AN APPLICATION OF VARIOUS: GASSES OR VAPOURS TO CERTAIN USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1819

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ISRAEL
GUNDRY, Gentleman, EDWARD NEAVE and JOSIAH NEAVE, Shopkeepers, all of
Gillingham, in the County of Dorset (being of the people called Quakers);
send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty. King George the Third, did, by His
Letters Patent under the Great: Seal of..that part of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at Westminster, the
First day of November, in. the sixtieth year of His reign, give and grant
unto us, the said Israel Gundry, Edward Neave, and Josiah Neave, our exors,
adiuors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that we; the said Israel Gundry, Edward Neave, and Josiah
Neave, our exors, adiñors, and assigns, during the term of years therein
mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use; exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all His
Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, our Invention of "AN APPLICATION
OF VARIOUS: GASSES OR VAPOURS TO CERTAIN USEFUL PURPOSES;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso: that if we, the said Israel Gundry,
Edward Neave, and Josiah Neave, or one of. us, shall not particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of our said: Invention, and in what manner thé
same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under our hands and
seals, or under the hand and seal of one of us, and cause the same to be

page_text: inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent, that
then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advantages whatsoever
thereby granted shall utterly cease, determine, and become void, as in
and by the same, relation being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
Israel Gundry, Edward Neave, and Josiah Neave, do hereby declare that
the nature of our said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be
performed, are particularly described and ascertained in the Drawing here-
unto annexed, and the following description thereof (that is to say), (viz. :-
First, the working of a piston or pistons in a barrel or barrels by means of
factitious gases, either pure or mixed with vapours of various kinds, and by
which a mechanical first mover or power is produced, capable of driving
wheels or other machinery.
Secondly, the forcing of water or any other liquid by means of such gases
pressing thereon by their elastic power.
In many chemical and manufacturing processes, such as the distillation of
coal, the production of inflammable gas from oil, also in the burning of
limestone, a large quantity of gas, mixed more or less with vapours of various
kinds, is generated or liberated by the action of heat on the substances
employed. These gases are in some instances, as in the burning of limestone,
allowed to escape into the conimon air without any use being made of them;
in other cases, as in the distillation of coal or of oil, they are collected for the
purposes of illumination. No person, however, we believe (except ourselves),
has hitherto applied the gases so generated or liberated to the purpose of
working a piston in a barrel, and thereby producing a mechanical first mover or
power capable of driving wheels or other machinery, or to the purpose of forcing
water or any other liquid by means of such gases pressing thereon by their
elastic power. It is essential to the purposes of our Invention that the gases
so used by us should be produced or disengaged in close vessels either by the
action of heat or otherwise. From these close vessels, whether retorts, hollow
cylinders, or by whatever name they may be called, the gas may be conveyed
by means of a pipe or pipes, or other suitable apparatus, into a barrel or
barrels fitted with a piston or pistons; into this barrel or barrels the gas may
be introduced either laterally or above or below, or alternately above and
below the piston or pistons, as the form of the apparatus and the nature of the
motion to be produced may require, so that the gas may by its elastic force
and pressure, either alone or aided by its subsequent condensation (such

page_text: condensation being more or less perfect), propel the piston or pistons in the
barrel or barrels, and thus produce a mechanical power capable of driving
wheels or other machinery; or otherwise the gas may be conveyed by means
of a pipe or pipes, or other suitable apparatus, into a hollow vertical cylinder
or cylinders, or some other vessel or vessels, where it may accumulate tilf
its elastic power shall have forced a required portion of the water or other
liquid which such vessel or vessels may contain through a pipe or pipes,
or other channel or channels, to the higher level or levels where such water or
other liquid is intended to be discharged. After the gas shall have produced
its effect, it may be suffered to pass out of the barrel or barrels in the one
case, and out of the forcing apparatus in the other case, into the open air, if tho
gas be not wanted for any other purpose; but if it be so wanted, it is to be
made to pass into a gasometer, or other proper receiving vessel or vessels, in
order to be purified or to be stored, as its destined use may require. The
gases which in our opinion may be the most profitably employed, and which in
fact are chiefly used by us, are the inflammable gases produced by the
distallation of coal or of oil, for we find that after these gases have effected the
purposes which are the subject of the said Letters Patent, they are still
perfectly applicable to the ulterior purposes of illumination. We therefore,
by way of example, proceed to detail the method practised and the machinery
employed by us in the application of coal gas as a mechanical first mover for
the purpose of driving wheels or other machinery, and as a mechanical agent
for the purpose of forcing water or any other liquid, at the same time stating
that we do not lay any claim under the said Letters Patent to any particular
part or parts of the apparatus itself, but we do claim such combination or
combinations of machinery or apparatus as are necessary to work a piston or
pistons in a barrel or barrels by means of factitious gases either pure or
mixed with vapours of various kinds, and such combination or combinations of
machinery or apparatus as are necessary to bring into operation such gases as
mechanical agents for the purpose of forcing water or any other liquid.
Figure 1, a longitudinal section of the gas distillatory apparatus.
Figure 2, a front view of the gas distillatory apparatus, and a transverse
section of the gas engine and condenser.
Figure 3, a bird's-eye view of the gas distillatory apparatus, and of the gas
engine and condenser.
Fig. 4, a transverse section of the gas fountain.
Fig. 5, a section of the safety apparatus.
The same characters. of reference indicate the same parts in each of the
Figures. 1, the brickwork or masonry containing the oven, furnace, &c. 2, the

