IMPROVEMENTS IN DEODORIZING AND PURIFYING SEWAGE AND OTHER EXCREMENTITIOUS MATTERS, AND IN OBTAINING CERTAIN USEFUL PRODUCTS THEREFROM.
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edwin Hills, of Warsash, in the County of
Southampton, Manufacturing Chemist, and Benjamin Biggs, of
No. 3, Laurence Pountney Hill, in the City of London, Merchant,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DEODORIZING AND PURIFYING
SEWAGE AND OTHER EXCREMENTITIOUS MATTERS, AND IN OBTAINING CERTAIN
USEFUL PRODUCTS THEREFROM.
"
Sealed the 16th May 1873, and dated the 20th November 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edwin Hills and
Benjamin Biggs at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 20th November 1872.
We, EDWIN HILLS, of Warsash, in the County of Southampton,
Manufacturing Chemist, and BENJAMIN BIGGS, of No. 3, Laurence
Pountney Hill, in the City of London, Merchant, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DEODORIZING And Purify-
ING SEWAGE AND OTHER EXCREMENTITIOUS MATTERS, AND IN OBTAINING CERTAIN
USEFUL PRODUCTS THEREFROM," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists in treating sewage, night soil, and other excre-
mentitious matters in the ways herein-after described so as to deodorize

page_text: and purify such sewage, night soil, or other matters, and to obtain
manure, ammonia, and sulphur as residual products.
According to one of the processes constituting our Invention we
proceed as follows:-We construct air-tight tanks or vessels which com-
municate with one another by means of pipes passing from the upper
part of one tank to the lower part of the next tank. Into the first of
these tanks we pass the sewage or other matters to be treated, with
which we mix a sufficient quantity of lime to set free the ammonia. We
then force atmospheric air (by any known suitable means) through the
said sewage or matters, which air precipitates or promotes the precipi-
tation of the solid parts of such sewage or matters, and then passes over
to the second tank or vessel, carrying with it sulphuretted hydrogen and
ammoniacal gases.
In the second tank we put sulphurous acid (in
vapour or in solution), through which the aforesaid gases are caused to
pass, which acid will fix the ammonia and decompose the sulphuretted
hydrogen, and we thus obtain sulphite of ammonia and sulphur. Or
we put in the said second tank sulphuric or muriatic or other acid suit-
able for fixing the ammonia, through which acid we pass the aforesaid
gases, and we pass the sulphuretted hydrogen and other uncondensed
gases through sulphurous acid in vapour or solution, or through hydrated
oxide of iron contained in a third tank, and thus decompose the said
sulphuretted hydrogen and obtain sulphur therefrom.
We prefer to arrange two or more sewage tanks in connection with
each series of acid tanks and to work the said sewage tanks alternately,
so that while the sewage contained in one tank is being treated the other
tank is being charged with sewage. These tanks are furnished with the
necessary pipes and valves for the introduction of the lime and air, for
the ingress of the sewage, for the egress of the purified effluent, and for
the withdrawal of the sewage precipitate or sludge, which may be dried
and used as a manure.
Where hydrated oxide of iron is used as aforesaid the tank in which it
is to be used is furnished with man-holes for the insertion and with-
drawal of the said oxide.
According to another process instead of forcing atmospheric air
through the sewage or other excrementitious matters in the first tank,
we force through such sewage or matters (by any known suitable means)
sulphurous acid (in vapour or in solution), and thereby precipitate or pro-

