AN IMPROVED PYRO-HYDRO- PNEUMATIC APPARATUS, OR MEANS OF GENERATING, PURIFYING, AND CONDENSING STEAM AND OTHER VAPOURS, AND OF EXTRACTING FROM VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES THE SOLUBLE PORTIONS THEREOP, AS ALSO THE APPLICATION OF PARTS OF THE SAID APPA- RATUS TO OTHER HEATING, EVAPORATING, AND DISTILLING PURPOSES
Year: 1843

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
CLARK, of No. 1, Great Winchester Street, in the City of London, Merchant,
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 Thirty-first day of January, in the fifth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles
Clark, my exors, adñors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said Charles Clark, my exors, adñors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Charles Clark, my exors, admors, and
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
said 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 Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Guernsey,
Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED PYRO-HYDRO-
PNEUMATIC APPARATUS, OR MEANS OF GENERATING, PURIFYING, AND CONDENSING
STEAM AND OTHER VAPOURS, AND OF EXTRACTING FROM VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES THE
SOLUBLE PORTIONS THEREOP, AS ALSO THE APPLICATION OF PARTS OF THE SAID APPA-
RATUS TO OTHER HEATING, EVAPORATING, AND DISTILLING PURPOSES;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Charles Clark,

page_text: shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner 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 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
Charles Clark, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner. the same is to be performed, are fully ascertained and described
in and by the following Specification thereof, reference being had to the
sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, marked N° 1 and N° 2, that is to
say:―
Figure 1 of the Drawings on Sheet 1, exhibits my said improved pyro-
hydro-pneumatic apparatus in one of the simplest applications of which the
same is susceptible, namely, as a means of converting sea water or any other
water holding saline and other solid matters in solution into fresh water. The
apparatus combined in one: 1st, a cistern which supplies the water to be
operated upon; 2nd, a boiler in which the water supplied by the cistern is sub-
jected to the action of fire, whereby the greater portion of the salt or other solid
matters held in solution are precipitated, and the aqueous particles converted
into steam; 3rd, one, two, or more rectifiers through which the steam is
passed, and thereby freed from any undecomposed matters which may have
escaped along with the steam from the boiler; 4th a condenser for liquifying the
purified steam and aerating the resulting water; and, 5th, a refrigerator for
cooling and further aerating the resulting water. A (colored blue) is the
supply cistern with its discharge cock 2, which communicates by a pipe a,
with a self-regulating induction apparatus B, on what is known as Hamer's
plan; C is a strong wrought-iron cylinder, with conical top, which fits at
bottom into a flanged ring plate c, and is about two-thirds filled with the water
to be operated upon; D is a cylindrical furnace concentric with the water
cylinder C, having an open grating d, through which the atmospheric air is
freely admitted, an ash pan e, and an upward air and water tight tube f, which
serves both as a feed pipe through which the fuel is supplied to the furnace,
and as a passage for the escape of the smoke and other gaseous products of
combustion; g is a hinged trap door through which the fuel is passed into the
tube f; h, a chimney in which the pipe f terminates; and i, a damper, by
which the degree of activity given to the furnace can be regulated at pleasure.
L is an open air pipe, which leads from the outside through the boiler into the
furnace, a little way above the grating, and assists in securing a good. draft

page_text: 1 1
through the furnace to the chimney. To the water cylinder C there are
attached guage cocks, g, g, for ascertaining from ti.ne to time the height of the
water; is a cock or tap for drawing off the brine and other residual matters
which collect at the bottom of the boiler; M is a screw cap hand hole, through
which access may be had into the interior of the water cylinder C, when it is
required to be cleaned; E is a short pipe fitted into the conical top of the
water cylinder C, and conveys the steam generated in that cylinder into the
steam head or receiver F, which is also of a (somewhat irregular), conical
figure; G is a concave plate resting upon the top of the pipe E, and is a little
I larger than the pipe, but is kept steady by a weight k, of one, two, or more
pounds (as may be found most expedient), which is suspended from it by
wires. The purpose of the plate or cap G is to prevent in a great measure,
if not entirely, any water from escaping into the steam head (producing the
injurious effect commonly called priming), because, until the steam has acquired
a pressure exceeding that of the counter-weight k, it cannot raise the cap G,
so as to escape freely into the steam head F, and because any watery particles
which may remain still intermixed with it, must, in the interval, or during the
rising of the cap G, strike against it and drop back either into the water
cylinder C through the pipe E, or into the space around that pipe at the bottom
of the steam head F; h is a cock or tap at the bottom of the steam head F,
by which any water that collects there is from time to time drawn off; H is a
pipe which conveys the steam from the steam head F to the rectifier R 1. The
rectifier R 1, into which the steam passes from the water cylinder C, consists
simply of a cylinder about one third the size of the cylinder C, set in a horizontal
position: In the lower part of this cylinder a body of water speedily collects
from a partial condensation of the steam on its first admission, and the water
thus produced serves afterwards to attract and retain any particles of undecom-
posed matter which may come over with the steam which continues to flow in
from the boiler, so that the purer portions of the steam only may pass off from
the rectifier R 1 by the pipe N; n is a cock or tap at the bottom of the cylinder
R 1, for drawing off occasionally the water which accumulates there; R 2 is a
second steam rectifier similar in construction to R 1, into which the steam
passes from the pipe N, and is thǝǝby still further purified. This second
rectifier operates in the same manner as R 1. In some cases, where the quantity
of saline and other matters held in solution is comparatively small, this second
rectifier may be dispensed with, or in others, where the water is more than
commonly brackish or foul, a third or fourth rectifier on the same plan may be
added; T is the condenser for liquifying the purified steam and aerating the
resulting water. At the top of it is the water supply cistern A, before referred

page_text: to; t¹, t, ts, are a series of conical chambers or compartments placed perpen-
dicularly and communicating with one another, as shewn at Figure 1; the.
chamber t' is surrounded by the water in the cistern A (which becomes partially
heated by the steam in the chamber t¹) and the chambers and t, the two latter
of which are exposed to the external air, the lowest chamber terminates at
bottom in a tube u, containing at the mouth of the cone two or three plates of
perforated zinc u³ and u', through which the external air is admitted. A steam
and water tight perpendicular tube (of zinc or other metal equally pure) v¹ is
inserted about the middle of the lowest chamber t, and continued to the
top of the uppermost chamber t', and has two lateral branches and v³, as
shewn on Figure 1; the lower end of this tube is closed, but at the top, as also
at the ends of the lateral branches, it is open for the absorption of air by
the heat in the tube, and the consequent accellerated escape of the heated air
at the top of the tube; W, W, are pipes which pass externally from about the
middle of the chamber t' to near the bottom of the chamber &, and at the top
are of the large size represented in the Drawings, but diminish gradually to
pipes of a very small diameter at bottom. Of these pipes there should be as
many as there is conveniently room for, as the more there are the more effec-
tually will the process of condensation be promoted. From the second rectifier
R2 the steam is conveyed by a pipe w, of gradually enlarged dimensions, to
near the top of the middle chamber t³, whence it diffuses itself throughout the
three chambers and becomes condensed by the various cooling or heat absorbing
influences to which it is there exposed; that is to say, the partially heated
water of the supply cistern A, the comparatively cool surfaces of the chamber
t1, t2, t, and pipes W, W, and the external air admitted through the pipes
, v¹, v, and v³. The hottest steam of course finds its way into the uppermost
chamber t¹, but there also it encounters the greatest amount of heat absorbing
means which the apparatus furnishes for the purpose of condensation. The
main body of the water resulting from the condensed steam either drops
directly down to the bottom of the chamber t, or runs down the inclined sides
of the chambers t¹, t, and t, and through the external pipes W, W, and out
at the bottom tube, being partially aerated in its course so far by the air con
stantly ascending through the tube ; at the elbow or bend of the pipe w there
is an orifice w¹, through which any condensed steam which may collect at tha
point may drop at once to the bottom. Where an apparatus constructed as
before described does not give a sufficiently abundant or rapid yield, its effi
cacy may be readily increased by carrying an additional or auxiliary steam
pipe Z, Z, from the rectifier R², round the outside of the water supply
cistern A, and in close contact therewith for one, two, three, or more coil

page_text: terminating in a cylinder Z, which communicates by two pipes 2, 2, with the
chambers and t, so that all the water resulting from the steam condensed
therein may be precipitated through the perforated zinc plates u' and u³ into.
the general discharge tube u. ✗ is an outer casing of wood or metal, which
encloses the condenser, a small space in width being left all round, and draft
holes x, x, made in different parts for the admission of air. The refrigerator Y:
is made of protected metal, and divided into three compartments, y', y³, and y'.
In the top of the compartment y¹ is inserted the end of the discharge tube u,
and at a little distance from this tube there are air apertures a¹ and a³, two on
each side, which have shutters on the inside slanting from the top downwards,
to prevent as much as possible the escape outwards of any vapour which may
occasionally be carried down with the water from the condenser. The middle.
compartment y, which has a great many air holes in it all round, is of a convex
form at top and of a concave form (inside) at bottom, so that the water which
drops from the tube u on to the centre of the convex top surface of y³ falls
off towards the sides through pipes denoted b', b, which admit the water into
the interior of the compartment y³, while on the other hand the concave form
(inside) of the bottom of that compartment causes the water, when it arrives
there, to flow towards the centre, where there is a filtering box c³, (which
projects a little way downwards into the lower compartment y³) placed to
receive it. For the purpose of breaking up the water, and thereby the
better aerating it, the bottom of the compartment is covered over for about
an inch deep with small pebbles, through which the water percolates towards:
the filter. The lower compartment y', which serves for the final reservoir of
the purified and cooled water, is much larger than the two others, and per-
forated with air holes, four or more on each side. C³, C³, are small pipes which
lead up from the lower compartment y' into the middle compartment y³, and:
serve to promote the continual flow upwards of external air; d³ is a cock or.
tap at the bottom, by which the water is drawn off as required.
A pyro-hydro-pneumatic apparatus, such as is herein-before described, and
if made according to a scale of one inch to a foot, will yield readily between
two and three gallons of drinkable water per hour by consumption of not:
mere than from four to five pounds of pit coal, or a proportionate quantity of
other fuel. The entire apparatus occupies little room, and may be conveniently
fitted to and worked in all sea-going vessels. Instead of using the apparatus:
for the production of fresh water only, it may be readily combined with a:
cooking and baking apparatus P, in the manner represented in Fig. 2 of
Sheet No. 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed, the lower Figure being a:

