IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANufacture of ARTIFICIAL FUEL
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Ker Aitchison, of Redcar, in the County.
of York, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANufacture of
ARTIFICIAL FUEL."
Scaled the 5th January 1875, and dated the 16th July 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Ker Aitchison
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patcuts, with his Petition,
on the 16th July 1874.
I, ROBERT KER AITCHISON, of Redcar, in the County of York, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL," to be as follows:
:―
The object of my Invention of improvements in the manufacture of
artificial fuel is to produce a cheap fuel which can be used for the
purpose of smelting ironstone, heating, puddling, or other furnaces, and
for other analogous purposes.
In carrying out my Invention I make use of peat as the basis of my
fuel, and I combine therewith charcoal and the chlorides of calcium and

page_text: sodium, which will combine with the phosphorus, sulphur, and other
impurities contained in the orc, or which may be found mixed with the
iron. The compound which will be formed during the combustion of
the fuel by the combination of the chlorides and other chemical agents
with the impurities mixed with the iron will form a slag, which will be
carried off in a molten state. I also combine with the peat pulverized
charcoal, which will impart hardness and solidity to the fuel and enable
it to support a strong draft.
As the main object in using the chlorides is to climinate the phos-
phorus and other impurities from the iron the proportions in which these
chemical agents are to be added to the peat must depend upon the nature
of the ore or metal, and the per-centage of impurities they contain. For
instance, Cleveland stone contains from 2 to 3 per cent. of sulphur, I
therefore mix with the peat, about 3 per cent. of the chlorides for the
purpose of combining with the sulphur, and an equivalent quantity for
the phosphorus; that is, I add about 9 tons of the chlorides to 100 tons
of peat, and I further add 3 tons of charcoal. These proportions however
admit of considerable modification for the reasons already mentioned..
When all the ingredients are well and intimately mixed together the
compound should be subjected to heavy pressure in order to form it into
blocks of suitable size and shape. It must then be dried, after which it
will be ready for use.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Robert Ker Aitchison in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 15th January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
KER AITCHISON, of Redcar, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Robert Ker Aitchison, Her special
licence that I, the said Robert Ker Aitchison, my exccutors, ad-
ministrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert Ker

page_text: Aitchison, 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 ARTIFICIAL FUEL,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Robert Ker
Aitchison, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, 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 filéd
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 Robert Ker Aitchison, 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 in writing, that is to say :-
The object of this Invention of improvements in the manufacture of
artificial fuel is to produce a cheap fuel which can be used for the
purpose of smelting ironstone, heating puddling or other furnaces, and
for other analogous purposes.
In carrying out my Invention I make use of peat as the basis of my
fuck. This in the first place I thoroughly masticate or disintegrate, and
then intimately mix, incorporate, or combine it with charcoal (which I
prefer to use in a pulverized state as it then imparts a greater degree of
hardness and solidity to the resulting fuel, and enables it to support a
stronger draft), and with the chlorides of calcium and sodium, and also
with clay. The combustion of this admixture effects the combining
therewith of the phosphorus, sulphur, and other impurities contained in
the orc or mixed with the iron, and the compound which is thus formed
(during the said combustion of the fuel by the said combination of the
chlorides and other chemical agents with the impurities of or mixed with
the iron, for which they have a considerable affinity), forms a slag
which is carried off from the furnace in a molten state and leaves the
iron in a state approaching that of steel.
As my main object in using the chlorides, &c. is to carbonize the iron
and eliminate the objectionable elements of the phosphorus, sulphur, and

page_text: other impurities therefrom whilst in the act of smelting the ironstone,
or in foundries, the proportions in which these said chemical agents are
to be added to the peat will necessarily depend upon the nature of the
particular ore or metal to be operated upon, and the per-centage of
impurities it contains; for instance, Cleveland ironstone contains from
about two and a half to three per cent. of sulphur; in such a case I
combine with the peat about three per cent. of the said chlorides for the
purpose of combining with the sulphur, and an equivalent quantity for
the phosphorus, that is, I add about nine tons of the chlorides of calcium
and sodium combined to every one hundred tons of peat; and I further
add about one ton of charcoal and one per centum of clay. These pro-
portions however admit of considerable modification for the reasons
already mentioned. When all the said ingredients are well and
intimately mixed together (and this may be accomplished in any suitable
apparatus) the resulting compound or admixture is cut and subjected to
heavy pressure in order to form it into blocks of suitable size and shape.
It is then thoroughly dried, after which it is ready for use as fuel.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature and
object of my said Invention, together with the manner in which the
same is to be or may be performed or carried into practical effect, I
would remark in conclusion that I claim as my Invention, the manu-
facture or preparation of artificial fuel by combining and mixing with
peat as a basis charcoal, the chlorides of calcium and sodium, and clay,
substantially as in the manner herein-above specified, and the employ-
ment of the fuel thus compounded for the purposes mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said Robert Ker Aitchison, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twelfth day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five