IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING CERTAIN SALINE COMPOUNDS FROM SOLUTIONS CONTAINING SUCH COX- POUNDS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Gossage, of Widnes, in the County
of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING
CERTAIN SALINE COMPOUNDS FROM SOLUTIONS CONTAINING SUCH COX-
POUNDS."
Sealed the 2nd December 1853, and dated the 4th October 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Gossage
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,.
on the 4th October 1853.
I, WILLIAM GOSSAGE, of Widnes, in the County of Lancaster, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
OBTAINING CERTAIN SALINE COMPOUNDS FROM SOLUTIONS CONTAINING SUCH
COMPOUNTS" to be as follows:-
My improvements in obtaining certain saline compounds from solu-
tions containing such compounds consist of certain improved means
which I use for obtaining saline compounds from solutions containing
carbonate of soda and other compounds of soda, such as are present in
soda liquors obtained by lixiviating "soda asb," or by lixiviating rough

page_text: soda, (commonly called "black ash,") with water; also in obtaining
saline compounds from solutions containing sulphate of soda and
common salt.
In the manufacture of alkali from common salt (as this manufacture
is usually conducted) the soda liquors obtained by the lixiviation of
"black ash" or "soda ash" are concentrated by evaporation in iron
pans, so as to cause salts to be deposited from such liquors; and the
salts so deposited, also the mother liquors remaining with such salts,
are removed from the evaporating pans at intervals. The requisite
heat is applied to the pans employed, either by conducting flame and
heated air over the surface of the liquor, or under the bottoms of
the plans. When the last-named method is adopted the salts which
accumulate in the bottoms of the pans occasion these to be injured by
the heat applied thereto.
My improvements comprize certain arrangements of apparatus, and
methods of working with the same, by the use of which I effect the
evaporation of water from solutions (containing such saline compounds
as I wish to obtain) by means of heated air caused to pass through
such solutions; and I thereby obtain saline compounds from these
solutions without necessarily applying heat thereto, except the heat
which is so applied by means of heated air passing through such
solutions.
In effecting my Invention I prefer to use a vessel (made of iron or
other suitable material) to contain the solution from which I wish to
obtain saline compounds, and to arrange another vessel so placed in
this that by means of an exhausting pump I can cause a portion of the
solution to be drawn-up into the interior of the second vessel, and thus
to form a column of fluid; and I cause streams of heated air to bubble
through this portion of the solution thus drawn up. By the evapo-
rative action of the heated air passing through the solution a large
quantity of water is carried away in the state of vapour, and as a
consequence saline compounds become deposited in the outer vessel,
from which they can be removed without having been exposed to heat.
I can vary this mode of applying heated air by using a force pump in
place of an exhausting pump, and thus causing heated air to be forced

page_text: in streams through the saline solutions from which I wish to obtain
compounds, but I prefer to effect my object by means of an exhausting
pump.
When I am operating upon solutions containing two or more saline
compounds which I wish to obtain separately from such solutions I
avail myself of the different degrees of solubility in water of such
compounds at different temperatures; and I effect this part of my
improvements by connecting the vessel containing the solution on
which I am operating with one or more other vessels, into which .I
conduct the solution after it has become concentrated by the evapo-
rative action of the heated air so as to be in a condition to deposit
saline compounds; and I expose the solution to such a temperature as
is favourable to the deposition of the saline compound I am desirous to
obtain therefrom.
As the evaporation of water produced by the action of heated air in
the saline solution progresses I supply further quantities of saline
solution into the apparatus, and I prefer to have such solutions
previously heated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Gossage in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th April 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM GOSSAGE, of Widnes, in the County of Lancaster, send
greeting.
year
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of October, in the of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the seven-
teenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Gossage, Her special licence
that I, the said William Gossage, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Gossage, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term

