Improved Method of Producing Gas from Town Refuse and Sweepings and Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application,
AALL
4000
LOVE, 1000
Complete Specification Loft 27th July 1899-Accented 16th Sept. 1899
Date of Application, 1000
Complete Specification Left 27th July 1899-Accented 16th Sept. 1899
Improved Method of Producing Gas from Town Refuse and
Sweepings and Apparatus therefor.
We, EMIL PILOUS, GEORGE OTTERMANN, and EDWARD NAUHEIM, all of I, Schot-
tenbastei No. 4, Vienna, in the Empire of Austria, Inventor, Merchant, and
Merchant, respectively, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The dry distillation of refuse, street sweepings, ashpit refuse and the like
materials containing organic substances, has hitherto not been capable of being
carried out with practical success, because the gas evolved always contained
over 50% of carbonic acid, the removal of which was too expensive. The gas
produced from the above mentioned materials by the present process is an
excellent heating gas which contains only 5% of carbonic acid together with
50% of hydrogen and 30% of methane and is free or nearly free from carbonic
oxide. It was hitherto impossible by the usual methods to produce a like
favourably composed gas by the distillation of sweepings, ashpit refuse and the
like. The distillation of the materials takes place at a temperature of from
800° to 1000° C. in retorts with which there is preferably combined an improved
apparatus for producing a gas like water gas, so that the heat of the distillation
residue is completely utilised.
The apparatus for carrying out the process is shown in the accompanying
drawings,
Figure 1 being a vertical section; and
Figure 2, an isometrical view of the same.
In the following description of the apparatus, the arrangement for utilising
the residue remaining after the distillation will also be described.
The arrangement consists of two oblique retorts arranged in proximity to
one another and connected by means of a pipe, which retorts are built with
masonry into a furnace. The retorts each open below into a shaft in which
pipes having a large number of adjacent openings are arranged one beneath the
other in several layers. These pipes are connected by a change pipe with a
water tank. The shafts dip into water and are closed internally with means for
shutting out the water. The shafts contain further a means for shutting off
the lower retort joint in such a way that the retorts are in communication with
the shafts so that air cannot penetrate either into the retorts or into the shafts.
On the other hand the retorts alone may be shut off as the closing device turns
in an angle. From each retort a pipe connects with a hydraulic main so that
each retort stands in communication with a separate chamber. If only a single
chamber exists it must be provided with a change or three-way tap or double
valve or the like, as the gas from one chamber must not be mixed with the gas
from the other compartment.
In Figure 1, A is the inclined retort having an opening at C
vided with two closing slides B' B² arranged one above the other.
which is pro-
The retort A

page_text: is connected with the second retort by means of a pipe D. The retort may be
closed below by a closing device E which is movable on a hinge and in the posi-
tion shown in the drawing is open; while the dotted position shows it closed.
The closing door E has double walls and has at the top a flat funnel-shaped
recess which allows of fine sand being introduced into the joint. The rear
wall of the recess has a slide e which, when the retort alone is to be shut off,
may be let down as far as the rear wall of the retort in order that the sand intro-
duced into the joint may only lie between the two walls of the joint. The sides
of the joint right and left are enclosed by the raised side edges of the shaft. In
order to turn the door E up and down a ring d is employed and in order to fix
the joint in its position at any time, two holes are provided on the left hand
side of the raised shaft wall in which holes a pin is inserted.
A shaft F serves for receiving the residues and dips with its lower end into
a vessel H filled with water which serves as an hermetic joint to the shaft and
receives the final residue which falls into a basket. In the shaft F there is
arranged a movable bottom or plate f hinged at g with the hinge spindle pass-
ing through the wall of the shaft and provided with a lever K so that the
bottom can be shut up or turned down. Further there are several frames
formed of perforated pipes c located in the shaft. The perforated pipes are
arranged one above the other and are connected with a pipe m outside the shaft.
The pipe m has a change tap N and is connected with the water tank G. The
retorts are also provided each with a discharge pipe R which dips into water in
a receiver J. The pipe L for carrying off the gas is connected with this cham-
ber J and leads to a change valve M, a three way tap or the like.
Figure 2 shows an elevation of a furnace with two connected retorts, a portion
of the wall being supposed to be removed, so that the internal arrangement of
the retorts and their arrangements can be seen. The retorts are indicated
by A A² The corresponding subsidiary apparatuses of each retort have the
additional reference numerals 1 and 2 whilst the other reference letters corre-
spond with those in Figure 1. Those parts which are the same in the two
retorts have no index numerals.