page_text: fireplace and its door. 3, the ash pit and its door, which is furnished with a register.
4, an archway for receiving the coke as it is withdrawn from, the retorts 14.
5, a breast of stone or of masonry, for the purpose of securing the middle retort
from the too violent action of the fire. 6, the oven containing the retorts 14.
7, iron pillars or stands on which the retorts 14 are supported; each of these
pillars divides into two prongs,, where, it reaches. the bottom of its retorts, and
these grasp one half of its circumference. 8, the aperture or opening into
the flue 10. 9, the arch or crown of the oven 6. 10, the flue:
11, the
chimnies; these rise from each end of the flue. 10, and unite at the top of an
arch, which they form. 12, an air chamber between the crown of the oven.9
and the arch 13. 13, an arch supporting the upper part of the brickwork or
masonry. 14, the retorts. 15, the ascending retort. pipes. 16, metallic
valves to prevent the return of any gas towards the retorts 14. 17, cubical
boxes connecting the ascending and horizontal retort pipes. 15 and 18. These
boxes are furnished with screw plugs opposite to the insertion of each of the
pipes for the purpose of occasionally examining or cleaning them; they also
contain the metallic valves 16, which are fitted accurately. to the openings
from the ascending retort pipes 15.. To the upper screw. plugs are fastened
the pipes, which serve to guide steadily the rods of the metallic valves 16.
18, the horizontal retort pipes. 19, joints connecting, the..horizontal and
descending retort pipes, 18 and 20. 20, the descending retort pipes; each
of these is furnished at the upper end with a screw plug for the purpose of
occasionally examining or cleaning it, 21, the induction pipe lying across the
flue to 22, the ascending safety pipes connected at one extremity with
the induction pipe 21, and at the other extremity with the cubical
boxes 23. 23, cubical boxes connecting the ascending and horizontal safety
pipes 22 and 25; these boxes contain the safety valves. 24, 24, safety.
valves, fitted accurately to the openings from the ascending safety pipes 22.
The rods, of these valves work through stuffing boxes,. which boxes are
attached to the upper surface of the cubical boxes 23. . On the top of
each rod is a lever or steel: yard, furnished with a moveable weight,
for the purpose of regulating the pressure on the valve 25. The hori-
zontal safety pipes, passing from the cubical boxes 23 to the conduction
pipe 27; with the latter they are connected by the joints 26. 26, the joints
last mentioned. 27, the conduction pipe, for the purpose, of conducting imme-
diately into a condenser or tar vessel, or other suitable receiver, such gas as is
not employed in working the engine or in working the forcing apparatus.
28, spare pipes, connected with openings in the ascending retort pipes 15 by
means of the joints 29, and also with openings in the conduction pipe.27 by

