IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE AND PURIFICATION OF GAS, AND IN THE UTILIZATION OF WASTE AND BYE PRODUCTS OF GAS WORKS
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Upward, of the Chartered Gas Company,
No. 146, Goswell Road, Civil Engineer, James Bannehr, of Great
Queen Street, Sanitary Engineer, and the Reverend Thomas Pelham
Dale, of No. 6, Ladbroke Gardens, Notting Hill, all in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE AND PURIFICATION OF GAS, AND IN THE UTILIZATION OF WASTE AND
BYE PRODUCTS OF GAS WORKS:'
Sealed the 7th June 1870, and dated the 28th December 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Upward, James
Bannehr, and the Reverend Thomas Pelham Dale at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition, on the 28th
December 1869.
We, ALFRED UPWARD; of the Chartered Gas Company, No. 146;
Goswell Road, Civil Engineer, JAMES BANNEHR, of Great Queen Street,
Sanitary Engineer, and the Reverend THOMAS PELHAM DALE; of No: 6,
Ladbroke Gardens, Notting Hill, all in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN

page_text: THE MANUFACTURE AND PURIFICATION OF GAS, AND IN THE UTILIZATION OF WASTE
AND BYE PRODUCTS OF GAS WORKS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture
and purification of gas, and in the utilization of the waste and bye
products of gas works.
In the manufacture of gas we use coal (or other solid gas making
material) in a finely powdered state, and we cause it to be carried by
a current of gas through a highly heated pipe or retort, during this
passage the coal or other material yields up the gas, and the coke which
remains is carried on into a chamber where it is deposited, and from
whence the gas is drawn off. A portion of the gas is drawn from this
chamber to be purified for use, whilst a further portion is taken to form
the current requisite to carry the powdered coal or material through the
heated pipe or retort. Liquid gas making materials may be similarly
employed. When in this or in the ordinary manner coke is burnt for
heating gas retorts we cause a fine shower of water to pass down the
chimney shaft, which coming in contact with the sulphurous and
sulphuric acid proceeding from the furnaces produces a weak acid
containing considerable heat. This heat is availed of by conducting the
dilute acid by means of lead pipes through an air warming chamber,
(to be after described), where it parts with a large portion of its caloric,
and it is then conducted by pumping to an elevation in the chimney
shaft to be re-used, and thus acquiring an additional strength of acid.
By repeating the process of resaturation several times a dilute acid may
be obtained. The above acids are mixed with the ammoniacal liquor
in such proportions that the liquor shall be rendered slightly acid. The
admixture is to be made gradually, the acid being added slowly and the
liquor kept constantly agitated by means of a mixer, the process being
carried on in an apparatus constructed so that the gases eliminated may
be collected in a gas holder. These gases are subsequently burnt in a
suitable arrangement, and the products of their combustion are carried
forward and brought in contact with a quantity of unburnt gases of the
same kind taken either from the same or from another gas holder.
These mixed gases should be carried into or through a column or tower
in which there is a fine shower of water falling. For every volume of
gas burnt two volumes of unburnt gas should be supplied for mixture
with the products of combustion. It is desirable if not necessary that
the combustion of the gases should be assisted or kept up by passing it

page_text: into or through an ordinary gas flame supplied with only sufficient air
to support combustion, in which case sulphur would be obtained; or in
place thereof the whole of such gases may be passed through a fire well
supplied with air and then in contact with ordinary or ozonized water,
when dilute sulphuric and sulphurous acids would be obtained. The
acid solution of sulphate of ammonia may be rendered neutral.
In place of the foregoing the process adopted for the purification of
gas may be modified as follows:-Gas liquor is treated with sulphurous
acid preferably until the liquid smells strongly of sulphurous acid à
slight precipitation of sulphur takes place which may be allowed to
settle out. A purifier or scrubber is then charged with the above-
named sulphurous liquor and foul gas passed into it; the sulphuret of
ammonia and sulphite of ammonia mutually react on one another, and
the gas passes forward to the next purifier.
In order however to separate remaining acid the gas may undergo one
or other of the following processes:-
Process A.-A lime or other alkaline purifier is used charged in the
usual way. If the first process be skilfully conducted this purifier will
be found to run a long time. The lime or alkaline purifier will contain
hyposulphite of lime which may be treated by the usual methods.
Process B. The last traces of acid may be taken out by using a
peroxide purifier previously rendered alkaline, by this process the gas
will pass forward slightly alkaline with ammonia. This again might
be remedied by using two peroxide purifiers in succession, the last of
which was rendered slightly acid, or better still wetted with a proto-salt
of iron or by a scrubber in the usual manner.
As described above the process is intermittent, but if a double
purifier be used it may be made continuous by treating one side of the
purifier with a stream of sulphurous acid gas whilst the gas passes
through the other side, the liquor being kept in constant agitation by
suitable contrivances. The sulphuretted liquor may be drawn off when
of any desired strength, fresh liquor or water being added.
The process may be further modified by combining several purifiers
containing different strengths of liquor and passing the liquors as they
become exhausted of sulphurous acid from one purifier into the other as
may be desired.
Process C.-At any part of the process a purifier may be used charged