The materials to be distilled are brought into one retort and the valves E¹ E2
are closed. One of the retorts contains the fresh sweepings or refuse and the
other the residue from a previous distillation. The distillate circulates in both
retorts and there results therefrom a heating gas of high value which is free
or nearly free from carbonic oxide and consists essentially of hydrogen and
methane. The gas contains about 50% of hydrogen, 30%, methane, 5% car-
bonic acid and small quantities up to 1% of oxygen and nitrogen, ammonia
and the like as impurities. The gas in consequence of the absence of carbonic
oxide is non-poisonous, and by reason of its composition has considerable advan-
tages over hydrogen gas as regards heating capabilities. The absence of car-
bonic oxide can only be explained by its property of diffusion at high tempera-
tures. The walls of the retort heated up to about 1000° C. allow the main part
of the carbonic oxide to pass through them. Whilst in the processes of gas
manufacture hitherto employed no influence on the composition of the gas can
be shown by diffusion, in contrast thereto in the present case an alteration in
the composition of the gas up to the entire removal of the carbonic oxide results
or is attained.
In the distillation herein before described, after the gas to be obtained by
the distillation has been completely obtained, there remain a residue which
yields no further gas even if further heated, but still contains a certain quantity
of carburet. The residue is at a clear yellow heat on the completion of the
distillation. The temperature and the carburet contents may both be rendered
of value by the door 2 of the retort being opened, whereupon the residue falls
into the shaft F3 communicating with the retort A2 and accumulates on the
movable bottom f2 of the shaft. The bottom is in such a position that it
closes the shaft against the water vessel H. The opening of the bottom takes

page_text: place only when the cooled residue is to be withdrawn from the shaft.
As soon
as this is to be done the bottom is opened, the residue falls then into the water
vessel H and is here preferably received in a basket or the like and removed.
After the opening of the door E2 and the making of the tight joint by means
of sand in order to shut the shaft F2 and the retort A2 connected therewith
entirely against the outside air, the water tap №2 is slowly and gently opened
so that a very fine jet of water emerges from the pipes and falls on the still
glowing residue which is accumulated on the bottom f. The quantity of water
conveyed to the residue must be so calculated that the residue, after the forma-
tion of steam from the water, still possesses a somewhat high temperature in order
to allow of a chemical action of the steam on the carburet containing residue.
The water is converted into steam of high temperature by the heat of the
residue. There simultaneously takes place between the steam and the residue
from the distillation a chemical reaction which causes the formation of water
gas or a gas like water gas. The mixture of water gas and superheated steam
flows out of the shaft 1 into the retort A2 and then through the connecting
pipe D into the retort A' where the heated residue is still existent on which
then the mixture of gas acts still further at the high temperature and again
causes the formation of more water gas. As the retort A2 and also the connect-
ing pipe D are highly heated, further reactions take place in the mixture of
gas during its passage through the retorts from the connecting pipe. There
is thus a further utilisation of the heat produced during the first distillation.
The gas produced passes through the discharge pipes R' L' and the receiver J¹
to the change valve, thence through a scrubber and for further utilisation into
a gasometer. After the termination of the formation of water gas, the retort A²
is again closed by means of the door E2, once more charged and the distillation
again effected, When the distillation is completed, the retort A¹ is opened
below, the residue discharged into the corresponding shaft F and then the
door E arranged similarly to what has been herein before described and made
tight with sand. The admission of water and the further treatment then takes
place in the manner before described. The change valve is then shifted in
order that the gas may be forced to proceed from the shaft F¹ into the retort A¹
through the connecting pipe 1) and the retort A2 to the receiver J2 and from
thence to the change valve, the scrubber, and the gasometer.
The production of gas is repeated in the manner herein before described first
in the right and then in the left hand shaft, and from the residue the produc-
tion of water gas is effected.
A separate pipe may be allowed to pass from the water inlet to each of the
perforated tube frames so that water may be first admitted to the lowest tubular
frame which is preferable as the superheated steam must first pass through a
highly heated residue within the shaft and thus more advantageously form water
gas.
Improved method of Froducing Gas from Town Refuse and
Sweepings and Apparatus therefor.
