IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING CHLORINE OR CHLORIDES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Boyd, of Belfast, in the Kingdom of
Ireland, Manufacturing Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING CHLORINE OR CHLORIDES."
Sealed the 20th October 1853, and dated the 2nd June 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Boyd at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 2nd June 1853.
I, WILLIAM BOYD, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING CHLORINE OR CHLO-
RIDES" to be as follows:-
My improvements in the manufacture of chlorine or chlorides consist
in the application of a cast iron still or retort with leaden dome and
head to the manufacture of chlorine and chloride of lime, usually called
bleaching powder and liquid; also the chlorides of lime, potash, or soda
from the decomposition of the peroxide of manganese by means of
hydrochloric acid. The iron still is to be protected internally from the
action of the acid by means of a lining of fire tiles or fire bricks, pre-
viously boiled in coal tar, and jointed together round the inside and
bottom of the still with a cement composed of ground pipe clay, ground
mineral pitch, fine sand, and boiled linseed oil. The nozzle or empty-
ing pipe of such still is also protected from the action of the acid

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Boyd in the Great Seal Patent Office, on
the 2nd December 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM BOYD, of Belfast, in the Kingdom of Ireland, Manufacturing
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Boyd, Her special license
that I, the said William Boyd, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Boyd, 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 "IMPROVED APFA-
RATUS FOR MANUFACTURING CHLORINE OR CHLORIDES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Boyd, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascer-
tain 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 William Boyd, 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 (that is to say):
The object of this Invention is to effect an economy in the cost of
application of the apparatus employed in the manufacture of chlorine
and chlorides.

page_text: This object I am enabled to attain by substituting a cast iron vessel
for the common leaden or stone still used in the generation of chlorine
by the action of hydrochloric acid on peroxide of manganese, and the
direct application of heat from a coal fire to the bottom and sides of
such vessel.
The sides and bottom of the iron vessel or still are protected from the
action of the chemical agents in the following manner :—A lining of
thin fire bricks or tiles, previously well boiled in coal tar, is formed inside
the still by jointing such bricks or tiles carefully together with a cement
composed of two parts by measure of ground pipe clay, one part of
ground mineral pitch (both having been previously sifted through a fine
sieve), together with a small quantity of fine clean sand, and the whole
mixed with boiled linseed oil to the consistence of mortar. The nozzle
or emptying pipe of the still is protected by means of a square bushing
of burnt fine clay well boiled in coal tar, and perforated with a circular
hole, through which the contents of the still are run off, when the
operation is finished. The iron vessel or still thus protected from the
action of the chemical agents I employ in conjunction with a leaden
dome-shaped cover, which is luted down by means of cement in the
usual manner.
Having now described my Invention of "Improved Apparatus for
Manufacturing Chlorine and Chlorides,". I wish it to be understood that,
under the above in part recited Letters Patent, I claim the construction
of vessels or stills (for the purposes above designated) by combining, as
above set forth, cast iron and fire bricks or tiles with a cement which is
capable of protecting the iron from the corrosive effects of the chemical
agents employed in the manufacture of chlorine and chlorides.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Boyd, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Second day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
W. BOYD.
(L.S.)