IMPROVEMENTS THE MODE OF TREATING FOR EVAPORATING AND CONCENTRATING PURPOSES CANE JUICE, BEETROOT JUICE, AND OTHER SACCHARINE AND OTHER SOLUTIONS AND LIQUIDS, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR THE CONCENTRATION OF SACCHARINE AND OTHER SOLUTIONS, AND FOR THE EVAPORATION OF LIQUIDS
Year: 1868

page_text: Lancaster, sugar neuner, for
IMPROVEMENTS
THE
MODE OF TREATING FOR EVAPORATING AND CONCENTRATING PURPOSES CANE
JUICE, BEETROOT JUICE, AND OTHER SACCHARINE AND OTHER SOLUTIONS AND
LIQUIDS, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR THE CONCENTRATION OF
SACCHARINE AND OTHER SOLUTIONS, AND FOR THE EVAPORATION OF LIQUIDS."
Sealed the 29th December 1868, and dated the 6th July 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Fryer at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th July 1868.
I, ALFRED FRYER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Sugar
Refiner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MODE OF TREATING FOR EVAPORATING AND CONCENTRATING PURPOSES
CANE JUICE, BEETROOT JUICE, AND OTHER SACCHARINE AND OTHER SOLUTIONS AND
LIQUIDS, AND IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR THE CONCENTRATION OF
SACCHARINE AND OTHER SOLUTIONS, AND FOR THE EVAPORATION OF LIQUIDS," to be
as follows:-
My present improvements refer in part to improvements in the
apparatus described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to
me on the 14th February 1865, and numbered 418.

page_text: Referring to the revolving cylinder described in my said Specification,
the concentration or evaporation of saccharine or other solutions in this
cylinder is effected by exposing a large surface of such solutions to the
action of heated air drawn or forced through the cylinder. In practice
this exposure of a large surface of the solution to the heated air has been
effected by means of curved blades placed in the cylinder and revolving
with it, substantially as described in the said Specification, but these
curved blades were never placed nearer each other than ths of an
inch, and I find by experiment that with the blades at this distance from
each other the air is not sufficiently deprived of its heat when it
emerges from the cylinder. In order to make use of the heat thus
wasted I place the said curved blades as closely together as can be done
without interfering with the flow of the liquor or other solution over
their surfaces so as to divide the air up, thus bringing every portion
of it into more intimate contact with the solution to be evaporated
or concentrated, and thereby more perfectly exhausting the whole of
the heat contained in the air. I now place the said curved blades at
from ths to th of an inch apart according to the nature and degree
of the saturation of the solution to be acted upon.
In working the range of trays described in my said Specification
"saddles" have been used. Each of these saddles rests upon the edges
of two trays where they come together, and the object of them is
to prevent cold air from being drawn into the flue underneath the trays,
and to prevent the boiling over of the scum or froth into the flue; but
the saddles hitherto made have risen for a considerable distance above
the top edge of the trays, and have thus prevented the froth or scum from
passing freely over from one tray to the other, thus causing considerable
inconvenience; I therefore propose to reduce the height of this saddle
as much as possible, in no case letting it rise more than 14 inches above
the top edge of the tray. I find by experiment that the scum can thus
flow freely, the inconvenience before mentioned being thereby obviated.
I find it advisable to remove the revolving cylinder from the position
above the trays in which I stated in my said Specification that I pre-
ferred to place it. It now occupies a position at the side of and on
a lower level than the trays, so that the liquor can flow from the trays
into the cylinder. This alteration in the position of the cylinder
involves the employment of a tube for conveying heated air from the
air heater into the cylinder. I find it an improvement to make

