IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF PEAT
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Buckland, of the Maesteg Iron-
works, in the County of Glamorgan, Ironmaster, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF PEAT."
Sealed the 20th March 1860, and dated the 30th September 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Buckland.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 30th September 1859.
I, WILLIAM HENRY BUCKLAND, of the Maesteg Ironworks, in the County of
Glamorgan, Ironmaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF PEAT," to be as follows:-
My Invention of improvements in the preparation of peat relates to
improvements upon an Invention for which I applied for Letters Patent on the
26th July last, and consists in operating upon the peat in the state in which
it is taken from the bog. The object of the Invention is to separate the
decomposed from the undecomposed portion of the peat, and this I effect
without the addition of water, by placing the peat in a strainer or receptacle
with perforated sides, and if necessary a perforated bottom. The sides and
bottom of the straining receptacle may be constructed either of perforated
metal or of wire gauze, or other openwork which will admit of the substance
being squeezed out. The material to be operated upon is, when placed in the

page_text: strainer, simplystirred and pressed until the black,pasty, decomposed portions
of the peat are squeezed out, separated, or removed from theundecomposed
fibres which are retained in the strainer or receptacle while the other parts
ooze out of the perforations. The straining receptacle is so arranged that the
undecomposed fibres are delivered from a separate opening, so that the
separating process may be continued without interruption. Sometimes the thick
pasty mass which thus cozes out through the perforations of the strainer or
receptacle will be found to have such a consistence as to admit of the mass
being moulded into any required form without having recourse to any artificial
drying operation, but I usually find it convenient and advantageous to deliver
theexpressed material either into a hot-air chamber,in passing through which
a portion of the aqueous particles is driven off from the material, or it may be
delivered on to a hot plate, which by heating it will have the same effect. In
whatever way,
however, the heat is applied, it should only be applied for such
a length of time and in such a manner as will suffice to bring the material to
the proper consistence for moulding, and when the substance has been
moulded into the blocks or articles of the required size and form, these articles
should be removedi nto a drying chamber, where they may be perfectly dried
and hardened. Care must, however, be taken that they be not exposed to a
temperature which will cause them to crack.
Another mode of drying the expressed decomposed peat consists in sub-
mitting the substance when in a divided state to a current of warm or cold air,
either by directing a blast on to the substance, or by putting the latter into
very rapid motion so as to drive off some of the aqueous parts.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Henry Buckland in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 30th March 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY BUCKLAND, of the Maesteg Ironworks, in the County of Glamorgan,
Ironmaster, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Henry Buckland, Her special license that I, the said
William Henry Buckland, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such

page_text: others as I, the said William Henry Buckland, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to.
time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF PEAT," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Henry Buckland, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great.
Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after.
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Henry Buckland, do hereby.
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the.
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
:-
The object of this Invention of "Improvements in the Preparation of Peat,"
is to treat peat so as to prepare a material that will be suitable for conversion
into charcoal, or for moulding into bricks, or cakes, or other suitable forms to
be used as fuel, or into various forms which may be converted into a variety
of articles both useful and ornamental. The present Invention relates to
improvements upon an Invention for which I obtained Letters Patent bearing
date the Twenty-sixth July last.
Ordinary peat when taken from the bug a short distance below the surface,
is generally found to consist of a black, pasty, unctuous or slimy mass, with
which is intermingled more or less vegetable fibre, such as fine stringy roots.
The black pasty portion of the peat consists of the decomposed vegetable fibre,
while the rooty or fibrous portions of the mass consist of undecomposed vege-
table fibre. Most of these undecomposed fibres are, in fact, tubes, and contain
more or less water, which it is difficult to get rid of by any of the ordinary
mechanical operations usually employed for the purpose. Various attempts
have been made from time to time to prepare peat in such a manner as will
admit of its being used for fuel and other useful purposes for which it may be
applicable, and the plan usually adopted to effect this object has been to con-
solidate the mass by pressure, so as to express a certain portion of the water
and cause it to be moulded into blocks of convenient size and shape. It has
also been proposed to incorporate with the peat other materials, such as small
coal, tar, pitch, and other bituminous or resinous substances for the purpose

