IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING LIQUIDS
Year: 1876

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Jackson Thomas at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th August 1876.
JOHN JACKSON THOMAS, of Philadelphia, in the State of Pennsylvania, United
States of America, Gas Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING
LIQUIDS."
The object of my Invention is to provide means for effecting the rapid separation
of mixed liquids of different specific gravities, specially the ammoniacal liquor and
tar, which are discharged in a commingled state from the hydraulic mains, con-
densers, and washers employed in the manufacture of illuminating gas, in order to
facilitate the collection of said products for utilization. To this end my improve-
ments consist in the combination of an inlet and an outlet pipe, a tank or chest,
a series of movable dividing plates, and a bridge plate and tar dam, as herein-after
more fully set forth.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a plan or top view of an apparatus
embodying my improvements; Fig. 2, a vertical longitudinal central section; and
Fig. 3, a vertical transverse section at the line x, x, of the same.
In the operation of gas works quantities of fluid are produced from the distillation
of coal, the same consisting principally of tar and ammoniacal liquor. Each of
these products is of value in the arts, the former being employed in the manu-
facture of aniline, roofing, and paving compounds, etc., and the latter in the
preparation of ammonia and its compounds. As such manufactures are usually
conducted in establishments distinct from the gasworks it is desirable to remove
the liquids from the gasworks as rapidly as produced, and at the same time to
separate the tar and ammoniacal liquor one from the other, that each may be
delivered to the special destination required for its further treatment. My improve-
ments afford ready means for the accomplishment of these ends with economy and
convenience.
To carry out my Invention I provide an oblong tank or chest A, having an
inlet pipe or spout a connected to one of its ends near its top, through which pipe
the liquor is supplied, and a tar delivery pipe a¹ is connected to the opposite end
near the bottom. A series of vertically moving dividing plates, varying in number
according to the dimensions of the apparatus, are arranged transversely to the tank,
and can be adjusted at any desired height therein upon guides or grooves in the
sides. Between the tar delivery pipe and the dividing plate nearest thereto a

page_text: bridge plate B is placed transversely to the tank, extending across the same from
the top or thereabouts for the major portion of its depth, and a tar dam B¹ extends
across the tank between the bridge plate and delivery pipe from the bottom of the
tank to a point about the same distance above the lower side of the bridge plate
as the distance from the latter to the bottom of the tank. The bridge plate can
be adjusted vertically, so as to leave a greater or less space below it, according to
the relative densities of the liquors which may be from time to time operated upon;
and the height of the tar dam may also be varied as required by placing an
additional strip or strips upon its top. One or more longitudinal openings c, c,
in the upper portion of the sides of the tank, between the bridge plate and the
dividing plate nearest thereto, communicate with a delivery box or boxes C, to
which are connected the ammoniacal liquor delivery pipes c¹.
In the operation of the apparatus the dividing plates A1, A2, A3, are adjusted at
different heights in the tank respectively, increasing towards the delivery end
thereof by means of wedges, pins, or other suitable appliances. The liquor supplied
through the pipe a is compelled in its traverse of the tank to pass beneath the
dividing plates, which break its current and cause the subsidence of the heavier
particles of tar, the lighter ammoniacal liquor being arrested by the bridge plate B,
and led off through the upper openings c to the delivery pipes c¹. Moreover, the
spaces between the several dividing plates constitute chambers, in which the upper
strata of liquid, being comparatively quiescent, will be separated, in virtue of the
different specific gravities of their components.
It is obvious that a greater or less number of dividing plates may be employed,
and, further, that the tank may be so constructed that the current of inflowing
liquor will be caused to traverse its length and return in reverse direction by means
of a longitudinal partition and a connection at the end opposite the inlet pipe,
so as to be delivered adjacent to the latter.