Improvements connected with the Electrolysis of Chlorides and other Salts, and the Evaporation of Brine and other Solutions
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Mar., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 30th Dec., 1895-Accepted, 28th Mar., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements connected with the Electrolysis of Chlorides and
other Salts, and the Evaporation of Brine and other Solutions.
I, HARRY TEE, of 51 Castle Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has mainly for its object to render the electrolytic decomposition
of sodium chloride in solution, as in common brine, and the production of alkali
and chlorine therefrom, inexpensive; that is, the production of these substances
or matters direct from their solution by the electrolytic method, at a relatively
small cost.
According to this invention coal-or similar material-is the fuel employed to
obtain the necessary electrical energy to effect the decomposition of the sodium
chloride contained in solution in brine, and by it, in conjunction with suitable cells,
vessels, or apparatus, the production of the substances so decomposed, which are
drawn or conveyed off from such apparatus, is effected. The heat of the fuel is
partly used to generate steam, to be used in a suitable engine or motor for driving
a dynamo electric generator, and partly for the manufacture of salt from brine by
the evaporation thereof.
According to this invention, the steam employed for use in the engine for driving
a dynamo electric generator, is produced by evaporating brine in a closed or
covered pan or vessel by coal, and the steam given off is conveyed to and used in
the engine, which, if the steam be at or near atmospheric pressure, will be of the
atmospheric type; whilst after use in the engine, the steam is passed into pipes or
chambers in or connected with open salt pans and condensed there, thus making
the salt pans act as a condenser to the engine, and also as a means of evaporating
fresh brine, and the consequent production of salt, by contact with air. Thus the
fuel is first used to generate steam and produce salt, then the steam produced is
passed to the steam engine for use therein, and then it is used again to heat brine
and produce salt, and at the same time be condensed and produce motive power in
the engine.
The electric current produced by the dynamo, driven by the engine, is utilized
for the electrolytic decomposition of the sodium chloride of the brine in the
electrolytic apparatus (which will be of suitable construction and form), from
which the alkali and chlorine are drawn or taken off.
The cost, therefore, of the electrolytic production of the substances contained in
solution in brine by this invention, will be that due to the cost of the fuel used,
minus the value of the commercial salt produced by the evaporation of brine above
specified.
The closed pan or brine evaporating vessel above specified, in which the steam
used as motive power in the steam engine, is generated, may be of form wherein
the salt deposited by evaporation, is continuously moved by revolving rakes or like
means therefrom, into pockets or vessels at the side, from which it is withdrawn by
suitable means; and the heat of the fuel in one case is transferred to such brine
by means of water contained in a vessel, which is heated by the fuel which is
burned in furnaces surrounded by said water, the products of combustion from said
furnaces, after leaving same, being conveyed under an ordinary open salt pan to
evaporate brine contained therein.

page_text: In some cases, where desired, however, the fires may be placed directly under
the said closed evaporating pan or vessel.
The engine, in case of steam being generated at atmospheric pressure, will, as
stated, be of the atmospheric type, and the open pans in that case, serving as
condensers, will be used to maintain a vacuum for or in the engine, the steam being
passed into pipes immersed in the brine, and an air pump driven by the engine
being employed to withdraw air and the condensed water therefrom.
This invention although described chiefly in connection with the production of
electrolytic alkali and chlorine substances, and salt, may be employed in part or in
whole for producing the decomposition or separation of other substances contained.
in solution, from the liquid in which they are dissolved, electrolytically; and also in
part for the evaporation of solutions for the production of the substances or salts
contained therein.
Dated this 20th day of March 1905
Improvements connected with the Electrolysis of Chlorides and
other Salts, and the Evaporation of Brine and other Solutions.
I, HARRY TEE, of 51 Castle Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, 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 :-
This invention has mainly for its object to render the electrolytic decomposition
of sodium chloride in solution, as in common brine, and the production of alkali
and chlorine therefrom, inexpensive; that is, the production of these substances or
matters direct from their solution by the electrolytic method, at a relatively
small cost.
According to this invention coal-or similar material-is the fuel employed to
obtain the necessary electrical energy to effect the decomposition of the sodium
chloride contained in solution in brine, and by it, in conjunction with suitable cells,
vessels, or apparatus, the production of the substances so decomposed, which are
drawn or conveyed off from such apparatus, is effected. The heat of the fuel is
partly used to generate steam, to be used in a suitable engine or motor for driving
a dynamo electric generator, and partly for the manufacture of salt from brine by
the evaporation thereof.