We, EMIL PILOUS, GEORGE OTTERMANN, and EDWARD NAUHEIM, all of 1, Schot-
tenbastei No. 4, Vienna, in the Empire of Austria, Inventor, Merchant, and
Merchant, respectively, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in

page_text: what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
The dry distillation of refuse, street sweepings, ashpit refuse and the like
materials containing organic substances, has hitherto not been capable of being
carried out with practical success, because the gas evolved always contained
over 50% of carbonic acid, the removal of which was too expensive. The gas
produced from the above mentioned materials by the present process is an
excellent heating gas which contains only 5% of carbonic acid together with
50% of hydrogen and 30% of methane and is free or nearly free from carbonic
oxide. It was hitherto impossible by the usual methods to produce a like
favourably composed gas by the distillation of sweepings, ashpit refuse and the
like. The distillation of the materials takes place at a temperature of from
800° to 1000° C. in retorts with which there is preferably combined an improved
apparatus for producing a gas like water gas, so that the heat of the distillation
residue is completely utilised.
The apparatus for carrying out the process is shown in the drawings accom-
panying the Provisional Specification―
Figure 1 being a vertical section; and
Figure 2, an isometrical view of the same.
In the following description of the apparatus, the arrangement for utilising
the residue remaining after the distillation will also be described.
The arrangement consists of two oblique retorts arranged in proximity to
one another and connected by means of a pipe, which retorts are built with
masonry into a furnace. The retorts each open below into a shaft in which
pipes having a large number of adjacent openings are arranged one beneath the
other in several layers. These pipes are connected by a change pipe with a
water tank. The shafts dip into water and are closed internally with means for
shutting out the water. The shafts contain further a means for shutting off
the lower retort joint in such a way that the retorts are in communication with
the shafts so that air cannot penetrate either into the retorts or into the shafts.
On the other hand the retorts alone may be shut off as the closing device turns
in an angle. From each retort a pipe connects with an hydraulic main so that
each retort stands in communication with a separate chamber. If only a single
chamber exists it must be provided with a change or three-way tap or double
valve or the like, as the gas from one chamber must not be mixed with the gas
from the other compartment.
In Figure 1, A is the inclined retort having an opening at C which is pro-
vided with two closing slides B1 B2 arranged one above the other. The retort A
is connected with the second retort by means of a pipe D. The retort may be
closed below by a closing device E which is movable on a hinge and in the posi-
tion shown in the drawing is open, while the dotted position shows it closed.
The closing door E has double walls and has at the top a flat funnel-shaped
recess which allows of fine sand being introduced into the joint. The rear
wall of the recess has a slide e which, when the retort alone is to be shut off,
may be let down as far as the rear wall of the retort in order that the sand intro-
duced into the joint may only lie between the two walls of the joint. The sides
of the joint right and left are enclosed by the raised side edges of the shaft. In
order to turn the door E up and down a ring d is employed and in order to fix
the joint in its position at any time, two holes are provided on the left hand
side of the raised shaft wall, in which holes a pin is inserted.
A shaft F serves for receiving the residues and dips with its lower end into
a vessel H filled with water which serves as an hermetic joint to the shaft and
receives the final residue which falls into a basket. In the shaft F there is
arranged a movable bottom or plate f hinged at g with the hinge spindle pass-
ing through the wall of the shaft and provided with a lever K so that the
bottom can be shut up or turned down. Further there are several frames
formed of perforated pipes c located in the shaft. The perforated pipes are

page_text: arranged one above the other and are connected with a pipe m outside the shaft.
The pipe m has a change tap N and is connected with the water tank G. The
retorts are also provided each with a discharge pipe R which dips into water in
a receiver J. The pipe L for carrying off the gas is connected with this cham-
ber J and leads to a change valve M, a three way tap or the like.
Figure 2 shows an elevation of a furnace with two connected retorts, a portion
of the wall being supposed to be removed, so that the internal arrangement of
the retorts and their arrangements can be seen. The retorts are indicated
by A¹ A² The corresponding subsidiary apparatuses of each retort have the
additional reference numerals 1 and 2 whilst the other reference letters corre-
spond with those in Figure 1. Those parts which are the same in the two
retorts have no index numerals.
The materials to be distilled are brought into one retort and the valves E¹ E³
are closed. One of the retorts contains the fresh sweepings or refuse and the
other the residue from a previous distillation. The distillate circulates in both
retorts and there results therefrom a heating gas of high value which is free
or nearly free from carbonic oxide and consists essentially of hydrogen and
methane. The gas contains about 50% of hydrogen, 30% methane, 5% car-
bonic acid and small quantities up to 1% of oxygen and nitrogen, ammonia
and the like as impurities. The gas in consequence of the absence of carbonic
oxide is non-poisonous, and by reason of its composition has considerable advan-
tages over hydrogen gas as regards heating capabilities. The absence of car-
bonic oxide can only be explained by its property of diffusion at high tempera-
tures. The walls of the retort heated up to about 1000° C. allow the main part
of the carbonic oxide to pass through them. Whilst in the processes of gas
manufacture hitherto employed no influence on the composition of the gas can
be shown by diffusion, in contrast thereto in the present case an alteration in
the composition of the gas up to the entire removal of the carbonic oxide results
or is attained.
