IMPROVEMENTS IN RETORTS AND THEIR FITTINGS AND APPURTENANCES CONNECTED THERE WITH " WITH FOR THE DISTILLATION OF. SHALE, COAL, OR OTHER OLEAGINOUS OR BITUMINOUS MINERALS OR EARTHS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Bennie, of the City of Glasgow, in the
County of Lanark, North Britain, Mineral Oil Engineer and
Ironfounder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN RETORTS AND
THEIR FITTINGS AND APPURTENANCES CONNECTED THERE WITH
"
WITH FOR THE
DISTILLATION OF. SHALE, COAL, OR OTHER OLEAGINOUS OR BITUMINOUS
MINERALS OR EARTHS."
Sealed the 11th January 1876, and dated the 12th November 1875.
5
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said George Bennie at,
the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 12th November 1875, pursuant to the 9th
Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
دا.
ידי,
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
BENNIE, of the City of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Mineral Oil Engineer and Ironfounder, send greeting..
WHEREAS, I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS:
IN RETORTS AND THEIR FITTINGS AND APPURTENANCES CONNECTED THEREWITH.

page_text: FOR THE DISTILLATION OF SHALE, COAL, OR OTHER OLEAGINOUS OR BITUMINOUS
MINERALS OR EARTHS," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto
me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters
Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that I am
the first and true Inventor thereof.
5
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Bennie, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal, fully
describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed in and by the following statement
in writing, reference being had to the several Figures and reference 1
letters on the accompanying Sheet of explanatory Drawings, that is to
say:―
My said Invention has reference to a new or improved mode of con-
structing and arranging retorts in their heating furnaces or ovens, and
in the fittings of and connected therewith for the distillation of 1
oleaginous and bituminous minerals, and which will simplify the
charging and withdrawal of the materials being treated, and give an
equal or greater yield of the valuable gases and oils and save much
time in the said distillation as compared with the modes and means
heretofore employed; the main or essential features of the whole
arrangements formed the substance of an Invention for which a Patent
was granted to me in Italy, No. 59, dated 21 March 1874, and of a
Patent of improvements thereon dated 21 April 1875.
And in order that the nature, novelty, and mode of performing my
said Invention may be properly understood, I will now proceed to
describe the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings which I have
hereunto appended for the purpose of showing the best modes and
means I am at present aware of for putting the Invention into effect or
practice, the same reference letters indicating the same or like parts in
all the Figures where shown.
Figures 1 and 2 on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings are a
sectional elevation and a plan partly in section, each taken respectively
on the lines 1---1 and 2---2, 3- 3 in the other; and Figures 3
and 4 are a corresponding side elevation partly in section, and a hori-
zontal section, each taken respectively on the lines 4. 4 and 55,
...
---
in the other at right angles to Figures 1 and 2; and all of, or showing,
one modification or adaptation of my said new or improved construction.

page_text: and arrangement of retorts and their fittings for the distillation of
shale, coal, and other oleaginous or bituminous minerals, and sufficient
to illustrate the nature, novelty, and mode of performing or carrying out
my said Invention.
Referring to these, Figures 1 to 4, the nature, novelty, and mode of
carrying my said Invention into effect or practice consist all as follows:
-I erect a set of long vertical retorts A, preferably four (but it might
be a greater or less number, as from one to six), made slightly tapered
or conical from the throat or neck A' of the charging filler A³ at top to
the larger discharging mouth A" at bottom, in pairs parallel transversely
and as close as their hoppers A2 or flanges will allow within a
rectangular arched stove, furnace, or heating chambers C, C', in the
brickwork B, and carried by the upper flange a and lower snugs or
collars a¹ on each upon the upper and lower set of three strong
transverse iron bars a¹¹, a², or equivalent plates built into the brick-
work B forming the heating chamber C, with the lower mouth Aч
some considerable distance above a duplex movable fire-grate or set of
hinged furnace bars F, F, below each pair of retorts, ranged parallely to
each other across the lower part of the heating chamber C, an
and
sufficiently above a transverse passage B' to allow the trucks or boxes
on wheel frames E, E¹, to receive the ashes and remove them, and
....
which run on rails or guide plates Eчi laid at the bottom of this
passage B. The lower mouth A" of each retort A is closed by the lid
or mouth-picce i attached to the lower end of the long central rod j,
having its upper end jointed to the free end of the lever L keyed on
the centre of the spindle L' of the gas outlet valve A³, and worked
within the top of the retort A² and throttle valve branch A* by the
hand lever L" keyed on the outer end of the spindle L', so as to set and
hold the lever by a spring catch and notched segment L² in any desired
position to keep the discharge door i close and the gas outlet valve A
open, or vice versa, or at any desired intermediate position of these,
A and . This lower lid i and rod j carry a hollow tube k concen-
trically round the rod, and rings K made open or perforated at top K₁
and closely perforated with holes all round from end to end; or other-
wise this hollow tube may be made of a set of six or more long rods ki
as a frame, covered with open or wide meshed wire cloth or wire spirally
wound in reverse directions round the rods to form interstices through
the hollow or lattice tube k, which allows the gases as they are evolved

