IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SULPHATE OF SODA AND CHLORINE
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JULIUS SEYBEL,
of 'Golden Square, Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, Manufacturing
Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Soal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Thirty-first day of March, in the fifth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Julius
Seybel, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said Julius Seybel, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Julius Seybell, my exors, adñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no other others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SULPHATE OF SODA AND
CHLORINE;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the
said Julius Seybel, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled.
in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will niore fully and at
large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the sail
Julius Seybel, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
nscertained in and by the following statement hereof, reference being had to
the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
(that is to say):-
My Invention relates, first, to improvements in the manufacture of sulphato
of soda by decomposing common salt by sulphuric acid in closed vessels of
lead, or lined with lead, having heat applied externally.
And secondly, my Invention relates to a mode of manufacturing chlorine by
employing the vapours of muriatic acid to net on manganese immersed in
water, such vapours being conducted below and permitted to escape upwards
through the water and manganese.
And in order that my Invention will be readily and fully understood, I will
proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed, and the processes as
performed by me.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
The Drawing represents a section of a leaden vessel or retort, with suitable
means for applying external heat thereto, and it also shows the apparatus
employed in carrying out the second part of my Juvention, so that the vapours
of muriatic acid, as they are evolved from the decomposing process, are im-
mediately used in the manufacture of chlorine. a, a, represents the leaden vessel
or retort, in which the process of manufacturing sulphate of soda is performed
by decomposing common salt by sulphuric acid; b is a man-hole, with a cover,
by which the charge of common salt is thrown into the vessel or retort a, a;
the cover being affixed securely by clamp screws, or otherwise, when the process
of decomposition is going on; c is a pipe leading to the chimney, there being
a valve to close such pipe when the process of decomposition is being per-
formed; d is a pipe, leading to a reservoir or vessel containing sulphuric acid,
of specific gravity 1-71, such pipo having a valve to close it (when tho proper
quantity has been run into the vessel or retort a, a), as is clearly shewn in the
Drawing; e is an outlet for running out tho charge, there being a cover of
lead, f, securely retained by the iron frame g, which is screwed securely in its
placu by the screw h passing through a fixed arch bar i. The retort or vessel a, a,
is placed in an iron vessel j, j, which contains oil, or other suitable material, to
act as the heating medium, and the vessel j has a falso bottom or frame k,
which is perforated so as to allow the heating medium to come in contact with
the bottom of the vessel or retort a, a. The vessel is heated by a fire or
furnace at , as is shewn; and there should be a damper in the fluc leading to

page_text: the chimney, in order that the heat of the fire may be readily under command.
The Drawing shews the retort or vessel a, a, to be made of thick plates of
lead, which are joined together by melting the surfaces of the joints, and
melting other lead therewith, so as to form solid joints, as is well understood.
But I would remark, that although I prefer the vessel a, a, to be wholly of
lead, and to be so made as to be of sufficient strength for the process, yet the
vessel a may have an iron bottom, and, if desired, thinner lead might be used,
with an external strengthening of iron; my object being that the interior of the
vessel or retort a, a, acted on by the acids, shall be of lead. The temperaturo
to which the vessel or retort a, a, is to be heated is never required to excced
three hundred and thirty degrees of Fahrenheit, and the workman should
have a thermometer or thermometers in the bath or heating medium, in order
to see that the temperature does not rise above such temperature, and the
heat should be gradually raised till it gets up to three hundred degrees of
Fahrenheit, and there kept till the process is nearly complete. In carrying on
the process of decomposition, I charge the vessel or retort a, a, with twenty
hundredweight of common salt, and then having fixed the cover over the man-hole,
1 run-in thirty hundredweight of sulphuric acid (1.71), the valve in the pipe
to the chimney being open whilst running it in, but the valve is to be closed so
soon as the sulphuric acid is run into the retort or vessel a, a, and then the
vapours of muriatic acid will flow through the pipe m into the vessel n, in
order to produce chlorine. The workman is to be careful to damp the heat of
the fire, if, on listening at the pipe m, there appears to be any going off of
liquor, which a little practice will enable him to judge of; and if the damping of
the fire is not sufficient, then he is to open the valve of the pipo into the
chimney for a short time, the necessity for this should, however, be avoided by
attention and care.
I will now proceed to explain the nature of the second part of my Invention,
and the means pursued by me in performing the same; in doing so, I would
first remark, that I am aware that it has before been proposed to use the
vapours of muriatic acid to act on manganese moistened with water; for this
object it was proposed to fill a vessel with lumps of manganese, and then apply
small streams of water to keep the surfaces of the lumps moistened, whilst the
vapours or gas of muriatic acid was to be passed amongst the lumps of
manganese; but such plan never succeeded. I do not, therefore, claim as this
part of my Invention, the right of applying the vapours or gas of muriatic acid
generally to manganese, but only when the water has such a relation to the
manganese that the manganese will be immersed in the water employed, and

