IMPROVEMENTS IN APPLYING HEAT, AND IN APPARAtus FOR APPLYING HEAT IN VARIOUS CHEMICAL AND OTHER OPERATIONS SUCH AS PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Townsend, of Glasgow, in the County
of Lanark, North Britain, Manufacturing Chemist, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPLYING HEAT, AND IN APPARAtus FOR
APPLYING HEAT IN VARIOUS CHEMICAL AND OTHER OPERATIONS SUCH AS
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Townsend at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th April 1870.
I, JOSEPH TOWNSEND, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Manufacturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPLYING HEAT, AND IN APPARATUS FOR
APPLYING HEAT IN VARIOUS CHEMICAL AND OTHER OPERATIONS SUCH AS ROASTING,
OXIDISING, CALCINING, DECOMPOSING, AND VOLATILISING," to be as follows, that
is to say:
This Invention has for its object the conducting, in a superior manner
and with improved results, of various chemical and other operations

page_text: involving the application of heat, and the improved apparatus is contrived
so that the materials may be operated upon in a continuous manner,
and is applicable in all cases where it is desired to keep the materials
separate or apart from the fire or source of heat.
The
The improved apparatus comprises a long enclosed heating chamber
which is horizontal or more or less inclined longitudinally, and the
materials to be operated upon are introduced at one end whilst the
unvolatilised portions are finally discharged at the other end.
chamber is heated from below by a series of fires and flues, and in some
cases baths of metals, of sand, or of suitable salts are interposed between
the fires and the chamber bottom for the purpose of securing regular and
definite temperatures, and also to prevent the access of flame through
accidental-cracks-or-inlets, when it is desirable that the solid materiāls
or vapors in the chamber should not be ignited. The materials aro
moved from the inlet end of the chamber to the outlet in a gradual
manner by means of a series of revolving paddles placed horizontally and
transversely, and arranged near enough to each other for one paddle in
turning to transfer the material under it within range of the next paddle.
The paddles are formed with hollow shafts which extend out through
openings in the sides of the chamber and which have their ends resting
upon antifriction rollers upon external frames. At one side the rollers
are grooved to fit a rounded collar on the end of each shaft by which it
is kept in position, but the other end is free to move across the rollers
when it expands or contracts. The paddle shafts have worm wheels
fixed on their ends so as to be turned by a series of worms on a longi-
tudinal shaft driven in any convenient way. The paddles are prevented
from being injured by the heat by water or other fluid which is made to
pass through their hollow shafts being led in and out through stuffing
boxes at the ends. The fluid becomes heated in passing through the
paddle shafts, and when a liquid is used it may be made to effect its
own circulation, the inlet and outlet pipes being connected to a vessel at
a higher level, in consequence of which the heated liquid will rise and
the cooler liquid descend. In some cases when the volatile matters
given off from the materials operated upon arc of an inflammable
nature, they are, by preference, withdrawn from the chamber by a fan,
exhauster, or pump arranged to force them through water so that if
ignition takes place in the chamber it will not be carried through to the
condensers or receivers beyond.

page_text: Amongst the numerous uses to which this apparatus may be advan-
tageously put, the following may be mentioned by way of example. The
roasting, oxidising, or calcining of ores and other minerals, the burning
or decomposing of pyrites for the manufacture of sulphuric acid, the
heating together of salts with salts or with minerals to obtain their
decomposition, and the separation of the volatile ingredients of minerals
and other substances.
In treating shale or other oil yielding minerals according to this
Invention and by means of the improved apparatus herein-before
described, air is admitted into the chamber in regulated quantities and
the separation and volatilisation of the oil is effected in a superior
manner and in a purer condition than by the processes commonly in use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Townsend in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
TOWNSEND, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Manu-
facturing Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Iler heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Joseph Townsend, Her special licence that I,
the said Joseph Townsend, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Joseph Townsend, my 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 APPLYING
HEAT, AND IN APPARATUS FOR APPLYING HEAT IN VARIOUS CHEMICAL AND OTHER
OPERATIONS SUCH AS ROASTING, OXIDISING, CALCINING, DECOMPOSING, AND
VOLATILISING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Joseph Townsend, my executors or administrators, by an instrument

page_text: in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Townsend, 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 in writing, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention has for its object the conducting in a superior
manner and with improved results of various chemical and other
operations-involving the application of heat, and my improved apparatus
is contrived so that the materials may be operated upon in a continuous
manner, and is applicable in all cases where it is desired to keep the
materials separate or apart from the fire or source of heat.
And in order that my said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I have hereunto appended a Sheet
of explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing
à modification of my improved apparatus. In these Drawings the same
reference numerals are used to mark the same or like parts wherever they
are repeated.
Figures 1 and 2 are transverse vertical sections; Figures 3 and 4 arc
side elevations of parts at each end of the furnace; and Figures 5 and 6
are longitudinal vertical sections corresponding to Figures 3 and 4. My
improved apparatus comprises a long enclosed heating chamber 1, which
is represented as horizontal, but which may if preferred be more or less
inclined longitudinally, and the materials to be operated upon arc
introduced through a hopper 2 at one end, whilst the unvolatilised
portions are finally discharged into a receptacle 3 at the other end. The
apparatus is represented as constructed principally of brickwork, with
cast-iron box frames 4 at the sides, and with external cast-iron standards 5
connected by rods, which crossing through the roof tie the whole firmly
together. The chamber 1 is heated from below by a series of furnaces 6,
from each of which flues 7 cross and recross under the floor 8 of the
chamber, and pass thence into a main horizontal flue 9 leading to the
chimney. In some cases baths of metals, of sand, or of suitable salts are
interposed between the flues 7 and the bottom 8 of the chamber for

