US78352A - eaton - Google Patents

Description

D. AS-HWORTH & R. B. EATON. APPARATUS FOR GONGENTRATI-NGY SULPHURIG ACID. No. 78,352.

Patented May 26, 1868.

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Letters Patent No. 78,352, dated May 26, 1868.

IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GONCBNTRATIN G SULPHUBIG ACID.

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Be it known that we, DANIEL Asnwon'rn and ROBERT B. EATON, of.Woburn, in the county of Middlesex,

"and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Concentrating Sulphuric Acids, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in wh-ich- Figure 1 representsa perspective viewof the apparatus containing our improvements, and

Figures a and 3 represent a cage for holding the retorts.

This invention is designed as an'improvement upon an apparatus for which Letters Patent were granted to us on the 12th 'of Mareh, 1867; and the invention or improvement consists in the employment of retorts through which the acids pass its the process of condensation, made either wholly of platinum, or of platinum and glass combined.

The invention also consists in conducting the steam or vapor from the retorts tc-the oil-of-vitriol chamber, for the purpose of heating or imparting'stcam to its contents, and thus dispensing with the useiof steam from a separate boiler.

The invention also consists in the employment of a reservoir or vessel formed with a double easing, so arranged that the oil of vitriol will pass into and through the space formed by the double casing previous to its undergoing-the process of concentration, and thus become heated by the concentrated acid in the inner portion of the said vessel, the concentrated acid being in an equal-degree cooled by contact with inner casing of the said vessel Oirescrvoir.

Referring to the drawings, A represents'a chamber containing the oil of vitriol, 13 bcing the outer side, properly framed andsupported. D is the base or floor on which the apparatus is placed. 'ihe'furnace is placed at the front portion, F, of' the apparatus, and the products of combustionpass underneath the seriesof'rctorts to the chimney, as described in the patent previously referred to.

I a a represent retorts, which may be made either wholly of thin platinum, or partly of platinum and partly of'glass. When made entirely ofglass,'as described in our patent previously referred to, they are liable to break, and thus waste the contents. The-platinum retorts may he made very thin, whiehwill admit of their contents being very quickly and highly heated. The upper portion, a, of the retorts is made to fit within a groove or recess, formcdin the lower portion, in whieh'groove water maybe placed, to form a water-lute, to prevent the escape of the gases or vapors from the retorts.

b I; I; represent retorts made of glass, and communicating with each other by means of straight tubes or, by siphons, as shown.

c c e are lcadcn pans, arranged as shown at the rear end of the flue F. Thebottom of the pan a extends below the one next to it, and through the lower portion of the said pan pass tubes or pipes, at, open at each end, d unicating with the flue-space so as to allow of the passage of the products-of combustion through the said tubes, and thus expose the contents of the pan 0 to a greater heating-surface. The pans communicate one with the other by means of tubes at their upper edges.

From the upper portion of the retorts cxtend'tubes e, which are connected at their upper ends with alarger tube, G. The tube G enters the chamber A near the top, into which is conductedthe steam or ,vapor arising from the retorts, and thus serves to heat and supply steam to the said chamber, by which means the steam from a boiler, as usually employed, may be dispensed with.

Near the front'po r'ticn of the apparatus, and below the level of the lowermost retort of the series, is a tressci or reservoir, I, which is constructed with a double casing,-so as to-leave a space between the'two casings, the said space being'e'ntircly disconnected with the space in the inner portion of the vessel I.

' In the centre of the vessel I is arranged an upright tube of glass, K, which is designed to be suspended, by means ofa'shoulder or edge at its upper cnd, to the cover of the vessel I, the lower end of the said tube being over its opening in thebottom of the vessel, but'not in contact with it.

A tube, it, leads from the lowermost retort to the top of the glass tube K, and from the opening in the bot -tom of the vessel extends atube, L, to thepan-P- From the lower part of the oil'-ofvitriol chamber A extends a tube, H, that enters at its lower end into the space between the two casings of the vessel I. On the'opposite side of the said casing, at its upper end, isv a tube, M, also communicating with the said space, and leading to the pan a, at the rear of the apparatus.

The concentrated acid, after passing through the serics'of retorts, is conducted .in a highly heated state into the tube K, in the centre of the vessel I, and,filling' the said inner compartment, passes out through the aperture'in the bottom and the pipe L, to the receptacle P. At the same time the diluted oil of vitriol, in a 'cool state, passingthrough tube 11, fills the space surrounding the inner compartment, and thus serves to cool the concentrated acid contained therein.

The heat of the coucentratel'tl ncid,-after thelatter has passed through the series at retorts, is thus utilized in imparting. heat to the oil of vitriol previous to its entering upon the process of concentration, and the concentrated acid will in an equal degree become cooled by contact withtlie inner casing of the reservoir I, and by the time it reaches the pan P, is in a condition to be put into the carboys for transportation.

Figs. 2 and 3 represent a cage or frame of metal, which is inserted-in the openings over the furnace-flue, and is designed to hold the retorts for the greater security of the latter.

Single retorts madeof. platinum have heen used in concentrating acids. These were required to be made of thick materiahand are, consequently, quite expensive and cumbersome. The advantages of a series of platinum retorts or those made partly of platinum and partly of glass, as in our present'iuvention, consistin. their comparatively low cost, the small petorts enabling usto use light or thin sheets oi platinum in their construction, economy in the use of fuel, and a saving of labor. 7

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. Conducting the steam or vapors from the retorts to the oil-of-vitriol chamber, for the purpose and in the manner. substantially sis-described.

2. I claim cooling the concentrated oil of vitriol and heating the vitriol before its concentration, by passing the same around or through a vessel, I, constructed as described.

3. I claim constructing the pan 0, with tubes or lines d, for the purpose specified.

4. I claim conducting the acid from one retort to the other, by means of siphons or tubes, as described.

5. I claim constructing the retortsof platinum, or partly of platinum and partly of glass, when the same are arrangedinu series and communicate with each other, as set forth.

' Intestimony whereof, we have signed our. names .to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' I DANIEL ASHWORTH,

ROB. n. EATON.

Witnesses:

HENRY H. Wm'rns, Smuuow Homer.

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