IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF SHALE FOR THE OBTAINMENT OF MINERAL OIL, AND IN THE APPARATUS OR MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Young, of Clippens, in the County of Renfrew,
North Britain, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DESTRUCTIVE
DISTILLATION OF SHALE FOR THE OBTAINMENT OF MINERAL OIL, AND IN
THE APPARATUS OR MEANS EMPLOYED THEREFOR."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Young at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 17th April 1880.
WILLIAM YOUNG, of Clippens, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF SHALE FOR THE OBTAIN-
MENT OF MINERAL OIL, AND IN THE APPARATUS OR MEANS EMPLOYED
THEREFOR."
These improvements have for their object economy in the fuel required to bring
about the destructive distillation of shale, and in the supply of the steam necessary
to eliminate the nitrogen in the shale in the form of ammonia.
The majority of the shales employed to produce mineral oils do not contain
sufficient fixed carbon to bring about by its combustion the destructive distillation
of the raw shale, as at present employed, when cold air is used to support com-
bustion, and therefore this carbon has to be supplemented with coal. This coal
has been hitherto placed in the combustion chamber with the shale refuse or coke.
This mode of employing the coal is liable to incur loss from several causes, first, in
consequence of being spread over a large surface it is liable to become extinguished,
and when the shale coke ash is discharged from the combustion chamber any
remaining coal is discharged with it and lost.
To increase the efficiency of the shale coke and prevent loss of coal employed to
supplement the shale coke, I first heat the air for bringing about and supporting
the combustion of the carbon in the coke by passing the air for the combustion
through a series of regenerative passages connected with the ovens of retorts, which
passages are arranged so that they are heated by the waste products of combustion
of the fuel employed to heat the retorts, and by the gas, coal, or other fuel used to
supplement the heat from the carbon in the shale coke. Instead of using the coal
in combination or commingled with the shale coke, I use it in a supplementary

page_text: furnace separate from the combustion chamber, but communicating with the oven
or chamber in which the retorts are set; or I first convert the solid fuel into gas,
and burn this gas in the combustion chamber or in the supplementary furnace
connected with the oven.
To obtain a supply of steam economically I take the waste steam resulting from
the manufacture of sulphate of ammonia from the liquors derived from the
distillation of the shale, or the waste steam from other sources may be so utilized.
In order to cause the waste steam to pass through the retorts, I either exhaust the
retorts so that the steam may be drawn through them, or I blow it through the
retorts by means of a steam jet, the steam so drawn or forced into the retorts being
preferably heated to free it from moisture, and prevent it chilling the contents of
the retort. This steam in passing through the retorts acts in the well known
manner of washing out the volatile products and eliminating the nitrogen in the
form of ammonia.
In order to facilitate the transmission of the spent product of distillation from
the retorts into the heating chamber, I form the doors both of the retorts and
chambers in one piece, or the doors may be so connected together that when moving
on a common centre they both simultaneously open or close both the retorts and
the combustion chambers.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Young in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th October
1880.
WILLIAM YOUNG, of Clippens, in the County of Renfrew, North Britain.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF SHALE FOR THE OBTAIN-
MENT OF MINERAL OIL, AND IN THE APPARATUS OR MEANS EMPLOYED
THEREFOR."
My said Invention has for its principal objects to effect economy in the fuel
required to bring about the destructive distillation of shale, and in the supply of
steam necessary to eliminate the nitrogen in the shale in combination with the
hydrogen of the steam in the form of ammonia.
The majority of the shales employed to produce mineral oils do not contain
sufficient fixed carbon to bring about by its combustion the destructive distillation
of the raw shale us at present employed when cold air is used to support com-
bustion, and therefore this carbon has to be supplemented with coal or other fuel.
This coal or other fuel has been hitherto placed in the combustion chamber with
the shale refuse or coke. This mode of employing the coal or other fuel is liable to
incur loss from several causes; for example, in consequence of being spread over a
large surface it is liable to become extinguished, and when the shale coke ash is
discharged from the combustion chamber any remaining coal or other fuel is
discharged with it and lost.