page_text: 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
OBTAINING CERTAIN SALINE COMPOUNDS FROM SOLUTIONS CONTAINING SUCH
COMPOUNDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Gossage, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Gossage, do hereby de-
clare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
My Invention of "Improvements in obtaining certain Saline Com-
pounds from Solutions containing such Compounds" consists of certain
improved means which I use for obtaining saline compounds from
solutions containing carbonate of soda and other compounds of soda,
such as are present in soda liquors obtained by lixiviating "soda ash,"
or by lixiviating "rough soda" (commonly called "black ash") with
water; also in obtaining saline compounds from solutions containing
sulphate of soda and common salt.
In the Specification of my former Invention of "Improvements in
Obtaining certain Saline Compounds from Solutions containing such
compounds," (for which Invention I obtained Her Majesty's Royal
Letters Patent, bearing date on or about the Fifteenth day of June,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three,) I have described cer-
tain improved arrangements of pans and other apparatus for obtain-
ing saline compounds, which arrangements of pans and apparatus
provide for solutions of saline compounds being heated and con-
centrated in one pan, and for such heated and concentrated solution
being transferred to an adjoining pan wherein saline compounds
become deposited, such deposition of saline compounds and further
concentration of solution being assisted and increased by streams or

page_text: bubbles of air being forced through such solution. In carrying into
effect the Invention of which this is my Specification I cause streams
or bubbles of air to be drawn through the solutions from which I
obtain saline compounds, and I apply heat to such solutions, either
solely by means of heated air passing through the same, or by means
of fire heat applied underneath a pan containing the same.
The Drawing hereunto annexed exhibits a pair of pans with other
apparatus connected therewith suitable for carrying my Invention into
effect. Fig. 1, is a vertical transverse section of such pans and apparatus;
Fig. 2, a plan view of the same; Fig. 3, a detached view of an air
vessel; Fig. 4, a detached view of an air heating apparatus; Fig. 5,
a plan view of the same. In all these several Figures the same letters
of reference are used to indicate similar parts.
A, B, are two pans of the construction commonly employed for
evaporating solutions containing saline compounds. I apply heat to
the pan A, by means of fire-grates or by waste heat from furnaces. C,
is an open channel communicating from A to B; and D, is an open
channel communicating from B to A. E, is a paddle wheel, which
being caused to revolve occasions a current of solution to circulate
through the two pans in the direction shewn by arrows in the Drawing.
I, is a cock for supplying solution as required. F, is an air vessel by
means of which streams or bubbles of air are caused to pass through
the solution. This air vessel is connected by means of the pipe h,
with an exhausting air pump, which, by its exhaustive action, occasions
a portion of the solution contained in the pan B to be drawn up into
the vessel F, until certain notches or apertures marked G, G, in the
Drawing, and formed in the lower edge of such vessel, become uncovered
with solution, when streams of air passing through such notches or
apertures bubble through the solution elevated in the vessel F, and
pass through the pipe h, to the exhausting air pump.
air chambers which I use when I employ heated air.
are attached to the vessel I, and communicate by the pipes L, L, with
an apparatus for supplying heated air. The lower edge of these air
chambers dip into the solution contained in the pan B, below the lower
edge of the vessel F, and thus prevent direct access of air from the
K, K, are hot
These chambers

page_text: atmosphere to the air chambers K, K. Fig. 3, is a detached view of
the vessel F, shewing the notches or apertures G, G, formed in its
lower edge. In this view the air chambers K, K, are supposed to be
removed for the purpose of shewing the notches or apertures G, G,
and in this state it is used when I employ cold air. Figures 4, and 5,
are views of an air heating apparatus. M, is a chamber or furnace in
which coke or coal is burned on a grate N. The gaseous products of
such combustion are conducted through the flue O, to the pipes L, L,
which communicate with the air chambers K, K. P, is the feeding
door for fuel, through which atmospheric air can also be allowed to pass
so as to mingle with the products of combustion and increase the
volume of air passing into the air chambers K, K. The requisite draft
for effecting combustion is obtained by the action of the exhausting air
pump. In place of using the hot air apparatus above described a
supply of heated air may be obtained by connecting the pipes L, L,
with a furnace flue through which gaseous products of combustion are
proceeding after having effected the heating of such furnace. Also
when it is desired to employ heated air devoid of all smoke or dust this
can be obtained by the use of heating pipes, such as are commonly
used for producing heated air for hot blast, and connecting these pipes
with the pipes L, L. When I employ air which has not been pre-
viously heated, and cause this to be drawn through heated solution
contained in the vessel F, I remove the air chambers K, K, from
this vessel, and allow atmospherical air to be drawn through the
notches or apertures G, G, formed in the lower part of such vessel.
In effecting my Invention by means of the pans and apparatus
herein-before described, I cause the pans A, B, to be filled with saline
solution to such a height that when, by the action of the exhausting
air pump, such a portion of solution is drawn up into the vessel F, as
will fill about two thirds of its capacity; then the notches or apertures
at the lower edge of such vessel become uncovered with solution, and
air passes from the air chambers K, K, or from the atmosphere, into the
vessel F. The air so introduced as it bubbles through the heated solu-
tion of saline compounds contained in the vessel F, occasions evaporation
of water therefrom, and saline compounds become deposited in the pan B,

