IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SALT AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR."
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hamer, of Northwich, in the County of
Chester, Salt Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF SALT AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR."
Scaled the 3rd February 1874, and dated the 12th November 1873.

page_text: bottom of the salt evaporating pan I only expose the pan to such heat
for a lesser proportion of and by preference less than half its length
only while the remainder is exposed to the heat of steam or vapour, all
as herein-after described. For a pan of say 150 feet in length I prefer
to expose, say, only about one-third to furnace heat, and such heated pro-
ducts of combustion are then led through one or more closed flues,
culverts, or pipes to the chimney; these flues may pass through a
chamber or chambers, which I call steam chambers, and which I form
under and if desired also along the sides of the after or back part of the
pan bottom.
The top of the pan is covered in by any convenient and well known
means for that purpose. I prefer however to make the cover in the form
of a ridged roof, the upper or central part of which is permanent and
suspended from or attached to the roof of the building or to gallows, or
other structures for that purpose. This part of the roof is along its
bottom edges fitted with gutters for collecting the steam or vapour con-
densed on this said inner part of the roof; the other or lower part of
the roof is made in the form of movable, and by preference, hinged
flaps which can be raised or lowered or otherwise shifted as required.
The condensed water from this part of the covering of the pan runs into
gutters along the outer upper edge of the pan. I thus avoid the dripping
of water into the brine under treatment.
The steam from the brine heated as aforesaid rises into the space
between the pan and its cover, and I conduct this steam or vapour,
together with any air that may leak through crevices in the roof,
into the aforesaid steam chamber or chambers formed under the after or
back part of the pan bottom, where it gives off a great portion of its heat
to this part of the pan; it is then allowed to escape freely into the
chimney, that is to say, exhausted by the partial vacuum in the same or
other exhausting apparatus, and that either through separate flue or flues
for that purpose, or through the aforesaid flue or flues for the products
of combustion, in which latter case the steam or vapour may enter such
flues at the fore end of same, or at any other suitable part.
My Invention further consists in causing the steam evolved in the
closed space over a salt evaporating pan, heated wholly by furnace heat
underneath as heretofore is usual, or partly by such heat and partly by
steam, as above described, or heated in any other suitable manner, to

page_text: pass on to another salt pan under the same, or under and along the
sides, or through flues in the same, or partly one and partly the other
for the purpose of thus heating it, and then to pass such steam or vapour
off to a chimney by the partial exhaustion or vacuum in such chimney
or other exhauster. Or such steam or vapour together with the steam
or vapour evolved in the enclosed space of such second pan may first
pass under, or under and around, or through a third pan, or be utilized
for heating brine, or for other useful purposes before being finally
exhausted. The draught or rate of exhaustion or time of retention of
the steam while thus acting is regulated by means of chimney dampers,
or às regards other exhausting apparatus than a chimney, by any suitable
and well known means for such purposes.
My Invention further consists in the application of improved means
for the more rapid circulation of the brine in the pan, and the consequent
diminished formation of saline and other incrustations on the hottest
part of the pan bottom, and also for a consequent increased evaporation
in this part of the pan. For this purpose I construct the pans so as to
have less depth or body of brine at the part exposed to the greatest heat
than at other parts. One mode of carrying this into effect consists in
making the pan bottom slanting so as to have the highest part at the
fore end or the place of the greatest heat. It is evident that this may
conveniently be done in a new pan by making it shallower at that end,
|and with a sloping bottom from front to back; but it is also evident
that existing pans may be reset according to this Invention by being
raised in front or lowered behind, and thus to some extent partake of
the benefits of this Invention; but the best mode I have found to be to
make the pan bottom sloping downwards for about 15 to 30 feet from
the front, and then to continue the rest of the bottom level or nearly so.
The consequence of the thus produced larger evaporation at the fore part
of the pan is that I obtain ample steam for the heating of the other
part of the pan with a clean heat which does not, as in the existing
pans, cause deposit of soot, resulting in a great diminution in the efficiency
of the heating surface at this part of the pan bottom, I thus realize a
saving in fuel.
The furnaces or fire-places may be made in the ordinary or other
suitable manner, but I prefer, although I do not claim it, to make them
without partition walls between and above the furnace bars in order to
ensure a better and more smokeless combustion at all times. I also

