat in any suitable furnace until the lime has liberated a portion or all the
acids from the soda salts, in which they had existed in combination, or we
dissolve the ash in water and slake the lime with this solution, by which
an intimate mixture is obtained without grinding, or we add water to the
ground mixture, and the slaking of the lime which follows renders the mixture
more intimate. In these two latter processes it may or may not be necessary
to furnace the mixture. The resulting materials are then lixiviated with
water, and the liquor so obtained can be employed for boiling fresh quantities
of raw fibre or mixed with liquors from fresh alkali or with boiled liquors
which have not become too impure for partial use. These operations may be
conducted in ordinary pans and furnaces or in a special form of furnace in
which all the necessary operations may be consecutively performed. This
furnace consists of two beds separated by a bridge, the one nearest the fire
being devoted to the treatment of the materials with lime when necessary, while
the other is used for burning off the organic matter. The bridges which
separate the first bed from the fire-grates and the two beds from each other
are made hollow with openings to admit air to render the combustion of the
carbonaceous and organic matters as perfect as possible, and thus utilize the
products of the combustion for the evaporation of the liquors. At the end
of the furnace a pan is built so as to allow the combustion products from the
fire-grates and from the burning of the organic matter in the second bed
to pass over the liquor with which it is filled. Above this pan an iron
pan is erected and the combustion products pass beneath it through a flue and
thence over the surface of the liquor with which it is kept full. Above this
second pan a third pan or reservoir may be fixed into which the waste liquors

page_text: can be run from the boiling and pressing operations, which liquors are heated
by the combustion products as they pass over the surface of the liquor in the
intermediate pan. The liquors are run from time to time from the higher to
the lower pans.as the evaporation progresses.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Routledge, Thomas Richardson, and William Henry
Richardson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th September
1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wе, THOMAS
ROUTLEDGE, of Ford Works, near Sunderland, Paper Manufacturer, THOMAS
RICHARDSON, of the Town and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and WILLIAM
HENRY RICHARDSON, of Springwell Paper Works, Jarrow-on-Tyne, Paper
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of March, in the year
of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
us, the said Thomas Routledge, Thomas Richardson, and William Henry
Richardson, Her special license that we, the said Thomas Routledge, Thomas
Richardson, and William Henry Richardson, our executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as we, the said Thomas Routledge, Thomas
Richardson, and William. Henry Richardson, our executors, administrators,
or assigns, should at any time agreo with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING THE WASTE LIQUORS RESULTING FROM
THE PREPARATION OF ESPARTO GRASS, ALFA, STRAW, AND OTHER FIBROUS SUB-
STANCES, AND IN PURIFYING THE ALKALI RECOVERED THEREFROM, AND IN FURNACES
OR EVAPORATING PANS CONNECTED THEREWITH," upon the condition (amongst
others) that we, the said Thomas Routledge, Thomas Richardson, and William
Henry Richardson, our executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under our hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said Thomas Routledge, Thomas Richard-
son, and William Henry Richardson, do hereby declare the nature of our
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
that is to say:-
According to our Invention the waste liquors from the boiling process in
tho preparation of esparto grass, alfa, straw, and other fibrous substances of a
like nature, and the liquors which are obtained by submitting the boiled fibres
to pressure arc run while hot when practicable into reservoirs or pans, and
evaporated in a reverberatory or other furnace and exposed to heat so as to
consume the organic matter wholly or in part. The dry mass of "black ash,"
while still in a red hot condtion, is to be withdrawn from the furnace and
exposed to the air, and if the carbonaceous matter be not all burnt off the ash
either when cold or being still in an incandescent state is to be exposed to heat
in a carbonating furnace until all or nearly all the carbon is consumed and a
"white ash" obtained. Or instead of burning off all the organic matter or
the residual carbonaceous particles left in the ash by exposure to heat in the
carbonating furnace, or while hot by exposure to the air, we limit, the working
of the pasty mass in the pan or in the second bed of the furnace until the
organic matter has been merely charred and thus rendered insoluble in water.
The charred mass resulting from the above-described operations is then digested
in water in order to dissolve the soda salts, and when the liquor is clear it
may either be boiled down to dryness or mixed with lime for subsequent
treatment hercin-after described. We mix the ashes thus obtained with quick-
lime, both being in the dry state, and grind them together to powder to obtain
an intimate mixture, and expose this mixture to heat in any suitable furnace
until the lime has liberated a portion or all the acids from the soda salts, in
which they had existed in combination, or we dissolve the ash in water and
slake the lime with this solution by which an intimate mixture is obtained
without grinding, or wo add water to the ground mixture and the slaking of the
lime which follows renders the mixture more intimate. The resulting materials
arc then lixiviated with water, and the liquor so obtained can be employed
for boiling fresh quantities of raw fibre or mixed with liquors from fresh
alkali or with boiled liquors which have not become too impure for partial
These operations may be conducted in ordinary pans and furnaces or in
a special form of furnace in which all the necessary operations may be con-
secutively performed. This furnace consists of two beds separated by a bridge,
the one nearest the fire being devoted to the treatment of the materials with
lime when necessary, while the other is used for burning off the organic
use.

page_text: matter. The bridges which separate the first bed from the fire-grates, and the
two beds from each other, are made hollow with openings to admit air to render
the combustion of the carbonaceous and organic matters as perfect as possible,
and thus to utilize the products of the combustion for the evaporation of the
liquors. At the end of the furnace a pan is built so as to allow the products
of combustion from the fire-grates and from the burning of the organic matter
in the second bed to pass over the liquor with which it is filled. Above this
pan an iron pan is erected, and the combustion products pass beneath it
through a flue and thence over the surface of the liquor with which it is kept
full. Above this second pan a third pan or reservoir may be fixed, into which the
waste liquor can be run from the boiling and pressing operations, which
liquors are heated by the combustion products as they pass over the surface
of the liquor in the intermediate pan. The liquors are run from time to time
from the higher to the lower pans as the evaporation progresses.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of our said.
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, we would observe in conclusion that what we consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to us by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The general system or mode of treating the waste liquors resulting
from the preparation of esparto grass, alfa, straw, or other fibrous substances
of a like character, as and for the purposes hercin-before described.
Second. The system or mode of reducing the "black ash" obtained as
aforesaid to a "white ash" in the manner herein-before described.
Third. The system or mode of purifying the said ashes by treating them
with lime in the manner herein-before described.
Fourth. The peculiar arrangement of furnace and evaporating pans herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Richardson, on behalf of
myself and the said Thomas Routledge and Thomas Richardson, have
hereunto set my hand and scal, this Seventeenth day of September,
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.