CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN KEEPING THE AIR IN MINES AND OTHER CONFINED PLACES IN A PURE AND RESPIRABLE STATE
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PROSPER
ANTOINE PAYERNE, of Paris, now residing in Tredegar Square, in the County
of Middlesex, Doctor of Medicine, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fifteenth day of June, in the sixth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Prosper
Antoine Payerne, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Prosper Antoine
Payerne, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said
Prosper. Antoine Payerne, my exors, adiñors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term of years. therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within that part of Her Majesty's United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Planta-
tions abroad, and in the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and
Man, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN KEEPING THE AIR IN MINES
AND OTHER CONFINED PLACES IN A PURE AND RESPIRABLE STATE;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that I, the said Prosper
Antoine Payerne, shall cause a particular. description of the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, under my
hand and seal; to be inrolled in Her. Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said

page_text: in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Prosper Antoine Payerne, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the following Specification thereof, refe-
rence being had to the Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed marked A
and B, that is to say:-
The nature of my Invention consists in purifying or keeping pure the air
in mines, smelting works, chemical manufactories, and other places in which
it is vitiated, or liable to become so, from the liberation of noxious gases or
from mineral exhalations, or from the respiration of men or animals, or from
the combustion of inflammable substances, or from the decomposition of
animal or vegetable matters, or from any other cause or causes, and constantly
maintaining the same in, or restoring it to, a state sufficiently pure for the
support of life and combustion.
And the manner in which the said object is effected consists either, firstly,
in certain improved methods of bringing the vitiated air into contact with the
requisite chemical reagents, and in also passing the same through certain
filters or sieves, by the joint effects of which processes any deleterious matters
which it may contain are absorbed or neutralized; or, secondly, in providing
by an improved method for continual supplies of fresh oxygen to places where
the air is liable to become foul from loss of its oxygen, without being under
the necessity of drawing such supplies from the external atmosphere.
For carrying into effect the first branch of the said improvements I employ
an apparatus of the description represented in the Sheet of Drawings hereunto
annexed marked A.
Figure 1 is a side elevation in section of this apparatus. A is a box
divided into two chambers of unequal size a', a³, by the partition b, both of
which are filled to the extent shewn, or thereabouts, with water. In this
.water the chemical reagents destined to purify the air are either dissolved or
mechanically suspended. B is a pipe by which the air to be purified is intro-
duced into a', the larger of the two chambers of A; it terminates in a float C,
which rests on the surface of the water in a¹, and is composed of fine wire-
cloth, through the meshes of which the air, divided into a multitude of thread-
like streams, finds its way into the water. D is a bent pipe of two legs, the
one of about twice the diameter of the other: The larger leg fits closely upon
and covers an orifice in the top of the chamber a¹ of the box A, and the smaller
one is inserted through a like orifice in the top of the smaller compartment a², and

page_text: is prolonged till it terminates in a second float D³,, similar to C. The pipe D
consists of six different flanged pieces marked 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, which are firmly
secured together by bolts and nuts, the pieces 1 and 6, which abut immediately on:
the top of the box A, being secured thereto in like manner. All the joinings of
this pipe are besides well luted, so that no air may escape through the sides.
At the bottom of the larger leg, as also at the joinings 2 and 3, there are
inserted gratings or sieves of copper or iron wirecloth, rendered by gal-
vanization or otherwise as little liable as may be to oxydation; and each
of these gratings or sieves is covered to the depth of an inch or two with
moss interspersed with small pieces of quicklime or any other substance
which is of a like absorbent quality and not of a nature to generate of
itself any gases of a noxious description. At the joinings 6, 5, and 4, of
the smaller leg of the pipe D, there are inserted gratings or sieves of
fine platinum wirecloth, and each of these gratings or sieves is covered
all over with pieces of spongy platinum. The vitiated air entering by the
pipe B into the float of the larger chamber at of the box A, and then
thence into and through the water therein, is there purified to a large extent
by the chemical reagents which are dissolved or suspended in the water. It
rises into the upper or vacant part of that chamber, and thence into the
pipe D, and through the various metallic gratings, layers of moss and quick-
lime, and spongy platinum placed thereon, whereby it is desicated and still
further purified, the moss and lime serving to absorb any excess of humidity,
and the platinum resolving into water any hydrogen which may come over
into the smaller leg of the pipe D. On escaping from the pipe D the air
undergoes another and final purification by being passed through the water in
the smaller chamber a² of the box A, which holds, in a state either of solution
or suspension, chemical reagents of the same sort as the larger chambe a', and
rising from out of this water the air is carried off, in a state fit for respiration,
through the pipe Q. P1, P2, are doors through which the water and
chemical substances are introduced into the chambers a¹ and a²; and T, T,
cocks by which the water or solutions may at any time be withdrawn. The
agents most efficacious for absorbing or neutralizing the deleterious matters
which are most frequently required to be counteracted, namely, carbonic acid
gas, sulphuretted hydrogen, and ammoniacal gas, are the hydrates or oxides of
pottassium, sodium, calcium, barium, strontium, lethium, magnesium, &c.
It is not necessary, however, that these hydrates and oxides should be in a
pure state.
A cheap absorbent mixture may be made by combining quick-
lime with carbonate or sulphate of potash, or with the carbonate of soda, in
proportions to be determined from analogy by the following rules:--Supposing

