NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS WHICH MAY BE USED FOR CONDENSING VAPOURS OR GASES FOR HEATING LIQUIDS FOR PURIFYING AND BLEACHING OILS AND GASES, AND FOR OTHER ANALOGOUS PURPOSES."
Year: 1874

page_text: '
LETTERS PATENT to Robert Speir, of Greenock, in the County of
Renfrew, North Britain, Chemist, and John Mather, of Gateshead-
on-Tyne, in the County of Durham, Engineer, for the Invention of
"NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS WHICH MAY BE USED FOR CONDENSING
VAPOURS OR GASES FOR HEATING LIQUIDS FOR PURIFYING AND BLEACHING
OILS AND GASES, AND FOR OTHER ANALOGOUS PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Speir and John
Mather at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 21st December 1874.
We, ROBERT SPEIR, of Greenock, in the County of Renfrew, North
Britain, Chemist, and JOHN MATHER, of Gateshead-on-Tyne, in the
County of Durham, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention of " NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS WHICH MAY BE USED FOR CONDENSING
VAPOURS OR GASES FOR HEATING LIQUIDS, FOR PURIFYING AND BLEACHING OILS
AND GASES, AND FOR OTHER ANALOGOUS PURPOSES," to be as follows, that is to
sav

page_text: smoke, and of fumes generally, to the heating of feed water for steam
boilers, to the purifying of oils and gases, and for other similar purposes,
consists of a chamber in which these objects are effected by the employ-
ment of a spray produced by a blast of atmospheric air, by which means
a partial vacuum is formed and a draught is thereby created through
the apparatus.
The chamber, which is preferably made rectangular is provided at its
interior with a number of shelves inclined in opposite directions from
each end of the chamber. The shelves are terminated alternately at a
short distance from opposite ends of the chamber, thus forming a
tortuous or winding passage through it, which passage is or may be
still further increased in length or surface by placing between one or
more pairs of the shelves, diaphragms, or plates alternately, terminating
a short distance from the upper and lower shelves, coke or other porous
matter, such as pumicestone, may also be placed between the shelves.
Underneath the chamber, and preferably at one end, a tank or vessel
containing liquid is placed, into which one end of a vertical pipe dips.
The other end of the said pipe communicates with a bell mouthed or
other suitably shaped nozzle introduced into the chamber. through one
end between the lowest pair of shelves, and to the said nozzle a pipe
communicating with an air compressing apparatus is also attached.
The compressed air on being blown through the latter pipe draws up the
liquid from the tank or receptacle to the nozzle from whence the air jet
forces the liquid in between the shelves in the form of spray. Similar
pipes communicating with the same or with separate tanks are placed
between every alternate or other number of pairs of the inclined shelves.
The passage through the chamber is connected at one end with the pipe,
flue, or apparatus containing the steam, vapour, smoke, fumes, or other
gases or bodies to be condensed or treated, and at the other end with a
stalk or chimney, and these gases or bodies are drawn into and through
the chamber by the current of air.
In condensing steam the spray employed is preferably cold water, and
the heated water of condensation after flowing down the inclined shelves
and through a pipe at the bottom of the chamber into the tank or
receptacle herein-before referred to, or into a separate receiver, may
be employed as feed water for steam boilers or for other purposes for
which hot water is necessary.
:

page_text: In condensing or washing smoke, vapours, or fumes, the spray
employed may be water, or an acid or other liquid adapted to their
washing or condensation, as is also the case when the apparatus is
employed in the purification of oils and gases, in bleaching, or for other
analogous purposes.
Besides the applications of this Invention herein-before referred to,
the apparatus may also be used as a denitrating apparatus in connexion
with sulphuric acid chambers by making a spray of the acid instead of
passing it through Glover's towers. It may also be used as a condenser
for hydrochloric acid instead of the ordinary condensing towers for
oxidizing the red liquor from black ash by making a spray of it, and
connecting the inlet flue of the apparatus to a carbonating furnace. It
may further be employed as an accessory to Deacon's process for making
bleaching powder by employing in one set of apparatus a water spray
for the condensation of the undecomposed hydrochloric acid from the
chlorine after having passed through Deacon's decomposer.
The water spray apparatus is connected with another similar apparatus
in which a spray of lime water is used for the purpose of recovering any
trace of hydrochloric acid escaping from the first condenser, and also to
remove all the carbonic acid which may have passed into the apparatus.
The air passing through the air compressing apparatus may be made
to pass through lime water or milk of lime before being used, to produce
the spray, and the lime water used under this process may be employed
repeatedly until all the lime is converted into carbonate of lime or
chloride of calcium.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Speir and John Mather in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 18th June 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
SPEIR, of Greenock, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain, Chemist,
and JOHN MATHER, of Gateshead-on-Tyne, in the County of Durham,
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent. Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in the

