IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL, AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Ferdinand Henry Warlich, of No. 1, Hebron
Terrace, Grove Lane, Camberwell, in the County of Surrey, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL
FUEL,
AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE.”
Sealed the 9th August 1872, and dated the 13th February 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ferdinand Henry
Warlich at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 13th February 1872.
I, FERDINAND HENRY WARLICH, of No. 1, Hebron Terrace, Grove
Lane, Camberwell, in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
ARTIFICIAL FUEL, AND IN APPARATUS TO BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object the conversion of all kinds of inferior
coals comparatively useless by reason of their being mixed with stones,
dirt, pyrites, and other impurities, also the small or slack, into a fuel

page_text: equal to and superior to that of the best coals and hitherto manufactured
artificial fuels.
According to my Invention the large coals to be so treated, especially
anthracite, must be reduced to the size of slack or small by crushing
them between rollers or other well-known means. I take these coals
so treated or the small or slack as they come from the pit and shoot
them into a hopper and passing again between crushing rollers at the
bottom thereof, they fall into a shoot placed at the top of and com-
municating with a chamber constructed of iron or other suitable
material. In the interior of this chamber a powerful blast from a fan
receives the coals as they descend from the hopper, and the coals are
carried by the force of the blast towards the further end of the chamber
where they descend partially cleaned. The impurities, such as iron
pyrites, slate, stones, &c., fall far short of the cleaned coals (on account
of the specific gravity of the lightest of these substances being twice
the specific gravity of the coals and the heaviest (iron pyrites) being
three times that) through openings made in the bottom of the chamber
into trucks placed heneath to receive them.
A large vessel constructed of iron or other material supplied with
water is attached to an opening in that part of the chamber where the
partially cleaned coals fall. In the centre of this vessel is a shaft fitted
with arms or blades to revolve and agitate the water therein contained.
As the coals fall into this vessel they are swiftly carried round it and
get thoroughly washed. The impurities on account of their weight
sink gradually to the bottom into cavities or troughs let into the bottom
of the vessel and which are situated below the action of the arms or
blades. The cleaned coals are carried by the stream of water over the
sides of the vessel, where it is intended they should fall into a hopper
of an elevator consisting of cans, scoops, or buckets on an endless band
or chain, and having moveable bottom plates working on hinges, so that
when the scoops are turned over after travelling on the band or chain
over the topmost pulley wheel the bottom falls forward and forces the
coals to drop out into a hopper communicating with a chamber or retort
constructed of iron, or it may be constructed of brickwork heated by a
furnace or furnaces. Up to this point the coals are so far free from
solid impurities and are ready to be deprived of their volatile elements
which are the cause of smoke, sulphur, and other chemical compounds
injurious to free combustion.

page_text: Within this heated chamber or retort the coals undergo a process of
roasting or charring, whereby all the volatile impurities, but not gaseous,
are removed. These volatile impurities are collected into a receiver and
condensed. The tar therefrom can be at once used for the manufacture
of fuel. The greatest care must be noticed as regards the temperature
of this retort or chamber, otherwise permanent gases will be given off
by the coals instead of oils and tar. The heat should not exceed 600
to 700 Fahrenheit. The water contained in the coals after washing will
act as a safeguard against the formation of gas, it being through the
heat converted into steam, which will facilitate the formation of oils.
Coal being a bad conductor of heat when in large masses exposed to
a high temperature, I cause the coals to be constantly stirred up and
kept in motion within the retort or chamber by means of an endless
band carrying scrapers or scoops turning round two drums or pullies,
the bearing of which are situated at each end of the chamber. These
drums or pullies are driven by suitable gearing connected with steam
power. After the coals have been subjected to this treatment as
required they are removed by opening a door or doors fitted to each
end of the chamber. The scrapers or scoops as the band travels over
the drums drops the coals out into trucks placed to receive them, and
the cleaned and now purified coals are conveyed to the mixing mill to
be manufactured into block fuel. When a mass of coal is exposed to
heat it may be observed that the volatile products are driven away from
the surface to which the heat is applied, so that if the coals are sur-
rounded on all sides by heat the vapours will be driven towards the
centre of the mass, therefore in this case the outlet of the vapour should
be in this centre.
The above may be carried out with greater advantage by reversing
the principle, heating the coals inside a revolving retort by means of a
cylindrical flue running through the centre of it. Within the flue, but
not revolving therewith, is carried a fire-grate; the vapours produced in
the retort are driven towards the sides, whence they can be more easily
extracted under less temperature and will produce a larger amount of
liquids in the condenser. This revolving retort can be kept in motion by
well-known means without requiring a shaft running through it. The
inside of the retort has angular projections upon it, which as the retort
revolves constantly shoot the coals on to the internal flue. The coals
are discharged at the end of the retort in any usual manner.

