IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SULPHATE OF SODA, AND OF دو PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION OF POTASH, AND OF CHLORINE, AND OF BLEACHING POWDER
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Deacon, of Appleton House, near
Warrington, in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SULPHATE OF SODA, AND OF
دو
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Deacon at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st July 1871.
I, HENRY DEACON, of Appleton House, near Warrington, in the
County of Lancaster, do hereby declare the nature of my said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SULPHATE OF SODA, AND OF
SULPHATE OF POTASH, AND OF CHLORINE, AND OF BLEACHING POWDER," to be as
follows:-
I cause heated SO, (sulphuric anhydride or anhydrous sulphuric acid)
mixed with air or oxygen to pass over or through heated chloride of
sodium or heated chloride of potassium. A reaction ensues between
the substances and a sulphate is formed corresponding to the chloride
employed and chlorine is liberated. The SO, (sulphuric anhydride or
anhydrous sulphuric acid) may be obtained by the Invention for which

page_text: 66
Letters Patent were granted to me dated Twentieth March One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-one, No. 753, for "Improvements in the
Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid and in Apparatus to be employed
therein," and the chloride of sodium or the chloride of potassium may
be subjected to the action of the SO, (sulphuric anhydride or anhydrous
sulphuric acid) in an apparatus for which Letters Patent were granted
to me dated Fifteenth of March One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-one, No. 691, for Improvements in the Manufacture of
Bleaching Powder, and of Sulphate of Soda, and of Sulphate of Potash,
and in Apparatus to be employed therein," and the chlorine set free
may be used in the manufacture of bleaching powder by means of the
last-named Invention, or by means of the Invention for which Letters
Patent were granted to me dated Fourteenth September One thousand
eight hundred and seventy, No. 2476, for "Improvements in the Manu-
facture of Bleaching Powder by the use of Chlorine when Diluted with
Inert Gases," and this Invention is intended to be used in combination
with the said Inventions, or with any one or more of them or with parts
thereof, but is not intended to be confined thereto.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Deacon in the Great Seal Patent Office on 2
the 19th January 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
DEACON, of Appleton House, near Warrington, in the County of
Lancaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the 35th
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Henry Deacon, Her special license that
I, the said Henry Deacon, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Henry Deacon, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 THE

page_text: MANUFACTURE OF SULPHATE OF SODA, AND OF SULPHATE OF POTASH, AND OF
CHLORINE, AND OF BLEACHING POWDER," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Henry Deacon, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Deacon, 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:-
This Invention consists in causing heated SO, (sulphuric anhydride
or anhydrous sulphuric acid) mixed with air or oxygen to pass over or
through heated chloride of sodium or heated chloride of potassium. A
reaction ensues between the substances, and a sulphate is formed corre-
sponding to the chloride employed and chlorine is liberated. The SO,
(sulphuric anhydride or anhydrous sulphuric acid) may be obtained by the
Invention for which Letters Patent were granted to me, dated Twentieth
March One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, No. 753, for “Im-
provements in the Manufacture of Sulphuric Acid, and in Apparatus to
be employed therein," and the chloride of sodium or the chloride of
potassium may be subjected to the action of the SO, (sulphuric anhy-
dride or anhydrous sulphuric acid) in an apparatus for which Letters
Patent were granted to me, dated Fifteenth March One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-one, No. 691, for "Improvements in the Manu-
facture of Bleaching Powder, and of Sulphate of Soda, and of Sulphate
of Potash, and in Apparatus to be employed therein," and the chlorine
set free may be used in the manufacture of bleaching powder by means
of the last-named Invention, or by means of the Invention for which
Letters Patent were granted to me, dated Fourteenth September One
thousand eight hundred and seventy, No. 2476, for "Improvements in
the Manufacture of Bleaching Powder by the use of Chlorine when
Diluted with Inert Gases," and this Invention is intended to be used in
combination with the said Inventions or with any one or more of them
or with part thereof, but is not intended to be confined thereto. The

