CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE. OR ART OF DISTILLING
Year: 1819

page_text: WILLIAMS
PECIFICATION:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDMUND
WILLIAM WILLIAMS, of St. Mildred's Court, Poultry, in the City of London,
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-sixth day
of June, in the fifty-ninth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the
said Edmund William Williams, my exors, admors, and assigns, His especial
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Edmund
William Williams, my exors, admors, and assigns, during the term of years
therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in
all His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, the Invention communi-
cated to me by a certain person residing abroad, of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MODE. OR ART OF DISTILLING;" in which said Letters Patent there is
contained a proviso that if I, the said Edmund William Williams, shall not
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, and cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within two calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent,
and all liberties and advantages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly
cease, determine, and become void, as in and by the same, relation being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Edmund William Williams, ido hereby declare that the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same, is to be performed, are
particularly described and ascertained in and by the Drawings hereunto
annexed, and the following description thereof (that is to say) :-
The nature of the said Invention is calculated and intended,―
Firstly, to improve the quality of the spirits by giving an additional eleva-
tion and capacity to the still head, which, allowing a more perfect separation
of the steam or vapour, the more volatile or spirituous particles thereof will
for the most part only go over into the condenser, while the more dense or
heavy particles naturally fall back into the still.
Secondly, to enlarge and accelerate the condensation as will by the
increased capacity of the head of the still; as by the steam or vapour, when it
reaches the condensing tub, being divided into a multiplicity of small columns,
and consequently exposed to the action of the cold liquor (water) in the tub
upon a greatly increased surface.
-J
Thirdly, to prevent accidents from the bursting of the still,.or.the blowing
up of its head, which are equally effected by the enlarged capacity of the latter,
and: the increased means of condensation, both of which combine in materially
reducing the pressure of the steam or vapour in the still or upon its
head and,
Lastly, to increases, the quantity of the spirit by delivering it, through,a
cooling worm and its occasional appendages at such a temperature as to
prevent evaporation in its passage to and when in the receiver. f >ari.
...These objects are obtained by the form and construction of the, still head,
the condensing machine, the cooling worm, and, the other parts of the appa-
ratus, of which the following is a complete and perfect description, and is
exemplified and explained by the Drawings hereunto annexed, in which Fig. 1
is an elevation, and ig. 2a plan of the apparatus, the same letters of
reference referring to the same, parts in both Figures. The still, head is made
spherical immediately above the ring which lutes into the still, and from the
upper part of it rises a circular, crane-necked pipe, which,, after, reaching the
necessary degree of, elevation, as hereafter described, turns down and lutes
into the neck, of the condenser.... This condenser, which is to be placed in the
centre, of the condensing tub, consists of, A, Fig. 1, the neck, which conveys
the steam or vapour into B, the upper drum, whence it, is divided amongst.a
number of small verticle pipes C, Figs. 1 and 2, which should, never, be made
to exceed three quarters of an inch, in their, interior diameter. The conden-
sation takes place in part in the upper drum, and is fully completed in these

page_text: pipes.or-tubes, from whence the condensed fluid. passes. into the lower drum D,
Fig. 1, and through E, its neck;into F,a box or trap inclosing the said
neck E, from the upper part: of which trap-Fit enters the cooling worin.G:
It is evident that the box or trap F. is in working. always. partially full of
liquid; and the neck E being: immersed therein, any steam, or, vapour which
may have escaped condensation can pass no farther. The box or trap F.has
a funnel-like bottom, from which'a pipe II passes with .a-considerable descent
between any two of the coils,iturns; :or; bouts of the worm, and 'through-the
side of: the worm tüb, where it is furnished with a cock Is The use of this
pipe is to draw off any foul or impure spirit which may rise in the first stage
of the process, and to discharge what may remain in the box or trap F when
the process is over. To this box' or trap Fis also attached another pipe J, Figs.
and 2, which is called: the air. or. safety pipe, and its purpose-is for the
egress and ingress of the atmospheric air from and to the condenser, to prevent
both pressure and a vacuum'therein:: The flat octangular cooling worm G, after
making.six complete:túrns or bouts. in the worm tub, assumes a circular shape
where it divergestoff to pass through the side of the tub, and to its end or
mouth outside the tub, which is made a little tapering, is fitted, and is to
bé occasionally applied; ancrane-necked pipe K, Fig. 1,, of the same area
throughout as the end of the worm, and which pipe K may be elevated, or
depressed at pleasure; sufficiently: high: when upright: to, keep; three: or..more
coils of the worm full of spirits. This is intended to be applied in hot
weather, or in hot climates, to cool the spirits: more effectually, by subjecting
the same in a greater degree to the effect: of the cold liquor (water).in.the
worm tub acting upon the whole surface of the coils of the worm so kept full,
and thereby assisting to prevent the evaporation of the spirits. But ini. liot
climates aifurther additional apparatus: is recommended, the invention' ' of
which is also hereby: claimed, ithe more effectually to obtain this end....This
additional apparatus consists of another piperLinto which the discharging end
of the crane-necked pipe: K is made to enter, and which pipe L, after passing
through the end of the trough Mais made of a broad flat shape, and running
the whole length of the trough, returns, gently declining in its whole course,
and becoming again of as circular shape, pässes again through the end of the
trough M, at which 'it entered; and discharges itself into the wide; mouth..or
funnel of the pipe which conveys the spirit into the receiver: This, trough. M;
which may be made of any required dimensions, is to be filled, with: Glauber's
salts and nitre, or any otherr chemical preparation or composition capable of
producing cold, the more effectually. to cool the spirit. In order the more
casily to introduce! such's chemical preparation under and between the two