page_text: year of our Lord One thousand eight. hundred and seventy-four, in the
38th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Robert Speir and John Mather, Her
special license that we, the said Robert Speir and John Mather, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Robert Speir and John Mather, our executors, administrators; or
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 "NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS WHICH
MAY BE USED FOR CONDENSING VAPOURS OR GASES FOR HEATING LIQUIDS, FOR
PURIFYING AND BLEACHING OILS AND GASES, AND FOR OTHER ANALOGOUS PURPOSES"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Robert Speir
and John Mather, by an instrument in writing under our hands and
seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 we, the said Robert Speir and John Mather, do
hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:-
Our said Invention, which relates to new or improved arrangements of
apparatus applicable to the condensing of steam, vapours, smoke, acids,
and of fumés generally, to the heating of feed water for steam boilers, or
for other purposes in which heated water is required, to the purification
of oils and gases, as well as for other analogous uses, consists of a
chamber in which the condensing or other operation is effected by means
of a spray produced by the action of a blast of compressed atmospheric
air or steam.
The chamber, which is preferably made rectangular, is under one
modification of our said Invention provided vertically with a number of
shelves inclined in opposite directions from each end thereof, and

page_text: terminated 'alternately at a short distance from these ends, thus forming
a. tortuous or winding passage through the apparatus. The blast of
atmospheric air or steam is passed in between the shelves, and its action
forms or creates a draught through the chamber. To the pipes through
which the compressed air or steam is conducted to the chamber branch
pipes are attached, which communicate with tanks or vessels containing
liquid, which liquid is drawn up from the tanks or vessels by the
draught, and forced by the air or steam jets in the form of spray into the
spaces between the shelves. The passage through the chamber is at one
end connected to the pipe flue apparatus or receptacle containing the
gases or fumes and substances disseminated therein, which are to be
treated, and at its other end the passage is connected with a chimney!>
ז'רז
Under another modification of our said Invention the chamber in lieu
of being divided vertically by shelves, as herein-before set forth, is
divided horizontally by a series of parallel partitions extending from top
to bottom of the chamber, and terminated alternately a short distance
from each end.
And in order that our said Invention may be properly understood; we
now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or-manner,
in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into
effect, reference being had to the annexed Sheet of Drawings, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
14:
On the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended Figure 1 is a side
elevation, and Figure 2 a longitudinal section of one form of the
apparatus constructed in accordance with our said Invention; Figure 3
is a transverse section of the apparatus on the line a, b, Figure 1, whilst
Figure 4 is a similar section on the line c, d, Figure 2. As shewn by
these Figures the apparatus consists of a rectangular chamber A divided
into compartments by the inclined shelves or partitions B, which
alternately terminate at a short distance from opposite ends of the
chamber A, in such a manner as to form a winding or tortuous passage
through the interior of the chamber. At that end of each shelf or
partition B which terminates a short distance from the end of the
chamber A a block C, closing or partially closing that end, is placed, and
in each such block a tapered or trumpet-shaped hole or opening D, is
made, as shewn more particularly at Figure 2. At the end of each
compartment of the chamber A, opposite to the block C, a baffle plate E
is placed to contract the exit from the compartment, and at the upper