page_text: mote the precipitation of the solid parts of such sewage or matters, and
also fix the ammonia and decompose the sulphuretted bydrogen and
obtain sulphur therefrom. The sewage precipitate or sludge thus
obtained may either be dried and used as a manure, or it may be burnt
so as to cause it to give off its sulphur in the form of sulphurous acid
gas or be otherwise utilized. In this last described process the acid tanks
herein-before referred to are not required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edwin Hills and Benjamin Biggs in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 20th May 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDWIN
HILLS, of Warsash, in the County of Southampton, Manufacturing
Chemist, and BENJAMIN BIGGS, of No. 3, Laurence Pountney Hill, in
the City of London, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in
the thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto us, the said Edwin Hills and Benjamin
Biggs, Her special license that we, the said Edwin Hills and Benjamin
Biggs, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we,
the said Edwin Hills and Benjamin Biggs, our executors, adminis-
trators, 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 DEODORIZING
AND PURIFYING SEWAGE AND OTHER EXCREMENTITIOUS MATTERS, AND IN OBTAINING
CERTAIN USEFUL PRODUCTS THEREFROM," upon the condition (amongst others)
that we, the said Edwin Hills and Benjamin Biggs, our executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their hands
and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, should par-
ticularly 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Benjamin Biggs, on behalf of
myself and the said Edwin Hills, 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 state-
ment thereof, that is to say :—
Our Invention consists in treating sewage, night soil, and other
excrementitious matters in the ways herein-after described so as to
deodorize and purify such sewage, night soil, or other matters, and to
obtain manure, ammonia, and sulphur, or some of them as residual
products.
According to one of the processes constituting our Invention we
proceed as follows:-We construct air-tight tanks or vessels which
communicate with one another by means of pipes passing from the
upper part of one tank to the lower part of the next tank. Into the
first of these tanks we pass the sewage or other matters to be treated,
with which we mix a sufficient quantity of lime to set free the ammonia.
We then force atmospheric air through the said sewage or matters,
which air precipitates or promotes the precipitation of the solid parts of
such sewage or matters, and then passes over to the second tank or
vessel, carrying with it sulphuretted hydrogen and ammoniacal gases.
In the second tank we put sulphurous acid (in vapour or in solution),
through or into which the aforesaid gases are caused to pass, which acid will
fix the ammonia and decompose the sulphuretted hydrogen, and we thus
obtain sulphite of ammonia and sulphur, or instead of decomposing the
sulphuretted hydrogen and ammoniacal gases, as above described, we put
in the said second tank sulphuric or muriatic or other acid suitable for
fixing the ammonia, through or into which acid we pass the aforesaid
gases; and we pass the sulphuretted hydrogen and other uncondensed
gases from this tank through or into sulphurous acid in vapour or in
solution, or over or through hydrated oxide of iron contained in a third
tank, and thus decompose the said sulphuretted hydrogen and obtain
sulphur, or where oxide of iron is used sulphuret of iron from which
sulphuric acid may be obtained.
We prefer to arrange two or more sewage tanks in connection with
the acid tank or tanks described, and to work the said sewage tanks
alternately so that while the sewage contained in one tank is being
treated the other tank is being charged with sewage. These tanks are

page_text: furnished with the necessary pipes, valves, and openings for the intro-
duction of the lime and air for the ingress of the sewage, for the egress
of the purified effluent, and for the withdrawal or removal of the sewage
precipitate or sludge which may be dried and used as a manure.
Where hydrated oxide of iron is used as aforesaid the chamber in
which it is to be used is furnished with man-holes for the insertion and
removal of the said oxide.
According to another process, instead of forcing atmospheric air
through the sewage or other excrementitious matters in the first tank, we
force into such sewage or matters sulphurous acid (in vapour or in
solution), and thereby precipitate or promote the precipitation of the
solid parts of such sewage or matters, which is or are thus deodorized,
and also fix the ammonia and decompose the sulphuretted hydrogen and
obtain sulphur therefrom. The sewage precipitate, or sludge thus
obtained may either be dried and used as a manure, or it may be burnt
so as to cause it to give off its sulphur in the form of sulphurous acid
gas, or be otherwise utilized. In this last described process the acid
tanks herein-before referred to are not required.
Having now described the nature of our Invention we will proceed to
describe the manner in which the same is to be performed, reference
being had to the accompanying Drawings and to the letters and figures
marked thereon, in respect of which we would observe that the same
letters indicate the same parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 represents in vertical longitudinal section (taken on the
line A, B, Figure 2, an arrangement of apparatus suitable for carrying
into effect the process herein-before first described; Figure 2 is a plan
of the said apparatus. a¹, a², are tanks into which the sewage or other
matters is or are alternately run through branch pipes b¹, b³, respectively,
which pipes are bolted to the sewage main b. The pipes b', b², are
furnished with valves 6³, b', for admitting and shutting off the sewage
as herein-after described; c¹, c², are hoppers through which the lime is
put into the tanks, which hoppers are furnished with valves c³, one of
which is seen in Figure 1; d¹, d², d², d², are perforated pipes bolted to
branch pipes d³, d', furnished with valves d³, do, which pipes are bolted
to a main through which air is forced by a pump fan or other suitable
blowing apparatus ; e¹, e³, are pipes which communicate with the pipe e³,
by which the gases are conveyed from the tanks a¹, a², to the tank f.

