Improvements in connection with Feed Water Filters and in Fittings for the same.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 16th Nov., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 15th Aug., 1900-Accepted, 16th Nov., 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in connection with Feed Water Filters and in Fittings
for the same.
We, ISAAC SHIMWELL MCDOUGALL, of High Bank, Didsbury, in the County of
Lancaster, Chemical Manufacturer, and NOEL NEWALL HAIGH, of Globe Iron
Works, Plane Street, Oldham, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this in-
vention to be as follows:
This invention relates to improvements in connection with filters, separators and
purifiers for use in connection with feed water for supplying steam boilers and for
like purposes, the objects being to produce a filter and filtering media which
shall efficiently remove the fatty acids, oils, and other impurities, held in solution
or in chemical combination with the water and to enable a rapid cleansing or
removal of the filtering media and improved fittings in connection with our filters
to be made with a minimum amount of disturbance of the joints or connections
attached to the filter or purifier.
In carrying our invention into effect when constructing our improved filter and
purifier in one convenient manner we arrange a chamber or receiver, into which
the exhaust condensed water from the motor, engine or condenser passes for treat-
ment initially in connection with our present systems of purification. Within
this chamber we place a coil of live steam pipes arranged preferably in an annular.
spiral form around the chamber walls, and for the purpose of preventing any
direct passage upwards of water which is to be treated by the purifying cage con-
taining metallic zine which we secure within the chamber. We form or provide
battle plates or ribs upon the interior of the casing of the chamber within or
between which we pass or thread the heating steam pipes.
To initially purify and remove the foreign elements carried in chemical com-
bination in the issuing condensed water we place within the chamber a cage or
perforated casing which we fill with block zine or zinc cuttings or lumps in
bulk, taking care to so arrange the material that the water may pass from the
cutside of the cage or casing and flow freely through the same to the outer or
supply branch pipe from which it may travel to the final cleansing or filtering
chamber. We cause the zinc charged separator cage to be kept above the lower
surface of the chamber, so that the entering water may readily pass through the
perforated base of the cage. We keep the temperature of the chamber high by
means of the steam pipe coil in order that the water may be caused when at the
increased temperature to chemically act upon the metallic zinc and thus decompose
the salts, fatty acids, oils or other foreign matters with which such water may be
combined. The resulting solution or combination of this chemical action upon
the foreign matters and acids contained in the water passes with the water in a
decomposed form which enables it to be treated or collected in a supplementary
filter before it passes to the boiler.
We provide removable flanges or covers to our chamber and its contained cage,
to admit of easy renewal or cleansing and we arrange blow off or drain cocks
doors or valves for the removal of mud or the like deposited within the casing; after
the water has passed through our initial purifying decomposing or chemically

page_text: treatment chamber we convey it through suitably connected pipes and controlling
valves to a supplementary filtering or final purification chamber or chambers.
We construct our supplementary or final filtering chamber in the form of a
hollow vessel having within it our improved filter through which the water must
pass on its way to the boiler or feed pump. We cause the entering water to flow
into the outer chamber preferably at its lower end; and to pass through the walls
of filtering material arranged about a suspended or inner collecting cylinder or
perforated closed end tube, and, then to issue from the interior of this tube or
cylinder ready for use in the feed pump or boiler feed supply pipes.
We form our inner suspended filtering chamber as perforated hollow metal
or other suitable material cylinder or tube with its inner or lower end closed;
and about the outer surface of the cylinder we bind or secure a series of filtering
blankets or jackets arranged and combined in an improved manner.
The filtering
material immediately in contact with the cylinder we arrange as a wall of jute
and beyond this jute casing we place a wall or sheet of filtering paper, enclosing
or protecting this paper when necessary by means of wire, perforated metal or
gauze the outer layers of filtering media beyond the filtering paper we make
from a combination sheet of metal sieving netting or meshing and jute, which we
bind or attach to the covered cylinder by clips or other ordinary fastening devices.
