IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING PEAT AND VEGETABLE MATTERS FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUEL, AS WELL AS IN THE EXTRACTION OF OTHER USEFUL PRODUCTS THEREFROM
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Hind Edwards, of Ludgate Hill, in the City
of London, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING PEAT AND VEGETABLE MATTERS FOR THE
PURPOSE OF FUEL, AS WELL AS IN THE EXTRACTION OF OTHER USEFUL PRODUCTS
THEREFROM."Partly a communication.
Sealed the 30th June 1854, and dated the 6th January 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Hind Edwards at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th January 1854.
I, HENRY HIND EDWARDS, of Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING PEAT AND VEGETABLE
MATTERS FOR THE PURPOSE OF FUEL, AS WELL AS IN THE EXTRACTION OF OTHER USEFUL
PRODUCTS THEREPROM," to be as follows, viz. :-
In partially removing the earthy matter from the peat, and by reducing
it to a state of pulp by passing it through cylinders or other well-known
mode.
The accompanying Drawing Fig. 1, Sheet 1, represents one description of
apparatus for crushing and washing the peat or other vegetable matter. The
peat is put into the conical vessel a, and by the rotation of the vertical axis
it is crushed, and mixing with the water which passes from the vessel b, is
reduced to a state of pulp, and falls through the wire gauze to the receiver
below.

page_text: The pulp thus purified is made to pass into shallow vessels or simple trenches
in the ground, and the water allowed to evaporate or be absorbed. I also
employ for this purpose centrifugal machines, such as used for separating the
molasses in sugar refining.
c repre-
In Sheet 2, Fig. 2 represents a section; Fig. 3, a plan; and Fig. 4, a view
from the under side of the apparatus which I employ for torrefying the peat or
other vegetable matter, and for extracting the products therefrom.
sents a flat cylinder having a perforated false bottom d, upon which is placed
the material to be operated upon. The space between the perforated plate d,
and the bottom of the cylinder c, receives the gases and liquids from the mass
of matter above, and passes through small openings in the bottom of the
cylinder c, as best seen in Fig. 4, and are conducted by proper channels to
vessels prepared to receive them, and the gases which are not permanent, to
condensing apparatus.
A fan e is fixed on a vertical spindle at the upper part of the cylinder, which
revolves at a high velocity, draws in hot air from a small furnace f, as well as
for drawing in inflammable gas that may pass through the condensing appa-
ratus, and also for forcing the whole through the mass of matter contained in
the cylinder. The matter thus operated upon, subjected to a high temperature,
becomes charred or torrified without being allowed to ignite.
I claim,―
1. The purification and condensation of peat so as to increase its specific
gravity to be nearly the same as that of pit coal.
2. The carbonisation or torrefaction of various combustible matter for the
purpose of producing coke or charcoal without setting fire thereto, and for
separating therefrom at the same time the constituent principles thereof, such
for example, as pyrolignous and acetic acids, tar, paraphine, sulphate of
ammonia, volatile and fixed oils, gaseous or liquid carburets of hydrogen, &c.
3. The utilizing the inflammable gas arising from the combustible matter
under operation as a means of carrying on the carbonisation or torrefaction
without ignition, thus saving a portion of fuel that would otherwise be required.
4. The various apparatus employed in the process of condensing, purifying,
drying, and carbonizing or torrefying, detailed plans of which and description
will be given with the complete Specification.
5th. The partial or complete saturation of coke or charcoal by pyrolignous
acid, in order to restore to such fuel the calorific power they may have lost
during their carbonisation or torrefaction.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by
the said Henry Hind Edwards in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
5th July 1854.