To increase the efficiency of the shale coke and prevent loss of coal or other fuel
employed to supplenient the shale coke, I first heat the air for bringing about and
supporting the combustion of the carbon in the coke by passing, as hereinafter
described, the air for the combustion through a series of regenerative passages
connected with the ovens of the retorts, which passages are arranged so that they
are heated by the waste products of combustion of the fuel employed to heat the
retorts, and by the gas, coal, or other fuel used to supplement the heat from the
carbon in the shale coke. Instead of using the coal in combination or commingled
with the shale coke, I use it in a supplementary furnace separate from the com-
bustion chamber, but communicating with the oven or chamber in which the
retorts are set; or I first convert the solid fuel into gas, and burn this gas in, the
combustion chamber or in the supplementary furnace connected with the oven.
To produce a large yield of ammonia from the shale it has been found necessary
to pass steam through the shale whilst in the retort. The supply of steain for this
purpose has hitherto been taken direct from high pressure boilers, and the coal and
labour necessary for its production have incurred considerable cost. I have found
that it is not necessary to employ high pressure, or live steam, but that waste or
exhaust steam is equally efficient.
To obtain a supply of waste or exhaust steam economically I take the waste
steam resulting from the manufacture of sulphate of ammonia from the liquors
derived from the distillation of the shale, or the waste steam from other sources
may be so utilized, but preference is given to the steam resulting from the manu-
facture of sulphate of ammonia, as it frequently contains traces of ammoniacal gas,
as also other gases, which are a nuisance when allowed to escape into the air, but
which when utilized in this way may be profitably recovered. In order to cause
the waste or exhaust steam to pass through the retorts I either exhaust the retorts
so that the steam may be drawn through them, or I blow it through the retorts by
means of a steam jet or other forcing or blowing arrangement, or by constructing
the boxes or chambers in which the sulphate of aminonia is produced so as to cause
the steam to pass from them under such a pressure as will, with or without the
assistance of the exhaust upon the retorts, cause the steam to pass through amongst

page_text: the shale contained in them; or where the waste or exhaust steam from an engine
or other like source is utilized it can be made to exhaust into a steam-holder in
such a manner as to equalizo the flow. The steam so drawn or forced into the
retorts is preferably heated to free it from moisture and prevent it from chilling
the contents of the retorts. This steam in passing through the retorts acts in the
well known manner of washing out the volatile products and eliminating the
nitrogen of the shale combined with the hydrogen of the steam in the form of
ammonia.
In order to facilitate the transmission of the spent product of distillation from
the retorts into the heating chambers, I form the doors both of the retorts and
chambers in one piece, or the doors may be so connected together that when moving
on a common centre they both simultaneously open or close both the retorts and
the combustion chambers.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood I now proceed
more particularly to set forth the system, modo, or manner in or under which the
same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, roferenco being had to the
accompanying Drawings and to the letters and Figures marked thereon, that is to
say:-
Figure 1 is a transverse section (the two sides being taken in different planes) of
a portion of a bench of retorts illustrating the method of economizing, according to
my Invention, the coal or other fuel employed to effect the destructive distillation
of the shale. In this Figure, in conjunction with Figures 2 to 8 (which are diagrams
illustrating the passages or flues for the air and products of combustion from the
furnaces and combustion chambers) are also illustrated the means for heating the
air supplied to the combustion chambers, Figure 2 being an elevation of such
passages or flues with one end removed; Figure 3, a section on the line 1, 2,
Figures 5 to 8; Figure 4, a section on the line 3, 4, Figures 5 and 8; and Figures 5,
6, 7, and 8 being longitudinal sections respectively taken on the lines 5, 6, 7, 8,
9, 10, and 11, 12 of Figure 2; Figure 9 is a diagram illustrating a method of
supplying waste or exhaust steam to the retorts according to my Invention; and
Figure 10 is a transverse section of a part of a retort and its setting, illustrating
the combined door for the retort and its adjacent combustion chamber; Figure 11
is a front view of a pair of such doors.