page_text: 'from the shale or other material being distilled at any part of the retort
to pass freely into and up through the hollow tube k to the top, where,
as in other retorts; they escape through the outlet branch and
pipe A', A¹¹
.
Each retort is fitted at top with a closing and charging door or lid M
made gas tight by an annular edge projecting down from its under
outer edge into a groove formed in the top rim or lip m of the hopper
mouth A; these being jointed gas tight by fire-clay or other soft or
liquid luting material.
The retorts are charged full of the broken up shale or other mineral
into the annular space Z, between their inner surface and the open
central gas conducting tube k, from the bottom to the top of the latter,
and are then heated through from the outside by the heat generated
within the chamber C at first by coal, coke, or other fuel charged on to
the hearth F through the furnace mouth and closing doors D, D, in the
'middle of the opposite sides of the brickwork B, and afterwards either
wholly or partially by the residuary hot ash and solid unconsumed
'carbon discharged at the outlet doors A¹, i, of the retorts A after the
hydrocarbon or oleaginous gases have all been distilled over; but when
these residues are not rich enough in carbon to so heat the chamber C
and retorts A, they may be assisted from time to time by a charge of
fuel through the close doors D, D, before mentioned, as for first starting
or kindling and heating the furnace and setting the retorts in action.
The heating chamber C is closed in by an arch C¹ some distance from
the top of the retorts, so as to thoroughly heat; and maintain the lower
parts of the retorts at a steady high temperature; and the heated pro-
ducts of combustion are allowed to escape by the four side ducts H
behind each retort at the lower part of the chamber up the vertical side
flues Hinto the lower part of the chamber H" above the arch C¹, also
surmounted by an arch or roof of brickwork C", so as to form the 'close
chamber H for heating the upper parts of the retorts before escaping
by the flue H¹ leading direct to the chimney H² at the upper part of
the brickwork B, all as indicated by the red arrows in the several
Figures; or other equivalent arrangements of flues may be employed.
•
Each set of furnace bars or hearth F is formed of a rigid oscillating
frame by the back and front bars f and f¹, secured by cotters or other
equivalent side bars or plates ", carrying and tightening up the

page_text: furnace bars F between them, resting by deep recesses at their ends on
the bars and f'; the ends of the former f of each half of the hearth
are carried in snugs at f as fulcra to oscillate on, projecting down
from the strong cross plates B carrying the brickwork B over the
railway passage B¹, and the front or adjacent ends of both near the
middle of the whole hearth are carried and oscillated by their other
transverse bars f¹, f', lengthened out beyond the building B and
attached by short chains g, g, and a joint ring or shackle to the free end
of a single moving chain g¹ at each side of the brickwork B and passed
over guide pulleys g", 9", down to, and round, and fixed by their other
ends to the moving pulleys g¹¹¹, g¹¹¹, keyed on the opposite ends of the
transverse shaft * carried in bearing brackets b; b', secured at and pro-
jecting from the corners of the brickwork B at one side, this shaft gå
being actuated by the screw wheel g³ and a screw ' working in it keyed
on the spindle g³ worked by a crank or winch handle g, so as either to
lower the two halves of the hearth F and F, as indicated in red lines in
Figure 1, to form a hopper or shoot conductor to deliver the waste
cinders or ashes from the heating chamber and hearth C, F, F, into the
removing bogies E, E', or raise them to the normal horizontal position
shown in black lines in all the Figures. Or otherwise, instead of using the
chains and pulleys 'g', g², g", a lever h (shown in dotted red lines in
Figure 1), might be keyed on each end of the shaft g², having their free
ends linked to the short chains g, g, which would raise and lower the
hearths F, F, when the shaft 92 is turned by the screw and handle g', go,
as before stated.
I
In working this arrangement of retorts they might be discharged
with the mineral to be distilled, as described, individually or in pairs, as
found most convenient, and when the gases were fully discharged or
distilled off from these, as indicated by the blue arrows, the residuary
ash and carbon or cinder would in like manner be discharged from one
or more retorts at a time on to the grate or hearth F, F, and the lower
mouth and door A", i, closed again by the hand lever L" in readiness
for being recharged, when the material so discharged on to the hearth
would itself, or assisted by other fuël, maintain the heat within the
chamber C and continue the distillation until the next discharge of the
waste material from the other retorts ready for being emptied; as
described; and before each such discharge on the hearth F, F, the
waste ashes would be discharged into a bogio E brought under it by

page_text: the lowering of the hearth F, F, by the screw and winch handle gº, as
before described and indicated in red lines in Figure 1.
Although only four retorts A have been described and shown as
ranged in one heating chamber C (considering this the most suitable
arrangement) still it is to be understood that two or more might be so
arranged in each heating chamber.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is or may be performed, I have to state that
I do not restrict myself to the precise details of distilling retorts
herein described, nor do I desire to claim the construction of all the
parts thereof separately or by themselves, as many of these may have
been used heretofore, but what I consider novel and original and there-
fore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part
recited Letters Patent is,.---
First. The general construction, and arrangement, and combination
of a set of two or more vertical retorts for the distillation of 'shale or
other bituminous or oleaginous substances for the production of oils or
illuminating gas, and ranged in one heating furnace or chamber over a
hinged grate. or hearth so as to be heated wholly or partially by the
residuary cinders discharged thereon from the retort, all substantially as
herein described in reference to and shown in the accompanying
Drawings, or any mere modification thereof.
Second. The construction and use of hollow open or perforated
tubes in the centre of retorts for assisting the escape of the gases as
evolved from shale or other material being distilled therein, all sub-
stantially as herein described in reference to and shown in the accom-
panying Drawings, or any mere modification thereof.
Third. The closing and opening of the lower lid or door of retorts
for the distillation of shale or other bituminous or oleaginous substances
by a rod and lever within the retort quite below the ordinary charging
lid and a hand lever outside, all substantially as herein described in
reference to and shown in the accompanying Drawings, or any mere
modification thereof.
Fourth. The construction and use of hinged grates or hearths for the
discharge of the residuary waste materials from the heating chambers or
furnaces of retorts for the distillation of shale or other bituminous or

page_text: oleaginous substances, all substantially as herein described in reference
to and shown in the accompanying Drawings, or any mere modification
thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Bennie, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of November, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
Witness,
JOHN BROWN,
Patent Office,
96, Buchanan Street,
Glasgow.
GEORGE BENNIE. (L.S.)