AN APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING SEA AND OTHER MINERAL WATERS, AND RENDERING THEM FIT TO DRINK
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Graveley, of Upper East Smithfield,
in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "AN
APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING SEA AND OTHER MINERAL WATERS, AND RENDERING
THEM FIT TO DRINK."
Sealed the 1st September 1858, and dated the 3rd March 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Graveley
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 3rd March 1858.
I, WILLIAM HENRY GRAVELEY, of Upper East Smithfield, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "AN APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING SEA AND OTHER MINERAL WATERS, AND
RENDERING THEM FIT TO DRINK," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to produce from salt water a water fit to
drink, and the apparatus is more especially designed for the use of ships.
The apparatus is divided into two parts, one being a boiler, and the other a
purifier or condenser, which for convenience sake slides and fits over the
boiler. I form the surface of the bottom of the boiler corrugated, in order to
obtain as extended a heating surface as may be, and case and pack the sides
to prevent loss of heat. In the top of the boiler is an aperture, and a pipe or
tube, extending to near the top of the condenser, fits over it. Outside of this
pipe I fix another pipe, and thus form an air space all round the pipe, which

page_text: rises up and forms a continuation from the aperture in the boiler. The
condenser is made of a dome shape, and is itself divided into two main com-
partments; into one the salt or other water to be purified enters, and into the
other the steam from the water in the boiler rises, becomes condensed between
the outer case and the inner compartment containing the water to be purified.
A pipe leads from the water supply chamber in the upper vessel into the
boiler, and it and the boiler are fitted with suitable cocks. The steam after
being condensed passes off through an outlet pipe into a filter, from whence
it is to be drawn for use. A convenient sized apparatus for placing on
ships hearths is capable of condensing and purifying about twenty gallons
a day.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Graveley in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd September 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY GRAVELEY, of Upper East Smithfield, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Henry Graveley, Her special licence that I, the said William Henry
Graveley, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Henry Graveley, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others; from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN
APPARATUS FOR PURIFYING SEA AND OTHER MINERAL WATERS, AND RENDERING
THEM FIT TO DRINK," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
. William Henry Graveley, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
,in writing, under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
.manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the
. Great Seal Patent Office, within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Henry Graveley, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
The object of my Invention is to produce from salt water a water fit to
drink, and the apparatus is more especially designed for the use of ships and
other vessels.
:
The apparatus is divided into two parts, one being a boiler and the other
a purifier or condenser, which for convenience sake fits over the boiler. I
form the surface of the bottom of the boiler corrugated, in order to obtain as
extended a heating surface as may be, and case and pack the sides or parts of
the sides to prevent loss of heat. In the top of the boiler is an aperture, and
a pipe or tube extending to near the top of the condenser fits over or into it;
outside of this pipe I fix another pipe, and thus form an air space all round
the pipe which rises up and forms a continuation from the aperture in the
boiler. The condenser is made of a dome shape, and is itself divided into two
main compartiments; into one the salt or other water to be purified énters,
and into the other the steam from the water in the boiler rises, and becomes
condensed by passing down through pipes fixed in the inner compartment
containing the water to be purified. A pipe leads from the water supply
chaniber in the upper vessel into the boiler, and it and the boiler are fitted
with suitable cocks. The steam after being condensed passes off through an
outlet pipe into a filter, from whence it is to be drawn for use.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed I have illustrated the best methods with
which I am acquainted of carrying my Invention into effect.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of my improved apparatus in a form suitable
for use on board ship or elsewhere; Figure 2 is an end elevation of the same;
Figure 3 is a transverse vertical section; Figure 4 is a separate section of a
portion of the condensing apparatus; and Figure 5 is a horizontal section
taken through the line a, b of Figure 4. A is the boiler which is formed with
a hollowed bottom, as shown, and is lined above the hearth B with a double
lining of felt c and copper d to prevent excessive radiation. In the top of the
boiler A is an aperture C, into which is bolted or rivetted the vertical pipe or
cylinder D, around which is a second pipe or cylinder E, the two enclosing an
air space for rarified air; over these pipes is fitted a case F of a dome shape
at the upper part; this case is rivetted to a rim G, which is bolted to the top
of the boiler.; the case F is fitted with three horizontal discs or plates e, f, g,
tightly clasping the pipe D. Vertical tubes H; H, extend from the disc>c;

page_text: (which fits the case F) to the disc f, in both of which they are permanently
fixed, thus providing direct communication between the steam space h and the
chamber i. I is a pipe which supplies salt water to the apparatus from any
suitable reservoir or source; the water entering by the pipe I rises up around
the vertical tubes H, H, until it reaches the top of the pipe K, down which
it descends. This pipe K is connected immediately with the feed pipe L of
the boiler A. k is a feed cock which is opened when water is to be admitted
to the boiler; and is a waste cock from which the salt water may at any
moment be drawn off as required. The steam as it is generated in the boiler
A, rises up through the pipe D into the space h, and descending through the
tubes H, H, falls condensed into the chamber i, from which it may be drawn
off by the outlet pipe m and led to the filter. As the steam is condensed by
the water in the tubes H, H, that water becomes more or less heated, and
consequently when it is admitted to the boiler A, is converted into steam with
a less expenditure of fuel than would otherwise be required. Cocks for
drawing off the salt from the boiler and other necessary appliances are provided
but being well understood by practical men need no description here. It
should be remarked that the case F has a double bottom enclosing layers of
felt to prevent the heat from the boiler reaching the condensing water.
In Figures 6 and 7, I have shewn a modified form of my improved apparatus,
which may be mounted upon gymbals heated by lamps, and used in boats or
elsewhere. Figure 6 is a central vertical section of the apparatus; and Figure
7 is a horizontal section of the same. The principle of the apparatus is the
same as that already described. The water to be distilled enters the apparatus
by the supply pipe A which is formed with an expanded mouth a, to receive
it conveniently from a bucket or otherwise; descending the pipe A the water
enters the water spaces B, B, and surrounds the vertical tubes C, C. The
lamps are placed in the spaces D, D, and there beat the water in the inner
spaces E, E, E', E¹, into which it is forced as required from the outer spaces
B, B, by a small pump attached to the apparatus. As the water is converted
into steam, the latter rises from the spaces E, E, into the steam chest b, and
passing round the partition c descends through the tubes C, C, and falls
condensed into the chamber d from which it may be drawn off as required for
filtration or use. The products of combustion rising up from the lamps pass
off by the central chimney F. G is a partition composed chiefly of felt, to
prevent conduction of heat from the water in the spaces E, E, to that in the
spaces B, B.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I do not confine myself to

page_text: the precise arrangements above set forth; but I claim the construction of an
apparatus for purifying sea and other water, essentially as herein-before
described and illustrated in the Drawings bereunto annexed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Graveley, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Third day of September, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-eight.
W. H. GRAVELEY. (L.S.)