"
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
HIND EDWARDS, of Ludgate Hill, in the City of London, and County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her-reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Henry Hind Edwards, Her special licence, that I, the said Henry Hind
Edwards, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Henry Hind Edwards, 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 "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING PEAT AND VEGETABLE MATTERS FOR THE PURPOSE OF
FUEL, AS WELL AS IN THE EXTRACTION OF OTHER USEFUL PRODUCTS THEREFROM,"
(partly a communication,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Henry Hind Edwards, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Henry Hind Edwards, 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:-
My Invention consists of certain machinery or apparatus, herein-after
described, for moulding, drying, and carbonising by torrefaction, that is, without
ignition, and therefore with very little loss, peat and other vegetable matter,
and at the same time extracting the volatile matters that may be contained
therein. When peat is to be operated upon, it is requisite in the first place to
reduce it into a state of very fine pulp by any grinding or crushing machinery,
as for instance a bark mill, edge or horizontal stones, rollers, &c., employing
a sufficient quantity of water to liquify the mass, which after having undergone
this operation is allowed to settle in 'reservoirs, from which the water can be

page_text: removed from the upper surface, leaving the crushed peat to occupy the floor
of the reservoir. The crushed peat is then conveyed to the centrifugal appa-
ratus, which may be either vertical or horizontal, as shewn on Sheet 1,
Fig. 1 and 2, and on Sheet 2, Fig. 3 and 4. The vertical centrifugal machine
or apparatus is represented on Sheet 1, where Fig. 1 exhibits a transverse
section, and Fig. 2, a plan. A, A, is a conical cylinder, fixed on the top of
the upright shaft B, which works in the bearing C, and the footstep D, and is
caused to revolve by means of the pulley E, or by other well-known means.
The conical cylinder A is composed of perforated metallic plates, with holes
about 1-20th of an inch in diameter, and as close together as possible, or of
metallic wire gauze of about the same gauge, and strengthened with external
rings a, a.
Within this conical perforated cylinder is a skeleton framing F, F, containing
desired number of compartments or moulds b, b, b, to be filled with the
crushed peat.
any
The skeleton moulding frame F, F, can be vertically lifted out of the
conical perforated cylinder A, as occasion requires. G is an orifice or opening
in the upper covering of the internal skeleton moulding frame F, for the
admission of hot or cold air to accelerate the drying process, or for the car-
bonisation of the peat. This opening G also serves for the introduction of the
peat, the quantity being regulated so as to fill the whole of the moulds. The
hot air to be admitted at the opening G may be obtained from an external
flue, or by a cylindrical grate dropped into the said opening. In this latter
case the fuel contained in the cylindrical grate will by the centrifugal action
be thrown against the cylindrical perforated surface of the grate in an annular
form, and the cold or hot air drawn in by the action of the apparatus will rush
through the annular mass of fuel in combustion, and thus traverse the peat at
a very high temperature. H, H, is an outer metallic casing for receiving the
water and other matter which may escape through the perforated conical
cylinder A. The constituent volatile matters may by this means be collected
and passed away in any ordinary manner to the usual condensing apparatus
in order to separate the condensible from the permanent gases, and to convert
them into profitable matter, such as pyroligneous acid, acetic acid, tar, parafine,
sulphate of ammonia, volatile and fixed oils, gaseous or liquid carburet of
hydrogen, &c. &c.; this last named may be used for effecting carbonisation in
the apparatus itself. On Sheet 2, Fig. 3 represents an end view; and Fig. 4,
a section of a horizontal centrifugal machine or apparatus, A being the cylinder
composed of perforated plates, with holes about 1-20th of an inch in diameter,
and as close together as possible, or of metallic wire gauze of about the same

page_text: gauge, and strengthened by the external rings a, a. B, B, is the internal
skeleton moulding frame, having any desired number of compartments or
moulds b, b, to be filled with the crushed peat. C is the orifice or pipe for the
entrance of the heated air or gas. D, D, D, D, four arms to act as a fan for
keeping in motion and distributing the air in the interior of the cylinder A.