page_text: sides of these baffle plates, which are preferably laid at an angle, an
opening a is made communicating with the chamber above. At one
side of the chamber A tanks or vessels G are placed, into which water or
other liquid is conducted through the pipe b, a constant and equal level
in all the tanks being maintained by providing the upper tanks with
-overflow pipes c, as shewn more particularly at Figure 3; or ball-cocks
or their equivalents may be employed for that purpose. The air or
steam for producing the spray is conducted to each end of the apparatus
by pipes H provided with cocks I, I', and communicating with a pipe J,
which, when compressed air is employed, is attached to an air pump or
other air compressing apparatus, such as "Korting's" air compresser,
and when steam is used to a steam boiler. To the pipes H branches d
are attached, which extend into the holes or openings D made in the
blocks C, and to a nozzle formed at the inner end of each such branch a
pipe e communicating with one of the tanks or vessels G is attached.
The tanks or vessels are preferably placed at a lower level than the
pipes d, with which the pipes e communicate.
1
Figure 5 of the appended Drawings is an enlarged section of the
nozzle and pipes d and e, and as shewn thereon the compressed air or
steam pipe d has a slight lead over the orifice of the pipe e, through
which the liquid is drawn upwards. The air or steam passing under
pressure through the nozzle by its inducing or lateral action at K,
Figure 5, has the effect of causing the water or other liquid to ascend
the pipe e to the nozzle, where being acted upon by the blast it is
atomized or divided into a spray, whose density is regulated by the
pressure of the blast, the spray becoming finer or heavier, according as
the blast pressure is increased or diminished. From the nozzle the spray
is blown into each compartment of the chamber A as indicated at
Figure 2 of the Drawings. The lower ends of the pipes e are preferably
only partially immersed in the water or other liquid contained in the
tanks or vessels G, as it is found in practice that placing the pipes e in
such a manner as to allow them to draw up air along with the water or
other liquid, enables the blast to effect a better disintegration of the
liquid.

page_text: within a large pipe, and are or may be completely immersed in the
liquid at their lower ends.
In passing the compressed air or steam into the apparatus, the cock I¹
is opened to a fuller extent than the cock I, on account of the greater
number of nozzles placed at the end of the chamber A with which
the said cock communicates.
In operating with the apparatus shewn at Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of:
the Drawings, the steam, vapour, smoke, fumes, or other gases or bodies
to be condensed or treated are connected from the pipe, flue, apparatus,
or receptacle containing them into the chamber through the opening at.
M, and these gases or bodies are drawn into and through the chamber
by the current of air or steam.
11.
For the purpose of more complete illustration let it be supposed that
the apparatus is employed in the condensation of steam, cold water.
being filled into the tanks or vessels G. The steam drawn into the
chamber A by the blast is first acted upon by the spray of cold water
produced as herein-before described; in passing along the lowest.com:
partment of the said chamber, and on reaching the baffle plate E at the
further end of the said compartment and against which the spray strikes;
the water condensed by the said first action of the spray is deflected ionc
to the inclined bottom of the chamber on which it flows downwardsitos
the exit pipe N, whilst the uncondensed steam passes into the second
compartment and is therein similarly acted upon by another spray,
the products of condensation passing into the lowest compartment
through the opening a, and so on throughout the entire height of the
chamber A. The pipe N communicates with a tank or receiver from
whence the heated water may be injected into a boiler for raising steam
or it may be conducted away and employed for other purposes.
In adapting the apparatus for condensing, purifying, washing, or
otherwise treating smoke, either steam or air may be employed to
produce the blast, and the spray may either be formed from water
or other suitable liquid. In so employing the apparatus and in using
it for treating fumes, gases, and for other analogous purposes; thei
upper compartment of the chamber A which communicates with the flue
or chimney O is preferably made level, and without communication with
the chambers beneath otherwise than through the hole or opening D,

