Im- PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE, COMBINATION, AND PURIFICATION OF GASES FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING PURPOSES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN.
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Tom Abercrombie Hedley, of Abchurch Lane,
in the City of London, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE, COMBINATION, AND PURIFICATION OF GASES
FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING PURPOSES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN.
"
· Sealed the 23rd January 1874, and dated the 25th July 1878. -
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Tom Abercrombie
Hedley at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 25th July 1878.
I, TOM ABERCROMBIE HEDLEY, of Abchurch Lane, in the City of
B-London, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE, COMBINATION, AND PURIFICATION OF
GASES FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING PURPOSES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOTED
THEREIN," to be as follows:-
* This Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture, com-
O bination, and purification of gases for lighting and heating purposes, and

page_text: in the apparatus employed therein with the objects (amongst others) of
producing gas of a superior quality and in greater quantity from any
given amount of gas producing material, and also with more dispatch
than has hitherto been obtained, and also with the object of effecting
economy and simplicity in the apparatus used in the production of such
gas or gases, and of rendering the process of the manufacture thereof
innocuous and free from nuisance to the surrounding neighbourhood.
1.
The nature of my Invention is as follows:-I erect the generating
apparatus or retorts, which may be of any desired form and material,
vertical or at an angle of inclination, instead of horizontal as they are
usually employed, and construct them in two, three, four, five, or more
superposed sections connected together so as to make one continuous
retort from bottom to top, but with a perforated division plate where
each section is joined to the one above it. Each of these separate
sections is provided with a suitable aperture for charging and drawing
the same, so that they may be separately charged with like or different
material.
Each section is also provided with an internal cylindrical or other
suitably shaped passage or flue communicating with a like passage in
the sections above or below it, so that this internal passage communicates
throughout the whole length of the retort, and is not charged with the
material put into the retort, such material lying round it and leaving it
open and free; thus any gas generated in the lower section would ascend
through the sections above, alike through the said internal passage; and
the annular space surrounding the same through the said perforated
division plates, but as some of these sections are filled with material
through which it would not be at all times desirable to convey the gas,
means are provided at the bottom of each section for closing either the
said internal passage or the said surrounding annular space, so that the
gas may be made to pass through either the one or the other as
circumstances may require or render desirable.. The lower of these
sections is usually charged with the gas generating material which may
be of any well-known or suitable description, such as cannel or other
coal, or chalk, wood, spent tar, peat, or such like material saturated with
tar or any resinous or bituminous substance.
The upper sections are respectively charged with chalk, limestone,
coke, iron filings, wood or charcoal, shale, or other similar material in
such order as in practise may be found most desirable.

page_text: The gases generated in the lower section of the retort either alone
or combined with steam or air introduced into one or more of the
said sections ascends through the sections above as described, and
thence is led away either direct to the holder or through the ordinary
purifying apparatus of a gasworks.
When desired, the generating material may be placed in the upper-
most or one of the intermediate sections of the retort instead of in the
lower one: as described, in which case the gases therefrom would be
drawn through the other sections by means of an exhaust..
In setting these retorts the flues are so arranged that by means of
dampers the heat of each section may be regulated at pleasure.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Tom Abercrombie Hedley in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 24th January 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, TOM
ABERCROMBIE HEDLEY, of Abchurch Lane, in the City of London, Civil
Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight-hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Tom Abercrombie Hedley, Her special
license that I, the said Tom Abercrombie Hedley, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Tom Abercrombie
Hedley, 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 "In-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE, COMBINATION, AND PUBIFICATION OF GASES FOR
LIGHTING AND HEATING PURPOSES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN,'
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Tom Abercrombie
Hedley, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
"

