IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS & IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agent & Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS & IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME."-A
communication from abroad by Mr. Etienne Charles Zacharie Bouchard,
Civil Engineer, of Paris.
Sealed the 27th July 1860, and dated the 16th February 1860.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th February 1860.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent & Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS & IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates, first, to a new method of distilling matters furnishing
gas which are only slightly carbonated, mixed with products furnishing
carbonated gas, for the purpose of obtaining gas more suitable for lighting and
heating. 2ndly, to a peculiar apparatus suitable for the distillation of matters
possessing but little or no lighting properties.
This improved method is applicable especially for the distillation of peat &
carburets of hydrogen produced from other matters, its principle being to effect
at the same time the distillation of gas from the two matters introduced; the
two gases being thus produced in a pure state, will chemically combine and
furnish a rich and effective gas.
For this purpose I make use of an apparatus, which placed in the peat dis-
tilling retort, retards the distillation of the carburets of hydrogen intended to

page_text: enrich the peat gas. This apparatus consists simply of a metallic or ceramic
case for containing the tar, and which is pierced at bottom only with a certain
number of holes, which, while distilling, allows a required and variable
quantity of the gas produced to pass, there will be thus developed a pressure
in the interior which will retard the distillation.
The other apparatus consists of a furnace furnished with a certain number
of retorts, which divert the gas they produce into a central elliptical retort, in
which the complete combination of the gases possessing but little or no
lighting power, is effected with gas highly carbonated in order to furnish a
rich and effective gas, which may pass thence to the gasometer.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th
August 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William
Clark, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the
said William Clark, 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 MANUFACTURE OF GAS AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME," a communication
from abroad by Mr. Etienne Charles Zacharie Bouchard, Civil Engineer, of
Paris, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Clark,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be perforined, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Clark, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, 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 letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates, 1st, to a new method of distilling matters fur-
nishing gases which are only slightly carbonated, which matters I distil with
products furnishing carbonated gas having very great lighting power, for the
purpose of obtaining therewith gas more fit for lighting and heating. 2ndly,
to a peculiar apparatus for the distillation of the mixture of these two matters.
This improved method is applicable especially for the distillation of peat,
which furnishes a gas having little lighting power, mixed with carbonate of
hydrogen produced from matters which furnish by distillation a lighting gas.
The principle of the said method being to effect at the same time the distil-
lation of gas from the two matters introduced in proper proportions by
hastening the distillation of the one and retarding that of the other. Thus the
two gases resulting from peat and tar being in the "status mascens," will
chemically combine and furnish a rich suitable gas.
In order to obtain such simultaneous distillation, I make use of a dis-
tilling apparatus, which retards the distillation of the carburets of hydrogen.
These hydro-carburets, with the common method of producing being more
volatile than peat, distil almost instantaneously, so that the peat distilling much.
more slowly will produce a gas which has no time to combine in the status
nascens with that resulting from hydro-carburets; it is only in the gasometer
or holder that the mixture is effected. But such carburation being not a
chemical combination produces great inconvenience in cold weather by
depositing its carbon in the gas pipes, and thus losing its lighting power.
The apparatus which I make use of consists of a metallic or ceramic vessel
for containing the tar, and which is pierced at top only with a certain number
of holes of suitable diameter, so as to allow, when distilling, but the requisite
and variable quantity of the necessary gases to pass; there will be thus
developed a pressure in the interior which will retard the distillation. Thus
by increasing or diminishing the number and diameter of the holes will the
time of distillation of the bydro-carburets be increased or diminished, and thus
I am enabled to distil the bydro-carburets in the same time as peat or other
matters.
The other apparatus particularly intended for distilling matters possessing
little lighting properties consists of a furnace furnished with a certain number
of retorts, which divert the gas they produce into a central elliptical retort,

page_text: in which the complete combination of the gases possessing little or no lighting
power is effected with highly carbonated gases, in order to furnish a rich
effective gas
which may pass thence to the gas holder or meter. This retort
is placed so as to receive the greatest heat. I have adopted the elliptical form
for the better arrangement of all the pipes leading the gas into this retort,
which has previously been filled with slags, so that the gas may on its way
through commence to be purified, and it is only when such circulation is
accomplished that the gas from all the retorts ascends through a single
passage fitted at the mouth of the central retort after having been equally
carburetted during its long traverse.
In the annexed Drawings I have represented the apparatus according to
this Invention. Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of the metallic case a, which
contains the tar. 6 are the holes through which the gas escapes, which are so
calculated with respect to their number and diameter that the distillation of
the tar may be effected and continued during same time as that of the peat.
c, ears or projections formed on the case, and through which pins are inserted
for holding the lid firmly in its place. Figs. 2 & 3 show the front and back
of the furnace according to the second part of this Invention. d, brick wall;
e, retorts, in which are distilled the peat and carburets of hydrogen contained
in case a; f, central elliptical retort filled with slags, into which the other
retorts e divert by means of tubes g, for the mixture of the two gases produced
therein.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be pro-
tected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, first, the
apparatus for obtaining simultaneous distillation of peat and hydro-carburets.
Secondly, the double distillation, which by means of the apparatus above
described, imparts to the gases a great lighting property. Their distillation,
which has been already effected in the other retorts, being regulated by the
use of an eliptical retort, as described, before said gases have passed into the
condensing and purifying apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of August, One thousand eight hundred