Year: 1875

page_text: "
it is very important that the operation be carried on as methodically and
under as low a pressure as possible. It is also desirable, for the sake of
economy, that apparatus for such purposes be made capable of working
continuously. But the continuous apparatus proposed hitherto aro
defective in many respects. By operating on small quantities they
require constant feeding so as to avoid stoppages, and the feed must be
proportionate to the quantity of gas to be washed or absorbed, or to the
heat employed for distillation. And whenever these conditions vary
the feed must also vary accordingly. These results are rarely obtainable
in practice, and only by means of complicated machinery, such as is
objectionable to practical men.
It is also necessary that apparatus to work methodically and continu-
ously be disposed so that the motion of the liquid be in a contrary
direction to that of the gaseous products; and hitherto this result has
only been obtainable by a vertical arrangement of apparatus, that is to
say, several apparatus placed side by side in gradation, or placed onc
above the other forming portions of a sort of column.
These arrangements of apparatus require the liquid to be raised to a
certain height, and it is difficult to obtain access to and regulate the
feed, and when such apparatus is used for distilling purposes the required
heat can only be communicated by steam introduced directly inside
the apparatus. Now the object of this Invention is the arrangement
of a horizontal apparatus in which a gaseous fluid and a liquid shall
be caused to pass through the said apparatus in opposite directions
methodically and continuously, the feed of the liquid being perfectly
regular and proportionate to the quantity of gas to be washed or ab-
sorbed, or to the heat applied for distillation; in other words the gas
to be washed or absorbed, or the heat used for distillation being the
agents employed to cause the flow of the liquid, so that without the
action of the said gas or heat the liquid would remain stationary and
inactive; the apparatus being thus self-acting and perfectly safe.
According to this Invention a long closed rectangular or otherwise
shaped tank or reservoir made of iron or other suitable material is
divided into a series of compartments or chambers by sheet iron or
other partitions. The first compartment at one end of the tank or
reservoir, herein-after termed the gas feed chamber, is at its upper end
fitted with a feed pipe for conveying steam into the said chamber if the
f

page_text: apparatus be used for distilling by steam, or gas if the said apparatus
be intended for washing gas, or causing gas or vapour to be absorbed.
The last compartment or that one at the other end of the said tank or
reservoir herein-after termed the gas delivery chamber is provided with
a discharge pipo for the outlet of the gas after it has been operated upon
or of the products of distillation. In cach of the said partitions are
two holes or apertures one near the bottom and the other near the top
of the said partition, the said lower holes or apertures being for the
passage of the liquid from one compartment or chamber to the other
and the upper holes or apertures being for the passage of the gas or
vapour through the said compartments. Each of the said lower holes
or apertures (excepting the one leading directly into the gas feed
chamber) is provided with a tube or pipe hercin-after called the liquid
pipe, bent upwards and extending vertically to rather above the intended
level of the liquid in the apparatus, and cach of the upper holes or
apertures in the partition (excepting the hole or aperture leading
directly from the last compartment into the gas dilivery chamber) is
provided with a tube or pipe herein-after termed a gas pipe, which gas
pipo is bent downwards so as to enter, and by its lower end which is
serrated, to dip into the liquid pipe in the same compartment, the upper
and lower ends of the said gas and liquid pipes respectively being
concentric, and the liquid pipes of larger diameter than the gas pipes.
The liquid is fed into the gas delivery chamber from a separate tank
or cistern supplied from any suitable resorvoir and connected by a pipe
with the lower part of the said gas delivery chamber, and the liquid in
the said feed tank or cistern is maintained constantly at its proper level
by a float connected with a suitable valve in the supply pipe, which
valve cuts off the supply of liquid when a certain level is attained. The
liquid is discharged from the apparatus through a syphon pipe affixed to
the gas feeder chamber.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-The liquid from the feed
tank passes freely into the gas delivery chamber, and from thence flows
into the liquid pipe affixed to the partition, separating the said chamber
from the next chamber or compartment, and into which liquid pipo
dips the corresponding gas pipe. The steam or gas, as the case may be,
passing through the said gas pipe encounters the liquid in the said liquid
pipe, and projects it or causes it to spirt over the end of the said liquid
pipe into the chamber in which the said pipe opens.
In like manner