We vary the number of layers of filtering material carried upon our collecting
cylinder to suit the nature of the water to be treated, and we provide gauge
glasses, blow off cleaning and examination fittings to suit the size and form of
Chambers to be constructed for any particular purpose.
We prefer to arrange our pipes and valves in connection with our improved
final filters so that they may be employed in pairs and the water caused to pass
to and from either chamber at will so as to enable either filter to be cleaned or
removed while the other is in use without interfering with the continuous treat-
ment of the water.
We may use our improved filtering blankets composed of alternate layers of jute
paper and combination jute and metal sieving upon filters which are to operate
upon water which has not previously been treated in the initial or chemical decom-
posing chamber. Similarly we may employ our initial chemical action chamber
in combination with other ordinary types of mechanical separators or filters con-
structed in any well known manner.
Dated this 16th day of November 1899
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, and 25, Cross Street, Manchester,
Agents.
Improvements in connection with Feed Water Filters and in Fittings
for the same.
We, ISAAC SHIMWELL MCDOUGALL, of 68, Port Street, Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Chemical Manufacturer, and NOEL NEWALL HAIGH, of Globe Iron
Works, Plane Street, Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
-
Our invention relates to improvements in purifying feed water for supplying
steam boilers and for like purposes, the object being to form the fatty acids, oils
and other impurities held in suspension or solution in the water into insoluble
compounds which can afterwards be readily precipitated, separated or filtered.

page_text: Our invention consists in the combination with a filter of a precipitation vessel
containing zinc blocks or cuttings and heated by a steam pipe or pipes, the
vessel being so arranged that the water to be purified can be passed over the steam
pipes and so heated and thereafter passed through or between the pieces of zinc
so as to be acted upon by the zinc. Our invention further consists in details of
construction to be hereinafter described.
In the accompanying drawings which illustrate one form of our apparatus : —
Fig. 1 shows the apparatus in elevation.
Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of the precipitation vessel, the section being taken
on the line A, B, of Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of a filtering vessel.
Fig. 4 is a plan partly in section of the same filtering vessel,
9
The precipitation vessel a. (Figs. 1 and 2) is of cylindrical form and contains
an inner cylindrical case 6 which is open at the top and has a perforated bottom c.
In the annular space between the case and the inside of the vessel a is placed a
pipe coil d connected at its inlet and outlet respectively to apertures e and f pro-
vided in the side of the vessel a. The case is supported upon an annular shelt
formed upon the interior of the outer vessel a, the bottom of the case engaging
within a groove provided with suitable packing g' to form a water tight joint,
thus forming a chamber 22 in the lower part of the vessel a. The interior of the
casing is filled with lump zine or zinc cuttings and, in order that the casing may
be readily hoisted out of the containing vessel for cleaning or recharging with
zinc, hooks or other suitable means may be provided to which the chains or
ropes of lifting tackle may be attached.
The water to be purified enters the apparatus at hand rises round the coil d,
thus becoming heated to a high temperature before it overflows into the interior
of the case b. The heated water percolates through the mass of loosely packed
zine blocks or cuttings and chemical and electrolytic action is set up; the fatty
acids in the water are decomposed by the zinc, thus liberating the oils and other
impurities held in solution or suspension in a fine state of division in the water
so as to form insoluble compounds. These compounds are carried down with the
water through the perforated bottom e towards the outlet n and are partially
separated and precipitated on the bottom m of the vessel a, the remainder being
subsequently removed in the filtering vessels and p used in conjunction with the
precipitation vessel a. In order that the cleaning may be effected without inter-
rupting the continuous filtration of the feed water, two filtering vessels o and p
are provided, valves 7 and 8 being arranged so that one of the filters may be shut
off from the circulation while the other remains in action. The filtering vessels o
and are cylindrical and contain eylindrical filtering diaphragms which are
mounted between two discs and s suspended within each filtering vessel. The
lower disc s is perforated at z and forms a watertight joint with an annular shelf t
formed upon the interior of the containing vessel, thus dividing the vessel into
two chambers 21 and 23 in communication with each other only through the
filtering diaphragms q. Each diaphragm consists of an inner cylindrical shell
of perforated metal or other suitable material around which is arranged a layer
of jute and round this a layer of filtering paper w. Outside of the filtering
paper we may provide a covering of wire gauze or perforated metal or a combina-
tion of metal netting and jute. We may bind or attach the component parts of
a diaphragm together by suitable clips or other ordinary fastening devices. The
diaphragms are preferably held in annular grooves in in the discs and s
which can be pulled together by a bolt 2 provided with nuts 3 and a spider 4
which is fitted in the hole in the lower disc.