According to this invention, the steam employed for use in the engine for
driving a dynamo electric generator, is produced by evaporating brine in a closed
or covered pan or vessel by coal, and the steam given off is conveyed to and used
in the engine, which, if the steam be at or near atmospheric pressure, will be of the
atmospheric type; whilst after use in the engine, the steam is passed into pipes or
chambers in or connected with open salt pans and condensed there, thus making
the salt pans act as a condenser to the engine, and also as a means of evaporating
fresh brine, and the consequent production of salt, by contact with air. Thus the
fuel is first used to generate steam and produce salt, then the steam produced is
passed to the steam engine for use therein, and then it is used again to heat brine
and produce motive power in the engine.
The electric current produced by the dynamo, driven by the engine, is utilized
for the electrolytic decomposition of the sodium chloride of the brine in the
'electrolytic apparatus (which will be of suitable construction and form), from
which the alkali and chlorine are drawn or taken off.
The cost, therefore, of the electrolytic production of the substances contained in

page_text: solution in brine by this invention, will be that due to the cost of the fuel used,
minus the value of the commercial salt produced by the evaporation of brine above
specified.
The closed pan or brine evaporating vessel above specified, in which the steam
used as motive power in the steam engine, is generated, may be of the form
wherein the salt deposited by evaporation, is continuously moved by revolving
rakes or like means therefrom, into pockets or vessels at the side, from which it is
withdrawn by suitable means; and the heat of the fuel in one case is transferred to
such brine by means of water contained in a vessel, which is heated by the fuel
which is burned in furnaces surrounded by said water, the products of combustion
from said furnaces, after leaving the same, being conveyed under an ordinary open
salt pan to evaporate brine contained therein.
In some cases, where desired, however, the fires may be placed directly under
the said closed evaporating pan or vessel.
The engine, in case of steam being generated at atmospheric pressure, will, as
stated, be of the atmospheric type, and the open pans in that case, serving as
condensers, will be used to maintain a vacuum for or in the engine, the steam being
passed into pipes immersed in the brine, and an air pump driven by the engine
being employed to withdraw air and the condensed water therefrom.
This invention although described chiefly in connection with the production of
electrolytic alkali and chlorine substances, and salt, may be employed in part or in
whole for producing the decomposition or separation of other substances contained
in solution from the liquid in which they are dissolved, electrolytically, and also in
a part for the evaporation of solutions for the production of the substances or salts
contained therein.
The further carrying out of the invention will now be described with reference
to apparatus or plant given in the accompanying drawings, which shew one special
arrangement or combination involving improvements above specified.
In these drawings, Figure 1 is a plan, and Figure a sectional elevation at A A
Figure 1 and Figure 3 shews a modified construction of salt evaporating pans of
the closed type under this invention.
Referring to these drawings, a are closed salt pans in which brine is boiled, the
heat being generated by the combustion of fuel in furnaces below the pan in the
ordinary way, the salt formed in the pans being gradually moved or worked into
pockets a', at the sides of these pans, by rakes a², these rakes being mounted on
vertical shafts a³ revolved by shafting and bevel wheels a from the engine. As
the heat of the gases, after leaving the bottoms of the pans a will be still
comparatively high, the gases from each pair of pans at either side of the plant is
conducted through flues under an ordinary open salt pan k and used to make salt
in the ordinary way.
is an engine of the low pressure or vacuum type, to which
the steam generated in the pans a is conducted by the pipes b; and the utilization
of the available power of such steam is rendered possible by condensing the steam
exhausted or discharged from the engine into a condenser, which in the apparatus
shewn, consists of open salt pans d, having in them pipes d', immersed in the brine,
and to which the steam is conducted by the pipes d². To retain a good vacuum,
air and water are withdrawn from said pipes by an air pump e, driven by the
engine q, and connected with the pipes d' by the pipe f. The engine q drives the
dynamo electric-generators h, and the electricity produced by them is employed
for the electrolytic decon position of brine in the cells i.
