AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING COAL AND OTHER BITUMINOUS MINERALS AND PEAT FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING SOLID AND LIQUID HYDROCARBONS THERE- FROM
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Mattieu Williams, of Handsworth, in the
County of Stafford, Teacher, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR
IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING COAL AND OTHER BITUMINOUS MINERALS AND PEAT
FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING SOLID AND LIQUID HYDROCARBONS THERE-
FROM."
Sealed the 27th March 1861, and dated the 5th January 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Mattieu Williams
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
5th January 1861.
I, WILLIAM MATTIEU WILLIAMS, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford,
Teacher, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVE-
MENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING COAL AND OTHER BITUMINOUS MINERALS AND
PEAT, FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING SOLID AND LIQUID HYDROCARBONS THEREFROM,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in subjecting coal or other bituminous minerals or
peat, to a full red heat under pressure in a distillatory apparatus, by which
treatment that portion of the coal or other bituminous mineral or peat, which
is volatilized, is mainly converted into paraffin, paraffin oil, and other solid and
liquid hydrocarbons.
In carrying my Invention into effect, I employ a distillatory apparatus made
by preference of wrought iron. The said apparatus consists essentially of two
vessels connected by a pipe or channel, one of the said vessels constituting a
retort and the other a receiver. The retort is set in a furnace, and the
[Price 11

page_text: receiver is immersed in water.
The retort has an opening at which the
material to be operated upon is introduced, and the residuum removed, and the
receiver has an opening from which the products obtained are removed. Both
the said openings are provided with covers or other means of closing them
hermetically at some part of the distillatory apparatus, and by preference, at
the receiver is a safety valve for permitting the escape of gaseous matter, when
the pressure in the interior of the apparatus reaches the required maximum.
As soon as the retort is charged, all the openings in the distillatory apparatus
are securely closed excepting the safety valve, which is loaded to the greatest
pressure the apparatus will safely bear. The retort is then rapidly raised to
and maintained at a full red heat until volatile products cease to pass off. The
gaseous matter first produced accumulates in the apparatus, and by the
pressure it exerts determines the formation of a larger proportion of solid and
liquid hydrocarbons than is obtained under the pressure of the atmosphere only.
The products obtained may be purified and separated by the processes ordinarily
employed for like purposes. The permanent gas formed escapes at the safety
valve.
The essence of my Invention consists in subjecting coal and other bituminous
minerals and peat to destructive distillation under pressure, whereby the pro-
portion of uncondensable gaseous hydrocarbons is diminished, and the proportion
of paraffin, paraffin oil, and other solid and liquid hydrocarbons is increased
compared with the products obtained when no pressure is employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Mattieu Williams in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st July 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE
PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MATTIEU WILLIAMS, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford, Teacher, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of January, in the year of our Lord,
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Mattieu Williams, Her special licence that I, the said William
Mattieu Williams, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Mattieu Williams, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time

page_text: 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING COAL AND OTHER
BITUMINOUS MINERALS AND PEAT, FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING SOLID AND LIQUID
HYDROCARBONS THE REF ROM," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Mattieu Williams, 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 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 William Mattieu Williams, 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 fol-
lowing statement thereof, that is to say:-
My Invention consists in subjecting coal or other bituminous minerals or
peat to a red heat under the pressure exerted by the elasticity of the gases
generated in a distillatory apparatus, by which treatment that portion of the
coal or other bituminous mineral or peat, which is volatilized, is mainly con-
verted into paraffin, paraffin oil, and other solid and liquid hydrocarbons. In
addition to the solid and liquid hydrocarbons, a quantity of permanent gas is
always produced, and by the application of pressure in the distillatory apparatus
the quantity of permanent gas produced is diminished, and the quantity of
solid and liquid hydrocarbons produced is increased at whatever temperature the
distillation is conducted.
In carrying my Invention into effect, I employ a distillatory apparatus made
of cast or wrought iron, but by preference of wrought iron. The said apparatus
consists essentially of two vessels connected by a pipe or channel, one of the
said vessels constituting a retort and the other a receiver. The retort is set in
a furnace, and the receiver is immersed in water or otherwise kept cool. The
retort has an opening at which the material to be operated upon is introduced,
and the residuum removed, and the receiver has an opening from which the
products obtained are removed. Both the said openings are provided with
covers or other means of closing them hermetically. At some part of the
distillatory apparatus, and by preference at the receiver, is a safety valve for
permitting the escape of gaseous matter when the pressure in the interior of
the apparatus reaches the required maximum. As soon as the retort is charged
all the openings in the distillatory apparatus are securely closed, excepting the

