Improvements in the Process of and Apparatus for Evaporating or Drying.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Feb., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 14th Nov., 1892-Accepted, 11th Feb., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Process of and Apparatus for Evaporating
or Drying.
We, FRANCIS MACDONALD ROBERTSON, of No. 28, Dancer Road, Fulham,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, HENRY SOMERVILLE FEARON, of
No. 6, Great Winchester Street, in the City of London, Engineer, and WALTER
SHOLTO MILLER, of No. 20, Westwick Gardens, West Kensington, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in the process of, and apparatus for,
evaporating or drying, to be employed in the production of salt from brine or sea
water, the production of sugar, the treatment of cereals, and in connection with the
condenser in distilling, in the manufacture of varnishes and colours, in the treatment
of matter, such as sewage, and for other uses.
For this purpose we employ a fixed cylindrical chamber formed of sheet copper
or other suitable material, and we feed the material to be treated, (and which may
have been previously heated or not as desired) into the cylindrical chamber by any
suitable means.
Through the cylindrical chamber we pass a shaft which is driven by any suitable
means, and upon this shaft we fix, at regular intervals, a number of discs, which
are of such diameter as to closely fit the cylindrical chamber, but with capability of
revolving freely thereiu together with the shaft.
Between every two adjacent discs along the entire series we arrange a deflecting
plate which at its upper end is fixed to the cylindrical chamber near the upper part
thereof and extends at an angle or inclination down to a position near to the surface
of the material under treatment and is formed to fit nicely between the two adjacent
discs so as to act upon the surfaces thereof to remove any matter which may adbere
thereto.
Leading into the upper part of the cylindrical chamber at or near the under side
of each deflecting plate, that is to say, between each disc is formed an opening, into
which a current of air, which may be either natural, dried, or heated, is forced or
allowed to flow, whilst at the upper part of the cylindrical chamber upon the
opposite side of the deflecting plates are arranged a number of exhaust openings,
or it might be one long opening, so that the air entering the cylindrical chamber
will first be guided or directed by the deflecting plates into contact with the matter
under treatment and will then pass out by the exhaust openings or opening, and
inasmuch as this air current is caused continuously to pass through the chamber it
will take up or evaporate the fluid or moisture therein aided by the action of the
discs as hereinafter described.
In the revolution of the shaft the discs constantly pass through the charge of
material under treatment which lies in the bottom of the cylindrical chamber to a
suitable depth, and which is so regulated that the surface thereof approaches near
to but does not extend during the revolution of the discs to the lower edges of the
deflecting plates.
The shaft and discs are, by preference, driven in a direction opposite to that of
the air current, and the discs are thus caused to pick up the material upon their
surface and bring it into intimate contact with the current of air which is passing
into and through the cylindrical chamber, and, by the deflecting plates, is caused to
oppose its direction.
The cylindrical chamber may, if desired, be surrounded by a steam, oil, or water

page_text: jacket for the purpose of bringing the liquid or material to, or retaining it at, the
required temperature.
By the above described means we are enabled to evaporate water or other liquid
at a lower temperature than boiling point, and, at boiling point, much more rapidly
than by the ordinary methods, the action of the revolving discs, which pick up
the matter under treatment, in conjunction with the opposing current of air, which
is directed into immediate contact with the surface of the discs and material to be
dried, causing evaporation to take place with great rapidity.
Dated this 13th day of February 1892.
VAUGHAN & SON,
Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Process of and Apparatus for Evaporating
or Drying.
We, FRANCIS MACDONALD ROBERTSON, of No. 28, Dancer Road, Fulham,
in the County of Middlesex, Gentleman, HENRY SOMERVILLE FEARON, of
No. 6, Great Winchester Street, in the City of London, Engineer, and WALTER
SHOLTO MILLER, of No. 20, Westwick Gardens, West Kensington, in the County
of Middlesex, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement :-
Our said invention relates to improvements in the process of, and apparatus for,
evaporating or drying, to be employed in the production of salt from brine or sea
water, the production of sugar, and in connection with distilling operations; in the
manufacture of varnishes and colours, in the treatment of matter, such as sewage,
and for other uses.
For this purpose, we employ a fixed cylindrical chamber formed of sheet copper
or other suitable material and we feed the material to be treated (which may have
been previously heated or not as desired) into the cylindrical chamber by any
suitable means.
Through the cylindrical chamber, we pass a shaft which is driven by any suitable
means, and upon this shaft we fix at regular intervals a number of discs, which are
of such diameter as to closely fit the cylindrical chamber, but with capability of
revolving freely therein together with the shaft.
Between every two adjacent discs along the entire series thereof and between
each end disc and the adjacent end of the cylindrical chamber we arrange a
deflecting plate which at its upper end is fixed to the cylindrical chamber near the
upper part thereof, and extends at an angle or inclination down to a position near
to the surface of the material under treatment and is formed to fit nicely between
the two adjacent discs so as to act upon the surfaces thereof to remove matter
adhering thereto.
Leading into the upper part of the cylindrical chamber in a position opposite to
the under side of each deflecting plate, that is to say, between each disc, is formed
an opening into which a current of air, which may be either natural, dried, or
heated, is forced or drawn by exhaustion, whilst, at the upper part of the cylindrical
chamber in front of the opposite side of the deflecting plates, are arranged a
number of exhaust openings, or it might be one long opening, so that the air
entering the cylindrical chamber will first be guided or directed by the déflecting
plates into contact with the matter under treatment and will then pass under the
deflecting plates and out by the exhaust openings or opening, and inasmuch as this
air current is caused continuously to pass through the chamber it will take up or
evaporate the fluid or moisture therein, aided by the action of the discs, as 'herein-
after described.
In the revolution of the shaft the discs constantly-pass-through-the-charge of
.

