IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF AND IN BURNING GAS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FUEL
Year: 1846

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
LOWE, of Finsbury Circus, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Eighth day of October,
in the tenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said George Lowe, my exors, admors, and
assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
I, the said George Lowe, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said George Lowe, my exors, adiñors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF AND IN BURNING GAS,
AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FUEL;" in which said Letters Patent is contained
a proviso that I, the said George Lowe, should cause a particular descrip-
tion of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being
thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
George Lowe, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention consists, first, of improvements in preparing peat in com-
bination with resin, pitch, oil, fat, or other hydro-carbonaceous matter, and
making gas
therefrom.
Secondly, my Invention consists of a mode of arranging apparatus for
purifying gas.
Thirdly, my Invention consists of improvements in making gas from
coal and other matters by introducing steam highly heated into the retorts
used.
Fourthly, my Invention consists of improvements in Argand gas. burners
whereby the gallery or apparatus carrying the chimney is made to rise and
fall on a screw so as to adjust the admission of the air to the flame.
. And, fifth, my Invention consists of certain means of manufacturing fuel
from peat by causing dry blocks of peat to be saturated with pitch or other
hydro-carbonaceous matters.
And in order that my Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the means pursued by me; and I
would first state that I am aware that peat has before been used in the
manufacture of gas, and such is the case with respect to peat in combination
with tar and other hydro-carbonaceous matters; do not, therefore, claim the
same, the first part of my Invention consisting of certain means of saturating
blocks of peat with resin, pitch, fat, oil, or other hydro-carbonaceous matters.
The peat is to be cut in blocks in the ordinary manner and well dried, and it is
the saturating such blocks with resin, pitch, or other hydro-carbonaceous
matters by the particular processes hereafter explained in place of grinding or
mixing broken or small peat with such carbonaceous matters and making gas
therefrom, which constitutes the first part of my Invention. In order to
saturate dry blocks of peat, I prefer to pile the peat in a square cast-iron boiler
or vessel about eighteen inches deep, and I fill such boiler or vessel within a few
inches of the top with the blocks of dry peat, and into this vessel I allow to flow
melted pitch, resin, tar, or combinations thereof, or other cheap hydroarbo-
naceous matter in a highly heated state, and keep up a fire under the boiler so as
to continue heat to the peat and matters under process, and by such means I
induce the hydro-carbonaceous matter to penetrate the blocks and cause them
to be well saturated, the time of such process depending on the character of
the peat and the sizes of the dry blocks, but a little practice will soon enable

page_text: a workman to judge of the time required, which I find will generally be under
an.hour. And when it is considered that the blocks are well saturated with
the melted resin, pitch, or other hydro-carbonaceous matters, I allow the
remainder of the fluid matter to run off and remove the blocks and put in a
fresh quantity of dry blocks into the boiler, and allow the saturated blocks to
drain by placing them on edge on open shelves. The blocks thus saturated
are to be made into gas by being placed into retorts in the same manner as
bituminous coal is distilled.as it is well understood. But I prefer to saturate
such dry blocks of peat by placing or. piling them within a vessel such as is
now used for saturating wood by the aid of vacuum and pressure, and having
filled such vessel with dry blocks of peat, I create a vacuum by means of
steam or otherwise, as is well understood; I then run in resin, pitch, or other
hydro-carbonaceous matter in a highly heated state, and when the vessel has
become full I add pressure; as is well understood when treating wood, and I
allow the peat to remain for about half an hour, when I run off the fluid
matter and remove the saturated peat, which is allowed to drain, and. is then
to be used in the manufacture of gas. I would remark that when using. tar
as the hydro-carbonaceous matter, that it is advantageous to combine
therewith from five to ten per cent. of quick lime in the state of powder..
I will now describe the second part of my Invention, which consists of
improvements in apparatus for purifying gas.
Figure 1 shows a section of the apparatus which I prefer to be made in
two compartments, so that weak ammoniacal liquor may be used in the lower
one, and water, or water acidulated with sulphuric or muriatic acid in the
other. The two compartments of the apparatus are each nearly filled with
lumps of coke, as has before been done in constructing what is called the
scrubber, and my improvements consist of the means of distributing the
purifying fluid used. a is a tank of. water, or it might be other purifying
liquid; 6 is a tank for weak ammoniacal liquid; b, c, are two perforated pipes
on axis, the perforations on either side of the axis of each pipe being on
opposite sides, so that the flow of fluid in streams will cause the tubes to
revolve on their axes and distribute the fluid equally on the coke. The gas
rising upwards from its pipe of introduction at d passes off partially purified
from ammonia by the pipe e, and it is the use of revolving pipes b, c, which
constitutes the novelty of this arrangement of apparatus. This apparatus
may be used either before or after the ordinary processes of purification; I
prefer to apply the same before such purification.
I will now describe the third part of my Invention, which consists of apply-
ing steam- highly heated (after it leaves the boiler or generator) into the