The cylinder A is caused to revolve on the friction rollers F, F, by means of
the pulley E, or by any other well-known means. The friction rollers F, F,
are fixed on the spindles C, C, which work in the bearings d, d, of the frames
H, H. The upper pair of friction rollers can be adjusted as required by the
adjusting screws f, f. If found more convenient, the friction rollers may be
dispensed with, and a shaft be placed horizontally through the cylinder A, and
caused to revolve in proper bearings. An external casing (omitted in the
Drawing to prevent confusion of lines) is to be placed round the cylinder A
for the purpose of receiving the water and other matters which escape there-
from, and for collecting and passing away to the usual condensing apparatus
the constituent volatile matters as before described. After the charge is intro-
duced at the end G, of the cylinder A, that end is closed by metallic plates, or
by one plate only. When the process of moulding, drying, or carbonising is
completed, the internal skeleton moulding frame B is withdrawn endways for
the purpose of extracting the moulded carbonised peat, and an empty frame is
put in its place to receive a fresh supply.
By these apparatus the peat will be moulded, and the water will be extracted
in great quantities by the simple operation above described; the moulded peat
will not only become very dense and compact, but will be at the same time
cleared of nearly all the sand it contained, which, being generally very fine in
grain and of greater specific gravity than water, will be carried away with the
latter by the centrifugal action of the apparatus, and a very dense and pure
combustible will be obtained. The drying process is greatly accelerated by the
quantity of air that is naturally drawn in at the centre of the apparatus, and
thrown through the mass escaping by the holes in its perforated surfaces. In
order to accelerate this effect heated air is admitted, and if in sufficient
quantities and at a high temperature will suffice to convert it into coke or
charcoal.
When it is desirable to act with greater promptitude upon large masses, and
to be able to employ the centrifugal apparatus herein-before described, more
particularly for the moulding and drying processes, I have an apparatus exclu-
sively intended for carbonization, and in which I operate also upon wood for its
conversion into charcoal upon lignite, in order to withdraw therefrom the
sulphur it contains, and which makes it so unfit for useful combustion, and

page_text: generally upon all vegetable substances that may require to undergo the pro-
cess of carbonisation to make them fit for manufacturing or commercial pur-
poses. This apparatus may be either cylindrical or rectangular, as herein-after
described.
The cylindrical machine or apparatus is shewn on Sheet 3, where Fig. 5
represents a transverse section, and Fig. 6, a plan. A is a large cylinder about
12 feet in diameter and about 3 feet deep. B, a tray or table of open wirework,
on which the matter to be operated upon is placed, and to any height not ex-
ceeding the dotted line d. The tray or table B is placed at a little distance
from the bottom of the cylinder A, in order to leave space to receive the gases
before they pass through the passages C, C, to the condenser. The bottom of
the cylinder A rests in the shallow cylindrical pan D, and is closed by an
hydraulic joint round the bottom of the cylinder A, in which a few orifices a, a,
are made, in order to allow a free circulation of such liquids as may be expelled
from the matter under operation. A small spout may be placed at any con-
venient part of the rim of the pan D, to convey any excess of liquid that may
come from the matter under operation into a reservoir or tank to be acted
upon by concentration or otherwise. E is a moveable metallic cover to the
cylinder A, having a plastic joint at b, and openings or man-holes F, F, as shewn
on the Drawing. G is a fan fixed on the vertical axis c, which revolves in the
bearings d, d, of the frame K, K; the motion being obtained by means of the
bevel wheels and pullies, as represented in the Drawing, or by other ordinary
methods. The fan G is placed in the centre of the upper part of the cylinder
A, and a little above the top surface of the matter under operation. H, H, are
pipes communicating with the fire-places I, I. Four fire-places are represented
in the plan, but there may be more or less as required. L is the hot air box,
having a rim M on the external upper surface to hold water to keep it from
getting too hot. The operation of the above apparatus is as follows:-The
matter to be carbonized being placed on the tray or table of open wire work B,
and the fan G being put in rapid motion, the air will be drawn through the
fires I, I, through the pipes H, H, and will be distributed through the matter
aforesaid, to which it will transmit its heat as it passes downwards to escape at
the openings C, C, to the condenser, carrying with it all the vapours that may
have been generated during its passage. The oxygen of the air having been
absorbed during its passage through the fires, the gases may be heated to a very
high temperature without igniting the combustible matter in the apparatus
exposed to their action.
