Improvements in Coking Processes and Apparatus, and in the Recovery of the Products of Distillation
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 1st July, 1893
Complete Specification Left, 30th Mar., 1894-Accepted, 9th June, 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Coking Processes and Apparatus, and in the
Recovery of the Products of Distillation.
I JOHN BOWING of Tilbury in the County of Essex Consulting Chemist do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows-
In coking coal in closed retorts, from which the air is excluded so that no actual
combustion of the material to be coked takes place it is of the greatest importance
that heat should be applied to the mass in such a manner as to travel gradually
and radially through the mass and in my invention for which Letters Patent
No. 16622 of 1892 have been granted to me I have described a process by which
this result may be attained. I have hitherto found in practice that a convenient
form of oven for carrying out the above process is one consisting of two concentric
cylinders the inner of small diameter being the one from which the heat is derived
and the outer one being of larger diameter with closed top and bottom so as to
exclude the air from the coking chamber.
My present invention relates to an improved method of carrying out this process;
I have discovered that if certain conditions are complied with the inner cylinder
may be dispensed with altogether without interfering with the process and this is
the object of my present invention.
In my present invention I take a suitable vessel to hold the material which is to
be coked preferably vertical and cylindrical which is closed at each end by a plate
or cover with a hole of small diameter pierced at its centre, the upper plate being
fitted with suitable apertures for charging the oven and for delivery of products.
In charging the vessel with coal I first introduce a mandril of such a length and
diameter as to pass completely through the vessel and fit tolerably closely into both
the holes in the two covers above referred to. I then fill the vessel with the coal
to be coked preferably in a more or less finely divided state, packing it closely
round the mandril and if necessary damping it so as to make it cohere. I then
carefully withdraw the mandril thus leaving a cylindrical passage or trunkway
through the middle of the coal which if the operation of filling has been properly
conducted will show no tendency to fall in but will stand firmly forming a central
tube through the coal. From the upper end of this trunkway a pipe may be led
to a condenser or collector if it is desired that the gases and vapours coming off in
the trunkway may be collected and a further pipe may be used to lead the
products of distillation from the coking chamber to any suitable condenser or
collector.
The aperture in the lower plate or cover is coupled up to the heat source and the
heat necessary for coking is then generated in the trunkway by the combustion of
some convenient fuel such as gas which may be produced in any cheap and
convenient manner and I regulate the supply of air in such a way that only
sufficient oxygen is allowed to pass into the trunkway to effect the necessary
combustion. In this manner all the advantages of the closed retort with the heat
applied centrally are retained while the cost of the inner cylinder which I formerly
used is saved inasmuch as the coal itself becomes the inner cylinder.
The vessel containing the charge and the mandril may be considerably varied in
shape without impairing the efficacy of the process.
Dated the First day of Tuly, 1902

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Coking Processes and Apparatus, and in the
Recovery of the Products of Distillation.
I JOHN BOWING of Tilbury in the County of Essex Consulting Chemist do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
In coking coal in closed retorts from which the air is excluded so that no actual
combustion of the material to be coked takes place it is of the greatest importance
that heat should be applied to the mass in such a manner as to travel gradually
through the mass and in my invention for which Letters Patent No. 16622, of 1892,
have been granted to me, I have described a process by which this result may be
attained. I have hitherto found in practice that a convenient form of oven for
carrying out the above process is one consisting of two concentric cylinders the
inner of small diameter being the one from which the heat is derived and the outer
one being of larger diameter with closed top and bottom so as to exclude the air
from the coking chamber.
My present invention relates to an improved method of carrying out this process.
I have discovered that if certain conditions are complied with the inner cylinder
may be dispensed with altogether without interfering with the process and this is
the object of my present invention.
In my present invention I take a suitable vessel to hold the charge which is to
be coked preferably vertical and cylindrical which is closed at each end by a plate
or cover with a hole of comparatively small diameter pierced at its centre, the
upper plate being fitted with suitable apertures for charging the oven and for
delivery of products. In charging the oven I first introduce a mandril of such a
length and diameter as to pass completely through the vessel and fit tolerably
closely into both the holes in the two covers above referred to. I then fill the
vessel with the charge to be coked which must be in a more or less finely divided
state if the charge is one which cokes with difficulty, packing it closely round the
mandril and if necessary damping it with for example water or tar so as to make it
cohere. I then carefully withdraw the mandril thus leaving a cylindrical passage
or trunkway through the middle of the charge which if the operation of tamping
has been properly conducted will shew no tendency to fall in but will stand firmly
forming a central tube through the charge. Or instead of using a mandril which
has to be withdrawn I may fill in the charge around a light tube made of any
cheap materials such as wood, which may be allowed to remain in its place when
the heat is applied. From the upper end of this trunkway a pipe may be led to a
condenser or collector if it is desired that the gases and vapours coming off in the
trunkway may be collected and a further pipe may be used to lead the products of
distillation from the coking chamber to any suitable condenser or collector. The
aperture in the lower plate or cover is coupled up to the heat source and the heat
necessary for coking is then applied in the trunkway by the combustion of some
convenient fuel such as gas which may be produced in any cheap and convenient
manner and regulate the supply of air in such a way that only sufficient
oxygen is allowed to pass into the trunkway to effect the necessary combustion.
In this manner all the advantages of the closed retort with the heat applied
centrally are retained while the cost of the inner cylinder which I formerly used is
saved inasmuch as the charge itself becomes the inner cylinder.
The vessel containing the charge and the mandril may be considerably varied in
shape without imparing the efficacy of the process and although I have indicated a
circular mandril as the readiest means of forming an inner cylinder or trunkway it
is obvious that a trunkway for the above purpose may be formed in the charge in

page_text: any other convenient manner and of any other convenient shape; and in cases
where a charge is used which has a tendency to fall inwards and block the
trunkway I have found it convenient to introduce the gases to be burnt and the
necessary quantity of oxygen at the top instead of at the bottom of the trunk way..
The above described process is equally applicable whether the object is to obtain
coke to be used as a fuel or whether the object is to coke a mixture of coal and
more or less finely divided metallic ores with the view to the subsequent reduction:
of those ores.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a vertical section of such an oven as I have described,
Figure 2 is a cross-section along the line Z Z shewing the oven charged, and
Figure 3 is a general view of the oven.
A is the coking chamber, B the trunkway formed in the midst of the coking
mass, C is a manhole for charging, D is a pipe to lead off the products of com-
bustion E is a pipe to lead off the products of distillation, F is the floor of the
oven, made removable for the purpose of withdrawing the coke and G is the point
at which the heat is applied.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I claim;
1. In coke ovens applying the heat required for coking in a trunkway or chamber
formed in the charge itself.
2. In coke ovens forming a trunkway in the charge itself for the purposes and.
in the manner above described.
Dated this 20th day of March 1801
JNO. BOWING.