CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PREVENTING INCRUSTATION IN STEAM AND OTHER BOILERS; ALSO FOR PURIFYING, FILTERING, AND OTHERWISE RENDERING WATER FIT FOR DRINKABLE PURPOSES
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HORSLEY, of Ryde, in the Isle of Wight, in the County of Hants, Practical
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent, bearing date at Westminster, Twenty-sixth day of April
(One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine), in the twelfth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Horsley, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, Her special licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Horsley, my
exors, admors, and assigns, and every of them, by himself or themselves;
or by my and their deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or such others as I;
the said John Horsley, my exors, adñññors, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within that part of Her Majesty's United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney;
Sark, and Man, and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations
abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN PREVENTING INCRUSTATION
IN STEAM AND OTHER BOILERS; ALSO FOR PURIFYING, FILTERING, AND OTHERWISE
RENDERING WATER FIT FOR DRINKABLE PURPOSES;" in which Letters Patent is
contained a proviso requiring that I, the said John Horsley, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand
and seal, and cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the said
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Horsley, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, are particularly. described and
ascertained in and by this present Specification thereof, in the words and figures
following, that is to say :-
The nature of my said Invention consists in and has reference to Certain
Improvements in Preventing Incrustation in Steam and other Boilers; also
for Purifying, Filtering, and otherwise Rendering Water fit for Drinkable
Purposes, effected by the means or through the agency of the method or methods
herein-after set forth and described, which, properly carried into practice, will
have the effect of rendering the water, treated as herein-after set forth, purer
and softer than ordinary water, and therefore better fitted for household and
other purposes.
With regard to the improvements in preventing incrustation in steam and
other boilers, by preventing the deposit of earthy, calcareous, or magnesian
matter therein, I first purify the water to be used in such boilers in the same
manner as that herein-after set forth and described with regard to water
intended to be used for drinkable and other purposes. And where sea water
is employed for generating steam in said boilers, I purify such sea water in a
similar way, by employing the oxalate of potassa, herein-after mentioned, and
ammonio-phosphate of soda; and the proportions I employ for the water of the
British Channel are about two drams of oxalate of potassa to two ounces of the
ammonio-phosphate of soda for every gallon; but these proportions may
be varied as circumstances may require, having regard to the principles herein-
after set forth. The precipitate resulting from the employment of the
substances above stated forms an admirable fertilizer for wheat and other
grain, and therefore need not be changed or altered by decomposition, for the
sake of recovery, as in the cases herein-after set forth.
With regard to purifying, filtering, and otherwise, rendering water fit for
drinkable purposes, I would remark that..all water (except distilled water) is
more or less charged with various adventitious earthy, saline, and gaseous
matter, acquired by transit through the soil, which imparts thereto that peculiar
hardness recognizable on the use of soap in some cases, from its being curdled,
as well as its becoming chalky, and depositing or crusting, not only when

page_text: boiled, but also, from various unassignable causes, when not boiled; all which
qualities render the use of such water for various purposes in household
economy, and the arts and manufactures, highly objectionable. It is well
known that there are certain chemical materials, tests and reagents, which
sensibly indicate the presence or absence of the aforesaid adventitious matter;
forming therewith insoluble precipitates; and this knowledge may be be
extended and applied to the purification and separation of such earthy and
saline adventitious matter from the water in which the same is contained, such
purification and separation to be conducted upon the principle of either single
or double elective chemical affinity, commonly known to chemists; or, in other
words, by a system of displacement based on the nature and theory of chemical
equivalents, or the knowledge of the parts and proportions in which these.
several substances unite and become held in solution.
'
In order to accomplish the separation of the calcareous matter, which is
more generally found in water than any other matter, I employ for that
purpose such substances as are capable of decomposing the same, namely;
calcined or caustic barytes, or a solution of the same in water, known as baryta
water; the baryta, uniting with the excess of carbonic and sulphuric acids of
the salts of lime, decompose and precipitate the same along with the lime in
the form of carbonate of lime, carbonate of barytes, and sulphate of barytes.
When phosphate of soda, which is composed of soda as a base united to phos-
phoric acid, is added to water containing lime, the phosphoric acid. unites
with the lime to form the insoluble precipitate of phosphate of lime. When
silicate of potassa, which is composed of potassa as base united to silicic acid
or. acid of flints, the silicic acid uniting with lime to form an insoluble-silicate of
lime.. Oxalic acid, or acid of sugar, and its soluble alkaline salts, oxalate
of soda, oxalate of ammonia, oxalate of potassa, sesqui-oxalate or binoxalate of
potassa, either of which substances unite with lime to form a precipitate
of oxalate of lime, also caustic strontia or strontia water; but I give the
preference, however, to the oxalate of potassa, when it is desired to extract
the whole of the lime. The object of this Invention being to purify and
soften "hard water," which is of very variable character, it becomes necessary,
before treating any water according to this Invention, to correctly ascertain the
character or "hardness" of such water; and this I effect by first treating a
given quantity thereof with an excess of oxalate of ammonia or oxalate of
potassa (that is to say, if the quantity of water be one gallon, then I use two
drams of the oxalate, which is an excess), precipitating the adventitious matter
or lime to the fullest extent. For every gallon of this precipitate, when
obtained and dried, an equal portion of crystallized oxalic acid is to be used in

