CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING SULPHURIC ACID
Year: 1838

page_text: SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GOSSAGE, of Stoke Prior, in the County of Worcester, Manufacturing Chemist,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Eighth day of May, in the first year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Gossage, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said William Gossage, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Gossage, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING SULPHURIC ACID;" in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said William Gossage,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe
and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Gossage, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, that is to say :-
My Invention of "Certain Improvements in Manufacturing Sulphuric
Acid," consists in certain processes or operations for obtaining sulphur from a
certain compound of sulphur and iron, which I call "residual sulphuret of
iron," for the purpose of applying the sulphur so obtained to the manufacture
of sulphuric acid, and which sulphur I obtain combined with hydrogen,
forming sulphuretted hydrogen gas. My Invention also consists in obtaining
a certain other useful substance from the said "residual sulphuret of iron,"
by the same action which liberates the sulphur therefrom. The compound
I refer to as "residual sulphuret of iron" is obtained, under certain circum-
stances, when iron pyrites is used for the manufacture of sulphuric acid. Iron
pyrites is a compound of sulphur and iron, in which the iron is combined with
more than one equivalent proportion of sulphur. The use of iron pyrites for
the manufacture of sulphuric acid has been made the subject of a Patent, the
term of which has now expired; and according to the process described in the
Specification of this Patent, the iron pyrites is exposed to the combined action
of heat and atmospherical air, which causes the decomposition of the iron
pyrites, so that a portion of the sulphur contained therein is driven off, and
combining with the oxygen of the atmosphere forms sulphurous acid; but the
residual matter remaining from this operation still retains a large quantity of
sulphur combined with iron, and I call this "residual sulphuret of iron," which
I use for the purposes of my Invention. In order to separate the sulphur
from this "residual sulphuret of iron," I cause the same to be acted upon by
muriatic acid, and I thereby obtain sulphuretted hydrogen gas and muriate of
iron. I introduce the "residual sulphuret of iron" into a vessel furnished
with a pipe for conducting off the gas produced, and a second pipe, so arranged
that fluid can be introduced into the vessel without allowing the escape of gas
through the same. By means of this second pipe I introduce into the said
vessel a quantity of liquid muriatic acid at intervals, which acid reacts imme-
diately on the "residual sulphuret of iron," and occasions a rapid production
of sulphuretted hydrogen gas, which passes off by the gas pipe, and may
used as it escapes therefrom; but I prefer to collect this gas in a gasholder.
The muriatic acid by its action on the "residual sulphuret of iron" produces
also liquid muriate of iron, and when the acid becomes wholly or nearly
saturated with iron, I inject steam into the liquid by means of a pipe intro-
duced into the said vessel, one end of which pipe extends below the surface of
be

page_text: the liquid muriate of iron, and the other end is connected with a steam boiler,
and furnished with a stop-cock to regulate the admission of steam into the
vessel. The object of this injection of steam is to expell the last portions of
sulphuretted hydrogen gas from the liquid muriate of iron, and this being
effected, I run off the liquid from the vessel, and I concentrate the same in
leaden boilers till it has acquired a proper strength, and by cooling I obtain
from it crystals of muriate of iron, which are suitable for most of the purposes
for which sulphate of iron is used. For effecting the action of muriatic acid
on the residual sulphuret of iron, I prefer to use a vessel cut out of solid stone,
and to have stone pipes for the introduction of the acid and the steam, the
vessel having a leaden cover made tight by luting, and a leaden pipe for con-
veying off the gas. Having obtained sulphur in the state of sulphuretted
hydrogen gas from the "residual sulphuret of iron," herein referred to, I use
this gas for manufacturing sulphuric acid, by causing the gas to undergo
combustion with atmospherical air. I effect this combustion in the same way
that coal gas is burned by passing the gas through burners similar to those
used for coal gas, and this combustion produces sulphurous acid. I place these
burners in or connected with an oven or small chamber, which is connected
with a large chamber suitable for the conversion of sulphurous into sulphuric
acid, and in this large chamber the sulphurous acid produced by the combus-
tion of the sulphuretted hydrogen gas being mixed with nitrous vapours in the
same manner as in the manufacture of sulphuric acid by the combustion of
sulphur, the like result is obtained, namely, the conversion of the sulphurous
into the sulphuric acid.
I have described certain apparatus which I prefer to use for the purposes
of this my Invention, but I do not confine myself to the use of the apparatus
herein described, nor do I claim any exclusive right or privilege to use of
such apparatus. I claim as my Invention the use of the "residual sulphuret
of iron" (herein described), for liberating the sulphur therefrom by means of
muriatic acid, for the purpose of applying the sulphur so liberated to manu-
facturing sulphuric acid. I claim also the production of muriate of iron from
the said "residual sulphuret of iron," by the same action that liberates the
sulphur thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Gossage, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.
WILLIAM (L.B.) GOSSAGE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventh day of November, in
the second year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said William
Gossage came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein con-
tained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument aforesaid
was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth
year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.