The rectangular carbonising apparatus herein-before referred to is shewn on
Sheet 3, where Fig. 7 represents a longitudinal section; and Fig. 8, a plan.

page_text: A, A, is a rectangular casing resting in the pan B, the junction being formed
by an hydraulic joint; and to allow the free circulation of the liquid in this
pan there are formed a number of small holes or orifices a, a, in the bottom of
the casing A. The casing A is supported at the extreme ends by the upright
supports 6, 6, and between these the casing and pan are together supported by
the sleepers c, c. At the end of the apparatus, where the dried or carbonized
matter quits the apparatus, is the fan C, for drawing in hot air at its centre,
and forcing and distributing the same through the matter under operation,
after which it escapes through the openings D, D, to the condenser, with the
constituent volatile products it may carry with it. E is a man hole. F, F, an
endless chain or metallic web, fitted with a number of perpendicular plates of
metal, made so as to fill the orifices G, G', so as to allow the escape of as little
hot air as possible from the apparatus, and between these plates the chain is
fitted with parallel rods placed at about one inch one from the other so as to
support the matter under operation, and at the same time to allow the gases to
pass into the lower part of the apparatus on their way to the condenser.
The load of matter to be dried or carbonized is put on the chain at X, and
after passing in the direction of the arrow marked on the Drawing is taken off
at X, X. Along each side of the interior of the casing A. must be fixed a
straight bar for the chain to slide upon, and one or more other bars should be
placed at equal distances between these two for the same purpose. The side
bars will form a sufficient joint to prevent the hot air from passing by the side
of the chain, and these as well as the intermediate bars will support the chain
under its load; the chain F, F, occupies the entire breadth of the interior of
the apparatus. Motion is given to the endless chain F by means of the drums
H, H', over which it passes, as shewn in the accompanying Drawing. The
drums H, H', are caused to revolve in the bearing f of the frames g by the
crank d, or in other convenient manner; their motion to be very slow. The
entrance of the rectangular orifice G is slightly conical to facilitate the intro-
duction of the load, and the perpendicular plates herein-before referred to. If
desired, more than one fan may be employed to facilitate the process. The
direction of motion of the fan F is indicated by the arrow on the Drawing;
the motion of the fan is obtained by means of the small pulley h. I is a pit
for the return of the endless chain F. The matter to be acted upon in this
apparatus is placed as before stated at X, upon the metallic web or endless
chain F, and passing through the whole length of the apparatus is exposed to
the action of the heated air, as before described, and thus the apparatus yields
a continuous supply of carbonised matter, which, as it approaches the point at
which it is discharged, comes more and more in contact with the heated gas

page_text: coming from the fire. This rectangular apparatus just described is more par-
ticularly for the carbonisation of the moulded peat, for the purification and
partial carbonisation of lignite, small coal, sawdust, tan, &c.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I do not confine
myself to the details, so long as the principle or peculiar character of my
Invention be retained; but what I claim is,-
First, the apparatus above described for the dessication, moulding, and
purification of peat by centrifugal action.
Secondly, the apparatus for the carbonisation of vegetable matters for the
purpose of producing coke or charcoal, &c., without setting fire thereto, and
separating therefrom their constituent parts, such as pyroligneous acid, acetic
acid, tar, parafine, sulphate of ammonia, volatile and fixed oils, gaseous or
liquid carburet of hydrogen, &c. &c.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Hind Edwards, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
H. H. EDWARDS. (L.S.)