Improvements in and relating to Evaporating Apparatus, chiefly Designed for Obtaining Salt from Brine.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Apr., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 15th Feb., 1897-Accepted, 20th Mar., 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Evaporating Apparatus, chiefly
Designed for Obtaining Salt from Brine.
I, WILLIAM SHEDLOCK, of 37 Landor Road, Clapham, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to evaporating apparatus which is chiefly designed for
obtaining salt from brine.
An important feature of my said invention consists in the employment of one
or more tubes or troughs which are heated externally and through which the brine
is caused to flow, and in each of which is arranged a suitable conveyor for the
purpose of removing the salt as it is deposited.
I prefer to combine several of the said tubes with a steam-boiler or generator
in such a manner that they extend through the steam-space of such boiler or
generator. By this means I provide for the continuous deposition of salt and
removal of the same, and I effect considerable economy in the consumption of
fuel; I am also enabled to readily raise the temperature of the brine to, and
maintain it at such a degree as to ensure the rapid evaporation of the liquid and
deposition of the salt; and I obtain the further advantages of economy of space,
there being no necessity for using an evaporating pan in addition to a steam-boiler,
and of facility of regulation of the heat, which can be easily varied by regulating
or controlling the flow of the brine, or by forcing or checking the fires.
When I arrange the said tubes in a steam-boiler as above mentioned, I find it
advantageous to drive the conveyors in the several tubes by means of suitable gearing
from a common driving-shaft, and to provide at each end of the boiler a chamber or
casing which is common to all the tubes, one of the said chambers or casings being
provided with an inlet for the brine and the other with an outlet for the vapour.
The salt removed from the tubes by the conveyors falls into a trough or channel
forming a part of one of the said chambers or casings, along which it is forced by
another conveyor into the trunk or casing of an inclined conveyor or elevator,
whereby it is raised above the level of the brine in the said tubes and delivered into a
suitable receptacle or into the moulds. By this arrangement I am enabled to ensure
that the liquid shall be sufficiently drained from the salt before the latter is discharged
into the moulds.
I find it advantageous to employ screw-conveyors in the said tubes and to connect
the same by means of worm-gearing with a driving-shaft extending horizontally
between the rows of tubes.
In some instances I arrange the said tubes with their conveyors in a separate shell
or casing through which is circulated steam or hot water from a suitable boiler or
heater. In other instances I construct the apparatus with one or more troughs or
channels for the brine, which troughs or channels form parts of the walls or sides of a
heating chamber, each trough or channel being provided with a suitable conveyor for
discharging the salt into another trough or channel, from which it is conveyed and
discharged into suitable receptacle or into the moulds.
Dated this 15th day of April 1896.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in and relating to Evaporating Apparatus, chiefly
Designed for Obtaining Salt from Brine.
I, WILLIAM SHEDLOCK, of 37 Landor Road, Clapham, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer, 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 statement :-
My invention relates to evaporating apparatus which is chiefly designed for
obtaining salt from brine.
In the Specification filed in respect of my Application for Letters Patent dated
13th April 1896, No. 7796, I have described apparatus for this purpose in which the
salt, as it is deposited on the heated surfaces of the evaporating vessel or pan, is
automatically and continuously removed therefrom into an external conduit and then
conveyed away and elevated in the said conduit and discharged therefrom at a higher
level than that of the liquid in the said vessel or pan.
My present invention comprises improvements in apparatus of this kind or class.
An important feature of my present invention consists in the employment of one or
more tubes or troughs which are heated externally and through which the brine or
other liquid is caused to flow, and suitable means for automatically and continuously
removing the salt or other substance deposited therein into a chamber connected with
the said tubes or troughs, and then elevating it to and discharging it at a higher level
than that of the liquid in the said chamber.
I prefer to combine several of the said tubes or troughs with a steam-boiler or
generator in such a manner that they extend through the steam-space of such boiler
or generator. By this means I provide for the continuous deposition and removal of
the salt, and I effect considerable economy in the consumption of fuel; I am also
enabled to readily raise the temperature of the brine to, and maintain it at such a
degree as to ensure the rapid evaporation of the liquid and deposition of the salt; and
I obtain the further advantages of economy of space, there being no necessity for
using an evaporating pan in addition to a steam-boiler, and of facility of regulation of
the heat, which can be easily varied by regulating or controlling the flow of the brine,
or by forcing or checking the fires, or, if necessary by diminishing the steam-pressure
by allowing some of the steam to escape.
In the accompanying drawings
have shown how my said invention may be
conveniently and advantageously carried into practice.
Figure 1 is a partial front elevation,
Figure 2 a partial rear elevation, and
Figure 3 a longitudinal section, showing a steam-generator having one form or
arrangement of my improved apparatus combined therewith.
