IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF GASES, LIQUIDS, AND PULVERULENT SUBSTANCES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF GASES, LIQUIDS, AND PULVERULENT
SUBSTANCES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
A communication from abroad by Alfred Jean Huet and Alfred
Edouard Govler of Paris in the Republic of France. Engineers.
-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 24th February 1875.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF GASES, LIQUIDS, AND
PULVERULENT SUBSTANCES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEBEIN," a communication to me from abroad by Alfred Jean Huet
and Alfred Edouard Geyler, of Paris, in the Republic of France, En-
gineers, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the application of centrifugal force for

page_text: bringing into contact the molecules of various bodies (gaseous, fluid, or
in a pulverized condition), in order to obtain in a continuous manner
and in a limited space considerable acting surfaces, and thus to facilitate
by its acceleration the absorbtion or the separation of the elements com-
posing a mixture of gases, fluids, or pulverulent substances.
The apparatus employed according to this Invention for obtaining this
result is arranged in such a manner that the centrifugal force acts on
the one hand upon the substances to be operated on, and on the other
hand upon those it may be found advisable to bring into requisition in
order to produce the desired effect. It presents moreover the advantage
of operating upon large quantities of the material, and that in a con-
tinuous manner, the renewal of the substances operated on being effected
either continuously or intermittently.
In carrying out this Invention the apparatus is composed of an
exhausting turbine or fan, having numerous straight or curved blades or
vanes enclosed in a cylinder open at the bottom and rotating in a closed
vat, the lower part of which contains any liquid suitable for producing
the desired result.
The channels formed by the blades or vanes and the plates of the
turbine (of which there are two, an upper and a lower), are constructed
with circular baffle plates or projections. The gases or liquids are drawn
in through the central part, which rotates before a stationary circular
orifice at the end of the supply duct. The upper plate of the turbine is
made of a concave form in order to cause a portion of the gases to be
deflected towards the lower part of the turbine. The lower plate is 1
provided with a much smaller orifice, and is also made concave, and
terminates in an inverted cone. This orifice is plunged or immersed in
the liquid in the vat, and through it the liquid is drawn in, such liquid
being carried up by the friction on the interior surface of the cone until
it reaches the baffles, where the stream is broken several times in the
cells of the turbine, together with the other bodies admitted at the upper
orifice.
The turbine is keyed to the lower extremity of a vertical shaft working
in a bearing fixed on the upper plate of the cylinder. This plate carries
bearings supporting a horizontal shaft, which is provided with a driving
pulley and also with a mitre wheel, from which motion is transmitted
by friction or teeth to the vertical shaft by means of another wheel

page_text: keyed upon the latter. The turbine being in motion the gases or liquids
arriving by a horizontal passage enter the turbine by the stationary.
orifice before mentioned, the condensing or absorbing fluids being intro-
duced through the lower orifice. The separation or contact is effected.
between the blades or vanes, and the substances issue from the whole
periphery of the turbine and are thrown into the cylinder. The heavy
atoms absorbed or dissolved in the liquid fall to the bottom of the vat,
whence they are removed as they accumulate, while the gases united at
the upper part of the cylinder enter another horizontal passage to be
subsequently collected in turn, if considered advisable.
The form of the bottom of the vat will be varied according to the
description of work to be performed.
Among other purposes the Invention is applicable for effecting the
absorption of the sulphurous acid produced by the ovens for roasting
pyrites by means of lime. The absorbing body in this case is the lime
contained in the water in suspension, that is to say, a solid body con-
stituting a milk of lime. The chief product is sulphite of lime, which is
found in great quantities projected against the sides of the cylinder, and
falls along such sides. The bottom should therefore be made of a conical
form so as to carry the products obtained outwards, which as they accu-
mulate will displace the lighter and finer lime. The fresh lime prepared.
as milk in a suitable receptacle is conducted by the tube to the centre of
the apparatus. The water being continually agitated in the vat, washes:
the sulphite. The surplus lime re-enters the apparatus. The rotating.
shaft is fitted with a slight adjustment, and dips into the liquid so as to
stir the milk of lime and prevent the obstruction of the orifice.
In effecting the absorption of metallic vapours, powders, metallic
oxides, and the like, such for example as lead, oxide of zinc, and sulphuret.
of arsenic, the water alone acts as a medium to take up the pulverulent
substance. The products are collected as before on the sides of the
cylinder, but it will be necessary to supply the turbine with water.
approximately pure; the vat should therefore be constructed with an
inner wall or walls or partitions surrounding the cone, and arranged in
such a position that the products of the operation of the turbine are
thrown over and deposited outside of the wall, while the supply of water
for the turbine is kept free from the deposit, and is introduced through
pipes passing through such additional walls. The bottom of the vat may
lso be made of a concave form.