page_text: the steam or gas passing through each of the said gas pipes in their
respective chambers projects the liquid contained in the liquid pipes
respectively over the ends thereof, and the liquid thus passes from one
chamber to the other, and from one end of the apparatus to the other,
from the chamber next the gas delivery chamber to the chamber next
to the gas feed chamber, from which chamber it passes into the gas
feed chamber, and out of the apparatus through the syphon pipe herein.
before referred to.
It will be readily understood that the liquid in the feed tank or
reservoir being maintained constantly at the same level will tend con-
stantly to maintain its level in the liquid pipe next the gas delivery
chamber, but as soon as the liquid comes in contact with the corrc-
sponding gas pipe it is by the action of the gas or steam passing through
the said pipe projected over into the compartment or chamber containing
the said pipes in quantity proportionate to the quantity of steam or gas
passing through the said gas pipe.
The form and arrangement of the apparatus vary to suit the peculiar
cases to which it is applied. The advance of the liquid through the appa-
ratus is dependent on the relative proportions of the diameter of the gas
and liquid pipes, where they are concentric, which proportion will vary
according to the quantity of gas and liquids operated upon. If required
the section of the liquid pipes may be reduced by placing within them
leaden or other plates so as to suitably adjust them as required.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Lloyd Wise in the Great Seal Patent Office 2
on the 23rd August 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
LLOYD WISE, of Chandos Chambers, Buckingham Street, Adelphi, in
the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her 3
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Lloyd Wise, Her special licence

page_text: that I, the said William Lloyd Wise, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Lloyd Wise, 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, exerciso,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
CONTINUOUS HORIZONTAL APPARATUS FOR WASHING OR ABSORBING GAS OR VAPOUrs,
OR FOR DISTILLING LIQUIDS," (a communication to me from abroad by
Ernest Solvay, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Manufacturer,)
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Lloyd
Wise, 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 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 Lloyd Wise, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, and the Sheet of Drawings thercin
referred to (that is to say) :-
In washing a gas, or in causing a gas or vapour to be absorbed by a
liquid, or in distilling liquids containing more or less volatile products,
it is very important that the operation be carried on as methodically and
under as low a pressure as possible. It is also desirable for the sake of
economy that apparatus for such purposes be made capable of working
continuously, but the continuous apparatus proposed hitherto are defectivo
in many respects. By operating on small quantities they require constant
feeding so as to avoid stoppages, and the feed must be proportionate to
the quantity of gas to be washed or absorbed or to the heat employed for
distillation, and whenever these conditions vary the feed must also vary
accordingly. These results are rarely obtainable in practice, and only
by means of complicated machinery, such as is objectionable to practical
men.

