Fibrous Matter contained in the same and in Apparatus to
Year: 1885

page_text: Fibrous Matter contained in the same and in Apparatus to
[Communicated from abroad by Hermann Wayener, Wirklicher Geheimer Ober
Regierungsrath, and Professor Dr Alexander Müller, both of the City of
Berlin, Prussia, Germany.1
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
I, WILLIAM HENRY BECK, of 115 Cannon Street, in the City of London,
Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent do hereby declare the nature of my
Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN PROCESSES FOR TREATING SEWAGE AND OTHER
WASTE WATERS FOR OBTAINING THE FATS, FATTY ACIDS AND FIBROUS MATTER
CONTAINED IN THE SAME AND IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREWITH
a communication to me by Hermann Wagener, Wirklicher Geheimer Ober
Regierungsrath and Professor Dr Alexander Müller both of the City of Berlin,
Prussia, Germany, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The utilization of the town sewage is up to the present time so sparely developed
that larger towns are glad to find a contractor to take the same gratis and even
remunerate the same when the town is freed from all responsibility as to the
further disposal of the sewage.
As a rule the utilisation is limited to the employment of the sewage water
for irrigating fields and meadows or for obtaining manure by clarifying and
precipitating the solid parts of the sewage water but in both cases with such
trivial financial results, that the objects in view was the utilization of the sewage
water than to disinfect and make the same innoxious.
The commercial utilization of the component parts of sewage has until now been
B totally. barren field, and yet sewage water contains many substances, which, if
separated from each other by an inexpensive process would yield profitable articles
of commerce.
In a previous Patent application we have referred to and described the various
methods for obtaining ammonia and tar from sewage water by precipitating and
distilling its contents and treating them both in a dry and liquid state.
The subject of our present application is the recovering of the fibrous and fatty
substances of the sewage water the former of which find their way into the sewage
in the shape of paper, hair, feathers, worn out linen, silken woollen and other rags,
also the scales and bones of fish, coffee ground and other kitchen waste, accompanied
by cellulose of various origin from court yards and streets.

page_text: The fatty substances are present in the form of fats and fatty acids, mostly
incorporated with lime and originate from the waste waters of kitchens, wash and
slaughter houses and closets.
In consequence of their glatinousness or viscosity the fatty substances rarely float
about freely in the sewage water, but generally adhere to other solid bodies and
especially to fibrous substances and can together with the latter, be removed from
the sewage water.
In order to attain this object we let the same water, and preferably the sewage
of the separate system which is kept free from rain and street water, pass through
sieves of variously sized meshes after the larger floating substances-as customary
-have been removed by coarse meshed sieves and sand straps.
The sieves and strainers we employ can be cylindrical or oscillating or be made
of endless wire cloth; the width of the meshes being about 5, 2, 1, 12, and 1/10
millimetre. The fine mud which finds its way through the narrowest incshes is in
the Berlin sewage poorer in fibrous and fatty substances than the strained off
matters. This fine mud is separated from these wage water by hydrate of lime or
some other precipitant and then subjected to dry distillation as described in our
first application.
The strained off muddy parts, are treated either alone or together with others of
a similar kind with an acid and at a certain degree of heat in order to effect the
decomposition of the calcareous or limy soap and are then collected in filter presses
and formed into cakes. The cakes so obtained are then deprived of their fatty
contents in the usual manner by means of bi-sulphuret of carbon, petroleum-ether
or the like.
. It is understood that the extraction or removal of the fatty parts can also be
effected by first extracting the yet unconverted fatty parts, and then decomposing
the calcareous or limy soaps, from which solid fatty acids are obtained.
The further treatment of the fibrous substances after they have been 'deprived of
their fatty parts, varies according to their intended utilization.
For the manufacture of coarse paste-board for roofing purposes for instance, it is
only required to purify the so obtained fibrous matter by thoroughly washing them,
whereas for the manufacture of better kinds of paste-board, it is necessary to let
the fibrous matter pass through a cylindrical paper-mill or other disintegrating
machine.
If the paper or paste-board is to be free from woollen fibres, the latter are
dissolved in diluted caustic lye, and the undissolved cellulose substance thoroughly
washed.
All waste waters falling under the treatment of the fibrous and fatty substances
are precipitated by means of lime and if found desirable with an addition of
. argilaceous earth and the precipitated mud is then further treated like the finest
sewage mud, by means of dry distillation.
The strained off mud of the Berlin sewage water contains 16-20 per cent fats and
fatty acids, 50-60 per cent fibrous matter and 6-15 per cent mineral substances.
As neither fat nor cellulose can be used as manure and as irrigation with sewage
water containing the same is only detrimental to the soil by their luting or stopping
up the same the removal of the same is a decided advantage if the sewage water is
to be utilised for either agricultural or gardening purposes.
From a sanitary point of view the new method of treating sewage waters deserves
the greatest attention, as it effects the thorough disinfection of the sewage water by
chemical agents, boiling and combustion.
⚫ In order to obtain the fatty and fibrous matters contained in the sewage water,
the latter is subjected to a treatinent in the apparatus hereafter described.
Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section.
Figure 2 a plan or top view.
Figure 3a section of Figure 1 on the line AB.

