IMPROVEMENTS IN RETORTS. OR APPARATUS FOR CONCENTRATING SULPHURIC ACID, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Chance, of the Firm of Chance, Brothers,
and Company, of Oldbury, in the County of Worcester, Glass and
Alkali Manufacturers, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RETORTS.
OR APPARATUS FOR CONCENTRATING SULPHURIC ACID, AND FOR OTHER LIKE
PURPOSES."-A communication from abroad by Junius Gridley, of the
City of New York, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Chance at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th May 1871.
.
I, HENRY CHANCE, of the Firm of Chance, Brothers, and Company,
of Oldbury, in the County of Worcester, Glass and Alkali Manufacturers,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN RETORTS OR APPARATUS FOR CONCENTRATING SULPHURIC ACID, AND. FOR OTHER.
LIKE PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
In the ordinary method of concentrating sulphuric acid the dilute acid
is heated in a scries of retorts unconnected with each other.
The

page_text: evaporation of the water takes place in each retort independently of the
others, the concentration of the portions of dilute acid put into the
several retorts being commenced, continued, and finished in the said
retorts respectively.
According to this Invention the retorts or apparatus arc or is so
arranged that the concentration of the dilute acid is made a continuous
process, the dilute acid entering at one end of the apparatus being
concentrated as it passes through the apparatus and passing out from
the other end of the apparatus in a concentrated state.
The retorts or apparatus are or is constructed and arranged in the
following manner: -Each retort consists of a globular or other shaped
vessel having at its top an opening from which the vapour of water
passes out. A second opening is situated near the first, in which second
opening a funnel is fixed, the pipe of which funnel extends nearly to the
bottom of the retort and delivers any liquid poured into it at or near the
bottom of the retort. Each retort has also a horizontal pipe near its
top, by which pipe the acid contained in it passes out when the level of
the acid rises to or above the level of the said pipe. These retorts are
situated in an inclined flue, the respective levels of the retorts being
such that the acid of the highest retort-runs-from-its-horizontal-pipe-into-
the funnel of the retort next below it, and so on with respect to the
others. The heated air and products of combustion from a furnace
situated at the bottom of the said flue pass up the said flue and heat the
series of retorts, the lowest retort being situated at the hottest part of
the said flue and the top retort at the least heated part of the flue. The
dilute acid to be concentrated is delivered in a continuous gentle stream
into the top retort where it undergoes a partial concentration from the
top retort. The said acid passes in a continuous gentle stream to the
second retort where it is exposed to a higher temperature than it was in
the first retort and undergoes therein a further concentration, and so on
with respect to the other retorts. By this arrangement the acid under-
goes a concentration in each retort and passes out from the lowest and
hottest retort in a concentrated state. The vapours escaping from the
openings at the tops of the retorts may be collected in a condensing
chamber.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Chance in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 3rd November 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
CHANCE, of the Firm of Chance, Brothers, and Company, of Oldbury,
in the County of Worcester, Glass and Alkali Manufacturers, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Henry Chance, Her special licence that I, the
said Henry Chance, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Henry Chance, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times thercalter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, usc, exercise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN RETORTS OR APPARATUS
FOR CONCENTRATING SULPHURIC ACID, AND FOR OTHER LIKE PURPOSES," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Junius Gridley, of the City of New
York, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Henry Chance, 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
Invention, 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 Henry Chance, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say: —
In the ordinary method of concentrating sulphuric acid the dilute acid
is heated in a series of glass retorts unconnected with each other. The
evaporation of the water takes place in each retort independently of
the others, the concentration of the portions of dilute acid put into the