page_text: gases arising and resulting from the aforesaid reaction always contain
sulphurous acid as well as chlorine, that is to say, if the gases are
perfectly dry each equivalent of chlorine as it is evolved is accompanied
with the evolution or separation of an equivalent of sulphurous acid.
This sulphurous acid must of course be removed before the chlorine can
be utilized. I effect this removal by again converting a greater or less
proportion of the sulphurous acid into anhydrous sulphuric acid by the
union of oxygen therewith and again passing the heated gases over or
through heated common salt or chloride of potassium, and then again
forming anhydrous sulphuric acid from the sulphurous acid arising and
remaining after this second operation, and utilizing the anhydrous
sulphuric acid thus produced by causing it to react in a similar manner
on other common salt or chloride of potassium, and so on, repeating each
operation of forming anhydrous sulphuric acid from the sulphurous acid
contained in the mixture of gases and then obtaining by means of the
anhydrous sulphuric acid thus obtained together with an alkaline
chloride a corresponding alkaline sulphate and likewise chlorine until
eventually nearly all the sulphurous acid originally present and set free
has been removed from the current of gases, which are then washed with
water in the usual way, and the chlorine contained in such mixed gases
being diluted with nitrogen, air, &c. may be employed for the production
of bleaching powder as herein described, or may be utilized for any
other purpose in any well known manner. For the complete conversion
by means of this Invention of an alkaline chloride (MCI) into its
corresponding sulphate (MSO) with the liberation of its chlorine (Cl)
one equivalent of oxygen (O) is required for every equivalent of
sulphuric acid (SO), or two equivalents of oxygen (20) for every
equivalent of sulphurous acid (SO2), or four equivalents of oxygen (40)
for every equivalent of sulphur (S), as is expressed in the following
formula
•
SO3+0+MCI=(ultimately) MSO,+Cl.
The necessary amount of air or oxygen may be introduced at intervals
and need not be more than an equivalent, but I prefer that before the 3
sulphurous acid is first specially treated for the production of sulphuric
acid therefrom, it should be mixed with at least the full equivalent
quantity or number of equivalents of air or oxygen, but preferably with

page_text: a quantity in excess of an equivalent quantity or number of equivalents,
but it is not usually convenient to add the whole of this air or oxygen
to the burning pyrites or sulphur or other source of sulphurous acid,.
and I so arrange the apparatus and materials that the heated gases
alternately and continuously pass over or through or are brought in
contact with heated common salt or chloride of potassium and over or
through heated sulphate of copper or any other substance capable of
forming or assisting to form anhydrous sulphuric acid from heated
sulphurous acid and oxygen or air, these substances which form or
assist to form anhydrous sulphuric acid being kept separate from the
alkaline chlorides. As the alkaline chlorides become converted into
sulphates, which conversion proceeds as a kind of cementation from the
exterior to the interior of the masses or particles, they may be removed
and fresh chlorides introduced, but the sulphate of copper or other
substance as aforesaid will only require to be renewed occasionally.
For further particulars respecting the formation of anhydrous
sulphuric acid, I refer to the Specifications of Letters Patent granted to
me and dated Twentieth March One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one, No. 753, for "
Improvements in the Manufacture of Sulphuric
Acid and in Apparatus to be employed therein," and of Letters Patent
granted to me and dated Twenty-seventh June One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-one, for " Improvements in certain Apparatus for
the Manufacture of Chlorine and Sulphuric Acid," although the manu-
facture of anhydrous sulphuric acid alone and of itself forms no part
of this Invention, yet I wish to say that as is well known there are a
large number of substances which when heated possess the power of
forming or assisting to form a greater or less proportion of anhydrous
sulphuric acid from a heated and perfectly dry mixture of sulphurous
acid and oxygen or air. But there is one great difference in this
respect between the powers of substances, such as, for instance, sulphate
of copper
and others such as burnt clay or peroxide of iron, viz.,
the different degree of temperature required, sulphate of copper
requiring the lowest heat, burnt clay, peroxide of iron, &c. a much
greater heat. There are also a large number of substances which do
not possess this power in any material or useful degree at any ordinary
temperature; amongst these may be named the chlorides and sulphates
of sodium and potassium, and the mineral substance apatite. If there-
fore perfectly dry and heated sulphurous acid and air or oxygen be
passed over or through heated and dry common salt and be not either

page_text: previously alternately or cotemporaneously brought into contact with
any other substance possessing this power of forming or assisting to form
anhydrous sulphuric acid, then no material amount of sulphate of soda
will be formed and no material amount of chlorine will be liberated.
If however the common salt be contained in a vessel or apparatus
made of burnt clay (bricks) or of iron (the surface of which is covered
with oxide of iron), then if the temperature be suitable the gases coming
into contact with the sides of the vessel or apparatus will be more or
less converted into anhydrous sulphuric acid, and this substance will
react on the common salt forming sulphate of soda, and liberating
chlorine and sulphurous acid. There is therefore a large but not an
indiscriminate choice of substances which at suitable temperatures will
form or assist to form anhydrous sulphuric acid from aheated and
perfectly dry mixture of sulphurous acid and air or oxygen. The
reaction however is never complete, some sulphurous acid always
remains, but when the anhydrous sulphuric acid is withdrawn the
sulphurous acid left can again be more or less converted into anhydrous
sulphuric acid, and so on indefinitely. Two arrangements of apparatus
whereby my Invention may be carried into effect are shewn in the
annexed Sheet of Drawings, but the apparatus admits of almost endless
variation, and of itself forms no part of my Invention so long as the
principle is retained of passing heated anhydrous sulphuric acid mixed
with air or oxygen over or through heated common salt or chloride of
potassium, the latter substances being so arranged as that they are kept
distinct from the substances forming or assisting to form the anhydrous
sulphuric acid, or can be easily separated therefrom by mechanical
means.
For example, I have herein-before stated that burnt clay is a
substance which at elevated temperatures forms or assists to form
anhydrous sulphuric acid; if therefore an apparatus of any form be
constructed of burnt clay, bricks, &c., and common salt or chloride of
potassium be contained therein, the whole being heated, and hot and dry
sulphurous acid mixed with air or oxygen being made to pass into the
apparatus, and come into contact with both the burnt clay and the
alkaline chlorides, then a formation of anhydrous sulphuric acid and
its reaction on the alkaline chlorides will take place, sulphurous acid
and chlorine will be simultaneously evolved, and the sulphurous acid
will or may be again formed into anhydrous sulphuric acid, and so on.
The extent of this reaction in any given piece of apparatus, ceteris

page_text: paribus, will depend upon the amount of surfaces exposed to the gases.
Pieces of burnt clay or shelves or ledges, fixed or moveable, on which
the alkaline chlorides rest, the pieces or shelves approaching as close to
the surface of the alkaline chlorides as possible, whilst the hot gases
pass through the interstices in contact on one side with the burnt clay,
and on the other side with the alkaline chlorides, is one form of this
kind of apparatus.
Instead of burnt clay a more active substance may be employed, or
the burnt clay may be impregnated with a more active substance, such
as a salt of copper or of chromium, &c.
The Drawings annexed shew arrangements of apparatus in which the
anhydrous sulphuric acid is mainly formed in apparatus distinct from
that in which it is utilized.
.E are ordinary pyrites burners evolving hot sulphurous acid mixed
with more or less air, and always containing, as is well known, more or
less anhydrous sulphuric acid, which gases pass off by the pipe Pa;
L is a heater through which air is passed and heated, and passing by the
pipe Pb mixes with the gases in P a, and both pass on through Pg1,
into Gl. G1, G2, G3, &c. are a series of apparatus filled with suit-
able materials for forming or assisting to form anhydrous sulphuric acid
from sulphurous acid and air or oxygen.
The whole apparatus is suitably provided with means of being heated.
as required. The mixture of gases traverses G1 and passes by Phl
into H 1. H1, H2, H3, &c. are a series of apparatus in which the
common salt or chloride of potassium is exposed to the action of the
anhydrous sulphuric acid.
In Figures 1, 2, 3, H1, H2, &c. are represented as constructed of
shelves either as described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted
to me, and dated Fifteenth March One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-one, Number 691, for " Improvements in the Manufacture of
Bleaching Powder, and of Sulphate of Soda, and of Sulphate of Potash,
and in Apparatus to be employed therein," or in any other convenient
manner, the salt being most conveniently introduced at top in the
hopper M, and withdrawn through openings at the sides J1, J2, &c.,
the ends K1, K2, &c. being reserved for mechanical or other con-
trivances for inspecting or moving the materials, especially the alkaline
chlorides under treatment.
The gases in the apparatus as drawn are supposed always to move in

page_text: one direction, videlicit, to enter G1 first, there to produce anhydrous
sulphuric acid, thence to proceed to H1, there to utilize the anhydrous
sulphuric acid, and liberate sulphurous acid and chlorine, thence to
enter G2 for further production of anhydrous sulphuric acid which is
to be utilized in H2, and so on throughout a series until no material
amount of sulphurous acid remains. The gases may then be washed
with water, and the chlorine utilized for making bleaching powder by
the apparatus described in Letters Patent granted to me, dated Fifteenth
March One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, Number 691, for
Improvements in the Manufacture of Bleaching Powder, and of
Sulphate of Soda, and of Sulphate of Potash, and in Apparatus to be
employed therein," or in Letters Patent granted to me, dated Fourteenth
September One thousand eight hundred and seventy, Number 2476, for
"Improvements in the Manufacture of Bleaching Powder by the use of
Chlorine when Diluted with Inert Gases," or in any other convenient
apparatus, or for any other purpose.
66
Figure 4 shews in ground plan another arrangement, the same letters
referring in each Drawing to parts having the same object, but whilst
the arrangement in Figures 1, 2, and 3 is better adapted to an uninter-
rupted stream or current of gas and the continuous moving of the
alkaline chlorides, the arrangement in Figure 4 is specially adapted
to working a number of vessels or apparatus, each containing common
salt or chloride of potassium which after being placed therein is not
materially moved until the reaction upon it is completed, when it is
withdrawn and fresh material introduced. The general course of the
gases is the same in each case, they enter by the pipes Pgl, Pg2, &c.
the vessels G1, G2, &c. where anhydrous sulphuric acid is formed, and
then by the pipes Ph², Ph³, &c. the vessels H1, H2, &c. where it is
utilized, and so on in series, the gases from the exit being treated as
before described. The vessels or pieces of apparatus are worked and
in the arrangement shewn in Figure 4 are isolated in pairs, thus if in
Figure 4 the contents of H4 are to be removed, both it and G4 are
isolated by removing the connecting pipes Pg4 and Pg5 and replacing
them by a connecting pipe Pgc, shown in red, similarly for isolating
any other member of the series. The series may also be made circu-
lating by an arrangement of apparatus and of pipes and connections
evident to any practical man, thus a series Gi, H1, G2, H2, G3, H3, G4,
H4; Gx, Ha, may be made circulating by one of the well-known forms
of arrangement, whereby the gases may be made at pleasure to enter

page_text: and leave any member of the series. The series G1, H1, G2, H2, G3,
H3, G4, H4; Gx, Ha, circulating for example through the various
series G2, H2, G3, H3, G4, H4; Gx, Hx, G1, H1, then G3, H3, G4,
H4; Gx, Hx, G1, H1, G2, H2, next G4, H4; Gx, Hx, G1, H1, G2, H2,
G3, H3, and so on round to G1, H1, G2, H2, G3, H3, G4, H4; Gx,
Hx, with which the series recommences.
The gases may be moved throughout by any suitable means, I prefer
an aspirating fan or pump or similar contrivance placed at the extreme
end of the whole series after the apparatus in which the chlorine
is utilized, but propulsion may be used in addition to or instead of
aspiration, and each piece of apparatus or the whole may be heated
in any convenient manner, and instead of the air and sulphurous acid
gas being heated before they are mixed the heating thereof may take
place or be completed after they are mixed.
I do not claim either the production of sulphate of soda, or of sulphate
of potash, or of chlorine, or of bleaching powder when iron or cupreous
pyrites, either raw or burnt, or other similar substances are so mixed
with common salt or with chloride of potassium that the said chlorides.
and their resultant sulphates can only be separated from the other
solid materials either by solution in water or by other chemical agency;
but what I do claim is, the manufacture of sulphate of soda and of
sulphate of potash and of chlorine and of bleaching powder, by causing
heated anhydrous sulphuric acid mixed with air or oxygen to pass
over or through or to come in contact with the chloride of sodium or
the chloride of potassium at an elevated temperature, such mixture
with air or oxygen being effected either before or during the decom-
position of the chlorides under treatment, when such chlorides and the
sulphates resulting therefrom are kept separate and distinct or may
be mechanically separated from the solid materials used to form or
promote the formation of the anhydrous sulphuric acid.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Deacon, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, the Tenth day of January
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.