page_text: under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Tom Abercrombie Hedley, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say:
This Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture, com-
bination, and purification of gases for lighting and heating purposes, and
in the apparatus employed therein, with the object (amongst others) of
producing gas of a superior quality and in greater quantity from any
given amount of gas producing material, and also with more dispatch
than has hitherto been obtained, and also with the object of effecting
economy and simplicity in the apparatus used in the production of such
gas or gases, and of rendering the process of the manufacture thereof
innocous and free from nuisance to the surrounding neighbourhood.
And in order that my Invention may be clearly understood and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the same with the
aid of the accompanying Drawings, reference being had to the letters
and figures marked thereon, and in which Figure 1 is a front elevation
of the gas apparatus constructed according to my Invention; Figure 2 is
a vertical central section; Figure 3 a sectional plan at the line a, b,
Figure 2 and Figure 4, also a sectional plan but at the line c, d, Figure 2.
In each Figure the same letter of reference, wherever it occurs, indicates
like or corresponding parts.
. According to my Invention I erect the generating apparatus or retorts
(which may be of any suitable form and material). vertical or at an
angle of inclination, instead of horizontal as they are usually employed,
, and construct them so as to form two, three, four, five, or more sections
divided by perforated division plates.
"
'
In the accompanying Drawings the retort A is shewn in a vertical
position and as constructed in one piece, and divided into sections by
the perforated division plates B. These retorts may however be made
* in separate pieces fastened together by any suitable means. The said
sections are provided with a mouth. piece C so that they may be charged

page_text: -
separately with like or different materials, and when necessary they may
also each be provided with a second mouth piece for drawing the
charge. When however such second mouth pieces are not provided, as
in the case of the retort illustrated, the several sections can be emptied
only by turning over or breaking up the said perforated division plates,
and thus allowing the contents of the different retorts to fall to the
bottom where they may be removed. All or part of these sections are
also provided each with an internal cylindrical or other suitably shaped
passage D, open at both top and bottom, and supported on the said
perforated division plate B. These passages D are also each provided
at the upper end with a sliding lid D', so that they may be closed when
required for the reason that sometimes it may be unadvisable to convey
the gas through the material with which 'any one or more of the said
sections may be charged. When this is the case the internal passage is
uncovered when the gas of course ascends through the free channel in
preference to forcing its way through the material with which the said
section may be charged. When this internal passage is closed the gas
of course ascends through the surrounding annular space. When it is
required to shift one of these sliding lids D the door of the mouth piece
of that particular section has to be removed when the sliding lid may be
easily reached with a rod. I prefer to make the said perforated plates,
internal passages, and sliding lids of fire-brick or clay. When the
retorts are cast all in one piece as shewn in the Drawing, the perforated
plates and the pieces forming the internal passage, are let down from the
5 top, the perforated division plates resting on lumps cast on to the retort.
Where in letting the said plates down to the lower sections they have
to pass the said lumps, at the sections above channels are formed in the
said plates to enable them to pass. The lower of the said sections is
usually charged with the coal or other gas generating material, and the
O upper sections as follows: That one nearest to the gas generating
material with chalk or limestone; the next with coke; next with pieces
of wood or charcoal; and the uppermost with scrap iron.
-
The gases generated in the lower section of the retort, either alone or
combined with steam or air introduced into one or more of the said
5 sections, ascends through the sections above as described and thence is led
away through the usual apparatus of a gas works.
When desired I may reverse the above process, placing the gas
generating section and material at the upper end, and drawing the gas

page_text: generated downwards through the remaining chambers by means of an
exhaust.
In setting these retorts the flues E are so arranged that by means of
dampers the heat of each section may be regulated at pleasure; F, F, are
the furnaces, and G the brickwork setting. It will be obvious that any
number of these generating apparatus or retorts may be set in com-
bination with one another.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of this
my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to or may be
performed, I claim as my Invention to be secured by the herein-before 1
in part recited Letters Patent, the improvements in the manufacture,
combination, and purification of gases for lighting and heating purposes,
and in the apparatus employed therein, substantially as herein-before set
forth and described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Tom Abercrombie Hedley, have 1
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of
January, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-four.