page_text: from which such compounds can be conveniently withdrawn. I intro-
duce such a supply of solution into the pan A, (from which it flows into
the pan B,) as I find requisite to keep a suitable column of solution in
the vessel F, to which a gauge is adapted for the purpose of indicating
the height of solution contained therein. When I effect my Invention
by applying heated air alone to.solutions of saline compounds (without
the assistance of heat applied to pans containing such solutions)' I'emi-
ploy a single pan similar to the pan marked B, in the Drawing here
unto annexed, and I adapt thereto an air vessel F, having a communi+
cation with an exhausting air pump, and having air chambers K, K;
also an apparatus for furnishing heated air. I proceed to work with
such arrangement of apparatus in the same manner as I have hereîn-
before described, except that I introduce the requisite supply of saline
solution into the single pan, and by the action of the exhausting air
pump I cause heated air to bubble through the column of solution con-
tained in the vessel, and thereby to effect evaporation of water fröm
such solution, and occasion the separation of saline compounds there-
from.
In the Specification of my former Patent (herein-before referred to)
for improvements in obtaining saline compounds I have described a
series of pans to be used for obtaining saline compounds, which
arrangement provides for the separation of different saline compounds
contained in solutions of "black ash" or "rough soda," also from solu-
tions containing sulphate of soda. This arrangement of pans and appa-
ratus is exhibited in Sheet II. of the Drawings annexed to my said
Specification, and it comprizes the use of certain vessels marked
F1, F2, &c., by means of which streams or bubbles of air are forced
through saline solutions contained in the pans marked B1, B2, &c. The
Invention of which this is my Specification also comprizes the use of a
series of pans and apparatus arranged similarly to the pans and
apparatus exhibited in Sheet II. of the said Drawings, except that in
place of the vessels F1, F2, &c. therein exhibited as being used for
forcing air through saline solutions, I employ such air vessels as have
been herein-before described (and marked F, in the Drawing hereunto
annexed) as being used for drawing air through such solutions, and I

page_text: cause air (either heated or otherwise) to be drawn in streams or bubbles
through saline solutions contained in such vessels F, by the action of
an exhaustive air pump connected with such vessels, and thereby cause
evaporation of water and separation of saline compounds therefrom.
I have herein-before described and fully explained certain means by
which I prefer to carry into effect my Invention of "Improvements in
obtaining certain Saline Compounds from Solutions containing such
Compounds;" but I do not confine myself to the employment of the
exact means herein described, as these may be varied to some extent
without deviating from the nature of my Invention.
I claim as my Invention an arrangement of apparatus for obtaining
saline compounds of soda from solutions produced by the lixiviation of
"soda ash" or "black ash," also sulphate of soda from solutions con-
taining such saline compound of soda, which arrangement of appa-
ratus provides for evaporation of water, and consequent separation of
saline compounds from such solutions being caused by streams or
bubbles of air drawn through a column of such solutions elevated in a
vessel, by the exhaustive action of an air pump or of some other
apparatus of exhaustion.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Gossage, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the First day of April, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
JOHN MOOKE.
WILLIAM (L.S.) GOSSAGE.