page_text: The purified and clean coals are mixed in the before mentioned mixing
mill with about 10 per cent. of coal tar or coal tar pitch, more or less, and
for some purposes in addition thereto with 1 to 3 per cent. of petroleum.
The whole then descends from the mixing mill into the moulds of
the pressing machine and is removed from it as compressed blocks on
to iron carriages, and these are run into a new combined carbonising
and coking retort where it is left from 6 to 12 hours and upwards,
subject to the influence of heat varying from 500 to 800 degrees
Fahrenheit according to the nature of the coals employed. The products
from the carbonization of the tar, &o, used in the mixing mill are drawn
off by means of an exhauster and condensed. These carbonizing retorts
are heated by the gases from the coke ovens placed beneath or other-
wise. A perfectly new ooke fuel in regular shapes for close stowage
can be produced by using the above manufactured blocks and stacking
them closely on trucks which are then run into the coking ovens, where
they remain for a longer or shorter period according to the purposes
for which the coke is intended.
The construction of the coking ovens is simple, each consisting of a
vault built of brick or stone beneath the carbonizing retort, the top
forming the bottom of the other, the heated gases therefrom are
conveyed round the carbonizing retort by means of flues. The size of
the coking ovens correspond with the retorts above. The construction
of these coking ovens may be in compartments or divisions which are
filled with purified coals and when coked can be withdrawn in the
ordinary manner. For the cooling of the manufactured coke the trucks
are moved into a chamber or space pervaded by steam.
In making artificial fuel from anthracite coal I crush the coal to a
greater degree of fineness, and when bituminous coal is obtainable I mix
the two together in the proportion of six parts of anthracite and six of
hituminous coal.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FERDINAND
HENRY WARLICH, of No. 1, Hebron Terrace, Grove Lane, Camberwell, 3.
in the County of Surrey, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of February, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Ferdinand Henry Warlich, Her special
license that I, the said Ferdinand Henry Warlich, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Ferdinand Henry
Warlich, 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, AND IN APPARATUS
TO BE USED FOR THIS PURPOSE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Ferdinand Henry Warlich, my executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, 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 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 Ferdinand Henry Warlich, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object the conversion of all kinds of inferior
coals (comparatively useless) by reason of their being mixed with stones,
dirt, pyrites, and other impurities, also the small or slack, into a fuel
equal to and superior to that of the best coals and hitherto manufactured
artificial fuels.
According to my Invention the large coals to be so treated, especially
anthracite, must be reduced to the size of slack or small by crushing
them between rollers or other well known means. I take these coals so
treated, or the small or slack as they come from the pit, and shoot them
into a hopper, and passing again between crushing rollers at the bottom
thereof they fall into a shoot placed at the top of and communicating
with a chamber constructed of iron or other suitable material. In the
interior of this chamber a powerful blast from a fan receives the coals as

