Improvements in the Preparation of Materials for Use in the Treatment of Sewage and other Foul Liquids in order to Purify them, and in the Method of Treating them, and in Apparatus for Use in their Treatment.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Sept., 1886
Complete Left, 29th June, 1887.
Complete Accepted, 9th Aug., 1887.
Improvements in the Preparation of Materials for Use in the
Treatment of Sewage and other Foul Liquids in order to
Purify them, and in the Method of Treating them, and in
Apparatus for Use in their Treatment.
I WILLIAM BROWN HALLETT of Goring in the County of Oxford Surveyor do
hereby declare the nature of this Invention to be as follows:-
In preparing materials for use in the treatment of sewage and other foul liquids
according to my invention I take spent oil shale or a carbonized mixture of clay or
shale and tar or other carbonaceous matter or a carbonized mixture of both clay
and shale and tar or other carbonaceous matter and I mix and grind sulphate of iron
or both sulphate of iron and sulphate of alumina with the spent oil shale or with either
of the said carbonized mixtures.
In treating sewage and other foul liquids with the materials prepared as hereinbefore
described I make the sewage or liquid alkaline if it be not already so and then add
thereto a quantity of the said materials and I prefer to add the said materials to the
matters to be treated while they are flowing through any suitable apparatus
constructed or arranged so as to admit of the impurities precipitated by the action of
the said materials collecting in the said apparatus while the purified matters flow off
and in some cases I also aërate the sewage or liquid before treatment or while under
treatment or after the impurities have been precipitated and filter the purified sewage
or liquid and again aërate it.
22
The apparatus which I prefer to use in treating sewage and other foul liquids as
hereinbefore described consists of a chamber divided by a vertical diaphragm into two
compartments hereinafter termed the "vertical compartments each of which
compartments communicates at its lower part with a third compartment in which the
precipitate collects the points of communication being provided with valves by
which the vertical compartments may be shut off from the said third compartment in
the lower part of which is an exit aperture provided with a stop cock or valve.
The said apparatus is so connected with the source of supply of the sewage or
matter to be treated as to cause the latter either to descend in one of the vertical

page_text: compartments and to ascend in and flow off from the other or to cause the said
matters to enter each of the said vertical compartments at their lower ends and to
ascend in both the said compartments and to flow off from their upper ends. In
either case the vertical compartment or compartments in which the said matters
ascend is or are or may be provided with appliances consisting of distributing pipes
arranged under shields for discharging precipitating and decolourizing and
deodorizing materials into the sewage or other liquid under treatment and with
appliances for filtering the said liquids. In order to aërate the sewage or other
liquid before passing it through the said apparatus or during its passage arrange a
reciprocatory piston connected to a tubular rod and having perforations in it and
provided with a valve closing the lower end of the tubular rod in a vessel through
which the matters to be treated pass on their way to the said apparatus or in a
suitable part of the said apparatus the action of which piston causes agitation of the
said matters and effects the introduction of air into them. Or I otherwise force air
into the said matters in any convenient manner. In order to aërate the effluent
after treating the said matters in the said apparatus I arrange obstructions in the
course of the stream of the effluent by which the said stream is broken up or I
otherwise arrange for the thorough exposure of the effluent to the action of the
atmosphere.
Dated this Twenty ninth day of September 1886.
W. T. WHITEMAN,.
Agent for the Applicant.
Improvements in the Preparation of Materials for Use in the
Treatment of Sewage and other Foul Liquids in order to
Purify them, and in the Method of Treating them, and in
Apparatus for Use in their Treatment.
I WILLIAM BROWN HALLETT of Goring in the County of Oxford Surveyor do
hereby declare the nature of this Invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following a
statement:—
In preparing materials for use in the treatment of sewage and other foul liquids
according to my invention I take spent oil shale or a carbonized mixture of clay or
shale and tar or other carbonaceous matter or a carbonized mixture of both clay and
shale and tar or other carbonaceous matter and I mix and grind either sulphate of
iron or sulphate of alumina or both sulphate of iron and sulphate of alumina with the
spent oil shale or with either of the said carbonized mixtures.
The matter hereinbefore termed spent oil shale is the carbonized residuum
resulting from the ordinary manufacture of mineral oil from shale or resulting from
any manufacture in which oil shale is subjected to heat sufficient to drive off the oil 4