As regards the general method by which the combined manufacture of electrolytic
alkali and chlorine from brine, and salt from brine, by one and the same quantity
of fuel, and the nature and combination of the several forms of the different
apparatus used, and the modes of applying and utilizing the heat or power
generated by such fuel, it is as follows:-In the first place, the heat resulting from
the combustion of fuel under the pans a is transferred to the brine in such pans,
and the brine is evaporated, and the vast bulk of the heat so transferred is
contained in the steam given off, the residue of evaporation being salt, which is

page_text: delivered to the pocket a¹, and removed in the ordinary way; thus one and a full
quantity of salt is produced by the fuel used under the pans, and there remains in
the steam given off, practically, the whole of the heat transferred to the brine.
This steam exists in the pans a at atmospheric pressure, and it is used at that
pressure as motive power in the engine g, which, preferably, is of any of the known
suitable low pressure expansion types. In the performance of work in the engines,
a certain, but small portion, of the total heat of the steam is used or taken from it,
the remainder existing in the steam being discharged from the engine; and this
quantity is transferred to the brine in the pan or pans d, and thereby heating it
and producing salt of a low grade, the area of these paus d being sufficiently large
to keep the temperature of the brine (say, between 80 and 90 degrees Fahr.) at a
suitable condensing temperature; and this brine may also, as well as that in the
pansk, be fed partly into the pans a. The energy of the engine is converted into
electrical energy, and such energy is used to produce, electrolytically, alkali,
namely, soda or soda compounds, and chlorine, in the cells i.
The products of the process are then, the first quantity of salt produced from
the fuel in the pans a and k, a second quantity of salt of coarse grade produced in
the pans d, and soda or sodium compounds and chlorine in the cells i.
The modification shewn in Figure 3 in the form of salt pans designated a,
consists in heating the bottom of the pan a by steam heat in lieu of the fire heat
direct; and this is effected by the employment of a vessel m under the bottom of
the pans a, having within it furnace flues n, such flues being surrounded with water,
and a space being left between the upper surface of the water and the bottom of
the pan, as shewn, for the steam. A safety valve o is provided in connection with
this space, to relieve it if undue pressure is created, the escape of steam from the
valve o being taken to the cover of the pan a by the pipe o. Fires in the
furnace n may be worked in any known suitable way, as in steam generators. By
this construction, damage, direct or indirect, to the bottom of the pans a, due to
the impact of the furnace flames and heat on the bottom of the pans is avoided,
and a perfectly even and smooth floor for the deposit of salt and action of the
rakes a² over it is afforded.
In the application of the invention set forth with reference to the drawings, the
electrolytic decomposition of brine is alone referred to; but the electrolysis of this
substance is not the only one to which the invention can be applied, as any solutions
or liquids capable of being electrolysed in a similar or analogous manner may be
decomposed electrolytically by the electricity produced.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In the electrolytic decomposition of brine (or other salt in solution or liquid form)
the improvement comprised in the combined process herein described, of electro-
lytically decomposing brine (or other salt in solution or liquid form) and manu-
facturing salt from brine by one and the same expenditure of fuel, by boiling the brine
in closed or covered salt pans heated by coal, and working under a pressure at or
near that of the atmosphere; by employing a low pressure or vacuum steam engine in
connection with said pans, and working said engine by the steam so generated;
and condensing such steam (preferably in a condenser consisting of
brine pans
containing within them condensing pipes), by which a vacuum is maintained; and
generating electricity by the said engines, and decomposing brine (or other salt in
solution or liquid form) electrolytically, by the electricity produced.
open
2. In apparatus or plant for the electrolytic decomposition of brine (or other
salt in solution or liquid form), and wherein, by one and the same expenditure of
fuel the electrolytic decomposition of brine (or other salt in solution or liquid
form), and the manufacture of salt from brine, is effected, the combination of
covered or closed pans a of the type described; a low pressure or vacuum engine q
connected with said pans a and worked by the steam therefrom; open pans d with

page_text: condensing pipes & therein, connected with the exhaust of such engine, and
serving as the condenser thereto; and an air pump worked by said engine, and
connected with the pipes d' of the pan d; operating substantially as and for
the purposes described.
3. The special construction of pan a, substantially as set forth with reference to
Figure 3 of the drawings, operating as and for the purposes set forth.
4. The arrangement of plant consisting of the several parts or apparatus
specified, combined and adapted to operate as set forth with reference to and shewn
in the drawings.
Dated the 28th day of December 1895.
CHEESBROUGH & ROYSTON,
15 Water Street, Liverpool, Applicant's Patent Agents.