IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR " PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Gilbert Howell, of Hawardine Iron Works, near
Holywell, Flint, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Gilbert Howell at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st October 1863.
1, GILBERT HOWELL, of Hawarden Iron Works, near Holywell, Flint, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA-
RATUS FOR CONDENSING METALLIC AND OTHER FUMES," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus for condensing
metallic and other fumes.
For these purposes an apparatus is employed constructed in the following
manner: A fan is placed within a cylinder or chamber into which water is
allowed to flow. This is not in itself new, but the cylinder or chamber used
by me is closed at the end nearest the furnace or flue or passage from which the
vapours come to the cylinder except at the centre, through which the vapours pass
into the cylinder. The other or opposite end of the cylinder is closed except
at the outer circumference, where there is an opening, by preference all round.
Water is supplied to the cylinder or chamber by an opening into the cylinder

page_text: or chamber at the top or other convenient part, and it is desirable that the
shaft of the fan should be hollow in order that some part of the water
employed may pass through the shaft and thus keep the bearings and the
shaft cool. The water will by the centrifugal action of the fan be caused
constantly to assume a hollow cylindrical form within the fan chamber, whilst
the interior space around the shaft of the fan will be void of water and open
to receive the vapours, which as they enter the chamber will be driven
outwards by the fan against the interior of the fan chamber. The uncon-
densed and washed vapours will constantly be driven or get away through the
opening at the circumference of the outermost end of the cylindrical fan
chamber together with the condensed products from the vapours.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Gilbert Howell in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st April 1864...
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GILBERT
HOWELL, of Hawarden Iron Works, near Holywell, Flint, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reigu, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Gilbert Howell, Her special licence that I, the said Gilbert Howell, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Gilbert
Howell, 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 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 Mau, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
FOR CONDENSING METALLIC AND OTHER FUMES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Gilbert Howell, my executors or administrators,
by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Gilbert Howell, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: Figure 1 shews a vertical section, and Figure 2 a horizontal section, of an
apparatus for condensing metallic and other fumes constructed according to
my Invention.
A is a cylindrical chamber within which is a fan B. The fan shewn in the
Drawing has four blades, which, by means of the screws b, can be set at any
desired angle to the axis C, and the outer edges of these blades work close to
the circumference and ends of the chamber. The end of the cylinder A
nearest the flue marked F, which conducts the vapours to the cylinder, is
closed, except at its centre, where there is an opening marked N on the
Drawings. The opposite end is closed except at its outer circumference,

page_text: where there is an opening marked O, which passes by preference all round the
circumference. From this end of the cylinder a tube, conical or otherwise,
passes to a tank or receiver G, from which a pipe marked L passes to the
cylinder A. This pipe is fitted with a tap. The pipe L is for the purpose of
allowing the water which settles in the tank G again to flow into the cylinder A
should the water in the tank be cold enough for condensing purposes. An over-
flow pipe M also passes from the receiver G, through which the water and
condensed vapours or fumes may escape from the cylinder. From any con-
venient part of this receiver a flue H leads to a stack or chimney. Water is
supplied to the cylinder A by the pipe K, which leads from the elevated
cistern I. Water is also allowed to flow through the shaft C, which is made
hollow for the purpose, and the water so flowing through the shaft keeps both
it and the bearings cool. When by means of a strap driving the pulley Da
rapid rotary motion is given to the shaft, the water supplied to the cylinder A
will, by the centrifugal action of the fan, be driven towards the circumference
of the cylinder and also towards the opening O. The vapours or fumes also
which enter the cylinder through the opening N are likewise by the fan
driven outwards and towards the opening O, and thus they will be brought
into close contact with the water and so cooled and condensed or washed, and
they are discharged together with the water into the receiver G without in any
way stopping the draught through the flue, which, on the contrary, is accele-
rated by the fan. The water and condensed vapours or fumes settle at the
bottom of the receiver, and the uncondensed vapours pass away through the
flue H. P is a discharge pipe fitted with a tap to allow the heavy slime or
deposit to run from the bottom of the condensing chamber or cylinder if
found requisite. The apparatus may be fixed either to work horizontally,
vertically, or diagonally.
In witness whereof, I, the said Gilbert Howell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this 19th day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
GILBERT HOWELL. (L.S.)