Improvements in Plant for Preparing Gunpowder Carbon, Consisting in the Application of Gaseous or Liquid Fuel to Heat the Carbonizing Vessel.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Oct., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 22nd July, 1890-Accepted, 20th Sept., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Plant for Preparing Gunpowder Carbon, Consisting
in the Application of Gaseous or Liquid Fuel to Heat the
Carbonizing Vessel.
We, JOSEPH SAMUEL TAYLOR, and STEPHEN WILLIAM CHALLEN both of Derwent
Foundry, Constitution Hill Birmingham in the County of Warwick, Engineers do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention has for its object to utilize gaseous or liquid fuel for carbonizing
wood or other suitable material employed in the manufacture of special charcoal for
gunpowder for the purpose of obtaining a more regular controllable and definite
source of heat than is at present possible with the systems of fuel now employed.
We are also by our improved system enabled to produce more readily a charcoal of
the required quality than is at present possible with the existing systems.
We carry our invention into effect by employing any ordinary well known system
of furnace suitable for burning gaseous or liquid fuel, either by arranging one or more
gas burners to heat the vessel, chamber, or cylinder, that contains the material to be
carbonized or by causing the liquid petroleum or other inflammable oil to be led into
or to impinge upon a hearth and there to be consumed.
We employ in addition to this main supply, our improved method of supplementing
the fuel by conducting the gases evolved from the material during its carbonization
within the cylinder as it revolves in the furnace which gases we collect and turn into
our fire chamber or main flue and thereby greatly increase the economy of the
process.
In one method of carrying our invention into effect we construct a fire brick furnace
over or in which we place the carbonizing vessel or cylinder intended to contain the
wood or other material from which the gunpowder carbon is to be produced. A flue
or flues lead from this furnace to a stack or chimney for carrying off the fumes and
for creating the necessary draft for supplying air for combustion.
The gas is supplied in any convenient manner and may be ordinary coal gas or a
special gas made by any of the many and well known gas apparata or producers. It
is burned in the furnace in one or in separate jets without previous admixture of air
or at Bunsen burners which cause a partial admixture of air previous to combustion.
When the furnace has been started and the process of carbonization is proceeding the
volatile inflammable products may be led directly from the carbonizing vessel or
cylinder by means of a pipe or pipes into the furnace and caused to burn these and
so save gaseous and other fuel which would go to waste. If required we may purify
and collect this gas before using it but generally we prefer to use the gas direct and in
order to keep the heat at the required intensity we regulate the supply of other gas in
quantity sufficient to obtain uniform results. At one stage of the process the supply
of gas coming from the material being carbonized may be enough or more than enough
to supply all the heat required to keep the process going and at that period we
discharge the excess gas in a state of combustion from the pipe at a position in the
furnace beyond the vessel or cylinder in order to prevent undue heat. We sometimes
construct the furnace with fire brick bridges internal walls, or other heat absorbing
and resisting obstructions so as to break up the flames caused to impinge upon them
and store up heat sufficient to make combustion complete. When we use liquid fuel
we supply it to the furnace in the state of spray by means of compressed air or a
stean jet and we cause the flame so produced to strike against the brick work walls
or other obstructions in order to break it up thoroughly and cause complete combus-
tion and uniform distribution of heat. We may also burn the liquid fuel by dropping
or injecting it as a jet upon an incandescent surface as is done in some well known
forms of furnace. When the liquid fuel is sufficiently volatile we may dispense
D... 07

page_text: with steam or air pressure and the production of spray and volatilize the liquid
by heat and inject into the furnace a flame produced by vapour. The heat required
to produce the vapour may be obtained by separate fire or flame or part of the
beat produced by burning the vapour may be utilized to boil or evaporate the
inflammable liquid.
Further, the air proceeding to the furnace may be heated prior to its intro-
duction into the furnace by the waste heat passing away in the flues and this
may be accomplished in a perfect manner by means of any well known system of
regenerator or heating stove or an air inlet flue may be provided which runs
alongside of the discharge flue leading to the chimney so that part of the escaping
heat finds its way to the entering air and warms it up.
