US1454874A - Fractionating column - Google Patents

Description

. May 15, 1923.

H. C. P. WEBER FRAQTIONATING COLUMN Filed Aug. 5, 1919.

ATTORNEY WITNESSES: I f0). W

i To all whom it' may concern:

Patented May 15, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATENT oF icE.

HENRY C. P. WEBER, OF EDGEWOOD FARK, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WEQI'ING- HOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYL- VANIA.

FRACTIONATING COLUMN.

Applicatiol filed August 5, 1919. Serial No. 315,502.

Be it known that I, HENRY C. P. WEBER, a citizen of the United States, and a resizlent of Edgewood Park in the county of Allegheny and State of lenusylvania, have invented a new and useful Im rovement in ich the folcolumns and it has, for its primary object theprovision of a device of the above indicated character which shall be simple in construction and, at the same time, unusually efl'ective in operation.

A further object ofm invention is to provide a fractionating co umn or. condenser 'by means of whichthe vapor to be condensed, previous to its condensation, is washed bypassage through a liquid consist.- ing of the more .readily condensable portions-of the distillate or vapors. This may be introduced into the apparatus initially or it may accumulate of itself during the first" part of the distillation.

Another object which I have in view is to provide a condenser with a jacketing by means of which the temperature at w ich the condenser operates may be controlled.

This acketin is ,'filled with a suitable liquid which,-if leftitoiltself, reaches a temperature slightly-below thatfat, which the fractionating column is; 4 perating. This provides a surrounding-geld; oi uniform temperature about thefinner portion, thus insuring greater uniformityof separation.

In this connection, theconstruction of my fractionating column is such that, if the controlling liquid in" the. jacket has a constant boiling point,"which-may be sub-' stantially that of one of the constituents to e be separated, a perfectly uniform temperature will be maintained in the wash liquid so as to insure absolute uniformity of separation of the liquids being distilled.

Another advantage of this construction resides in the'fact that, by employing a circulation of cooling liquid in the jacketing of the condenser, the condenser may be employed as a reflux condenser.

With these and other objects in view, my invention will be more fully described, 51-.

lustrated in the drawings, in the several views of which corresponding numerals indicate like parts, and then particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a vertical, central, sectional View of a simple form of fractionatin column or condenser construct;

ed in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a transverse section, taken on the line II II of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a section corresponding to Fig. 1 and disclosing another embodiment of my invention.

- Figs. 1 and 2 disclose-one of the simplest forms of my invention which may comprise a tubular body 1 open at its ends and formed intermediate its length with an enlargement I providing a. condensing chamber 2. An annular flange or baflie 3, preferably formed is of glass, as is customary in columns of v this character, the wall of the cup, at intervals, may be fused and pressed into sealing engagement with the flange, as indicated at 5. Preferably, the. bottom of the cup will be provided centrally with a depending projection '6, for a purpose which 'will be later pointed out. A discharge tube 7 leads from the portion of the tubular body 1 above the chamber 2 and is preferably directed upgardly and then downwardly, as shown in When employing the fractionating column or condensershown in Figs. 1 and 2, the lower end of the tube 1 may be connected to a still of any suitable character, while the branch ,tube 7 ma be connected to a suitable receiving vesse Astopper, through which a thermometer has been extended,

. difi'erent boiling points enter the chamber 2, the liquid of the higher boiling point will be condensed first and will gather in the cup 4 to provide a liquid seal between the lower and upper portions of the tubular body 1. Under these circumstances, it will be apparent that the vapor of the liquid having the lower boiling point mustpass through, and be washed by, the liquid contained in the cup before it can pass to the branch tube 7. This insures an extremely effective separation of the liquids. As the quantity of liquid in the cup 4 increases, it will gradually overflow the cup and drip from the projection 6 from which it will fall axially of the tubular body 1 so that it will not gather upon the walls thereof, or materially interfere with the upward passage of vapors.

