IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR ILLUMINATION FROM PEAT OR OTHER SUBSTANCES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Locke Johnson, of No. 12, Cabra Terrace,
Dublin, Brass Founder and Gas Fitter, and of 48, Mary Street, in said
City, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR
ILLUMINATION FROM PEAT OR OTHER SUBSTANCES, AND IN THE APPARATUS
EMPLOYED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE."
Scaled the 18th March 1856, and dated the 28th September 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Locke Johnson
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 28th September 1855.
I, RICHARD LOCKE JOHNSON, of No. 12, Cabra Terrace, Dublin, Brass
Founder and Gas Fitter, and of 48, Mary Street, in said City, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
GAS FOR ILLUMINATION FROM PEAT OR OTHER SUBSTANCES, AND IN THE APPARATUS
EMPLOYED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the use of turf or peat for manufacturing gas by
the distillatory process, and thereby at the same time producing a valuable
charcoal: The retorts which I employ are fitted with iron plates, so arranged
as to decompose much of the aqueous vapor, and oily, tarry, and bituminous
matter contained in the peat. The distilled products combine, and thereby
produce carburetted hydrogen or illuminating gas; I also employ iron trays
for charging the retorts.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Locke Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 28th March 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
LOCKE JOHNSON, of No. 12, Cabra Terrace, Dublin, Brass Founder and Gas
Fitter, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Locke Johnson, Her special license that I, the said Richard
Locke Johnson, my exccutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Richard Locke Johnson, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS POR ILLUMINATION FROM PEAT OR OTHER
SUBSTANCES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard Locke Johnson, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Inyention, 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 Richard Locke Johnson, 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):-
The object of my Invention of improvements in the manufacture of gas for
illumination from peat or other substances, is to decompose more completely
than has heretofore been accomplished the peat or other substance that may
be employed to produce illuminating gas, and to convert into illuminating gas
some of the other matters evolved in the form of condensible volatile matter
from the substance or material employed, by which improved mode of decom-
position and conversion I am enabled to increase the quantity and improve
the quality of the gas produced.

page_text: In carrying out my improvements I employ a peculiar arrangement or con-
struction of apparatus, consisting principally of a retort or other distilling vessel
of iron or other suitable material, in which I place a plate or plates, or bars or
rods of iron or other suitable material, in such a manner as to form a shelf or
shelves, or a division or divisions in the retort, in a horizontal or nearly hori-
zontal direction. Above the upper shelf or division in the retort I place rods,
bars, or plates of iron or other suitable material, on which is placed charcoal,
coke, or other substance. On the bottom of the retort, and on the lower shelf
or shelves, or in the division or divisions, is placed the substance to be distilled.
In front of the shelves above mentioned, and extending downwards from the
top arrangement of bars, plates, or rods supporting the coke or charcoal, to the
bottom of the retort, there is a moveable "stopper," of iron or other suitable
material, which is intended to prevent the matter evolved from leaving the
retort before passing through or over the said arrangement of rods, bars, or
plates, with the coke or charcoal placed thereon, as above described. The upper
shelf or shelves, or division or divisions, is not extended to the back or end
of the retort, but a passage is made at the back of the retort by which the
volatile and gaseous matter generated from the substance employed passes to
and comes in contact with the top arrangement of rods, bars, plates, coke, or
charcoal, by which contact the condensible volatile hydrocarbons are converted
into permanent illuminating gas by the above-described arrangement of shelves
and other parts, and the water usually contained in substances used in the
distillation for illuminating gas is caused to be expelled or decomposed before it
can act injuriously on the gaseous products, but which injurious action does
take place in the ordinary mode of distillation, where the substance to be
distilled is placed and heaped in the retort in considerable quantity, and not
divided; and when the water it may contain does not come (when first vaporized)
into contact with a substance at a high temperature, I also maintain a higher
and more equal temperature of the retort, which is often considerably lowered
by the usual mode of placing in it the substance to be distilled.
In order, however, that the manner in which the Invention is carried into
effect may be better understood, I will proceed to describe, by the aid of the
accompanying Drawing, one of the modes which in practice has been found to
answer the intended purpose.
Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the retort; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical
section, shewing the interior arrangement of the retort; Fig. 3 is a cross
section of the same, taken in the line A, B, of Fig. 2.
In Fig. 2 of the annexed Drawings the distilling vessel or retort is repre-
sented as being made of cast iron, and is six feet long, twenty inches wide,

