IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN." A communication from abroad by Charles Edwards, of Paris,
France.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville Clark
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th September 1879.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL AND
IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN." [A communication from abroad by Charles
Edwards, of Paris, France.]
This Invention relates to an improved process and apparatus for the manufacture
of artificial fuels from small coal, lignite, and other coal, whereby to assimilate them
as regards combustibility to wood charcoal. In order to manufacture of mineral
coal or coke, a product resembling wood charcoal as regards combustibility, I first
combine therewith certain substances in suitable proportions, and then treat the
same by a combined process of agglomeration, noulding, and distillation, whereby
to impart generally to a still higher degree the qualities hitherto possessed only by
charcoal. The products may be made in the same form as charcoal used for domestic
purposes, and used under the same conditions, but without its disadvantages; they
burn slower, emit neither smoke nor smell, and weight for weight give off more
heat. The products are composed, 1st, of certain kinds of coal, more especially some
sorts of Cardiff coal, which leave but little ash; 2nd, an oxide of one of the alkaline
metals or an alkaline earth (I even more particularly employ carbonate of soda);
3rd, jelly of lichens or other analogous vegetable matters, fucus, &c., obtained by
steaming, preferably employing the jelly of Carrageen moss; 4th, pitch or tar.
These several ingredients are combined in proportions varying with the use to
which the products are to be put, and the quality of the coal employed, the
I Price 10d1

page_text: Coal
Carbonate of soda crystals
Pitch or tar
Lichen in jelly
20 parts.
2. do.
31, do.
6 parts.
The solid substances are ground up together in order that they may be thoroughly
mixed, and the liquid matters are then added, such as fucus crispus, which has
been previously reduced to a gelatinous condition in a tub traversed at the lower
part by a steam injection coil. The whole is subjected to the action of a mixer
during the necessary time to form a perfectly homogeneous paste, which is then
passed through compressing rollers. When the paste has in this manner acquired
the necessary consistency it is introduced into cast iron cylinders, at the bottom of
which are a series of annular dod plates varying in diameter according to the pur-
pose to which the products are to be applied. Fuel for domestic use I make in the
form of fluted sticks or small hollow cylinders perforated to facilitate combustion.
The cylinders are produced by machines in the ordinary manner, the hollow bearing
such proportion to the solid portion as will permit of the admission of sufficient air
to promote combustion, without however impending by an excess of oxygen the
formation of carbonic oxide. Each cylinder is mounted on the bed of a vertical or
horizontal press, and pressure is applied to express the paste through the orifices in
the dod plates in the form of hollow cylinders, which are then placed in boxes.of
corresponding guage upon a frame provided with a knife, by which they are cut of
a suitable length. They are then laid upon corrugated sheet iron trays, each being
lodged in one of the corrugations, and separated by a space from the adjacent ones
in order to prevent their adhering together and getting out of shape. The moulded
cylinders are next placed in a furnace, such as that illustrated in Figures 1, 2, 3,
and 4 of the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 being a transverse section; Figure
2, a horizontal section on line M, N, Figure 1; Figure 3, a longitudinal section on
line P, Q; and Figure 4, a horizontal section on R, S, Figure 3; Figures 5 and 6
show a side and end view of a movable retort in which the trays of carbon cylinders
are placed, and which is constructed, 1st, of a sheet iron casing open at both ends
and having angle irons rivetted around the ends on the outside, so as to allow of the
doors being luted, and also enable the casing to withstand the heat of the furnace;
2nd, a division plate of sheet iron rivetted to the middle of the casing to give it the
necessary stiffness and prevent buckling; 3rd, to the sides of the retort are attached
angle iron shelves, upon which the corrugated trays are placed; 4th, the retort is
provided with rollers at bottom, two on either side, to run upon rails in the interior
of the muffle furnace. The rollers are mounted between the angle irons, which
connect the bottom to the sides of the retort, and other angle irons rivetted to the
bottom. After being charged and luted the retorts are conveyed on a waggon upon
rails outside the furnace, and thence run into the furnace by means of a jack, which
is shifted along the front of the furnace from one muffle to the other. The retorts
are allowed to remain in the furnace the necessary time for perfect distillation and
the complete combustion of the resultant gases. During this operation the vola-
tilizable portions of the coal, pitch, &c., become distilled, while the action of the
other substances introduced in solution in the paste, by preventing the molecules of
carbon becoming closely united together, prevents any increase of the density of the
mass. The furnace is specially constructed for the production of the charcoal, and is
on the regenerative system, igniting the gases which disengage from the matters
under treatment at a temperature. necessary for the distillation, the coal con-
sumed by the furnace being only that required at starting and for igniting the
gases.
."
The means of charging and drawing the retorts, shown in the Drawings, also form
an integral part of the Invention.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
13th March 1880.
ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL AND
IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN. A communication from abroad by Charles
Edwards, of Paris, France.
This Invention relates to an improved process and apparatus for the manufacture
of artificial fuels from small coal, lignite, and other coal, whereby to assimilate them
as regards combustibility to wood charcoal. The combustibility of fuel is in an
inverse ratio to its density, thus breeze is more combustible than ordinary wood-
charcoal, and the latter more so than coal, lignite, anthracite, and coke. In order
therefore to manufacture from mineral coal or its coke a product resembling
wood charcoal as regards combustibility, I first combine therewith certain sub-
stances in suitable proportions, and then treat the same by a combined process of
agglomeration, moulding, coking, or distillation, whereby to impart generally to
a still higher degree the qualities hitherto possessed only by wood charcoal.
The products may be made in the same form as charcoal for domestic pur-
poses, and used under the same conditions, but without its disadvantages, as they
burn slower, emit neither smoke nor smell, and weight for weight give off more
heat.
The products are composed (1) of certain kinds of coal, more especially some sorts
of Cardiff coal, which leave but little ash; (2) an oxide of one of the alkaline metals
or an alkaline earth (I even more particularly employ carbonate of soda); (3) jelly of
lichens or other analogous vegetable matters, fucus, &c., obtained by steaming, pre-
ferably employing the jelly of Carrageen moss; (4) pitch or tar. These several
ingredients are combined in proportions varying with the use to which the pro-
ducts are to be put and the quality of the coal employed, the following being, by.
way of example, the composition of a fuel intended for domestic use:—