page_text: they descend from the hopper, and the coals are carried by the force of
the blast and mechanical force of the fan towards the further end of
the chamber, more or less, according to their weight, and become sorted
in uniform sizes. When they are thus sorted into uniform sizes each
size is passed through the hopper leading to a similar chamber as that
just described, when the now partly cleaned coals are driven to the
farthest end ready for subsequent treatment. The impurities, such as
iron pyrites, slates, stones, &c., fall far short of the cleaned coals (on
account of the specific gravity of the lightest of these substances being
twice the specific gravity of the coals, and the heaviest (iron pyrites)
being three times that), through openings made in the bottom of the
chamber into trucks placed beneath to receive them.
A large vessel constructed of iron or other material supplied by water
from the top of a chamber fitted above it is attached to an opening in
that part of the chamber where the partially cleaned coals fall. In the 1
centre of this vessel is a shaft fitted with arms or blades to revolve and
agitate the water therein contained. As the coals fall into this vessel
they are swiftly carried round it and get thoroughly washed. The
impurities on account of their weight sink gradually to the bottom into
cavities or troughs let into the bottom of the vessel, and which are
situated below the action of the arms or blades. The clean coals are
carried by the stream of water over the sides of the vessel, where it is
intended they should fall into a hopper of an elevator consisting of cans,
scoops, or buckets on an endless chain or band and having movable
bottom plates working on hinges, so that when the scoops are turned 2
over after travelling on the chain or band over the topmost pulley wheel
fixed at each end the bottom falls forward and forces the coals to drop
out into a hopper communicating with a chamber or retort constructed
of iron, or it may be constructed of brickwork heated by a furnace or
furnaces. Up to this point the coals are so far free from solid impurities 3
and are ready to be deprived of their volatile elements which are the
cause of smoke, sulphur, and other chemical compounds injurious to free
combustion.
Within the heated chamber or retort the coals undergo a process of
roasting or charring whereby all the volatile impurities, but not gaseous,
are removed. These volatile impurities are collected into a receiver and
condensed. The tar therefrom can be at once used for the manufacture
of fuel. The greatest care must be taken as regards the temperature of
3

page_text: this retort or chamber, otherwise permanent gases will be given off by
the coals instead of oils and tar. The heat should not exceed 600 to
700 Fahrenheit. The water contained in the coal after washing will
act as a safeguard against the formation of gas, it being through the
heat converted into steam, which will facilitate the formation of oils.
Coal being a bad conductor of heat when in large masses exposed to
a high temperature, I cause the coals to be constantly stirred up and
kept in motion within the retort or chamber by means of an endless
band carrying scrapers or scoops turning round two drums or pullies,
the bearings of which are situated at each end of the chamber. These
drums or pullies are driven by suitable gearing connected with steam
power. After the coals have been subjected to this treatment as far
as considered necessary they are removed by opening a door or doors
fitted to one or each end of the chamber. The scrapers or scoops as the
band travels over the drums drop the coals out into trucks placed to
receive them, and the cleaned and now purified coals are conveyed to
the mixing mill to be manufactured into block fuel. When a mass of
coal is exposed to heat it may be observed that the volatile products are
driven away from the surface to which the heat is applied, so that if the
coals are surrounded on all sides by heat the vapours will be driven
towards the centre of the mass, therefore in this case the outlet of the
vapour should be in this centre.
The above may be carried out with greater advantage by reversing
the principle, heating the coals inside a revolving retort by means of a
cylindrical flue running through the centre of it. Within the flue, but
not revolving with it, is carried a flue grate; the vapours produced in
the retort are driven towards the sides, whence they can be more
easily extracted under less temperature, and will produce a larger amount
of liquids in the condenser. The revolving retort can be kept in motion
by well-known means without requiring a shaft running through it.
The inside of the retort has angular projections upon it, which, as the
retort revolves, constantly shoot the coals on to the internal fluc. The
coals are discharged at the end of the retort in any usual manner.
The purified and cleaned coals are mixed in the before-mentioned
mixing mill with about 10 per cent. of coal tar or coal tar pitch more or
less, and for some purposes with 1 to 3 per cent. of petroleum. The
whole then descends from the mixing mill into the moulds of the
pressing machine, and is removed from it as compressed blocks on to iron

