IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE EXTRACTION OF SULPHUR FROM SULPHUR ORES, AND IN THE PURIFICATION OF SULPHUR
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry O'Shea, of No. 45, Beauford
Gardens, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE EXTRACTION OF SULPHUR FROM SULPHUR ORES, AND IN THE
PURIFICATION OF SULPHUR."
Sealed the 20th February 1874, and dated the 17th December 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry O'Shea
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 17th December 1873.
I, WILLIAM HENRY O'SHEA, of No. 45, Beauford Gardens, in the
County of Middlesex, hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE EXTRACTION OF SULPHUR FROM SULPHUR ORES, AND IN THE
PURIFICATION OF SULPHUR," to be as follows:-.
This Invention has for its object improvements in the extraction of
sulphur from sulphur ores, and in the purification of sulphur. For the.
purpose of extracting sulphur from sulphur ores, or it may be for
remelting crude brimstone, I place the ore or brimstone in tubes or
retorts which are heated externally by steam or water contained in a

page_text: close cylinder so as to melt out the sulphur from the ore or impurities
and keep it in a state in which it will flow freely, avoiding overheating,
which would render the melted sulphur viscous.
The passages by which the sulphur passes from the retort and the
reservoir into which it is received are kept at a sufficient heat by steam t
jacketting, or otherwise, to keep the sulphur at its temperature of
fluidity. The melted sulphur may at this stage be collected, or for the
purpose of refining the sulphur the melted sulphur is caused to flow in
a constant stream into a highly heated pipe or vessel. The sulphur
supplied to the pipe or vessel is volatilised, and the vapour is conducted 1
away into a condensing chamber and there condensed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Henry O'Shea in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 17th June 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY O'SHEA, of No. 45, Beaufort Gardens, in the County of
Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Henry O'Shea, Her
special license that I, the said William Henry O'Shea, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Henry
O'Shea, 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 THE EXTRACTION OF SULphur from SULPHUR ORES, AND IN THE
PURIFICATION OF SULPHUR," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Henry O'Shea, my executors or administrators, by an in-
strument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,

page_text: should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 William Henry O'Shea, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say:
This Invention has for its object improvements in the extraction of
sulphur from sulphur ores and in the purification of sulphur. For the
purpose of extracting sulphur from sulphur ores, or it may be for
remelting crude brimstone, I place the ore or brimstone in tubes or
retorts which are heated externally by steam or water contained in a
close cylinder so as to melt out the sulphur from the ore or impurities,
and keep it in a state in which it will flow freely, avoiding overheating,
which would render the melted sulphur viscous.
The passages by which the sulphur passes from the retort and the
reservoir into which it is received are kept at a sufficient heat by steam
jacketing, or otherwise, to keep the sulphur at its temperature of
fluidity. The melted sulphur may at this stage be collected, or for the
purpose of refining the sulphur the melted sulphur is caused to flow in.
a constant stream into a highly heated pipe or vessel. The sulphur
supplied to the pipe or vessel is volatilized, and the vapour is conducted
away into a condensing chamber and there condensed.
In order that my said Invention may be most fully understood and
readily carried into effect I will proceed to describe the Drawings here-
unto annexed.
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, and Figure 2 a transverse section
of the apparatus which I employ for the extraction of sulphur from
sulphur ores, and for the purification of sulphur. a is a boiler in which
the tubes containing the sulphur ore or crude brimstone are set; bis a
furnace, and 61, 61, are flues. The chimney is not shewn in the
Drawings

page_text: .c, c, are the tubes or retorts which receive the sulphur ore or crude
brimstone which rests upon perforated plates or gratings so that the
melted sulphur may be able to flow freely away. The tubes or retorts
pass through one end of the boiler, and here are the mouths through
which they are charged and discharged. The mouths of the tubes are
closed when at work by means of plugs or covers. The other ends of
the tubes or retorts all enter the chamber d into which the sulphur from
all the tubes or retorts passes, and by a passage at the bottom the
sulphur descends into the reservoir e. The reservoir e may be jacketed
and the jacket supplied with steam from the boiler by pipes which the
Drawings do not shew. A water trap is provided to give escape to the
water resulting from the condensation of steam in the jacket of the
reservoir e

page_text: Having thus described the nature of my. said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that I
claim,―
1st. The means of treating sulphur ore and crude brimstone to extract
sulphur therefrom in tubes or retorts heated externally by means of
steam or water in a closed vessel, substantially as described.
2nd. The means of treating sulphur to produce purified sulphur, or
flowers of sulphur, by a continuous process of causing melted sulphur to
flow into a highly heated subliming vessel, in which it is volatilised, and
from which the vapour passes to a condenser, substantially as described.
3rd. The arrangement of apparatus for the extraction of sulphur from
sulphur ore, and for the purification of sulphur in one combined and
continuous operation, substantially as described.
In witness whereof I, the said William Henry O'Shea, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
WILLIAM HENRY O'SHEA. (L.S.)