We may if desired provide a layer of jute outside the filter paper to protect the
latter or we may use different arrangements of filter paper and jufe without depart-
ing from our invention.
The water to be purified enters the precipitation vessel a at h by the pipe 5
and leaves the vessel at by the pipe 6 which is connected to the precipitation

page_text: vessel a below the shelf g (Fig. 2). The pipe conveys the, water to one or other
of the filtering vessels and p by way of the valves 7 and 8, the water entering
at the apertures & in the sides of the vessels (see Figs. 3 and 4). The water after
passing in series through the several filtering diaphragms, leaves the vessels by
the pipes 9 and 10 which are connected to the apertures 11 situated below the
shelves t.
If thought desirable we may provide a bye-pass 24 (shown in dotted lines in
Fig. 1) with a suitable valve or cock 25 which would normally be kept closed but
might be opened in certain cases to allow the feed water to pass direct to the
boiler without going through the precipitation and filtering vessels.
Steam blow through pipes 12 may be provided which are connected to the
filtering vessels at 13 and to the precipitation vessel at 14. The blow through
steam exhausts from the filtering vessels at 15 and from the precipitation vessel 16
and passes away by the pipe 17 to a drain pipe. Holes 18 are provided at the
bottom of both filtering and precipitation vessels for the removal of sludge, the
holes in the filtering vessels being in communication with the drain pipe by the
pipes 19 and the holes in the precipitation vessel in communication with the
pipe 17. Suitable valves are provided for controlling the blow through.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-
1. Purifying feed water by first treating it in a vessel in which it is heated
by a steam coil and then passed through a mass of lump zine or zinc cuttings
whereby chemical and electrolytic action is set up and the oils and other impurities
which are dissolved or suspended in the water are liberated by the action of the
zinc on the fatty acids contained in the water and are largely formed into insoluble
compounds; and then removing these compounds by precipitation and filtration.
2. An apparatus for purifying feed water consisting of a vessel fitted with a steam
heating coil and divided into two chambers by a separating diaphragm composed
of pieces of zinc contained within a perforated casing, in combination with a
filtering device, substantially as described.
3. In apparatus for purifying feed water, the combination of a precipitation
vessel with a filtering vessel, the precipitation vessel having a shelf near its lower
end on which an inner case rests watertight and so forms a chamber below the
shelf, this inner case having a perforated bottom and containing lump zine or
zinc cuttings and being surrounded by a steam. heating coil adapted to heat the
water in the precipitation vessel before it enters the inner case, and the filtering
vessel being connected to the chamber below the shelf in the precipitation vessel
and provided with suitable filtering diaphragms through which passes the water
coming from the precipitation vessel, substantially as and for the purpose described.
4. In apparatus for purifying feed water, the combination of a precipitation
vessel with a filtering vessel, the precipitation vessel having a shelf near its
lower end on which an inner case rests watertight and so forms a chamber below
the shelf, this inner case having a perforated bottom and containing lump zinc
or zinc cuttings and being surrounded by a steam heating coil adapted to heat
the water in the precipitation vessel before it enters the inner casing, and the
filtering vessel being connected to the chamber below the shelf in the precipitation
vessel and provided with filtering diaphragms comprising layers of filter paper
and jute through which passes the water coming from the precipitation vessel,
substantially as and for the purpose described.
Dated us way
MARKS & CLERK,
18, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, and 25, Cross Street, Manchester,
Agents.