page_text: means of the joint 30. 29 and 30, the joints last mentioned. 31, the transfer
pipe, connected with an opening in the induction pipe 21, and also with an
opening in the conduction pipe 27, by means of the joints 32 and 33. 32 and
33, the joints last mentioned.' 34, 35, 36, 37, and 38, stopcocks, to be opened
or closed as occasion may require. 39 and 40, cocks, called by us liberating
cocks, to be opened as occasion may require, when it may be desirable to let
off any gas that may be contained in the pipes with which they are respectively
connected. 41, mouthpieces of the retorts. 42, stoppers of the retorts.
Each mouthpiece has two flanches. To one of these flanches the retort is
attaclied by means of screw bolts and nutts, and against the other the stopper
is pressed by a screw forcing against its centre. The latter flanchi has a ring
projecting above its surface, which fits into a groove turned in the stopper to
correspond; and these, as well as the plain surfaces; are turned and ground to
fit accurately: By introducing between the stopper and its mouthpiece a
dampel sheet of stout brown paper, we have been enabled effectually to pre-
vent the escape of gas. 43; the barrel or cylinder in which the piston works.
This barrel inay be enclosed in a jacket or case, and the interstice between the
barrel and its jacket or case may be filled with any heated fluid or other con-
venient material. which transmits heat slowly, in order as much as
may be
convénient to keep up the temperature of the barrel and its contents. 44, the
piston. 45, the piston rod. 46, the stuffing box, through which the piston
rod works. 47 and 48, the two branches of the induction pipe 21. Of these
the upper branch 47 opens into the top of the barrel, and the lower branch 48
opeas into the bottom of the barrel. 49 and 50, the two branches of the
eduction pipe 51. Of these tlie upper branch 49 opens out of the top of the
barrel, and the lower branch 50 opens out of the bottom of the barrel. 51,
the eduction pipe; this pipe terminates in the condenser or tar vessel 57.
52 and 53, 54 and 55, cocks, valves, or regulators, to be alternately opened
and closed by means of a plug beam connected with and worked by the
engine; or they may be opened and closed by any other means, so as to effect
the alternate entrance of gas into the barrel when its entrance is required, and
exit of the gas out of the barrel when its exit is required. 56, a pipe, fur-
nished with a cock for the purpose of drawing off any fluid or condensed
matter from the barrel, in case any such fluid or condensed matter 'may at any
time have subsided in it. 57, the condenser or tar vessel. This vessel is
designed to receive. the tar or any other substance which may be deposited in
it, and also to cool the gas itself. For this purpose it may be placed in a
cistern, or it may in some other convenient mode be exposed to be action of
cold water, or any other expeditious method of cooling it may be used. 58, a

page_text: cock, by which the tar and other substances deposited in the condenser 57
may from time to time be discharged. 59, a pipe to convey the gas out of the
condenser 57 into the purifier or other receiver. 60, the forcing vessel. 61,
the forcing pipe. 62, a valve opening upwards, to prevent the expelled water
or other liquid from returning to the forcing vessel 60. 63, a pipe, furnished
with a cock, whereby the forcing vessel 60 may be emptied of any liquid it
may contain. 64, a stopcock in the induction pipe 21. 65, a stopcock in the
eduction pipe 51. 66, a stopcock placed in the short pipe 67, which connects
the forcing vessel 60 with the induction pipe 21, and with the eduction
pipe 51. 67, the short pipe above mentioned. 68, a float, which may be
used to prevent the free contact of the gas and the liquid contained in the
forcing vessel 60. 69, a valve, opening inwards, which may be used to admit
a fresh quantity of liquid to flow into the forcing vessel 60 from some supply
without. 70, a cistern, in which the forcing vessel 60 may be placed, and
which may contain water or any other liquid. 71, the surface of the liquid in
such cistern. 72, a cock, whereby the cistern may be emptied. 73, a reser-
voir, which may be used to receive the liquid that may be discharged from the
forcing pump 61.
The Figures 1, 2, 3, and 5, and their description, represent the gas
distillatory apparatus, the engine and condenser. In or on the engine the s
gas is employed as a mechanical first mover or power, for the purpose of
driving wheels or other machinery; and from this circumstance we call it a
gas engine.
Figure 4, and its description, represent the forcing apparatus. In or on
the forcing apparatus the gas is employed as a mechanical agent, for the a
purpose of forcing water or any other liquid; and from this circumstance we
call it a gas fountain.
We shall now, in order to explain more fully the use and action of the
apparatus above described, detail the passage of the gas from the retorts
in which it is generated to its arrival in the condenser or tar vessel. This
latter is the commencement of the apparatus for purifying and storing the gas
for the purpose of illumination, but the benefit of using gas for illumina-
tion is a subject not claimed under the said Letters Patent. The
retorts 14 being properly heated, charged with coal and closely stopped,
the gas immediately begins to be produced, and, in consequence of the a
heat with which it is surrounded, expands considerably in its volume.
As it is of importance that the gas should be cooled as little as
possible in its passage from the retorts to the-gas engine or to the gas
fountain, in order to keep up its temperature, as many of the interme-

