Improvements in or connected with Apparatus for the Electrolytic Decomposition of Liquids.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd May 1896
Complete Specification Left, 22nd Feb., 1897-Accepted, 22nd May, 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with Apparatus for the Electrolytic
Decomposition of Liquids.
We, GEORGE BELL, and GEORGE WILLIAM BELL, both of 97 Newsham Drive,
Newsham Park, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical and Chemical
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :-
This invention has reference to the anodes of apparatus in which liquids or
solutions are decomposed by electrolysis; and it has special reference to those
apparatus in which chlorides of alkali, such as chloride of sodium or potassium, in
solution, are decomposed for the production of sodium or potassium compounds, such
as caustic soda or carbonate of soda, and chlorine; it being understood, however that
it can be applied to or used in connection with decomposition of any liquid solution
operated upon, under analogous conditions, by the electric current.
Our invention is especially applicable or useful in connection with an electrolytic
cell in which the current passes upwards from the anode below, to the cathode
above, and it will be described as applied to such a form of cell. The anode is
made in a hollow or box form, within the interior of which all the gas (chlorine in
the case of the decomposition of chlorides) is given off, and such gas is carried off
directly from the box or internal chamber of the anode by a suitable conduit to the
side of the cell, or up through the same.
Inside this box or anode, the surface from which the current passes to the
electrolyte, is provided; and in one form consists of corrugations, partitions, or walls,
extending between the floor and roof of the anode, free openings for the entrance,
escape, and circulation of the electrolyte, and for the passage of the current, being
provided, mainly through the sides thereof, and between the corrugations, partitions,
or walls.
A suitable form of box anode is circular, the corrugations, partitions, or walls, being
radial in general arrangement.
The outside of the anode, that is the outside of the roof, and along the sides and
outer edges about the apertures therein, are insulated, being covered with, or of
suitable insulating material or substance, so that the whole electrolytic action takes.
place, and all the gas is generated, inside the anode.
By this construction, the gas as liberated is not dispersed, but held and carried'
straight away to outside the cell or anode chamber, and so prevents it from getting
distributed generally into the electrolyte or passing to other parts of the cell, thereby
avoiding the re-union with any other materials or substances, or of interfering in any
way with the electric action, and process generally. Furthermore, not only is a
limitation of locality of liberation of gas, and collection of chlorine effected, but a
large surface for the passage of the current from the anode to the electrolyte,
together with free circulation thereof, and flow of electricity, are afforded.
In the case of the gas being carried up through the cell where the anode chamber
is separated by a diaphragm or partition of a suitable kind, it is conducted from the
interior of the anode up through conduits through the upper chamber of the cell.
The anode may be made of carbon, cast into the forms described, or any other
suitable material.
In some cases the roof, or the floor, of the anode is separate from the other parts,
and suitably connected to them, the electricity being conducted to the different parts

page_text: from the floor or base. In order to distribute the current to the upper parts of
the anode more readily, we may, in some cases, pass from the base, a conductor or
conductors of lead or other suitable metal through some of the corrugations, partitions,
or walls.
Dated this 21st day of May 1896.
CHEESBROUGH & ROYSTON,
15 Water Street, Liverpool, Applicants' Patent Agents.
Improvements in or connected with Apparatus for the Electrolytic
Decomposition of Liquids.
We, GEORGE BELL, and GEORGE WILLIAM BELL, both of 97 Newsham Drive,
Newsham Park, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical and Chemical
Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
This invention has reference to the anodes of apparatus in which liquids or
solutions are decomposed by electrolysis; and it has special reference to those
apparatus in which chlorides of alkali, such as chloride of sodium or potassium in
solution, are decomposed for the production of sodium or potassium compounds, such
as caustic soda or carbonate of soda, and chlorine; it being understood, however,
that it can be applied to or used in connection with decomposition of any liquid solution
operated upon, under analogous conditions, by the electric current.
Our invention is especially applicable or useful in connection with an electrolytic
cell, in which the current passes upwards from the anode below, to the cathode
above, and it will be described as applied to such a form of cell. The anode is made
in a hollow, box, or covered in form, within the interior or beneath the cover or roof
of which all the gas (chlorine, in the case of the decomposition of chlorides) is
given off, and such gas is carried off directly from the box or internal chamber or
roof of the anode by a suitable conduit to the side of the cell, or up through
the same.
Inside the box or anode, the surface which the current passes to the electrolyte,
is provided; and in one form consists of corrugations, partitions, or walls extending
between the floor and roof of the anode; free openings for the entrance, escape,
and circulation of the electrolyte, and for the passage of the current, being.
provided, mainly, through the sides thereof, and between the corrugations, partitions,
or walls.
A suitable form of box anode is circular, the corrugations, partitions, or walls,
being radial in general arrangement; while, in another form, it is rectilinear.
The outside of the anode, that is the outside of the roof, and along the sides and
outer edges about the apertures therein, are insulated, being covered with, or of
suitable insulating material' or substance, so that the whole electrolytic action takes
place, and all the gas is generated, inside or under the roof of the anode.