page_text: These pipes are respectively furnished with stop-cocks. e, e³, eª, is a
spreader; g', g², are man-holes through which the sewage mud is removed
from the tanks; h, h², are pipes through which the sewage or other
matters is or are run out after treatment; h³, h', are the valves thereof;
i is a pipe through which the sulphurous acid or sulphurous acid gas is
introduced into the tank f; i¹ is the stop-cock thereof, and "is the
spreader; j is a pipe through which the air or gas passes out of the
tank f; j is a stop-cock, and j is a test tap; k is a tap through which
the sulphite of ammonia produced is drawn off; 1, 1, 1, 1, 1³, are test
taps; m is a man-hole through which the sulphur is removed.
In using this apparatus we first close the valves b', h³, and ď³, and
then run a charge of sewage into the tank a' through the pipe b'. We
then close the valve b', and draw off through the tap l' a given quantity
of the sewage as a sample, and test it to see how much combined
ammonia it contains, and we mix with the said sample a sufficient
quantity of lime to liberate such ammonia. We then note the propor-
tion of lime thus added to the sample, and add lime in the same propor-
tion through the hopper c¹ to the sewage in the tank. We then shut
the valve and the cock e³, and open the cock d³ so as to turn on the
blast of air which precipitates or promotes the precipitation of the solid
matters in the sewage, and drives off the ammoniacal and sulphuretted
hydrogen gases which pass over to the tank f, into which we run a small
quantity of sulphurous acid through the pipe i. As the said acid
becomes saturated with ammonia (which we ascertain by drawing off a
sample from time to time through one of the test taps 1, 1, 1, and testing
it) we add more acid till the tank is nearly full. We then open the test
tap and test the escaping air or gas, and if we find that it contains
ammonia we shut off the blast of air, shut the stop-cock e*, and draw off
the contents of the tank (now sulphite of ammonia), and then run a
little fresh sulphurous acid into the tank and continue the process as
before. We pass the air through the charge of sewage until on testing
it we find it free or nearly free from ammonia and sulphuretted hydrogen,
when we turn off the blast, open the valves c³ and h³, and run out the
purified effluent, which we pass into a river or dispose of in any other
suitable way.
The sewage mud (which may be dried and used as a
manure) is removed from time to time by a workman who enters the
tank through the man-hole g¹. While this is being done the tank a² is
charged with sewage, which is purified as herein-before described with