page_text: direction to that of the gascous products, and hitherto this result has
only been obtainable by a vertical arrangement of apparatus, that is to
say, several apparatus placed side by side in gradation or placed one
above the other, forming portions of a sort of column. These arrange-
ments of apparatus require the liquid to be raised to a certain height,
and it is difficult to obtain access to and regulate the feed, and when
such apparatus is used for distilling purposes the required heat can only
be communicated by steam introduced directly inside the apparatus.
Now the object of this Invention is the arrangement of a horizontal
apparatus in which a gaseous fluid and a liquid shall be caused to pass
through the said apparatus in opposite directions methodically and con-
tinuously, the feed of the liquid being perfectly regular and proportionate
to the quantity of gas to be washed or absorbed, or to the heat applied
for distillation; in other words, the gas to be washed or absorbed or the
heat used for distillation being the agents employed to cause the flow of
the liquid, so that without the action of the said gas or heat the liquid
would remain stationary and inactive, the apparatus being thus self-
acting and perfectly safe.
According to this Invention a long closed rectangular or otherwise
shaped tank or reservoir made of iron or other suitable material is
divided into a series of compartments or chambers by sheet iron or other
partitions. The first compartment at one end of the tank or reservoir,
herein-after termed the gas feed chamber, is at its upper end fitted with
a feed pipe for conveying steam into the said chamber if the apparatus be
used for distilling by steam, or gas if the said apparatus bo intended for
washing gas or causing gas or vapour to be absorbed. The last compart-
ment, or that one at the other end of the said tank or reservoir, herein.
after termed the gas delivery chamber, is provided with a discharge pipe
for the outlet of the gas after it has been operated upon, or of the
products of distillation. In cach of the said partitions are two holes or
apertures, one near the bottom and the other near the top of the said
partition, the said lower holes or apertures being for the passage of the
liquid from one compartment or chamber to the other, and the upper
holes or apertures being for the passage of the gas or vapour through
the said compartments. Each of the said lower holes or apertures
(excepting the one leading directly into the gas feed chamber) is provided
with a tube or pipe, hercin-after called the liquid pipe, bent upwards and
extending vertically to rather above the intended level of the liquid in-

page_text: '
the apparatus, and cach of the upper holes or apertures in the partition
(excepting the hole or aperture leading directly from the last compart-
ment into the gas delivery chamber) is provided with a tubo or pipe,
herein-after termed a gas pipe, which gas pipo is bent downwards so as
to enter and by its lower end, which is serrated, to dip into the liquid
pipo in the same compartment, the upper and lower ends of the said gas
and liquid pipes respectively being concentric, and the liquid pipes of
larger diameter than the gas pipes.
The liquid is fed into the gas delivery chamber from a separate tank
or cistern supplied from any suitable reservoir, and connected by a pipo.
with the lower part of the said gas delivery chamber, and the liquid in
the said feed tank or cistern is maintained constantly at its proper level
by a float connected with a suitable valve in the supply pipe, which
valve cuts off the supply of liquid when a certain level is attained. The
liquid is discharged from the apparatus through a syphon pipe affixed to
the gas feeder chamber.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-The liquid from the feed
tank passes freely into the gas delivery chamber, and from thence flows
into the liquid pipe affixed to the partition separating the said chamber
from the next chamber or compartment, and into which liquid pipe dips.
the corresponding gas pipe. The steam or gas, as the case may be,
passing through the said gas pipe encounters the liquid in the said liquid
pipe, and projects it or causes it to spirt over the end of the said liquid
pipe into the chamber in which the said pipe opens. In like manner
the steam or gas passing through each of the said gas pipes in their
respective chambers projects the liquid contained in the liquid pipes.
respectively over the ends thereof, and the liquid thus passes from one
chamber to the other and from one end of the apparatus to the other,
from the chamber next the gas delivery chamber to the chamber next to
the gas feed chamber, from which chamber it passes into the gas feed
chamber, and out of the apparatus through the syphon pipe herein-before
referred to.
It will be readily understood that the liquid in the feed tank or
reservoir being maintained constantly at the same level will tend con- .
stantly to maintain its level in the liquid pipe next the gas delivery
chamber, but as soon as the liquid comes in contact with the corre
sponding gas pipe it is by the action of the gas or steam passing through
the said pipe projected over into the compartment or chamber containing
!