By this construction, the gas as liberated is not dispersed, but held and carried
straight away to outside the cell or anode chamber, and so prevents it from getting
distributed generally into the electrolyte, or passing to other parts of the cell, thereby
avoiding the re-union with any other materials or substances, or of interfering in any
way with the electric action, and process generally. Furthermore, not only is a
limitation of locality of liberation of gas, and collection of chlorine effected, but a
large surface for the passage of the current from the anode to the electrolyte, together
with free circulation thereof, and flow of electricity, are afforded.

page_text: In the case of the gas being carried up through the cell where the anode
chamber is separated by a diaphragm or partition of a suitable kind, it is conducted
from the interior of the anode up through conduits through the upper chamber of
the cell.
The anode may be made of carbon, cast into the forms described, or of any other
suitable material.
In some cases, the roof, or the floor, of the anode is separate from the other parts,
and suitably connected to them, the electricity being conducted to the different parts
from the floor or base. In order to distribute the current to the upper parts of the
anode more readily, we may, in some cases, pass from the base, a conductor or
conductors of lead or other suitable metal through some of the corrugations, partitions,
or walls.
Examples of forms and arrangement of parts constituting improvements under
this invention, are illustrated in the accompanying drawings; and our invention will
now be further described with reference to these.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation, and Figure 2 a plan, shewing a two chambered
superposed electrolytic apparatus provided with improvements under this invention:
and being an arrangement in which a plurality of cells, each consisting of an anode
and cathode chamber, are superposed one upon the other, and constituting a pile.
In this drawing, a is the anode chamber, and b the anodes; and e is the cathode
chamber above the anode chamber. i is a small vessel or chamber outside the pile to
which chlorine or gas liberated in the anode chamber and collected by the anodes, is
conducted, and through which the electrolyte passes, and its heal in the anode
chamber regulated. is a plate constituting the floor of the anode chamber, and the
room of the cathode chamber next below it. is a diaphragm consisting of a suitable
porous material, such as closely woven asbestos cloth, or other suitable material,
carrying upon its upper surface a layer of mercury-or without mercury, according
to the nature of the electrolyte-and suitably supported by an insulated open
meshwork, such as cross interwoven rubber coated wires, extending across the cell.
The anodes, a detail section of which is given in Figure 3 of the drawings, are of
rectilinear form, consisting of a wall x, and a roof or cover extending over on
either side of the wall, and running continuously along for the whole length, and
extending slightly over the ends of the wall, and having an aperture or conduit
it, by which the gas collected by the roof or cover is conducted away.
in
In Figures 1 and 2, the cell is of rectangular form in plan, and there are two sets
of anodes, one arranged on either side of the centre, and each set being supported
or carried upon a tray or plate 63, and the current is suitably conducted (as for
instance as hereinafter described) by the conductor to the anodes b. The plates 63 are
tilted at their outer ends by a bar in which their front ends rest, and the gas
conduits are connected up together at these ends by a pipe k, which is connected by
a coupling of suitable kind, at k², with the chlorine or gas pipe, by the branch k¹.
At each side of the chambers a opposite the anode ends, there is a door g, which fits
in and is held in the chamber a, in the manner of an ordinary manhole door, as shewn.
By moving this door, and uncoupling the coupling ², it will be seen that the sets of
anodes can be taken out by drawing the plate 63 out through the doorway, which
practically occupies the whole side of the cell; they, of course, can be readily placed
back in position in the cell.
In the arrangement or construction of anode shewn in Figure 3, (and also in
Figures 5 and 6), the outside surface of the roof, and the edges of the roof of the
anode are covered in or coated with a material which is a non-conductor of electricity,
and not acted upon by the electrolyte or gases evolved from it: this coating is
represented by the thick line. Thus, by this, no current can pass from the anode
outside the roof, so that all the gas that is formed, is formed at the surfaces of the
anode within or under the roof. In lieu, however, of constructing the anode in this
manner, the roof b¹ is made itself of non-conducting material (see Figures 4, 7,
and 8), say earthenware or china, and suitably supported-say by armed props or
supports 61*-upon the carbon or other wall 6* of the anode, from which the current

page_text: passes to the electrolyte. In this example of anode shewn in Figures 3 and 4, the
plate or tray on which the anodes are carried is of glazed earthenware, slate, or the
like; and the bases of the carbon walls & are held in place in the plate by lead 1,
which is run in round them, the bases, so surrounded, having first been electro-
plated. Then, over the lead, there is a layer of pitch A, or other suitable insulating
and acid resisting material. The current passes to the anode from the lead, to which
it is supplied by the conductor x. In some cases the carbon anodes have internal rods
of metal connected with the lead, by which current is better distributed over their
surface this form is shewn in Figure 4^.
