IMPROVEMENTS IN DISTILLING APPARATUS AND MEANS FOR ECONOMICALLY EFFECTING THE SEPARATION OF SULPHUR FROM NATIVE ORES AND OTHER SUBSTANCES
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Owen Charles Dalhousie Ross, of Craven Street,
Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DISTILLING APPARATUS AND MEANS FOR
ECONOMICALLY EFFECTING THE SEPARATION OF SULPHUR FROM NATIVE ORES
AND OTHER SUBSTANCES.”
Sealed the 12th November 1875, and dated the 14th May 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Owen Charles
Dalhousie Ross at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with his Petition, on the 14th May 1875.
I, OWEN CHARLES DALHOUSIE Ross, of Craven Street, Strand, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DISTILLING APPARATUS AND MEANS
FOR ECONOMICALLY EFFECTING THE SEPARATION OF SULPHUR FROM NATIVE Oreș AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in improved apparatus and means for distilling
solid substances, and especially for obtaining sulphur flour; and other
superior qualities of sulphur direct from the ore, and from spent oxide

page_text: of iron or Laming's mixture, and from other similar substances after
they have been used for the purification of gas, and also for distilling
and purifying or refining crude sulphur and the impure sulphur which
is recovered from alkali waste, or which is obtained in an impure state
by other processes.
they have been used for the purification of gas, and for disting
and purifying or refining crude sulphur and the impure sulphur which
is recovered from alkali waste, or which is obtained in an impure state
by other
processes.
The same apparatus may be used also for the distillation of bituminous
minerals, and of such metals and metalloids as are obtained or purified
by distillation.
The process of distillation in ordinary stills or retorts of such solid
substances as do not admit of the introduction of steam into the interior
of the distilling vessels requires, that an amount of heat should be applied
to the external surfaces of those vessels greatly in excess of the
temperature at which the matter contained in such substances which it
is desired to isolate will boil and can be vaporized. It follows that
those portions of the mass which are nearest to the sides of the retort
are much over heated before a sufficient temperature can penetrate to
the centre, and many serious losses and inconveniences arise from this
circumstance, especially in the distillation of substances containing
sulphur which very readily combines chemically with metals at high
temperatures, and which when even less highly heated in contact with
metallic oxides forms sulphurous oxide gas.
In order to avoid such results and to effect the vaporization with
more moderate temperatures in the furnace as well as to distribute the
heat more rapidly and evenly throughout the mass when under
distillation, and consequently also to incur a minimum amount of
chemical decomposition and recombinations; in order also to economise
fuel and to be able to avail myself in the most advantageous way of
superheated steam, gaseous fuel, and other analogous means of heating,
I break up the said substances into small pieces (whenever they are not
already in a finely divided state, as is the case with spent oxide of iron
derived from gas purifiers, and with the precipitated sulphur removed
from alkali waste and other similar refuse matter), and I submit them
to. distillation in very thin layers spread over an extensive surface.
I employ for this purpose very shallow vessels which I usually form of
plates placed in a furnace or oven, one above the other, or side by side,
or both. When these vessels are placed one above the other, I leave
between each of them just sufficient space to allow the heat which is

page_text: required for the distillation of their contents to penetrate between them,
so that the vessels may be simultaneously heated both above and below.
The said plates should generally be so disposed as to traverse a furnace or
close chamber from front to back or from end to end, and they may be
made of metal, fire-clay, glass, porcelain, or other appropriate material;
or instead of using separate plates the spaces into which the substances are
to be charged may be formed of a number of shallow vessels cast in
moulds; or again, the distilling vessels may be constructed like so many
moveable covered trays or shelves.
=
I construct the outer shell or walls of the furnace of metal, or of
brick, or of masonry, and I make my plates or distilling vessels with an
opening at the one end for the escape of the vapor to a condensing
chamber, and another opening usually at the opposite, end, through
which to introduce the charge; but after the charge is complete the
latter openings must be closed in order that during the distillation the
vessels may be as nearly as possible impervious to the air at all points,
excepting where the vapor is allowed to escape in the direction of the
condensing chamber or to the place where it is to be otherwise
utilised.
The disposition of the plates or vessels can however be varied, and
sometimes I load the said vessels on to moveable trucks or waggons
which I introduce into the furnace during the time of the distillation; or
the substance which is to be distilled may be conveyed through the
furnace by means of travellers similar to those sometimes employed in
baking ovens.
.
For the purpose of securing a well regulated and moderate temperature
and not over or under heating the distillation plates, I prefer to use air
which has been carburetted and rendered inflammable by previously
mixing it with hydrocarbon vapor, or I use ordinary coal or wood gas,
or hot air, or the hot mixed gases from other furnaces or superheated
steam; any of which may be made to circulate above as well as below
the distilling vessels in one or more streams or currents, and when using
gas or carburetted air the flames may be so regulated as to burn in the
spaces between the distilling vessels. But the furnace can also be
heated by means of coal, coke, or wood, or other solid fuel.
The said
plates or vessels may be disposed horizontally or at any degree of
inclination and may be flat or curved, care being taken not to allow the