page_text: with gas liquor and peroxide or salts of iron, and this may in its turn
be treated with sulphurous acid, or air, or ozonized air. We further
contemplate the use of sulphite of ammonia and other sulphites as a
deodorizer. It will be seen from this that although it is recommended
that the liquors be acid when put into the purifier, that this is not
essential; neutral or even alkaline sulphite of ammonia will serve to
purify gas.
To evaporate the solutions an enclosed chamber is provided, which is
crossed by vanes, which are suspended from tubes slotted at the point
of junction the entire length. At frequent intervals the already treated
liquor is forced by pressure through the tubes so as to be dispersed in
spray over the surface of the vanes and on the bottom of the chamber.
A constant current of air warmed by radiation from the pipes containing
the dilute acid before mentioned and otherwise is constantly forced into
and through a hot air chamber, from whence it passes through the
evaporating chamber, taking up the water with which it comes in
contact, and then is either discharged into the atmosphere or used in the
retort furnaces.
By repeating the applications of spray and evaporating the water
resulting from them many times successive deposits of sulphate of
ammonia will accumulate in the evaporating chamber. This would be
removed at intervals.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Upward, James Bannehr, and the Reverend
Thomas Pelham Dale in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 28th 2
June 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ALFRED
UPWARD, of the Chartered Gas Company, No. 146, Goswell Road, Civil
Engineer, JAMES BANNEHR, of Great Queen Street, Sanitary Engineer,
and the Reverend THOMAS PELHAM DALE, of No. 6, Ladbrooke Gardens, 3
Notting Hill, all in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, 3

page_text: give and grant unto us, the said Alfred Upward, James Bannebr, and
Thomas Pelham Dale, Her special licence that we, the said Alfred
Upward, James Bannehr, and Thomas Pelham Dale, our executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Alfred
Upward, James Bannehr, and Thomas Pelham Dale, our executors, ad-
ministrators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE AND PURIFICATION OF GAS, AND IN THE UTILIZATION OF WASTE AND
BYE PRODUCTS OF GAS WORKS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
we, the said Alfred Upward, James Bannehr, and Thomas Pelham Dalo,
our executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our
or their hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us or
them, 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 Patcnt.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Upward, on behalf of myself
and the said James Bannchr and Thomas Pelham Dale, 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 has for its object improvements in the manufacture
and purification of gas, and in the utilization of the waste and bye.
products of gas works.
In the manufacture of gas we use coal (or other solid gas-making
material) in a finely powdered state, and we cause it to be carried by a
current of gas into a highly heated pipe or retort, where the coal or other
material yields up the gas, and the coke which remains is collected in a
suitable chamber. A portion of the gas is drawn off to be purified for
use, whilst a further portion is taken to form the current requisite to
carry the powdered coal or material through the heated pipe or retort.
Liquid gas making materials may be similarly employed. We employ
clay or cast-iron retorts set vertically, they may be 15 or 18 inches in
diameter, and 18 feet high. Beneath the retorts there is a chamber to
receive the coke resulting from the gas making materials, and at the

page_text: upper ends of the retorts is the connection with the hydraulic main. At
the bottom of each retort in the chamber already mentioned is a nozzle,
from which a powerful jet of gas is caused to issue, and the powdered
coal or gas making material is fed forward along. a trough by a screw,
and is dropped or liberated immediately over the jet, the force of which
is adjusted so as to carry it up the retort nearly to the top, and then
allow it to fall back and descend into the chamber beneath the retort,
from whence as powder, coke, or breeze it is removed from time to time.
The quantity of gas making material thus passed continuously through
the retort should be at least as much as would in the ordinary process
of gas making be applied by successive charges to an equal area of retort
surface. The gas to furnish the blast is drawn from the hydraulic main
by means of air pumps. Oil or other liquid gas making material may
be similarly operated upon. The retorts may be heated by means of a
gas furnace or a furnace adapted to burn powdered fuel with a blast of
air, and the breeze or powdered coke from the chamber at the bottom of
the retorts may be thus burnt.
"We claim as respects this part of our Invention the manufacture of
gas from powdered or liquid materials by causing them to be carried by
a current of gas along a heated retort or tube, substantially as described.
When in this or in the ordinary manner coke is burnt for heating, gas
retorts we cause a fine shower of water to pass down the chimney shaft,,
which coming in contact with the sulphurous and sulphuric acid pro-
ceeding from the furnaces produces a weak acid containing considerable
heat. This heat is availed of by conducting the dilute acid by means
of coils of lead or other suitable pipes through an air warming chamber
Or channel through which a current of air is caused to pass. Here tho.
liquor parts with a large portion of its caloric, and it is, then conducted
by pumping to an elevation in the chimney shaft to be raised, and thus.
acquiring an additional strength of acid. By repeating the process of a
resaturation several times a dilute acid may be obtained containing, say,
30 per cent. of real acid, this is then run off for use and replaced by
water. When insufficient air as passed through the furnace to convert
sulphurous into sulphuric acid we direct a current of ozonized air into
the gases resulting from the combustion of the furnace fuel, in order as a
far as possible to convert sulphurous into sulphuric acid. The above
acids are mixed with the ammoniacal gas liquor in such proportions that
the liquor shall be rendered slight'y acid. The admixture is to be made.