page_text: diate pipes as convenient should be covered with some suitable material
which transmits heat slowly. The gas from each seperate retort 14
flows into its ascending retort pipe 15; at the extremities of these
pipes 15 are the metallic valves 16 for the purpose of preventing the return
of any gas towards the retorts 14, in case the pressure of the gas within them
should become less powerful from any cause than the pressure of that beyond
the valves 16, or in case it should be on any account inconvenient to work
any particular retort 14. After raising the valves 16, the gas enters the
cubical boxes 17, and from thence goes into the horizontal retort pipes 18.
Each of the boxes 17 has a screw plug on the side opposite to that in
which its ascending retort pipe 15 is fixed, and of a larger diameter than
the pipe, and this plug being drawn out leaves an aperture through which
the pipe may be examined, and if necessary cleaned. There is also a similar
screw plug on that side of the box which is opposite to the entrance of its
horizontal retort pipe 18, for a similar purpose to that last mentioned. It is
to be observed, that the horizontal retort pipes 18 have each a cock 39, called
by us a liberating cock, fixed in its side for the purpose of letting off any part
of the gas which it may be deemed proper to suffer to escape previously to
drawing either of the screw plugs in the boxes 17, or in the descending retort
pipes 20, and thus preventing any. accident which the sudden discharge of
highly elastic gas might occasion. From the horizontal retort pipes 18 the
gas passes through the joints 19 into the descending retort pipes 20. In
each of these descending retort pipes 20 there is a stopcock 35, for the
purpose of preventing any gas flowing through it from the induction pipe 21,
whenever it may be necessary to examine or to clean out the inside of the
pipes 15 or 18, or to close the communication between the retorts 14
and the induction pipe 21. This cock 35, as is evident, should be closed
previously to opening its liberating cock 39. From the pipes 20 the gas
passes. into the induction pipe 21. Hitherto the gas from each retort.
has been conducted seperately in its own system of pipes, &c.; but the
induction pipe 21 is the main in which these seperate systems unite,
and in which the gas from the different retorts mixes; the whole of
the gas therefore enters the induction pipe 21.
are connected with this induction pipe 21 by means of the ascending
safety pipes 22. In the farther part of the induction pipe 21, and beyond
the entrances of the seperate retort pipes 20, is the transfer pipe 31, having
in it a stopcock 36, which is usually kept closed. Beyond the entrance of the
transfer pipe 31 into the induction pipe 21 is a similar stopcock 37, which is
usually kept open, and beyond the entrance of the transfer pipe 31 into the
conduction pipe 27, is another similar stopcock 38, which is likewise usually
The safety valves 24

page_text: kept open, but it may be closed whenever it may be desirable to allow no gas
to pass through it. In this case it would mostly be proper first to open the
cock 36 in the transfer pipe 31. Having provided, as above described, for
the whole of the gas to enter into the induction pipe 21, we have now, as
before proposed, to continue its progress in the first instance through the gas
engine to the condenser, and, in 'the second instance, through the gas fountain
to the condenser, excepting such part as may escape, into the conduction
pipe 27 through the safety valves 24, or through any other channel of com-
munication; which conduction pipe 27, as above described, will convey such
escaped gas immediately into the condenser. In the use of the gas engine,
the gass passes through the stopcock 37, and thence flows on till it arrives at
the place where the induction pipe 21 divides it into its two branches; one
of these branches 47, opens into the barrel above the piston, while the other
branch 48 opens into the barrel below the piston. That portion of gas which
depresses the piston first enters the barrel by the branch 47 of the induction
pipe 21, and then quits it by the branch 49 of the eduction pipe. 51; while the
portion of gas above mentioned is quitting the barrel, the other portion of the
gas employed in raising the piston is entering the barrel by the branch 48 of
the induction pipe 21, and, after having produced its effect, quits the barrel
by the branch 50 of the eduction pipe 51. These branches 49 and 50 of the
eduction pipe 51 unite, and this pipe conveys the united body of gas to the
condenser 57. Here the gas is cooled as much and as speedily as possible,
in order that the succeeding heated gas may flow through the engine, as has
been. already described, and work it with the least possible obstruction.
When the gas engine is not required to be at work, the cock 37 in the
induction pipe 21 is closed, the cock 36 in the transfer pipe 31 being pre-
viously opened. In this case the gas instead of passing through the engine flows
through the transfer pipe 31 into the conduction pipe 27, and passes through
the cock 38, which is opened, and thence along the conduction pipe 27, till it
enters the condenser 57. Having now shewn the general passage of the gas
through the gas engine into the condenser, and also its passage through the
conduction pipe immediately into the condenser, without passing through the
gas engine, we proceed, in order to make more perfect our description, to shew
the connection of the safety valves with the other parts of the apparatus.
When, in consequence of the great pressure of the gas in the induction pipe 21,
and in the ascending safety pipes 22, the safety valves 24 are forced up, part
of the gas begins to flow into the boxes 23, and then it passes into the
horizontal safety pipes 25,, whence it is delivered into the conduction pipe 27,
so that no loss or very little loss of gas is sustained.
Another part of the apparatus proper for notice is the contrivance by which

