IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
ROBINS BOOTH, of the Wandsworth Road, in the County of Surrey, 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 May,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the fifteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Robins Booth, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said George Robins
Booth, my exors, adñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Robins Booth, my exors, admors, 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 Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said George Robins Booth, shall
cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, 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
thereto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
George Robins Booth, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,

page_text: and 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 Drawing hereto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
Heretofore in manufacturing gas from oils, oily or resinous matter, &c. it
has been usual to go through the costly process of obtaining the oils, &c.
from seeds and other substances, and to use the same in a fluid or semi-fluid
state. Now, my improvements consist in the direct use of seeds, leaves,
flowers, branches, nuts, fruit, and other substances and matters containing oil,
or oily or resinous matter, or other matter useful in the manufacture of
vegetable gas.
The mode of using seed and constructing the apparatus used under this my
Patent in preparing gas may be the same as the apparatus used in the ordinary
mode of making gas with coal, but I prefer projecting the seed, &c. into a red
hot retort, and subjecting it for a certain time to a proper heat, then with-
drawing the expended residuum and again supplying the retort with another
quantity of seed, and so on, be the same more or less, at one time.
For the purpose of exemplification, I give a plan of a retort which includes
great facilities for the purpose of making gas from seed, &c., but this is only
one of many that may be designed for the purpose.
It will be seen, by using seed that the making of gas may be carried out on
the smallest scale, or extensively, so that every housekeeper may become the
manufacturer of a wholesome and innocuous gas light, for which purpose I also
give a model or plan for the construction of a small domestic apparatus. By
using seed, &c. my plan becomes adapted to all climates, because since it does
away with the necessity of coal for gas making, and as every country grows
oleaginous seed, &c., more or less, and as it is not requisite to express the oil
from the seed, so the Patent brings these articles of agricultural or of vegetable
production of all climates directly into use for gas making. I do, therefore,
use mustard seed, rape seed, linseed, dodda, sesame, hene, gengelle, teel, palm
nuts, ground nuts, cocoa nuts, india-rubber, gutta percha, thyme, pitch pine,
castor seed, niger poppy, cotton seed, olives, the residuum of the olive press,
and that of other seeds, for producing gas, which materials are the productions
of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America; or I use any other resinous or oily
substance than these here named, without any of them undergoing previous
preparation beyond reducing them to pieces, if so required, to place them in
the retort, or by mixing a little water with some seeds to assist in the develop-
ment of the gas, which is known as a chemical requirement, as in the use of
mustard seed, &c. Such seeds are very low in price in the countries where

page_text: they are produced, and make a brilliant gas, which, considering its quality, will
be not dearer than coal gas in some countries. The specific gravity of the
gas is from 980 to 1.000, which makes it lie in a very small compass compared
with coal gas, which is a great advantage.
The following is a description of the apparatus proposed:-One for a
moderate sized house, another for a smaller house, or for a smaller number of
lights, the rule being to make the apparatus of any size or dimensions as prac-
tice shall determine, so as to be adapted to the number of lights required.
This apparatus may be made to hold 1 gallon or 10 gallons of seeds. Thus it
will become a household appurtenance, and may be used in every house where
coal gas is not supplied, and often in those stations, places, and countries where
it would be too expensive to use any other gas than that produced from seed,
as proposed in this my Patent.
Figure 1 is a section of a gas apparatus suited for the extraction of gas
from seed, &c., as aforesaid. A is the retort, fixed up in its position; B is
the brickwork and furnace surrounding the retort; C, the exit pipe for the
gas, leading to the gasometer. To this is connected the same apparatus as is
named in my Patent for Improvements in Generating Gas, taken out in the
year One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one. The mode of heating the
retort is also the same as named in the above Patent, and which need not
again be described.
No. 1 is one of the apertures at the top of the cover of the retort, through
which the seed is passed into the retort. No. 2 is a cone, fixed in the retort
in the position in which it is seen; it is firmly attached to the cross bars
No. 3 and to the retort. Upon this cone the seed, in falling from the
apertures No. 1, &c., is dispersed evenly all over the steps No. 4. No. 3
is a cross bar, resting upon and firmly attached to the interior of the
retort, upon which the cone 2 rests, and which is attached to it. No. 4
are steps made in the interior of the cast-iron, or earthenware, or china
retort, on which the seed falls, and remains during the extracting of the gas.
No. 5 is a cross bar of iron, on which the shaft No. 6 rests. No. 6 is an
upright shaft, which rests on the bar No. 5, and which also passes through
the cone 2 and the stuffing box on the top of the retort, but is not attached
to it. No. 7 is a handle by which the shaft No. 6 is put in motion when
it is designed to clean out the retort from the seed or residuum after the
extraction of the gas. No. 8 are arms or fans, which are attached to the
shaft No. 6, which, when the handle No. 7 is moved round, cleans the steps
in the retort, and drives the expended seed into the cavity at the bottom of
the retort, which cavity may be so constructed as to pass this seed through