page_text: .order to purify the water. For example, say that a gallon of any water yields
in this way fifty-six grains of precipitate, then fifty-six grains of the acid should
be used along with an equivalent of potassa; there will then remain in the
water after precipitation, instead of and in the place of the lime so displaced, a
carbonate, sulphate, or muriate of potassa, as the case may be; and the water
is purified and fit for use. I would here remark, that in all cases the adjustment
of the relative proportions of the materials to be employed for the purpose of puri-
fying water must depend upon the character of the water to be treated, and it is
essentially necessary to guard against any indiscriminate use or excess of the
said materials, in order to avoid communicating auy noxious qualities to the
water; and with this view, although I have ascertained the character
of the water by the above means, I prefer to make further confirmatory
examinations into the exact composition of the water, which is always variable
in quality, and use no more of the materials than are absolutely necessary to
effect the object desired, whether it be for the purification of water for drink..
ing, washing, and other household purposes, or whether it be for the prevention
of deposits or incrustations in steam and other boilers. In order to ascertain
exactly the presence or absence of any residual oxalic acid (when used) more
than is necessary to effect the decomposition of the various earthy salts, I
have recourse to certain infallible tests. To the purified water I add a small
portion of lime water. If turbidity ensues, then, to prove whether it be a
carbonate or an oxalate of lime, I use acetic acid, which dissolves the carbonate
of lime, but is without action on the oxalate of lime. For barytes and com-
pounds I use as a test a few drops of dilute sulphuric acid, or a little sulphate
of soda, or even carbonate of potassa or soda will throw down the barytes. No
test is required when the other substances are used, the residual being harm-
less. By the method or methods and means aforesaid I decompose and
precipitate, either partially or wholly, as the case may be, the various earthy
and saline matters generally contained in the water.
With regard to filtering and otherwise rendering water fit for drinkable
purposes, any of the ordinary filters may be used; but in general I find that
after the water has been treated in manner aforesaid it is so purified that this
is almost unnecessary; but the separation of the transparent and supernatant
water can be accelerated (after subsidence of the precipitate) by decantation
or drawing off by means of a syphon combined with an exhausting syringe.
This method is the more available, inasmuch as the recovery of the precipitated
matter is an object of consideration. The Drawing hereto annexed illustrates
the character of the apparatus just mentioned, by which the water, treated as
aforesaid, may be readily drawn off, filtered, and rendered fit and ready for

page_text: drinkable purposes. In this Drawing A represents a cistern, tank, or reser-
voir, which may be of any suitable shape or dimensions, and in which water
is received, and undergoes the treatment herein-before set forth and described.
B, B, denote a syphon pipe, one leg of which passes into the said tank,
terminating in the lower part thereof, but at a point above the precipitate
matter, whilst the other leg of this syphon projects outside the said tank, and
is provided with a syringe or air exhauster C, at a point near to the extremity
thereof. This syringe or exhauster communicates by means of a small pipe D
with the said syphon pipe. Upon actuating the handle of the syringe; so as to
exhaust the air from the syphon pipe, and then turning on the cock at the
extremity of the outside leg of the syphon, the supernatant and purified water
may be drawn off into any suitable receiver, and is fit and ready for immediato
use, the precipitate matter remaining in the tank A, from which it may be
removed at pleasure. Although I have annexed a Drawing of 'the apparatus
last mentioned by way of illustration, it is to be understood that I do not limit
or confine myself to the use of it, as any similar means may be resorted to for
drawing off the supernatant and purified water, provided it does not carry away
any of the precipitate matter..
As the recovery for further use of the chemical materials used in the process
of purification is of considerable importance, as regards the economy of the
same, after the water is purified, &c. I thus proceed for the recovery thereof:-
The precipitate of oxalate of lime I afterwards treat, cautiously and discrimi-
nately, with an excess of aqueous sulphuric acid, which decomposes the oxalate
of lime, and on dilution with water the oxalic acid is taken up in solution
which, being filtered and evaporated, yields crystals of pure oxalic acid; or it
may be done by means of double elective cheinical affinity, by boiling the
precipitate along with a solution of carbonate of potassa, filtering and crystal-
lizing, the produce being oxalate of potassa, insoluble carbonate of lime being
left on the filter.
Having thus 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 as my Invention, the exclusive property whereof was granted to
me by the aforesaid Letters Patent, is as follows:
Firstly, the treating sea water, with a view to prevent incrustation or deposits
in marine boilers, by the means before mentioned.
Secondly, the treating ordinary water, whether with the view to prevent
incrustation in steam and other boilers, or for purifying and rendering it
drinkable, so as to soften and deprive it of adventitious matter.
And such my said Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and belief,

page_text: new, and never before used within that part of Her Majesty's United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and
Man, and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad aforesaid,
I hereby claim to maintain exclusive right and privilege to my said Invention,
as herein-before particularly described and ascertained.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Horsley, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Nineteenth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-nine