page_text: that part of the air tube which adjoins the cylinder of cast instead
of wrought iron, as at first employed. The heated air passing from
the air heater into the cylinder is at a sufficiently high temperature
to cause a considerable expansion in the air tube through which it
passes. This expansion has hitherto been provided for by the yielding
of that part of the air tube which adjoins the cylinder; but as I now
make this part of cast iron this method of dealing with the expansion
of the air tube is now inadmissible; therefore for the purpose of
allowing the free expansion of this air tube and of permitting that
portion of the air tube which adjoins the cylinder to remain fixed
(which is of great importance to the perfect working of the machine)
I introduce an expansion joint in the air tube between the air heater
and the cylinder.
It is found important frequently to inspect the interior of the
cylinder in order to note the condition of the substance operated upon.
This inspection has hitherto been effected by opening a door in the
air tube connecting the air heater with the cylinder; it has, however,
been found that the rush of cold air into the cylinder caused by
the opening of this door is prejudicial to its working; I therefore
use for the purpose of examining the interior of the cylinder, a lantern
fitting against an aperture in the air tube aforesaid and throwing its
light into the cylinder, in conjunction with this lantern I use a small
peep hole protected by a movable cover.
It is important that the air tube before alluded to and the intermediate
piece between the cylinder and the fan should each of them be main-
tained in close contact with the cylinder in order to prevent ingress or
egress of external air at those points, and yet as this air tube and inter-
mediate piece are both fixed and as the cylinder revolves it is important
that they should not be so pressed against it as to cause severe friction.
In order to attain this end I first attach the supports of the air tube and
the supports of one end of the revolving cylinder on a single strong sole
plate, and in like manner place the supports of the other end of the
cylinder, together with those of the fixed intermediate piece of the fan of
the engine and of the gearing driving the cylinder, upon another sole
plate; these two sole plates are kept at the required distance from one
another by means of tie or stay rods. To provide the means of
accurately adjusting the face of the air tube and the face of the inter-
mediate piece to the face of the cylinder I place each of the former upon

page_text: two pillars provided with adjusting screws for forcing up the lower part
of the air tube and of the intermediate piece against the (for the time
being) lower part of the periphery of the cylinder. I keep the (for the
time being) upper part of the cylinder in contact with the said air tube
and intermediate piece by providing the two latter with brackets fitted
with a stay and tie rod furnished with adjusting nuts so as to fix them
at any required distance apart. At or near one end of the cylinder
aforesaid it has been usual to fix a scoop or scoops internally, so that by
the revolution of the cylinder the substance treated is taken up by them
and allowed to fall into a funnel or spout, and thus led away. Where
the substance operated upon is a saccharine solution, and the object
sought is to make sugar in crystals, it is advisable to effect a circulation
of the substance operated upon by removing it from one end of the
cylinder and causing it to re-enter at the other. My improved method
of doing this consists in bringing the said funnel out of the side of the
air tube and causing it to deliver the substance operated upon into a
gutter or channel outside the cylinder, along which it flows back and is
delivered into the other end of the cylinder.
It having been found that the cast-iron trays as described in my
said Specification are liable to fracture through overlicating and the
deposition of scale upon them, I propose to use malleable cast iron in the
construction of these trays for the purpose of rendering them more
durable and less liable to fracture through sudden changes of temperature;
but I do not bind myself to the use of malleable cast iron only for the
particular form of tray described in my said Specification. I use malleable
cast iron in the construction of any tray intended for the purpose of
submitting shallow streams of saccharine solutions to the action of the
naked fire or products of combustion therefrom. In order to make a
tray of cast iron less liable to fracture than the tray usually made of this
material I cast the bottom of the tray by itself and attach the sides
afterwards; there is thus much less tension on the bottom of the tray
through unequal contraction in cooling after casting, and greater facilities
are offered for the expansion of the bottom when exposed to the intense
heat of the furnace, since it is not rigidly confined by the cooler sides.
Trays made of thin plates of wrought iron have been used instead of
the cast-iron trays described in my said Specification. The wrought-iron
trays consisted of a flat plate or flat plates of wrought iron of a rectangular
shape, the four sides of the plates when assembled having been turned up

