Improved Artificial Fuels.
Year: 1896

page_text: This Print is in accordance with the Original Specification as it stands after
Amendment (under Section 11 of the Patents, &c. Act, 1883) as required by
the decision of the Comptroller General of the 4th day of November 1897.
Date of Application, 6th May, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 8th Feb., 1897-Accepted, 6th May, 1897
Improved Artificial Fuels.
I, RICHARD BRADSHAW, of 117 Ash Grove, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention has reference to the manufacture of solid fuels, comprising or
made up of natural or largely natural products, and in forms suitable for burning
in different kinds of furnaces, domestic fire-places, stoves, and other analogous
apparatus; and it has more particularly for its object to provide, in the first place,
a manufacture, which in itself, is freely combustible, and, in the second place, a
species or type of artificial fuel bodies or blocks in which petroleum or other
suitable oil, or oil product, shall be held or contained in such a manner, that it will
not distil off too freely when burning, but will burn in the required uniform manner
and rate, and with safety and security, at the same time, with sufficient freedom to
produce an adequate temperature and an abundance of heat.
According to one part of this invention, the fuel, in the form of blocks or
Lriquettes, comprises two parts, an outer part, constituting a case made of materials
hereafter referred to, pressed and solidified, and an internal part constituting a
core, and consisting of any suitable combustibles as hereinafter mentioned.
According to another part of this invention, blocks or briquettes are made of
materials hereafter specified in solid form, pressed and solidified.
The blocks or briquette cores (or the solid blocks or briquettes) above described
are made of or comprise coal or coke dust or slack, farina, Irish moss, and pulped
potato. To these latter materials, prior to mixing with the coal or coke dust or
slack, water is added; and they are brought to the consistency of a jelly, and in
this condition all the materials are thoroughly mixed together in or about in equal
parts by bulk (or in other suitable proportions); and then in this damp condition
the mixture is pressed and solidified in suitable dies or matrices to the form of case,
or block or briquette required, as the case may be. In some cases it is preferred
to add to the mixture a small quantity of petroleum or suitable oil, by which the
case is rendered waterproof, as well as more readily combustible.
The cases are made open at one end, and then after the core has been inserted,
the end is closed in with a cover of the material which is pressed into the case
when the centre portion has been filled with a charge of the combustibles.
The thickness of the case will be considerable; that is sufficiently thick to
withstand the ordinary conditions of use to which fuel is subjected.
In some cases there may be added to the materials a small quantity of the
residue of crushed linseed after the oil has been pressed, or a small quantity of
petroleum or the like, or resin. Also, in lieu of the materials particularly

page_text: specified, their equivalents may be used where more convenient, or under
circumstances where they can be more favourably employed, as for instance, in
cases where, by reason of their costs, they can be more economically used.
As to the cores with which the cases are charged or filled, I use petroleum of
any suitable grade or quality, or other suitable oil, mixed with peat, or coal or
coke dust or slack, resin, tar, or analogous or equivalent material; and in some
cases some salt-petre may be added to the mixture. This core is made in the form
of pressed blocks; or, the mixture while in a loose or unsolidified state is filled
into the cases. When the case is charged with such materials and closed, the
article or manufacture constitutes a closed hard shell or case with an internal core
or kernel of combustible materials such as specified; and these combustible
materials being held within its shell, made of the materials named, they will not be
distilled off as soon as the briquette or article becomes heated or is placed on the
fire, but are given off gradually, as in the case of coal, through the pores of the
case, and burn at the required uniform rate and intensity.
It is to be stated that the invention is not restricted to the use of all the materials
specified or referred to in the manufacture of the blocks, cases, or briquettes in
combination, as one or more of these may be omitted, or equivalents substituted for
them without departing from the main characteristics of the invention.
Dated this 5th day of May 1896.
CHEESBROUGH & ROYSTON,
15 Water Street, Liverpool, Applicant's Patent Agents.
I, RICHARD BRADSHAW, of 117 Ash Grove, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, do thereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement:-
This invention has reference to the manufacture of solid fuels, comprising or
made up of natural or largely natural products, and in forms suitable for burning
in different kinds of furnaces, domestic fire-places, stoves, and other analogous
apparatus; and it has more particularly for its object to provide, in the first place,
a manufacture, which in itself, is freely combustible, and, in the second place, a
species or type of artificial fuel bodies or blocks in which petroleum or other
suitable oil, or oil product, shall be held or contained in such a manner, that it will
not distil off too freely when burning, but will burn in the required uniform manner
and rate, and with safety and security, at the same time, with sufficient freedom to
produce an adequate temperature and an abundance of heat.
According to one part of this invention, the fuel, in the form of blocks or
briquettes, comprises two parts, an outer part, constituting a case made of materials
hereafter referred to, pressed and solidified, and an internal part constituting a
core, and consisting of any suitable combustibles as hereafter mentioned.
According to another part of this invention, blocks or briquettes are made of
materials, hereafter specified, in solid form, pressed and solidified.
The blocks or briquette cases (or the solid blocks or briquettes), above described,
are made of or comprise coal or coke dust or anthracite, farina, alga, and potato
starch. To these latter materials, prior to mixing with the peat or coke dust
or slack, water is added; and they are brought to the consistency of a jelly, and,
in this condition, all the materials are thoroughly mixed together in or about
in equal parts by bulk (or in other suitable proportions); and then in this damp

