Specification of Walter Brown : treatment of sewage.

  • Brown, Walter.
Date:
1873
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Specification of Walter Brown : treatment of sewage. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Brown's Improvements in the Treatment of Seivage. - . —. • ~ impregnated, thus preventing all injurious effluvium and subsequent fermentation, and further corruption of the effluent water. At the same time retaining the active and fermentative qualities of the sewage, and thus producing a valuable manure. The mode of operation is as follows,— 5 Eirst. I make use of shaly minerals, by preference that known as black stone, or any other minerals possessing similar properties thereto, selecting only such as by calcination in manner hereafter described afford a residue of charcoal combined with any friable earthy matter, preferably such as contain silica united with alumina in their consti- 10 tuents, rejecting such as yield a hard stony residue. Second. I calcine the black stone or other mineral before described in vessels closed so as to exclude the atmospheric air, which if admitted would impair the utility of the resulting residue. This calcination may be carried on at a heat short of a red heat, and the vapours arising 15 therefrom may be condensed by suitable apparatus, which is too well known to need description, so as to form mineral oil; or the distillation may be at once begun at a red heat, and the vapours used as gas for illuminating and other purposes. In either case it is necessary that the residue should be brought to a 20 red heat, so as to completely drive out all gaseous, oily, and bituminous constituents from the black stone or other mineral without allowing the atmospheric air to enter the chamber during such process. The residue may then be taken from the calcining vessels or retorts, and quenched, but not quite cooled, with water. It is advisable then to cover it up 25 with sand till quite cold, but this is not absolutely necessary. It is then to be broken into pieces of a size suitable to the purpose to which it is to be applied, for example, if for sewage works the dust resulting from the breakage may be scattered amongst it, so as to form a filter bed, through which the sewage is' to be passed; or if to be used for any 80 other purpose it should be ground to coarse powder, and added to the sewage to be disinfected in a drain or otherwise.