Specification of Burton Henry Vallé : treating sewage.

  • Vallé, Burton Henry.
Date:
1875
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Specification of Burton Henry Vallé : treating sewage. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Valle's Improvements in Treating Sewage. The purifier is composed of a number of perforated shelves, on which there is placed a thin layer of the charcoal residue from the retorts and lime, and the lower part of the apparatus (the drier) is filled with the same mixture. T is a tank receiving the overflow from the condenser 5 by a pipe n which dips into a vessel containing water ; p is another pipe leading from the top of the purifier, by which the quality of the gas therein may be tested. Instead of a shaft running the whole length of the retort the carbon or charcoal can be moved forward to be discharged by means of a hollow 10 cylinder or tube, one end of which is open and connected with the centre of that end of the retort which in this case has a circular opening of the diameter of the tube which is within the air-tight chamber, and the other end of the cylinder which is closed is supported by a frame within the chamber. Midway in the tube there is a vertical plate which 15 divides the tube into two compartments, that one nearest the retort having a shaft in the axial line of the tube along which there are a number of moveable jointed knives which are arranged spirally, and the other compartment furthest from the retort is for the purpose of a stuffing box to prevent the admission of any air into the retort or the 20 escape of any gas therefrom. The end of this shaft nearest the retort has a sharp spiral penetrating point, and the end furthest from the retort is connected by a metal axle which extends through the centre of the covered or extreme end of the tube, and thence through the side walls of the chamber where it is connected with the motive power which 25 makes it revolve and at the same time move in the axial line of the retort toward the charging end thereof and back to its former position, whereby the carbon or charcoal is discharged into the perpendicular tube, the covers of which are opened and closed alternately, as before described. 30 In the portion of the tube in which the shaft works there is an opening in the lower side thereof near the vertical plate and communi¬ cating with a vertical tube having moveable covers which alternately open and close similar to those before described for the purpose of allowing the escape of the carbon or charcoal which is carried with the 35 fireproof shaft in its return into the tube, by which means the same result is attained. Or the shaft in the retort may be dispensed with if the sewage sludge be dried or broken into small pieces before dis¬ tillation in the retorts. In this case the length of the retorts within the