page_text: the vapours introduced below tho wator, by which arrangement the chlorine, as
it is produced, will pass up through tho water in the vessel containing it, and
go off by a pipe. 1 is a vessel which is lined with firo-brick or earthenware tiles,
suitable for resisting as much as possible the action of the acid. The pipe m
is connected with an earthenware pipe o, which at the lower part is connected
to a hollow ring p, with several small holes around the inner surface at 9, g;
by this means the vapour of muriatic acid is conducted below the water and
the manganese. The manganese is agitated, from time to time, by a suitable
agitator, which is shown to be of iron covered with lead, working through a
stuffing box r; or the agitator may be of strong earthenware, affixed to an iron
axis, there being a tube covering the shaft of the agitator, as is shown, the
object of which is to protect the stuffing box; and, in case of leakage of the
stuffing-box, only a very small quantity of chlorine would escape. s is an outlet
for removing the materials remaining in the vessel 22 when the process is com-
plete; is a man-holo for charging the vessel with ground manganeso and
water, and is a tube by which the chlorine is conveyed away from the vessel n
into the vessel u, which is lined with tiles of fire-clay or earthenware, where it
is washed by passing through water, and from the vessel u into a similar vessel,
again to be washed, there being a small quantity of inanganese (ten pounds in
each of the vessels ), when tho chlorine may be conducted off, and may be
used for making chlorides, or otherwise, as is well understood. In charging
the vessel n, I throw in seven hundredweight of manganese (of sixty-two per
cent.), and eleven to twelve hundredweights of water, (which is a proportionate
quantity for the charge of the decomposing vessel or retort a, a,) and then
close the man-hole. These charges will be worked off in about fifteen hours,
or less, and care should be observed to keep the process during that time as
equal as possible. is a plug in the vessel u, for drawing off the water by a
syphon from the vessel z, after the process has been completed, which water is
used on next charging the vessel n. The workman can also ascertain at the
plug-hole, towards the end of the process, whether chlorine is coming over, if
not, he should stir with the agitator, in order to cause the manganese to float in
the water; and when chlorine conses to come over, the process is complete, and
the, workman, after a little practice, with care, will judge, by listening at the
pipe or tube, whether the process is going on regularly; if he finds, by the
quick bubbling of the vapours in the vessel u, that the materials in the vessel
are boiling too freely, he will cease stirring, and if that does not retard the
action sufficiently, then he should damp the fire. The charges being worked
off, the fire is to be put out, and the sulphate of soda drawn from the vessel or

page_text: retort a, a, having first opened the valve of the pipe into the chimney. The
sulphate of soda thus obtained is drawn or run into and finished in an ordinary
reverberatory furnace, adding and mixing therewith nine to ten hundredweight
of common salt. The matters from the vessel nare to be drawn, and a fresh
charge of manganese and water is then to be introduced into the vessel.n, and
a fresh charge of common salt and sulphuric acid; the fire is then lighted, and
the heat of the bath in the vessel j, j, gradually raised to three hundred degrees
of Fahrenheit, and then, towards the completion of the process, to three hundred
and twenty degrees to three hundred and thirty degrees of Fahrenheit, the
processes will then go on as above described, the stirring of the mangenese in the
vessel n requiring to be more constant as the process draws to an end. Before
drawing out the materials from the vessel n, I throw in three to four pails of
milk of lime, and stir up the contents of the vessel n, and then, in about ten
minutes, the contents may be drawn without injury to the workmen.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to
the details shown and explained, provided the peculiar character of either part
of my Invention be retained; and although I prefer to use the two processes
conducted according to my Invention, combined as above shewn and described,
they are capable of being used separate from each other; and chlorine may be
made, according to my Invention, by causing the vapours or gas of muriatic
acid to pass with sufficient pressure into a vessel containing manganese, accord-
ing to my Invention, and the acid vapours from the vessel a, a, may be
condensed, or otherwise, as heretofore practised.
But what I claim is, first, the mode of manufacturing sulphate of soda by
decomposing common salt by sulphuric acid in close vessels or retorts, made of
or lined with lead, and heated externally, as above described.
Secondly, I claim the mode of manufacturing chlorine, by means of the
vapours or gas of muriatic acid, introduced below water in which manganese is
immersed, as above described.
And, thirdly, I claim the stirring or agitating of manganese with water,
when being acted on by vapours or gas of muriatic acid, in the manufacture of
chlorine.
In witness whereof, I, the said Julius Seybel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.
JULIUS (L.s.) SEYBEL.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirtieth day of September, in
the year of our Lord 1842, the aforesaid Julius Seybel came before our said
Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforc-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose..
Inrolled the Thirtieth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-two.