page_text: so as to form a shallow vessel; these trays were placed on an incline,
and the liquor or solution was allowed to flow upon them at one of
the upper corners of the tray. The flow of the liquor over them was
guided by means of a number of stops or baffles which obliged it to take
a zig-zag course, flowing from side to side of the tray in its course
downwards. It has been found, however, that these thin wrought-iron
trays as herein-before described have some inconveniences; thus they
are liable to buckle or warp under the influence of the intense heat.
applied to them, thus interfering with the free flow of the juice over
them. I remedy this defect by means of a strong stay or strong stays firmly
fastened to the raised sides of the tray. For the sake of convenience [
propose to make this stay or these stays of L or T-iron, but it or they
may if preferred be made in any other way, as, for instance, of cast iron.
I then attach the bottom plate of the tray firmly to this stay or these
stays by means of bolts, rivets, or in any other convenient manner, in
such a way as to render it impossible for the tray to draw out of shape
without drawing the stay with it and to leave a sufficient space between
the stay and the bottom of the tray for the free passage of liquor. When
the trays are thus kept from warping the depth of liquor on them is
more even and the evaporation is consequently more even. Or instead
of using the stay or stays as herein-before described I make the whole of
the bottom of the tray of thicker plates than have hitherto been used for
this purpose, say, of plates not thinner than ths of an inch. These
plates, in addition to withstanding the action of heat with far less liability
to buckle or warp than is possessed by the thinner ones, also absorb the
heat from the furnace or other heating medium, and give it out to the
liquor or solution to be evaporated or concentrated with more regularity,
thus aiding in the production of even evaporation. In order also to
stiffen the wrought-iron trays before described I employ ribs or baffles
deeper and thicker than any hitherto made, say, not less than 1 inches
in depth and thicker than ths. I prefer them be inch thick and
2 inches deep, and in some cases where the heat is very intense,- for
the purpose of giving still greater solidity, I make these ribs or baffles
of steel.
In order to make use of steam or vapour about or below the tempera-
ture of 212° Fahrenheit for the purpose of the evaporation of liquids or
concentration of solutions in cases where it is not desired to conduct the
process in a total or partial vacuum, and where it is not desired to bring
the fluid to be acted upon in contact with one side of a metallic or other

page_text: diaphragm or division heated on the opposite side by the steam or vapour
aforesaid, I make use of the aforesaid steam or vapour in the following
new and improved way:-I employ this vapour for the purpose of heating
one surface of the metallic or other conducting division, over the opposite
surface of which air is caused to flow for the purpose of absorbing the
heat. The heat thus absorbed I apply to the evaporation of liquids or
the concentration of solutions by causing the air heated as aforesaid
to come into immediate contact with the liquid or solution to be operated
upon.
In order the more conveniently to apply the heat of the furnace to
the combined purposes of raising steam and of concentrating saccharine
solutions where such combination is desired, in order also to keep the
most intense heat from the trays upon which its action has been shewn
to be prejudicial, and also from the saccharine solution upon the trays,
and also because a greater degree of sensible heat is absolutely required
for raising high-pressure steam than is necessary for the concentration
of saccharine solutions, and notwithstanding that a greater quantity of
heat is usually required for concentrating the solutions, I consider it of
advantage to place a steam boiler in such a position that the products
of combustion act first upon the boiler for the purpose of raising
steam, and then pass away to be employed in the concentration of the
saccharine solutions.
Referring further to the means of producing an improved effect from
the fuel employed in furnaces for the concentration of saccharine solu-
tions, in which said furnaces crushed sugar cane, or as it is usually
termed "megass," is the fuel very frequently employed, I introduce
a shelf or other suitable receptacle on which the megass when damp,
may be placed, and where it shall be partially dried before it falls upon
the hearth to be burnt.
In other cases I construct a chamber for drying the megass in such
a position that the megass shall pass direct from it into the com-
bustion furnace. This chamber I heat by means of the waste products
of combustion, and also in some cases partially by the heat radiated from
the combustion furnace. I bring the waste products of combustion to
this chamber either by means of a flue and of a chimney, causing a
draught through the combustion chamber, or by means of a flue and of a
fan or steam jet producing a similar effect.

page_text: In other cases in order to dry the megass before using it as fuel
I construct a revolving or reciprocating hollow cylinder, prism, or trun-
cated cone, in which the megass is placed, so as to be agitated by
the motion of the cylinder, prism, or truncated cone, and through which
I cause a current of heated air or gases to pass; or to agitate the fuel
in a vessel as aforesaid I construct arms, either revolving or recipro-
cating, within the vessel, and cause a current of heated air or gases to
pass through it for the purpose of drying the fuel aforesaid.
In other cases my improvement consists in constructing shelves,
which I prefer to make of open bars; these shelves are provided with
means of being readily thrown into an inclined or vertical position;
they are enclosed in a chamber and are placed one above the other,
while heated air and gases are passed through and amongst them. In
the first instance the megass to be dried is placed on the upper of these
shelves, where it is allowed to rest for a time, and whence it is caused
to drop on to a lower shelf when required by throwing the shelf on
which it rests into an inclined or vertical position, the megass on
which second shelf having previously been suffered to fall upon the
third. Thus the damp megass passes from shelf to shelf, changing
its position and arrangement on each until it finally emerges from the
bottom of the chamber, having parted with some or all of its moisture.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Fryer in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 5th January 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
FRYER, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Sugar Refiner, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Alfred Fryer, Her special licence that
I, the said Alfred Fryer, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Alfred Fryer, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from