page_text: gradually, the acid being added slowly and the liquor kept constantly
agitated by means of a mixer, the process being carried on in an
apparatus constructed so that the gases eliminated, which consist mainly
of sulphuretted hydrogen and carbonic acid, may be collected in a gas
holder. These gases are subsequently burnt in a suitable arrangement,
and the principal products of their combustion being sulphurous acid
mixed with carbonic acid are carried forward and brought in contact
with a quantity of unburnt gases of the same kind taken either from
the same or from another gas holder. These mixed gases should be
carried into or through a column or tower in which there is a fine
shower of water falling. For every volume of gas burnt two volumes of
unburnt gas should be supplied for mixture with the products of com-
bustion. It is desirable, if not necessary, that the combustion of the
gases should be assisted or kept up by passing them into or through an
ordinary gas flame, or an ordinary fire supplied with only sufficient air
to support combustion. From the mixture of the burnt and unburnt
gases sulphur is obtained, and it is allowed to subside from the water
by which it is collected in the column or tower, or the whole of the
gases may be passed through a fire well supplied with air and then in
contact with water, when dilute sulphuric and sulphurous acids would
be obtained..
We claim as respects this part of our Invention, the use and
application of the waste products of the gas manufacture, substantially
as described..
In place of the foregoing the process adopted for the purification of gas
may be modified as follows:-Gas liquor is treated with sulphurous acid
preferably until the liquid smells strongly of sulphurous acid, a slight
precipitation of sulphur takes place, which may be allowed to settle out.
A purifier or scrubber is then charged with the above-named sulphurous
liquor and foul gas passed into it; the sulphuret of ammonia and
sulphite of ammonia mutually react on one another, and the gas passes
forward to the next purifier, where it may be similarly treated, and so.
on to as many purifiers as may suffice to ensure a sufficient separation.
of sulphur compounds..
As described above the process is intermittent, but if a double purifier
or purifier divided by a partition, or two purifiers communicating by a
pipe or otherwise be used it may be made continuous by treating one
side or division or section of the purifier with a stream of sulphurous

page_text: acid gas, whilst the gas passes through the other side, the liquor being
kept in constant agitation or circulation from one side, division, or section
of the purifier to the other by suitable contrivances. The resulting.
liquor in the purifier or purifiers may be drawn off when of any desired
strength, fresh liquor or water being added, and this addition may take
place continuously or intermittently.
The process may be further modified by combining several purifiers
containing different strengths of liquor, and passing tho liquors as they
become exhausted of sulphurous acid from one purifier into the other, as
may be desired, the gas passing in succession through the purifiers in
the opposite direction to the passage of the liquors.
In order to separate remaining acid the gas may undergo one or other
of the following processes :-
Process A. It may be passed through a lime or other alkaline purifier
charged in the usual way. If the first process be skilfully conducted
the lime or alkaline purifier will after use contain hyposulphites of lime
or such other alkaline base as it was originally charged with, and these
hyposulphites and other resulting sulphur salts may be separated by the
usual methods.
Process B. The last traces of acid may be taken out by using a
peroxide of iron purifier, previously rendered alkaline with ammoniacal
gas liquor; by this process the gas will pass forward slightly alkaline
with ammonia. This again might be remedied by using two peroxide
purifiers in succession, the last rendered slightly acid, or better still,
containing moist proto-salt of iron or by a scrubber in the usual manner.
It will be seen that it is recommended that the gas liquors treated
with sulphurous acid should be acid when put into the purifier, but this
is not essential; neutral and still better alkaline sulphite of ammonia
will serve to purify gas.
We claim as respects this part of our Invention the use of ammoniacal a
gas liquor treated with sulphurous acid to purify gas, substantially as
described.
To evaporate the solutions consisting mainly of sulphate of ammonia
which result from the purification of gas an enclosed chamber is
provided, which is crossed by vanes or pendant plates, which are sus-
pended from tubes slotted at the point of junction the entire length. At
frequent intervals the already treated liquor is forced by pressure

page_text: through the tubes so as to be dispersed in spray over the surface of
the vanes and on the bottom of the chamber. A constant current of air
warmed by radiation from the pipes containing the dilute acid before
mentioned is constantly forced into and through the evaporating
chamber; it takes up the water with which it comes in contact, and then
is either discharged into the atmosphere or used in the retort furnaces.
By repeating the applications of spray and evaporating the water
resulting from them many times successive deposits of sulphate of
ammonia will accumulate in the evaporating chamber; this is removed
at intervals.
We claim as respects this part of our Invention, the evaporating
solutions resulting from the purification of gas, in the manner sub-
stantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Upward, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.