At the sides of or botween each combustion chamber A is situated a supple-
mentary furnace B, communicating with the said chamber at its upper part, as
shewn, the said furnaces being provided with doors b (shewn also at Figure 11),
which doors are for the supply of the coal or other fuel to the said furnaces, which
coal or other fuel is there burned to supplement the heat of the shale refuse or coke
in the combustion chambers; or instead of this the fuel may be first converted into
gas in the usual well known manner, which gas is conducted by the pipe T and
branch pipes t (in combination or not with the ordinary shale gases) through the
off take pipe (for the oil vapours) to be heated thereby and then consumed in these
furnaces, or which is passed into the combustion chambers and there consumed.
The products of combustion pass from the furnaces and combustion chambers into
the retort chamber, heating the retorts therein, and thence pass to the uppermost
flue C of the series of air-heating flues shewn separately in Figures 2. to 8. This
flue C is closed at one end, and at the other end communicates with a down-
cast flue d, with openings therein marked e and f, respectively leading to the flues
G and H, through one or other of which pass the products of combustion, and there-
from by one or other of the openings e and f' into the chimney. flue I. The air
for supporting combustion passes by one or other of the openings or k into one
or other of the flues G or H, and thence by one or other of the openings or ³ into
the upcast flue m, and by the opening into the chamber M, and thence by openings m³
into spaces between the combustion chambers, and thence they pass in a heated con-
dition by openings m³, as in Figure 1, or as in Figure 10, into the said combustion
chambers, and by openings m* (Figures 1 & 10) into the supplementary furnaces B.
The chamber M is closed at one end and at the other that portion only which

page_text: communicates with the upcast flue m is open. The openings e,ƒ, e², ƒº, and j, k, j³, k²,
are provided with cut off valves or shutters (not shewn in the Drawings) by which
they may be closed, so that either the openings e, e², and k, k, are uncovered by the
shutters, and the others f,ƒª, and j, 7, are closed by the shutters, or so that the
openings ff, and j, j³, are open and the others e, e³, and h, k, closed, and the
shutters at one end may be so connected by chains or other devices with those at
the other that the adjustment of those at one end will give the proper adjustment
to those at the other. When the shutters uncover the openings e, e³, and k, k², and
close the openings ƒ, ƒª, and j, j³, the products of combustion pass into the flue C,
down the flue d, and by the opening e into the flue G, and by the opening e' to the
chimney flue I, the air to support combustion passing by the opening along the flue H
and out by the opening into the flue m, and by the opening into the chamber M,
from whence it passes by the opening m³, m³, and m to the combustion chambers
and supplementary furnaces. In the latter of the cases given above, that is to say,
when the openings f,ƒ³, and j,, are uncovered by the shutters, and the openings e, e²,
and k, k, are closed, the products of combustion pass from the flue C by the
opening into and along the flue H, and thence escape to the chimney by the
opening f, the air passing into the flue G by the opening j, and therefrom by
the openings j and into the flue M, and thence to the combustion chambers and
furnaces as before described. The flues G and H preferably contain a quantity of
brickwork or other heat retaining medium (for retaining the heat of the products
of combustion) so built or placed in the said flues as not to prevent the passage of
the said products to the chimney. It will thus be seen that by opening and closing
the shutters so as to cause the products of combustion to alternately pass to the
chimney by the flues G and H, and so as to cause the air for supporting combustion
to alternately pass by the flues H and G to the combustion chambers and furnaces,
the said flues and their contents will alternately become heated and will when the
currents are reversed, that is to say, when air for supporting combustion is passed
through the flue through which the products of combustion were previously passed,
give this heat to the said air, the other of the flues and its contents being then
heated by the products of combustion passing to the chimney to give the heat to
the incoming air when the currents are again reversed.
