IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF DISTILLATION TO GAS FROM THE FURNACES OF STEAM ENGINES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Gedge, of No. 4, Wellington Street South,
Strand, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF DISTILLATION TO GAS FROM THE
FURNACES OF STEAM ENGINES."-A communication from Nicolas Delannoy,
of Tournay, Belgium.
Sealed the 18th November 1856, and dated the 23rd May 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Gedge at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd May
1856.
I, JOHN GEDGE, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE APPLICATION OF DISTILLATION TO GAS FROM THE FURNACES
OF STEAM ENGINES," communicated to me by Nicolas Delannoy, of Tournay,
Belgium, to be as follows:-
I propose to introduce into the furnace of a steam engine, about an iuch
from and below the generator, a receiver, placed through the latter. This
receiver, which will be about five feet in length and about one foot in diameter,
will occupy the whole length of the furnace, and have exit outside the brick-.

page_text: work of the engine. An escape pipe will be placed at the extremity and above
the receiver above-mentioned; this will allow the gas generated to pass on to
the purifying apparatus and thence to the gasholder. This receiver is to rest
on the masonry in the interior of the furnace, and face the fire, guaranteed
rom its action by a refraction plate where the fire is fiercest.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Gedge in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd November 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN GEDGE,
of No. 4, Wellington Street South, Strand, in the, County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Royal
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said John Gedge, Her special license that I, the said John Gedge, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Gedge, 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
APPLICATION OF DISTILLATION TO GAS FROM THE FURNACES OF STEAM ENGINES,"
a communication from Nicolas Delannoy, of Tournay, in the Kingdom of
Belgium, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Gedge,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 John Gedge, 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,
reference being had to the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the

page_text: letters of reference marked on the several Diagrams shewn thereon, where
similar parts appear or can be seen respectively.
The object of these improvements is to obtain gas from the furnaces of
steam engines without other expense after the fixing of the apparatus than the
material for supplying the retorts used, and so enable all persons using steam
engines to supply their factories or habitations with gas without being
dependent (in cities) on public companies, or in districts or places where no
gas is laid on by a gas factory, to supply themselves, and, if desirable, their
neighbours.
In the Drawings, Figure 1 represents a horizontal section or plan of the
furnace of a steam engine, shewing the position of the three receivers or
retorts L, M, and N; Figure 2, a longitudinal section, taken through Figure 1
at the line V, Z; Figure 3, front elevation of a furnace; and Figure 4, trans-
verse section thereof, taken through the line X, Y, at Figure 1.
The process consists in the introduction to the back furnace of a steam
engine of one or more receivers or retorts. I have shewn three in the Drawing
(marked L, M, N). The two retorts L, M, are fixed about three inches apart,
and placed near the back of the furnace; another retort N may be placed at
the other extremity of the generator. The retorts are usually about twelve
inches in diameter, but as they occupy the entire width of the furnace, and
extend about ten inches beyond the masonry, as shewn at C, their lengths
vary; a conducting pipe J passes from the head of the retort to the scrubber,
or place in which the gas cleanses itself before passing into the hydraulic pipes.
The ends of each retort rest upon the masonry of the furnace, and are upheld
in the centre by the brickwork or supports P, Q, between which are left the
vent holes x, x, x, which permit the circulation of the flame beneath
the retorts. The first retort is protected from contact with the flame from the
furnace by refractory masonry or a refraction plate. I would here observe, that
the receivers or retorts, herein-before described, for the distillation of illumi-
nating gas, may be applied to or built in furnaces of many descriptions, such
as coke furnaces or others.
Having now described the means by which this Invention is carried into
practical effect, I desire it to be fully understood, that, while I lay no claim
to any of the parts of apparatus used, taken as parts, and not in combination
for the purposes of this Invention; I do not confine myself to any precise
disposition of the retorts in a furnace, or to the number used, as in some cases
one only may be required, while in others the use of more will be found
desirable; but I declare the object of the Invention to be, and I claim, the

page_text: exclusive use of retorts placed in the furnaces of steam engines.in manner and
for the purposes herein-before described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Gedge, have hereunto affixed my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight bundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
W. E. GEDGE,
4, Danes Inn, Strand..
JOHN GEDGE. (L.S.)