page_text: carriages, and these are run into a new combined carbonizing and coking
retort, where it is left from 6 to 12 hours and upwards subject to the
influence of heat varying from 500 to 800 degrees Fahrenheit according
to the nature of the coals employed. The products from the carboniza-
tion of the tar, &c. used in the mixing mill are drawn off by means of a
an exhauster and condensed. These carbonizing retorts aro heated by
the gases from the coke ovens placed beneath or otherwise. A perfectly
new coke fuel in regular shapes for close stowage can be produced by
using the above manufactured blocks and stacking them closely on
trucks which are then run into the coking ovens, where they remain for 1
a longer or shorter period according to the purposes for which the coke
is intended.
The construction of the coking ovens is simple, each consisting of a
vault built of brick or stone beneath the carbonizing retort, the top
forming the bottom of the other, the heated gases therefrom are con- 1I
veyed round the carbonizing retort by means of flues. The size of the
coking ovens correspond with the retorts above. The construction of
these coking ovens may be in compartments or divisions which are
filled with purified coals, and when coked can be withdrawn in the
ordinary manner. For the cooling of the manufactured coke the trucks
are moved into a chamber or space pervaded by steam.
In making artificial block fuel from anthracite coal I crush the coal
to a greater degree of fineness, and when bituminous coal is obtainable
I mix the two together in the proportion of 6 parts of anthracite and
6 of bituminous coal. The charring of anthracite coal is done for the
purpose of preventing the after splitting of the particles when exposed
to high temperatures, and which is the cause of its not being adaptable
to locomotive engines. The anthracite coal when in its ordinary state
splits into fine particles immediately it comes in contact with the heat
of the furnace, and flies through the tubes of the locomotive boiler to the
smoke box which it soon fills.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.

page_text: A, Figure 1, is a hopper containing crushing rollers through which
the coals are fed to the chamber B. B, B, B, B, is a chamber through
which the coals are propelled by the fan C towards but not into the
chamber D, Figure 2. E, E, E, are cavities in the chamber B into
which the different qualities and sizes of coals fall and are collected.
Fare doors through which the coals in E are emptied into trucks placed
beneath to receive them. When the coals have been thus sorted cach
uniform size is passed through a similar apparatus, and this time into
the chamber D, the impurities only falling into the cavities E, E.
Figure 2 is a vessel containing water into which the coals fall from
the chamber B. H are perforations through which water flows in a
fine shower into the vessel, thereby absorbing the fine coal dust
pervading the chamber D. I are openings in the sides of the vessel G
through which the pure coals: are washed over by the action of the
shaft J within the vessel G into the bottom of the elevator K, which
then carries the coals to the chamber M, Figure 4. L, L, are perforated
scoops of the elevator K. M*, Figure 4, is a band fitted with scrapers
or scoops N, N, kept in continual motion by the drums O, O. P, P, are
flues surrounding the chamber, and are heated by the furnace Q. R is a
door through which the coals are ejected when the process of charring
is completed into trucks ready to take them to the mixing mill.
Having now particularly described the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed or put in operation,
I would have it understood that I do not confine myself to the precise
details herein-before given; but what I claim as my improvements in the
manufacture of artificial fuel is,-
1. The sorting of the different sized particles in ordinary small and
dust coals from each other into uniform sizes by apparatus arranged
substantially as herein described.
2. The separation of solid impurities from impure coals of uniform
size by apparatus arranged substantially as herein described.
3. The cleaning the coals by a combined dry and wet process, sub-
stantially in the manner described.
4. The further purification of coals already freed from solid impurities
by means of heat, substantially as herein described.
5. The manufacture of artificial block fuel from coal treated in the
manner herein described.

page_text: 6. The manufacture of artificial block fuel from anthracite coal by
first subjecting it to the process of charring and subsequently mixing it
with bituminous coal and bituminous matters previous to moulding it
into blocks.
7. The coking of artificial fuel made from charred coal mixed with
bituminous matter into regular shaped blocks of coke fuel.
In witness whereof, I, the said Ferdinand Henry Warlich, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Ninth day of August, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
F. H. WARLICH. (L.S.)