page_text: The Invention is also applicable for effecting the absorption of a gas
soluble in water at the temperature of the bath, and at atmospheric
pressure (or at the pressure in the cylinder), and moreover susceptible of
being liberated wholly or partially in a vacuum, as for example, for
collecting the sulphurous acid generated by ovens for roasting pyrites
with a view to the manufacture of sulphuric acid.
The turbine to be employed is similar in construction to those herein-
before described, the arrangement of the vat being alone modified.
A barometric column is however attached thereto together with a vacuum
pump. The water of the bath after passing into the turbine in contact
with the gases from the combustion becomes charged with sulphurous
acid, and is projected into the cylinder whence it ascends, passing under
the action of the vacuum produced by the pump over a false bottom
with which the cylinder and column are provided. This solution on
reaching the limit of its elevation is exposed to the vacuum, and the gas
is liberated in proportion as it is carried off by the pump, which then
directs it to the lead receptacles, the turbine continuing by its motion
to draw in the gases, and the water supplies itself with water partially
deprived of its gas from below the false bottom, thus communicating
with the column which is divided in two by a partition or concentric
tubes carried to a suitable height. A current of water ascending and
descending is thus established, the ascending current being charged with
a greater quantity of sulphurous acid than the other, whilst the
descending current which is less charged returns to take up fresh gas
and the operation is repeated.
Among the numerous purposes to which the apparatus may be applied
may also be mentioned the extraction and purification of gas used for
lighting, the apparatus enabling the inert gases to be absorbed and the
tar to be condensed.
As a further modification of the apparatus, in lieu of employing two
plates in the turbine, one only, viz., the lower one with projecting blades
or vanes may be used; the plate would then turn under the bottom of
the cylinder, the gases arriving still by the centre in the same manner.
In some cases the apparatus may be arranged so that the operation
will be performed intermittently and successively between the different
blades or vanes, channels of small section being formed between the
blades or vanes and the two plates if the liquid be only admitted for a

page_text: very short period; the result will be that this quantity will traverse the
channel in a body, and act there after the manner of a piston, that is to
say, drives the gas before it and produces behind it a diminution of
pressure which is much greater than what would result from the
centrifugal force applied to the volume of gas alone; the whole of the
surfaces of the apparatus are moistened, and the products are then mixed
in the turbine in separate and successive quantities. The water can only
enter the turbine by an annular space which is perforated with openings
on a level with the passage of the blades or vanes, the channels of the
turbine in passing before these openings draw a quantity of water
limited by the time occupied in passing the opening; they cease to draw
on passing over the solid portion of the ring and the admission of the
water is interrupted, but the gases enter continually. The distances
between the openings should therefore be calculated in such a manner
that when one channel is emptied the water is taken up anew by another
opening.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 24th August 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of February, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Henry Johnson, Her
special license that I, the said John Henry Johnson, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, 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 TREATMENT OF GASES, LIQUIDS, AND PULVERULENT SUB-

page_text: STANCES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," a com-
munication to me from abroad by Alfred Jean Huet and Alfred Edouard
Geyler, of Paris, in the Republic of France, Engineers, upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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 John Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:-
The said Invention relates to the application of centrifugal force for the
purpose of bringing into contact with the extremely divided molecules of
various bodies (whether gaseous, or fluid, or in a pulverulent condition)
in order to obtain in a continuous manner and in a limited space con-
siderable acting surfaces, and thus to facilitate by its acceleration the
absorption or the separation of the elements composing a more or less
complex mixture of gases, fluids, and pulverulent substances.
The apparatus employed in carrying out this Invention in order to
obtain the before-mentioned result is arranged in such a manner that the a
centrifugal force acts on the one hand upon the substances to be operated
upon, and on the other hand upon those it may be found advisable to
bring into requisition in order to produce the desired effect. It possesses
moreover the advantage of operating upon very large quantities in a
continuous manner the renewal of the substances operated on being a
effected either continuously or intermittently.
The apparatus may be composed of any suitable material, according to
the mode of construction employed or the necessity for guarding against
the chemical action of the various substances upon which it may be
required to operate, and any convenient form or arrangement may be 3
adopted by employing any mechanical elements capable of fulfilling the