page_text: or oily constituents thereof and under the conditions necessary for the carbonization
of those of the constituents which are not driven off.
The carbonized mixture of clay and carbonaceous matter herein before referred to
may be manufactured as described in the specification of Letters Patent No. 13818
granted to Arthur Angell and dated 18 October 1884 or
may be otherwise
manufactured and any carbonized mixture of clay or earthy matter and carbonaceous
matter is suitable for use as hereinbefore described whatever kinds of the said matters
be used in the preparation of the said mixtures and whatever be the proportions of
the said matters in the said mixtures.
'
The sulphate of iron and sulphate of alumina which 1 use are in the ordinary
commercial form.
The spent oil shale or the carbonized mixtures (which I hereinafter refer to
generally as the carbonized matter) and the sulphates may be added together in any
suitable proportions having regard to the effect which the resulting material is
required to produce and to the nature of the action of the said matters which is as
follows:-
:-
The sulphates produce coagulation of the matters in suspension and solution in the
foul liquids under treatment and bring the said matters into a flocculent form and
deodorize or partially deodorize the same the extent of deodorization produced
depending on the quantity or proportion of the sulphates used in the treatment and
the carbonized matters carry down the flocculent coagulum thus produced and assist
in deodorizing the said liquids the joint action of the sulphates and the carbonized
matter of which the said material is composed being to purify and clarify the said
liquids. For the purpose of purifying ordinary town sewage the said material may
be prepared by adding together about two parts by weight of the carbonized matter
and about three parts by weight of one or other or both of the sulphates but as will
be understood by the foregoing the range of variation of the proportions is practically
unlimited.
A convenient method of manufacturing the said material is to dissolve the sulphate
or sulphates in water and to add the solution to a quantity of the carbonized matter
after grinding the latter but the sulphates in the commercial form may be added to
the carbonized matter and the whole be ground together.
The kind of carbonized matter which I prefer to use in the manufacture of the
material herein before described is spent oil shale.
In treating sewage and other foul liquids with the materials prepared as herein-
before described I prefer to make the sewage or liquid alkaline if it be not already so
and I add a quantity of the said materials to the matters to be treated either in
ordinary precipitating tanks or in any other suitable apparatus but I prefer to add
the said materials to the matters to be treated while they are flowing through or before
they pass into apparatus constructed or arranged so as to admit of the impurities
precipitated by the action of the said materials collecting in the said apparatus while
the purified matters flow off.
The purifying material hereinbefore described may be used in the proportion of
from grains to twenty grains to each gallon of the sewage or other matter to be
treated the proportions being varied according to the strength of the said sewage or
other matter and the degree of purification required.
The apparatus which I prefer to use in treating sewage and other foul liquids
consists of a chamber divided by a vertical diaphragm into two compartments
hereinafter termed the "vertical compartments" in the lower part of which chamber
or in a third compartment communicating with the said vertical compartments the
precipitate collects. In some cases I arrange valves in the said chamber by which
the upper part thereof or the said vertical compartments may be shut off from the
lower part of the said third compartment. In the said lower part of the chamber or
in the said third compartment in which the sludge collects I form an exit aperture
which I provide with a stop cock or valve.
The said apparatus is so connected with the source of supply of the sewage or
matter to be treated as to cause the latter either to descend in one of the vertical

page_text: compartments and to ascend in and flow off from the other or to cause the said
matters to enter each of the said vertical compartments at their lower ends and to
ascend in both the said compartments and to flow off from their upper ends. In
either case the vertical compartment or compartments in which the said matters
ascend is or are or may be provided with appliances for filtering the said liquids.
In some cases I provide means for aërating the sewage or other liquid and mixing the
purifying materials therewith during its passage through the apparatus. For this
purpose I arrange a reciprocatory piston connected to a tubular rod and having
perforations in it and provided with a valve covering the lower end of the tubular rod
in a suitable part of the said apparatus the action of which piston causes agitation of
the said matters and effects the introduction of air into them and the mixture of the
said materials with the said matters.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings is a plan and Figure 2 is a vertical section
(taken on the line A Figure 1) of apparatus constructed as hereinbefore described
the form of the apparatus being that in which the matters under treatment first
descend and afterwards ascend in passing through it a is the vertical diaphragm
b c are the vertical compartments d is the third compartment ee are the valves
which serve to shut off communication between the compartments bc and the
compartment d. ff are weighted levers by which the said valves are raised and
lowered from the outside and retained in their open position (as indicated in dotted
lines) when required 9 is a frame secured within the apparatus on which the said
valves rest when closed as shown. h is the exit for the precipitate or sludge which
exit is provided with a cock or valve or other suitable means (not shown in the
drawings) for closing the said exit when necessary i is the filter which rests on
ledges at the upper part of the compartment c. k is the reciprocatory piston which
works in the upper part of the compartment b. k¹ k₁ are the perforations in the
said piston. is the tubular piston rod. m is the valve arranged under the lower
end of the aperture in the said rod which valve being jointed at one edge to the
piston falls away from the opening in the piston rod at each upward stroke of the
piston and at each downward stroke covers the said opening. n (see Figure 2) is
the conduit from which the inatter to be treated flows into the apparatus o. is a lip
or shoot by which the treated matters pass therefrom. n¹ is a hopper opening into
the conduit n into which hopper the purifying materials to be mixed with the
matter to be treated are fed which materials are preferably mixed with water or a
portion of the matter to be treated before being fed into the said hopper.
The said apparatus may be formed or built of plate iron or other suitable material
and in order to facilitate precipitation I prefer to form the said apparatus so that the
sectional area in a horizontal plane is greater at the lower part than at the upper
part as shown but I do not limit myself to this construction as an apparatus having
parallel sides may be used. The filter i may be made of any suitable materials
secured in a frame of about the same size as the upper part of the vertical compart-
ment in which it is placed and being supported merely by the ledges jj may be
readily removed when necessary. The piston is connected by its rod to any suitable
motor by which reciprocatory motion may be communicated to it.
In using the said apparatus the exit aperture h is closed the valves ff are opened
the matters to be treated are caused to flow through the conduit n the purifying
material in the required relative proportion is fed into the hopper n¹ and reciprocatory
motion is imparted to the piston / the action of which piston thoroughly intermixes
the said material and the matter, under treatment. While the matter under
treatment is passing through the apparatus the action herein before described of the
purifying materials takes place the resulting precipitant or sludge collecting in the
chamber d. •
As the treated matter rises in the chamber c it passes through the filter i and passes
from the apparatus over the lip or shoot o. In order to remove the sludge
accumulating in the chamber d the valves ff are lowered to the position shown in
Figure 1 and the exit aperture h is opened when the sludge passes through the said
aperture.