page_text: the purpose of securing regular and definite temperatures, and also to
prevent the access of flame through accidental cracks or inlets when it
is desirable that the solid materials or the vapors in the chamber should
not be ignited. The materials are moved from the inlet end 2 of the
chamber 1 to the outlet 3 in a gradual manner by means of a series of
revolving paddles 10 placed horizontally and transversely and arranged
near enough to cach other for one paddle in turning to push material
within range of the next paddle. The paddles 10 are formed with hollow
shafts 11, which extend out through stuffing boxes 12 at the sides of the
chamber, and which have their ends resting upon antifriction rollers
13 carried by bearers 14 fixed on brackets bolted to the standards 5. At
one side the rollers 13 are grooved to fit a rounded collar fixed on
each paddle shaft 11 by which it is kept in position, but the other end
is free to move across the rollers when it expands or contracts. The
paddle shafts 11 have worm wheels 15 fixed on their ends so as to be
turned by a series of worms 10 on a longitudinal shaft 17 driven in any
convenient way. The paddles 10 are prevented from being injured by
the heat by water or other suitable fluid, which is made to pass through
their hollow shafts 11, being led in and out through stuffing boxes at
the ends. The stuffing boxes 12 through which the shafts 12 pass
are also made with hollow spaces for water to pass through to keep
them cool. The cold water passes from a longitudinal pipe 18 by
branches 19 to the stuffing boxes 12 at one side; thence by branches 20
to the ends of the hollow paddle shafts 11, and the water leaves these
shafts by branch pipes 21 at the other side, passes thence into the stuffing
boxes 12 at that side, and from them away by the branch pipes 22. The
fluid becomes heated in passing through the paddle shafts 11, and when
a liquid such as water is used it is made to effect its own circulation, the
inlet and outlet pipes being connected to a tank or vessel at a higher
level in consequence of which the heated liquid will rise and the cooler
liquid descend.
In order that the feed or supply of the materials may be made equal
and continuous and regulated in quantity an oscillating valve 23 is fitted
in the narrow throat of the hopper 2, and its spindle, which projects
through the side, has fast on it a bevil wheel 24 gearing with a bevil
wheel on a short shaft 25, whilst this last has fast on its end a lever 26
connected by a rod 27 to an eccentric pin on a wheel 2S on the shaft 17.
The rod 27 can be adjusted at different points of the lever 26 so as to

page_text: impart a larger or smaller oscillation to the shaft 25, and thence to the
feed valve 23, whereby the quantities of materials allowed to fall through
into the chamber 1 may be regulated. The receptacle 3 at the discharge
end is partly filled with water or other suitable liquid, and a discharge
spout or shoot 29 is adapted to the end of the chamber 1, having its
lower end dipping into the water so as to be sealed, whereby the ingress
or egress of air or gases is avoided. The gases or vapors evolved by the
heating process from the materials operated upon may be led away by
flues or ducts in any convenient manner; but in the example delineated
a cast-iron duct 30 is provided for the purpose, being placed above the
furnace and running from a point 31 (Figure 4) near the entering end
where it communicates with the interior of the chamber 1 along one side,
to and across the other end, and back along the other sido to a vertical
duct 32, this circuitous route being adopted for the purpose of cooling
the gases or vapors.
In some cases when the volatile matters given off from the materials
operated upon are of an inflammable nature I prefer to withdraw them
from the chamber by a fan, exhauster, or pump arranged to force them
through water, so that if ignition should take place in the chamber it
would not be carried through to the condensers or receivers beyond.
Sight holes 33 with covers are provided at various points to admit of
inspecting the interior. .
Amongst the numerous uses to which my improved apparatus may be
advantageously put the following may be mentioned by way of example:
The roasting, oxidising, or calcining of ores and other minerals; the
burning or decomposing of pyrites for the manufacture of sulphuric acid;
the heating of salts with salts or with minerals to obtain their decom-
position; and the separating of the volatile ingredients of minerals and
other substances.
In treating shalo or other oil-yielding minerals according to my In-
vention and by means of my improved apparatus herein-before described
air is admitted into the chamber by preference in a heated state and in
carefully regulated quantities, and the separation and volatilisation of
the oil is effected in a superior manner and in a purer condition than by
the processes commonly in use.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do not
restrict myself to the precise details herein described or delineated;

page_text: but that what I believe to be novel and original, and claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is, the applying of heat in the improved manner and by means of
the improved apparatus herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Townsend, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Nineteenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JOSEPH TOWNSEND. (L.S.)