page_text: several retorts being commenced, continued, and finished in the said
retorts respectively.
According to this Invention the retorts or apparatus are or is so
arranged that the concentration of the dilute acid is made a continuous
process, the dilute acid entering at one end of the apparatus, being
concentrated as it passes through the apparatus, and passing out from
the other end of the apparatus in a concentrated state.
The retorts or apparatus are or is constructed and arranged in the
following manner :-Each retort consists of a globular or other shaped
vessel, having at its top an opening from which the vapour of water
passes out. A second opening is situated near the first, in which second
opening a funnel is fixed, the pipe of which funnel extends nearly to the
bottom of the retort and delivers any liquid poured into it at or near the
bottom of the retort. Each retort has also a horizontal pipe near its top,
by which pipe the acid contained in it passes out, when the level of
the acid rises to or above the level of the said pipe. These retorts arc
situated in an inclined flue, the respective levels of the retorts being such
that the acid of the highest retort runs from its horizontal pipe into the
funnel of the retort next below it, and so on with respect to the others.
-The heated-air-and-products-of-combustion-from-a-furnace-situated-at
the bottom of the said flue pass up the said flue and heat the series of
retorts the lowest retort being situated at the hottest part of the said
flue and the top retort at the least heated part of the flue. The dilute
acid to be concentrated is delivered in a continuous gentle stream unto
the top retort where it undergoes a partial concentration from the top
retort. The said acid passes in a continuous gentle stream to the
second retort, where it is exposed to a higher temperature than it was in
the first retort, and undergoes therein a further concentration, and so
on with respect to the other retorts. By this arrangement the acid
undergoes a concentration in each retort and passes out from the lowest
and hottest retort in a concentrated state. The vapours escaping from
the openings at the tops of the retorts may be collected in the usual
manner.
The said Invention may be used for the concentration of saline
-solutions and other liquids which can be concentrated by heat.
Having explained the nature of the said Invention I will proceed to
describo with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in
which the same is to be performed.

page_text: Figure 1 represents in cross section, and Figure 2 in longitudinal
section an apparatus constructed according to this Invention for the
concentration of sulphuric acid. a, a, are the retorts made by preference
of glass, the said retorts being supported in the inclined flue 6 at different
levels. The said flue is heated by the furnace c situated at its lower
end. The bottom of each retort rests in a metallic pan d containing
sand. Each of the retorts has a funnel e descending nearly to the bottom
and a tubulefon its side. The tubules f, f, incline slightly downwards
from the retorts, and the tubules of the several retorts terminate over the
funnels of the retorts below them respectively. Each retort a is open
at top, from which the steam arising from the liquid undergoing con-
centration escapes. These openings may either be connected with a
general flue as at y for carrying off the escaping steam, or the apparatus
may be used without such fluc. The dilute sulphuric acid to be con-
centrated is delivered in a gentle stream into the funnel of the top retort
and is delivered by the said funnel near the bottom of the said retort.
The said acid undergoes a certain amount of concentration in the top
retort and overflows by the tubule ƒ of the said retort into the funnel of
the next lower retort, where it undergoes a further concentration, and so
on through the series, the acid overflowing from the last retort having
the required concentration for commercial purposes. The acid flows in
a direction contrary to that in which the heat from the furnace c passes,
and the temperature to which the acid is exposed increases as the
concentration of the acid advances.
In constructing an apparatus according to this Invention for working
on a large scale it is preferred to adopt the arrangement represented in
Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of the Drawings. In this arrangement two
scries of retorts are used in combination and an independent furnace is
used for each retort. Figure 3 represents this arrangement in side
elevation partly in vertical section; Figure 4 represents a plan of the
same partly in horizontal section; Figure 5 represents a front elevation
of the same, and Figure 6, a cross vertical section of the same;
Figure 7 is a perspective view of the arrangement drawn to a smaller
scale. The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in Figures
3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. a, a, are the glass or other retorts situated at different
levels; b, b, are the furnaces, the fire from which passes into the
chambers c and from thence to the flue d, which is common to the
furnaces of one scries of retorts. The retorts are supported in the hot

