An Improvement in Voltaic Batteries.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 13th June, 1891
Complete Specification Left, 10th Mar., 1892-Accepted, 16th Apr., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improvement in Voltaic Batteries.
I, PAUL JABLOCHKOFF, of 10 Rue du Débarcadère, Paris, France, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
with
The best depolariser in voltaic batteries is nitric acid, but it is expensive, and
its use is accompanied by evolution of unpleasant and noxious nitrous vapours.
My invention relates to a compact and simple construction of battery cell in such a
manner as to avoid these objections. In my former works, I have frequently had
occasion to mention the power which certain kinds of carbon and other porous
bodies possess of absorbing large quantities of oxygen from the atmosphere. In
carrying out my present invention, I take advantage of this property for oxidising
For this purpose,
the nitrous vapours and thus regenerating the nitric acid.
employ as the one electrode of a cell, a vessel, cylindrical or rectangular, made of
carbon more or less porous closed at the bottom, open at the top, and filled up
fragments of coke or preferably of peat charcoal. Having filled it I close it by a
porous lid, which may be of peat. Around the lower part of this vessel at some
distance from its sides I place, for the other electrode, several thicknesses of zinc
or iron plate, extending about one third of the height of the carbon vessel. I
enclose the whole in a basket or bag having a thick lining of spongy material such
as peat, and place it in a jar of non conducting material. I charge this jar and,
consequently, the lower portion of the spongy lining and the space between the
metal and the inner carbon vessel, with solution of nitrate of soda or of potash,
and I pour into the carbon vessel nitric acid, so much diluted that it does not fume.
Under electric action the alkaline nitrate is decomposed, but the alkali, meeting
the nitric acid imbibed by the porous carbon, becomes again nitrate, and the metal
becomes partly oxide which falls to the bottom and partly nitrate which remains
in solution. The nitric acid having parted with some of its oxygen evolves nitrous
vapours which, in rising through the upper part of the carbonaceous material,
meet oxygen condensed there from the atmosphere and become reconverted into
nitric acid which descends, the acid being thus continuously regenerated. Such
portions of the nitrous gases as may escape through the wall of the carbon vessel
are caught by the outer lining of peat. There is little consumption of nitric acid,
only a small quantity forming the metallic nitrate and there is no escape of
noxious gas. When a weak cell is required, as for telephonic purposes,
the inner vessel a carbon of little porosity, but for a strong cell I use a more
porous carbon.
Dated this 13th day of June 1891.
I
use for
ABEL & IMRAI,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improvement in Voltaic Batteries.
I, PAUL JABLOCHKOFF, of 10 Rue du Débarcadère, Paris, France, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to
be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The best depolariser in voltaic batteries is nitric acid, but it is expensive, and
its use is accompanied by evolution of unpleasant and noxious nitrous vapours.
My invention relates to a compact and simple construction of battery cell in such.

page_text: a manner as to avoid these objections. In my former works on voltaic batteries I
have frequently had occasion to mention the power which certain kinds of carbon
and other porous bodies possess of absorbing large quantities of oxygen from the
atmosphere. In carrying out my present invention, I take advantage of this
property for oxidising the nitrous vapours and thus regenerating the nitric acid.
For this purpose I construct the battery as I will describe with reference to the
accompanying drawing of which
Fig. 1 shews a vertical section, and Fig. 2 a section on line M N. I employ as
the electrodes carbon and either zinc or iron.
I construct the carbon electrode as a cylinder C made of porous carbon which is
closed at the bottom and open at top, and within this cylinder I place firstly a
number of dense carbon rods a a arranged closely together as shewn at Fig. 2 so
as to form a lining to the cylinder, and the central space I then fill up with pieces
of either ordinary coke or preferably peat charcoal.
The metal M which may be zinc or iron, is of circular form for circular
elements, or of rectangular form for rectangular batteries, or it may be of separate
plates, this electrode being made of considerably less height than the carbon
cylinder, in order to leave the greater part of the outer surface of the latter
exposed to the air. This couple is then placed in a vessel S which is by preference
of peat material, and the space between the receptacle and the carbon C is filled
with a spongy material D which may be peat, the whole being then introduced
into a watertight outer vessel R, the height of which is about the same as that of
the zinc electrode.
The spongy material between the carbon cylinder C and the receptacle $ is
saturated with a solution of nitrate of soda or potash up to the top of the outer
vessel R.
For putting the battery into action, nitric acid, sufficiently diluted to prevent it
from giving off fumes when the battery is out of action, is poured into the
cylinder C to such an extent as to leave above it a considerable portion of the
porous carbon cylinder for forming the regenerating medium. When the battery
is active, the reaction takes place as follows.
The metal electrode being attacked, developes the electric current, under the
action of which the alkaline nitrate becomes decomposed, and the soda or potash,
coming in contact with the nitric acid that has penetrated through the pores of the
carbon cylinder, is again converted into nitrate.
The metal is partially converted into oxide which falls to the bottom and partly
into soluble nitrate which remains in solution.
The nitric acid, which will have lost a portion of its oxygen, forms hyponitrous
vapours, but these in meeting in the body of the upper part of the carbon cylinder
the oxygen of the air which is condensed therein, will thereby be reconverted into
nitric acid which descends into the lower part again, so that the nitric acid is thus
continuously regenerated.
The gaseous particles that may escape through the sides of the carbon cylinder
will be retained by the peat enclosure S, so that only the very small proportion of
the nitric acid which is transformed into nitrate of zinc or iron, will be lost. The
battery will thus only consume a very small quantity of nitric acid and will not
give off any smell.
The lining formed of rods a of dense carbon has for its object to prevent the
nitric acid from coming in contact with the metal attachment a of the circuit wire,
which might occur if this were attached to the cylinder C, if of very porous
carbon.
When however the cylinder C is made of less porous carbon the metal contact
may be fixed directly to it and the lining aa be dispensed with. Such a con-
struction may be employed for batteries requiring to give off only weak currents,
such as for telephonic purposes, where the cylinder C would be made of only 5
slightly porous carbon, in which case the battery could remain in use for months
without requiring attention.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. A voltaic battery operating with nitric acid wherein the greater part of the
nitric acid employed is retained by effecting the oxygenisation of the nitrous acid
vapours by their condensation within a porous mass of carbon, by preference of
peat charcoal, in which they are brought into intimate contact with the oxygen of
the air, substantially as herein described.
2. The construction of galvanic battery operating as set forth in the preceding
claim, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying
drawing.
1 1
ليمي
1
1005
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.