page_text: time to time and at all times thereafter during the time 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 MODE
OF TREATING FOR EVAPORATING AND CONCENTRATING PURPOSES CANE JUICE, BEET-
ROOT JUICE, AND OTHER SACCHARINE AND OTHER SOLUTIONS AND LIQUIDS, AND IN
THE CONSTRUCTION OF APPARATUS FOR THE CONCENTRATION OF SACCHARINE AND
OTHER SOLUTIONS, AND FOR THE EVAPORATION OF LIQUIDS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Fryer, my executors or adminis
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, 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 Alfred Fryer, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
My present improvements refer in part to improvements in the
apparatus described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to
me on the 14th February 1865, and numbered 418.
Referring to the revolving cylinder described in my said Specification,
the concentration or evaporation of saccharine or other solutions in
this cylinder is effected by exposing a large surface of such solutions to
the action of heated air drawn or forced through the cylinder. In
practice this exposure of a large surface of the solution to the heated air
has been effected by means of curved blades placed in the cylinder and
revolving with it, substantially as described in the said Specification, but
these curved blades were never placed nearer each other than three-fourths
of an inch, and I find by experiment that with the blades at this distance
from each other the air is not sufficiently deprived of its heat when it
emerges from the cylinder. In order to make use of the heat thus
wasted I place the said curved blades as closely together as can be done
without interfering with the flow of the liquor or other solution over
their surfaces so as to divide the air up, thus bringing every portion
of it into more intimate contact with the solution to be evaporated or
concentrated, and thereby more perfectly exhausting the whole of the

page_text: heat contained in the air. I now place the said curved blades at from
five-eigths to oue-eighth of an inch apart, according to the nature and
degree of saturation of the solution to be acted upon.
In working the range of trays described in my said Specification
"saddles" have been used. Each of these saddles rests upon the edges
of two trays where they come together, and the object of them is to
prevent cold air from being drawn into the flue underneath the trays,
and to prevent the boiling over of the scum or froth into the flue; but
the saddles hitherto made have risen for a considerable distance above
the top edge of the trays, and have thus prevented the froth or scum
from passing freely over from one tray to the other, thus causing con-
siderable inconvenience; I therefore propose to reduce the height of
this saddle as much as possible, in no case letting it rise more than
1 inches above the top edge of the tray. I find by experiment that
the scum can thus flow freely, the inconvenience before mentioned being
thereby obviated. I find it advisable to remove the revolving cylinder
from the position above the trays in which I stated in my said Specifi-
cation that I preferred to place it. It now occupies a position at the
side of and on a lower level than the trays, so that the liquor can flow
from the trays into the cylinder. This alteration in the position of the
cylinder involves the employment of a tube for conveying heated air
from the air heater into the cylinder. I find it is an improvement to
make that part of the air tube which adjoins the cylinder of cast instead
of wrought iron, as at first employed. The heated air passing from
the air heater into the cylinder is at a sufficiently high temperature to
cause a considerable expansion in the air tube through which it passes.
This expansion has hitherto been provided for by the yielding of that
part of the air tube which adjoins the cylinder; but as I now make this
part of cast iron this method of dealing with the expansion of the air
tube is now inadmissible; therefore for the purpose of allowing the
free expansion of this air tube and of permitting that portion of the air
tube which adjoins the cylinder to remain fixed (which is of great
importance to the perfect working of the machine) I introduce an
expansion joint in the air tube between the air heater and the cylinder.
It is found important frequently to inspect the interior of the cylinder
in order to note the condition of the substance operated upon. This
inspection has hitherto been effected by opening a door in the air tube
connecting the air heater with the cylinder; it has, however, been found

