IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF KELP AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Wilson Croker Perrier, late of the
Admiralty, but now of Hemings Row, in the City of Westminster,
Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF KELP AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."-A communication
from abroad by Joseph Pellieux and Albert Mazè Launay, both of
Kerhuon, Finistère, in the Republic of France.
Sealed the 23rd June 1876, and dated the 24th December 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Wilson Croker
Perrier at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 24th December 1875.
I, JOHN WILSON CROKER PERRIER, late of the Admiralty, but now
of Hemings Row, in the City of Westminster, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF KELP AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN,'
" to be as
follows:-
This Invention relates chiefly to an improved process of manu-
facturing kelp from green seaweed in the condition in which it is taken

page_text: from the sea, whereby an increased yield of iodine and soluble salts is
obtained in a more economical manner than heretofore, and it has
reference partly to process and apparatus in respect of which Letters
Patent were granted to Alfred Morris, the 15th December, A.D. 1871,
No. 3400.
In carrying out this Invention seaweed growing in deep waters
(such, for example, as the kinds known as fucus digitatus and
saccharinus) is by preference employed. Seaweed of this description,
or of any other kind suitable for the purpose, is taken in the condition
in which it leaves the sea and deposited in heaps upon a cemented floor
or platform, and the juice or liquid which is of a density of about 6°
or 7° Beaumé is allowed to drain off therefrom into cisterns or other
suitable receptacles. The juice or liquid so collected is thence con-
ducted into an evaporating chamber situate between ovens or furnaces
where the incineration of the seaweed is to be effected and a chimney
for carrying away the products of combustion, in which chamber the
juice or liquid is concentrated to, say, 25° Beaumé, by the waste heat of
the ovens aided by an evaporator with discs or blades worked' by a
motive power engine. The evaporating chamber itself is covered with
heating plates or troughs which are placed upon it and contribute
largely to the evaporation, at the same time elevating the temperature
of the juice or liquid to say about 80° centigrade. This concentrated
juice is conducted by a chain bucket actuated by the engine to a
reservoir, whence it flows through a pipe in a continuous jet regulated
by a cock into a spout or hopper, and thence falls in the form of spray
upon the scawced, which has been deposited upon bars in the ovens and
with which it is mixed and incinerated.
The pulverization effected by the evaporation moreover allows of the
condensation, if necessary, of the iodine, the iodides, and the salts, which
by an excessive calcination would be wasted.
A fan or blower, also driven by the engine and regulated by suitable
means, is employed for supplying the oxygen of the air as required at
aii elevated temperature to the whole of the ovens or furnaces, as also
to the seaweed, to the combustible hydrogenated substances, to the
empyreumatic products, and to the tar which it inflames and consumes
completely, thereby promoting economy in the evaporation of the juice
contained in the evaporating chamber.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Wilson Croker Perrier in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 24th June 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
WILSON CROKER PERRIER, late of the Admiralty, but now of Hemings
Row, in the City of Westminster, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
39th year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said John Wilson Croker Perrier, Her special
license that I, the said John Wilson Croker Perrier, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Wilson
Croker Perrier, my 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, excrcise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF KELP AND IN THE APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREIN," a communication to me from abroad by Joseph
Pellicux and Albert Mazi Launay, both of Kerhuon, Finistére, in the
Republic of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said John Wilson Croker Perrier, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 John Wilson Croker Perrier, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:
-
The said Invention relates chiefly to an improved process of manu-

page_text: •
from the sea, whereby an increased yield of iodine and soluble salts is
obtained in a more economical manner than heretofore, and it has
reference partly to process and apparatus in respect of which Letters
Patent were granted to Alfred Morris, the Fifteenth December One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, No. 3400.
In carrying out this Invention, seaweed growing in deep water (such,
for example, as the kinds known as fucus digitatus and saccharinous)
is by preference employed. Seaweed of this description, or of any other
kind suitable for the purpose, is taken in the condition in which it
leaves the sea and deposited in heaps upon a cemented floor or platform,
and the juice or liquid which exudes is allowed to drain off therefrom
into cisterns or other suitable receptacles. The juice or liquid so
collected is thence conducted into an evaporating chamber, situate
between ovens or furnaces where the incineration of the seaweed is to
be effected and a chimney for carrying away the products of com-
bustion, in which chamber the juice or liquid is concentrated by the
waste heat of the ovens aided by an agitator or evaporator worked by a
motive-power engine. The evaporating chamber itself is covered with
, heating plates or troughs, which contributo largely to the evaporation.
This concentrated juice is conducted to a reservoir, whence it flows
through a pipe in a continuous stream regulated by a cock into a spout
or hopper, and thence falls upon the seaweed which has been deposited
upon bars in the ovens and with which it is mixed and incinerated.
The pulverization effected by the evaporation moreover allows of the
condensation if necessary of the iodine, the iodides, and the salts, which
by an excessive calcination would be wasted.
A fan or blower, driven by the engine and regulated by suitable
means, is employed for supplying the oxygen of the air as required at
an elevated temperature to the whole of the ovens or furnaces, as also
to the seaweed, to the combustible hydrogenated substances, to the
empyreumatic products, and to the tar, whereby they become completely
consumed, thus promoting economy in the evaporation of the juice
contained in the evaporating chamber.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that
31
11