page_text: flames or hot air or steam to penetrate within the vessels containing the
substance undergoing distillation.
When superheated steam is employed as the heating agent, it is
necessary to construct the chamber or furnace in which the vessels are
contained like a steam chest of sufficient strength to bear considerable·
pressure, and also so to strengthen the vessels themselves that they
may not collapse under the pressure of the steam.
After the sulphur has been distilled from hydrated oxide of iron or
from Laming's, mixture, I sometimes submit the residual oxide to a
treatment with superheated steam of a high temperature in order to 1
restore to it the water which it has given off during the distillation, and
by this means the oxide is renovated and is fit to be used again for
purifying gas.
.
I prefer to use a special condensing chamber fitted with a number of
moveable condensing plates upon which the vapors from the distilling
vessels are precipitated. Instead of requiring a very large space for the
condenser, I obtain by this means a very extensive condensing surface
with a comparatively small chamber. I make these plates ordinarily
about the size of roofing slates, but their precise size is immaterial, and I
prefer to arrange them in a series of slightly inclined shelves at a short
distance one above the other, and in rows with sufficient space between
the rows to allow of an attendant passing between them, and when
necessary entering the condensing chamber and removing the plates or
cleaning them.
If the vapors condense to a liquid this falls from the plates to the
floor, and must thence be conveyed away through suitable pipes or other
apertures, but in the distillation of sulphur, if the temperature of the
condensing chamber is kept below 225° Fah., flour will be formed on all
these plates, and can thus be easily collected from time to time. I use
by preference more than one such chamber, and by alternately allowing
the vapors to enter first one and then another, am the better able to
keep them at the requisite temperature for obtaining the product that I
require, and to continue the distillation uninterruptedly; but I also
sometimes regulate the temperature of the chambers by means of water
or by currents of air, and sometimes with the same object I surround
the condensing chamber with a double metal casing inclosing or forming
pipes or flues.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Owen Charles Dalhousie Ross in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 13th November 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, OWEN
CHARLES DALHOUSIE ROSS, of Craven Street, Strand, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Owen Charles Dalhousie Ross, Her
special licence that I, the said Owen Charles Dalhousie Ross, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Owen Charles Dalhousie Ross, 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 Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DISTILLING APPARATUS
AND MEANS FOR ECONOMICALLY EFFECTING THE SEPARATION OF SULPHUR FROM
NATIVE ORES AND OTHER SUBSTANCES," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Owen Charles Dalhousie Ross, my executors or admini-
strators, 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 Owen Charles Dalhousie Ross, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My Invention consists in improved annaratus and means for distilling

page_text: and other superior qualities of sulphur direct from the ore, and from
spent oxide of iron or Laming's mixture, and from other similar sub-
stances after they have been used for the purification of gas, and also for
distilling and purifying or refining crude sulphur and the impure sulphur
which is recovered from alkali waste, or which is obtained in an impure
state by other processes.
spent oxide of iron or Laming's mixture, and from other similar sub-
stances after they have been used for the purification of gas, and also for
distilling and purifying or refining crude sulphur and the impure sulphur
which is recovered from alkali waste, or which is obtained in an impure
state by
other
processes
The same apparatus may be used also for the distillation or sublimation
of bituminous minerals, and of such metals and metalloids as are
obtained. or purified by distillation.
The process of distillation in ordinary stills or retorts of such solid
substances as do not admit of the introduction of steam into the interior
of the distilling vessels requires that an amount of heat should be applied
to the external surfaces of those vessels greatly in excess of the tempe-
rature at which the matter contained in such substances which it is
dosired to isolate will boil and can be vaporized. It follows that those
portions of the mass which are nearest to the sides of the retort are
much overheated before a sufficient temperature can penetrate to the
centre, and many serious losses and inconveniences arise from this
circumstance, especially in the distillation or sublimation of substances
containing sulphur, which very readily combines chemically with metals
at high temperatures, and which, when even less highly heated in
contact with metallic oxides, forms sulphurous oxide gas.
In order to avoid such results and to effect the vaporization with
more moderate temperatures in the furnace, as well as to distribute the
heat more rapidly and evenly throughout the mass when under dis-
tillation, and consequently also to incur a minimum amount of chemical
decomposition and re-combinations, in order also to economise fuel and
be able to avail myself in the most advantageous way of superheated
steam, gaseous fuel, and other analogous means of heating, I break up
the said substances into small pieces (whenever they are not already in
a finely divided state, as is the case with spent oxide of iron derived
from gas purifiers, and with the precipitated sulphur recovered from
alkali waste and other similar refuse matter), and I submit them to
distillation in very thin layers spread over an extensive surface. I
employ for this purpose very shallow vessels, which I usually form
of plates placed in a furnace or oven, heater or boiler, one above the
other, or side by side, or both. When these vessels are placed one above