page_text: it is desired to make provision for the absorption of the carbonic acid gas
generated by the respiration of one man in the course of one hour, the
mixture in the box A should consist of quicklime one ounce and a half, car-
bonate of potash quarter of an ounce, or carbonate of soda half an ounce, and
water one pound; or, if the sulphate of potash be substituted for the carbonate,
then the quantities of water and quicklime should be doubled. In places
where the air has become loaded with metallic exhalations which it is neces-
sary to neutralize, as, for example, in smelting works and chemical manufac-
tories, the air must be passed through some liquid acid capable of entering
into solid combination with them. Sulphuric acid will generally be found the
most suitable for this purpose, employing it in a more or less concentrated
state, according as the product which results from its presence is an hydrous
compound or not. Where the air contains a variety of deleterious matters
requiring different sorts of reagents the air should be passed through a series
of different solutions or mixtures; for which purpose, instead of the two com-
partments a, a, there must be three, four, or more provided, according to
circumstances. For example, there may be one compartment containing an.
alkaline solution to absorb impurities of an acid nature, a second containing
an acidulated solution for the saturation of such substances as ammoniacal
gas, and a third containing a mixture of substances of a compound quality to
serve the purpose of double decomposition. In some cases it may be found
advisable to have a compartment specially appropriated to the conversion of
carburetted hydrogen gas into water and carbonic acid; and that will be best:
effected by bringing together in this compartment, out of contact with water,
the two conductors of a galvanic battery, which ought to consist of some
unoxidizable metal, and be divided at their extremities into a number of
threads or filaments, which will render their action more prompt and efficient.
I have lately made use of a battery for this purpose constructed in the
following manner, and find it very powerful and inexpensive:-1 insert in a
glass vessel another of porous earthenware, and fill the first and surround the
second vessel with a paste composed of concentrated sulphuric acid and per-
oxide of manganese, and I put into the second vessel pieces of iron or
granulated zink with weak hydrochloric acid.. I establish the communication
in the same way as in the present batteries, and use the same sort of con-
ductors.
To cause the vitiated air to flow through the purifying apparatus before
described any suitable blowing or exhausting apparatus may be employed,
but in the case of mines I recommend the use of an apparatus such as that
represented in the front and side elevations, Figures 2 and 3, Sheet A of the

