Improvements in or relating to the Treatment or Utilization of Peat and its Products.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Sept, 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Treatment or Utilization of Peat
and its Products.
We, WILSON WALTER HUGHES of 31 Queen Victoria Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, and SELLSBY WILLSON of The Lyd, Wembley, in the County
of Middlesex, Surveyor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to the treatment or utilization of peat and its products
and may be carried out in the following manner.
We take the peat, preferably dried, and carbonize it in retorts, the residue in
the retorts being pure carbon. The vapours given off from the retort are passed
through a condensing apparatus, the gas passing to a gasometer where it is
collected and may be used for heating, lighting or other motive power and may
be usefully employed for utilization in the engines used for driving the works,
for heating the retorts, or for similar purposes.
The residue from the condensers is distilled one or more times, and if necessary
purified and is then available for many commercial purposes.
The carbon from the retorts is ground and mixed with lime in suitable propor-
tion in a state of fine division and submitted in an electric furnace to the action
of the electric arc.
We thus produce oalcium carbide suitable for the manufacture or generation of
acetylene gas in the usual manner.
Dated this 10th day of September 1896.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIF
TION
Improvements in or relating to the Treatment or Utilization of Peat
and its Products.
We, WILSON WALTER HUGHES of 31 Queen Victoria Street, in the County of
Middlesex, Engineer, and SELLSBY WILLSON of The Lyd, Wembley, in the County
of Middlesex, Surveyor, do hereby 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 relates to methods and apparatus for the treatment or utilization
of peat and its products.

page_text: According to this invention peat is carbonised by heating in a furnace or retort.
The hydrocarbons volatilised in this operation are passed through a condensing
apparatus and the gaseous portion can be stored in a gasometer and used for
lighting, heating, or motive power production; part of this evolved hydrocarbon
gas may be utilised for heating the said retort. The residue from the condensing
apparatus is distilled one or more times, and if necessary purified, and is then
available for many commercial purposes. The carbon from the retort is
pulverised and mixed with a suitable proportion of lime, in a fine state of division.
This dry mixture is then subjected to the heat of a furnace, conveniently an
electric furnace, and calcium carbide is thus produced, for use in the generation
of acetylene gas in the usual manner. Preferably the mixture aforesaid should
be heated before it is placed in an electric furnace so that its subsequent treat-
ment in the furnace will require the expenditure of a smaller quantity of electric
energy, than if the preliminary heating were omitted.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 shows a vertical section of a retort which may be employed for pre-
paring peat charcoal for any purpose, but which is especially advantageous for
use in the production of calcium carbide according to this invention.
Figure 2 is a sectional plan on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;
Figure 3, is a vertical section of a portion of the retort taken on a plane at
right angles to the plane of section of Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a side elevation of the retort.
Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.
The retort comprises a cylinder A which is divided into a number of cylindro-
conical chambers A1, A2, A3, A4, by inclined sliding plates B1, B2, B3,4B, and
is surrounded by an annular flue C, in connection with the furnace which may
be situated in any convenient position. The retort is preferably constructed of
cast iron. The plates BB are guided in part by the slots in the cylinder A
and in part by guides C in the outer wall of the flue C. -The latter is con-
nected with furnace by the branch flue C3 and may be provided with baffle
plates to control the circulation of the furnace gases.
The sliding plates B1, B2, B3, B4, are supported on sloping bearers D1, D2, D3, D',
having the same inclination and projecting from the wall of the retort so that a
space is left between them.
When the plates BB are slid home into the retort A these bearers serve
together with the plates to subdivide the interior of the retort as shown. The
pipes E, E, E³, convey the gases and tar bye-products from the respective
chambers so formed.
The method of working is as follows:-
All the sliding plates B1, B2, B3, B4, being closed, blocks of peat, of suitable
size are fed into the retort from its top. The uppermost pair of sliding plates B
is now drawn permitting this charge of peat to descend to the next stage afforded
by the plates B2. These being opened, the charge still further descends on to the
sliding plates 133 when, by repetition of the process, the charge ultimately rests
in the lowest chamber A₁ of the retort A, on the sliding plates B.
chambers A3 A3 A¹ are next charged in succession by a like operation thus all
the chambers become charged with peat; and the hot gases from a furnace
suitably situated turned on so as to heat the exterior of the retort, and thereby
char or carbonize the peat contained in the several compartments thereof.
The
When the peat in the lowest chamber A is completely charred it is permitted
to fall into a suitable receptacle preferably an air-tight drum, which is run in
on a tram-way into the space A5 beneath the lower end of the retort A then the
chamber-slides are drawn successively, starting with the sliding doors B³ so
that the charge in each chamber passes into the one immediately below it, and
a fresh charge of peat being introduced into the compartment A to rest on the
sliding doors B', the whole cycle is repeated. Hereby freshly introduced charges
of peat are subjected to only the moderate heat of the contact-cooled furnace-gases

page_text: which just suffices to evaporate the moisture. By the successive increments of
temperature in the successive portions or chambers of the retort A, the hydro-
carbons are driven off, until the charge on its arrival in the lowest chamber being
exposed to the full heat of the furnace gases is completely refined and carbonised.
The tar and other constituents of the crude peat which are driven off by the
heat are bye-products of the process and are collected from the several chambers
by the pipes E, E², E³.
The carbonised peat-now practically pure charcoal-is next ground and mixed
with a definite proportion (determined by the combining equivalents of these
constituents) of powdered lime. The pulverulent mixture is then treated in a
convenient form of furnace, and calcium carbide is formed. Preferably an
electric furnace is employed, and in this case, in order to economise the expenditure
of electrical energy, the mixture may first be heated in a retort by say a wind
furnace, before being subjected to the action of the electric arc.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said in-
vention and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:-
1. The production of calcium carbide from peat substantially as described.
2. A method of producing calcium carbide from peat characterised by the
carbonization of peat in a retort or furnace, pulverisation of the residual charcoal
and its admixture with finely divided lime and finally treating such mixture in
a furnace to form the carbide.
3. In the production of calcium carbide characterised by Claim 1 the employ-
ment of an electric furnace to form the carbide from charcoal and lime.
4. In the production of calcium carbide characterised by Claim 1 & 3 heating
the charcoal and lime mixture before delivering it to the furnace in which the
carbide is finally formed, thus saving a large amount of electrical energy.
5. In the production of calcium carbide from peat treating a charge of peat
at successively increasing temperatures substantially as described.
6. In the production of calcium carbide characterised by Claim 1 a retort
divided into chambers by movable partitions so arranged and operating as to lower
a charge through the retort by stages.
む
7. A retort for use in the processes claimed in Claim 1 having doors which
slide and operate to cause a charge to move by stages from top to bottom of the
retort.
Dated this 10th day of June 1897
WILSON WALTER HUGHES.
Boult & Wade,
Agents for the Applicants.