page_text: retorts used when making gas from coal, prepared peat, as herein described, or
other matter rich in carbon. In carrying out this part of my Invention I
cause steam from a steam boiler or vessel to pass through pipes or passages
highly heated in a like manner to that commonly resorted to for obtaining hot
blast in the manufacture of iron, and in like manner to what steam has here-
tofore been subjected to for other purposes, as are well understood, and I
cause the highly heated steam to be conducted by a pipe into that part of a
gas retort most distant from where the gas passes off from the retort. It is
well known that highly heating steam does not materially interfere with tho
pressure at which it is generated, and as the pressure in the gas retorts should
not be largely raised by the steam, I generate the steam under a pressure
about that of the gas, and allow it to flow into the retort freely at the com-
mencement of gas making after charging the retort, and stop the introduction
after the most carbonaceous matters have been driven off from the coal or
other matter used. And in order to prevent the too free use of such highly
heated steam, I prefer to have a burner constantly burning the gas produced
near the retorts, so that the workman can judge of the product, and close the
supply of heated steam when the gas is loosing color.
I will now describe the fourth part of my Invention, which relates to
improvements in Argand gas burners, and consists of so arranging the
gallery thereto for carrying the chimney or apparatus for directing the air to
the external surface of the flame that it may rise and fall and be fixed at the
required position by a screw or other means, and thus allow of a nice adjust-
ment (from time to time) of the admission of air to the flame.
Figures 2 and 3 show two arrangements of burners, the one having a
button to deflect the internal flow of air, the external air being directed by the
shape of the chimney, the other burner having a cone to direct the external
air to the flame. And in both cases the means of regulating the air to the
external surface of the gas flame is by means of a screw, though other means
.may
be resorted to.
The fifth part of my Invention consists of treating blocks of dry peat in
the same manner as that described under the first part of my Invention for
gas making.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would wish it to be understood that
I do not confine myself to the details so long as the peculiar character of
either part of my Invention be retained. But what I claim is,-
First, the mode of treating blocks of dried peat for the manufacture of
gas by placing them in an open vessel and immersing them in highly heated

page_text: resin, pitch, or other hydro-carbonaceous matter. And I also claim the
saturating of blocks of dry peat by placing them in closed vessels, as herein
described.
Secondly, I claim the application of revolving perforated pipes to distribute
the purifying liquor in apparatus such as is above described for purifying
gas.
Thirdly, I claim the application of highly heated steam introduced into
retorts when making gas from coal and other matters as herein described.
Fourthly, I claim the adjusting the air to the outer flame of an Argand
gas burner by means of a screw or otherwise. And,
Fifthly, I claim the saturating blocks of dry peat for the purposes of fuel
with resin, pitch, or other hydro-carbonaceous matter by means of an open
vessel and heat, and also by means of a closed vessel, as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Lowe, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighth day of April, One thousand eight hundred
and forty-seven.
GEORGE (L.B.)
(L.B.) LOWE.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighth day of April, in the
year of our Lord 1847, the aforesaid George Lowe came before our said Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid,
and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Eighth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-seven.