page_text: when using gas or carburetted air the flames may be so regulated as to
burn in the spaces between the distilling vessels. But the furnace can
also be heated by means of coal, coke, or wood, or other solid fuel. The
said plates or vessels may be disposed horizontally or at any degree of
inclination, and may be flat or curved, care being taken not to allow the
flames or hot air or steam to penetrate within the vessels containing the
substance undergoing distillation.
When superheated steam is employed as the heating agent it is
necessary to construct the chamber or furnace in which the vessels are
contained like a steam chest of sufficient strength to bear considerable
pressure and also to strengthen the vessels themselves that they may
not collapse under the pressure of the steam, with which view the
substances which are submitted to distillation or sublimation may be
spread in thin layers upon hollow or double plates made of metal or fire-
clay, or other appropriate material, and heated by the steam internally or
between the plates, and when so constructed and applied to the
sublimation of sulphur or to the dry distillation of bituminous sub-
stances these plates may be of any 'convenient dimensions, and need not
necessarily be placed one above the other, or side by side, but they must
be so disposed that the products of the sublimation may be protected
from admixture with the outer air and may pass freely to the condensing
or collecting chamber.
After the sulphur has been distilled from hydrated oxide of iron or
from Laming's mixture I sometimes submit the residual oxide to a
treatment with superheated steam of a high temperature in order to
restore to it the water which it has given off during the distillation, and
by this means the oxide is renovated and is fit to be used again for
purifying gas.
I prefer to use a special condensing chamber fitted with a number of
movable condensing plates upon which the vapours from the distilling
vessels are precipitated. Instead of requiring a very large space for the
condenser I obtain by this means a very extensive condensing surface
with a comparatively small chamber. I make these plates ordinarily
about the size of roofing slates, but their precise size is immaterial, and
I prefer to arrange them in a series of slightly inclined shelves at a short
distance one above the other, and in rows, with sufficient space between

page_text: the rows to allow of an attendant passing between them, and when
necessary entering the condensing chamber and removing the plates or
cleaning them.
If the vapors condense to a liquid this falls from the plates to the
flour, and must thence be conveyed away through suitable pipes or
other apertures, but in the distillation of sulphur, if the temperature of
the condensing chamber is kept below 225° Fah., flour will be formed, on
all these plates, and can thus be easily collected from time to time. I
use by preference more than one such chamber, and by alternately
allowing the vapors to enter first one and then another, am the better
able to keep them at the requisite temperature for obtaining the product
that I require and to continue the distillation uninterruptedly, but I
also sometimes regulate the temperature of the chambers by means of
water or by currents of air, and sometimes with the same object I
surround the condensing chamber with a double metal casing enclosing
formin nines on Anos

page_text: DWZG
other Figures.
VO
NCA 40
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to
be understood that I do not confine myself to the precise details or forms
or dimensions described in this Specification and illustrated in the
Drawings, but I claim as my Invention,.,
1. The construction and employment, as herein-before described,
for the purpose of the distillation or sublimation in thin of solid
substances in a powdered or finely divided state, and specially for the
separation of sulphur from native ores and other substances, of a furnace
or oven heater or boiler heated by means of steam, or oil, or gas, or
otherwise, and fitted with several shallow vessels or shelves or boxes, one
above the other, or side by side, connected with a chamber or chambers,
vessel or vessels, for condensing or collecting the products so distilled or
sublimed.
2. The application of steam and other equivalent means, such as
boiling water or oil, and of air carburetted with hydrocarbon vapor for
the purpose of heating plates or shallow vessels of metal, fire-clay,
porcelain, or glass, when used for the purpose of refining impure sulphur
and for the separation of sulphur by sublimation or dry distillation from
native ores and from oxide of iron or other substances, as above set forth
and described.
3. The application of steam or other equivalent means, such as boiling
water or oil for the purpose of heating plates or shallow vessels of metal,
fire-clay, porcelain, or glass when used for distilling or subliming
bituminous or other minerals, such minerals being disposed in thin
layers in a powdered or a finely divided state upon plates or in shallow
vessels, as above described.
4. The several combinations and arrangements herein-before described
of an apparatus to be used for refining sulphur and separating sulphur
by a direct process of distillation or sublimation from native ores and
from oxide of iron or other substances, and collecting the sulphur in a
condensing chamber or chambers, vessel or vessels, and also for the dry
distillation of bituminous and other minerals, such minerals being used a

page_text: in the state of powder or otherwise in a finely divided state and disposed
in thin layers in several shallow vessels or shelves or boxes one above
the other or side by side, substantially as herein-before set forth and
described.
In witness wherof, I, the said Owen Charles Dalhousie Ross, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-five.
Witness,
T. MORGAN,
Secretary,
Inventors' Patent Right Association, Ld.,
21, Cockspur Street,
Charing Cross,
S.W.
O. C. D. ROSS. (L.S.)