page_text: that the rush of cold air into the cylinder caused by the opening of this
door is prejudicial to its working; I therefore use for the purpose of
examining the interior of the cylinder a lantern fitting against an
aperture in the air tube aforesaid, and throwing its light into the
cylinder; in conjunction with this lantern I use a small peep hole
protected by a movable cover.
It is important that the air tube before alluded to and the inter-
mediate piece between the cylinder and the fan should each of them
be maintained in close contact with the cylinder, in order to prevent
ingress or egress of external air at those points, and yet as this
air tube and intermediate piece are both fixed and as the cylinder
revolves it is important that they should not be so pressed against it
as to cause severe friction. In order to attain this end I first attach
the supports of the air tube and the supports of one end of the revolving
cylinder on a single strong sole plate, and in like manner place the
supports of the other end of the cylinder, together with those of the
fixed intermediate piece of the fan of the engine and of the gearing
driving the cylinder, upon another sole plate; these two sole plates are
kept at the required distance from one another by means of tie or stay
rods. To provide the means of accurately adjusting the face of the air
tube and the face of the intermediate piece to the face of the cylinder
I place each of the former upon two pillars provided with adjusting
screws for forcing up the lower part of the air tube and of the inter-
mediate piece against the (for the time being) lower part of the periphery
of the cylinder. I keep the (for the time being) upper part of the
cylinder in contact with the said air tube and intermediate piece by
providing the two latter with brackets fitted with a stay and tie rod
furnished with adjusting nuts, so as to fix them at any required
distance apart. At or near one end of the cylinder aforesaid it has
been usual to fix a scoop or scoops internally, so that by the
revolution of the cylinder the substance treated is taken up by
them and allowed to fall into a funnel or spout and thus led away.
Where the substance operated upon is a saccharine solution, and the
object sought is to make sugar in crystals, it is advisable to effect a
circulation of the substance operated upon by removing it from one
end of the cylinder and causing it to re-enter at the other. My improved
method of doing this consists in bringing the said funnel out of the side
of the air tube and causing it to deliver the substance operated upon

page_text: into a gutter or channel outside the cylinder, along which it flows back
and is delivered into the other end of the cylinder.
It having been found that the cast-iron trays as described in my
said Specification are liable to fracture through overheating, and the
deposition of scale upon them, I propose to use malleable cast iron in
the construction of these trays for the purpose of rendering them more
durable and less liable to fracture through sudden changes of tempe-
rature; but I do not bind myself to the use of mallcable cast iron only
for the particular form of tray described in my said Specifications. I
use malleable cast iron in the construction of any tray intended for the
purpose of submitting shallow streams of saccharine solutions to the
action of the naked fire or products of combustion therefrom. In
order to make a tray of cast iron less liable to fracture than the tray
usually made of this material I cast the bottom of the tray by itself and
attach the sides afterwards; there is thus much less tension on the
bottom of the tray through unequal contraction in cooling after casting,
and greater facilities are offered for the expansion of the bottom when
exposed to the intense heat of the furnace, since it is not rigidly confined
by the cooler sides.
upon
Trays made of thin plates of wrought iron have been used instead
of the cast-iron trays described in my said Specification. The wrought-
iron trays consisted of a flat plate or flat plates of wrought iron of a
rectangular shape, the four sides of the plates when assembled having
been turned up so as to form a shallow vessel; these trays were placed
on an incline and the liquor or solution was allowed to flow tliem
at one of the upper corners of the tray; the flow of the liquor over them
was guided by means of a number of stops or baffles which obliged it
to take a zig-zag course, flowing from side to side of the tray in its course
downwards. It has been found, however, that these thin wrought-iron
trays as herein-before described have some inconveniences; thus they
are liable to buckle or warp under the influence of the intense heat
applied to them, thus interfering with the free flow of the juice over
them. I remedy this defect by means of a strong stay or of strong stays
firmly fastened to the raised sides of the tray. For the sake of con-
venience I propose to make this stay or these stays of L or T iron, but
it or they may, if preferred, be made in any other way, as, for instance,
of cast iron. I then attach the bottom plate of the tray firmly to this
stay or these stays by means of bolts, rivets, or in any other convenient