page_text: condition the mixture is pressed and solidified in suitable dies or matrices to the
form of case or block or briquette required, as the case may be. In some cases
it is preferred to add to the mixture a small quantity of crude petroleum, or
ostatke, or suitable oil, by which the case is rendered waterproof, as well as more
readily combustible.
The cases are made open at one end, and then after the core has been inserted,
the end is closed in with a cover of the material, which is pressed onto the case.
The thickness of the case will be considerable; that is sufficiently thick to
withstand the ordinary conditions of use to which fuel is subjected.
In some cases, there may be added to the materials a small quantity of the
residue of crushed linseed of palm nuts or cotton seed, after the oil has been
pressed, or a small quantity of petroleum, ostatke, or the like, or resin. Also, in
lieu of the materials particularly specified, their equivalents may be used where
more convenient, or under circumstances where they can be more favourably.
employed, as for instance, in cases where, by reason of their costs, they can he
more economically used.
As to the cores with which the cases are charged or filled, I use petroleum or
ostatke of any suitable grade or quality, or other suitable oil, mixed with peat, or
anthracite, coke dust, or slack, resin, tar, or analogous or equivalent material; and
in some cases some saltpetre may be added to the mixture. For the core the
following ingredients, in the proportions specified, may be used with advantage,
the proportions being in parts by weight:
Petroleum (say crude petroleum)
Ostatke (petroleum residium
Resin-
Gas-tar
Nitrate of Potash
- 50
26
20
3
Silicate of Soda
Calcium Carbide
Sulphate of aluminium
100
These materials, if mixed together in these proportions, become solidified and
capable of being handled.
This core is made in the form of pressed blocks; or, the mixture, while in an
unsolidified state, is filled into the cases. When the case is charged with such
materials and closed, the article or manufacture constitutes a closed hard shell or
case with an internal core or kernel of combustible material, such as specified; and
these combustible materials being held within its shell, made of the materials
named, they will not be distilled off as soon as the briquette or article becomes
heated, or is placed on the fire, but are given off gradually, as in the case of coal,
through the pores of the case, and burit at the required uniform rate and intensity.
In the drawings hereto annexed, Figure 1 shews a section of briquette consisting
of an outer part or case and an internal core, a being the case, and 6 the core; and
these two parts consist of a combination of materials, and are made up in the
manner, herein described.
Figure 2 shews in section a briquette consisting of a number of small cores b
contained within a simple case a, these two parts being made of the respective
materials or compounds, as herein specified.
Examples of briquettes, made in the form of solid blocks or briquettes without
cores, are illustrated in the drawings,, they being, in some cases, made of the same
materials or compounds as the case . For instance, Figure 3 shews an ordinary
solid briquette made of materials similar to those employed in the case above
described, or of materials, herein specified, of which the solid briquettes or blocks.
are made.

page_text: Figure 4 is also a solid Lriquette with an exterior surface consisting of grooves
and ridges, constituting corrugations, by which, when the briquette is put upon a
fire, it ignites more rapidly.
The block illustrated in Figure 5 is made from a mixture of materials such as
specified, which is squeezed through holes by suitable pressure, the material having
first been brought to a condition in which, by pressure, it will issue freely through
holes in a die or plate, and collect, in say a mould, and adhere more or less solidly
together. The block is nevertheless porous or cellular to some extent, and
consequently burns with great facility, no matter which of the mixtures or
compounds described are used, i.e. whether the main stock be anthracite or
bituminous coal.
In some cases, in making the cases of the briquettes described, or in making
solid briquettes as described, I can use with advantage anthracite or coal dust, coke
dust, or slack, in combination with the composition used for the core more
particularly set forth above, the proportions employed being, coal slack or coke
dust 10 to 20, to 1 of the other composition, the whole being, of course, thoroughly
mixed and incorporated and pressed into blocks.
It is to be stated that the invention is not restricted to the use of all the
materials specified or referred to in the manufacture of the blocks, cases, or
briquettes, in combination, as one or more of these may be omitted, or equivalents
substituted for them without departing from the main characteristics of the
invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner. the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The herein described improved artificial fuel, consisting of a block or
briquette comprising a case of combustible material compressed and combined,
and an internal core of more readily inflammable mixture; substantially as herein
set forth.
2. The improved artificial fuel briquettes comprising an outer case a, and inner
core or cores b, consisting of the materials, compounded, and made as herein set
forth with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings.
3. A solid artificial fuel briquette, or case of a compound briquette consisting of
a base of bituminous or anthracite coal dust, or slack, or coke dust, or a com-
bination of same, and ingredients for binding, and compounding and mixing with
same; substantially as herein set forth.
4. In the manufacture of compound artificial fuel briquettes or blocks, the
employment for the internal portion thereof, of the materials, or the main portions
of the materials, more particularly specified, and in or about the proportions given;
for the purposes described.
5. The artificial fuel briquettes, set forth with reference to Figure 4, and
Figure 5, respectively, of the drawings.
Dated this 6th day of February 1897
CHEESBROUGH & ROYSTON,
15 Water Street, Liverpool, Applicant's Patent Agents.