page_text: opening a communicating with a pipe or conduit a through which is introduced a
current of air which may be either natural, dried, or heated, and which is forced
or drawn by exhaustion whilst at the upper part of the cylindrical chamber a. upon
the opposite side of the deflecting plates c. are arranged a number of exhaust
openings a so that the air entering the cylindrical chamber through the openings a
will be guided or directed downwards by the deflecting plates c. into contact with
the matter under treatment and will then pass under such plates and ascend and
pass out of the cylindrical chamber by the exhaust openings a', as indicated by the
arrows in Figure 1. and, inasmuch as this air current is caused continuously to pass
through the cylindrical chamber a., it will take up or evaporate the moisture
contained therein aided by the action of the discs, as hereinafter described.
In the revolution of the shaft b. the discs constantly pass through the charge of
material under treatment which lies in the bottom of the cylindrical chamber a. and in
the trough a to a suitable depth, and the depth of this material is so regulated that
the surface thereof approaches near, but does not actually extend (notwithstanding
any displacement caused by the revolution of the discs 6), to the lower edges of
the deflecting plates c. and a quantity of such material is carried up and thrown
outwards thereby closing the space between the peripheries of the discs 6 and the
interior surface of the cylindrical chamber a.
The shaft b. and discs are by preference driven in a direction opposite to that of
the air current as indicated by the arrow upon the exterior of the cylindrical case a.
in Figure 1. and the discs are thus caused to pick up the material, and their
surfaces become coated with films thereof which are brought into intimate contact
with the current of air passing into and through the cylindrical chamber a., which
air, by the deflecting plates, is caused to oppose the direction of motion of the
discs 6 and material adhering thereto.
In the example given at Figure 4., the cylindrical chamber a. is shown provided
with a jacket a which surrounds the body thereof and is adapted to contain steam,
oil, water, or the like for the purpose of bringing the liquid or material under
treatment to, or maintaining it at, the required temperature.
In this case, the cylindrical chamber a. is shown provided with one long exhaust
opening a' in lieu of a separate opening between each pair of discs d' as indicated
in the previous figures, or, if desired, the same arrangement of openings a' described
with respect to the previous figures might be employed in this case also.
By the above described means, we are enabled to evaporate water or other liquid
at a lower temperature than boiling point, and, at boiling point, much more rapidly
than by the ordinary methods, the action of the revolving discs which pick up
the matter under treatment in conjunction with the current of air which is directed
into immediate contact with the surfaces of the discs and the liquid to be
evaporated or material to be dried causing evaporation to take place with great
rapidity.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The process of evaporating or drying consisting in picking up the material
under treatment upon a number of revolving discs fitting a closed cylinder but so
as to be free to revolve and directing a current of air downward upon the surface
of the material, and afterwards permitting it to freely pass away by suitable
outlets, the course of the air current being preferably in opposition to the direction
of motion of the discs, substantially as berein described and for the purpose
stated.
2. In combination with an apparatus for evaporating or drying, consisting of a
cylindrical chamber provided with a shaft passing therethrough having mounted
thereon a number of discs approximately fitting the chamber for the greater part
of its circumference, a number of deflecting plates located between the discs, and
· extending from uçar the upper part of the cylinder to a position slightly beneath

page_text: the centre of the discs and adapted to direct the air current upon the surface of the
material and to cleanse the surfaces of the discs, an air inlet corresponding with
each deflecting plate and located upon one side thereof, an outlet upon the other
side thereof, and suitable feed and delivery openings for the material, substantially
as herein shown and described and for the purpose stated.
Dated this 14th day of November 1892.
VAUGHAN & SON,
Agents for the Applicants.