As the main object of our invention is to provide means of maintaining a care-
fully regulated and definite heat under the carbonizing vessels used to convert any
suitable material into charcoal for the manufacture of gunpowder and to thereby
more readily produce the required quality of gunpowder charcoal, we apply to alf
the contrivances hereinbefore described cocks, taps or valves of suitable construction
to regulate the supply of gaseous or liquid fuel to the heating furnaces.
And we also provide dampers and other means of blowing off any excess gas
over and above that required in the process of heating without creating any
inconvenience.
The liquid and gas injectors may be of any well known construction as we do
not confine ourselves to any particular construction of furnaces or appliances and
the examples we have given are merely intended to describe in what manner we
are enabled to produce more readily uniform charcoal product for gunpowder
manufacture by the aid of a carefully regulated temperature.
Dated this 21st day of October 1889.
MARKS & CLERK,
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents for Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Plant for Preparing Gunpowder Carbon, Consisting
in the Application of Gaseous or Liquid Fuel to Heat the
Carbonizing Vessel.
We, JOSEPH SAMUEL TAYLOR and STEPHEN WILLIAM CHALLEN both of Derwent
Foundry, Constitution Hill Birmingham in the County of Warwick Engineers, 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:-
Our invention has for its object to utilize gaseous or liquid fuel for carbonizing
wood or other suitable material employed in the manufacture of special charcoal
for gunpowder for the purpose of obtaining a more regular controllable and definite
source of heat than is at present possible with the systems of fuel now employed.
We are also by our improved system enabled to produce more readily a charcoal of
the required quality than is at present possible with the existing systems.
We carry our invention into effect by employing any ordinary well known system
of furnace suitable for burning gaseous or liquid fuel, either by arranging one or
more gas burners to heat the vessel, chamber, or cylinder that contains the material
to be carbonized or by causing the liquid petroleum, or other inflammable oil to be
led into or to impinge upon a hearth and there to be consumed.
We employ in addition to this main supply our improved method of supplementing
the fuel by conducting the gases evolved from the material during its carbonization
within the cylinder as it revolves in the furnace, which gases we collect and turn into
our fire chamber or main flue and thereby greatly increase the economy of the
process.
In one method of carrying our invention into effect we construct a fire brick

page_text: furnace over or in which we place the carbonizing vessel or cylinder intended to
contain the wood or other material from which the gunpowder carbon is to be
produced. A flue, or flues lead from this furnace to a stack or chimney for carrying
off the fumes and for creating the necessary draught for supplying air for combustion.
The gas is supplied in any convenient manner and may be ordinary coal gas or a
special gas made by any of the many and well known gas apparatus or producers.
It is burned in the furnace in one or in separate jets without previous admixture of
air or Bunsen burners which cause a partial admixture of air previous to combustion.
When the furnace has been started and the process of carbonization is proceeding the
volatile inflammable products may be led directly from the carbonizing vessel or
cylinder by means of a pipe or pipes into the furnace and caused to burn these and so
save gaseous and other fuel which would go to waste. If required, we may purify
and collect this gas before using it; but generally we prefer to use the gas direct and
in order to keep the heat at the required intensity we regulate the supply of other gas
in quantity sufficient to obtain uniform results. At one stage of the process the supply
of gas coming from the material being carbonized may be enough or more than
enough to supply all the heat required to keep the process going, and at that period
we discharge the excess gas in a state of combustion from the pipe at a position in the
furnace beyond the vessel or cylinder in order to prevent undue heat.
We sometimes construct the furnace with fire brick bridges, internal walls, or other
heat absorbing and resisting obstructions so as to break up the flames caused to
impinge upon them and store up heat sufficient to make combustion complete. When
we use liquid fuel we supply it to the furnace in the state of spray by means of
compressed air or a steam jet and we cause the flame so produced to strike against
the brickwork walls or other obstructions in order to break it up thoroughly and cause
complete combustion and uniform distribution of heat. We may also burn the liquid
fuel by dropping or injecting it as a jet upon an incandescent surface as is done in
some well known forms of furnace. When the liquid fuel is sufficiently volatile we
may dispense with steam or air pressure, and the. production of spray, and volatilize
the liquid by heat and inject into the furnace a flame produced by vapour. The heat
required to produce the vapour may be obtained by separate fire or flame or part of
the heat produced by burning the vapour may be utilized to boil or evaporate the
inflammable liquid.