page_text: In the Matter of Letters Patent granted to WILLIAM GOSSAGE, of Stoke
Prior, in the County of Worcester, Manufacturing Chemist, for his
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURING SULPHURIC
ACID," bearing date at Westminster, the Eighth day of May, One
thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight.
DISCLAIMER, OR MEMORANDUM OF ALTERATION entered by
the said William Gossage with the Clerk of the Patents of England,
pursuant to an Act passed in the fifth and sixth years of His late
Majesty's reign, intituled An Act to amend the Law touching Letters
Patent for Inventions."
I, the said WILLIAM GOSSAGE, do hereby declare that in the first part of my
Specification of the above-mentioned Letters Patent I have made mention of
a Patent, which Patent has nothing whatever to do with the subject of my
Invention or discovery. That I have since consulted with my counsel learned
in the law, and other persons competent to advise me thereon, and I find that
the mention of such Letters Patent is uncalled for and quite unnecessary.
That it interrupts the proper reading of the introductory remarks which I have
made for the information and benefit of the public. That the mention of
such Letters Patent in no way interferes with or applies to the description of
my process or Invention, afterwards described in my Specification. That I
have been advised to amend my said Specification, by leaving out and omitting
the following words therein (that is to say),-" Has been made the subject
of a Patent, the term of which has now expired, and according to the
process described in the Specification of this Patent the iron pyrites is
exposed to the combined action of heat and atmospherical air, which" as
such Memorandum of Alteration or omission does not in any way alter or
interfere with the description of my Invention or process described in my
Specification; and such Memorandum of Alteration is not made in any part of
the written description of my Invention, but only in the introductory remarks
which I thought proper to lay before the public. And for the reasons afore-
said, I, the said William Gossage, do hereby disclaim and omit the following
words in my said Specification (that is to say), " has been made the subject for

page_text: a Patent, the term of which has now expired, and according to the process
described in the Specification of this Patent the iron pyrites is exposed to
the combined action of heat and atmospherical air, which."
In witness whereof, I, the said William Gossage, have hereunto set my
hand, this Twenty-sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord One 5
thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine.
Magrana.
This is to certify, that William Gossage, of Stoke Prior, in the County of
Worcester, Manufacturing Chemist, has applied to me for leave to enter the
above-written Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alteration of part of the title of
a certain Invention for which Letters Patent were duly granted under the
Great Seal, dated at Westminster, the Eighth day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and thirty-eight. And on considering of the said application,
and no objection having been made thereto, I have accordingly granted leave
to the said William Gossage to file his said Disclaimer and Memorandum of
Alteration pursuant to the Statute passed in the sixth year of the reign of His
late Majesty, intituled "An Act to amend the Law touching Letters Patent
for Inventions."
Temple, November 28th, 1839.
J. CAMPBELL.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Third day of January, in the
third year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said William
Gossage came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknow-
ledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and
specified, in form above written. And also the instrument aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth year of
the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the Third day of January, One thousand eight hundred and forty.