IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GENERATING HEAT BY THE COMBUSTION OF BITUMINOUS OR RESINOUS SUBSTANCES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to François Gustave Benôit Capouillet, of Brussels, in
the Kingdom of Belgium, Manufacturing Chemist, for the Invention
of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GENERATING HEAT BY THE COMBUSTION OF
BITUMINOUS OR RESINOUS SUBSTANCES."-A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said François Gustave Benoit
Capouillet at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 4th April 1854.
I, FRANÇOIS GUSTAVE BENOIT CAPOUILLET, of Brussels, in the Kingdom of
Belgium, Manufacturing Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GENERATING HEAT BY THE COMBUSTION
OF BITUMINOUS OR RESINOUS SUBSTANCES" to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to employ bituminous or resinous substances
as a fuel or combustible for the generation of heat for various purposes, such,
for instance, as heating boilers for the generation of steam, heating retorts for
the generation of gas for illumination, and various other purposes, in the arts
where an economical heat is required. By the combustion of such bituminous
matters, as pitch or tar, a great heat may be obtained at a comparatively low
cost; and, in fact, a profit may be made by the combustion of such materials,

page_text: provided arrangements be made for collecting the unconsumed carbon that
escapes during combustion, and which is well known in commerce as lamp
black.
Inconveniences resulting from or attendant on the combustion of bituminous
or resinous substances have heretofore prevented these substances from being
employed as combustibles for heating purposes; one is the great quantity of
smoke that is given off during combustion, and another is the danger of
explosion from the generation of explosive gases during combustion.
The object of the present improvements is so to arrange the apparatus in
which the bituminous or resinous matters are burned, that the dense black
smoke or unconsumed carbon may be collected and sold as an article of com-
merce; and secondly, that the explosive gases generated during combustion
may also be collected separately, and carried off by a distinct channel.
The apparatus or contrivances whereby these objects are effected may be
briefly described as follows:-The bituminous or resinous substances are
placed in a long shallow vessel, open at top, and placed in the fire-place;
the bituminous or resinous matters are then ignited, and the flame and gases
therefrom allowed to pass through openings in a dome, and play upon the
bottom and sides of the retort boiler or vessel they are intended to heat.
From the space around the retort or boiler the smoke is conducted into a
chamber, provided with sieves or any other suitable and well-known con-
trivances, for arresting the solid carbonaceous matters, after which the invisible
gases are allowed to escape into the atmosphere. The explosive gases are
drawn off from the ignited bituminous mass immediately they are generated,
and are, by means of small lateral openings made in the side walls of the fire-
place, near the level of the edges of the vessel containing the ignited mass,
separated from the other gases and products of combustion, and are conveyed
away by distinct and separate channels, so that all risk of explosion is
avoided.