814

MANUFACTURES.

Retorts,

British

Fig. 1.

Manufac- head a tube proceeds called the nose or beak, throughtures. which the vapours, after condensation, are made to flowinto a vessel called the receiver, which is usuallyspherical.

Retorts are a kind of bottle formed in a small wayof glass or earthenware, and in the large way of metal,the bottom part spherical and the upper part graduallydiminishing into a neck which is turned on one side.

Various means have been had recourse to in applyingheat in distillation, depending upon the nature of theapparatus employed as well as upon the substance to bedistilled; but the common still, being formed of metal, isimmediately exposed to the naked fire, since from itstenacity, and its property of conducting heat with facility,it is not liable to crack, which is not the case with glassor earthenware.

(1131.) The above general description will be betterflnahon^ 1 *" un< ^ erst00< ' by referring to plate lxxxvii. fig. 1, which isWright’s representation of a Patent still by Mr. Wright, en-Fat.ent. gineer, in the Kent-road. The still is of metal, as usual;FI. lxxxvii. and has an internal division a a , which forms the stillinto two compartments; these are both filled with washor other liquor intended for distillation. The still isheated by the furnace below, and the vapour from thelower compartment is driven through the tube b, anddescends by the bent pipes c, c into the wash of theupper compartment; from the tube b, without the bentpipe, the vapour may be dispersed above the surface ofthe liquor withih the still, by the intervention of a plateplaced over the tube b, and a pipe d to the vessel of water,whence it descends again by the pipe e into the uppercompartment of the still; by this means a partial conden-sation will have been effected of the grosser vapours whichhave arisen from the lower compartments, and the lighteror uncondensed vapour will pass off through the per-pendicular pipe f to the condensing apparatus, whereit finally becomes spirit. The heat of the furnace beingcontinued, the vapour from the upper compartment ofthe still will also be driven off and pass through thepipe f to the condensing apparatus. A small pipe g,with a stop-cock, is inserted into the tube b, and carriedthrough the vessel of water, by which a small quantityof the vapour from the lower part of the still may beadmitted into the glass vessel h , for the purpose of as-certaining the quality of the vapour. When the spiritis out of the lower compartment of the still, and theupper compartment reduced to the gravity intended,the spent liquor below is to be drawn off through thecock i, after which the valve lc may be opened to admitthe liquor from the upper to the lower part of the still,and the succeeding charge is drawn from the cistern l,through the pipe m, to the upper part of the still. Thecondensing apparatus consists of two cisterns placedone within the other; the inner one l, which should bemade with copper, is filled with wash, or other liquorintended for subsequent distillation, by means of thepipe and funnel j. This vessel should at least containtwo charges for the upper compartment of the still; theouter vessel n n may be made of wood, and must becharged with water circumscribing the inner vessel; butwhen the former vessel is attached to other stills, theouter one n n may be dispensed with and the pipe o oattached, which must communicate with another con-denser. The vapour passing from the still through thepipe /, as above described, proceeds to the spiral con-densing pipe p, which passes several times round thevessel f, and, the vapour being cooled and condensed in

its progress, finally collects in the form of spirit and is Mechanics

Processes-

drawn off through the pipe o; q is a pipe inserted intothe head of the vessel l, with a light valve opening up- — vward for admitting any vapour into the condenser pwhich might arise from l ; but this, at the same time,prevents the passage of any vapour from the stillthrough the pipe/; a water pipe r is attached to thecistern n to carry off the surplus, water. The parts ofthis apparatus claimed as original are “ a vessel tocontain wash or other liquor in the progress of distilla-tion, surrounded by a cavity for condensing the waterfrom the still.” The apparatus shown at h and s areglass vessels containing a number of graduated bubbles,of known gravity, for determining the specific gravity ofthe spirit.

Another improvement made by Sir Anthony Perrier,of the city of Cork, is to cause the liquid operated uponin the process of distillation to flow gradually over theheated surface of the boiler, whilst it continues to giveout its spirituous evaporation. The quantity of liquidallowed to be acted upon, or to pass through the still ina given time, and also its velocity, is regulated by thecircuitous route in which it proceeds, and by that meansthe complete operation of the fire upon the whole fluidis ensured without impeding or clogging the spirituousevaporation by aqueous or empyreumatic vapours. Bythis construction of a still, a continued and uninter-rupted distillation, boiling, or evaporation is carried onso long as the supply of liquid is furnished and thefire kept up. Fig. 2 is a view in profile of the section fig’of a still or boiler made on the improved principle, ofcopper, or of any other suitable material, and fig. 3 isa plan of the same. The bottom of this boiler is dividedby concentric partitions, which stand up as shown infig. 2, sufficiently high to prevent the liquor from boilingover; these partitions have openings from one to an-other at opposite sides, so as to make the course a sortof labyrinth ; a is a reservoir of liquor prepared for theoperation; b is a pipe or tube descending from the re-servoir, and conducting the liquor to that part of theboiler marked c, which is the commencement of therace, from which the liquor flows through the channels,as shown by the arrows, fig. 3, progressively traversingthe whole surface of the bottom, so that the full effectof the fire is exerted upon small portions of the liquid,which causes the evaporation to proceed with great ra-pidity. The residue of the liquor then passes off bythe discharge pipe d, contrived to slide for the purposeof regulating the quantity and depth of the fluid in'tended for the still; and this pipe should be in suchproportion to the admission pipe as to cause the pertecdistillation of the liquor in its passage to the regulatingtube. The spirit which rises in the head of this un-proved still will be found much stronger and purerthan that obtained from stills of the ordinary construetion, where the spirituous vapour is much mixed vviaqueous matter and other impurities. The channemay be extended to any length required over a hot to ^of any dimension by contracting their breadth,upon this principle may be made of all sizes apd shape ^round, square, or otherwise; and the partitionsplaced in concentric or eccentric circles, with openingon their sides, at such distances as shall cause the I( 1 .

to flow over the most extended surface of the bo o >or, the still may be square, with angular parti > 0ranged as a labyrinth, or in any other manner, so ascause the run of the liquor to be greatly extende 0

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