page_text: either of increasing the heating powers of the mass, or of causing the peat
earth to mould better and form a substance resembling mineral coal. All of
these processes for producing artificial fuel are open to objection, and possess
certain disadvantages, which, however, it is not necessary to cite here. I have
discovered by experiment, that if the undecomposed fibres and rooty sub-
stances contained in the peat be removed from the black or slimy decomposed
matter, a great portion of the water will be removed with the undecomposed
fibres, and the black, slimy, decomposed peat may then be easily moulded into
any convenient form, and will, when dry, become a hard black or dark brown
substance of about the density and specific gravity of mineral coal. Such
substance may with advantage be used in place of coal, especially in the pro-
duction of charcoal, or in the manufacture of iron, for which it will be found
particularly applicable. As the moulded substance consists almost entirely of
decomposed vegetable matter, it may easily be converted into charcoal, and in
that form may be employed for any of the purposes for which charcoal is
usually employed. The separation of the black slimy part of the peat from
the undecomposed fibres may be effected in various ways, one of which was
described in the Specification of my former Patent above referred to as con-
sisting in washing out the decomposed portions from the peat by means of
water, from which the solid matters are subsequently separated by allowing
them to sink to the bottom, and then getting rid of the water by decantation
or evaporation. This plan I call the wet method.
Another method and which forms the subject of the present Invention,
consists in squeezing out the decomposed matter from the undecomposed
fibres by placing the mass of peat in a vessel, chamber, or receptacle provided
with perforated sides, and by applying pressure to the mass causing the decom-
posed peat to ooze or pass out of the holes, leaving the undecomposed fibres
behind. In order to separate the decomposed vegetable matter from the
undecomposed fibres by this method, I take fresh peat from the bog and place
it in the hopper of a vessel of convenient size, and provided with a stirring
tool, whereby it is forced forward in a conical-shaped vessel or chamber pro-
vided with perforated sides, and if considered necessary, with a perforated
bottom. The sides and bottom of this conical-shaped vessel or chamber, which
may be called the straining chamber or vessel, may be constructed either of
perforated metal or of wire gauze, or other openwork which will admit of the
substance being squeezed out through the perforations or small openings, while
the fibrous portions are retained or passed through a larger opening con-
veniently provided for that purpose at or near the centre of the vessel. In
order to force the material or peat through the strainer, a vertical stirrer pro-

page_text: vided with horizontal inclined arms like the stirrer of a pug mill or a screw
with a conical thread, is mounted in the strainer, and is actuated by means of
suitable gearing so as to force the mass gradually downwards in the straining
or separating vessel.
In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn various views of an arrange-
ment of apparatus that may be used for the purpose of my Invention, but I
do not mean or intend to confine myself thereto. Fig. 1 (Sheet I.). is a
sectional elevation shewing the principal working parts; Fig. 2 is a front
elevation; Fig. 3 (Sheet II.) is a plan view of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 (Sheet III.)
is a side elevation of the apparatus complete; Fig. 5 is an end view of the
gear for driving the archimedian or moulding screws; Fig. 6 is a detached
side elevation of the driving gear shewn in Fig. 5; Figures 7 and 8
(Sheet III.) and Fig. 9 (Sheet II.) are detached views of other parts of the
apparatus; Figures 10 and 11 (Sheet IV.) are sectional views of an arrange-
ment of dryingapparatus for dryingor hardeningthe moulded substancewhen
it comes from the machine. The rough peat from the bog is thrown into the
hopper a,a, from whence it is carried down into the conicalstraining vesselb,b,
by the rotation of the conical screw cat the lower end of the vertical shaft d,
to which a continuous and regular motion is cominunicated by means of bevil
toothed, or other gearing e, e, at the upper end of the shaft. The conical
straining vessel b is enclosed within a hot-air chamber fit, which is heated by
the fire in the furnace g, g. The screw c, by its rotation, will force the pasty,
and decomposed parts of the peat through the perforated sides of the conical
chamber 6, and the separated portions thus forced through the perforations
will fall down in the form of worm-like pieces like broken vermicelli or
maccaroni, and by being delivered on to a hot plate or into the hot-air
chamber f, f, in this finely divided state will quickly part with a portion or
its moisture, which will be carried off up the chimney h, h, as indicated by the
arrows. The worm-like mass will fall from the perforated conical strainer b
on to archimedean screws ii, four of which are shewn in the Drawings, and
are enclosed within cases), j, shewn in the detached view Fig. 7, and a slow
rotary motion is communicated to these screws by means of the gearing / at
their upper ends, as seen best in Figures 3, 5, and 6. The partially dried peat
will be slowly forced along the casingsj,j, and will be ultimately passed out
at the other ends through dies, plates, or moulds 7, and delivered on to a
travelling endless belt placed there for the purpose, or on to an inclined
plane p provided with semicircular hollow blocks q, q, to receive the moulded
peat which slides down them under the cutting-off wires r, r. One of the
cutting-off tools is shewn at Fig. 9. The stiff mass of expressed peat may