page_text: flat folds or leaves of the said pipe L through which the spirit passes, one
side of the trough M may be made to open, either by sliding in grooves, or
turning upon hinges, and the trough may be placed upen a carriage with
wheels, the more easily to be brought to and conveyed from its requisite
situation when used, or it may be placed there upon tressels or other proper
supports of the requisite height.
For a still capable of containing five hundred gallons the following are the
forins, numbers, and dimensions of its parts:-The diameter of the still at the
surface of its line of charge is sixty inches; the diameter of its neck is twenty-
two inches; the diameter of the spherical part of the head rising from the
ring, which lutes into the still neck, is thirty inches; the diameter of the
crane-neck circular pipe, at its junction with the spherical part of the head, is
twelve inches; the elevation of the under side of the crane-neck (including the
spherical part of the head) above the neck of the still is sixty inches; the
diameter of the crane-neck at its end, luting into the neck of the condenser A,
is seven inches; the diameter of the circular neck of the condenser is rather
more than seven inches, and at its upper edge is a flat ring, which is to be
upon a level with the chime of the condensing tub. The neck is to be made
sufficiently long to dip twelve inches into the liquor (water) in the tub at its
junction with the upper drum B of the condenser. The two circular drums
of the condenser B and D are to be each thirty-six inches in diameter, and
their tops are to be made convex one inch, and their bottoms concave one
inch. The rims at their circumferences are cach to be one inch deep. The
interior diameter of each of the virtical condensing pipes or tubes C is three
quarters of an inch, the centre one of which is placed there expressly to take
off the drip of the upper drum, is thirty-six inches long; the length of the
others is determined by the convexity and the concavity of the opposite
surfaces of the two drums C and D, into which they are firmly and securely
united either by soldering or other proper means. The number of these pipes
or tubes is ninety-seven, but only a part of them (to prevent confusion) is
shewn in the vertical Drawing, Figure 1, their whole number being represented
in the Plan, Figure 2. The diameter of the circular discharging neck E of
the lower drum is three inches. The diameter of the circular box or trap F,
which encircles the neck and encloses it, is six inches. The discharging neck
is to dip three inches into the trap below the junction of the cooling worm
with the latter. The trap is to reach one inch below the neck to its funnel-
like bottom, to which the discharging pipe H, which may be from half an
inch to an inch and half in diameter, is to be attached. The safety pipe J, which
is half an inch in diameter, passes from the trap F at the level of the enclosed

