IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS, AND IN THE PRODUCTION OF SOME OF ITS CON- STITUENTS.
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Fairlie Wilson, Gas and Consulting
Engineer, of 18, Buckingham Street, Adelphi, in the County of
Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS, AND IN THE PRODUCTION OF SOME OF ITS CON-
STITUENTS.
"
Sealed the 28th November 1873, and dated the 8th September 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Fairlie
Wilson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 8th September 1873.
I, ALEXANDER FAIRLIE WILSON, Gas and Consulting Engineer, of 18,
Buckingham Street, Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS
USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS, AND IN THE PRODUCTION OF SOME OF ITS
CONSTITUENTS," to be as follows:-
This Invention has reference to the distillation of coal, cannel, shale,
or other illuminating gas producing substance, and subsequently com-
bining the gas so produced with hydrogen obtained by the decomposition

page_text: of water, and consists in the construction and application of apparatus
of which the following is a description:-An oven is built very similar to
that ordinarily constructed, and in it any convenient number of firc-clay
or iron retorts are set at an angle of not less than 30 degrees from the
vertical. The retorts are also fixed diagonally to each other and are
made taper, the largest part being downwards. To the upper part of
each retort a mouth piece is attached having a suitable lid or door, which
can be removed when access to the interior of the retort is desired. Near
the top of the mouth piece a chamber to which a hopper is connected is
formed. In the chamber one or more threads of an archimedian screw
are made to revolve by hand or other suitable power, or a plunger may
be employed in its stead. The lower part of the chamber communicates
through the mouth piece with the body of the retort, but is provided
with means for cutting off the communication. The mouth piece is also
furnished with a pipe to convey the gas into an hydraulic main, which it
is preferred to place transversely or at right angles to the position it
occupies in ordinary settings. Each setting of retorts may have onc, or
two, or more hydraulic mains, which may be connected together or so
arranged that by valves or otherwise communication with any particular
section or part of a section may be shut off. To the lower part of the
body of the retort a bend is attached, also made of fire-clay or iron, and
to that is fixed an iron conduit which descends through the water space,
and into the inner tube of a boiler by preference of that form known as
the "Cornish," but having both ends of the tube closed. This boiler or
boilers connected together by tubes to a central water and steam
chamber has its inner tube divided by partitions, each space or division
having an opening at the bottom provided with a door or lid, which may
be made self-sealing or otherwise. Each space or division is also
provided with arms or claws suspended from the top of the inner tube,
and free to be moved in any required direction. Underneath the boiler
or boilers are tramways upon which waggons or trucks may run.
Instead of using two boilers connected together, an ordinary egg-ended
boiler may be set in the middle of the arch beneath the furnace, and
instead of constructing an iron conduit which shall pass through the
boiler into the inner tube it is proposed to connect the bend of the retort
to a hot coke chamber which partially surrounds the boiler, and allows
of heat being communicated to it from the outside.
The walls dividing the retort benches or ovens are made of unusual

page_text: thickness, so as to allow flues to be constructed therein, and to admit of
the setting or insertion of iron tubes intended to be used as steam
superheaters. Above these tubes and in the spaces unoccupied by the coal
retorts are set fire-clay or iron retorts, in which are inserted a cast-iron
tube and a coil or series of wrought-iron tubes to be employed in finally
decomposing the steam or converting it into gas. These retorts may
each be constructed with a small subsidiary furnace within them.
Between the upper part of the inclined retorts, and in the angle formed
thereby another retort is set, for the purpose to be hereafter explained.
The principal furnace or that for heating the retorts generally is built in
the angle formed by the lower part of the coal distilling retorts.
For the purpose of utilizing any spare heat that may exist it is
proposed to insert in the main flue a scries of pipes in connection with
the furnaces, so that the air necessary to support combustion may be
heated previous to its introduction thereto.
The mode of using the apparatus, no claim being made to the method
of manufacturing gas except in the production of steam to furnish one or
more of its constituents, is as follows:-Coal being supplied to the
hoppers from waggons or trucks running upon a tramway over the
retort benches or otherwise, the screw is turned or the plunger moved,
whereon the coal from the hopper and chamber before referred to is
forced into the retort. A. sufficient quantity having been introduced,
the turning of the screw or moving of the plunger may cease, and the
distillation allowed to proceed. The gas produced rises, and is conveyed
into the hydraulic main, from whence it passes into the centre retort
before mentioned. The proper time being allowed to elapse, the screw
may again be turned slowly and continuously or intermittently, when a
fresh portion of coal will be forced in, and at the same time cause the
coke to slide down the inclined retort until it arrives at the bend, when
it will fall down into the hot coke chamber. The boiler being filled or
partially filled with water will become heated by the incandescent coke,
and the water converted into steam. The steam thus generated is
conveyed by suitable pipes to one or more of the iron tubes set in the
division walls, through which it will travel to the one above it, and from
thence to the other tubes of the same kind in succession. When the
steam has traversed each of these pipes or tubes it will pass on to the
retorts above and enter the coil of wrought-iron pipes, where the
superheating will be completed; it then passes into the cast-iron pipe,

