Improvements in the treatment of sewer and other similarus gases
Year: 1886

page_text: "
Noxious Gases.
53
I HARTLEY FEWSON of Castle Street, Buckingham in the county of Buckingham,
Merchant, 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:—
My invention for Improvements in the treatment of sewer and other similar
noxious gases, has for its principal object to construct apparatus through which
any sewer or other noxious gases passed shall be rendered harmless and incapable
of assisting in the decomposition of animal matter.
In carrying my invention into practical effect, the sewer or other noxious gases
are drawn by a fan, pump, bellows, or other suitable apparatus from the drain or
other place containing the same and are forced through apparatus of special
construction.
The outer case of the apparatus consists of a box or other suitable vessel sup-
ported on glass blocks and lined throughout with glass-This box is fitted with
inlet and outlet pipes at its opposite ends and with glass partitions arranged so
that the gases passed through the apparatus are forced to take a zig-zag course
from the inlet to the outlet-The number of glass partitions is any suitable odd
number.
Each glass partition is covered on the inlet side (that is, the side nearest the
inlet of the gases) with tin foil-A small platinum wire passes in front of each
sheet of tin foil but at a short distance therefrom-A similar wire passes in front
of the glass side of that plate nearest the outlet pipe-Two uninsulated electrical
conductors are led into the box and the platinum wire in front of the plate nearest
the inlet pipe, and the wires in front of each alternate plate are connected to the
positive conductor; the remaining wires including the one opposite the glass of
that plate nearest the outlet pipe, are connected to the negative conductor-
When the gases are to be treated the conductors are connected respectively to the
positive and negative poles of an electrical generator-The gases in passing
through the apparatus are decomposed and form fresh combinations, oxygen being
liberated from the sewer or other noxious gas and ozone being formed at the last
glass partition-The resultant gases delivered from the apparatus are passed into
water, the oxygen, vitalised by the presence of ozone, and the nitrogen rising up

page_text: through the water and being discharged in a harmless state and the other gases
being dissolved in or absorbed by the water.
Fig. 1 is a sectional plan of one form of apparatus for treatment of sewer and
other noxious gases constructed according to this invention, and Fig. 2 is a longi-
tudinal section of the same. The box A is lined with glass B and is provided
with glass partitions C as' shewn-The gases to be treated enter by the pipe D
and pass in a zig-zag course as shewn by the arrows in Fig. 2 to the outlet E-
Each partition C is covered on the inlet side with tin foil shewn by the inter-
rupted lines F.
The two electrical conductors P, N, are led into the box as shewn and are con-
nected to small platinum wires w which are arranged in front of the sheets of tin
foil and on the glass side of the plate nearest the outlet at some slight distance
therefrom, the wires w being connected alternately to the conductors P, N, and
being supported by insulating blocks H, connected to the partitions as clearly
shewn It will readily be understood that the glass may be replaced by any
suitable insulator.
In a modification of the apparatus the 'box' is filled with broken glass, pumice
stone or other suitable material with or without balls of insulating material covered
with tin foil-The electrical conductors are bared at the ends and passed into the
broken material-The gases to be treated are forced through the broken material.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1° The method of rendering sewer and other similar noxious gases harmless
consisting in exposing the said gases to the action of electrolysis substantially as
described.
2°. The construction of apparatus for treating sewer and other similar noxious
gases substantially as described with reference to the drawings.
..
3° The construction of apparatus for treating sewer and other similar noxious
gases consisting of a vessel filled with broken glass or pumice stone with or
without balls of insulating material covered with tin foil, the said vessel being
provided with electrical conductors for conveying an electrical current through the
apparatus.substantially as described.