In Fig. 3 I have illustrated a preferred form of condenser or frac-tionating column in which the tubular body 7 may be formed with a plurality of spaced condensing chambers 8, each provided with its depending annular bafiie 9 supporting a cup 10. As each of these chambers and its battle and supported cup are identical with the corresponding parts of the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a detailed description is not necessary.

A jacketing 11 may surround all of the chambers 8, being spaced therefrom to permit circulation of a control'ling fluid about the chamber, the jacketing, of course, being sealed to the body 7' above and below the chambers. This jacketing may be provided, near its lower end, with an inlet tube 12 and, near its upper end, with an outlet tube 13 to permit circulation of a controlling fluid about the chambers 8. A branch pipe 1 1, of course leads from the tubular body 7' above the jacketing and corresponds to the tube 7 of the condenser first described.

The operation of the fractionating column or condenser shown in Fig. 3 is, in principle, the same as that shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Vapors of as many different boiling points as there are chambers 8 and cups 10 may, however, be separated from a mixture of vapors of various liquids during their passage through the condenser.

The main difference between this apparatus and the one first described, however, resides in the utilization of the jacketing 11. For example, a liquid may be circulated through this jacketing at a, tem 'ierature substantially the same as the boiling point of the lowest boiling point liquid of the mixture of liquids being distilled so that the liquids in the cups serving as wash liquids for the vapors passing through the column may be kept near their boiling temperatures. This permits the employment of the device with high-boiling-point liquids. such as gums and resins which might otherwise solidify in the cups and prevent the passage of vapors of lower boiling-point liquids.

On the other hand, if a coolingliquid,-of suitable character, is circulated through the jacketing, the apparatus may be employed as a reflux condenser, all vapors entering it being condensed in one or more of the cups and from them returning to the still. Other methods of employing my fractionating column or condenser will readily oc-' our to those skilled in the art.

As anexample of its efliciency, an apparatus of this character was employed in distilling a 50% mixture of ,aleohol and water and it was found that, when three-fifths of the mixture had been boiled off, all of the alco- 1101 had been removed and condensed. No

other condenser known to me is capable of doing this. I

Although I have illustrated several embodiments of my invention and described it in considerable detail, it will be apparent that my invention is susceptible of various changes. For this reason, no limitations are to be imposed upon my invention other than those indicated in the claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A fractionating column comprising a tubular body provided, in its length, with a condensing chamber and means disposed in the chamber providing for a liquid seal between the ends of the body including a cup, and a depending projection thereon.

2. A fractionating column comprising a tubular bodyprovided, in its length, with a condensation chamber, an annular, depending, baflleflange in the chamber and a condensation cup having a projection thereon surrounding and spaced from the lower portion of the flange and supported thereby.

3. A fraetionating column comprising a tubular body provided, in its length, with a condensing chamber, an annular flange depending from the wall of the chamber and in axial alinement with the tubular body and a condensing cup supported by the flange and surrounding the lower end thereof.

4. A fractionating column comprisinga tubular body provided, in its length, with a condensing chamber, an annular flange depending from the upper wall of the chamber and centrally thereof, a cup supported by the flange and surrounding the lower end thereof, in spaced relation thereto, and a jacketing surrounding the chamber.

'5. A fractionating column comprising a tubular body provided, in its length, with a plurality of condensing chambers, and means disposed in each chamber. providing for a liquid seal between the ends of the body including a cup, and a depending projection thereon.

6. A fractionating column comprising1 a tubular body provided, in its length, wit

plurality of enlargements forming condensof a fluid, surrounding the chambers and a ing chambers, annular depending flanges branch tube leading from the body above the supported by the upper walls of the condensj acketing.

ing chambers, cups supported by the flanges In testimony whereof, I have hereunto 5 and surrounding the lower ends thereof in subscribed my name this 31st day of July,

spaced'relation thereto to provide for liquid 1919. 4

seals, a jacketing, providing for circulation HENRY C. P. WEBER.

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