page_text: being obvious to a practical chemist, and therefore requiring no further
explanation.
Under some circumstances it may be advantageous to increase the
length of passage through the chamber A, and at such times diaphragms
or plates alternately terminating a short distance from the upper and
lower sides of the shelves may be placed between one or more pairs of
the shelves or partitions B. Coke or other porous matter, such as
pumicestone, may also be placed between the shelves to increase the
condensing surface.
Figure 6 on the accompanying Drawings is a horizontal section;
Figure 7 a longitudinal section on the line e, f, Figure 6; and Figures 3
and 9 transverse sections on the lines g, h, and i, k, respectively of a
modified arrangement of the apparatus herein-before described, and. in
which the compartments of the chamber A in lieu of being placed one
above the other, as shewn at Figures 2, 3, and 4, are placed in parallel
rows across the chamber. This arrangement of the apparatus is specially
adapted for condensing hydrochloric and other acids, and for con-
centrating the same if desired. The blocks B close, or partially close,
one end of each compartment of the chamber, and, as in the preceding
arrangement, these are provided with tapered or trumpet-shaped
openings C for the passage of the gas or vapour through the apparatus.
These holes or openings in this, as well as in the arrangement of
chamber first described, besides serving to diminish the passage at the
ends of the compartments and so confine the gases at the point where
they are first acted upon by the spray in each compartment, also serve
to prevent the condensed acid flowing into the first and lowest com-
partment when it is desired to obtain acids of different strengths. This
is effected by closing the passages a, communicating in both arrange-
ments between the several compartments. The contracted openings in
the blocks also serve to prevent back draught through the apparatus.
The tanks D are those in which is placed the water for producing the
spray or the weak acid to be concentrated by being made into a spray,
and in such condition employed to condense further portions of gas or
vapour in the compartments of the apparatus. The water or acid is
drawn up from the tanks D through pipes E by a blast of compressed

page_text: Que several purposes nerem-before set forth or for others analogous
thereto.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Speir, on behalf of myself
and of the said John Mather, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Seventeenth day of June, One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-five.
ROBERT SPEIR. (L.S.)

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Speir, of Greenock, in the County of
Renfrew, North Britain, Chemist, and John Mather, of Gateshead-
on-Tyne, in the County of Durham, Engineer, for the Invention of
"NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS WHICH MAY BE UBED FOR CONDENSING
VAPOURS OR GASES FOR HEATING LIQUIDS FOR PURIFYING AND BLEACHING
OILS AND GASES, AMD FOR OTHER ANALOGOUS PURPOSES."
Sealed the 26th February 1875, and dated the 21st December 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Speir and John
Mather at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 21st December 1874.
We, ROBERT SPEIR, of Greenock, in the County of Renfrew, North
Britain, Chemist, and JOHN MATHER,. of Gateshead-on-Tyne, in the
County of Durham, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention of "NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS WHICH MAY BE USED FOR CONDENSING
VAPOURS OR GASES FOR HEATING LIQUIDS, FOR PURIFYING AND BLEACHING OILS
AND GASES, AND FOR OTHER ANALOGOUS PURPOSES," to be as follows, that is to
say:

page_text: smoke, and of fumes generally, to the heating of feed water for steam
boilers, to the purifying of oils and gases, and for other similar purposes,
consists of a chamber in which these objects are effected by the employ-
ment of a spray produced by a blast of atmospheric air, by which means
a partial vacuum is formed and a draught is thereby created through
the apparatus.
The chamber, which is preferably made rectangular is provided at its
interior with a number of shelves inclined in opposite directions from
each end of the chamber. The shelves are terminated alternately at a
short distance from opposite ends of the chamber, thus forming a
tortuous or winding passage through it, which passage is or may be
still further increased in length or surface by placing between one or
more pairs of the shelves, diaphragms, or plates alternately, terminating
a short distance from the upper and lower shelves, coke or other porous
matter, such as pumicestone, may also be placed between the shelves.
Underneath the chamber, and preferably at one end; a tank or vessel
containing liquid is placed, into which one end of a vertical pipe dips.
The other end of the said pipe communicates with a bell mouthed or
other suitably shaped nozzle introduced into the chamber through one
end between the lowest pair of shelves, and to the said nozzle a pipe
communicating with an air compressing apparatus is also attached.
The compressed air on being blown through the latter pipe draws up the
liquid from the tank or receptacle to the nozzle from whence the air jet
forces the liquid in between the shelves in the form of spray. Similar
pipes communicating with the same or with separate tanks are placed
between every alternate or other number of pairs of the inclined shelves.
The passage through the chamber is connected at one end with the pipe,
flue, or apparatus containing the steam, vapour, smoke, fumes, or other
gases or bodies to be condensed or treated, and at the other end with a
stalk or chimney, and these gases or bodies are drawn into and through
the chamber by the current of air.
In condensing steam the spray employed is preferably cold water, and
the heated water of condensation after flowing down the inclined shelves
and through a pipe at the bottom of the chamber into the tank or
receptacle herein-before referred to, or into a separate receiver, may
be employed as feed water for steam boilers or for other purposes for
which hot water is necessary.

page_text: In condensing or washing smoke, vapours, or fumes, the spray
employed may be water, or an acid or other liquid adapted to their
washing or condensation, as is also the case when the apparatus is
employed in the purification of oils and gases, in bleaching, or for other
analogous purposes.
Besides the applications of this Invention herein-before referred to,
the apparatus may also be used as a denitrating apparatus in connexion
with sulphuric acid chambers by making a spray of the acid instead of
passing it through Glover's towers. It may also be used as a condenser
for hydrochloric acid instead of the ordinary condensing towers for
oxidizing the red liquor from black ash by making a spray of it, and
connecting the inlet flue of the apparatus to a carbonating furnace. It
may further be employed as an accessory to Deacon's process for making
bleaching powder by employing in one set of apparatus a water spray
for the condensation of the undecomposed hydrochloric acid from the
chlorine after having passed through Deacon's decomposer.
The water spray apparatus is connected with another similar apparatus
in which a spray of lime water is used for the purpose of recovering any
trace of hydrochloric acid escaping from the first condenser, and also to
remove all the carbonic acid which may have passed into the apparatus.
The air passing through the air compressing apparatus may be made
to pass through lime water or milk of lime before being used, to produce
the spray, and the lime water used under this process may be employed
repeatedly until all the lime is converted into carbonate of lime. or
chloride of calcium.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Speir and John Mather in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 18th June 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ROBERT
SPEIR, of Greenock, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain, Chemist,
and JOHN MATHER, of Gateshead-on-Tyne, in the County of Durham,
Engineer, send greeting.
:
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in the

page_text: year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
38th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto us, the said Robert Speir and John Mather, Her
special license that we, the said Robert Speir and John Mather, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
Robert Speir and John Mather, our executors, administrators, or
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 "NEW OR IMPROVED APPARATUS WHICH
MAY BE USED FOR CONDENSING VAPOURS OR GASES FOR HEATING LIQUIDS, FOR
PURIFYING AND BLEACHING OILS AND GASES, AND FOR OTHER ANALOGOUS PURPOSES "
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Robert Speir
and John Mather, by an instrument in writing under our hands and
seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, 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 we, the said Robert Speir and John Mather, do
hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say-
Our said Invention, which relates to new or improved arrangements of
apparatus applicable to the condensing of steam, vapours, smoke, acids,
and of fumes generally, to the heating of feed water for steam boilers, or
for other purposes in which heated water is required, to the purification
of oils and gases, as well as for other analogous uses, consists of a
chamber in which the condensing or other operation is effected by means
of a spray produced by the action of a blast of compressed atmospheric
air or steam.
The chamber, which is preferably made rectangular, is under one
modification of our said Invention provided vertically with a number of
shelves inclined in onnosite directions. from
and thof

page_text: 1
terminated alternately at a short distance from these ends, thus forming
a tortuous or winding passage through the apparatus. The blast of
atmospheric air or steam is passed in between the shelves, and its action
forms or creates a draught through the chamber. To the pipes through
which the compressed air or steam is conducted to the chamber branch
pipes are attached, which communicate with tanks or vessels containing
liquid, which liquid is drawn up from the tanks or vessels by the
draught, and forced by the air or steam jets in the form of spray into the
spaces between the shelves. The passage through the chamber is at one
end connected to the pipe flue apparatus or receptacle containing the
gases or fumes and substances disseminated therein, which are to be
treated, and at its other end the passage is connected with a chimney
$
N
Under another modification of our said Invention the chamber in lieu
of being divided vertically by shelves, as herein-before set forth, is
divided horizontally by a series of parallel partitions extending from.top
to bottom of the chamber, and terminated alternately a short distance
from each end.
And in order that our said Invention may be properly understood we
now proceed more particularly to set forth the system, mode, or manner,
in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into
effect, reference being had to the annexed Sheet of Drawings, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
T
T
On the Sheet of Drawings hereunto appended Figure 1 is a side
elevation, and Figure 2 a longitudinal section of one form of the
apparatus constructed in accordance with our said Invention; Figure 3
is a transverse section of the apparatus on the line a, b, Figure 1, whilst
Figure 4 is a similar section on the line c, d, Figure 2. As shewn by
these Figures the apparatus consists of a rectangular chamber A divided
into compartments by the inclined shelves or partitions B,
which
alternately terminate at a short distance from opposite ends of the
chamber A, in such a manner as to form a winding or tortuous passage
through the interior of the chamber. At that end of each shelf or
partition B which terminates a short distance from the end of the
chamber A a block C, closing or partially closing that end, is placed, and
in each such block a tapered or trumpet-shaped hole or opening D, is
made, as shewn more particularly at Figure 2. At the end of each
compartment of the chamber A, opposite to the block C, a baffle plate E
is placed to contract the exit from the compartment, and at the upper
.

page_text: sides of these baffle plates, which are preferably laid at an angle, an
opening a is made communicating with the chamber above. At one
side of the chamber A tanks or vessels G are placed, into which water or
other liquid is conducted through the pipe b, a constant and equal level
in all the tanks being maintained by providing the upper tanks with
overflow pipes c, as shewn more particularly at Figure 3; or ball-cocks
or their equivalents may be employed for that purpose. The air or
steam for producing the spray is conducted to each end of the apparatus
by pipes H provided with cocks I, I', and communicating with a pipe J,
which, when compressed air is employed, is attached to an air pump or
other air compressing apparatus, such as "Korting's" air compresser,
and when steam is used to a steam boiler. To the pipes H branches d
are attached, which extend into the holes or openings D made in the
blocks C, and to a nozzle formed at the inner end of each such branch a
pipe e communicating with one of the tanks or vessels G is attached.
The tanks or vessels are preferably placed at a lower level than the
pipes d, with which the pipes e communicate.
47 Figure 5 of the appended Drawings is an enlarged section of the
nozzle and pipes d and e, and as shewn thereon the compressed air or
'steam pipe d has a slight lead over the orifice of the pipe e, through
which the liquid is drawn upwards. The air or steam passing under
pressure through the nozzle by its inducing or lateral action at K,
Figure 5, has the effect of causing the water or other liquid to ascend
the pipe e to the nozzle, where being acted upon by the blast it is
atomized or divided into a spray, whose density is regulated by the
pressure of the blast, the spray becoming finer or heavier, according as
the blast pressure is increased or diminished. From the nozzle the spray
is blown into each compartment of the chamber A as indicated at
Figure 2 of the Drawings. The lower ends of the pipes.e are preferably
only partially immersed in the water or other liquid contained in the
tanks or vessels G, as it is found in practice that placing the pipes e in
such a manner as to allow them to draw up air along with the water or
other liquid, enables the blast to effect a better disintegration of the
liquid.

page_text: within a large pipe, and are or may be completely immersed in the
liquid at their lower ends.
In passing the compressed air or steam into the apparatus, the cock I¹
is opened to a fuller extent than the cock I, on account of the greater
number of nozzles placed at the end of the chamber A with which
the said cock communicates.
In operating with the apparatus shewn at Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of
the Drawings, the steam, vapour, smoke, fumes, or other gases or bodies
to be condensed or treated are connected from the pipe, flue, apparatus,
or receptacle containing them into the chamber through the opening at
M, and these gases or bodies are drawn into and through the chamber
by the current of air or steam.
***
For the purpose of more complete illustration let it be supposed that
the apparatus is employed in the condensation of steam, cold water
being filled into the tanks or vessels G. The steam drawn into the
chamber A by the blast is first acted upon by the spray of cold water
produced as herein-before described; in passing along the lowest.com-
partment of the said chamber, and on reaching the baffle plate E at, the
further end of the said compartment and against which the spray strikes,
the water condensed by the said first action of the spray is deflected on
to the inclined bottom of the chamber on which it flows downwards to
the exit pipe N, whilst the uncondensed steam passes into the second
compartment and is therein similarly acted upon by another spray,
the products of condensation passing into the lowest compartment
through the opening a, and so on throughout the entire height of the
chamber A. The pipe N communicates with a tank or receiver from
whence the heated water may be injected into a boiler for raising steam,
or it
may be conducted away and employed for other purposes.
{ .
In adapting the apparatus for condensing, purifying, washing, or
otherwise treating smoke, either steam or air may be employed to
produce the blast, and the spray may either be formed from water
or other suitable liquid. In so employing the apparatus and in using
it for treating fumes, gases, and for other analogous purposes, the
upper compartment of the chamber A which communicates with the flue
or chimney O is preferably made level, and without communication with
the chambers beneath otherwise than through the hole or opening D,
J

page_text: that is to say, without an opening or passage in the bottom of the
chamber though such an opening, may be provided if desired, and an
extra quantity of spray is or may be injected into the said upper com-
partment to wash out any remaining trace of gas, the washings being
either allowed to escape to be collected in a separate tank, or to become
concentrated by being employed to form the spray during succeeding
operations, whilst the washings from the chambers beneath are collected
in the tank or receptacle communicating with the pipe N, and may
subsequently be similarly concentrated if desired.
Besides the applications of the apparatus herein-before referred to,
namely, as a condenser for steam, as a feed water heater, and for
condensing, washing, or purifying smoke and fumes, the apparatus is
also specially applicable for the following purposes:-
First. As a purifier of oil, tallow, lard, or grease by subjecting the
same to the action of a gaseous bleaching agent conducted through the
pipe H. In employment for these purposes the substance in a liquid or
molten state is placed in the tanks or vessels G and drawn therefrom by
the action of the blast, and after travelling through the series of com-
partments it is collected at the drip pipe N, or if the substance being
treated naturally thickens or crystalizes it may be drawn or taken out
atcintervals through openings formed in the sides or ends of the

page_text: the purposes named under the preceding third, fourth, and fifth heads
being obvious to a practical chemist, and therefore requiring no further
explanation.
Under some circumstances it may be advantageous to increase the
length of passage through the chamber A, and at such times diaphragms
or plates alternately terminating a short distance from the upper and
lower sides of the shelves may be placed between one or more pairs of
the shelves or partitions B. Coke or other porous matter, such as
pumicestone, may also be placed between the shelves to increase the
condensing surface.
Figure 6 on the accompanying Drawings is a horizontal section;
Figure 7 a longitudinal section on the line e, f, Figure 6; and Figures 8
and 9 transverse sections on the lines g, h, and i, k, respectively of a
modified arrangement of the apparatus herein-before described, and in
which the compartments of the chamber A in lieu of being placed one
above the other, as shewn at Figures 2, 3, and 4, are placed in parallel
rows across the chamber. This arrangement of the apparatus is specially
adapted for condensing hydrochloric and other acids, and for con-
centrating the same if desired. The blocks B close, or partially close,
one end of each compartment of the chamber, and, as in the preceding
arrangement, these are provided with tapered or trumpet-shaped
openings C for the passage of the gas or vapour through the apparatus.
These holes or openings in this, as well as in the arrangement of
chamber first described, besides serving to diminish the passage at the
ends of the compartments and so confine the gases at the point where
they are first acted upon by the spray in each compartment, also serve
to prevent the condensed acid flowing into the first and lowest com-
partment when it is desired to obtain acids of different strengths. This
is effected by closing the passages a, communicating in both arrange-
ments between the several compartments. The contracted openings in
the blocks also serve to prevent back draught through the apparatus.
The tanks D are those in which is placed the water for producing the
spray or the weak acid to be concentrated by being made into a spray,
and in such condition employed to condense further portions of gas or
vapour in the compartments of the apparatus. The water or acid is
drawn up from the tanks D through pipes E by a blast of compressed
-

page_text: In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Speir, on behalf of myself
and of the said John Mather, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Seventeenth day of June, One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-five.
ROBERT SPEIR. (L.S.)