IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF GAS
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
FRANCIS, of, Wardour Street, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Ninth day of October, in the ninth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry.
Francis, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said Henry Francis, my exors, admñiors,
and assigns, or such others, as I, the said Henry Francis, my exors, adñiors,
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 tho
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF GAS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I,.
the said Henry Francis, shall cause a particular description of the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, 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 thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry Francis, do hereby declare that the, nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: 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 hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
The object of my Invention is to arrange a simple and inexpensive apparatus
for manufacturing gas for private establishments, and my Invention consists
of various improvements in the apparatus used for such purposes.
And in order that the Invention may be most fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed,
in the various Figures of which the same letters are used to indicate similar
parts.
Figure 1 shews a front view of the retort and furnace, also apparatus through
which the gas is conveyed as it is made; Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of
Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a transverse section of the same parts; Figure 4 shows
a section and plan of a perforated fire tile on which the retort is supported;
Figure 5 shows a section of the gasometer and tank, and it will be seen that
the same tank is used for the condenser; and Figure 6 is a section of the
purifying vessel, which is so arranged that wet purifying and dry lime purify-
ing may be conducted in the same vessel. a, a, is the retort, which is shewn
to be of the shape I prefer, but I do not confine myself thereto, as retorts of
other shapes may be used; is a fire-place or furnace; c is a fire tile on
which the retort is supported; this tile is made with openings, which at once
allows the heat to pass freely to the retort, yet gives complete support thereto;
and it is the use of a fire tile, made with openings for the purpose of support-
ing the retort, which constitutes the first part of my improvements in the
apparatus; and another, the second improvement, consists in a mode of
fastening the door of the retort. The door d of the retort is ground to the
mouthpiece of the retort, so that when pressed to the mouthpiece the door
will fit gas-tight; and in order to cause the door to be pressed closely, I cause
the door to be made with inclined planes or surfaces e, e, so that when the
door is placed in front of the mouthpiece of the retort, and turned slightly
round by means of the key or handle f, the inclined planes or surfaces press
under the fixed lugs or projections g, g, and thus will the door be caused to
press closely to the mouthpiece; and it is the application of such inclined
planes or surfaces e, and the lugs g, which constitutes the second part of my
Invention.
The gas as it is made ascends from the retort by the pipe h, and enters
into the bydraulic main or vessel i, which vessel forms a compartment in
the vessel j, which vessel j receives the tar and ammoniacal liquor as it

page_text: flows over the compartment i. The vessel j is provided with a glass tube k, to
indicate the height of liquor in the vessel j, and there is a cock to draw off
the liquor from the vessel j. It will thus be seen, that the vessel ; at once
forms the tank for the ammoniacal liquor and tar, and is also the hydraulic
main; and it is this state of combination of the two apparatus i, j, in one
vessel j, which constitutes the third improvement claimed under the present
Letters Patent.
The gas from the vessel i passes by the pipe m into the condenser n, which
is a coil of pipe placed in the tank of the gasometer, by which there will
be only one vessel of water for the purposes of the gasometer and the con-
denser, in place of having two vessels or tanks as heretofore; and it is the
causing the one tank to be employed for the purpose of the condenser and
gasometer, in place of having a separate vessel for the condenser, which
constitutes the fourth part or improvement in the apparatus employed in
manufacturing gas.
In manufacturing gas in private establishments it is important that the
apparatus should be so arranged as not to require much attention, and that
any want of attention may not be followed by the destruction of any of the
parts. For this purpose I have so arranged the apparatus that in case the
gas is continued to be made after the gasometer has become full, that the
gas may escape and not encrease in pressure so as to blow up any part of
the apparatus. o is a chain, affixed at one end to the gasometer p, the other
end being affixed to an inverted cap or cover to the pipe q, shewn on a larger
scale at Figure 7; the cap when down enters the water, and thus seals the
pipe; but on the gasometer rising beyond a particular point it raises the cap
out of the water, which allows the gas to pass away by the pipe g to any
distance, so as not to be a nuisance; and it is the applying a valve acted
on by the gasometer, as herein described, which constitutes the fifth improve-
ment claimed under the present Letters Patent.
The gas from the condenser passes by the pipe r to the purifyer s, t, which
is constructed with two compartments, one for wet purifying by any suitable
liquid, as is well understood, and t, for what is called the dry lime process,
as is well understood. vis a pipe, with a cock to test the gas. The gas
from the compartment t passes back by the pipe u to the gasometer, and by
the pipe w the gas passes to the burners to be consumed; and it is the
making of the purifying vessel in two compartments, in such manner that
wet purifying and dry lime purifying may be conducted in the same vessel,
which constitutes the sixth improvement claimed by me.
Ilaving thus described the nature of my Invention, and the best means

page_text: I am acquainted with for performing the same, I would have it understood
that I do not confine myself to the details. herein described, so long as the
peculiar character of either part of the Invention be retained; but what I
claim are the six improvements as herein described. .
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Francis, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord One.
thousand eight hundred and forty-six.