IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONVERSION OF PEAT INTO CHARCOAL
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hall, of the Colliery, Castlecomer,
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONVERSION
OF PEAT INTO CHARCOAL."
Sealed the 16th November 1858, and dated the 8th September 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hall
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 8th September 1853.
I, WILLIAM HALL, of the Colliery, Castlecomer, Engineer, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONVERSION OF PEAT INTO CHARCOAL" to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in the arrangement and combination of
apparatus in which the several operations of charring, extinguishing,
pulverizing, and cooling the material under treatment may be continu-
ously and expeditiously carried on.
The apparatus for the purpose consists of the following parts in
combination, viz:-A cylindrical burner or coking cylinder; a mill for
pulverizing; and cooling chambers, with cistern, pipes, and cocks for

page_text: maintaining a continuous supply of water, and regulating its admission
and discharge, as required.
The burner, mill, and cooling chambers are mounted upon pillars.
and rotary motion is imparted to the mill, and burner by means of
suitable driving gear. "During their rotation water is introduced into
the latter by a feed pipe from the cistern through a central hollow
shaft turning in a packing box fixed in a block or pedestal. The water
passes upwards until it arrives at an open pipe in the centre of the
mill, which it enters, and passes downwards through the same, the hot
water thus constantly escaping, and the fresh cold water constantly
entering, without interrupting the rotation of the mill. In this manner
the combined operations of charring, extinguishing, pulverizing, and
cooling arc effected in metallic cylinders, the temperature of which is
kept low by a constant circulation-of-cold-water, fed into a casing or
chamber which surrounds them, the water as it becomes heated passing
off through an escape pipe.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Hall in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 6th March 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM HALL, of the Colliery, Castlecomer, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
seventeenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Hall, Her special
license that I,- the said William Hall, my "executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Hall.
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

page_text: and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONVERSION OF PEAT INTO CHARCOAL," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I; the said William Hall, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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
tiled 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 William Hall, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):
My Invention of "Improvements in the Conversion of Peat into
Charcoal" has for its object the combination of a cylindrical burner for
the peat, with a conical mill in which the same may be crushed or pul-
verized, such burner and mill being made to revolve by the agency of
power communicated to the latter, which is also contained in a fixed
cylinder, around which and within the mill is maintained a constant
supply or circulation of cold water, provision being made for the escape
of the heated water and vapor, as required.
By means of this arrangement the several operations of charring,
pulverizing, extinguishing, and cooling may be successively and uni-
formly carried on in the same apparatus. The apparatus for the
purpose consists of a cylinder mounted upon pillars or other suitable
foundation, and enclosing within it another cylinder. Within the latter
is mounted the conical mill in such a manner as to be capable of
receiving rotary motion imparted to a tube or hollow axle at the lower
part of it. To the upper part of the cone is connected the burning or
charring cylinder, so that it may partake of the motion imparted to the
mill; and its lower part is made to turn upon rollers fixed in the
space between the two lower cylinders. The cold water is supplied
from a cistern with pipes and regulating cocks through the tube or
hollow axle of the mill into the interior of the same, and also into

page_text: the space between the two lower cylinders. And the heated water
and vapor are made to pass out therefrom by means of waste pipes
open at top, contained respectively in the interior of the mill and
such space.
In order, however, that my Invention may be fully understood, I will
proceed to describe the accompanying Drawing, in which is repre-
sented the combined form of apparatus above referred to.
Figure 1, represents the apparatus in elevation; and Figure 2, repre-
sents the same in vertical section. Figure 3, is a plan or horizontal
view of the two lower cylinders, with the burning or charring cylinder
removed; and Figure 4, is an underneath plan view of the latter
cylinder.
A, A, are the pillars or standards on which the apparatus is sup-
ported. B, and C, are the two lower cylinders resting thereon. At D,
are represented the main driving shaft and bevil gear by which motion
is communicated to the hollow axle E, of the conical mill F. This axle
works in a stuffing box G, in the pedestal H. The conical mill is
furnished with teeth or spikes f, in the upper part of it, and in the
lower part is formed with flutes or projections running in a direction
somewhat inclined to the sides of the cone. The cone is connected to
the hollow axle E, by means of the small cylinder I, through which
water may pass from the said hollow axle to the interior of the cone.
This smaller cylinder is furnished with projections or guides i, on its
outer circumference. J, is a ring or washer fixed within the cylinder C,
such ring having a fluted circumference, the flutes being vertical.
K, is the burning or charring cylinder, around the lower part of which
are formed a series of apertures L, for the admission of external air.
This cylinder is connected to the mill F, by means of a nut or stud M,
see Figure 4, the lower part of which fits into a square cavity in the top
of the cone, and the upper part fits into an opening in the cross
piece N, of the charring cylinder. The lower part of the cylinder K,
rests upon rollers O, (see Fig. 3,) fixed in the upper part of the space
between the two lower cylinders B, C. At P, is represented a cistern
or vessel containing cold water, the supply of which to the apparatus
as required is regulated by the cocks in the supply pipes Q, and R. At

page_text: S, is shewn the waste water pipe for conveying away heated water and
vapor from the interior of the conical mill F; and at T, that inserted
in the space between the cylinders B, and C, for the same purpose.
U, is the pipe by which the prepared charcoal is discharged from the
apparatus.
The operation of the combined apparatus is as follows:-The dried
peat being placed in the charring cylinder K, is set burning. When
this cylinder or burner is first supplied with the peat a few iron bars
or other means of support for the same should be placed through the
apertures L, and across the lower part of the cylinder, so as to prevent
the peat from falling therefrom into the lower cylinder or pulverizing
chamber c, before it has become sufficiently charred. When, however,
the conical mill F, has become sufficiently charged with material,
which is being crushed or pulverized therein, such means of support
may be withdrawn. By the continuous rotary motion of the mill and
burner a regular and uniform draft is provided, and the charred peat
will continually pass into the cylinder or pulverizing chamber c, and be
broken or reduced by the action of the teeth, knives, or spikes, whence
it will fall into the space between the inclined flutes of the revolving
cone F, and the vertical flutes of the fixed ring or washer J, and
become pulverized, so as to be capable of passing on between the small
openings of the flutes into the lower or cooling part of the cylinder C.
The material thus pulverized is carried forward by the projections or
guides i, on the small cylinder I, within the cooling cylinder c, whence
it is discharged from the apparatus in the form of prepared charcoal in
a cooled state at the pipe U.
During these operations the required cooling of the material is
effected by allowing a proper supply of cold water to pass from the
cistern or vessel through the pipe Q, to the interior of the conical
mill F, through the hollow shaft E, (which has holes in its lower part
for this purpose), and small cylinder I, also through the pipe R, to
the space between the cylinders B, and C. The heated water and
vapor rising in the interior of the mill, and in such space, will
flow off and escape by the open-mouthed pipes S, and T. By this
means the material under operation being surrounded by cold water

page_text: constantly circulating within the apparatus will become cooled, as
required.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood
that I do not mean or intend to confine myself to the precise forms
and arrangements of all the parts shewn and described; but what
I claim as of my Invention is,―
First, the combination of the conical mill with the cylindrical
burner, and means of cooling the material under operation, as described.
Secondly, the general construction of the mill, as described.
And, thirdly, the general arrangement of the means of keeping
up the required circulation of cold water within the apparatus, as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hall, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of February, One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Signed, sealed, and delivered
in presence of
KILDAN DOBBS, Accountant,
Castlecomer.
WILLIAM HALL. (L.S.)