page_text: trays, a cylinder being lodged in each one of the corrugations, and separated by a
space from the adjacent ones in order to prevent their adhering together and getting
out of shape.
The moulded cylinders are next placed in a furnace, such as that illustrated by
way of example only in the accompanying Drawings. Figure 1 is a transverse
section of the furnace; Figure 2, a horizontal section on line M, N, Figure 1; Figure
3, a longitudinal section on line P, Q; and Figure 4, a horizontal section on line
R, S, Figure 3.
Figures 5 and 6 show a side and end view of a movable retort in which the trays
of carbon cylinders are placed, and which is constructed, 1st, of an iron casing about
1/4 of an inch in thickness, 32 inches in height, 20 inches in length, and 16 inches
in breadth, open at both ends, and having two inch angle irons rivetted around the
ends on the outside, so as to allow of the doors being luted, and also enable the
casing to withstand the heat of the furnace; 2nd, a division plate of sheet iron is
rivetted to the middle of the casing to give it the necessary stiffness and prevent
buckling; 3rd, to the sides of the retort are attached angle irons about 3/4 of an
inch in width, forming ledges, 25 more or less in number, upon which the corru-
grated trays are placed; 4th, the retort is provided with rollers at bottom, two on
either side, to run upon rails laid in the interior of the muffle furnace. The rollers
are mounted between the angle irons, which connect the bottom to the sides of the
retort, and other angle irons rivetted to the bottom. After being charged and luted
the retorts are conveyed on a waggon upon rails outside the furnace, and thence
run into the furnace by means of a jack, which is shifted along the front of the
furnace from one muffle to the other. The retorts are allowed to remain in the
furnace the necessary time for perfect distillation and the complete combustion
of the resultant gases. During this operation the volatilisable portions of the
coal, pitch, &c., are distilled, while the action of the other substances introduced
in solution in the paste is to hinder the molecules of carbon becoming closely
The furnace is
united, and so prevent any increase of the density of the mass.
specially constructed for the manufacture of the charcoal or artificial fuel, and is
on the regenerative system, igniting the gases, which disengage from the matters
under treatment at a temperature necessary for the distillation, the coal con-
sumed by the furnace being only that required at starting and for igniting the
gases.
The means of charging and drawing the retorts, shown in the Drawings, also
form an integral part of the Invention.
Having described the nature of the said Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1st. An agglomerated fuel composed of mineral coal or its coke mixed in
suitable proportions with oxides or salts of alkaline metals or alkaline earths, jelly
of lichens, or other like vegetable matters, and pitch or tar, as and for the purpose
specified.
2nd. An agglomerated fuel composed as specified in claim 1, and moulded in the
form of fluted sticks or hollow cylinders, as and for the purpose specified.
3rd. The employment in the manufacture of agglomerated fuel of the kind specified
of horizontal or vertical presses provided with perforated bottoms or dod plates for
producing fluted or tubular sticks of fuel, as described.
4th. The cutting to length of the freshly moulded sticks or cylinders by means of
boxes of corresponding gauge, as described.
5th. The use in carbonising agglomerated fuel of a movable retort for holding the
corrugated trays upon which the moulded fuel is placed, and provided with rollers
to run upon rails laid in the muffles, as described.
6th. The use in the manufacture of agglomerated fuel of a jack fitted to move
along in a groove parallel with the front of the furnace for running the retorts into
and out of the muffles, as described.

page_text: 7th. The use in the manufacture of agglomerated fuel, as described, of a regenera-
tive furnace so arranged as to ignite and utilise the gases resulting from the
distillation of the fuel under treatment, as hereinbefore described.
8th. In the manufacture of agglomerated fuel, the combination of a regenerative
furnace, travelling retorts, and traversing jack, arranged substantially as and for
the purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)