Iм- PROVEMENTS IN TREATING SEWAGE, AND IN THE APPARATUS AND MEANS EMPLOYED THEREIN.
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Felton Kirkman, of High Street, Islington,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN TREATING SEWAGE, AND IN THE APPARATUS AND MEANS
EMPLOYED THEREIN.
"
Sealed the 31st December 1870, and dated the 6th October 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Felton Kirkman
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 6th October 1870.
I, CHARLES FELTON KIRKMAN, of High Street, Islington, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING SEWAGE, AND IN THE APPARATUS
AND MEANS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object to separate from the useful fertilising
properties contained in sewage those matters such as sand, gravel, which
are useless as manure. The substances thus removed from the sewage
are divided into several catagories and are disposed of for other purposes.

page_text: The manurial particles in the sewage are at the same time preserved
therein and are subsequently removed by other processes and converted
into artificial manure. For this purpose
I cause the sewage to pass from
the main sewer or branches thereof into machines or apparatus in which
the sand, grit, and other heavy matter will be retained and separated
from the sewage water which with the flocculent matter will continue
flowing uninterruptedly through the apparatus.
The apparatus consists of a series of inclined screens placed one under
the other. These screens are of different degrees of fineness, the coarsest
being uppermost. At the lower part of each screen an opening is made
through the sides of the apparatus through which the solid substances
released by each separate screen are conducted through separate channels
to any suitable receptacle, leaving the liquid to run away to another
apparatus.
The object of this Invention is to separate effectually, rapidly, and
economically the detritus of the roads from the flocculent matter of
sewage, which is then conveyed to close disinfecting chambers. Carbonic
acid gas obtained by the combustion of fuel or by the decomposition of
any suitable cheap carbonate (such as carbonate of lime) by means of a
cheap acid is supplied to the dissenfecting chambers and made to bubble
up through the sewage water, whereby they become innoxious. The
flocculent matter being deposited the aqueous portion is then to be forced
into filters or absorbing beds charged with an carthy mineral such as
calcined brick, earth, clay, broken bricks, or unglazed pottery, which will
act as a filter and will attract and retain the ammonia and other fer-
tilizing salts which are held in solution by the sewage. The liquid
sewage
is passed through a chamber in which are suspended pairs of zinc
and copper plates or gratings which by their voltaic action will set up a
stream or continuous current of electricity through the sewage water
and will materially aid in freeing it from its manurial properties. The
supernatant or pure water will then pass off pure, and will be available
for domestic use, for irrigating land, charging fire mains, manufacturing
or other purposes. When the calcined earthy matters are sufficiently
charged with ammonia and other manurial salts they will be removed
from the absorbing beds, and when disintegrated they may be added to
the dry sewage refuse deposited by the previous operation, and when
mixed in suitable proportions to suit particular soils and crops they may
be used as a fertilizing manure.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Felton Kirkman in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th April 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
FELTON KIRKMAN, of High Street, Islington, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles Felton Kirkman, Her special
licence, that I, the said Charles Felton Kirkman, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Felton Kirkman,
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 "IMPROVEMENTS
IN TREATING SEWAGE, AND IN THE APPARATUS AND MEANS EMPLOYED THEREIN,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Felton
Kirkman, my executors or administrators, by an instrument 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 Charles Felton Kirkman, 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 Drawing
hereunto annexed and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say) :-
My Invention of improvements in treating sewage and in the
apparatus employed therein has for its object to separate from the
useful fertilizing properties contained in sewage water those solid
matters (such as sand and gravel) which are useless as manure. The
solid substances when removed from the sewage are divided into several

page_text: categories and are disposed of for other purposes. The manurial particles
in the sewage are at the same time preserved therein, and are sub-
sequently removed by other processes and are converted into artificial
manure.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents a plan view and
Fig. 2 a sectional elevation of an apparatus by which I separate from
the useful fertilizing properties contained in sewage those substances
such as sand, gravel, sticks, stones, and other solid matters which are
useless as manure. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of a close disinfecting
chamber, wherein the floculent matter of sewage is disinfected and
precipitated by means of carbonic acid gas; Fig. 4 represents a filtering
chamber and absorbing bed by which the ammonia and other manurial
salts will be extracted from the water.
In carrying out my Invention the sewage coming from a main sewer or
branch of a main sewer is caused to flow down a spout a into the appa-
ratus shewn at Figures 1 and 2, through which the liquid portion will pass,
leaving the sand, grit, and other heavy matters behind on the screens
b, b, b. This apparatus may be circular, square, octagon, or other shape,
and it consists, mainly of a vibrating framework c, c, which at its lower
end is provided with a sleeve shaft e³, and is supported on a vertical pin
fixed in the cross bar cº. The frame is kept steady by a centre pin **
above, and in the frame are mounted (in an inclined position) the series
of screens b, b, b, of different degrees of fineness. These screens are
placed one under the other, the coarsest being uppermost, and at the
lowermost part of each screen is a mouth, spout, or opening ', through
which the solid substances retained by each screen are conducted by
separate channels to any suitable receptacle as d, d¹, d². In order to
shake the solid matters off the screens as they accumulate thereon a
horizontal vibrating motion is imparted to the frame c, c, by means of
a crank pin c¹ on the rotating disc c³, being made to take into the vertical
slot of a bar c³, the lower end of which is inserted in a hole in the
upper part of the framing c, as shewn best in the detached view Fig. 5.
Upon communicating rotary motion to the shaft upon which the pin
disc c² is mounted the slotted bar will be reciprocated in its guides c',
Fig. 5, and the frame c will be vibrated horizontally on its vertical
centres c³, c*. The liquid matters pass away into a well e below, from
which they will then be raised by an endless chain of buckets f, f, or by
a pump, and will be conducted to a close disinfecting chamber g, Fig. 3,

