AN IMPROVED LIQUID COMPOUND FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES OR PREVENTING COMBUSTION, AND APPARATUS FOR THE SAME
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel of N° 28 Southampton Buildings
Chancery Lane in the County of Middlesex for an Invention of
" AN
IMPROVED LIQUID COMPOUND FOR EXTINGUISHING FIRES OR PREVENTING
COMBUSTION, AND APPARATUS FOR THE SAME" communicated to him from
Abroad by Etienne François Neveu, of Paris in the Republic of France
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th March 1883.
"
"
CHARLES DENTON ABEL of No 28 Southampton Buildings Chancery Lane in the
County of Middlesex AN IMPROVED LIQUID COMPOUND FOR EXTINGUISHING
FIRES OR PREVENTING COMBUSTION; AND APPARATUS FOR THE SAME [communi-
cated to him from Abroad by Etienne François Neveu, of Paris in the Republic of
France]
According to the present invention a liquid compound for extinguishing fires is
prepared as follows:-
100 parts by weight of commercial hydrochloric acid of 20° Beaumé, previously
freed from sulphuric acid by the addition of 2 parts of chloride of barium, is mixed
with about 28 parts of caustic lime or of bicarbonate of lime in order to neutralise
the acid, the lime being added thereto little by little until this is effected: By
this means liquid chloride of calcium is obtained, to which are added about 4 parts
of crystallised potash alum, dissolved in about parts of boiling water, the solution
being allowed to cool and then added little by little to the compound, under
stirring.
5 parts of hydrochlorate of ammonia and 5 parts of borax are dissolved in about
15 parts of boiling water, and when cold, this mixture is added to that above
described.
After allowing the compound thus obtained to stand for about 48 hours, it is
decanted, and a perfectly clear liquid is thus obtained, having from 30° to 32° of
D

page_text: Beaumé's aerometer, and constituting a most effective fire extinguishing compound,
which on analyses will be found to contain about 40 per cent of chloride of calcium
and 20 percent of chloride of ammonium.
The gases given off from this compound when it comes in contact with fire are
ammonia combined with hydrochloric acid gas, which have the property of
smothering flame and arresting the progress of fire.
Objects treated with this liquid, in particular textile fabrics, carbonaceous matter,
saw dust and the like, are rendered uninflammable.
When the compound is to be used it is mixed with from 10 to 25 per cent of
water, according to the intensity of the fire to be extinguished. For this purpose
a simple apparatus is employed consisting of a closed receptacle of convenient size
for carrying from place to place, which is provided at top with a lid for introducing
the water and the compound, and which has within it a small force pump worked
by a handle outside, the vessel having a recess projecting into it at bottom, into
which the operator inserts his foot so as to steady the vessel while in use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th September 1883.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL of N° 28 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane in the
.county of Middlesex "AN IMPROVED LIQUID COMPOUND FOR EXTINGUISHING
FIRES OR PREVENTING COMBUSTION, AND APPARATUS FOR THE SAME" A com-
munication to me from abroad by Etienne François Neveu of Paris in the Republic
of France.
According to the present invention, a liquid compound for extinguishing fires is
prepared as follows:-
100 parts by weight of commercial bydrochloric acid of 20° Beaume, previously
freed from sulphuric acid by the addition of 2 parts of chloride of barium, is mixed
with about 28 parts of caustic lime or of bicarbonate of lime, in order to neutralize
the acid, the lime being added thereto little by little until this is effected. By this
means, liquid chloride of calcium is obtained, to which are added about 4 parts of
crystallised potash alum, dissolved in about 8 parts of boiling water, the solution
being allowed to cool and then added little by little to the compound, under
stirring.
5 parts of hydrochlorate of ammonia and 5 parts of borax are dissolved in about
15 parts of boiling water, and, when cold, this mixture is added to that above
described.
After allowing the compound thus obtained to stand for about 48 hours, it is
decanted, and a perfectly clear liquid is thus obtained, having from. 30° to 35° of
Beaume's Aörometer, and constituting a most effective fire extinguishing compound,

page_text: which, on. analysis, will be found to contain about 40 per cent of chloride of
calcium and 20 per cent of chloride of ammonium.
The gases given off from this compound, when it comes in contact with fire, are
ammonia combined with hydrochloric acid gas, which have the property of
smothering flame and arresting the progress of fire.
Objects treated with this liquid, in particular textile fabrics, wood, carbonaceous
matter, saw dust and the like, are rendered uninflammable. When the compound
is to be used, it is mixed with from 10 to 25 per cent of water, according to
the intensity of the fire to be extinguished. For this purpose, a simple apparatus
is employed, such as is shewn in the accompanying drawings, fig. 1 being
an elevation, fig. 2 a vertical section, and fig. 3 a perspective view shewing
it in operation. A is a vessel of tin plate, zinc or other suitable material,
B a force pump worked by a handle C connected by a rod D to the piston E. The
vessel charged with the liquid is carried by a bow handle F to the neighbourhood
of a fire, and the operator, inserting his foot in a recess G so as to hold down and
steady the vessel, works the pump directing from the discharge nozzle or hose H a
stream of the liquid on the burning material.
Having thus described the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
I claim:
First:-The manufacture and use of the liquid compound prepared substantially
as herein described, for extinguishing fires or preventing combustion.
Second-The construction of apparatus, as herein described, for applying the
liquid referred to in the preceding claim for extinguishing fires.
In Witness whereof I the said Charles Denton Abel have hereunto set my hand
and seal this seventeenth day of September in the year of our Lord, one thousand,
eight hundred and eighty three.
D
ADEL
Gal
VHO
ADEL
CHAS, D. AL
APP