Figure 9 is a diagram, by reference to which I will describe a method of
introducing waste or exhaust steam into the retorts. In the said diagram 1 is the
pump by which the ammonia boiler is supplied through the pipes 2; 3 is the engine
which works the said pump; and 4 is a pipe leading from the ammonia boiler and
dipping into the tank 5. The said tank has a depending partition on one side
continued above in a chamber 6 having at top a valve 7 opening communication
with a main pipe 8 leading to the retorts. At the other open part of the tank 5
the crystals of sulphate of ammonia may be collected. The pipe 8 may be
continued along the chamber C to heat the steam therein, stand pipes 9 and branch
pipes 10 opening into each retort as shewn in Figure 1. The waste steam resulting
from the manufacture of sulphate of ammonia is led from the ammonia chamber by the
pipe 4 into the liquid in the tank 5 and passes into the chamber 6, and by the valve 7
and pipes 8, 9, and 10 into the retorts. The exhaust steam from the engine 3 may also
be led by the pipes 11 and 12 into the pipe 8, and thence pass to the retorts. In
order to force the waste or exhaust steam into the retort a jet of live steam may
be led from the steam pipe 13 by the pipe 14 into the pipe 8 where the said pipe 14
terminates in a jet nozzel of any suitable construction. In order to supplement
the supply of waste or exhaust steam when the said supply is deficient a pipe 15
may be led into the pipe 12, the said pipe 15 having thereon a cock or valve 16
which will be opened by a lever 17 when the inverted bell 18 falls, and closed when
it rises, the interior of the said bell being in communication with the waste or
exhaust steam pipes 8 and 12 by the pipe 19, as shewn, so that the bell is acted
upon by the pressure of such waste or exhaust steam. By this arrangement live
steam is admitted when the supply of waste or exhaust steam is too small, and

page_text: the said live steam is cut off when the supply of waste or exhaust steam is
sufficient.
Figuro 10 and 11 illustrate a combined door constructed according to my
Invention for closing or opening simultaneously tho retort and the adjacent
combustion chamber.
The door p which closes the retort and the door q which closes the combustion
chamber are formed in one piece or connected together as shown, and mounted to
turn upon a common hinge or contre so that they are both simultaneously opened
and closed, and fastened in their closed position by the sorew 8. The mouth of the
combustion chamber covered by the door q is formed, as shewn, in the are of a
circle struck from the centre r to allow of the movement of the said door.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I would observe
in conclusion that I do not limit myself to the precise details herein before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, as the samo may be varied without
departing from the nature of my said Invention, but what I consider to bo novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein beforo
in part recited Letters Patent is;-
First. In connection with rotorts for the destructive distillation of shale, heating
the air for supporting combustion in the combustion chambers by passing the said
air through flues or passages previously heated by the waste products of combustion
of the shule refuse or coke and other fuel employed to heat the retorts, essentially
as herein before described with reference to the accompanying Drawings.
Second. The combination with retorts for the destructive distillation of shalo of
supplementary furnaces for the reception of the coal or other fuel used to supplement
the heat of the refuse shale or coke in the combustion chambers, essentially as
herein before described with reference to the accompanying Drawings.
Third. In the destructive distillation of shale in place of mixing the coal or fuel
(used to supplement the shale refuse or coke) with the said shale refuse or coke,
converting the said supplementary fuel into gas and burning the said gas in the
combustion chambers or in the supplementary furnaces.
Fourth. The use in retorts for the destructive distillation of shale of waste steam
resulting from the manufacture of sulphate of ammonia, or the waste or exhaust
steam from other sources, for the purpose hereinbefore described.
Fifth. The improved construction of door for retorts for the destructive distillation
of shale described with reference to Figures 10 and 11 of the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say, forming the doors both of the retort and of the adjacent
combustion chamber in one, or connected together so that they are both operated at
once to close or open both the retort and combustion chamber.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Young, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Fifteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.