In the distillation herein before described, after the gas to be obtained by
the distillation has been completely obtained, there remains a residue which
yields no further gas even if further heated, but still contains a certain quantity
of carburet. The residue is at a clear yellow heat on the completion of the
distillation. The temperature and the carburet contents may both be rendered
of value by the door of the retort being opened, whereupon the residue falls
into the shaft a communicating with the retort A2 and accumulates on the
movable bottom of the shaft. The bottom is in such a position that it
closes the shaft against the water vessel H. The opening of the bottom takes
place only when the cooled residue is to be withdrawn from the shaft.
As soon
as this is to be done the bottom is opened, the residue falls then into the water
vessel H and is here preferably received in a basket or the like and removed.
After the opening of the door E3 and the making of the tight joint by means
of sand in order to shut the shaft F2 and the retort A2 connected therewith
entirely against the outside air, the water tap N2 is slowly and gently opened
so that a very fine jet of water emerges from the pipes and falls on the still
glowing residue which is accumulated on the bottom f. The quantity of water
conveyed to the residue must be so calculated that the residue, after the forma-
tion of steam from the water, still possesses a somewhat high temperature in order
to allow of a chemical action of the steam on the carburet containing residue.
The water is converted into steam of high temperature by the heat of the
residue. There simultaneously takes place between the steam and the residue
from the distillation a chemical reaction which causes the formation of water
gas or a gas like water gas. The mixture of water gas and superheated steam
flows out of the shaft 2 into the retort A2 and then through the connecting
pipe D into the retort A¹ where the heated residue is still existent on which
then the mixture of gas acts still further at the high temperature and again
causes the formation of more water gas. As the retort A2 and also the connect-

page_text: ing pipe D are highly heated, further reactions take place in the mixture of
gas during its passage through the retorts from the connecting pipe. There
is thus a further utilisation of the heat produced during the first distillation.
The gas produced passes through the discharge pipes R¹ L' and the receiver J
to the change valve, thence through a scrubber and for further utilisation into
a gasometer. After the termination of the formation of water gas, the retort A³
is again closed by means of the door E2, once more charged and the distillation
again effected. When the distillation is completed, the retort A¹ is opened
below, the residue discharged into the corresponding shaft F1 and then the
door E¹ arranged similarly to what has been herein before described and made
tight with sand. The admission of water and the further treatment then takes
place in the manner before described. The change valve is then shifted in
order that the gas may be forced to proceed from the shaft F1 into the retort A¹
through the connecting pipe D and the retort A2 to the receiver J2 and from
thence to the change valve, the scrubber, and the gasometer.
The production of gas is repeated in the manner herein before described first
in the right and then in the left hand shaft, and from the residue the produc-
tion of water gas is effected.
A separate pipe may be allowed to pass from the water inlet to each of the
perforated tube frames so that water may be first admitted to the lowest tubular
frame which is preferable, as the superheated steam must first pass through a
highly heated residue within the shaft and thus more advantageously form water
gas.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-
1. A method of producing gas composed essentially of hydrogen and methane,
consisting in distilling refuse, street sweepings, ashpit refuse and the like
organic substances at temperatures of between 800 to 1000° C., the gases pro-
duced being constantly removed over the heated material, substantially as
herein before set forth.
2. A method of carrying out the herein before described process for producing
gas from town refuse and sweepings, characterized by the residue remaining from
the dry distillation being used immediately on the completion of the latter
for the production of water gas, the temperature of said residue serving for
initiating and carrying on the formation of the water gas for which object the
quantity of water added thereto is regulated in such a way that the steam pro-
duced can come into reaction with the still sufficiently heated residue, substan-
tially as described.
3. A modification of the herein before described process for producing gas from
town refuse and sweepings characterised by the hot residue from the distilla-
tion being made to encounter steam and the gaseous mixture thereby produced
being conveyed through the still hot retorts, thus causing a further production
of water gas substantially as described.
4. An apparatus for carrying out the herein before described process for pro-
ducing gas from town refuse and sweepings, consisting of a series of two inter-
connected retorts which each open below into a shaft into which the distillation
residue comes and is mixed with water by means of pipes provided with open-
ings, substantially as described.
Dated this 26th dox of Tuly 1800.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicants.