IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR ILLUMI- NATION
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Bower, of Saint Neots, in the County
of Huntingdon, Ironmonger and Ironfounder, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR ILLUMI-
NATION
Scaled the 16th February 1853, and dated the 24th December 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Bower at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 24th December 1852.
I, GEORGE BOWER, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR IL-
LUMINATION" to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a mode of making gas by a simplified
process, with a saving of time in the process, and an increase in the
quantity produced.
The retort is made with projecting triangular surfaces, or a
species of "corrugations," so that the coal to be distilled is exposed
to an enlarged heated area, is more rapidly carbonized than at
present, and a greater quantity of gas is obtained. The hydraulic

page_text: main, washer, condenser, and purifier are all combined in one ap-
paratus, insuring that compactness and absence of complication
which cannot be attained in apparatus made up of these portions in
detached pieces.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said George Bower in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd June 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
GEORGE BOWER, of Saint Neots, in the County of Huntingdon,
Ironmonger and Ironfounder, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of December, in
the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in
the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said George Bower, Her
special license that I, the said George Bower, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Bower, 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
night 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 MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR ILLU-
MINATION, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
George Bower, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
scal, 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 George Bower, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the

page_text: same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings and to the letters and figures marked
thercon (that is to say):
My said Invention relates to a system or mode of making gas by
a simplified process, combining economy of time in the manufacture
and an increase in the quantity produced, consequent upon the
charge being "worked off" quickly. The retort in which the coal
is placed is made with projecting triangular surfaces, so that the
coal to be distilled is exposed to an enlarged heated area, and is,
therefore, more rapidly carbonised than in a retort of the ordinary
kind, whilst the production is increased. In the complete apparatus
the hydraulic main, washer or scrubber, condenser, and purifier are
all combined within one arrangement, so as to ensure a degree of
compactness and simplicity unattainable in disconnected apparatus.
Figure 1, on my Sheet of Drawings, is a longitudinal side clevation
of the combined apparatus. Figure 2, is an end view at right angles
to Figure 1. Figure 3, is a vertical longitudinal section of the
apparatus. Figure 4, is a plan of the whole. Figure 5, is an end
elevation of the mouth of the improved retort. Figure 6, is a longi-
tudinal section of the retort as broken away at the
and Figure 7, is a transverse section of the retort.
apparatus forms the hydraulic main; A, the line; B, representing the
level of the deposited tar. The gas is supplied to this receiver by
the dip pipe C, which proceeds directly from the retort ascension
pipe. The condenser is delineated at D, having five vertical plates
E, dipping into the fluid beneath, and alternated with four other
plates F, attached to the top of the condenser and hanging down to
the level of the top of the hydraulic main. The dipping plates E,
being left free or open at the top, a clear but circuitous passage is
left for the gas as indicated by the arrows, the entry to the several
divisions being at G, and the point of exit at H. Hence the gaseous
current passes along the bottom to the division I,
up
central portion;
The base of the
which it passes
and again descends as at J, over the top of the washer or scrubber
K. In the bottom of this washer or scrubber is a small pipe L, to

page_text: take off the deposit of tar and water from the washer to the
hydraulic main. The partially cleansed gas then passes on, as at M,
to the bottom of the purifier N, whence the gas escapes by the
onlet branch O, to the gas holder. Siphon traps P, Q, are fitted
at each end of the base, and the pipes R, S, take the surplus tar to
the tar well. The entire contents of the hydraulic main may be
drawn off by the pipe T, which is attached to a plate capable of
removal when the hydraulic main wants cleaning out. Access to
the purifier and washer is obtained by the moveable lids or covers
U, V; the coke in the scrubber or washer may be washed by water
conveyed therein through the pipe W. In this way the whole of
the apparatus for the treatment of the gas as it comes from the
retorts is effectively combined within the limits of a single solid
base. In Figures 5, 6, and 7, the enlarged bottom heating surface
of the retorts is shewn at A, the ridge surfaces B, furnishing a large
area as compared with the ordinary form of retort. These ridges
are in this instance two in number, and they extend from end to
end of the retort, but are bevilled off downwards at C, at the mouth,
for the convenience of charging; but such ridged bottoms may be
made of various other forms.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of
my said 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 arrange-
ments which I have had occasion to describe or refer to, as many
variations may be made therefrom without deviating from the
principles or main features of my 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 general arrangement and construction of apparatus or
means for the manufacture of gas for illumination as herein-before
described.
Second, the application and use of retorts with ridged angular
or undulating bottoms for the purposes herein-before described.

page_text: Third, the system or mode of arranging and constructing gas
apparatus wherein the hydraulic main, condenser, washer or
scrubber, and purifier are all combined in one apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Bower, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Fourteenth day of June, Onc
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
GEORGE BOWER. (L.S.)