In action, as the formation of' chlorine gas takes place on the wall of the anode,
it passes up and is collected under the roof or cover of the anode; and the anodes
being tilted as described and shewn, the gas so collected flows naturally by way of the
conduits (or the space under the roof ) towards the pipe k, whence it passes into
the vessels; and from these to the chlorine main p; and thus all the chlorine
generated in the anode chamber is collected and carried away therefrom, and
prevented from getting or rising to the under side of the diaphragm, thereby
avoiding polarization by gas, or its interference in any way with the electric action,
or reunion with any other materials or substances. It will be seen also by the
construction of anode above described, if their roofs or covers be placed close to the
underside of the diaphragm f, and the overhanging part of the roof be small, as shewn,
the distance between the surface of the walls 6x of the anodes, and the diagram,
is small, and consequently the resistance of the cell is proportionately low.
Another form of anode is shewn in sectional elevation and plan, Figures 5 and 6,
in which the walls radiate from a central point; while over all the surfaces the roof
or cover extends, the roof being insulated on its outside by a suitable coating, or
made of a suitable non-conducting.substance, as in the cases set forth with reference
to the anodes above described and shewn.
Another modification of anode is shewn in elevation and plan in Figures 7 and 8,
in which the walls or surface 6x consisting of a number of rods extending between
their base plate and the roof &; which, in the drawing, is meant to represent a
porcelain or equivalent one, resting on the rods.
Another modification is shewn in Figures 9 and 10, in which the anode is of the
same form in cross section as that shewn in Figure 3, but the general form is annular
in lieu of rectangular.
The anode walls may be made of any suitable material, as, for instance, carbon, and
when made of carbon, they are either moulded in blocks or sticks, or they may be in
the form of rough pieces or rods, electrically in connection with the current conductor
as, or equivalently as in the manner described.
In all these cases, the gas collected at the surfaces of the carbon walls of the anode
rises directly vertically therefrom, and is collected by and under the roof, and is
carried off from it by the conduit 6, and k.
In the case of brine being the electrolyte, mercury is suspended upon the surface of
the electrolyte by the porous partition, (and in some cases constitute the cathode,
in which cases the current from which is taken away by the conductor y), the weight
or pressure upon the porous partition, due to the head of caustic liquor in the
chamber e, together with the weight of mercury upon it, is counter-balanced by
maintaining the level and bead of brine within the pipe q and vessel i, slightly above
the level of the liquor in the cathode chamber e. The brine enters the anode
chamber a through the pipe q, and flows away therefrom by the pipe q' connecting it
with the vessel, and the level of the brine is regulated by the level of the outflow
from the vessel, which can be regulated in any suitable way. The chlorine gas which
passes into the vessel i through the pipes and g', collects in the upper part of same,
and is taken away by the pipe .
The caustic liquor in the chambers e is maintained at the desired level by the level
of the outlet pipe n. These outlet pipes a, of each cathode chamber, are connected
with the cathode chamber next below them, and the liquor from one chamber to
another is circulated in series throughout the pile, gaining in strength as it passes

page_text: towards the lower or last chamber, in a similar manner as set forth in the Specification.
of our former Letters Patent No. 20540 of 1895; while the hydrogen given off in
the cathode chamber is carried away by the pipes o.
In a modified arrangement shewn in Figure 11, the diaphragm is supported at
points within the side supports offered by the sides of the cathode chamber e, by
pipes k; and the gas collected by the anodes is carried up these pipes. By means of
the horizontal pipe connecting with the vessel i, not only does the gas pass to
the chambers i, but the brine also circulates through them and, its level, and the
pressure acting on the underside of the diaphragm is balanced.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
1. In apparatus for the electrolytic decomposition of liquids, covered in or hollow-
anodes, that is anodes having a cover or roof above, by which all the gas liberated at...
the surface under such roof or cover is collected, and in which the gas so collected
is conveyed away by suitable conduits substantially as and for the purposes.
described.
2. Anodes of electrolytic cells for the decomposition of liquids so constructed and
arranged that all the gas created by them is produced within or under a roof of same,.
and the gas so contained or held is carried away by suitable conduits: substantially
as and for the purposes set forth.
3. Apparatus for the electrolytic decomposition of liquids, comprising an anode-
chamber, and a cathode chamber directly above same, and a diaphragm separating the
two, through which the current passes, and anodes disposed directly under or below
the said diaphragm, and constructed and adapted to liberate all the gas created by the.
current within or under a roof or cover of same, whereby it is collected within or by
said roof or cover, and is carried directly away from the anode chamber: arranged
and adapted to operate substantially as set forth with reference to and shewn in the
drawings.
4. The cell for electrolizing liquids, having lower and upper chambers, anodes, and.
parts, as set forth with reference to and shewn in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings.
5. The form and construction of anodes for use in connection with electrolytic
cells; particularly as shewn in and set forth with reference to the different.
modifications and constructions given in the drawings.
Dated this 20th day of February 1897.
CHEESBROUGH & ROYSTON,
15 Water Street, Liverpool, Applicants' Patent Agents..