page_text: air chambers c in pans or dishes of iron e, the said pans or dishes con-
taining sand in which the bottoms of the retorts are embedded. The
top of the hot air chamber c is closed by rings f. In connection with
the hot air chamber c is a flue 9, into which in case of breaking of one of
the retorts the acid passes, and is conveyed therefrom by the tube / into
a receptacle. The course of the flame and heated air from the furnace b
to the flue d is indicated by arrows in Figure 6. The flame and heated
air are prevented from striking directly against the sides of the retorts
a, a, by means of deflectors i, i, between the furnaces and the hot air
chambers c. The funnels by which the acid is conducted to the bottoms
of the retorts are marked k, k, and the tubules by which the acid over-
flows from a retort into that next below it, or finally passes out of the
apparatus are marked 1, . These tubules may consist of a short inclined
pipe on the shoulder of cach retort, the said pipe delivering the liquid
from it into a connector which conveys it to the funnel of the next
retort, as will be understood by an examination of Figures 3 and 4.
Each of the open mouths or tops of the retorts is fitted with a pipe or
connector m somewhat resembling the head of an alembic. These pipes
open into a leaden flue n, which is connected by another flue o with the
chimney stack of the furnaces. The steam together with a little vapour
of sulphuric acid escaping from the retorts passes into the fluen¯¯where-
the acid is condensed and the steam passes away by the fluc o.
The cou-
densed acid runs down the inclined leaden flue n, and escapes by the
pipe p into a receptacle. The dilute acid to be concentrated is contained
in a reservoir q, from which it passes by a syphon into the vessel r, a
pipes from which delivers it into the top retort. The bottom retort
delivers the concentrated acid into the vessel 8, from which it passes
along the pipe of small diameter t into another vessel u, and from the
vessel u by a syphon into the delivery vessel v, a pipe w in the bottom
of which conveys the acid into carboys or into other receptacles. The
vessels and u and the connecting pipe tare immersed in a trough of
water x, by which the acid is cooled before it reaches the vessel v,
cold water is passed through the trough x, and escapes therefrom at
its top by the pipe y. The parts s, t, and u, in which the acid is cooled,
are made of lead but the temperature of the acid as it escapes from the
last retort is such that if it came immediately in contact with the lead
of the vessels it would act thereon. To prevent this a small cup of
platinum(see Figure 3) is fixed in the vessel s, upon which cup the
stream of hot concentrated acid strikes.
8

page_text: In working the apparatus for the concentration of sulphuric acid
the reservoir is supplied with dilute acid having a specific gravity
of 1.740 or 62 degrees of Baumé's hydrometer. As the acid passes
through the retorts it is necessary to keep it boiling very gently or thic
flow of liquid from one retort to another will be made irregular. The
heat of the several furnaces requires to be so managed that the acid shall
be exposed to a higher temperature in the retort into which it is running
than it was exposed to in the retort which it is leaving, but anyone
accustomed to the ordinary method of concentrating sulphuric acid will
have no difficulty in managing the fires of this apparatus so as to produce
the required gentle ebullition in the several retorts. Care must be taken
that the stream of acid delivered into the top retort is somewhat less
than the several tubules are capable of conveying.
The process of concentration as conducted in these retorts is con-
tinuous and may be carried on for several weeks without interruption.
At intervals of about a month it is preferred to suspend the operation
of the apparatus for the purpose of cleaning out the flues and making
necessary repairs.
Although the apparatus has been described with reference only to tho
concentration of sulphuric acid for which it is specially applicable, yet it
may be applied to the concentration of saline solutions and other liquids
which can be concentrated by heat.
By constructing and arranging retorts or apparatus for the con-
centration of sulphuric acid and other liquids in the manner described
and illustrated great saving in manual labour, fuel, and plant is secured.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be under-
stood that I do not limit myself to the precise details herein described,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of
the said Invention; but I claim as the said Invention of improve-
ments in retorts or apparatus for concentrating sulphuric acid, and for
other like purposes, constructing and arranging, the parts of the said
retorts or apparatus substantially as herein-before described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings whereby the concentration of the dilute
acid or other liquid is made a continuous process by causing the acid
or liquid as its concentration progresses to pass through a series of
connected retorts or vessels, the dilute acid or liquid entering in a
stream at one end of the apparatus being concentrated as it passes

page_text: through the said apparatus and passing out of the said apparatus in a
concentrated state.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Chance, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this First day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
FRANKLIN TAYLOR,
Accountant,
Hawthorn House,
Handsworth,
Staffordshire.
HENRY CHANCE. (L.S.)