page_text: which is partially filled with unoxidized scrap iron, when decomposition
of the steam ensues, the hydrogen being liberated, while the oxygen is
taken up by the iron and converted into oxide. The hydrogen then
flows on to the central retort, where it mingles with the gas produced in
the coal retorts, and from thence to the condensers and other appropriate
apparatus for purifying and storing the gas.
In lieu of passing the hydrogen into the central retort it may be con-
veyed into the coal gas generating retorts in such quantities and at such
times as experience may dictate.
When any of the divisions in the central tube or coke chamber become
nearly full of coke the door is opened, and if the coke has not become
sufficiently cooled from absorption of its heat by the water in the boiler
a douche or shower of water is applied. The steam which will thus be
produced ascends through openings constructed for the purpose, and is
conveyed by suitable pipes into a tank containing the feed water for the
boiler. It may however be found more convenient or advantageous to
let the gases from the coal retorts mingle with the superheated steam in
the upper retorts, when the cast-iron tube, unoxidized iron, and
supplementary furnaces and fittings may be dispensed with, the top
retort being reserved, if necessary, for the distillation of tar or oil, which
may be used to carburate any superabundance of hydrogen that
formed.
may be
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Fairlie Wilson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 7th March 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
FAIRLIE WILSON, Gas and Consulting Engineer, of 18, Buckingham
Street, Adelphi, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alexander Fairlie Wilson, Her special
licence that I, the said Alexander Fairlie Wilson, my executors, admini

page_text: strators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alexander Fairlie
Wilson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time.
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 APPARATUS USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS, AND IN
THE PRODUCTION OF SOME OF ITS CONSTITUENTS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Alexander Fairlie Wilson, 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 Alexander Fairlie Wilson, 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 accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to
say:―
This Invention has reference to the distillation of coal, cannel, shale,
or other illuminating gas producing substance, and subsequently com-
bining the gas so produced with hydrogen obtained by the decomposition
of water, and consists in the construction and application of apparatus
of which the following is a description :—An oven is built very similar
to that ordinarily constructed, and in it any convenient number of fire-
clay or iron, but by preference fire-clay, retorts are set at any angle of
not less than 30° from the vertical. The retorts are also fixed diagonally
to each other, and are made taper, the largest part being downwards.
To the upper part of cach retort a mouth piece is attached having a
suitable lid or door, which can be removed when necessary. The mouth
picce has a partition in it which divides it into two spaces, one in which
a plunger works, while the other is connected to a chamber or hopper.
Fixed to the mouth piece is a standard, and at the top of the standard is
attached a worm wheel, the boss in the centre of which is screwed so as
to form a nut. Through this nut works a screwed spindle, the plain
part of which passes through a stuffing box, packed by preference with

page_text: asbestos, and is fastened to a plunger fitted to one division of the mouth
piece. The worm wheel before mentioned is geared into a worm keyed
upon a shaft which runs right across the bench, and operates upon the
worm wheels pertaining to each mouth piece. The worm upon the shaft
also drives a pinion fixed to a spindle, which at its upper extremity is
provided with another pinion gearing into a toothed wheel fixed upon a
separate spindle. At the bottom of this latter spindle which revolves
within the hopper is fixed a disc with openings in it corresponding to
openings in a diaphragm fixed to the hopper, so that in a certain
position a passage is formed for the descent of coal from the hopper to
the retort, while in other positions the communication from the retort to
the hopper is cut off. The mouth piece has also a small opening closed
by a plug or otherwise, through which access to the retort and exit pipo
for the gas can be obtained. Each retort is provided with an exit pipe
or pipe for conveying the gas to a conducting main, placed by preference
transversely, or at right angles to the position it occupies in ordinary
retort settings, each pipe being furnished with a valve, which on being
closed will prevent the ingress of air or egress of gas whenever the
retort is opened. To the lower part of the body of the retort a bend is
attached, also made of fire-clay or iron, and to that is fixed an iron
conduit which descends to a hot coke chamber, each chamber having a
door or lid self-scaling or otherwise, through the opening of which the
coke may be removed into trucks or waggons below.
In the middle of the arch beneath thic furnace, and between the hot
coke chambers are two double-tubed Cornish boilers, set end to end with
a space between, the tubes of each boiler being connected together at its
outer extremity by an iron bend.
In the angles unoccupied by the coal gas retorts are set two fire-clay
retorts, cach of which are divided into an upper and lower compartment
by perforated fire-clay tiles or slabs, the perforations being by preference
in the form of slits, slots, or oblong openings. Beneath the firc-clay
tiles or slabs, but within the retorts, are a series of iron tubes about an
inch more or less in diameter, connected together at one or more points
with a pipe or pipes rising from the top of one of the boilers to the
mouth piece of the retort.
In order that the foregoing may be more easily understood, Drawings
are attached hereto, of which the following is a description.