page_text: neck E, and proceeding along the side of the trap F, and close under the
bottom of the lower drum D, it turns up round its rim, and thence goes
perpendicularly, being secured to the rims of both drums, rises above the
liquor (water) in the tub, and is then bent a little downwards to pre-
vent anything from falling into it and choaking it. The cooling worm G
is to be made octangular, and to circumscribe a circle whose diameter is
fifty-two inches; its area is to be in form a parallelogram, whose longest sides
are four inches, and the shortest half an inch wide. This worm is to be placed
with its longest sides lying horizontally, and is to make six complete turns or
bouts independant of the branch which proceeds from the trap F, and that
branch, where it diverges to pass through the sides of the tub, and each turn or
bout of the worm, are to be two inches asunder for the sake of the current.
The head and crane-neck of the still may be made of any form, shape, size, or
dimensions whatever; the necks, drums, condensing pipes or tubes, and the
box or trap, and pipes attached thereto, may also be made of any shape, form,
size, or dimensions, or consist of any number, or be placed in any position or
direction whatever; but it is recommended and preferred that the form, shape,
size, dimension, number, position, and direction of the several parts enume-
rated, and any and all other part or parts of the machine or apparatus, be made
of the form, shape, size, and dimension, do consist of the number, and be placed
in the position or direction herein or hereby described and set forth, or as
described and exemplified in the Drawings thereof hereunto annexed, save and
except so far as relates to the places where the worm and discharging pipe
pass through the tub, which are in the Drawing shewn opposite to each other;
but it is evident and to be understood these are to pass through the worm-tub
at any convenient place, determined by the local situation of such tub in the
distillery.
It is also declared and to be understood, that for stills of different sizes or
capacities the size or dimensions and number of the several parts and appen-
dages of the apparatus or machine herein described are to be varied
accordingly, taking the product of the square of the diameter of the still for
which such machine may be required at the surface of the line of charge in
inches, multiplied by its charge in gallons, as the basis for determining them,
in proportion to the same product of the still whose size and capacity are herein
mentioned, and to which the apparatus or machine herein described is adapted,
save and excepting the safety or air pipe J, and the discharging pipe H to the
trap F, which may in all circumstances be of the diameters herein men-
tioned, and the rims of the drums, which in all cases are to be preferred of
one inch deep, and more especially saving and excepting the diameter of the

page_text: condensing pipes or tubes C, which it is preferred should never exceed three
quarters of an inch, the increase or decrease of the total area of their apertures
and the capacity of their total length being found in the encrease or decrease of
their number and length by the rule given. And it is hereby further declared,
that the before-described machine or apparatus is, with its several appendages,
applicable to stills for chemical or any other purposes with equal effect as to
stills for the production of ardent spirits, and whether the stills to which it is or
may be applied be worked or heated immediately by fire or by steam; or'any
other method or means of producing or conveying heat to produce ebullition, or
for engendering steam or vapour in such stills; and that the said machine or
apparatus may be made wholly or in part of copper, brass, iron, zinc, pewter;
or any other metal or metals, or combination of metals; but it is recommended
and preferred that the same be made wholly of copper, the necessary soldering
only excepted, and that the same be strongly tinned on the inside where the
nature or property of the fluid or fluids, or any articles or substances combined
with it or them; to be distilled, may render such tinning necessary or expedient.
It is recommended by the person abroad making this communication (though
the Invention is not claimed under this Patent), that the ashpits of stills to
which this apparatus may be applied (and indeed any others) be furnished with
plate iron door, in which is to be introduced, near its top, one or more regis-
ters of the following form, the apertures in which when open are to be
sufficiently large to admit the passing of the necessary volume of air to feed the
fire. In this door describe a circle and divide it into octants, every second one
of which is to be cut out, leaving a small circle of solid iron in 'the middle,
in the centre of which a. circular plate, divided into octants in the same
manner, turns upon its axis, which, being lengthened outwards, forms a handle,
with a key loop to turn the same with.
Fig. 3 shews the register N open, the wings of the moveable circular plate
being behind the octants of the circle in the door not cut out. By turning
the handle these wings are brought to close the open octants in any degree,
by which means the fire may be managed by any required draught, or, in case
of need, such draught is instaneously checked by closing the octants altogether:
The worn being soldered together by straps or bars between each side of the
octagon to keep the several bouts regularly apart at the required distance,
and left to be joined to the branch which proceeds from the trap or-box; as at
a in the ground plan and section, is placed upon a wooden or other frame in
the condensing tub, upon legs of different lengths for the required current, and
the end of the worm being brought through the side of the tub, the worm is
then 'firmly fixed or secured in its situation, the condenser being fixed in a

page_text: wooden or other frame having four legs running its whole length, touching the
rims of the drums, and extending further to reach the bottom of the tub,
having cross bars between each on which the lower drum is supported; and cleats
or brackets supporting the upper drum are then placed in the tub, and the
joint a of the worm and that at 6 of the discharging pipe of the box being
soldered and secured, the frame is then firmly fixed in its position by cleats
round the legs upon the bottom of the tub, and by braces or cross pieces from
side to side at the top of the tub. It is further recommended that the legs of
this frame should run sufficiently high to admit of two boards lying upon cross
pieces between opposite pairs of the legs, halving round and securing the neck
of the condenser immediately below its circular collar to relieve it of the
weight of the crane-neck of the head which lutes into it. It is also recom-
mended that the cranc-neck be kept steady in its position by any contrivance
for that purpose at its highest elevation; and it will be also adviseable to secure
the branch of the worm proceeding from the trap or box by a brace or stay
from the bottom of the lower drum, near its circumference; and the discharg-
ing pipe of the trap may be equally secured and steadied between the bouts of
the worm between which it
passes.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund William Williams, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and nineteen.