Improvements in Apparatus for the Automatic Control of Sulphurio Acid Supply to Carbonic Acid Generators used in Aerated Water Manufacture and other Industries.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Oct., 1891-Accepted, 7th Nov., 1891
Improvements in Apparatus for the Automatic Control of Sulphurio
Acid Supply to Carbonic Acid Generators used in Aerated Water
Manufacture and other Industries.
I, HERBERT CHARLES Cox, of Poplar Cottage, Bickenhill Park Road, Olton,
in the County of Warwick, Works Manager, 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 relates to a new device and arrangement of working parts
intended to control the supply of sulphuric acid to carbonic acid gas generators
used in the aerated water manufacture, and its object is to supply the sulphuric
acid in an automatic manner so as to produce the carbonic acid gas at the required
rate and also to automatically cut off the sulphuric or other acid when the
carbonate in the generator has been neutralized.
One part of my invention relates to a new form of siphon which is always full
and ready for action, and another part relates to the mechanism operating this
siphon in connection with the rise and fall of the gasometer.
Referring to the accompanying sheet of drawings,
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a gas generating and storing apparatus to
which my invention is applied.
Figure 2 shows my new siphon on a larger scale, and
Figure 3 shows a separate view of the siphon operating mechanism.
The siphon D, Figures 1, 2, and 3 is constructed with equal legs which are
turned up below as at D', D' so that if the siphon be once filled with liquid it may
be suspended in the air without emptying. I suspend the siphon D from the
end Hof a lever H above the acid tank or vessel A. The lever H pivots at the
fulcrum H' and one leg of the siphon is above the acid while the other is above
a chamber A. When the siphon is filled with liquid, and one leg lowered into
the acid in A, the siphon at once acts and sulphuric or other acid flows through
it into the chamber A' whence it finds its way by pipes and the cock E to the
pipe B' and the carbonic acid generator B. The carbonic acid gas passes by the
pipe C' to the gasometer C from which the aerating pumps are supplied.
The operation of the whole apparatus is as follows:-
When acid is passing into the generator too rapidly and so carbonic acid gas is
being evolved faster than it is taken away by the pumps, the gasometer C rises,
and the cord (" from which it is suspended passing over the pulleys F, F¹ and
under the pulley F to a fixture F³, moves and allows the weight G to pull down
the slide or rod G; and the lever H, which is heavier at the end H than at H³,
overbalances the siphon and raises it. The more the siphon is raised in the acid,
the shorter is the acting column of liquid and the less is the rate of flow through
the siphon. The flow of acid therefore diminishes as the gas holder C rises, and
should it rise high enough the lever H will fall low enough at the end H to raise
the siphon entirely out of the acid and so quite stop the supply to the generator.
When the gas holder falls again, the cord is pulled down and the red or slide G
is raised and with it the end H of the lever H, while the end H falls and immerses
the end of the siphon in the acid again. The acid again flows through it and
supplies the generator in proportion to the amount of carbonic acid drawn off. The
fall of the holder increases the supply of acid by immersing the siphon deeper in
the acid, while rise of the holder diminishes the acid supply by withdrawing the
siphon. The flow of acid to the generator is thus proportioned accurately to the
required rate of evolution of the carbonic acid gas.
When the gas generating charge in the generator B becomes spent or neutralized

page_text: further addition of acid causes no evolution of gas and the gasometer falls under
the action of the pumps. When it falls to a certain point, below the usual range
of movement, the lever H misses the catch or trigger G on which the end H rests
and that end of the lever falls to its lowest position, raising the siphon D entirely
out of the acid. This is shown clearly at Figure 3 where the dotted lines K
indicate the lowest position at which the pin H in the lever H slips off the end
of the trigger catch G' and falls to its lowest position as seen in dotted lines at L.
The siphon is thus withdrawn from the acid immediately the charge in the
generator becomes spent and so waste of acid is entirely avoided.
When the generator is re-charged and the holder C filled with gas again, the
cord C' rises and the rod G falls, while the trigger catch G¹ rises as shown in
dotted lines at and slips under the pin H³ of the lever H ready to raise it again
and immerse the siphon when required.
It is to be distinctly understood that the siphon D may be operated by mechanism
other than that shown in the drawings so long as the siphon is immersed and 1
withdrawn from the acid as the gas holder falls or rises and is withdrawn entirely
should the holder fall too low. Levers may be used to make the required con-
nection between the gas holder C and the siphon D and other modification of the
cord arrangement may be applied.
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 gas generating plant the siphon herein before described with turned
up legs to prevent it from emptying when withdrawn from the acid so that flow
through it begins when it is immersed after being entirely withdrawn.
(2) The arrangement of a siphon hereinbefore claimed, over an acid tank, with
a lever and trigger catch moved from a gas holder so that as the holder rises the
siphon is withdrawn, and as it falls the siphon is immersed within a determined
range beyond which the lever slips and withdraws the siphon, substantially as and
for the purposes hereinbefore described.
(3) The acid regulating apparatus hereinbefore described as illustrated in the
drawings.
Dated this 5th day of October 1891
MARKS & CLERK,
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents for the Applicant.