IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING, HEATING, EVAPORATING,
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Frederick Brinjes, of Fieldgate Street, White-
chapel, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING, HEATING, EVAPORATING, AND
Sealed the 21st April 1868, and dated the 7th November 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Frederick Brinjes at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th November 1867.
I, JOHN FREDERICK BRINJES, of Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of my said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING, HEATING, EVA-
PORATING, AND COOLING LIQUIDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a peculiar construction, arrangement, and com-
bination of apparatus for effecting continuous fractional distillation of liquids,
or for the purpose of continuous evaporation of liquids, either for merely
concentrating the same or for reducing such liquid to a solid condition; this
apparatus is also applicable to the heating and cooling of liquids.
In carrying out my Invention with a view to the continuous fractional
distillation of liquids I employ two or more horizontal or nearly horizontal

page_text: revolving cylindrical or other shaped vessels or chambers of cast iron or other
suitable material arranged one above another over an open fire or furnace
which is situate beneath the lowest cylinder of the series. The several
cylinders may be separated from each other by perforated brick arches, and
through which the heat from the furnace circulates freely; the temperature
of these several cylinders will obviously diminish gradually from the lowest to
the top one, and hence the nature of the products of distillation obtained from
each will be different. On the internal surface of each cylinder and revolving
therewith there is formed an Archimedean screw for the purpose of forming
ducts or canals on the internal surface of the cylinders with a view to the
constant flow of the liquid to be distilled from end to end of such cylinder;
and for the purpose of increasing the heating surface in lieu of Archimedean
screws it is obvious that a series of cups, ledges, or inclined projections may
be attached to or formed in the cylinders, or the cylinders may be made
slightly conical. The liquid is fed in at one end of the cylinder thro' an
air-tight inlet, and discharged by a like outlet through a pipe leading to the
next lower cylinder, and so on. The vapours or products of distillation are
carried off to separate condensers by pipes in connection with the several
cylinders. When evaporation only is the object to be attained thus a single
cylinder of the description above given may be used, or two or more may be
combined, and may be either steam-jacketted or heated by a naked fire, hot
air, or otherwise. I propose to regulate the speed of rotation of the cylinders,
which may be driven by gearing or otherwise from a steam engine in accord-
ance with the temperature of the furnace, by a self-acting arrangement, for
which purpose I fix inside the flue a metal bar which expands and contracts
with the varying temperature. This expansion and contraction of the bar is
caused to act upon the steam or expansion valve of the engine, and thereby
regulates the supply of steam and the speed of the several rotatory cylinders;
or the supply cock which feeds the cylinders with the material to be distilled
or evaporated may be regulated in the same manner, so that the supply of
material will vary with the temperature. When using this apparatus on a
refrigerator the cylinders may be kept cool by any well-known method, such,
for example, as a stream of water flowing over them, or by surrounding the
cylinders with ice or freezing mixtures.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Frederick Brinjes in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th May 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
FREDERICK BRINJES, of Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Frederick Brinjes, Her special license that J, the said John
Frederick Brinjes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said John Frederick Brinjes, my executors, administrators, or
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 APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING, HEATING, EVAPORATING, AND
COOLING LIQUIDS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John
Frederick Brinjes, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly 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.
66
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Frederick Brinjes, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention relates to a peculiar construction, arrangement, and
combination of apparatus for effecting continuous fractional distillation of
liquids, or for the purpose of continuous evaporation of liquids either for
merely concentrating the same, or for reducing such liquid to a solid
condition; this apparatus is also applicable to the heating and cooling of
lionids.

page_text: In carrying out my Invention with a view to the continuous fractional
distillation of liquids I employ two or more horizontal or nearly horizontal
revolving cylindrical or other shaped vessels or chambers of cast iron or other
suitable material arranged one above another over an open fire or furnace
which is situate beneath the lowest cylinder of the series. The several
cylinders may be separated from each other by perforated brick arches, and
through which the heat from the furnace circulates freely. The temperature
of these several cylinders will obviously diminish gradually from the lowest to
the top one, and hence the nature of the products of distillation obtained from
each will be different. On the internal surface of each cylinder and revolving
therewith is formed an Archimedean screw for the purpose of forming ducts
or canals on the internal surface of the cylinders with a view to the constant
flow of the liquid to be distilled from end to end of such cylinder and for the
purpose of increasing the heating surface. In lieu of Archimedean screws
it is obvious that a series of cups, ledges, or inclined projections may be
attached to or formed in the cylinders, or the cylinders may be made slightly
conical or placed at an inclination. The liquid is fed in at one end of the top
cylinder through an air-tight inlet, and discharged by a like outlet through a
pipe leading to the next lower cylinder, and so on. The vapours or products
of distillation are carried off to separate condensers by pipes in connection
with the several cylinders. When evaporation only is the object to be
attained, then a single cylinder of the description above given may be used, or
two or more may be combined, and may be either steam-jacketted or heated
by a naked fire, hot air, or otherwise. I propose to regulate the speed of
rotation of the cylinders, which may be driven by gearing or otherwise from a
steam engine in accordance with the temperature of the furnace, by a self-
acting arrangement, for which purpose I fix inside the flue a metal bar which
expands and contracts with the varying temperature. This expansion and
contraction of the bar is caused to act upon the steam or expansion valve of
the engine, and thereby regulates the supply of steam and the speed of the
several rotatory cylinders, or the supply cock which feeds the cylinders with
the material to be distilled or evaporated may be regulated in the same
manner, so that the supply of material will vary with the temperature. When
using this apparatus as a refrigerator, the cylinders may be kept cool by any
well known method, such, for example, as a stream of water flowing over
them, or by surrounding the cylinders with ice or freezing mixtures.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shal

