A COMPOSITION PROPER TO PREVENT THE INCRUSTATION OF STEAM BOILERS."
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Andrew de Saegher, of Brussels, in the
Kingdom of Belgium, Gentleman, for the Invention of "A COMPOSITION
PROPER TO PREVENT THE INCRUSTATION OF STEAM BOILERS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Andrew de Saegher
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd April 1858.
I, HENRY ANDREW DE SAEGHER, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A Com-
POSITION PROPER TO PREVENT THE INCRUSTATION OF STEAM BOILERS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates to the preparation of a compound which is intended
to be introduced in any required proportion into steam boilers for the purpose
of preventing the earthy matters contained in the water employed for
generating steam from forming a hard calcareous lining upon the heating
surfaces. To this end, I take coarse resinous matter, as, for example, dried
pitch, and melt it with stearine by the application of heat; I then add thereto
pulverized wood ashes and ground charcoal, and mix them well by stirring.
When thoroughly mixed, I allow the compound to cool, and as soon as it has
become sufficiently consistent, I make it up into balls, which are to be intro-

page_text: duced into the boiler as required. As the proportion of calcareous matter will
vary in different kinds of water, the quantity of composition can only be
determined by experience; this will, however, be readily ascertained by
the attendant. Every month or six weeks the earthy matters contained in
the boiler should be removed, which may be effected by flushing the boiler
with water. Instead of stearine, common grease may be employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Andrew de Saegher in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 22nd October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
ANDREW DE SAEGHER, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Andrew de Saegher, Her special licence that I, the said Henry
Andrew de Saegher, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Henry Andrew de Saegher, 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
"A COMPOSITION PROPER TO PREVENT THE INCRUSTATION OF STEAM BOILERS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry Andrew de Saegher, 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 per-
formed, 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 Henry Andrew de Saegher, 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 (that is to say):
-
My Invention consists of two compounds, both of which have the property

page_text: of preventing the incrustation in steam boilers, arising from sundry matters
generally termed calcareous matter contained in the water employed, and of
destroying the same if already formed therein. These compounds may be
respectively designated compounds Numbers 1 and 2.
Compound Number One is formed in the following manner :-Of wood ashes
two-twentieths, of powdered charcoal two-twentieths, of resin or pitch six-
twentieths, of stearine ten-twentieths. These ingredients are formed into
cakes or balls of a suitable weight, varying according to the circumstances
under which they are to be used, in the following manner:-
The stearine is melted with the resin or pitch, and the wood ashes and
powdered charcoal having been added thereto, the whole is well stirred
together, and kept hot until the ingredients are properly amalgamated. The
mass is then allowed to cool until it is of a proper consistency to be made up
into balls of the required size. I may here observe that although I have
mentioned pitch as one of the ingredients which may be used in forming
compound Number 1, yet that I prefer the use of resin, which I consider to be
better adapted to effect the object of this Invention.
Compound Number 2 consists of the following ingredients, namely:-Of
common or soft soap six-twentieths, of tallow twelve-twentieths; the remaining
two-twentieths to consist of three-fourths of powdered charcoal and one-
fourth of soot or lamp black. The mode of amalgamating the above ingredients
and of forming the mass into balls or cakes is similar to that described with
reference to compound Number 1.
The balls so formed as herein-before mentioned are introduced into the
boiler to be operated upon in any convenient way.
The quantity of either compound to be employed will necessarily vary with
the size or horse-power of the boiler, and the nature of the calcareous matter
with which the water used is impregnated, and can therefore only be
determined by practice and careful observation of the effect produced.
At stated periods, dependent upon and varying with the particular circum-
stances of each individual case, but which in many instances will be every
month or six weeks, the calcareous matter collected on the surface of the water
in the boiler and detached from its sides must be removed, and the boiler
thoroughly washed out with clean water.
I may here mention that in all ordinary cases, and where there is no
peculiarity in the water used in the boiler, I employ compound Number 1,
resorting to the use of compound Number 2 only when the first has been
found inefficacious.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said

page_text: Invention, and the best mode I am acquainted with for putting the same into
practice, I would observe in conclusion that I do not claim the separate use of
any one of the several ingredients contained in the compounds herein-before
described, neither do I confine or restrict myself to the precise details or
arrangements which I have described or referred to, inasmuch as variations
may be made therefrom without deviating or departing from the principles or
main features of the said Invention; but what I consider as novel and
original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent, is, the combinations of ingredients herein-
before mentioned and described, or any mere equivalents thereof, and the use
of such combinations or their equivalents for the purposes aforesaid.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Andrew de Saegher, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
A. CROOY.
A. DE SAEGHER. (L.S.)