page_text: vertical section and the upper Figure a plan of the same; but I make no
claim to anything peculiar in the construction of the said cooking and baking
apparatus.
.
For redistilling or rectifying spirituous liquids, the apparatus is modified
in the manner shewn in Figure 1, Sheet No. 2, of the Drawings hereunto-
annexed. The supply cistern A is made much larger, and closed instead of
being open at top, the upper condensing chambers t¹ and t are also enlarged,
whilst the lowest one t is narrowed. The second rectifier R is removed; the
fluids collect in the bottom of the rectifier R', whence they are drawn off
occasionally by the cock or tap n, while the rectified spirit passes off at top into
the condenser. The refrigerator in this case is made of two compartments
only, as shewn in Figure 2, Sheet No. 2, and both the filter and the layer of
pebbles in the top of it are dispensed with. F is a funnel with a stopcock,.
into which any portion of the spirits may be poured back, to undergo a second
distillation and rectification...
I do not propose to apply my apparatus to the distillation of worts; but,
with the exception of the boiler part, which can be readily detached from
the rest, it may be combined with great advantage with "common wort
stills for the purpose of contemporary rectification and condensation, as much
less cold water will then suffice for these operations than is now ordinarily
required.
For extracting from vegetable substances the soluble portions thereof the
apparatus is modified in the manner represented in Figure 3, Sheet No. 2.
The rectifier R', instead of being set horizontally, is fixed in a vertical position,
and supplied with a screw-tapped hand hole f³, through which the vegetable
substances are introduced, with a brass cock or tap for shutting off the
steam when required, with a funnel h² for pouring back portions of the liquid
extract, with a safety valve attached to the steam head, and loaded with
about three or four pounds on the square inch, as shown in Figure 1, Sheet 1,
and with a second brass cock or tap k for regulating the passage of the steam
to the condenser T. The second rectifier R is entirely dispensed with, and
the rectifier R¹ connected directly by a union joint with a pipe k', which opens
into the condenser T. The condenser T again is made to part in the middle,
where it is connected merely by a flange girdle G* with a water or other luting,
as shewn in the detached view, Figure 3, Sheet No. 1, so that it may be taken
asunder after each working, and the interior parts cleansed. The external
pipes W, W, are also in this case entirely dispensed with. The cistern is
supplied with common fresh water. The steam, which passes from the boiler.

page_text: into the rectifier R', disengages the soluble portion of the vegetable substances,
and if they are volatile carries them off to the condenser; or if liquid, combines
and falls with them to the bottom of the vessel, whence this portion of the
extract is drawn off by the cock or tap. When a fresh charge of matter has
to be introduced the steam is shut off from the rectifier R' by the cock g³,
and escapes temporarily through the safety valve (see Figure 1, Sheet 1).
When the steam is afterwards. admitted to assist the process of maceration,
the supply is regulated by the cocks g and . When is half shut, this
produces quicker condensation; when k is half shut, greater heat and quicker
solution.
I find, by numerous trials of the applicability of my apparatus to the
making of vegetable extracts, that the injurious empyreumatic flavour, which
many of the ordinary chemical stills impart to extracts, is wholly avoided, and
that the yield is not only more abundant, but of a superior quality.
In my pyro-hydro-pneumatic apparatus, as before described, as also in the
various modifications thereof before described, the water or other liquid supply
cistern is so placed as to contribute to the process of condensation; but it is
not indispensable that it should form part of the condensing means, for if the
cistern be placed anywhere else, or if the water or other liquid be poured by
hand into the boiler, the steam will be nevertheless effectually condensed
(though not so copiously) by means alone of the streams of external air which
flow up the condenser T, and of the cool surfaces with which it is there brought
into contact.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is,
First, the pyro-hydro-pneumatic apparatus herein-before described, in the
general arrangement and combination of parts and form of condenser, of
which the same consists; and, second, the modifications before described, by
which the said apparatus is adapted to the redistillation or rectification of
spirituous liquids, and to the extraction from vegetable substances of the soluble
portions thereof; and, third, the application of the condensing and refrigerating
portions of the said apparatus as useful additions to the ordinary wort still, or
any other still; and in all cases where the process of aerating the fluid thus
obtained by distillation is required or useful.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.
CHARLES (LS.) CLARK.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty first day of July, in the
year of our Lord 1843, the aforesaid Charles Clark came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-three.