page_text: eight inches from the bottom of the retort;
or other substanco
one
twenty-one inches deep, and one and a quarter inch thick, and contains in its
interior part two pairs of ledges of iron f,f, and g, g, which have been cast on
it. The lower ledges are placed in a horizontal position from the front of the
retort towards its end or back, A the upper ledges are placed seven inches above
the bottom ledges in front, and gradually inclined upwards, or elevated towards
the back to within two inches of the top of the retort, and finish at six inches
from the end of the retort. F is a cast-iron grating five and three quarter feet
long, nineteen and a quarter inches wide in front, and gradually narrowing
towards the back, and three quarter inch thick, with a two-inch space between
its bars. This grating is shewn detached and in plan at Fig. 6; it is placed on
the top ledges f, f, in the retort, from front towards the back or end, and a
quantity of charcoal or coke is to be placed thereon. This grating may be
made in parts or may consist of rods A placed on supports or otherwise.
G represents a cast-iron plate five and a half feet long, nineteen inches wide,
and half an inch thick, with a ledge at one end, as marked at S. This plate,
which is shewn detached in plan at Fig. 5, is placed on the bottom ledge at
g.g, in the retort, and sufficient room or space on both the top and bottom
arrangements F and G must be left to allow for the expansion or contraction
of the retort and shelves. E is a vertical plate of iron a quarter of an inch
thick, and so long and broad as to enclose the space and shelf G from the
grating F to the bottom of the retort. The plate E is provided with an iron
handle L, a portion of which is bent down and rests on the bottom of the
mouth-piece close to the door of the retort.
three quarters of
or plates,
In the spaces M, N, beneath the partitions F and G, the substance to be
distilled is placed; the spaces are then stopped off by the plate E, shewn
detached at Figs. 7; this causes the gascous matter given off at N to pass
grating P;
grating P,
from the space N over M and through the A coke or charcoal on the A plate C
and also the gaseous matters given off at M, to pass through the grating F,
with the coke or charcoal thereon, before they leave the retort through
the ascension pipe or mouth-picce. The substance to be distilled is placed
on the shelf G, and bottom of the retorts by means of a suitable cart on two
wheels, and which may be raised or lowered means of two swivel legs, so
that the substance may be without trouble or difficulty placed in the retort.
The front of the retort is closed by means of a mouth-piece of the ordinary
construction, as shewn at Fig. 4. The door T is secured by the fastening p, as
shewn in the Figures. The retort door T rests on catches p by "lugs" U,
but in the centre of these "lugs" are five-eighths of an inch circular perfora-
tions, through which are passed the ends of the ordinary screw band which is

page_text: used for tightening the door on the mouth-piece. This screw band is bent at
each end, as seen in Fig. 8; and by this arrangement the door T can be. lifted
on the catches by means of the. screw band,, and be screwed or tightened
to the mouth-piece with less trouble than heretofore, and with the saving of
much gas, which would be wasted by the ordinary mode of. closing a retort
when charged.
Having now described one form of arrangement by which the more com-
plete decomposition of peat or other substance employed to produce illuminating
gas is accomplished with. less injurious action to the gas produced than.hero-
tofore, I wish to add that I do not intend to confine. myself to the form or
shape of the retort or distilling vessel before described, nor to any particular
material of which the retort and its arrangement of shelves, divisions, rods,
bars, or plates may be composed, or to the form, size, or position of the shelves,
divisions, rods, bars, or plates in the retort, or to the number of shelves or
divisions, rods, or bars that the retort may contain, or to the size of the retort,
or the position in which it may be erected, whether horizontally or perpen-
dicularly, or otherwise; nor do I intend to confine myself to the forms or
precise positions of the parts of the same, as herein-before described, or to
whether they be cast in the retort or otherwise, for these may with advantage
be varied under certain circumstances. And I am aware that the plates, bars,
rods, coke, or charcoal, which I place in the upper portion of the retort, may
be effectively placed in another retort or chamber apart from that in which the
distillation is conducted, or may be supported by cross bars A in the retort, and
that the distilled substance may be advantageously passed through heated tubes
or divisions, or through coils of heated rods or wires; and also that the plate
in front of the retort, known as the "moveable stopper," may be dispensed
with if the shelves, divisions, or internal arrangements of the retort be placed
flush with the outer portion of it, or may be hinged or otherwise attached in
the retort; and I am aware that if a retort or distilling vessel be erected in a
perpendicular manner, and contain shelves or divisions, bars, rods, plates, coke
or charcoal, A that it may advantageously distil substances employed to produce
illuminating gas; but whilst I mention these as modifications that may be
resorted to, I prefer the first arrangement herein described, as the most
advantageous for accomplishing the object herein-before set forth.
or other substance,
or plates
What I claim as my Invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,
the arrangement above shewn and described for the more complete and perfect
decomposition of peat or other substance that may be employed to produce
illuminating gas, or any mere modification thereof, in which the retorts may be

page_text: divided into chambers, or in such a manner as to cause a more uniform action
of heat on such substance by means of plates, bars, or rods of iron, or other.
suitable substance or material, so that the substance to be distilled, when
placed in these chambers or arrangements, and exposed to a more equal
temperature, volatilized by the heat applied to the retort, shall pass through or
over or in contact with bars, plates, rods of any material, or through or over
coke, charcoal, or other suitable substance (herein-before described as the top
arrangement), so as to become exposed to the action of heat, and to the action
of the foregoing bars, plates, rods, coke, or charcoal, and thus become more
perfectly and completely decomposed, thereby increasing the quantity and im-
proving the quality of the illuminating gas produced from the substance used.
I also claim the right to employ either the top arrangement of bars, plates,
rods, coke, or charcoal, or the shelves or divisions, either separately or both in
combination under certain circumstances.
I also claim as my Invention the mode of connecting the door of the retort
with the mouth-piece, and the mode of attaching screw band to door, as shewn
in Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Locke Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
RICHARD LOCK
Witness present when signed, the following words
upper," two," "half," and "plate G," being
first oblitterated, and the following words, eight
inches from the bottom of the retort," onc, "or
other substance, "or plates," three quarters,"
grating F," twice," or plates, or other substance,
interlined. Signed and sealed by said Richard
Locke Johnson, the above alteration being first