IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EVAPORATING AND INCINERATING
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR EVAPORATING AND INCINERATING." A communication from
abroad by Louis Joseph Amédée Lespermont, of Paris, France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th June 1876.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EVAPORATING AND
INCINERATING."
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatns used for the purposes of
evaporation and incineration in various industries for recovering matters held in
solution, and raising to a high temperature the resulting concrete product, or for
giving rise to certain chemical reactions, as for example, extracting potash from the
residues of the distillation of beetroot or molasses, or recovering the alkali used in
reducing straw and other vegetable matters to pulp for paper.
The Invention is designed to establish perfect concord between the evaporating
and incinerating operations, to effect an economy in fuel, and to destroy or avoid
all noxious emanations, whether in the apparatus itself or from the heaps of saline
matters, the incineration of which is ordinarily completed in the open air.
The apparatus of this kind hitherto generally employed answers well when liquids
of very low density, such as the residues of distilleries are treated, but when the
liquid is of greater density, as for instance, the water used for reducing straw and
wood to pulp, the action of the apparatus becomes irregular, the incineration failing
to keep pace with the evaporation, thus causing an accumulation of pasty matters
in the evaporating chamber, which soon become ignited, necessitating frequent
In
stoppages in the working of the furnace for the purpose of cleaning the same.
order to remedy this defect I diminish the evaporative action of the furnace, and
render the incineration more active, and I obtain this double result by applying
part of the heat from the gases used for producing the evaporation for the purposes
of incineration. A vehicle for this heat is found in the air introduced in excess
for burning the combustible gases of the furnace, or resulting from the distillation

page_text: of organic matters contained in the substances to be incinerated. This introduction
of hot air at the point where the incineration is effected has the further advantage
of inducing a rapid combination of the oxygen of the air with the noxious gases
produced by the incineration, and of thus depriving the fumes escaping from the
chimney of all disagreeable odours. With this object, and in order to obtain an
intimate mixture of the gases produced by the incineration with the hot air, I
introduce the latter in a direction perpendicular to that of said gases. By thus
utilizing the heat evolved by the complete combustion in the furnace of the gaseous
organic matters which have hitherto been discharged into the atmosphere for the
purpose of heating the air an economy of fuel is obtained.
I have described a method of destroying the noxious odours produced in the
apparatus, and I will now explain how I prevent the escape into the atmosphere of
the noxious gases produced by the slow combustion in heaps. For this purpose the
saline matters from the incinerating furnace are introduced as quickly as possible
into large chambers, where they are placed in heaps. The chambers are quite
closed, with the exception of two openings, one at each end at different levels, that
for the admission of external air being at the lower part, while the other at which
the mixture of air and impure gases escapes is at the upper part of the chamber,
and communicates with, a pipe of large diameter, by which the gaseous mixture is
conducted to the air heating apparatus, and thence introduced in excess into the
incinerating furnaces.
The combination of the noxious gases produced by the combustion of the matters
in heaps with the oxygen of the air is effected at the same time as the combination
before mentioned of the noxious gases produced by the incineration in the furnace
and the oxygen.
In order that the Invention may be more readily understood I have illústrated it
in the accompanying Drawings as applied to what is known as a Porion furnace,
although the improvements are applicable to other arrangements of furnace used for
the purposes mentioned.
I would also remark that although the apparatus for heating the air withdrawn
from the slow combustion chamber is here shown as placed between the evaporating
chamber and the incinerating furnaces, it may be as well placed either above,
below, or at any other point of said furnaces.
The air heating apparatus is also shown as composed of fire-clay tubes, but it may
be otherwise constructed, and made of metal if desired, as any other kind of heater
would answer the purpose.
The slow combustion chambers employed for collecting the noxious gases resulting
from the incineration in heaps, and conducting them to the furnaces, may be of any
suitable construction, and placed either above or below the furnace level at any
convenient point near the same.
Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section of the furnace on line x, y, z, z¹, Figure 2,
which is a plan on line R, S, T, U, V, W, Figure 1; Figure 3 is a transverse section
on line P, R, Figure 1; Figure 4 is a transverse section on line A, B, C, D,
Figure Figure 5 is a transverse section on line E, F, G, H, Figure 1; Figure 6
is a transverse section on line K, L, Figure 1; Figure 7 is a transverse section
on line M, N, Figure 1.