Figure 4 is an end elevation showing another form or modification of my improved
apparatus, and
Figure 5 is a partial end elevation illustrating a further modification of my said
invention.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
A is a steam-boiler in which are titted evaporating tubes B extending longitu-
dinally through the steam-space or through the upper part of the water-space of
the boiler. These tubes open at the front end of the boiler into an inlet-chamber C
to which the brine is supplied through a pipe D, and at the rear end of the boiler into
a collecting chamber E, which is preferably made somewhat larger than the
chamber in order to provide for the free escape of the steam or vapour from
the brine, which steam or vapour is conducted away through a pipe F. The
chambers C and E are provided with bearings C, E respectively, in which are

page_text: supported the shafts G₁ of screw-conveyors G, working in the tubes B. These
shafts G extend through stuffing-boxes C and are provided with worm-wheels G*
driven by worms H2 mounted on a common driving-shaft H which turns in bearings H₁
and is provided with a driving-pulley H³, whereby rotary motion about their axes can:
he communicated to the said conveyors.
The salt deposited in the. tubes B, will be automatically and continuously moved
along the said tubes by the conveyors G, and delivered from the rear ends thereof
into a trough or channel E2 forming the lower part of the chamber or casing E. In.
this trough or channel is another conveyor J whereby the salt will be continuously
moved along the same into an inclined trunk or casing K containing a conveyor.
or elevator L, whereby the salt is raised to a higher level than that of the brine in the
tubes B and chambers C, E, and discharged through an outlet K' into moulds or other:
suitable receptacles. By this arrangement I provide for the continuous removal of the
salt without escape of the brine from the said tubes and chambers, and ensure that.
the liquid shall be sufficiently drained from the salt before the latter is discharged into.
the moulds. Motion may be cominunicated to the conveyor J by gearing from the
shaft H, or it may be driven independently of the said shaft.
With the above described form or arrangement of my apparatus, the steam from
the boiler may be utilized for driving a pumping or other engine or for other
purposes, and, by reason of the evaporating tubes being enclosed within the boiler,.
very little heat will be lost by radiation.
In the arrangement shown in Figure 4, the evaporating tubes B extend through.
a chamber or jacket A' which is heated from an independent source by means.
of steam, hot-water, or other heating medium, which enters the said chamber
through an inlet-pipe A and is discharged from the same through an outlet-pipe A.
The said tubes are provided with screw-conveyors and open into chambers at their
ends as above described, the collecting chamber E being provided with a screw-
conveyor J and communicating with an inclined trunk or casing K containing an
elevator L. In this case I preferably only allow the brine to fill the tubes B to
about one-half of their depth so as to provide as large a surface as practicable for
evaporation. If desired, a current of heated or dried air can be passed over the
surface of the liquid by any convenient means to carry away the vapour and thus
expedite the process.
sometimes provide each horizontal row of the evaporating tubes B, in a
boiler such as is shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, with a separate supply and.
collecting chamber, so as to permit of the said tubes being filled to only one-half
of their depth.
In Figure 5 I bave shown a further modification of my invention, in which the
boiler A is made with external troughs or channels at the top thereof in which work
screw-conveyors as above described, the arrangements for supplying the brine and
collecting and removing the salt being similar to those described with reference to
Figures 1, 2 and 3, with the exception that the inlet and outlet chambers C and E are
open instead of being closed at the top.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
First. An apparatus for the purposes above specified, in which the brine or other
liquid is fed into one or more tubes or troughs heated externally and the salt or other
deposited substance is automatically and continuously conveyed from the said tubes
or troughs into a chamber or casing connected therewith and then elevated to and
discharged at a higher level than that of the liquid therein, substantially as herein-
before described.
Second. An apparatus for the purposes above specified, comprising a steam-
generator formed with one or more evaporating tubes or troughs, and suitable
means for automatically and continuously removing the deposited substance from the
said tubes or troughs.

page_text: Third. The combination of evaporating tubes or troughs heated externally and
opening into chambers at their ends, screw-conveyors working in the said tubes or
troughs and in the collecting chamber at the discharge-end thereof, and suitable
means for elevating the deposited substance to and discharging it at a higher
level than that of the liquid in the said chamber, for the purposes above specified.
Fourth. An apparatus for the purposes above specified, comprising a chamber or
casing provided with means for the circulation of a heating medium through the same,
one or more evaporating tubes extending through the said heating chamber or casing
and opening into a collecting chamber, and suitable means for automatically and
continuously removing the deposited substance and elevating it to and discharging it
at a higher level than that of the liquid in the said collecting chamber, substantially
as hereinbefore described.
Fifth. The improved apparatus constructed substantially as described with reference
to either of the forms or modifications illustrated in the accompanying drawings and
operating as, and for the purposes, above specified.
Dated the 15th day of February 1897.
D. YOUNG & Co.,
11 & 12 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.