IMPROVEMENTS IN PURIFYING WATER AND PREPARING IT FOR ENGINEERING, MANUFACTURING, AND DOMESTIC USES
Year: 1850

page_text: BROOMAN'S SPECIFICATION..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS, SHALL COME, I, RICHARD.
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of the firm of J. C. Robertson and Company, of 166,
Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent Agents, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Nineteenth day of
September (One thousand eight hundred and fifty), in the fourteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my exors,, adññors, and assigns,
Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the
said Richard Archibald Brooman, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my exors, admors, 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 expressed should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and. the Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PURIFYING WATER
AND PREPARING IT FOR ENGINEERING, MANUFACTURING, AND DOMESTIC USES,'
being a communication from abroad; in which said Letters Patent. is con-
tained a proviso that I, the said Richard Archibald, Brooman,, shall cause.
what.
a particular description of. the nature of the said Invention, and in
manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
L
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
:..

page_text: in part recited Letters. Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there-
unto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Richard Archibald Brooman, hereby declare that the nature of the said
improvements, and in what manner the same are to be performed, are fully
described and ascertained in and by the present Specification thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :--
Whereas, according to the methods heretofore in use for preventing incrus-
tation in steam boilers, and other vessels used for the boiling or evaporation of
water, the practice has been to introduce the reagents used for the purpose
into the steam regenerators, which has been attended with the disadvantage of
encreasing the impurity of the water; and whereas, also, the reagents
hitherto used for the prevention of such incrustations have, as used, been
found inefficient, or at least uncertain and partial in their application; now
the object of the said Invention consists―
Firstly, in freeing the water from all matters capable of being precipitated
by boiling before the introduction of the same into the boiler or other steam
generating vessel.
Secondly, in the employment of chemical reagents exactly suited in each
case to the quality of the water required to be purified.
And, thirdly, in the application of the said preliminary process and the said
chemical reagents to the purification of water generally, whether intended for
subsequent boiling or any other purpose whatever.
The preliminary purification of the water is effected by treating it on a
large scale in cisterns, tanks, or other suitable reservoirs, altogether separáte
and distinct from the vessels to which the water is to be transferred for actual
use or delivery. These reservoirs are fitted interiorly with an agitator or
agitators, by which the water is kept in a state of agitation while the chemical
reagents are being added. The working of the agitators is then stopped, and
the foreign matters are allowed to precipitate. In about four hours the preci-
pitation will have taken place, and the clear and purified water may be drawn
off for use.
Figure 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed exhibits a sectional elevation of
a purifying apparatus on the above plan; and Figure 2, a horizontal plan
thereof, on the line 1, 2. M is the reservoir, which is made of a conoidal
form, with convex bottom, and set in brickwork; i, a cover, which is made to
fit closely the top of the reservoir; C, a hollow vertical shaft, which turns at
top in a collar H, formed in the cover i, passes down through the centre of the
réservoir and revolves at bottom in a socket G, which is supported by a cross

page_text: piece G. A, A, is a spiral rail, which is connected to the shaft by radial.
stay-pieces or arms B, B, and forms with these arms the agitator before
referred to.. a is a cock, through which the water to be purified is supplied
to the reservoir; f2, a funnel, fixed in the cover i, through which the chemical
reagents are dropped into a perforated tray f³, from which they fall in showers
into the water; b, a cock by which the water is drawn off after being purified,
and which is placed at a point just above the presumed level of the precipitated
matters and of any foul water which may remain mixed with them; o, a brush,.
of a form corresponding with that of the bottom of the reservoir, by which the
bottom is swept occasionally. A scraper may be substituted for a brush. h² is
a rod by which the brush o is actuated independently of the agitator, and
which is passed down from the top through the hollow shaft C and socket G;
and d2 is a cock at the bottom of the reservoir by which the sediment and.
slush are from time to time drawn off. The machinery by which the agitator
and brush are respectively put in motion when required is as follows:-To the
top of the vertical shaft C and immediately above the cover i, there is attached
a bevil pinion J which gears into a bevel wheel K on the end of a longitudinal
shaft C, which is supported by standards N, N, raised from the top of the
reservoir. The shaft C2 carries at its outer end a bevel pinion P which gears.
into a bevel wheel R on the top of a vertical shaft S, which turns in bearings q
and T thrown out from the side of the reservoir, and terminates at bottom with
a bevel pinion U, which last pinion U takes into a bevel wheel V, on the end
of a short horizontal shaft C3 supported by a standard x, to the opposite end.
of which short shaft is attached a crank handle y, by the turning of which the
whole of this system of wheel gearing is put in motion, and the agitator shaft C
caused to revolve. If the agitator is to be worked by stean, or other than
hand power (as it may be), such power may be applied through the medium
of a driving pulley, as Z2, affixed to the shaft C2, and the parts P, R, S, T, U,
V, C3, x, and y, be dispensed with. The rotation of the brush or scraper
effected by means of a separate handle attached to the top. of the rod h², which
is prolonged 'upwards beyond the top of the hollow shaft C, and is supported
in that prolongation by a bearing h³ raised from the top of the cover i. The
handle may be either reached by ladder and turned by hand, or worked from
below by cord and pulley. When it is desired to raise the brush or scraper
from contact with the bottom of the reservoir, which it is generally desirable.
to do for a short time at the commencement of each course of purification, the
rod is lifted in its bearing h³ till a notch in it comes opposite to a spring bolt
fixed on the top of the bearing ha, when the bolt takes into the notch and lays
fast hold of the rod. When it is afterwards desired to allow the brush to
is