page_text: prefer to support the pan on side walls and on piers or pillars in the
intermediate space in order to ensure the freest access for the heat and
steam, and to afford facility for inspection and repairs.
In some cases instead of exhausting the spent or utilized steam or
vapour by means of a chimney or other exhauster, as herein-before
described, I carry the same into the closed ash-pits of the pan furnaces;
but in that case also the steam or it constituent parts find their way
ultimately to the chimney.
prefer to support the pan on side walls and on piers or pillars in the
intermediate space in order to ensure the freest access for the heat and
steam, and to afford facility for inspection and repairs.
In some cases instead of exhausting the spent or utilized steam or
vapour by means of a chimney or other exhauster, as herein-before
described, I carry the same into the closed ash-pits of the furnaces;
pan
but in that case also the steam or it constituent parts find their way
ultimately to the chimney.
The brine may be heated before passing into the pan by being con-
veyed through a pipe or coil in the aforesaid steam chamber under
the pan.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Hamer in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 12th May 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HAMER, of Northwich, in the County of Chester, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Hamer, Her special
licence that I, the said William Hamer, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Hamer, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF SALT AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Hamer, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was
to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal

page_text: Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Hamer, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings
and to the letters of reference marked thereon, that is to say :—
The chief object of my Invention is to produce salt from brine at a
less expenditure of fuel than heretofore.
According to one part of my Invention instead of allowing the flame
and furnace heat to come in contact with the greater portion of the
bottom of the salt evaporating pan, I only expose the pan to such heat
for a lesser proportion of and by preference less than half its length
only while the remainder is exposed to the heat of steam or vapour, all
as herein-after described.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is an outside elevation of a
salt pan arranged according to this part of my Invention; Figure 2 is
a vertical longitudinal section; Figure 3, a plan section below the pan;
Figure 4 is an end elevation and part section; and Figure 5 is a vertical
cross section through the pan and furnaces below the same.
A is the pan; F, H, the roof or covering for the same which shall be
referred to: further on. The space under the pan is divided into two
parts, the smaller fore part forming the furnace or combustion chamber C
and the back or larger part forming the steam chamber D; d is a damper
fitted between the combustion chamber C and the steam chamber D.
The draught or heat from the furnaces may be thus regulated as required.
If a damper is fitted to the flue leading from the pan bottom to the
chimney or exhauster such damper is only required when the pan is out
of operation.
For a pan of say 150 feet in length I prefer to make the fore part C
about one-third of the length of the pan and the steam chamber D
about two-thirds, and the heated products of combustion after passing
the regulating damper d, as aforesaid, are then led through a closed flue,
culvert, or pipe E (or through two or more closed flues, culverts, or
pipes) to the chimney; this flue E or flues may pass through the
steam chamber D, which latter may be parted off into two or more

page_text: steam chambers and which I form under the back part of the pan, as
shewn, and if desired also along the sides of the after or back part of
the
pan bottom, or the flue or flues E might terminate or open into the
steam chamber or chambers, the heated products of combustion thus
commingling with the steam.
The top of the pan is covered in by any convenient means, and I find
that for pans of great length it is sufficient to cover the fore part of the
pan only where the greatest amount of heat is applied, and where con-
sequently the greatest amount of steam is evaporated from the brine in
the pan.
When the pan is thus partly covered or roofed over I form
the pan with a tight partition across so as to separate the covered from
the uncovered part of the pan. I prefer to make the cover as shown
here in the form of a ridged roof, the upper or central part F of which
is permanent, and suspended from or attached to the roof G of the
building, or to gallows or other structures for that purpose; this part
of the roof or cover is along its bottom edges fitted with gutters f for
collecting the steam or vapour condensed on this said inner part of the
roof or cover; the other or lower part H of the roof or cover is made
in the form of movable, and by preference hinged flaps, which can be
raised or lowered or otherwise shifted as required. The condensed water
from this part of the covering of the pan runs into gutters h along the
outer upper edge of the pan. I thus avoid the dripping of water
into the brine under treatment. Or the roof or covering might be made
according to my Patent, No. 630, A.D. 1872.
The steam from the brine in the pan A heated as aforesaid rises into
the space between the pan and its cover F, H, and I conduct this steam
or vapor, together with any air that may leak through crevices in the
roof or cover into the aforesaid steam chamber or chambers D formed
under the after or back part of the pan bottom where it gives off a great
portion of its heat to this part of the pan commingling or not with the
products of combustion from the fore part C as aforesaid, it is then
allowed to escape freely into the chimney, that is to to say, exhausted
by the partial vacuum in the same or it may be taken off by other
exhausting apparatus and that either through separate flue or flues for
that purpose, or as shewn here through the aforesaid flue or flues E for
the products of combustion, in which latter case the steam or vapour
may enter such flues at the fore end of same, as shewn here, or at any
other suitable part.