page_text: necessary conditions without in anywise changing its mode of operation
and the principle on which it is based.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
3 shall refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings represents a longitudinal
section of an apparatus constructed according to one mode of carrying
out this Invention; and Figure 2 is a corresponding sectional plan of
the same.
The remaining Figures illustrate modifications which will be herein-
after referred to.
The apparatus is mainly composed of an exhausting turbine or fan a
with numerous straight or curved blades or vanes enclosed in a hollow
cylinder or receiver c rotating in a closed vat b, the lower part of which
contains any liquid suitable for producing the desired result.
The channels formed by the blades or vanes and the two plates 1, 2,
forming the top and bottom of the turbine are constructed with circular
baffle plates or projections a¹. The gases or liquids are drawn in through
the central part which rotates opposite the stationary circular orifice d
at the end of the supply duct k. The upper plate 1 of the turbine is
made of a concave form in order to cause a portion of the gases to be
deflected towards the lower part of the turbine. The lower plate 2 is
provided with a smaller orifice e, it is also made concave and terminates
in an inverted cone. This orifice is plunged in the liquid in the vat,
and through it the liquid is drawn in and carried up by the friction on
the interior surface of the cone until it reaches the baffles a¹, where the
stream is broken several times in the cells of the turbine in contact with
the other bodies admitted at the upper orifice d.
The turbine is keyed to the lower extremity of a vertical shaft f
working in a bearing 9 which is carried on the plate 3 forming the top
of the receiver and its passages. The plate 3 carries bearings ƒ¹, ƒ¹,
supporting a horizontal shaft g¹ which is provided with a driving
pulley h, and carries also a mitre wheel i from which motion is trans-
mitted by friction or teeth to the vertical shaft ƒ by means of another

page_text: wheel h' keyed upon the latter. The turbine being in motion the gases
or liquids arriving by the duct k enter the turbine by the orifice d, whilst
at the lower opposite part the condensing or absorbing fluids are intro-
duced through the orifice e, the separation and the contact or inter-
mixture are effected between the blades or vanes, and the substances
issue from the whole periphery of the turbine and are projected into the
receiver c, the heavy atoms absorbed or dissolved in the liquid fall to the
bottom of the vat, whence they are removed as they accumulate, whilst
the gases united at the upper part of the cylinder enter the duct m
through the apertures 1, 1, to be subsequently collected in turn if found
desirable.
The form of the bottom of the vat should be varied according to the
description of work to be performed.
Figure 3 represents a modification illustrating the application of the
Invention for effecting the absorption of the sulphurous acid produced
by ovens for roasting pyrites by means of lime. The absorping body (in
this case) is lime contained in the water in suspension, that is to say, a
solid body constituting a milk of lime, the chief product will be sulphite
of lime, also solid, and constituting also a milk, but of a coarser quality.
This product is found in large quantities projected against the sides of
the receiver, and falls, gliding along such sides, the bottom should there-
fore be made of a conical form, as shewn at n, so as to carry the products
obtained outwards, which as they accumulate will displace the lighter
and finer lime. The fresh lime prepared as milk in a suitable receptacle
is conducted by the tube k to the centre of the apparatus. The water
being continually agitated in the vat 6 washes the sulphite, and the
surplus lime reenters the apparatus. The rotating shaft fis fitted with
a slight adjustment and dips for a short distance into the liquid so as to
stir the milk of lime and prevent the obstruction of the orifice e.
Figure 4 shews a modification of apparatus adapted for effecting the
absorption of metallic fumes, powder, metallic oxides, and the like,
such for example as lead, oxide of zinc, and sulphuret of arsenic.
In this case the water alone acts as a medium for taking up the
pulverulent substances, the products are collected as before on the sides
of the receiver, but it will be necessary to supply the turbine with
water approximately pure; the vat should therefore be constructed as
represented in Figure 4, the water being supplied from the reservoir o