page_text: .Drawings hereunto annexed. D, D, is a wooden basement on which the
apparatus is fixed; E, E, E, E, four wooden uprights connected by the
cross pieces F, F, F, F; G is an inlet pipe furnished with a valve at its
mouth, which, like that of a common pump, shuts or closes according as there
is an excess of pressure on the one side or the other. This pipe may either
communicate directly with the vitiated air or have the air conducted to it from
a distance through a pipe or series of pipes. H is a pipe which conveys the
vitiated air into the pipe B of the purifying machine, and has also a valve
which opens and closes simultaneously with that of the pipe G.
I is a
cylinder, closed at bottom, which is fixed to the wooden basement D, D, and
encloses the two pipes G & H; it is filled with water to the height d, just
below the mouths of the pipes, to prevent any of the air from escaping at the
side. J is a bell which is suspended in the cylinder I, and dips below the
surface of the water therein. K is the rod by which the bell is suspended
from a cross head L, which has grooved pulleys b, b, one at each end, by
which it moves up and down on metal guide rods C, C. M is a cylinder
fixed firmly between cross pieces F, F, immediately above the bell. N is a
piston which works in the cylinder M. O is the rod of the piston N, which
is attached at top to a cross head P, which has grooved pullies, one at each
end, by which it moves up and down on the same guide rods (C,. C,) as the
cross head of the bell. R, R, are side rods by which the two cross heads P
and L are connected, so that any motion upward or downward of the piston N
causes the bell I to move simultaneously up or down, whereby the vitiated air
is drawn up through the pipe G and expelled through the pipe H. S is a
pipe by which the water is introduced under the piston N; and 01, 0%, ports,
by which the water, having done its duty, is discharged. In coal minės,
where powerful lifting pumps are constantly required to keep them free of
water, if a stream of water of no more than half an inch in diameter were
returned down again from a height of fifty feet or upwards, it would amply
suffice to work the piston of my apparatus. The admission and discharge of
the water are regulated by the parts marked U, V, W, X, Z, a, a, e, f, and
g, g. U, V, W, is a bell crank which turns on an axis at V, U. The longer
arm of this crank passes through rectangular openings in the narrow sides of
the connecting rods R, R, and between two pulleys a, a, fixed in each of these
openings, so that as these connecting rods are raised or lowered the long arm
U of the crank is also raised or lowered. The short end W of the crank has
a weight or bob attached to its outer extremity. K', K', are two moveable
arcs or parts of circles (one of which only is seen on the elevation, Figure 3)
which are attached to the same axis as the bell crank, and joined at their

page_text: corresponding extremities, and fixed parallel to each other at such a distance.
as to allow the short arm of the bell crank to slide freely between them. X is
a smaller moveable arc, affixed to the same axis as the larger arcs, from which
project two needles or pins g, g, one at each end. Z is the three-way cock
which regulates the admission and discharge of the water, and e and f two
levers connected to the spindle of Z. When the long arm U of the bell
crank is raised to its highest limit by the side rods R, R, the short-weighted
arm W presses against the (then) lowest of the pins g, g, of the small are X,
and causes that are to turn on its axis till it comes into contact and depresses
the lever e, which, raising the spindle of the valve Z, opens the passage for
the escape of the water. And when the long arm U of the crank has been
lowered by the return stroke of the piston to its lowest limit the reverse
action takes place, and water is admitted to force up the piston again, and so
this motive action will continue as long as an adequate supply of water is kept
up. Instead of the motive part of the apparatus last before described being
placed immediately above the bell it may be placed alongside of it, and the
reciprocating motion of the piston be communicated to the suspension rod of
the bell through the medium of an oscillating beam or by any other suitable
mechanical means.
The second branch of my said Invention, which consists in an improved
method of providing for continual supplies of fresh oxygen to places where the
air is liable to become foul from the loss of its oxygen, without being under the
necessity of drawing such supplies from the external atmosphere, is carried
into effect in manner following:-In the Specification of a former Patent,
granted to William Revell Vigers, of date the Seventh July, One thousand
eight hundred and forty-two, for the Invention of "A Mode of Keeping the
Air in Confined Places in a Pure or Respirable State, to enable Persons
to Remain or Work under Water and other Places without a Constant
Supply of Fresh Atmospheric Air," which Invention was communicated by
me to the said William Revell Vigers, several means of generating supplies
of oxygen for the purpose were pointed out, which included the best with which
I was then acquainted, but I have since then found out that the following
is a more economical method:-Take any given quantity, say twelve ounces,
of the sesquioxide of iron of commerce, and lave it with warm water until the
sulphite of soda contained in it is expelled; then dry it, and heat it to a
brown or dark red, when a very pure oxide of iron, in a state of most minute
division, will be the result. To one part of this oxide of iron add four parts
of dry nitre in the state of powder; then place the mixture in a crucible
of double the size required to contain it, and lute the neck of it well, leaving