page_text: Drawings, the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts
in all the Figures.
Figuro 1 of the accompanying Sheet of Drawings represents a
longitudinal vertical section of the improved apparatus for the manu-
facture of kelp; Figure 2 is a corresponding horizontal section of the
same; Figure 3 is a transverse section taken along the line 1, 2, in
Figure 2; and Figure 4 is a similar section taken along the line 3, 4, in
Figure 1.
According to this Invention seaweed (by preference of the kinds
known as fucus digitatus and saccharinous) is taken direct from the sea
and deposited in heaps upon a cemented floor or platform not shewn in
my Drawings, where the juice or liquid which it contains (and which is
of a density of about 6° or 7° Beaumé, or of a weight but slightly
exceeding one-third of the total weight of the seaweed when taken
from the sea) is allowed to flow off into a cistern or other suitable
receptacle provided for its reception. The seaweed from which the
liquid has been allowed to drain is placed in the chambers or ovens A
in which its incineration is effected, whilst the juice or liquid which has
drained from the seaweed is conveyed by means of a chain of buckets
or forced by means of a force pump, or otherwise conducted into the
chamber B in which it is evaporated or concentrated. The evaporating
chamber B is arranged between the incinerating ovens A and the
chimney C, which carries off the waste products of combustion from
the furnaces D, which heat the ovens A, and is constructed with a top
or roof B composed of metal plates or troughs E, which are heated by
any suitable means in order that they may contribute to the evaporation
of the liquid. In the chamber B there are fitted dash wheels or
agitators F, which by being rotated by means of a motive-power engine
agitate the liquid and throw it up in the form of spray so as to present
a greater surface of the liquid to the action of the waste heat passing
through the chamber, whereby its evaporation or concentration is
facilitated. The liquid which is thus concentrated in the chamber B to
say about 25° Beaumé contains about one per cent. of iodine, is very
inflammable, and will, when reduced to ashes, yield nearly 50 per cent.
of saline matter. This concentrated liquid is conveyed by means of a
chain of buckets or forced by means of a pump actuated by the engine
which drives the agitators F from the chamber B into a suitable
receptacle (not shewn in the Drawings), from which it is allowed to flow

page_text: through pipes provided with regulating cocks into the spouts or hoppers
G communicating with the upper chamber A' of the ovens A containing
the seaweed, on to which it flows in a continuous stream, and with
which it is mixed and incinerated. A fan blower H driven by the
engine is provided for the purpose of forcing oxygen as required into
the furnaces D, into the chambers or ovens A, and also into the chamber
B containing the liquid to be evaporated or concentrated. The air from
the blower E. becomes highly heated in its passage to the furnaces and
chambers by being caused to traverse a conduit I formed in the sides of
and beneath the furnaces, whereby the incineration of the seawced and
the evaporation of the liquid is greatly facilitated, whilst considerable
economy in the consumption of fuel for heating the furnaces is
effected.
The admission of the heated oxygen to the furnaces is regulated by
means of a valve or damper K, fitted to the ash-pits L of the furnaces,
other dampers or registers M being also provided for regulating the
admission of the heated oxygen into the chambers or ovens A. The
heated products of combustion pass from the furnaces D through
gratings N into the side passages O where they meet and mingle with
the heated oxygen entering through the registers M. The heated
oxygen and products of combustion then enter the lower chamber A"
of the oven A, whence they pass through or between the arched bars a
into the two upper chambers A', A', and effect the incineration of the
seaweed contained therein, thence along conduits P into the evaporating
chamber B where they effect the evaporation or concentration of the
liquid contained therein (as herein-before described), and finally escape
through the chimney C into the atmosphere. The calcined or incine-
rated seaweed falls from the upper chambers A', A', into the lower
chamber A", from which it is removed through the opening band
deposited in suitable moulds. In lieu of incinerating the concen-
trated liquid with the seaweed, as herein-before described, the iodine,
iodides, and salts contained in the concentrated liquid may be con-
densed by heating the liquid to a temperature not exceeding 80°
centigrade.
By the herein-before described mode or method of manufacturing kelp
by first drawing off and concentrating the juice or liquid from the sea-
weed before its incineration a considerable saving is effected in the fuel
employed for heating the ovens whilst increased facility and rapidity in

page_text: the incineration of the seaweed is obtained, together with a greater yield
of iodine and soluble salts.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to
be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to
me by the heroin-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
First. The system or mode of manufacturing kelp from fresh seaweed
by first draining the juice or liquid therefrom, then evaporating or
concentrating the said juice or liquid, and finally heating or incine-
rating the juice or liquid so concentrated and the seaweed either
separately or together, substantially as herein-before described.
Secondly. Constructing apparatus for the manufacture of kelp with
an intermediate evaporating chamber for evaporating or concentrating
the drained juice or liquid by the agency or co-operation of the waste
heat from the furnaces, which heat the incinerating ovens in its passage
to the chimney, in combination or not with agitators and auxiliary
heating appliances, substantially as herein-before described and illus-
trated by the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Wilson Croker Perrier, have
to this my Specification set my hand and seal, the Twenty-
second day of June One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.