page_text: The sewage water is led through the pipes a to the receptacle b where the heavy
floating and other matters settles down and is removed.
A number of tubes c are arranged in front of the receptacle b to protrude into the
silt collecting or clarifying apparatus so that each tube has its own compartment
which is made by erecting a vertical wall or partition e parallel with or in a some-
what inclined position to the wall f, between which the separating or partition
walls are airauged, which form the different compartments according to the
number of tubes employed.
The bottom of the silt collecting apparatus or clarifying apparatus is not
directly connected with the elongated wall i but is curved upwards and arranged:
at suitable distance from the same so as to form a narrow slot k in order that the
heavy sand which did not settle down in the receptacle b, but which is still
contained in the sewage water is carried away through the slot in the apparatus d
and passed off to the sand-catch or trap 1, from whence it is carried in a suitable
manner to the sand pit n by means of a helix m, which latter is provided with a
strap drum w.
From this sand-pit the sand can then be removed by a dredging machine or
other suitable means. The arrangement of separate divisions in the silt collecting
apparatus has the object to secure as far as possible an equal flow of the sewage
water through the entire length of the apparatus, for which purpose the tubes c
may be provided with regulating cocks o.
In order to prevent the larger floating objects from entering the tubes c, the
latter can be provided with sieves or wire netting which may permit even the
coarser fibrous matter to enter the same.
In order to prevent the formation of whirls or eddies at the bottom of the silt
collecting or clarifying apparatus the latter is made of a rounded form and
terminates towards the inclined side i in such a manner that the sewage com-
pletely passes over to the filtering drum p and only the heavy sand, which, as
indicated by the dotted line, collects at the bottom h, passes off by the slot k.
The filtering drum p consists of a conically shaped sieve and is designed to
strain off the coarser fibrous matter; it rests in the receptacle q which. latter has
an inclined bottom, and is provided with a helix r, the axis 8 of which rests in the
two bearings t and u and carries a strap drum v or some other equivalent device
for imparting power.
By means of the funnel x the sewage passes into the interior of the conically
shaped sieve which strains off the fatty and fibrous matter and ejects the same
at the fore-end by means of the helix, when the ejected matter is caught up by
an endless wire cloth.y which runs over the two rollers zz and is guided in
a box al.
For the manufacture of paste-board and for the purpose of decomposing the
calcareous soaps contained in the mass, the same is boiled with an addition of
the before mentioned acids, deprived of its fatty contents and treated in the paper
mill, or if superior kinds of paper or paste-board are to be made of it, it is first
passed through a disintegrator and treated either by itself or with other subsequently
obtained fibrous matter in the manner described.
Any sand that may yet be contained in the sewage, settles down to the bottom
of the receptacle and can be removed from the reservoir or receptacle q by helix c¹
which is made to rotate by means of the strap drum bl.
The filtered sewage which still contains the finer fibrous and fatty matters
now pass through the hopper d¹ with extended end piece, on to the endless
sieve e¹, the meshes of which are so narrow, that even the finest fibrous matters
are caught up by it.
The sieve e rotates over the two rollers f¹, gl and carries the mass to the mud
trap h
To obtain an effectual straining the upper part of the sieve inclines towards the
centre, iu which position it is supported by friction rollers i'.

page_text: A brush-roller R¹ carried by the front roller g¹ brushes the fibrous matter that
may adhere to the sieve, off the same, while another brush-roller l¹, carried by the
rear roller or cylinder f1, clears the lower part of the sieve from any mud which
the sewage on its way through the sieve, may leave behind, by which arrangement
the smearing or clogging of the cylinder or roller f' is effectually prevented.
The sewage water passing through the apparatus is led off by the outlets m¹ and
is then subjected to further treatment according to our process for obtaining and
extracting the ammonia from the saine.
The fibrous matters collected in the mud trap are either by themselves, or
together with the fibrous matters brushed off from the sieve p, treated with acids
in a suitable vat or other vessel, to effect the decomposition of the calcareous soaps,.
then shaped into cakes in a filter press deprived in the before mentioned manner of
their fatty contents, and at last treated in a paper mill for the manufacture of
paper or paste-board.
As a matter of course the sewage can be made to pass through several sieves
and over several endless cloths without diverging from the tenor of my invention.
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 is
-
1-The process for obtaining the fatty and fibrous matters from the component
parts of the mud contained in sewage and other waste waters, characterised by :-
a-the depositing and filtering of the sewage and other waters through sieves
of variously sized meshes.
b-the decomposing of the calcareous soaps contained in the strained off fibrous
matters by the employment of acids.
c-the forming of the masses into cakes by means of filter presses, and the
depriving the cakes of their fatty contents by means of bi-sulphuret of
carbon, petroleum-ether or their equivalents for the purpose of obtaining
the fats contained therein, and
d-the further employment of the so treated press-cakes, in paper or paste-board
all substantially as described in the foregoing specification.
2-The apparatus by means of which the process described in claim 1 is carried
out, consisting in,
a-the arrangement of the clarifying receptacle b which is provided with a
number of tubes c in combination with the slit collecting or clarifying
apparatus a and its sand catch 1.
b-the receptacle or receptacles q with conically shaped sieves p by which the
fibrous matters are strained off which latter, by means of a helix 7 are
carried forward by means of a transporting device y for further treatment.
c-the arrangement of the sieve or sieves e¹ for straining off the fibrous matters
still contained in the flowing off sewage water, which said fibrous matters
are brushed off by the brush roller to be further dealt with as before
described.