page_text: the said pipes in quantity proportionate to the quantity of steam or gas
passing through the said gas pipe.
The form and arrangement of the apparatus vary to suit the peculiar
cases to which it is applied. The advance of the liquid through the
apparatus is dependent on the relativo proportions of the diameter of the
gas and liquid pipes where they are concentric, which proportion will
vary according to the quantity of gas and liquids operated upon. If
required the section of the liquid pipes may be reduced by placing
within them leaden or other plates, so as to suitably adjust them as
required.
Figure 1 represents in longitudinal section and Figure 2 in transverse
section a horizontal apparatus constructed according to this Invention,
through which apparatus steam or a gaseous fluid and a liquid may be
made to pass in opposite directions methodically and continuously.
,
The said apparatus consists of a long tank or reservoir made of iron or
other suitable material divided into a series of compartments or :
chambers A, A¹, A², A³, A³, and A³, by partitions B, B', B³, B³, B³, in
each of which partititions are two holes or apertures, one near the
bottom the other near the top of the said partition. The lower holes or
apertures in the partitions B', B², B³, B', are provided with the tube or
liquid pipes a, a¹, a³, a³, respectively, which tubes or pipes are bent a
upwards, and extend to rather above the level of the liquid L. The
upper holes or apertures in the partitions B, B1, B2, B³, are provided with
the tubes or gas pipes b, b', 6, 63, respectively, which tubes or pipes are
bent downwards so as to enter, and by their lower ends which are
serrated to dip into the liquid pipes a, a³, a², a³, respectively, the ends of 3
the said pipes being concentric, and the liquid pipes a, a¹, a², a³, being
of larger diameter than the gas pipes b, b¹, b, b³.
The first compartment or gas feed chamber A is at its upper end
fitted with a feed pipe c for conveying into the said chamber the steam
or gascous fluid used, and the last compartment or gas delivery chamber A° 3

page_text: is provided with a discharge pipe & for the outlet of the gaseous fluid
after it has been operated upon.
The liquid is fed into the chamber A³ from a separate tank or cistern C
supplied from any suitable reservoir, and connected by a pipe e with the
lower part of the chamber A³, and the liquid in the tank or cistern C is
maintained constantly at its proper level by means of a float i connected
with any suitable valve K in the supply pipe l, which valve cuts off the
supply of liquid when tho required level is attained. The liquid is dis-
charged from the apparatus by a syphon pipe f affixed to the gas feed
chamber A.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-The liquid in the apparatus
being at the required level L the steam or gascous fluid entering by the
feed pipe e passes from the gas feed chamber A into the pipe 6 which
dips into the liquid pipe a; it there encounters the liquid in the said
pipe a and projects it or causes it to spirt over the end of the said
pipo into the chamber A', thus raising the level of the liquid in that
chamber and causing the liquid to flow into the chamber A until the
level of the liquid is equal in both chambers A and A². The steam or
gascous fluid from the chamber A' is conducted through each of the
chambers A2, A3, and A', in succession, passing through the pipes b¹, b²,
and 63, and projecting the liquid or causing it to spirt over the ends of
the liquid pipes a³, a², a³, respectively; it then passes into the gas delivery
chamber A³ through the aperture or hole a, and is discharged out of the
apparatus by the discharge pipe d. In the meantime the liquid projected
over the ends of the liquid pipes a³, a³, a¹, and a, passes into the
chambers A³, A², A', and A respectively, and leaves the apparatus by
the syphon pipe f.
The apparatus herein-before described is applicable to washing or
absorbing gas or vapors, and to the distillation of ammoniacal waters
and other liquids. If required it may be heated by fire, the fire-place
being placed at g, and the products of combustion being conducted in
the direction indicated by h.
Having now described the nature of the Invention, and means
nunquod in newforming tho come. I wish it to be understood
T

page_text: departing from the nature of the, Invention. But I claim as; thic
Invention the improved continuous horizontal apparatus: herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for washing or
absorbing gas or vapors, or for distilling liquids, wherein the action of
steam or a gaseous fluid traversing the apparatus in one direction causes
a liquid to pass through the apparatus in a contrary direction auto-
Imatically and methodically.
C
A
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lloyd Wise, havo hereunto
set my hand and soal, this Twenty-third day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.,