The same letters of reference serve for all these Figures.
t, t, furnace grates; a, a, incinerating furnaces; b, b, chambers in which the ashes
are deposited; d, d, chambers for distributing the gases of combustion through
pipes e, e, e, into flues f, f, and thence by passage g to the evaporating chamber h at
the opposite end of which is the chimney. The air extracted from the chambers
where the slow combustion in heaps is effected enters by pipe o, and descends by
passage y, y, and enters the lower part of chambers m, m, through z, z. This
mixture of air and noxious gases becomes heated by contact with the tubes e, e, and
rises to the upper part of chambers m, m, whence it passes by flues n, n, and
p, p, to chambers q, q, at the desired temperature. These latter chambers supply
hot air to the incinerating furnaces through openings r, 7. By closing the ash-pit

page_text: doors and opening dampers 8, 8, the furnaces t, t, may also be supplied with hot air.
The openings x, x, and w, which are closed up while the apparatus is in work,
afford access for removing any dust which may be carried along with the air with-
drawn from the slow combustion chambers and deposited in chambers m, m.
The dampers 8, 8, may be hinged or sliding to permit the partial or perfect closure
of the openings. Openings u, u, closed by doors are provided in the line of the
furnace bridges to serve as sight holes, or for the introduction of a scraper for
clearing apertures r, r, which are provided with regulating valves. The chambers
b, d, and g are also provided with openings closed during the working, by which
access is had for cleaning.
By the employment of hot air in the manner described I am enabled in certain
cases to use fuel in a gaseous or pulverulent form, the furnaces boing suitably
adapted for the purposo.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th
December 1876.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EVAPORATING AND
INCINERATING." A communication from abroad by Louis Joseph Amédée Les-
permont, of Paris, France.
This Invention relates to improvements in apparatus employed for the purposes
of evaporation and incineration. In various industries it is requisite to evaporate
large quantities of liquid in order to recover matters held in solution, and then to
raise to a high temperature the resulting concrete product, either for giving rise to
certain chemical reactions or for destroying organic matters contained in the mineral
substances it is desired to recover from the liquid. An example of the latter case is
the manufacture of pulp for paper, where an alkali is employed to act on the straw,
wood, or other raw vegetable matters. The fibre after being freed by the lye from
the resinous matters to which it owed its hardness, is removed from the alkaline
liquor, which is then evaporated and incinerated to recover the soda in the state of
carbonate.
Another example is in extracting potash from the residues of beetroot or cano
sugar manufactories, where after having brought the residues to a concrete form, the
product must be incinerated in order to retain only the mineral salts previously con-
tained in the beetroot. It frequently happens also, as in the two examples above
cited, that the evaporation and incineration in the apparatus requires also to be
followed by slow combustion in heaps in the open air, by which means the complete
combustion is effected of the organic matters mixed with the saline matter which it
is desired to obtain.
In the various industries in which it is required to evaporate large quantities of
liquid to dryness, or even to effect the incineration of the animal matters dissolved,
the apparatus of Mr. Porion is generally employed. This apparatus however,
although the best which has hitherto been employed for the purpose, possesses
certain disadvantages which it is desirable to obviate. In the first place there is a
want of harmony in certain cases between the two parts of the apparatus in which
the evaporation and incineration are severally carried on; and in the second place,
the noxious gases emanating either from the apparatus or from the heaps of saline
matters in which the incineration is slowly effected in the open air, prove highly
injurious to the surrounding neighbourhood.
I will first proceed to consider each of the above objections separately, and then
indicate the means by which they may be obviated.
In Porion's apparatus the operation succeeds well with liquids of very low density,
such as distillers' wash, but when the liquid is of greater density, as, for instance.

page_text: .
the water used in reducing straw and wood to pulp, the action of the apparatus
becomes irregular, the incineration failing to keep pace with the evaporation, thus
causing an accumulation of pasty matters in the evaporating chamber which soon
become ignited, necessitating frequent stoppages in the working of the furnace for
the purpose of cleaning the same. In order to remedy this defect I diminish the
evaporative action of the furnace, and render the incineration more active, and I
obtain this double result by applying part of the heat from the gases used for pro-
ducing the evaporation for the purposes of incineration. A vehicle for this heat is
found in the air introduced in excess for burning the combustible gases of the
furnace, or resulting from the distillation of organic matters contained in the sub-
stances to be incinerated. This introduction of hot air at the point where the
incineration is effected has the further advantage of inducing a rapid combination
of the oxygen of the air with the noxious gases produced by the incineration, and
of thus depriving the fumes escaping from the chimney of all disagreeable odours.
With this object, and in order to obtain an intimate mixture of the gases produced
by the incineration with the hot air, I introduce the latter in a direction perpen-
dicular to that of said gases. By thus applying hot air and by utilizing the heat
evolved by the complete combustion in the furnace of the gaseous organic matters
which have hitherto been discharged into the atmosphere, an economy of fuel is
obtained. The other objection to the use of Porion's apparatus as above indicated
relates to the noxious odours which escape into the atmosphere either by the chimney
or by the slow combustion in heaps in the open air of the organic matters mixed
with the saline matters from the incinerating furnaces.
