Improvements in Saturators used in the Manufacture of Sulphate of Ammonia.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Apr., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 5th Jan., 1891-Accepted, 21st Feb., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Saturators used in the Manufacture of Sulphate of
Ammonia.
I, THOMAS WILTON, Manager, of Beckton Gas Works, Beckton, in the County
of Essex, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :—
My invention relates to certain improvements in saturators used in the manu-
facture of sulphate of ammonia and has for its object to provide a more efficient and
economical apparatus than has hitherto been in use by which also the process of
manufacture is continuous.
According to my invention I employ a closed vessel of suitable strength and
material into which the ammonia supply pipes pass and terminate at a suitable level
above its lower part or parts upon which the sulphate of ammonia is deposited, and
the acid pipe is introduced at any convenient point.
The vessel may be rectangular but it is more convenient and advantageous to make
it of an inverted or T shape in which the vertical member forms the depositing
chamber or well, but I do not confine myself to any particular shape so long as
sufficient space (in proportion to the capacity of any manufacturing plant) is left
between the discharge of the ammonia pipe or pipes and the bottom part or parts
so that there may be more or less clear liquid about the point of ammonia discharge,
and the deposit will take place below and clear of same. The deposited salt may
be discharged by an ordinary blow off pipe and tap in or about the bottom but
find it preferable to lift and discharge it at a higher level say about two feet below
the level of the acid, the pipe being carried nearly to the bottom of the vessel;
thus I can deliver the salts into trucks for conveyance to the drainers or stores, and
the trucks may have perforated bottoms for draining as they receive and travel:
or, for the discharge I may apply the automatic ejector which is the subject matter
of an application made by me and another for Letters Patent No. 19225 of
November 29th 1889, or I may adopt other suitable means.
By my improved arrangement one saturator will suffice for four open trough
saturators of the usual construction because being perfectly closed no splashing
over of the liquids or other disadvantage occurs and therefore no stoppage or
change need take place and the process is continuous; further no manual labour
is required either during the manufacture or the discharge of the sulphate of
ammonia.
J. C. CHAPMAN,
Agent.
COMPLETE
SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Saturators used in the Manufacture of Sulphate of
Ammonia.
I, THOMAS WILTON, Manager, of the Beckton Tar and Liquor Works,
Beckton, in the County of Essex, 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 certain improvements in saturators used in the manu-
facture of sulphate of ammonia and has for its object to provide a more efficient

page_text: many a
are gained and also the process of manufacture is continuous.
I will fully describe my invention in reference to the accompanying drawings in
which
Figs. 1 and 3 are vertical sections through the centre of saturators constructed
according to my improvements:
Fig. 2 is a front elevation of Fig. 1, and
Fig. 4 is a plan of Fig. 3 with cover removed.
Similar letters refer to similar parts in all of these figures.
According to my invention I employ a vessel S perfectly closed by a covers all
of suitable strength and materials. The said vessel may be square or rectangular
as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2 or it may be of circular form as in Figures 3 and 4,
but I do not confine myself to any particular shape. Into this vessel the
ammonia supply pipes A are led and the discharge is arranged at such a level that
a sufficient cubical space (in proportion to the capacity of any manufacturing
plant) intervenes between the level of the said discharge and the lowest part or
parts of the vessel.
For this purpose it is convenient and advantageous to make the saturator of
an inverted or T shape as illustrated in which the vertical member forms a
depositing chamber or well C, towards which the base B of the upper part is
or may with advantage be inclined. In large saturators there may be two or
more such depositing chambers. The ammonia pipe or pipes A Å inside the
saturator may be either straight or curved according to circumstances as illustrated,
and made to follow the inclines of the base B and provided with the usual
discharging orifices; the acid pipe a and the escape pipe a' for waste gases may be
arranged at any convenient points. The object of my improved arrangement is to
ensure the circulation of more or less clear liquid in the neighbourhood of the
ammonia-discharge, while the deposit will all take place below and clear of same
and thus prevent the clogging of the ammonia discharge orifices as is usually now
the case.
The capacity of the depositing chamber or chambers C must be sufficient
to receive and contain all the salts that are deposited-it may bear a proportion to
that of the vessel S (roughly) of about 1 to 3.
The salts deposited in the chamber C may be discharged therefrom by gravity
through an ordinary blow off pipe and tap placed at or near the base as indicated at p;
by this arrangement however a certain quantity of the "mother liquor " is discharged
with the salts which has to be raised and returned to the saturator. To obviate the
raising I find it better to lift and discharge the salts at a higher level, say about
two feet above the general level of the acid, so that any liquor can drain back into
the saturator by gravity. This can be efficiently accomplished by the use of the
automatic discharger which is the subject matter of my Letters Patent No. 19225
of November 29th 1889, applied and arranged as shown at P and discharging into
drainer D or I may adopt any suitable means for discharging the salts as and
when required.
By the above described improved arrangements one saturator will suffice for four
open trough saturators of the same capacity and constructed in the usual manner,
for the following reasons: The vessel S being perfectly closed no splashing over of
the liquids can take place, neither can the noxious fumes escape into the atmosphere
about the saturator which has hitherto been unavoidable; neither need any
stoppage or change take place, and thus the process is certain, inoffensive and con-
tinuous; further no manual labour is required either during the manufacture or the
discharge of the sulphate of ammonia. It will be obvious that in practice a similar
commercial result might be obtained by leaving the top parts of the front of the
vessel S open so as to form an open trough and applying the usual fixed curtain as
shown dotted for example in Figure 1, but there is no advantage in this construc-
tion, whilst the present grave disadvantages of splashing over and the escape of
noxious fumes remain, and such a construction would be practically no improvement
on what has gone before,
r

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is
1. A saturator for use in the manufacture of sulphate of ammonia consisting of a
perfectly closed vessel in which the ammonia discharge is disposed and arranged at
such a level that sufficient cubical space intervenes between said level and the
lowest part or parts to contain all the deposited salts from which they may be
discharged by gravity or otherwise substantially as hereinbefore set forth.
2. In a saturator the use of a perfectly closed vessel with a depositing well or
wells below the level of ammonia discharge of such capacity as to contain all the
deposited salts and provided with means for discharging same therefrom substantially
as set forth.
3. Saturators constructed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described
and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
1 1
T
1001
J. C. CHAPMAN, Fel. Inst. Patent Agents,
70, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.