page_text: manner, in such way as to render it impossible for the tray to draw
out of shape without drawing the stay with it and to leave a sufficient
space between the stay and the bottom of the tray for the free passage of
liquor; when the trays are thus kept from warping the depth of liquor
on them is more even, and the evaporation is consequently more
even. Or instead of using the stay or stays as herein-before described
I make the whole of the bottom of the tray of thicker plates than
have hitherto been used for this purpose, say of plates not thinner than
three-eighths of an inch. These plates, in addition to withstanding the
action of heat with far less liability to buckle or warp than is possessed
by the thinner ones, also absorb the heat from the furnace or other
heating medium, and give it out to the liquor or solution to be
evaporated or concentrated with more regularity, thus aiding in the
production of even evaporation. In order also to stiffen the wrought-
iron trays before described I employ ribs or baffles deeper and thicker
than any hitherto made, say not less than 1 inches in depth and
thicker than ths of an inch; prefer them to be inch thick and 2
inches deep, and in some cases where the heat is very intense, for the
purpose of giving still greater solidity, I make these ribs or baffles of steel.
In order to make use of steam or vapour about or below the
temperature of 212° Fahrenheit for the purpose of the evaporation of
liquids or concentration of solutions in cases where it is not desired to
conduct the process in a total or partial vacuum, and where it is not
desired to bring the fluid to be acted upon in contact with one side
of a metallic or other diaphragm or division heated on the opposite side
by the steam or vapour aforesaid, I make use of the aforesaid steam or
vapour in the following new and improved way :-I employ this vapour
for the purpose of heating one surface of the metallic or other con-
ducting division, over the opposite surface of which air is caused to flow
for the purpose of absorbing the heat. The heat thus absorbed I apply
to the evaporation of liquids or the concentration of solutions by causing
the air heated as aforesaid to come into immediate contact with the
liquid or solution to be operated upon.
In order the more conveniently to apply the heat of the furnace to the
combined purposes of raising steam and of concentrating saccharine
solutions where such combination is desired, in order also to keep the
most intense heat from the trays upon which its action has been shewn

page_text: to be prejudicial, and also from the saccharine solution upon the trays,
and also because a greater degree of sensible heat is absolutely required
for raising high-pressure steam than is necessary for the concentration of
saccharine solutions, and notwithstanding that a greater quantity of heat
is usually required for concentrating the solutions, I consider it of
advantage to place a steam boiler in such a position that the products
of combustion act first upon the boiler for the purpose of raising steam,
and then pass away to be employed in the concentration of the saccharine
solutions.
Referring further to the means of producing an improved effect
from the fuel employed in furnaces for the concentration of saccharine
solutions, in which said furnaces crushed sugar cane, or as it is usually
termed "megass," is the fuel very frequently employed, I introduce a
shelf or other suitable receptacle on which the megass when damp may
be placed, and where it shall be partially dried before it falls upon the
hearth to be burnt.
In other cases I construct a chamber for drying the megass in such
a position that the megass shall pass direct from it into the combustion
furnace. This chamber I heat by means of the waste products of com-
bustion, and also in some cases partially by the heat radiated from the
combustion furnace. I bring the waste products of combustion to this
chamber either by means of a flue and of a chimney, causing a draught
through the combustion chamber, or by means of a flue and of a fan
or steam jet producing a similar effect.
In other cases in order to dry the megass before using it as fuel
I construct a revolving or reciprocating hollow cylinder, prism, or
truncated cone, in which the megass is placed so as to be agitated by
the motion of the cylinder, prism, or truncated cone, and through which
I cause a current of heated air or gases to pass; or to agitate the fuel in
a vessel as aforesaid I construct arms, either revolving or reciprocating.
within the vessel, and cause a current of heated air or gases to pass
through it for the purpose of drying the fuel aforesaid.
In other cases my improvement consists in constructing shelves, which
I prefer to make of open bars; these shelves are provided with means
of being readily thrown into an inclined or vertical position; they are
enclosed in a chamber and are placed one above the other, while heated
In the first
air and gases are passed through and amongst them.
instance the megass to be dried is placed on the upper of these shelves,

page_text: where it is allowed to rest for a time, and whence it is caused to drop
on to a lower shelf when required by throwing the shelf on which it
rests into an inclined or vertical position, the megass on which second
shelf having previously been suffered to fall upon the third. Thus the
damp megass passes from shelf to shelf, changing its position and
arrangement on each until it finally emerges from the bottom of the
chamber, having parted with some or all of its moisture.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Fryer, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of January, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-nine.
ALFRED FRYER. (L.S.)