I have described the method of destroying the noxious odours produced in the
apparatus, and I will now explain how I prevent the escape into the atmosphere of
the noxious gases produced by the slow combustion in heaps. For this purpose the
saline matters from the incinerating furnace are introduced as quickly as possible
into large chambers, where they are placed in heaps. The chambers are quite closed,
with the exception of two openings, one at each end at different levels, that for the
admission of external air being at the lower part, while the other at which the
mixture of air and impure gases escapes is at the upper part of the chamber, and
communicates with a pipe of large diameter by which the gaseous mixture is con-
ducted to the air heating apparatus, and thence introduced in excess into the
incinerating furnaces.
The combination of the noxious gases produced by the slow combustion of the
matters in heaps with the oxygen of the air is effected at the same time as the com-
bination before mentioned of the noxious gases produced by the incineration in the
furnace and the oxygen.
In order that the Invention may be more readily understood I have illustrated it
in the accompanying Drawings as applicable to a Porion furnace, although the im-
provements are also applicable to other arrangements of furnaces used for the
purposes mentioned.
I would also remark that although the apparatus for heating the air withdrawn
from the slow combustion chamber is here shown as placed between the evaporating
chamber and the incinerating furnaces it may be as well placed either above, below,
or at any other point of said furnaces.
The air heating apparatus is also shown as composed of fire-clay tubes, but it may
be otherwise constructed and made of metal if desired, as any other kind of heater
or regenerator would answer the purpose.
The slow combustion chambers employed for collecting the noxious gases resulting
from the incineration in heaps, and conducting them to the furnaces, may be of any
suitable construction, and placed either above or below the furnace level at any
convenient point near the same.
Figure 1 shows a longitudinal section of the furnace on line x, y, z, 21, Figure 2,
which is a plan on line R, S, T, U, V, W, Figure 1; Figure 3 is a transverse section
on line P, R, Figure 1; Figure 4 is a transverse section on line A, B, C, D,
Figure 1; Figure 5 is a transverse section on line E, F, G, H, Figure 1; Figure 6

page_text: is a transverse section on line K, L, Figure 1; Figure 7 is a transverse section on
line M, N, Figure 1.
The same letters of reference serve for all these Figures.
.
t, t, furnace grates; a, a, incinerating furnaces; b, b, chambers in which the ashes
are deposited; d, d, chambers for distributing the gases of combustion into pipes
e, e, e, which lead to flues f, f, whence the gases are conducted by passage g to the
evaporating chambers h, at the opposite end of which is the chimney. The air
extracted from the chambers, where the slow combustion in heaps is effected, enters
by pipe o, descends by passages y, y, and enters the lower part of the chambers m, m,
through openings z, z. This mixture of air and noxious gases becomes heated by
contact with the tubes e, e, and rises to the upper part of chambers m, m, whence
it passes by flues n, n, and p, p, and arrives at the desired temperature in the
chambers q, q.
These latter chambers supply hot air to the incinerating furnaces
through the passages r, r. By closing the ash-pit doors and opening the dampers
8, 8, the furnaces t, t, may also be supplied with hot air. The openings x, x, and w,
which are closed up while the apparatus is in work, afford access for removing any
dust which may be carried along with the air withdrawn from the slow combustion
chambers, and deposited in chambers m, m. The dampers 8, 8, may be hinged or
sliding to permit of the partial or perfect closure of the openings. Openings u, u,
closed by doors are provided in the line of the furnace bridges to serve as sight
holes, or for the introduction of a scraper for clearing the apertures r, r, which are
provided with regulating valves.
The chambers b, d, and g are also provided with openings closed during the
working by which access is had for cleaning.
By the employment of hot air in the manner described I am enabled in certain
cases to use fuel in a gaseous or pulverulent form, the furnaces being suitably
adapted for the purpose.
By means of the improvements, herein-before described, the following results aro
obtained :-
1st. Perfect concord between the evaporating and incinerating operations.
2nd. An economy in fuel.
And, 3rd. The destruction of all noxious odors produced in the apparatus.
Having described the nature of the said Invention, and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. The arrangement of the chambers in which the slow combustion of the saline
matters in heaps is effected, the withdrawal and heating of the vitiated air from
said chambers, and its introduction into the incinerating furnaces, as and for the
purpose specified.
2nd. Introducing heated air into the incinerating furnaces through the bridges at
the front and back of said furnaces, as shown and described.
3rd. Interposing between the evaporating chamber and the incinerating furnaces
a regenerator or air heating apparatus, whereby heat is abstracted from the gases
of combustion before they enter the liquid evaporating chamber, and given up to the
vitiated air previous to its introduction into the incinerating furnace, substantially
as shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of December in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six