page_text: descend, the spring bolt is drawn back by means of a cord or chain attached to
the back of the bolt. 17.51
:.
An apparatus, such as described has been found to answer well in practice,
and is such as the inventor, would recommend in all cases where the apparatus
has. to be, constructed anew; but it may be proper at the same time to observe
that the efficacy of the apparatus for its intended, uses does not depend
essentially on any particular form of the reservoir, or on any particular dis-
position of the agitator, or brush, or, indeed, on any of the details being
exactly as herein-before described. All that, is, requisite to the full accomplish-
ment of this part of the Invention is, that the water should be kept in a state
of mechanical agitation while in the course, of purification, and that arrange-
ments be made for drawing off the upper or clear portions of the water from
above the sedimentary and fouler portions at bottom. Both these, objects
may be effected with other forms of reservoirs as well as the conoidal. And,
in' fact, there is no form of reservoir now. in, use, to which this plan of.me-
chanical agitation may not be adapted with a few slight additions and altera-
tions, such as I shall now proceed to exemplify.
Figure 4 represents a water tank or reservoir of a rectangular form, which
is supposed to obtain its supply of water. from a pipe e, inserted into the
bottom of the vessel, and to have a delivery pipe at f, communicating with a
steam boiler; or hanging loose, as at railway stations, for occasional connection
with the. tender or boiler of a locomotive engine. In this case the delivery
pipe is prolonged upwards to near the top of the inside of the tank by means
of a piece of hose, either of cloth, leather, caoutchouc, or any other suitable
material, which terminates at top in a buoyant mouthpiece or float a of any
convenient form. The hose is kept distended by means of internal metallic
rings in a manner well known, but which admit at the same time of. the hose,
being pressed to, one side or other of the tank without any inconvenience.
To the mouthpiece a there is attached a chain or cord c, which is carried
upwards over, a pulley placed in any convenient situation, by means of which
chain, or..cord the mouthpiece can be raised above the level of the water.
while the process of purification is going on, in order to prevent any of the
unpurified water or any of the materials employed in its purification from.
entering the delivery hose. A cover being fitted to this tank, and an agitator.
introduced, as in the apparatus first before described, and a waste pipe u added
to the occasional withdrawal of the sediment and slush, no. further attention
or, addition would be necessary for the complete adaptation to it of this
purifying system. As soon as each tankful has undergone purification, the
floating. mouthpiece would of course have to be lowered to the top level of the

page_text: water, and the specific weight of the mouthpiece must be so calculated that
when quite free from the tension of the chain c it shall; just dip below the
surface of the water in which it floats. All the water then drawn off from the
tank would come from the clear and purified portion at the top..
.
· Figures 5, 6, and 7, represent 'tanks of similar forms to the preceding, and
placed under the same circumstances, but with slight differences in the relative
positions of the supply, delivery, and waste pipes. In each of these cases the
top of the delivery pipe f is carried to such a height inside of the tank as to
raise it above the level of any deposit that is likely to take place in the bottom;
and to the mouth of the pipe is fitted a plug, with a chain h attached to it in
the same way as in the arrangement Figure 4, whereby the pipe'can be kept
closed while the process of purification is going on, and only opened after the
purification has been effected.
:
21
Figure 8 represents a modification of the preceding arrangements in which
the purified water is drawn off by a serpentine shaped pipe f at a considerable
height above the level of the bottom of the cistern, so as to make any provision
for the temporary closing of the mouth of the pipe unnecessary. .
Figure 9 exhibits another modification, in which the water is drawn off by
means of a syphon.
..
...
Figure 10 shews an arrangement in which the tank is supplied at the top,
and the mouth of the delivery pipe f is protected by a hood from the sur-
rounding sedimentary matters:
!
Figures 11 and 12 represent two other arrangements in which the water is sup-
plied at top, as in Figure 10; and the mouth of the delivery pipe is protected
in the one case (Figure 11) by means of a cover of perforated metal, or wire
gauze, or cloth; and in the other (Figure 12) by a valve moved from below
up and down by means of a rod fi
:
**
Figure 18 shows how the delivery may be effected by means of a clack valve
p without interfering with the sedimentary matters at the bottom of the tank.
Figure 14 is an obvious modification of Figure 8, as is also Figure 15 of
Figures 5 and 6. ingin men
....
1
In all the arrangements of apparatus before described, one tank or reservoir
only is supposed to be used; and this is what we commonly find to be the case,
more especially at railway stations, but in many instances and 'in all where
frequent deliveries of water are required, great advantage would result from the
employment of separate tanks for 'the purification and the delivery of the water.
An arrangement of this sort is represented in Figure 3. Here, three
vessels, E, E, and M³, are supposed to be employed: the two former for the
purification of the water, and constructed with agitators inside exactly according

page_text: to the arrangement represented in Figure 1, and first herein-before described
and the latter being simply a reservoir open at top, into which the water after
it has been purified flows from E, E.
The reagents employed vary necessarily with the quality of the water which
is to be purified and the nature of the foreign ingredients intermixed with it
"Those which the inventor has found most generally applicable are the following
Barvtes, or its soluble salts.
o the arrangement represented in Figure 1, and first herein-before described
nd the latter being simply a reservoir open at top, into which the water after
t has been purified flows from E, E.
The reagents employed vary necessarily with the quality of the water which
s to be 'purified and the nature of the foreign ingredients intermixed with it
Those which the inventor has found most generally applicable are the following
Barvtes, or its soluble salts.
Strontia, or its soluble salts.
Oxalic acid, or a soluble oxalate.
Tartaric acid, or a soluble tartrate.
Sulphuric acid, or a soluble sulphate.
Phosphoric acid or a soluble phosphate.
Pyrophosphoric acid, or a soluble pyrophosphate.
Boracic acid, or a soluble borate.
Any soluble salt of lead.
Vegetable ashes.
Soap.
Caustic or carbonated potash.
Caustic or carbonated soda.
Caustic or carborated ammonia.
Lime, either quick lime or slacked lime.
Any organic acid which yields insoluble salts of lime.
To ascertain which of these ingredients, or what combination of them, is the
ttest to be applied in such case, a small quantity of the water to be purified is
ubjected to a preliminary analysis by any of the well-known methods in use
Thus, for example, if the water is tainted with sulphuric acid, and it is wished
o ascertain what quantity of chloride of barium (which is known to be a good
eagent in such a case) will suffice for its removal, a graduated test tube i
illed with the water. A solution composed of a known weight of chloride o
arium and distilled water is then to be added, drop by drop to the water in
he tube (which causes a precipitation of the sulphuric acid in the form o
ulphate of barium) until no more precipitate is formed; and by comparing
he two quantities, that is, the quantity of, the water tested with that of the
est liquor used, a measure of the quantity of solution of chloride of barium
which will be requisite on any scale however large, is at once obtained.
similar method of procedure is to be followed with the respective reagents fo
any other constituent which is required to be removed.
To illustrate the principle of this method of purification more in detail,
will give a few examples worked out at length.

page_text: Suppose the water to be purified is to be afterwards converted into steam
for the use of locomotives or for any other purpose, and that it has been found
on analysis to contain in every imperial gallon the following foreign matters :-
Bicarbonate of lime
Bicarbonate of magnesia
Chloride of sodium
Chloride of calcium
Chloride of aluminum
Chloride of iron
-
10.503 grains.
5.602
"
1.387
"
1.400
"
-
0.700
"
-
0.700
""
Silica
In an imperial gallon
0.700 "
-
20.992
+99
The elements of these foreign matters may be classed under three heads,
the gaseous, the insoluble, and the soluble the first including the carbonic
acid in a state of combination; the second, the carbonates of lime and
magnesia, and the silica; and the third, the chlorides of sodium, calcium,
aluminum, and iron.
Of the carbonic acid there would be dissipated in the process of evaporation
3.2097 grains, resulting from the decomposition by heat of the calcareous
bicarbonate in neutral carbonate of lime, and 1.9542 grains additional resulting
from the decomposition of the bicarbonate of magnesia, making together
5.1639 grains of foreign matters; but instead of leaving the carbonic acid to
be thus evolved and dissipated by the action of heat, certain reagents are
added to the water beforehand, by which the decomposition of the bicarbonate
is effected. For example, a quantity of lime is added sufficient to unite in
excess with the carbonic acid likely to be evolved by the process of evaporation,
from which there results a neutral carbonate of lime, which is deposited at the
same time along with the neutral calcareous and magnesian carbonates (which
last had been previously held in solution by the carbonic acid transferred to the
carbonate of lime). The only fixed matters therefore not disposed of by
precipitation are-
.. 1
1.00

page_text: .
In the water which has been here given as an example, the iron exists as a
chloride; but as carbonate of lime possesses the property of decomposing
chloride of iron forming peroxide of iron and chloride of calcium, there is a
slight addition of the latter salt due to this decomposition. This amount may
be calculated from a knowledge, of equivalents, and from this calculation it
follows, that in the decomposition of 0.7 grains of chloride of iron, 0:717 of
chloride of calcium is formed. This being in addition to the chlorides of
calcium, chloride of aluminum, and silica, existing in the water; there' remains
in all only 4.904 grains of foreign matters instead of the 20:992 grains
originally existing. Or, what would be still better, more lime may be added
than is necessary to combine with the carbonic acid when the chloride of
aluminum-existing in the water is decomposed into alumina, which will be
precipitated along with the carbonates of lime, magnesia, and iron, while the
chlorine set free will unite with the calcium of the lime which has been
employed to effect these changes. It is true that according to the laws of
chemical equivalents 0.7 grains of chloride of aluminum when thus decomposed
will give 0.871 grains of chloride of calcium; therefore it should seem that
the excess of lime employed in this process must be detrimental, but on a
large scale so slight a degree of impurity may safely be disregarded. And if it
should be required to carry the precipitation to its utmost possible limits, this
may be done by adding enough of oxalic acid to precipitate the lime from the
chloride of calcium; though, considering the cost of that acid, there. can be
few cases in which it would be worth while to have recourse to it. Sal-
ammoniac might be added to the water in sufficient quantity to make the
carbonic acid pass into the state of carbonate of ammonia, which would
produce a precipitate of the carbonates of lime and magnesia dissolved by the
aid of this carbonic acid; and the carbonate of ammonia so formed would in
its turn act on the chloride of calcium, and produce a new portion of calcareous
carbonate, which would be precipitated while the ammoniacal salt would
remain in the water. But the result in this case would have no superiority
over that obtained by the process first described.
SECOND EXAMPLE.
Suppose the water to be purified has been found by analysis to differ from
that treated of in the preceding example, in containing some calcareous
sulphate or sulphate of lime instead of calcareous and magnesian carbonates;
then to purify such water select, from the list of reagents before enumerated,
that which will at the least cost act most effectually on the sulphate, say for
example, chloride of barium. For every one hundred parts of sulphate of

page_text: ...
lime in the water add about one hundred and fifty-two parts of chloride of
barium, which transforms the one hundred parts of sulphate of lime into eighty-
one and a half parts of a very soluble salt, the chloride of calcium. Should
the water contain also some sulphate of potash, as is not unfrequently the case,
a greater quantity of chloride of barium must be used, when of, every one
hundred parts of sulphate of potash,fifteen will be precipitated in the form of
sulphate of baryta, and eighty-five remain in solution in the form of chloride of
potassium. It may be here observed, that though the aggregate amount
of soluble substances contained in the water may remain the same, after it has
been subjected to these chemical operations, as before; yet, nevertheless, there
will always be a great advantage gained, whenever by such operations new
salts are formed more, soluble than those which existed in the water in its
natural state. The chlorides, for example, in the case last treated of are more
soluble than the sulphates, and above all, the chloride of calcium which is so
soluble as to be, deliquescent. Should there be any sulphate of soda, in the
water. (beside the sulphates of lime and potash, or either of them), it may be
got rid of by. transforming it by means of barytic chloride into chloride of
sodium, which is nearly as soluble, when hot as cold.,
:
THIRD EXAMPLE.
...**
Suppose the water to be purified is found on analysis to contain both
sulphates and carbonates of lime, then a combination of the reagents used in,
the first and second examples are to be employed for their precipitation; but if
the sulphates are in very small quantities, they may be disregarded altogether
as being, on a large scale, of no practical consequence.
FOURTH EXAMPLE.
Water is sometimes found acidulated to such an extent as to act injuriously
on the metal of boilers and pipes. Alkaline substances should be used for the
counteraction of this evil, preference being given to lime before all others on
account of its abundance and cheapness. If the acid is hydrochloric, the
addition of the lime gives rise to a very soluble chloride. If the acid be
sulphuric, carbonate of ammonia is a better reagent than the lime, because
the lime would produce a difficultly soluble sulphate, whereas the sal-ammoniac
gives rise to a sulphate of ammonia which is readily soluble.
FIFTH EXAMPLE.

page_text: cases there should be employed, simultaneously with the means used to act on the
carbonates and sulphates, chloride of lime or some substance such as sulphurous
acid or chlorine, in order to decompose such organic matters. These may either
be used in the gaseous state or dissolved in water; or their salts, the sulphites
or hypochlorites (as, for example, bleaching powder), may be added to the
water, and then by the addition of an acid the sulphurous acid or chlorine may
be liberated, according as it may be expedient to use the one substance or
the other for this purpose. But to obtain the best results, and to prevent the-
addition of foreign matters to the waters, it is preferable to use these gases, or
either of them, in a separate state. Some water recently experimented upon,
obtained from Lancashire, contained so large a quantity of organic matters,
besides a small proportion of sulphates (though no bicarbonates), as to be
quite black in colour and of a very foetid smell. The purification of this
water was completely effected by treating it with an aqueous solution of
chlorine in the proportion of 1.041 cubic inches of the solution, temperature
41° Fahrenheit, to 61 021 cubic inches of water, and adding simultaneously
therewith chloride of barium, in the proportion of 3:766 grains for every litre-
(1.760 pints, English) of water. Care, however, must be taken in all cases
to add no more chlorine than will just give the water a slightly dissolvent
property, which will readily be ascertained by its turning a test paper, dipped
into it, white. If the chlorine is in excess, it will act injuriously on the metal
of the boiler and pipes; and though that excess might be counteracted by the
addition of such substances as would take up the free chlorine) as sulphurous
acid, sulphate of protoxide of iron, protochloride of tin, &c., the addition of
such new substances is certain to impair the purity of the water, and to lessen
its fitness for use.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS..
I add here some general observations which are more or less applicable to
all the cases of which examples have been given.
In recommending by preference the use of lime and chloride of barium, I
have had regard solely to the prices at which they can now commonly be had

page_text: may be expedient to subject the water to subsequent filtration through
charcoal and other media, as, for example, where the water is designed for
domestic use, or for some manufacturing purposes where great purity is
desirable, as brewing, dyeing, &c.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention communicated
to me as aforesaid, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare
that I lay no claim to the exclusive use of any of the reagents herein-before
specified, the properties of most of which are well known; but that what I
claim is,
-
First, the purifying of water and preparing it for engineering, manufac
turing, and domestic uses, by the combination of means and processes partly
mechanical and partly chemical, and in the order of sequence herein-before
described, that is to say:-The previous purification of the water in vessels,
separate and distinct from the boilers or other vessels which it is applied to. the
said uses, and the subjecting the water to mechanical agitation, by arrange-
ments such as herein-before exemplified and described, while the chemical
reagents are in the course of being applied thereto.
And second, I claim the purifying of water when used for locomotive
engines (that is, all other than stationary engines), by the combined employ-
ment of barytes or any of its soluble salts or lime and mechanical agitation, as
before exemplified and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of March, One