page_text: Fig. 1 shows one bed of retorts in elevation and another in sectional
elevation; Fig. 2 is a transverse section, and Fig. 3, a plan of two and a
half beds.
In Fig. 1 A is the furnace, and B, B, the oven; C, C, are the coal gas
retorts with their mouth pieces D, D; E is the partition dividing the.
mouth piece into two compartments; F is the plunger; G, the screw,
and H, the standard with worm wheel I; J is the worm keyed upon the
shaft K, and L is the pinion that transmits motion to the toothed
wheel M; N is the disc valve between the hopper and mouth piece;
O is the exit pipe with its valve P, and Q is the conducting main;
R, R, are the fire-clay bends which form continuations of the retorts,
and S, S, are the iron conduits into the hot coke chambers T, T, the
mouth pieces of the coke chambers being marked U, U; V is one of the
two steam boilers, with its two tubes W and X connected together by
the bend Y shown in the elevation; Z, Z, are apertures open to the coke
vault in the middle, and are continued by means of a tube to the ash-pit
of the furnace, thus serving the double purpose of ventilating the coke
vault and of supplying the furnaces with heated air, these furnaces
having doors or sliding plates to the ash-pits. a, a, are trucks for the
removal of the coke, and b, b, the firing floor line, while c, c, are
hollow tiles to carry off the heat radiated from the arches, and keep the
top of the retort bed cool; d, d, are the horizontal retorts with the
perforated tiles e, e; f,f, being the series of tubes lying at the bottom
of the retorts, as before described; 9, 9, are the pipes for conveying the
coal gas into the horizontal retorts, each being furnished with valves h
and i in the position shown, or in any other convenient situation. Similar
letters refer to the same parts in all the Figures.
The mode of using the apparatus is as follows, no claim being made to
the method of manufacturing gas, except in the production of steam to
furnish one or more of its constituents:-Assuming that all the apparatus
necessary to be heated has been duly heated, coal is brought into the
retort house in waggons or trucks, such as is shown at j, on a railway k, k,
supported by girders, which in their turn are upheld by the pillars 1, 1.
The coals so brought in are tipped or dropped into shoots m and n, and
from thence, when the bottom of the shoots are opened by a valve, are
allowed to fall into the hopper, the said hopper being provided with an
air-tight lid. On giving motion to the shaft K, either by manual or
other suitable power, the disc valve N is opened, when the coal will fall

page_text: into the retort, where it will lie on its lower surface. When the gas has
been driven off a fresh supply of coal is introduced and thrust forward
by the plunger F; the coke being displaced by the same operation falls
into the hot coke chambers T, T, where it imparts its heat to the water
in the boilers V, V, through the flues of which also are led the waste
heat of the furnaces previous to its exit by the main flue to the chimney.
The steam so raised is conveyed by pipes o and p to the horizontal
retorts, where it enters the series of pipes f, f, and becomes superheated.
On the emission of the steam from these tubes it passes through the
perforated tiles and amongst and through a mass of coke, scrap iron, or
other material capable of absorbing oxygen, but without an equal
affinity for hydrogen. The steam is thus decomposed, and then mingles
with the heavy hydrocarbons or tarry vapours forming carburetted
hydrogen gas, and with the coal gas generated in the retorts C, C, and
conveyed from them by the pipes g, g, the combined gases passing off by
suitable pipes at the opposite end to the condensers and other ordinary
purifying apparatus.
When the coke chambers are full or it otherwise becomes necessary
the lids U, U, are opened, when the coke will fall down to the trucks or
waggons a, a.
Having now described and particularly set forth the nature of this
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I would observe in conclusion that I do not confine
or restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have
described or referred to, as variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of this Invention; but
what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the
Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent is,―
First. The construction and arrangement of apparatus for the manu-
facture of coal gas, as herein described and shown on the Drawings.
Secondly. The construction and arrangement of apparatus whereby
the heat of the resulting coke and waste heat from the furnace are
utilized by causing them to heat the water for the production of steam
to be afterwards decomposed and used to increase the volume of gas, or
for other purposes to which it may be applicable.

page_text: And thirdly. The construction and use of perforated tiles in the
horizontal retorts, as shown on the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Fairlie Wilson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.