page_text: any undecomposed gases escape from the said chamber; y' is a test tap;
and y is a stop-cock.
In using the apparatus described with reference to Figures 3 and 4,
we pass the sewage or other matters into the tank a¹ or the tank a², and
having added the lime we force air through the contents of the tank
as herein-before described. From such tank the ammoniacal and
sulphuretted hydrogen gases are passed through the acid in the tank o,
which acid fixes the ammonia. From this tank the sulphuretted
hydrogen passes by the pipes to the tank t, where it is decomposed
by the sulphurous acid and the sulphur is precipitated, and the air and
any undecomposed gases escape through the pipe 1. We test the acids
in the tank from time to time, and when we find them become neutral
we add more acid. When the sulphuretted hydrogen from the tank o
is passed through the chamber w instead of through the tank t the
sulphur is taken up by the oxide of iron, and sulphuret of iron is
formed, which sulphuret may be burnt for the manufacture of sulphuric
acid, or be otherwise utilized. When we find on testing the air or gas
escaping from the chamber w that it contains sulphuretted hydrogen
we remove the spent oxide of iron and add fresh, first shutting the stop-
cock x¹.
In carrying into effect the third process herein-before described we
use the sewage tanks a¹, a², Figures 1 and 2, as follows:-We do away
with the lime hoppers c¹, c³, and the pipes e¹, e², e³, and substitute for
the latter escape pipes with stop-cocks and test taps, and we run
sewage into one of the tanks while the other is being emptied, as
herein-before described, but instead of adding lime to such sewage and
forcing air through the mixture, we force through the pipes d¹, d¹, or
the pipes d², d', (as the case may be) sulphurous acid (in vapour or in
solution), and thus precipitate or promote the precipitation of the solid
matters in such sewage (which is thus deodorized) and the sulphur, both
of which fall to the bottom of the tank, and we fix the ammonia in the
form of sulphite of ammonia. The sewage precipitate or sludge thus
obtained may either be dried and used as a manure or it may be burnt,
so as to cause it to give off its sulphur in the form of sulphurous acid
gas or be otherwise utilized.
We prefer to produce the sulphurous acid gas used in the foregoing
processes by burning sulphur in a cylinder, through which we force

page_text: atmospheric air by means of an air pump, a fan, or any other blowing
apparatus, from which cylinder the sulphurous acid gas passes by a pipe
or pipes to the tank in which it is to be used. By this process (which ·|
is old) we get the pressure necessary to force the sulphurous acid or
sulphurous acid gas through the contents of the tank and also the
power of proportioning the supply of the said acid or gas to the work
which it has to do. This is important, because if more gas or acid be
passed into the tank than is necessary to neutralize or decompose the
ammoniacal and sulphuretted hydrogen gases, there is a waste of acid;
and on the other hand, if an insufficient quantity be supplied the gases
are not purified to the same extent. We therefore test the air or
gas which passes out from the tank, and if it give an acid reaction
we decrease the speed of the blowing apparatus or shut off the
blast for a time, and thereby diminish the supply of sulphurous
acid or gas; but if the test show an alkaline reaction we increase
the speed of the blowing apparatus and thereby increase the quantity
of sulphurous acid or gas passed into the tank, until the test
shows the air or gas which escapes from the tank to be sufficiently
purified.
Having now described the nature of our Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood, that
we make no claim to any of the details or stages of the processes
herein-before described, separately considered, neither do we make any
claim to the exact arrangements of apparatus herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, as any other suitable
arrangements may be used for carrying out our said Invention ; but we
claim as our Invention,―
Firstly. The improvements in treating sewage and other excremen-
titious matters, herein-before described with reference to Figures 1
and 2 of the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, passing such
sewage or matters into a closed tank, mixing lime with it or them and
forcing air through the mixture; and condensing or decomposing in a
second closed tank the gases evolved from such mixture by forcing
them through sulphurous acid in such second tank, essentially as and for
the purposes described.
Secondly. The improvements in treating sewage and other excremen-
titious matters, herein-before described with reference to Figures 3
and 4 of the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, passing such

page_text: sewage or matters into a closed tank and mixing lime with it or them,
forcing air through the mixture, passing the gases evolved from the
said mixture into a second closed tank, and there fixing the ammonia
which they contain by passing them through sulphuric, muriatic, or
other suitable acid, and passing the sulphuretted hydrogen from this
second tank through sulphurous acid in a third closed tank or through
or over oxide of iron in a closed chamber, essentially as and for the
purposes described.
Thirdly. The improvements herein-before last described in treating
sewage and other excrementitious matters, that is to say, passing it or
them into a closed tank, and there forcing sulphurous acid through it or
them, essentially as and for the purposes described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Benjamin Biggs, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of May,
in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
H. H. MURDOCH,
7, Staple Inn,
London.
B. BIGGS.
(L.S.)