IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SULPHATES OF SODA AND POTASH AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 12th July, 1887
Complete Left, 12th Apr., 1888
Complete Accepted, 15th June, 1888
55
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and in the Apparatus Employed therefor.
I, ALEXANDER WALKER, Manager of the Irvine Chemical Company Limited, Irvine,
in the County of Ayr, North Britain, do hereby declare the nature of the said
invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SULPHATES OF SODA AND
POTASH AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREFOR to be as follows :-
This Invention which relates to improvements in the manufacture of sulphates of
soda and potash is a development of the Invention for which Letters Patent No. 903
A.D. 1876 were granted to me and John Cammack.
In accordance with that Invention the process of manufacture is continuous or
almost continuous whereby the manufacture is expedited and the evolution of the
volatile hydrochloric acid gases is also more continuous and regular and hence the said
gases become more manageable and readily condensed or otherwise disposed of.
The apparatus consists in the employment of a revolving cylinder of iron or other
suitable material and lined with fire-clay if necessary, the said cylinder being mounted
horizontally or slightly inclined and heated by being enclosed in a chamber above a
furnace.
The chloride of sodium or potassium or nitrate of soda or potash, and sulphuric
acid, are admitted at one end of the revolving cylinder by means of a hopper and as
they pass on gradually to the other end of the cylinder over the heated surface thereof
the volatile gases are driven off and carried away by a pipe or flue and disposed of in
the usual manner and the chloride or nitrate used becomes converted into a sulphate
and is delivered at the other end of the cylinder in that state.
A revolving worm or fixed inclined or revolving scrapers are employed within the
cylinder to prevent the mass from becoming caked on to the inner surface thereof and
to impell it gradually forward towards the delivering end.
In practice it has been found that owing to the necessary length of the revolving
cylinder, the shaft upon which the scrapers or feeders are fixed, becomes distorted
and out of proper working order, the present invention therefore consists in remedying
this and effecting more perfect results by making the cylinder in two sections, the one

page_text: section being mounted as a continuation of, but below the level of, the other. The
materials to be operated upon are fed to and passed through the first cylinder in the
manner described in the specification of my former patent, but on reaching
the opposite end of the first cylinder, the mass is caused to fall down a shoot
into the second or lower cylinder and is carried along therein by similarly mounted
worms or scrapers and delivered at the opposite end thereof in a finished state,
that is, converted into a sulphate, the volatile gases being driven off in the passage of
the mass through the cylinders and carried away by a pipe or flue in the cylinders and
disposed of in the usual manner.
The shafting and gearing for rotating the first cylinder and also for rotating the
worms or scrapers therein may be mounted as described in the specification of my
former patent, but in order to operate the corresponding shafting and gearing for the
second or lower cylinder the shaft carrying the worms or scrapers of the said second
cylinder is, or may be, a portion of a shaft running from end to end of the apparatus
50 as to enable the whole of the shafting and gearing of the apparatus to be operated
from the said shaft at the forward end of the apparatus, that is to say, in a position
approximately below the hopper for feeding the materials to the first cylinder.
The furnace for heating the cylinders is preferably arranged under the second or
lower cylinder, the heated products of combustion passing into the casing surrounding
the said cylinder and escaping upwards into the chamber surrounding the first cylinder
and carried off therefrom in the usual manner.
I prefer to so arrange the gearing between the two parallel shafts, that is to say,
the shafts of the upper and lower cylinders, that a slower motion of rotation is
imparted to the scrapers or feeders in the second cylinder and I also prefer to make
the said cylinder of somewhat larger diameter than the first cylinder.
Dated th 1141 love of T... 1007
J. H. JOHNSON, DAY & JOHNSON,
115, St. Vincent Street, Glasgow,
Petitioner's Agents.

page_text: and in the Apparatus Employed therefor.
I, ALEXANDER WALKER, Manager of the Irvine Chemical Company Limited,
Irvine, in the County of Ayr, North Britain 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 :-
My Invention which relates to improvements in the manufacture of sulphates of
soda and potash is a development of the Invention for which Letters Patent No. 903
A.D. 1876 were granted to me and John Cammack.
In accordance with that Invention the process of manufacture is continuous or
almost continuous whereby the manufacture is expedited and the evolution of the
volatile hydrochloric acid gases is also more continuous and regular and hence the
said gases become more manageable and readily condensed or otherwise disposed of.
The apparatus consists of the employment of a revolving cylinder of iron or other
suitable material and lined with fire-clay if necessary, the said cylinder being mounted
horizontally or slightly inclined and heated by being enclosed in a chamber above a
furnace.
The chloride of sodium or potassium or nitrate of soda or potash, and sulphuric
acid, are admitted at one end of the revolving cylinder by means of a hopper and as
they pass on gradually to the other end of the cylinder over the heated surface thereof
the volatile gases are driven off and carried away by a pipe or flue and disposed of in
the usual manner and the chloride or nitrate used becomes converted into a sulphate
and is delivered at the other end of the cylinder in that state.
A revolving worm or fixed inclined or revolving scrapers are employed within the
cylinder to prevent the mass from becoming caked on to the inner surface thereof and
to impel it gradually forward towards the delivering end.
In practice it has been found that owing to the necessary length of the revolving
cylinder, the shaft upon which the scrapers or feeders are fixed, becomes distorted and
out of proper working order, the present invention therefore consists in remedying
this and effecting more perfect results by making the cylinder in two sections, the one
section being mounted as a continuation of, but below the level of, the other. The
materials to be operated upon are fed to and passed through the first cylinder in
the manner described in the specification of my former Patent, but on reaching the
opposite end of the first cylinder, the mass is caused to fall down a shoot into the
second or lower cylinder and is carried along therein by similarly mounted worms or
scrapers, and delivered at the opposite end thereof in a finished state as sulphate of
soda, the volatile gases being driven off in the passage of the mass through the
cylinders and carried away by a pipe or flue in the cylinders and disposed of in the
usual manner.
The shafting and gearing for rotating the first cylinder and also for rotating the
worms or scrapers therein may be mounted as described in the specification of my
former patent, but in order to operate the corresponding shafting and gearing for the
second or lower cylinder the shaft carrying the worms or scrapers of the said second
cylinder is, or may be, a portion of a shaft running from end to end of the apparatus

page_text: .
so as to enable the whole of the shafting and gearing of the apparatus to be operated
from the said shaft at the forward end of the apparatus, that is to say, in a position
approximately below the hopper for feeding the materials to the first cylinder.
Separate fires or fireplaces are preferably employed for each section.
And in order that my Invention may be properly understood and readily carried
into effect I will now proceed to describe the drawings hereunto annexed.
The materials are dropped into the hopper A, and are fed along therefrom by means
of the worm B, into the first or upper cylinder C; they are discharged at the opposite
end of the said cylinder down the shoot D, into the second or lower cylinder E, and
drop into the collecting cart or wagon at the outlet e.
The cylinders are both mounted upon two sets of rollers c, c', e and e², and the
rotation of the cylinders is effected by spur gearing c², e³.
The rotation of the scrapers, not shown on the drawings, is effected by the rotation
of the shafts F, G, operated by spur gearing in front of each of the cylinders as shown
on the drawings.
As shown the whole of the gearing for the rotation of both the cylinders and their
scrapers is effected from the main driving shaft H; the said shaft by bevilled gearing
indicated at I, J, K, gives the necessary rotation to the hopper screw B, which is
mounted upon the horizontal shaft k, and simultaneously the rotation of the
shaft c³, upon which is keyed the spur wheel c², gearing into the large diameter of
spur wheel c, which rotates the first cylinder C; the said shaft c³, simultaneously
operating the scraper shaft F, through the spur gearing f.
Corresponding gearing operates the second or lower section of the apparatus, that is
to say, the extremity of the shaft H, carries the pinion es, gearing into the teeth e*,
which are formed around the cylinder E; the rotation of the shaft G, carrying the
scrapers, not shown on the drawing, being effected by the gearing 9.
Two furnaces L, M, are shown provided below each cylinder but one furnace only
may be employed below the second cylinder and in this case the products of
combustion from the said cylinder may be made to circulate round the first cylinder.
The gases of decomposition may be taken off at either end of either cylinder as
at N, but I prefer to pass the gases from the lower or second cylinder through the
first or upper cylinder, thereby utilising the heat contained in the said gases in order
to assist the decomposition in the first cylinder, above the condensing point of the
gases evolved.
In lieu of employing one engine for the working of the whole gearing as shown on
the drawings, I may employ two separate engines, one for each cylinder.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of, my said Inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:
1. In the manufacture of sulphates by bringing a continuous supply of chlorides or
nitrates into admixture with a stream of sulphuric acid when the said materials are
subjected to the action of heat and agitation, the improvements upon the said process
substantially as hereinbefore described and in part shown in the accompanying
drawings.
2. In the said manufacture of sulphates, dividing the necessary length of the
revolving cylinder or apparatus into two or more portions or sections substantially as
and for the purposes herein before described and shown on the accompanying
drawings.