page_text: manure for some crops or lands, or they may be mixed if desired with the
floculent matters which subside in the vessels or chambers g, and which
may be drawn off at the bottom into the trough g¹. In order to facilitate
the removal of the earthy matters from the filters they are contained in
cages which may be lifted out bodily, for which purpose they are
provided with rings to which tackle may be attached. On its way to
the filtering chambers (shewn at Fig. 4), the liquid sewage passes
through a chamber i, in which are suspended voltaic batteries composed
of pairs of zinc and copper plates or gratings. One of these batteries is
shewn detached in side elevation at Fig. 6 and end elevation at Fig. 7.
Between the pairs of zinc and copper plates are layers of flannel, woollen
cloth, or felt, and by the voltaic action set up by this battery a stream or
continuous current of electricity is made to pass through the sewage water,
and will thereby materially aid in freeing it from its manurial properties.
This horizontal pile is considered a perpetual electric machine, and it is
very efficient and convenient. The metal plates are square and are set
lozenge fashion, the lower points resting between two strips of glass 1, 1,
fixed on a long board k, k, and are supported by side rails of baked wood,
varnished, as indicated in the end elevation Fig. 7. The side rails are
secured to blocks m, m, at the extremities of the base k. Two screws,
one at each end, pass through these terminating blocks by which the
series may be a little compressed, they serve also as the conducting
terminations of the pile, and from these points shocks and all other
electrical effects of the pile may be obtained.
Volta's pile as is well known is constructed of thin circular or square
plates of zinc and copper about two inches square, and a corresponding
number of pieces of common cloth, felt, or flannel of somewhat less
dimensions than the plates. The cloth of a voltaic pile is usually kept
moistened with salt water or any saline solution. For my purpose the
sewage water itself is sufficiently saline to keep up the electric action.
For constructing the pile the zinc plates should be carefully cleaned
and then a plate of copper should be placed on a convenient insulating
base, and upon this a plate of zinc, then upon this a disc of moist cloth,
then commence again with another plate of copper upon the cloth, then
a plate of zinc, then another piece of moist cloth, and so on in series
until we arrive at a terminating plate of zinc, the result is a self-acting
electrical machine, powerful in proportion to the extent and number of
the series. The water when deprived of its ammonia and other soluble

page_text: in which, by the application of carbonic acid gas generated in the vessel
h, the sewage water will be disinfected and become innoxious. Carbonic
acid gas is found imprisoned in an exceedingly condensed form in all
earthy carbonates, more particularly in carbonate of lime, its immense
volume when liberated from the earthy matters by means of an acid
will give a power equal to six hundred pounds on the square inch, and
with suitable apparatus will force water one thousand two hundred feet
high, therefore, when the sewage has been relieved of all solid matter,
such as sand, grit, stones, sticks, &c., it may be advantageously used
in a liquid form as sewage manure, the elastic force of the carbonic
acid gas when generated under pressure affording an inexpensive means,
by which it can be conveyed from the close disinfecting chamber to
surrounding farms, and to lands otherwise beyond the reach of liquid
distribution by gravitation: This liquid sewage may also be used for
watering plants and crops when most needed, and the water being
impregnated with carbonic acid gas, the vegetative power of the sewage
will be increased in an extraordinary degree. When not wanted for
vegetation the floculent matter may be deposited, and the aqueous
portion forced into filters or absorbing beds, such as that shewn at
Fig. 4, where it will be freed from its manurial properties, and will then
pass off pure, and be available for domestic use, for irrigating lands, or
charging fire mains or for manufacturing and other purposes. The close
disinfecting chambers (in which considerable pressure is maintained by
the elastic force of the carbonic acid gas, and wherein the gas and
sewerage water are mixed) are provided with safety valves and levers
for the purpose of allowing the escape of gas when any excess of pressure
arises.
The great difficulty in or prejudice against the liquid application of
sewage is that farmers are not able to use it as and when they wish,
but are obliged to take it at all times, but by this process when the
sewage is not wanted it will be conveyed into filters, shewn at Fig. 4,
where the absorbing beds through which the sewage is made to pass in a
serpentine direction are charged with an earthy mineral, such as calcined
brick, earth, pottery waste, or broken bricks, which will act as filters
and also attract and retain the ammonia and other fertilizing salts which
are held in solution by the sewage. When these earthy matters are fully
charged with ammonia or other fertilizing salts they may be removed
from the filtering chamber and when pulverized they may be used as a

page_text: salts will then pass off pure, and be available for domestic use, or for
irrigating land, watering streets, or charging fire mains, or for manu-
facturing or other
purposes.
The arrangement of the apparatus whereby the objects of my Inven-
tion may be effected admits of considerable modification, and must
depend not only upon the quantity of sewage matter to be operated
upon, but also upon the convenience of the locality and other circum-
stances; I do not therefore intend to confine myself to the precise
details described, as many alterations as to dimensions and arrangement
of parts may be made without in any way departing from the principle
of the Invention, and I wish it to be understood that I do not claim
generally, the manufacture of artificial manure from sewage matter;
but what I consider to be new and therefore desire to claim as the
Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid is, the combina-
tion of processes or operations and general arrangement of the several
apparatus herein set forth, or any mere modification thereof, whereby
the useful manurial properties of sewage water may be extracted there-
from without admixture with the sand, gravel, stones, and other solid
substances which are not required and are not useful as manure.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Felton Kirkman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
C. F. KIRKMAN. (L.Š.)