page_text: only a few apertures to serve as ventholes, and keep it at a bright red heat
for about one hour and twenty minutes. The product will be a porous mass,
of a deep reddish brown color, which, while still warm, must be broken into
small pieces, and transferred as quickly and with as little exposure to the air
as may be into well-stoppered flasks for subsequent use. Persons confined in
places which are liable to become foul from loss of oxygen should provide
themselves beforchand with one, two, or more flasks of this ferrate of potas-
sium, according to the length of time they are likely to be excluded from
communication with the external atmosphere; and, as often as they feel any
difficulty of respiration from the waste of the oxygen, all that they have to do
is to throw a few pieces of the ferrate of potash into a little water, when a
fresh supply of oxygen will be immediately evolved.
In submarine operations it is sometimes necessary to send down a lighted
lamp; and, as in that case the combustion in the lamp cannot be supported
by the means just described, the following plan may be adopted :-Let the
lamp be hermetically sealed against the admission of water, but let it com-
municate by two flexible tubes with the interior of a diving bell or submarine
boat, or with the external atmosphere. To the open end of one of the pipes
attach a section pump, by means of which the air, as it is vitiated in the lamp,
may be continually withdrawn and replaced by fresh air forced down by
atmospheric pressure through the second pipe..
Both of the principal methods herein-before described,- that is to say, both
that for absorbing deleterious matters and that for supplying oxygen, may be
employed in the case of diving bells to keep the air therein in a pure and
respirable state.
In Sheet B of the Drawings bereunto annexed I have shewn how a diving
bell may, in my judgment, be best constructed. Figure 5 is a sectional
elevation, and Figure 6 a plan on the line Y, Z. F, F, is an outer bell-
shaped case; and D, D, the top cover with bull's-eye lights g, 9. g. G is an
iuner case, of the shape of a frustrum of a cone, which is fixed at a little
distance from the outer one, gradually diverging towards it from the top, till,
at the points h, h, it is closely united with it by a horizontal piece n, n. His
a square case on which the cylindrical and conical parts F, F, and G are
placed, and to which they are closely united, so that, when the bell has
descended to the bottom of the water, the four corners of the square case form
open spaces by which workmen may penetrate into corners not approachable
with bells of the ordinary construction. The whole of the space between the
two cases F, F, and G is made perfectly air-tight for the purpose of containing
a body of highly compressed air, by means of which the air in the part which

page_text: is open to the water may be kept in a state of equilibrium with the column of
water outside, even when descending to very great depths. As the bell
.descends, and the water begins to rise in it, a cock M in the compressed-air
chamber is to be opened, and as much air let out as may be necessary to keep
up a perfect balance between the pressure within. and the pressure without.
I is a pipe through which this chamber is to be filled before descending with
air to the amount of two, three, or more atmospheres, according to the depth
to which it is intended to descend. K is the cock for opening and shutting
the pipe I. M is the cock by which the compressed air is to be let off into
the inner tube as required. L, L, is a reservoir where a quantity of com-
pressed oxygen gas may also be kept should it be thought necessary to have
such a security against exhaustion of the vital air in addition to the supply of
ferrate of potassium before directed to be provided. N is the apparatus for
freeing the air by absorption, as before explained, of the carbonic acid gas and
any other deleterious matters with which it may become intermixed. It is a
..modification on a small scale of that represented in Sheet A of the Drawings
.hereunto annexed, and before described.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I lay no claim under this
Patent to the application of any of the chemical reagents herein-before men-
tioned to the purpose of purifying vitiated air, excepting always the platinum
wirecloth and spongy platinum so far as the same may exert or be considered
to exert a chemical action, and excepting also the application of ferrate of
potassium to the generating of a supply of oxygen for the purposes aforesaid;
but that what I claim under this Patent is,
First, the purifying of vitiated air by the combination of chemical and
mechanical means first herein-before described; that is to say, by subjecting
.the same, in manner aforesaid, to any of the hydrates or oxides before par-
ticularized, or to any known substances or combination of known substances
which may exert the like chemical action, or, in the case of air vitiated by
mineral exhalations, by subjecting it to sulphuric or other suitable acid, and
also passing the air in either case through a series of filters or sieves composed
of the materials and placed and arranged in manner before specified.
Second, the employment of platinum, whether in the form of platinum
wirecloth or spongy platinum or any other suitable form, for the purpose of
converting the hydrogen of vitiated atmospheres into water, and whether
forming part of the combination last herein-before claimed, or used as part of
any other combination for purifying purposes, or used by themselves for such
purposes.

page_text: Third, the employment of a galvanic battery, in manner aforesaid, for the
conversion of the carburetted hydrogen gas of vitiated atmospheres.
Fourth, the apparatus before described, and represented in Figures 2 and 3,
Sheet A of the Drawings hereunto annexed, for causing the vitiated air to
flow through the various chambers and filters provided for its purification.
Fifth, the application of the ferrate of potassium to the generating of a
supply of oxygen for the purposes aforesaid; and,
Sixth, the diving bell, of the construction before represented in so far as
respects the double case F, F, and G, the square bottom case marked H, and
the absorbing apparatus marked N.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth