Improvements in Apparatus for Ventilating Sewers, Drains, and other such Places, and for Purifying and Rendering Innocuous the Air and Gases withdrawn from them.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Jan., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 9th Oct., 1890-Accepted, 22nd Nov., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Ventilating Sewers, Drains, and
other such Places, and for Purifying and Rendering Innocuous
the Air and Gases withdrawn from them.
I, WILLIAM BREWER SILVERLOCK, of Blackfriars Road, in the County of Surrey,
Printer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to sewers, drains, and other places in which impure air or
gases are produced or are present, and it has for its object improvements in
apparatus by which such impure air or gases are withdrawn and are purified by
passing them through a sufficiently hot flame.
When ordinary house drains, or the sewers in roads are to be ventilated I prefer
to arrange the apparatus at sufficiently frequent intervals, and to connect it with
the drains by a metal or other sufficiently air tight pipe. This pipe is carried up
to a sufficient height from the ground, which need not be great, and it may either
form an independent pipe or hollow standard which may be made as ornamental
as desired, or it may be added to or form part of the ordinary street lamp posts.
At the upper end of the pipe a box or chamber is arranged which may be circular,
square, or other desired shape in plan, and of sufficient size, into the bottom of
which the upper end of the pipe opens; and at or near the same level I provide
a sufficient number of Bunsen burners of the ordinary well known kind, in which
a proper mixture of gas and air is supplied and burned."
The burners may be arranged in the form of rings, or in any other convenient
manner, in such way that the flame from them occupies as nearly as possible the
whole of the passage through which the impure air and gases pass.
The burners are kept constantly burning, and by their action the withdrawal of
the impure air and gases from the sewers or drains is promoted, whilst in passing
through the flame the impurities contained in them are burned and the air purified
and sweetened.
Above the sets of Bunsen burners described and at a short distance from them
I prefer to arrange a hemispherical or beehive shaped cover of porous fibrous
asbestos, which is also highly heated by the flame, and through which the air and
gases have to pass and are distributed and further purified. In the upper part of
the chamber may be fixed or suspended a wire or other open basket or frame con-
taining a sufficient quantity of pieces of porous charcoal through which also the air
and gases have to pass up, and by which they are further purified and rendered
inoffensive.
The top of the chamber is surmounted by a cover or roof at a short distance
above it, under and round the edges of which the purified air finally finds its way
and escapes.
The frame carrying the charcoal is made moveable, so that it can be readily taken
out and another one containing fresh charcoal substituted for it.
Other purifying agents, such as lime, may be used in addition to or instead of
charcoal.
It is evident that the details of construction and arrangement of the improved
apparatus may be varied more or less according to the conditions and the particular
purpose for which it is to be used. By its use the foul air and gases can be con-
tinuously and cheaply withdrawn from sewers, drains, and other places of a similar
kind, and are readily and with little trouble purified and rendered innocuous.
Dated the 9th day of January 1890.
EDWARDS & Co.,
35, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Ventilating Sewers, Drains, and
other such Places, and for Purifying and Rendering Innocuous
the Air and Gases withdrawn from them.
I, WILLIAM BREWER SILVERLOCK, of Blackfriars Road, in the County of Surrey,
Printer, 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 and accompanying drawing, that is to say :—
My invention relates to sewers drains and other places in which impure air or gases
are produced or are present, and it has for its object improvements in that form of
apparatus in which such impure air or gases are withdrawn and are purified by
passing them through a sufficiently hot flame.
When ordinary house drains, or the sewers in roads are to be ventilated I prefer to
arrange the apparatus at sufficiently frequent intervals, and to connect it with the
drains by a metal or other sufficiently air-tight pipe. This pipe is carried up to a
sufficient height from the ground, which need not be great, and it may either form
an independent pipe or hollow standard which may be made as ornamental as desired,
or it may be added to or form part of the ordinary street lamp-posts.
In the accompanying drawing which is in illustration of my invention, Figure 1 is
a vertical section through the improved apparatus.
a is the vertical hollow pipe, the lower end of which is connected with the sewer,
drain, or other place, from: which the impure gases are to be withdrawn and destroyed.
At or near the upper end of this pipe a a box or chamber bis arranged which may
be circular, square, or other desired shape in plan, and of sufficient size, into the
bottom of which the upper end of the pipe a opens, and at or near the same level
1 provide a sufficient number of Bunsen burners c of the ordinary well-known kind,
in which a proper mixture of gas and air is supplied and burned.
The burners may be arranged in the form of a ring or rings, or in any other
convenient manner, in such way that the flame from them occupies as nearly as
possible the whole of the passage through which the impure air and gases pass.
In Figure 1, the burner c is circular, and closed above, an annular space being left
round it at d through which the impure air and gases pass.
e
The burners c are kept constantly burning, gas being admitted through the pipe
and mixed with air in the chamber f in the usual way, and by their action the
withdrawal of the impure air and gases from the sewers or drains is promoted whilst
in passing through the flame at d the impurities contained in them are burned and
the air purified and sweetened.
Above the burner or burners described and at a short distance from them I prefer
to arrange a hemispherical or beehive-shaped cover of porous fibrous asbestos, metal
wire, or other porous incombustible material as shewn at g in Figure 3, which is also
highly heated by the flame, and through which the air and gases have to pass and are
distributed and further purified. Or a ring of such porous material may be arranged
to fill up the annular space d as shewn at k in Figure 1.
In the upper part of the chamber may be fixed or suspended (as shewn in Figure 2)
a wire or other open basket or frame / containing a sufficient quantity of pieces of
porous charcoal through which also the air and gases have to pass up, and by which
they are further purified and rendered inoffensive.
The top of the chamber is surmounted by a cover or roof i, at a short distance above
it, under and round the edges of which the purified air finally finds its way and
escapes as shewn. Perforations may also be made in the upper part of the cover i.
The frame h carrying the charcoal is made moveable, so that it can be readily taken
out and another one containing fresh charcoal substituted for it. Other purifying
agents such as lime, may be used in addition to or instead of charcoal.
It is evident that the details of construction and arrangement of the improved

page_text: apparatus may be varied more or less according to the conditions and the particular
purpose for which it is to be used. By its use the foul air and gases can be con-
tinuously and cheaply withdrawn from sewers, drains, and other places of a similar
kind, and are readily and with little trouble purified and rendered innocuous.
The height or position of the burners in the column or pipe, may be determined
and adjusted as may be found advisable.
I am aware that the impure gases and air from sewers and drains have been
withdrawn and purifed by means of the flame or heat from suitable burners, provided
with heating cones, and I do not claim generally such arrangements, but
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. For the purpose of withdrawing and rendering innocuous the impure air and
gases from sewers, drains, and other such places, the combination of the column a, the
chamber b, Bunsen burner or burners c, and the annular space at d occupied by the
flame from the burners, and through which the impure air and gases pass, substantially
as described and shewn.
2. In combination with the chamber band burner or burners c, the porous ring of
asbestos, metal, or other incombustible material, substantially as and for the purpose
described, and illustrated in Figure 1.
3. In combination with the chamber and burner or burners c, the porous
hemispherical or beehive-shaped cover of asbestos, metal, or other incombustible
material, substantially as and for the purpose described and illustrated in Figure 3.
4. In combination with the chamber b, burner or burners e, arranged and operating
as described, the moveable open basket or frame / containing charcoal or other
purifying agent as and for the purpose described and illustrated in Figure 2.
Dated this 9th day of October 1830.
Daten tr'S GO Qay of BODET
EDWARDS & Co.,
35, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London,
Agents for the Applicant.
EDWARDS & Co.,
35, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London,
Agents for the Applicant.