page_text: through a pipe p into the centre of the vat b, and thence admitted to
the turbine by the orifice at the end of the cone e.
The modification of apparatus shewn in Figure 5 may be employed
for effecting the absorption of a gas soluble in water at the temperature
of the bath and at atmospheric pressure, or at the pressure in the
receiver, and moreover susceptible of being liberated wholly or partially
in a vacuum. This arrangement is applicable for collecting the
sulphurous acid generated by ovens for roasting pyrites with a view to
the manufacture of sulphuric acid for example. (Any carbonic acid con-
tained in this product may be removed by an absorbent, such for
example as lime.)
The turbine to be employed is similar in construction to those herein-
before described, the arrangement of the vat being alone modified.
A barometric column is however attached thereto, together with a
vucuum pump 8.
The bath consists of water alone, the water after
passing into the turbine in contact with the whole of the gases from the
combustion becomes charged with sulphurous acid and is projected into
the receiver, whence it ascends, passing under the action of the vacuum
produced by the pumps along one side of the partition of the column r.
The solution on reaching the limit of its elevation is exposed to the
vacuum, and the gas is liberated in proportion as it is carried off by the
pump, which then directs it to the lead receptacles. The turbine con-
tinuing by its motion to draw in the gases and the water supplies itself
with water partially deprived of its gas from the interior of the vat b
below the bottom u, and which is in communication with the column r.
Concentric tubes carried to a suitable height may be substituted for
the partitioned column if desired. A current of water, following
the direction of the arrows in the Drawing is thus established, the
ascending current being charged with a greater quantity of sulphurous
acid than the other, whilst the descending current, which is less
charged, returns to take up fresh gas, and the operation is repeated.
The unabsorbed gases escape to the exterior, as in the preceding

page_text: lighting, the apparatus enabling the inert gases to be absorbed and the
tar to be condensed.
In some cases the modification of apparatus shewn in Figure 6 may
be adopted, in which the principle of the Invention remains unchanged.
In this modification the turbine in lieu of being constructed with two
plates is provided with one plate only, viz., the lower one 2, which carries
projecting blades and revolves within the inverted vessel or receiver c
beneath its bottom 4, the gases arriving through the centre d in the
manner herein-before described.
The apparatus may also be arranged so that the operation is performed
intermittently and successively between the different blades or vanes.
As the blades or vanes form between them and the two plates channels
of small section if the liquid be only admitted for a very short period the
result will be that this quantity will traverse the channel in a body, act
there after the manner of a piston, that is to say, drive the gas before it,
and produce behind it a diminution of pressure, which is much greater
than what would result from the centrifugal force applied to the volume
of gas alone; the whole of the surfaces of the apparatus are moistened,
and the products are then mixed in the turbine in separate and
successive quantities. This arrangement is shown in longitudinal section.
and plan in Figures 7 and 8 respectively. The water can only enter the
turbine by the annular space M, N, which is perforated on a level with
the passages between the blades or vanes with openings at a³; the
channels of the turbine in passing before these openings draw a quantity
of water limited by the time occupied in passing the opening; they
cease to draw on passing over the solid portion of the ring, and the
admission of the water is interrupted, but the gases enter continually.
The distances between the openings should therefore be calculated in
such a manner that when one channel is emptied the water is taken up
anew by another opening.
The apparatus may be otherwise modified in its details, and any of the
modifications herein-before described may be applied to any similar
purposes for which they may be adapted other than the particular
examples of their application which have been enumerated.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider

page_text: to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First. The application of centrifugal force to bodies, the extremely
divided molecules of which it is desired to bring into contact for the
purpose of continuously renewing the surfaces in contact of such bodies,
and thus accelerating and facilitating the reactions or separations to be
produced between the various molecules, substantially as herein-before
described.
Second. The employment of turbines arranged so as to receive simul-
taneously the gaseous liquid or pulverized bodies for the purpose of
effecting their absorption or separation, substantially as herein-before
described and illustrated by the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to
this my Specification set my hand and seal, the Twenty-third
day of August One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.