Improvements in Purifying Feed Water and the like and Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, Sept., 1999
Complete Specification Left, 29th May, 1900-Accepted, 18th Aug., 1900
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Purifying Feed Water and the like and Apparatus
therefor.
I, ANTHONY HARRIS, of 73, Queen Victoria Street, in the City of London,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention has for its object a method of defecating or filtering water
for feeding steam boilers, and for other like purposes, where oily or other like
organic matter is mixed with the water, whereby the usual deposits in the
boiler or other heating device will be largely or entirely prevented.
"I have noticed that the water of condensed steam from steam engines generally
contains in addition to free oil, which can be removed by filtration, saponified or
emulsified oil, or oil so minutely divided that it is exceedingly difficult to
completely separate the same by such filtration as can be practically applied to
feed water. The saponified or emulsified oil will not settle, as it remains with
a milky appearance in the condensed water for an almost unlimited time without
separating. I have also noticed that sulphates and carbonates of lime, more
especially the sulphates, are liable to remain in suspension in the minutely
divided solid form in water for long periods, after being precipitated or made
insoluble by re-agents.
Now it is to separate these ingredients from the feed water that my invention
is designed.
It usually happens with feed water that besides the condensed water, further
water is also required. This water is liable to contain lime and magnesia and
other salts. When it does I prefer to precipitate them by any of the known
precipitants at present used, prior to (or on) adding this water to the condensel
water. To render the saponified or emulsified oil or grease capable of separation
by settlement or filtration I add to the condensed water or to the mixture of the
two waters, sulphate of alumina, alum, or other substances of like effect, and
also if required sufficient alkali to precipitate the insoluble basic constituents of
such substances. Certain waters I preliminarily heat, but this is not always neces-
sary. The oil unites with the precipitants into a flocculent mass, and this flocculent
mass collects round the finely divided mineral matter present in the water which
acts as nuclei and the entire sediment impurities fall rapidly to the bottom,
the organic and the inorganic constituents mutually assisting each other. This
material can now easily be moved, either by settlement or filtration, or both.
In practice filtration is nearly always necessary to completely remove the com-
pound precipitate. The time required for the complete separation of this pre-
cipitate is largely expedited by imparting to the volume of water under treat-
ment a rapid rotary motion. I may sometimes add to the water mechanical
impurities to act as nuclei for the oil and oily material, and in some instances
add to water containing the mineral substances, organic matter, such
potato starch to act as nuclei for the inorganic precipitants. After the pre-
liminary treatment I pass the water through a reversible filter in which pre-
as

page_text: ferably the cleaning is effected by concentrating the cleaning stream of water
on one portion of the filtering medium at a time, as described in my Patent
No. 26382 of 1898, and I may place these filters two or more in parallel, or
one designed roughly to take out the coarse particles, and the other to com-
plete the operation. A form of apparatus which I have used for this purpose is as
follows:-
Into a vessel which may form part of a filter, or contain a filter, or may be a
separate vessel apart from the filter, I admit the water to be treated, and also
the re-agents to act thereon. I provide means whereby the water may, after
the re-agents have been added, be thoroughly mixed and stirred up so as to
assume a rotary motion. This can be done by jets or other convenient devices.
or by the direction given to the incoming streams of water sometimes assisted
by steam vessels or mechanical agitators. Preferably I divide the vessel into
a series of chambers separated by diaphragms, so that the water being separated
upon is treated in separate compartments independent of each other, with an
independent inlet and outlet, but communicating to a common main con-
nected to the inlets and outlets. Thus in a vertical cylindrical vessel divided
into ten compartments by horizontal diaphragms the vertical rate of settlement
can be ten times slower than if in the same vessel unprovided with diaphragms,
and only provided with a single inlet and outlet at the top and bottom. The
common main connecting the outlets carries the water into a primary filter with
a coarse filtering texture or medium, to arrest the coarser particles, after which
it passes into a filter preferably like that described in my Patent No. 26382
of 1898. The clean water outlet from this delivers the filtered water into a
reservoir by means of an exit pipe carried up to a point which is somewhat
lower than the level of the inlet main to the aforesaid vessel in which the water
is being treated. By this means there is always a suitable head upon both the
primary and secondary filters. In some cases a single filter only is required
instead of a pair in series, and in others a pair may be in parallel. In cases
where heating is required, I prefer to do this in a separate vessel, or provide
one with a heat interchanger, in which the incoming water is heated by the
water passing from the boiling vessel on its way to the filters or mixing vessel.
Dated this 28th day of September 1899.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co..
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Patent Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Purifying Feed Water and the like and Apparatus
therefor.
I, ANTHONY HARRIS, of 73, Queen Victoria Street, in the City of London,
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 for its object a method of defecating or filtering water
for feeding steam boilers, and for other like purposes, where oily or other like
organic matter is mixed with the water, whereby the usual deposits in the
boiler or other heating device will be largely or entirely prevented.
I have noticed that the water of condensed steam from steam engines generally
contains in addition to free oil, which can, be removed by filtration, saponified or
emulsified oil, or oil so minutely divided that it is exceedingly difficult to

page_text: completely separate the same by such filtration as can be practically applied to
feed water. The saponified or emulsified oil will not settle, as it remains with
a milky appearance in the condensed water for an almost unlimited time without
separating. I have also noticed that sulphates and carbonates of lime, more
especially the sulphates, are liable to remain in suspension in the minutely
divided solid form in water for long periods, after being precipitated or made
insoluble by re-agents.
Now it is to separate these ingredients from the feed water that my invention
is designed.
It usually happens with feed water that besides the condensed water, further
water is also required. This water is liable to contain lime and magnesia and
other salts. When it does I prefer to precipitate them by any of the known
precipitants at present used, prior to (or on) adding this water to the condensed
water. To render the saponified or emulsified oil or grease capable of separation
by settlement or filtration I add to the condensed water or to the mixture of the
two waters, sulphate of alumina, alum, or other substances of like effect, and
also if required sufficient alkali to precipitate the insoluble basic constituents
of such substances. Certain waters I preliminarily heat, especially when there
is little or no free oil. The saponified or emulsified oil unites with the pre-
cipitants into a flocculent mass, and this flocculent mass collects round the
finely divided mineral matter present in the water which acts as nuclei and the
entire sediment impurities fall rapidly to the bottom, the organic and the in-
organic constituents mutually assisting each other. This material can now
easily be moved, either by settlement, or filtration, or both. In practice filtra-
tion is nearly always necessary to completely remove the compound precipitate.
The time required for the complete separation of this precipitate is largely
expedited by imparting to the volume of water under treatment a rapid rotary
motion. I may sometimes add to the water mechanical impurities to act as
nuclei for the oil and oily material, and in some instances add to water con-
taining the mineral substances, organic matter, such as potato starch to act as
nuclei. After the preliminary treatment I pass the water through a reversible
filter in which preferably the cleaning is effected by concentrating the cleaning
stream of water on one portion of the filtering medium at a time, as described
in my Patent No. 26382 of 1898, and I may place these filters two or more in
parallel, or one designed roughly to take out the coarse particles, and the other
to complete the operation. A form of apparatus which I have used for this
purpose is as follows:-
:―
Into a vessel which may form part of a filter, or contain a filter, or may be a
separate vessel apart from the filter, I admit the water to be treated, and also
the re-agents to act thereon. I provide means whereby the water may, after
the re-agents have been added, be thoroughly mixed and stirred up so as to
assume a rotary motion. This can be done by jets or other convenient devices.
or by the direction given to the incoming streams of water sometimes assisted
by steam vessels or mechanical agitators. Preferably I divide the vessel into
a series of zones separated by diaphragms or otherwise so that the water being
operated upon is treated in separate zones practically independent of
each other, with an independent inlet and outlet, but communicating
to a common main connected to the inlets and outlets. Thus
a vertical cylindrical vessel divided into ten compartments by hori-
zontal diaphragms, the vertical rate of action can be ten times slower
than if 111 the same vessel unprovided with numerous outlets and
inlets forming independent vortices and only provided with a single inlet and
outlet at the top and bottom. The common main connecting the outlets carries
the water into a primary filter with a coarse filtering texture or medium, to
arrest the coarser particles, after which it passes into a filter preferably like
that described in my Patent No. 26382 of 1898. The clean water outlet from
this delivers the filtered water into a reservoir or tank by means of an exit pipe

page_text: carried up to a point which is somewhat lower than the level of the inlet' main
to the aforesaid vessel in which the water is being treated. By this means
there is always a suitable head upon both the primary and secondary filters. In
some cases a single filter only is required instead of a. pair in series, and in
others a pair may be in parallel. In cases where heating is required, I prefer
to do this in a separate vessel, or provide one with a heat interchanger, in which
the incoming water is heated by the water passing from the boiling vessel on
its way to the filters or mixing vessel.
Referring to the drawings,
Figure 1 is an elevation of a simple form of my apparatus where heat is
not used.
Figure 2 similar view of a more elaborate apparatus in which heat is used
and
Figures 3 & 4 plan and sectional elevation of interchanger.
Referring to Figure 1, a is a vessel into which the water to be treated is
admitted together with re-agents to act thereon and in which the impurities are
caused to coagulate. This vessel is provided with one or more independent in-
lets and outlets d, all the independent inlets being in communication with a
common inlet main e and similarly all the outlets being in communication with
a common outlet main f. g is a pipe admitting the crude water to the common
main inlet e, and is a pipe similarly admitting the reagents or solutions with
which the water is to be treated in the desired proportion. The crude water and
the treating solution or reagents flow together through the inlets into the
vessel a and are therein thoroughly mixed and stirred up by suitable means so
as to assume a rotary motion. This can be done by imparting a suitable direc-
tion to the incoming streams of water and solution by turning the inlet pipes c
tangentially or at a suitable angle into the vessel, the outlet pipes d being
preferably turned in the opposite direction and if desired bell-mouthed. In
some instances where it is desirable to heat the water I increase the rapidity
of the vortex and heat at the same time by injecting the water tangentially
in this way by aid of steam jets. Having a large number of superimposed' inlets
and outlets c and d divides the water into layers or superimposed vortices and
quickens the rate of aggregation of the impurities or the matter precipitated by
the reagents or solutions; a vessel, for instance, divided into ten vortices has a
rate of aggregation many times quicker than if the same vessel had only a single
inlet and outlet at top and bottom respectively. The common main f carries
the treated water through a valve j into a suitable filtering apparatus from
which the purified water is discharged into a reservoir or feed tank / by means
of an exit pipe m carried up to a point which is somewhat lower than the level
of the inlet main to the vessel a in which the water is being treated. By this
means there is always a suitable head upon the filtering apparatus. is an
overflow or by-pass pipe placed near the top of the vessel a for passing the water
direct to the feed tank 7 when the filtering apparatus k is being cleansed.
The filtering apparatus k may be a single filter or several filters combined
either in series or in parallel, but preferably consists of two filters of the rever-
sible type in series, the first or primary filter having a coarse filtering texture
or media to arrest the coarser particles, and the other or secondary filter being
adapted to arrest the finer particles.
Referring now to Figure 2.-The water to be treated arriving by the main
supply pipe 3 enters a distributor 4, from which it passes in two streams of
unequal volume, one stream flowing by pipe z to the cold inlet of the inter-
changer 5, and the other flowing by pipe 6 into a solution apparatus 7 such as
that described in Anderson's English Patent dated May 25th, 1899. No. 10964,
adapted to produce a solution of the suitable reagents or chemicals with which
the crude water is to be treated.
apparatus is conveyed by pipe
The chemical solution thus made in the
into the treating vessel a by one or by

page_text: numerous inlets as hereinbefore described where it is thoroughly mixed with the.
crude water arriving from the interchanger 5 by the pipe, and with steam.
through pipe, and purified in the manner described. The purified water
passes from the treating vessel a through the pipe 1 to the heat interchanger 5,.
and after being deprived of its heat by the crude water flowing therethrough,
it is delivered by pipe 2 into the filtering apparatus k, and from thence passes
in a thoroughly purified and filtered condition by pipe m into the storage tank L..
Several forms of interchanger are more or less effective but are apt to choke
up. In Figs. 3 and 4 I show a form suitable for the purpose of the invention: "
and also for crude water containing much sedimentary matter as the vertical
compartments are less likely to accumulate sediment which would choke them.
This arrangement of heat interchanger consists of concentric cylinders 8, form-
ing a series of concentric annular chambers, each alternate two of which are in
communication by means of channels or portscast in the bottom of the
interchanger. Two of such ports are provided in each compartment but on
opposite sides and of these two ports in each compartment one port is extended
upward by a stand-pipe 11 formed by partitioning off a portion of the chamber.
The crude cold water is admitted from the distributor through pipe into the
chamber which is second from the outside directly into the top. It rises in this
chamber until it reaches such a level that it overflows down its respective stand-
pipe 11, and passing through the port or channel y it rises into the next alter-
nate chamber in series from which it passes by overflowing down the corre-
sponding standpipe 11 into the next alternate chamber and so on through said
chambers in series until it reaches the chamber surrounding the central one from
which it flows by means of a standpipe 9 and thence through the bottom of the
casting and is delivered by means of pipe g into the upper portion of tlie treat-
ing vessel a before described. On the other hand the heated water from the
treating vessel a delivers through pipe 1 into the central chamber of the
interchanger through the bottom thereof and rises in said central chamber until
it overflows down standpipe 10 and passes through the ports y into the next
alternate chamber in series and so on through all the alternate chambers
in series of the set lying between the first mentioned set of alternate
chambers until it reaches the outermost chamber of all from which it
is delivered through a pipe 2 to the receptacle for cold purified water, or where
necessary to the filtering apparatus. By this means the compartments con-
taining hot water are in immediate proximity to the compartments containing
the cold water and vice versa, and the purified water leaving the interchanger
by the pipe 2 has been deprived of its waste heat by the cold crude water which
has become correspondingly heated before being delivered by the pipe g to the
treating vessel a.
Having now 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 is:
1. The process of purifying water for feeding steam boilers and other like.
purposes, characterised by the crude water being treated with suitable chemicals
to form a precipitate, and then being vigorously stirred or agitated to cause
impurities in the water to aggregate about said precipitate, the particles of
which precipitate serve as nuclei for the said matter to adhere or aggregate to,
whereby the matter is rendered capable of being easily separated by filtration
or decantation.
2. A method of carrying out the process described in Claim 1, characterised
by the crude water and the chemical solutions which are to form the precipitate
therein being constantly admitted with or without steam into the treating
vessel or otherwise agitated in such a way as to produce a vortex or series of
superimposed vortices, in order to cause the matter contained in the crude water
to aggregate about the particles of the precipitate, and being constantly with-

page_text: drawn from said treating vessel and passed through a filtering apparatus to
separate therefrom the aggregated matter and solid impurities.
3. The treating vessel arranged and constructed so as to form a vortex or
series of vortices and with or without heating device substantially as described.
4. The separation of emulsified oil and other finely divided organic materials
from feed water by treating it with soluble and aluminium salts substantially
as described.
5. The plant substantially as described and illustrated in Figures 1, and 2,
respectively each for the purposes described.
Dated thi 08th day of Mor 1000
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Patent Agents, of Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham and London.