IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE USED IN PURIFYING GAS FOR ILLUMINATION OR APPARATUS To be used in Purifying Gas fOR ILLUMINATION
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Samuel Lees, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster,
Manufacturing Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS TO BE USED IN PURIFYING GAS FOR ILLUMINATION
OR APPARATUS To be used in Purifying Gas fOR ILLUMINATION
"
Sealed the 10th October 1854, and dated the 2nd August 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Samuel Lees at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 2nd
August 1854.
I, SAMUEL LEES, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturing
Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
HENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE USED IN PURIFYING GAS FOR ILLUMINA-
TION" to be as follows:-
In the dry lime purifiers hitherto employed, the lime is generally supported
on trays, through which the gas passes, and the lime, by absorbing sulphur and
other impurities in the gas, renders it fit for illumination. My improvements
consist in causing the gas and the dry lime to enter at one end of a worm,
which is placed in a diagonal position; this worn is made to revolve slowly,
consequently the lime and gas become intimately mixed during their passage
along the worm, thereby effecting the purification of the gus before it escapes
from the worm.

page_text: By this improved arrangement less line is required than in the purifiers of
the usual construction, for when the lime is in stationary trays the interior
of the lime is not brought in contact with the gas, and consequently does not
absorb the impurities in it. Other modes of giving motion to the dry lime may
be employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Samuel Lees in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 1st
February 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, SAMUEL
LEES, of Salford, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturing Chemist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing ilate the Second day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Samuel Lees, Her special license that I, the said Samuel Lees,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Samuel Lees, 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 Ire-
land, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE USED IN PURIFYING GAS FOR ILLUMINA-
TION," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Samuel Lees,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and scal, 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 Samuel Lees, 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:-
The nature of my Invention consists in agitating or giving motion to the dry
lime used in the purification of gas for illumination, either by causing the said
lime to be deposited in a trough, in which a screw or worn revolves, and

page_text: through which the gas is conducted, or by other suitable arrangement of
machinery or apparatus.
.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, I will proceed to describe
the means pursued by me, reference being had to the annexed Sheet of
Drawings, and to the figures, letters, and arrows marked thereon.
Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of one mode of constructing my
improved machinery or apparatus for purifying gas; and Figure 2 is another
elevation, also partly in section, of the same. a is the hopper, into which the
dry lime is fed; b is a damper or sliding door, by which the supply of lime can
be regulated, or the lower end of the hopper closed; c is a sheet metal tube,
containing the worm or screw d, the axis of which is supported at one end by
the stuffing box e, and at the other end by the bearing f. A slow revolving
motion is given to the worm d from the driving shaft g, by means of the bevel
wheels h, upright shaft i, worm j, and worm wheel k, fixed on the axis of the
worm. The lime in the hopper a is kept in motion by the screw », which is
turned slowly round by the worm g', worm wheel o, and bevil wheels p, one of
which is fixed on the screw n. The tube c is open at c', to admit the dry lime
from the hopper a; and the worm or screw d is furnished with cross pieces d¹,
to agitate the lime, which is gradually moved from the hopper to the other end
of the tube c, by the revolving of the worm. Below the tube c is another tube 1,
containing the agitators m, fixed on a shaft m¹. These agitators serve to
increase the action of the washing fluid contained in the tube 1, by which the
gas is washed previous to passing through the dry lime purifier, and they are
only shown here as they are the most convenient for being used in combination
with the machinery for agitating the dry lime.
The mode of operation is as follows:-The gas to be purified is admitted
through the pipe q to the chamber r, from whence it passes along the tube 1,
as shewn by the arrows, to the chambers; it then rises into the chamber t, and
enters the tube c, along which it passes in the direction shewn by the arrows,
and then makes its escape through the openings into the chamber u, from
whence it may be conveyed through the pipe to the gasometer, or to a second
purifier, if requisite.
It will be apparent that as the gas in its passage through the tube c passes
along the coils or threads of the worm or screw d, and as the cross pieces d' are
set at an angle, as shewn in Figure 2, the lime is raised from the lower to the
upper part of the tube c, and then drops down through the gas that is making
its way towards the openings c²; consequently the lime and the gas become most
intimately mixed, whereby the lime is made to absorb a much greater pro-
portion of the impurities contained in the gas than is effected by the dry lime

page_text: purifiers usually employed, in which the lime is supported on stationary trays.
The lime dropping into the tube c from the hopper a is gradually worked
towards the chamber t, into which it drops. The speed of the screw or worm d,
the number of threads upon it, and the length thereof, must be made to suit
the quantity of gas to be purified, and the amount of purification required.
The lime which drops into the chamber t may be removed therefrom through
the man-hole w, and used over again if not too much saturated with the
impurities of the gas under operation. A considerable saving is effected in
the lime, owing to each particle being kept in motion, and falling repeatedly
through the gas in its passage from one end of the tube to the other.
I wish to remark that other combinations of machinery may be employed for
agitating or putting the lime into motion, for the purpose of more effectually
absorbing the impurities in the gas; but the foregoing is sufficient to illustrate
the nature of my Invention, and one mode of performing the same. I there-
fore declare that I do not limit myself to the arrangement of machinery shewn;
but I claim as of my Invention, agitating or giving motion to dry lime used in
purifying gas, either by the machinery described, or by other suitable machinery.
In witness whereof, I, the said Samuel Lees, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of January, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-five.
Witness to the signature,
H. B. BARLOW,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.
SAMUEL LEES.