page_text: My Invention further consists in causing the steam evolved in the
closed place over a salt evaporating pan, heated wholly by furnace heat
underneath as heretofore is usual, or partly by such heat and partly by
steam as above described, or heated in any other suitable manner to pass
on to another salt pan under the same or under and along the sides,
or through flues in the same, or partly one and partly the other, for the
purpose of thus heating it, and then to pass such steam or vapour off to
a chimney by the partial exhaustion or vacuum in such chimney or other
exhauster,
My Invention further consists in the application of improved means
for the more rapid circulation of the brine in the pan and the consequent
diminished formation of saline and other incrustations on the hottest
part of the pan bottom, and also for a consequent increased evaporation
in this part of the pan. For this purpose I construct the pans so as to
have less depth or body of brine at the part exposed to the greatest heat
than at other parts. One mode of carrying this into effect consists in
making the
pan bottom slanting so as to have the highest part at the
fore end, or the place of the greatest heat. It is evident that this may
conveniently be done in a new pan by making it shallower at that
end and with a sloping bottom from front to back, but it is also evident
that existing pans may be reset according to this Invention by being
raised in front or lowered behind, and thus to some extent partake of
the benefits of this Invention; but the best mode I have found is to
make the pan bottom, as here shewn at Figure 2, sloping downwards for
about 15 to 30 feet from the front and then to continue the rest of the
bottom level or nearly so. The consequence of the larger evaporation
thus produced at the fore part of the pan is that I obtain ample steam
for the heating of the other part of the pan with a clean heat which does
not, as in the existing pans cause deposit of soot resulting in a great
diminution in the efficiency of the heating surface at this part of the
pan bottom, I thus realize a saving in fuel.
In the case of letting the products of combustion pass into the afore-
mentioned steam chamber or chambers under the back part of the pan
I have found that the soot does not adhere permanently to the pan
bottom there but flakes off leaving a clean surface unaffected by rust or
corrosion.
The furnaces OT fire pla
man he made in the

page_text: to the Specification of my Patent, No. 630, dated the 29th February 1872,
that is without partition walls above the furnace bars in order to ensure
a better and more smokeless combustion at all times; I also prefer to
support the pan on the side walls and on piers or pillars in the inter-
mediate space in order to ensure the freest access for the heat and steam
and to afford facility for inspection and repairs.
In some cases instead of exhausting the spent or utilized steam or
vapour by means of a chimney or other exhauster as herein-before
described, I carry the same into the closed ashpits of the pan furnaces,
but in that case also the steam or its constituent parts find their way
ultimately to the chimney.
The brine may be heated before passing into the pan by being con-
veyed through a pipe or coil or coils in the aforesaid steam chamber or
chambers D under the pan. This part of my Invention is shewn at
Figures 2 and 3. I is the brine pipe from the brine reservoir or other
source; J is a branch pipe from the same, and is here caused to pass
once through the steam chamber D and back, it is then passed into
both compartments of the pan A in a somewhat heated state.
And having thus set forth the nature of this my Invention and
described some modes and means for carrying it into effect, I declare
that I am aware that round pans have heretofore been covered with per-
manent covers or roofs, and that steam from such pans has been utilized for
heating other pans, so that I do not claim the application of my Invention
to round pans with permanent covers except as regards my two last
claims, but I do claim,-
First. Dividing the space below a salt evaporating pan into two parts
separated by a regulating damper, namely, a fore or combustion chamber
C and a back or steam chamber or chambers D, substantially as and for
the purpose set forth.
Second. Leading steam evolved from a salt evaporating pan into the
steam chamber or chambers D formed under the back part of the said
pan, substantially as set forth.
Third. Leading the products of combustion through a flue or flues as
described or into the steam chamber or chambers D, as set forth.
Fourth. Carrying the steam evolved from a salt pan to another salt
pan or pans, substantially as here set forth.

page_text: Fifth. Constructing or setting salt evaporating pans with a sloping or
partially sloping bottom, as described.
Sixth. The construction of pan roof or cover F, H, as described.
Seventh. Leading the steam evolved from a salt pan after being
utilized for heating the same, or another pan or pans into the closed ash-
pits of the said first named salt pan.
Eighth. The herein described mode of heating the brine by passing
the same in a pipe or pipes, or coils through the steam chamber or
chambers D.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hamer, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
WILLIAM HAMER. (L.S.)