page_text: then be cut up by means of the wires », r, into convenient lengths for the
subsequent drying and hardening process. It will be seen that the heated
gases and flame from the fire in the furnace g are allowed, on their passage to
the hot-air chamber and chimney h, to act on the casings j, j, of the
archimedean screws i, and will have the effect of still further driving off the
water contained in the peat, for which purpose openings j*, j*, are made in
the casings j.j, to allow the steam to pass off to the chimney. By this means
the peat which was placed in the machine in a soft and pasty state will be
delivered out at the end of the casings j,j, of a stiff consistency, and in a
partially dried state requiring only a comparatively short time to be dried
sufficiently to admit of it being used as fuel.
From the above description, it will be understood that the peat or material
to be operated upon is merely placed in the hopper in its natural state as it
comes from the bog, and it is worked and pressed by the screw or stirrer c
until the black pasty decomposed portions of the peat are squeezed out through
the strainer, and separated or removed from the undecomposed fibres, which
are retained or kept back in the strainer or receptacle, while the other parts
are made to ooze out of the perforations or openings in the sides of the conical
straining receptacle. An opening is made at the central part of the conical
strainer at the bottom, and the undecomposed fibres are, by the rotation ofthe
screw c, forced out of this opening and conveyed by a pipe or channel minto
a separate vessel or chamber provided for the purpose. The separating
process may therefore be continued without interruption, the attendants only
being required to supply the hopper ofthe straining chamber regularly with
fresh peat, and to cut off the moulded peat into convenient lengths as it passes
down the inclined table. Sometimes the thick pasty mass which thus oozes
out through the perforations of the strainer or receptacle will be found to have
such a consistence as to admit of the mass being moulded at once into any
required form, without having recourse to any artificial drying operation; but
I usually find it convenient and advantageous to deliver the expressed materia
either into a hot air chamber, as shewn in the Drawing, and already
described, and in passing through which a portion of the aqueous particles is
driven off from the material as before mentioned, or it may be delivered on to
a hot plate, which by heating the divided peat will have the same effect.. As
the decomposed and strained portion of the peat issues from the perforations
of the conical strainer in a divided state resembling thin worms, the facility
with which it may be dried will be apparent. Instead of forcing the pea
through die plates as shewn, in order to bring it into a suitable form for use
the partially dried worm-like pieces may be collected and compressed in

page_text: moulds by means of pistons, or in any other suitable manner, or the peat may
be dried when in the divided worm-like form. Care must be taken that the
partial drying or heating operation should be carried on only for such a length
of time, a nd in such a manner as will be sufficient to bring the material to the
proper consistence for moulding; moreover the preparatory drying operation
must not be carried to such an extent as would prevent the substance from
being moulded with facility. When, therefore, the substance has been
moulded into the blocks or articles of the required size and form, these articles
should be removed into a drying chamber, where they must be perfectly but.
gradually dried until they become quite hard, taking care, however, that they
be not exposed to a temperature which will cause them to crack, as would be
the case if they were dried too quickly.
Another mode of drying the expressed decomposed peat consists in sub-
mitting the substance, when in a divided state, to a current of warm or cold
air, either by directing a blast of air on to the substance, or by putting the
latter into very rapid motion, so as to drive off some of the aqueous parts.
A convenient arrangement of apparatus for drying the moulded peat by
means of a current of warm air is shewn at Figures 10 and 11 in Sheet IV.
of the Drawings. 8, s, is a chamber of any suitable form and dimensions, and
in which the moulded blocks of peat are closely packed, as shewn in the
Figures; t, is a fan or blower, which is kept in rapid rotation by. means of a
belt that passes from any prime mover over a pulley on the fan or blower
shaft. The rotation of this fan will draw the heated gases from the furnace u
below, and will force them through the moulded blocks of peat, and in so
doing will quickly dry them. To facilitate this operation the blocks are made
cylindrical and tubular, so that the heated gases may not only act on them
externally, but may also be made to pass through them. If it be desired to
convert the prepared peat into charcoal by coking or roasting it in a retort, a
valuable product, in the form of a black fatty matter or grease, may be
obtained by distillation, and the charcoal produced may be used as a fertilizing
manure, or for other useful purposes.
It will be understood that iron sand or pulverized or soft unctuous iron
ore or other ore may be mixed with black slimy peat either before or after it
has passed through the strainer, but before it passes into the archimedean
screws for moulding. By this means blocks composed of strong fuel mixed
with rich mineral substance will be produced, and when partially or completely
dried may be placed in the smelting furnace without the addition of any
other fuel, and by the intimate combination of the fuel with the pulverized or
soft mineral substance, the latter will be smelted with great facility. Small

page_text: and
coal or coke dust may also be similarly combined with the separated peat,
when moulded will form a very valuable fuel either for heating or for
generating gas.
Having now described my Invention of " Improvements in the Preparation
of Peat," and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish
it to be understood that, under the above in part recited Letters Patent I
claim the mode herein set forth of preparing peat.
I claim particularly separating the decomposed from the fibrous or un-
decomposed portions of the peat by straining or keeping back the latter while
the decomposed portions of the peat are forced through the perforated sides of
the straining vessel or receptacle.
I claim also moulding such separated decomposed portions into, any con-
venient forms, shapes, and dimensions, and then drying the same so as to
render it available as fuel, and for other useful purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Buckland, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of. March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. H. BUCKLAND. (L.S.)