page_text: safety valve, which is loaded to the greatest pressure to which it is wished to
subject the contents of the retorts. The retort is then rapidly raised to and
maintained at a red heat until volatile products cease to pass off. The gaseous
matter first produced accumulates in the apparatus, and by the pressure it
exerts determines the formation of a larger proportion of solid and liquid
hydrocarbons than is obtained under the pressure of the atmosphere only. The
products obtained may be purified and separated by the processes ordinarily
employed for like purposes. The excess of permanent gas formed escapes at
the safety valve or at a stop-cock, as herein-after explained. I prefer to distil
the coal or other bituminous mineral or peat at a temperature higher than
that which it would be desirable to employ if the distillation were conducted
under atmospheric pressure only, and I prefer to vary the pressure employed
according to the temperature to which the retorts are raised, that is, increasing
the pressure as the temperature increases, and the reverse. I obtain the
adjustment between the temperature and pressure, by means of a small aperture
obtained by partially closing-a stop-cock fixed on any convenient part of the
distillatory apparatus. I close the stop-cock so far that the gas evolved at a
full red heat from the amount of coal or other bituminous mineral or peat
being operated upon shall not be able to escape through the said stop-cock
unless it passes out with the velocity acquired by a pressure equal to about
twenty atmospheres, or three hundred pounds on the square inch. Any
increase of temperature is attended by an increased evolution of gas, and a
consequent increase of pressure, and any diminution of temperature is attended
by a corresponding diminution in the production of gas, and the pressure
becomes correspondingly diminished. The safety valve limits the maximum.
pressure, and serves as a test or gauge, whereby the opening of the stop-cock
can be regulated at any given temperature. In some cases the unavoidable
leakage of the apparatus permits sufficient escape of the permanent gas
to bring the pressure to the required amount, in which case I close the
stop-cock. I do not limit myself to the use of any particular degree of
temperature or pressure, but I always use a higher temperature than can
be employed advantageously where no pressure is applied. I prefer to make
the retorts which I employ of the figure of upright cylinders, and to
conduct the products of distillation from the said retorts by means of side
pipes opening into the retorts near the top. The retorts are charged at
their open top ends by means of open canisters made of sheet iron, and of such
a form and size that they nearly fill the interior of the retorts. The said
canisters are filled with the coal or other bituminous matter broken into small
pieces, and may be put into the retorts while the said retorts are hot. After

page_text: the introduction of the canisters, the lids of the retorts are fastened down, and
the distillation immediately proceeds. By the use of these canisters, the pro-
cess may be made almost continuous, one canister being removed when its
contents have been sufficiently operated upon, and replaced by a freshly
charged one with little loss of time. By the use of these canisters much time
is saved in charging the retorts, and the retorts are prevented from cooling.
When the distillation is effected under pressure, according to my Invention,
the gradual heating of the coal or other bituminous matter which is employed
when the process is conducted without pressure is unnecessary.
I claim as my Invention the improvement or improvements in treating coal
and other bituminous minerals and peat, for the purpose of obtaining solid and
liquid hydrocarbons therefrom, herein-before described, that is to say, subjecting
coal and other bituminous minerals and peat to destructive distillation under
the pressure exerted by the elasticity of the gases generated in the distillatory
apparatus, whereby the proportion of uncondensable gaseous hydrocarbons is
diminished, and the proportion of paraffin, paraffin oil, and other solid and
liquid hydrocarbons is increased, compared with the products obtained when
no pressure beyond that of the atmosphere is employed.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Mattieu Williams, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
WILLIAM MATTIEU WILLIAMS. (L.S.)