page_text: The apparatus may be of any convenient proportions provided the depth and the
proportional area in cross section be sufficient to allow of action of the purifying
materials during the passage through it of the matters to be treated. I prefer to form
the chamber in which the said matters ascend of considerably greater sectional area
than that in which they descend as shown in the drawings but this is not necessary
when the whole apparatus is of such a size relatively to the rate of supply of the
matter to be treated as to insure a sufficiently slow passage of the said matters through
the apparatus.
Although I prefer to use the valves ff and filter i and piston k the said parts are
not essential and may therefore be dispensed with.
Figure 3 of the accompanying Drawings is a central vertical section of apparatus
constructed as hereinbefore described the form of the apparatus being that in which
the matters under treatment pass in at the lower part and ascend and flow off from
the upper part.
'
p is the chamber in which the matters to be purified are acted on by the purifying
materials q is the vertical diaphragm by which the said chamber is divided into
compartments r s. tt are conduits by which the matters to be treated are conveyed
to the said compartments u is the part of the apparatus in which the sludge or
precipitate collects wis the exit for the sludge x are the exits for the treated
inatters the source of supply of which is at a higher level than the said exits. y-y are
pipes by which the purifying materials are conveyed to the matters to be treated.
In using this apparatus the purifying materials are mixed with a sufficient quantity of
water or of the matter to be treated to produce a mixture which will flow freely and
the mixture is run into the pipes y y while the matter to be treated is passing into the
compartments r s. The said apparatus may if desired be provided with filters at the
upper part and with valves for separating the part u in which the sludge collects from
the compartments rs as shown in Figure 2. The exit w is provided with means for
closing it when necessary.
Instead of passing the purifying materials into the matter to be treated through the
pipes y y the said materials may be added to or mixed with the said matters on their
way to the apparatus.
Where desirable a number of the chambers constructed as hereinbefore described
may be arranged for use at the same time the stream of the matter to be treated being
divided and its flow regulated so as to cause each of the chambers to be fed at the
rate required to admit of proper action of the purifying materials on the portion of
the said matter passing through each of the said chambers or several of the said
chambers may be so arranged that the matter under treatment passes through two or
more before being allowed to flow away. Where several of the said chambers are
arranged near each other the several exits may be connected to a pipe or pipes
provided with valves or other means of cutting off communication between the said
exits and the said pipes through which pipes the sludge from the several chambers or
any one or more of them may be allowed to flow or be drawn or forced by means of a
pump or other suitable apparatus.
The apparatus described with reference to Figure 3 may be formed smaller at the
upper part than at the lower part as herein before described with reference to
Figures 1 and 2.
Having now particularly described and ascertained 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 manufacture or preparation of materials herein before described for use
in the treatment of sewage and other foul liquids in order to purify them which
manufacture consists in the mixture of either spent oil shale or a carbonized mixture
of clay or shale and carbonaceous matter or a carbonized mixture of both clay and
shale and carbonaceous matter with either commercial sulphate of iron or with both
commercial sulphate of iron and commercial sulphate of alumina.
Secondly The improvements hereinbefore described in the method of treating

page_text: sewage and other foul liquids which improvements consist in adding purifying
materials manufactured or prepared as hereinbefore described to the matters to be
treated.
Thirdly The improvements hereinbefore described in apparatus for use in the
treatment of sewage and other foul liquids in order to purify them which improve-
ments consist in forming or arranging such apparatus so that the matter under
treatment shall ascend in a continuous stream on its way through or out of the said
apparatus and pass off from the upper part thereof after treatment and so that the
sludge or precipitate separated from the stream of matter under treatment while
passing through the apparatus and collecting in the lower part of the said apparatus
may be removed while the said matter is so passing.
Fourthly The apparatus herein before described with reference to Figures 1 and 2
of the accompanying Drawings.
Fifthly The apparatus herein before described with reference to Figure 3 of the
accompanying Drawings.
Dated this Twenty ninth day of June 1887.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.