Further, the air proceeding to the furnace may be heated prior to its introduction
into the furnace by the waste heat passing away in the flues and this may be
accomplished in a perfect manner by means of any well known system of regenerator
or heating stove, or an air inlet flue may be provided which runs alongside of the
discharge flue leading to the chimney so that part of the escaping heat finds its way
to the entering air and warms it up,
As the main object of our invention is to provide means of maintaining a carefully
regulated and definite heat under the carbonizing vessel used to convert any suitable
material into charcoal for the manufacture of gunpowder and to thereby more readily
produce the required quality of gunpowder charcoal, we apply to all the contrivances
herein before described, cocks, taps, or valves of suitable construction to regulate the
supply of gaseous or liquid fuel to the heating furnaces. And we also provide dampers
and other means of blowing off any excess gas over and above that required in the
process of heating without creating any inconvenience.
The liquid and gas injectors may be of any well known construction as we do not
confine ourselves to any particular construction of furnaces or appliances and the
examples we have given are merely intended to describe in what manner we are
enabled to produce more readily uniform charcoal product for gunpowder manufacture
by the aid of a carefully regulated temperature.
In order that our invention may be more readily understood we append hereunto
one sheet of explanatory drawings illustrating one method of carrying our improved
system into effect.
Figure 1 is a front elevation of an ordinary fire brick furnace A with cast iron outer
plates B, and hinged cover or lid C.

page_text: We prefer to use in conjunction with our present invention our improved gas
collecting pipes D D', and our revolving drum or material holder, but we omit the
drum from the drawings for more clearly illustrating the arrangement of the furnace.
We in some cases convey the air to the furnaces in such a manner that the waste heat
escaping from the furnace may be utilized in heating the air before reaching the fire
chamber A¹.
We provide an air inlet E, immediately beneath the flue or passage F so that as
air enters through the door or grating & it passes along and becomes hot before
entering A. In order that as much heat as possible may be given up we prefer to
form the base of the flue F out of metal F; the air inlet chamber we direct down-
wards at E for the purpose of more readily entering beneath the fire bars M. We
construct a fire bridge or wall L to baffle the flames and to allow of the liquid fuel
impinging against it when such fuel is employed.
When burning gas we employ any well known form of ordinary or Bunsen tubes
for giving the necessary heat to the vessel containing the carbonizing material.
When employing liquid fuel we sometimes arrange a liquid fuel tube such as H, H'
and connect to the same a compressed air pipe or a steam pipe such as O for the
purpose of injecting the liquid well into the furnace either as a spray or a jet which
may impinge against some incandescent wall or obstacle such as L within the fire
chamber.
We employ any required number of jets or tubes H2 H³, to enter suitably
constructed apertures K formed within the outer walls of the furnace.
We do not employ any particular form of furnace to receive our spray or gas flame,
but use any form of furnace as ordinarily constructed to receive the flame tubes or
jets in the manner hereinbefore described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
we claim is :-
1st. The construction of furnaces to receive liquid fuel for heating the carbonizing
vessel employed in the manufacture of gunpowder charcoal substantially as and for
the purposes hereinbefore described and as set forth.
2nd. The construction of furnaces to receive gaseous fuel for heating the carbonizing
vessel employed in the manufacture of gunpowder charcoal, substantially as and for
the purposes herein before described and as set forth.
3rd. The combination and arrangement of a revolving vessel for containing material
for the manufacture of gunpowder charcoal, with liquid or gaseous fuel burners as
and for the purposes hereinbefore described and substantially as illustrated in the
accompanying drawings.
Dated this 21st day of July 1890
MARKS & CLERK,
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, Agents for Applicants.