page_text: refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in both the Figures.
Figure 1 of my Drawings represents a sectional elevation of my improved
apparatus as arranged for effecting continuous fractional distillation of liquids,
and Figure 2 is a corresponding front elevation of the same.
A is an open furnace or fire-place situate at the bottom of a heat chamber
or flue B of metal, brickwork, or other suitable material; across this heat
chamber are disposed at suitable intervals one above another any desired or
convenient number of distilling vessels or chambers C, C, revolving on hori-
zontal or nearly horizontal axes. The journals of these axes are supported in
bearings D, D, carried on brackets or standards bolted or otherwise secured
to the back and front of the heat chamber or flue B. To one or both ends of
each rotatory distilling vessel there is keyed or otherwise made fast a spur
wheel E which gears with the corresponding spur wheels of the vessels
situate above or below, or above and below it, so that on imparting motion to
any one of the series of vessels by a driving pinion F fast on a shaft G, which
receives its motion from any suitable prime mover, the entire series of distilling
vessels or chambers C will be put into rotatory motion, the direction of rotation
of each vessel being indicated by the arrows in Figure 2. The end covers
C, C, of the rotatory vessels C are screwed or otherwise secured to the ends
of the distilling vessels, and have each a passage or duct & cast therein which
opens at one end into the interior of the vessel or chamber, whilst its other
end communicates with the hollow axis e upon which the vessel rotates. A
spiral rib or Archimedean screw f is cast on or otherwise secured to the inner
circumference of each vessel C so as to form a spiral or helical channel.from
one end of each vessel to the other, the passages or ducts d, d, in the end
covers forming a continuation of such helical channel. The several axes e, e,
are made to project beyond their bearings, and this projecting part is made
slightly conical so as to fit easily but fluid-tight into the conical cast metal
ground caps g. These caps serve to form the connections for the pipes H, H,
which couple or connect the end of one vessel with that of another, as well as
the pipes I, I, which connect the interiors of the several distilling vessels with
their respective worms or condensers K, K. These caps are held securely in
their places by cross bars h, h, and nuts and screws i, i, as shewn clearly in
Figure 2. In the centre of the hollow axis at one end of each-vessel C
there is fitted an expanded mouthpiece k, which communicates at its con-
tracted end with the interior of the conical cap g, and thence by the pipe I
with the condensing worm K, the object of such mouthpiece being to convey

page_text: away the vapours or products of distillation from the interior of the vessels C
to the several condensing worms; these worms are all contained in a
cylindrical, or other shaped reservoir L, through which cold water may be
kept constantly flowing, and each worm has a separate discharge pipe of its
own at l. M is the feed pipe for supplying the liquid to be distilled to the
series of vessels C; it is connected to one end of the top distilling vessel or
chamber of the series by the conical cap g, and is provided with a regulating
valve m.
This valve may be rendered self-acting, if desired, by connecting it
through the intervention of one or more multiplying levers and rods n with a
bar o
placed across the heat chamber, which bar by expanding and con-
tracting as the temperature rises and falls imparts motion to the valve and
closes and opens it more or less, thereby regulating the supply of liquid
automatically to the distilling vessels according to the temperature thereof.
The chimney N of the heat chamber is provided with a damper O for the
purpose of regulating the draught. P is a pipe leading from the lowest
distilling vessel to a worm Q for carrying off and condensing the fluid
residuum or " bottoms." The spiral channels in the several rotatory distilling
vessels are so arranged as to cause the liquid which enters at one end to pass
along the interior of the revolving vessel to the other end, where it enters the
duct & and passes-down the pipe H to one end of the next vessel below, and
so on throughout the entire series, the process being thus rendered con-
tinuous. As the temperature of the distilling vessels decreases the farther
they are from the fire, and as each vessel is in connection with a condensor
of its own, the different products resulting from distillation at different
temperatures may be drawn off at one or other of the pipes l, l, of the several
worms.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The combination of two or more rotatory distilling vessels or chambers
situate one above another, and connected by pipes with each other and with
separate condensers, the whole being arranged and operating substantially as
herein-before described.
Second. The combination of two or more rotatory vessels or chambers for
evaporating and heating liquids, substantially as herein-before described.
Third. The application and use to and in the cooling of liquids of one or

page_text: more rotatory vessels or chambers, arranged and operating substantially as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Frederick Brinjes, have to this
my Specification set my hand and seal, the Sixth day of May, One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
JOHN FREDERICK BRINJES. (L.B.)