IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HYDROGEN GAS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Frederick Lackersteen, of No. 3, 'Lombard
Court, in the City of London, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HYDROGEN GAS."
Sealed the 13th June 1873, and dated the 17th December 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Frederick
Lackersteen at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 17th December 1872.
#!
I, JAMES FREDERICK LACKERSTEEN, of No. 3, Lombard Court, in
the City of London, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HYDROGEN GAS,"
to be as follows, that is to say :—
This Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of
hydrogen gas, and the following is a simple method of carrying the
same into effect:-I pass steam superheated or otherwise into or through
a vessel or series of vessels heated by suitable means to any desired
degree of heat, and charged with manganese (or a compound thereof)

page_text: either alone or mixed or combined with other suitable substance or
material. The steam thus introduced is decomposed, the oxygen being
absorbed by the manganese and the hydrogen thereby liberated. The
hydrogen gas thus produced is conveyed away by pipes or other suitable
means to be used for whatever purpose required.
In performing this Invention care is taken to admit only so much
steam into the said vessel or vessels as the manganese is capable of
decomposing, and when the manganese has absorbed as much oxygen
as it is capable of holding the steam is shut off and turned into another
or second vessel or series of vessels similarly charged and heated, there
to be decomposed in like manner as just described, whilst the contents
of the first vessel or vessels are being replaced by fresh substance or
material.
1
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Frederick Lackersteen in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 17th June 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
FREDERICK LACKERSTEEN, of No. 3, Lombard Court, in the City of
London, Civil Engineer, send greeting. .
.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said James Frederick Lackersteen,
Her special license that I, the said James Frederick Lackersteen,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Frederick Lackersteon, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE Manufacture of
HYDROGEN GAS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
James Frederick Lackersteen, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands. and

page_text: 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 James Frederick Lackersteen, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:-
-
This Invention relates to or consists in improvements in the manu-
facture of hydrogen gas, and is as follows:-I pass steam superheated
or otherwise into or through a retort or series of retorts heated by any
suitable and well-known means, and charged with manganese (or a
preparation thereof) of a low oxide, or manganese which has been
..previously treated so as to render it of a lower oxide than is commonly
found in nature for the purpose of rendering it capable of uniting with
a larger amount of the oxygen of the steam introduced. The manganese
having a great affinity for oxygen will, when heated as described, at
once decompose the steam introduced into the retort by uniting with
the oxygen thereof. The hydrogen is thus liberated and may be
conveyed away by pipes to where required, either for storage or
immediate use.
I have stated that the steam used may be either superheated or
otherwise, but I prefer to use it superheated as the process of decom-
position and consequently the production of the hydrogen gas is thereby
greatly accelerated. The superheating may be accomplished by any
suitable and well-known means.
The steam having been introduced into the retort should be confined
therein until the decomposition thereof has been completed, and this
may be ascertained by having a burner with a very small aperture
connected with the retort, the communication between the same being
made capable of being opened or closed as required. When the decom-
position has been completed the hydrogen gas may be ignited at this
burner.
Instead of having only one retort a series of retorts containing the
manganese may be so arranged that the steam may be passed through
them in succession, thus bringing the steam in contact with an extended
-

page_text: area of the manganese, so that the steam may be admitted into the first
retort and the hydrogen gas be conveyed away from the last retort in a
continuous stream until the power of the manganese for uniting with
the oxygen is exhausted.
When the supply of hydrogen is required without intermission a
double series of retorts is provided, so that when the manganese in onc
series has become exhausted the steam is turned into the second series
similarly charged and heated whilst the first is being replenished.
I find it convenient to erect and heat the retorts in a similar manner
to those in use for the production of ordinary coal gas, though I do not
confine myself to such arrangement. .
In witness whereof, I, the said James Frederick Lackersteen, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of June,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
throo
JAMES F. LACKERSTEEN. (L.S.)