New or Improved Apparatus or Appliances for Ventilating Sewers, and Purifying the Air Emitted from Sewers.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Anr.. 1896
Complete Specification Left, 28th Dec., 1896-Accepted, 20th Feb., 1897
New or Improved Apparatus or Appliances for Ventilating Sewers,
and Purifying the Air Emitted from Sewers.
I, EDWARD HOLMES, of Cobden Buildings, Corporation Street, Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick Architect and Surveyor do hereby declare the nature of
this invention to be as follows:-
My invention has for its object to promote the ventilation of sewers or the
circulation of air through sewers and also to treat the air passing from sewers so
as to destroy any organic matter contained in the said air and to deprive it of
offensive odour.
The apparatus or appliances constituting my invention are constructed as follows.
At any convenient station but preferably immediately over the sewer and below
the ground level I fix a chamber preferably of cast iron the bottom of the said
chamber opening into the sewer to be ventilated. Surmounting the said chamber
I fix a shaft preferably of cast iron the lower end of the said shaft opening into the
said chamber and the upper end of the said shaft opening into the atmosphere.
The bottom of the said chamber is provided with a metallic support on which
asbestos or pumice stone or other inaterial not injuriously affected by heat is placed.
A Bunsen burner, or a series of Bunsen burners, projects through the metallic
support and inflammable gas and air being supplied to the burner or series of
burners and ignited the asbestos or pumice stone is raised to a bright red heat. An
ascending stream of hot air is thereby determined in the shaft and a continuous
current of air made to flow through the sewer. The air from the sewer in passing
through the incandescent asbestos or pumice stone has its temperature so raise
that all organic inatter such as micro-organisms is burned and any oxidisable
material, such for example as sulphuretted hydrogen and other offensive gases
produced by the decomposition of animal and vegetable matter contained in the
sewage are by their oxidation converted into inodorous compounds.
The air delivered by the shaft into the atmosphere being thus deprived of all
organic matter and rendered inodorous is no longer capable of transmitting disease
or of producing the nausea due to gases having an offensive odour.
Where for any reason it is impossible or inconvenient to fix the heating chamber
and shaft immediately over the sewer they may be fixed in a convenient place and
the bottom of the heating chamber connected by flues or pipes to the sewers to be
ventilated.
I prefer to connect or apply the ventilating shaft and heating chamber
constituting the essence of my invention to the end of a sewer but I wish it to
be understood that I do not limit myself to any particular position of the said shaft
and heating chamber.
Dated this Kirst day of April 1896.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: New or Improved Apparatus or Appliances for Ventilating Sewers,
and Purifying the Air Emitted from Sewers.
I, EDWARD HOLMES, of Cobden Buildings, Corporation Street, Birmingham,
in the County of Warwick, Architect and Surveyor, do hereby declare the nature
of my invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention has for its object to promote the ventilation of sewers or the
circulation of air through sewers and also to treat the air passing from sewers so as
to destroy any organic matter contained in the said air and to deprive it of offensive
odour.
The apparatus or appliances constituting my invention are constructed as
follows; At any convenient station but preferably immediately over the sewer
and below the ground level, say for example in the manhole of the sewer,
I fix a chamber preferably of fire clay or cast iron the bottom of the
said chamber opening into the sewer to be ventilated. Surmounting the said
chamber or at a short distance therefrom, I fix a shafi, preferably of cast
iron, the lower end of the said shaft opening into or communicating with the said
chamber and the upper end of the said shaft opening into the atmosphere. The
bottom of the said chamber is provided with a perforated metallic support or fire
bars on which asbestos or pumice stone or other material not injuriously affected by
heat is placed. A Bunsen burner, or a series of Bunsen burners, project through
the metallic support and inflammable gas and air being supplied to the burner or
series of burners and ignited, the asbestos or pumice stone is raised to a bright red
heat. An ascending stream of hot air is thereby determined in the shaft and a
continuous current of air male to flow through the sewer. The air from the sewer
in passing through the incandescent asbestos or pumice stone has its temperature
so raised that all organic matter, such as micro-organisms, is burned and any
oxidisable material, such for example as -ulphuretted hydrogen and other offensive
gases produced by the decomposition of animal and vegetable matter contained in
the sewage, are by their oxidation converted into inodorous compounds.
The air delivered by the shaft into the atmosphere being thus deprived of all
organic matter and rendered inodorous is no longer capable of transmitting disease
or of producing the nausea due to gases having an offensive odour.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawing represents in vertical section the
manhole of a sewer modified to adapt thereto the ventilating and purifying
apparatus constituting my invention, and Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken on
the line a, z Figure 1.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in both figures of the
drawing.
a is the manhole provided with the manlids b, c by which manlids the manhole a
is practically closed from the atmosphere except by the way hereinafter described.
Near the upper part of the manhole a and on one side thereof 1 construct a
chamber or furnace d (preferably of fire clay) the said chamber or turnace being
provided with fire bars e on which is supported asbestos or pumice stone for other
material not injuriously affected by heat. Through the fire bars e a gas supply
pipe g is passed the said pipe g supplying gas to a Bunsen burner or series of
Bunsen burners arranged in the bottom of the furnace. The upper part of the
furnace is connected by a pipe or flue h (preferably of glazed earthenware) to a
vertical shatt situated at any convenient station or arranged against the side of a
building or tree or connected with an adjacent street lamp column.

page_text: By raising the lids b, c of the manhole a the sewer man may enter the said
manhole for lighting and extinguishing the gas and for effecting repairs in the
furnace.
The contaminated air from the sewer k can only escape into the atmosphere
through the furnace d, pipe or flue h and ventilating shaft i. The gas supplied to
the Bunsen burner or burners of the furnace d being ignited the asbestos or pumice
stone fis raised to a state of incandescence so that the vitiated or foul air from
the sewer k in passing through the furnace d is raised to such a temperature
that all organic matter such as micro-organisms is burned and any oxidisable
material, such for example as sulphuretted hydrogen and other offensive gases
produced by the decompo-ition of animal and vegetable matter contained in the
sewage are by their oxidation converted into inodorous compounds.
The air delivered by the shaft i into the atmosphere being thus deprived of
all organic matter and rendered inodorous is no longer capable of transmitting
disease or of producing the nausea due to gases having an offensive odour.
Although I have described and represented the furnace and ventilating and
purifying apparatus constituting my invention as arranged in connection with
the manhole of the sewer yet I wish it to be understood that specially constructed
chambers below the ground level and preferably at the end of the sewer may
be made for receiving the furnace d, the ventilating shaft being arranged
immediately over the furnace or at a short distance therefrom.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim as my invention;―
The new or improved apparatus or appliances for ventilating sewers and
purifying the air emitted from sewers herein before described and illustrated in the
accompanying drawing, the said apparatus consisting essentially of a chamber
below the ground level the bottom of which chamber opens into the sewer the said
chamber containing a furnace burning gaseous fuel, preferably coal gas supplied
to Bunsen burners which are arranged under or in asbestos, pumice stone or other
material not injuriously affected by heat so as to raise the said material to a state
of incandescence, the upper part of the furnace communicating either directly
or by means of a flue with a ventilating shaft substantially as described and
illustrated.
Dated the 24th day of December 1896.
EDWARD HOLMES.