page_text: an aperture left for the purpose at the bottom of the retort, or which may
be driven through a side gallery or tube, as exhibited in this Drawing at
No. 9; or the expended seed may be extracted through the gallery, according
as the design of the gallery is adopted, whether to be placed horizontally, or in
an inclined position. No. 9 is the gallery or tube for extracting the expended
seed. No. 10 is a door to the said gallery. This door may be opened, and the
smoke chimney, named in my former Patent, being opened also, the expended
seed will be consumed in the manner there spoken of, for the consumption of
the soot. Thus the retort may be made nearly hot enough for extracting the
gas from another charge of seed, and so on, rendering the apparatus nearly a
self-supplying heat apparatus for generating gas after the first fire has been
made in the furnace for heating the retort. No. 11 is the heat exit vent.
Figure 2. The numbers in this Figure, as far as they are the same, have
the same explanation as those in Figure 1; but this apparatus is for a gas-
making furnace, &c. of a smaller dimension than Figure 1. No. 12 is a retort,
suspended in a heat chamber, with its cover attached, and closely bolted down.
No. 13 is a case fitting into the retort, with an inner case also, which is
attached to it (No. 14), may be lifted out to be emptied at any time when the
lid is taken off No. 14. This inner case is made of china, iron, or any other
suitable material, perforated with holes sufficiently small to hinder the seed
from passing through them.
The mode of action is to place the seed in this inner case, to close down the
lid of the retort, and, having made a fire in the furnace, the gas is driven from
the seed, and passes through the small holes, &c., to the exit pipe C, into the
condenser and cooler into the gasometer.
Thus as much seed may be put into the retort at one time for a small
number of lights as will supply a family with its light for one night, size and
quantity being duly regulated; every housekeeper may thus become his own
gas-maker, producing the most innocuous and agreeable light that can be
generated by destructive distillation. The gas may be rendered aromatic by
burning cascarilla bark or other fragrant herbs with the seed, and may be
made to produce the smell of frankincense, if desired.
Another mode may be adopted in using this retort. The inner space
marked 15 may be filled with seed, and the outer case, No. 13, being not filled,
the gas will be driven from the interior part of the case through the holes
in this case, and pass off to the exit pipe C, as before named.
My motive for naming this change of working is to shew that both the
shape and mode of the retort and inner case may be changed, so as to suit the
position and circumstances of place or parties.

page_text: The shape of the retort, &c. may be rcund, or of any other form; the whole
may be constructed like a small stove, and may be made a fixture in a cookery
kitchen, having its coolers and gasometer fixed on the outside of the house.
It will be found that a portion of oil will be formed in the condensing
cistern after the operation is ended. This oil may be put into the retort
through the naptha tube, No. 16, when all the gas is extracted from the seed;
the mode of working which is described in my Patent for making gas from
oil or resinous substance (before alluded to in this Specification).
I claim for making gas direct from seeds and matters herein named, for
practical illuminations, or other useful purposes, instead of making it from the
oils, resins, or gums previously extracted from such substances.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Robins Booth, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two.
GEORGE ROBINS (L.S.) BOOTH.