page_text: the gas from each seperate retort may be made to pass by means of the spare
pipes 28 into the conduction pipe 27, without flowing into, the induction
pipe. 21. This arrangement is of use in various instances. If the gas. be not
sufficiently powerful to throw up the valves 16, it is not in a state to be
applied with, effect in, working. the. engine; but, that the
gas; may not
be lost, for other purposes, the cocks 34, usually closed, should now be
opened, and, then it flows directly, into, the conduction pipe, 27. In
the side of cach, spare, pipe: 28, is a cock, 40, called; by us a liberating
cock, opening into the air; the use, of which cock is to, discharge, any,
excess of gas that may be in its, ascending: retort: pipe 15, previously.to:
the mouth; of its retort 14 being, opened. In this case it is obvious that
the cock 34, must be again closed before opening its liberating cock; 40;
.:
To finish; our explanation of the, use, and action of the several parts of the
gas engine, we have further to remark, that the due admission; of gas-into,the:
engine. may be regulated, by a governor similarly constructed and, working, in a
similar, manner to the governor, of. a steam, engine, or any other convenient
method, may be adopted, of regulating. its admission. In the use of the gas
fountain the gas passes through, the stopcock 37, and thence flows on, to the
stopcock-64; both of which are in the induction pipe 21: In the eduction pipe
51 is a similar stopcock-65, and in the, short pipe.67, which connects. the
induction pipe 21 and the eduction pipe 51, with the; forcing vessel, 60. is,
another similar stopcock 66, which latter, cock is always open when the
fountain is at, work. The cock 64 in, the induction pipe 21, and the cock 65,
in the eduction, pipe. 51, must be, alternately, opened and closed, either by hand.
or by some mechanical.contrivance; consequently, when, the cock 64 is opened,
the cock 65 is closed; the gas will therefore pass through the cock 64 in the
induction pipe 21; and, being, stopped by the. cock 65 in the eduction pipe 51,.
it will flow through the cock, 66, in the short pipe 67 into the forcing vessel 60.,
Here the gas will accumulate above the surface of any liquid-that the forcing
vessel, 60 may contain, till such, time, as, it shall begin, to force the, liquid,
through the forcing pipe 61' to the reservoir 73, or place where it is intended;
to be discharged. The valve 62 in the forcing pipe 61 is designed, to prevent
the return of any liquid which may have passed it. As this valve opens
upwards the liquid which is forced through the forcing pipe 61 raises it so as
to open for itself a passage, and this forcing of the liquid may be allowed to
continue (the cock 64 in the induction pipe 21 remaining open, and the cock
65 in the eduction pipe 51 remaining closed) until the gas shall so far have
expelled the liquid as to have sunk its surface to a level, or nearly to a level,
with that orifice of the forcing pipe 61 which opens into the forcing vessel 60.

page_text: As soon as the cock 64 in the induction pipe 21 is closed, and the cock 65
in the eduction pipe 51 is opened, the gas now in the forcing vessel 60
will escape through the cock 65 in the eduction pipe 51 to the con-
denser or tar vessel 57, until the elastic pressure of the gas which
remains in the forcing vessel 60 shall become no more than equal to the
resistance opposing its progress through the condenser, while the cock 64
in the induction pipe 21 remains closed and the cock 65 in the eduction pipe
51 remains open; if a valve 69, opening inwards, form'a connexion between the
forcing vessel 60 and an exterior reservoir of liquid, it is manifest that liquid
from this latter will flow into the forcing vessel 60, where it may be subjected
to the process already described; and by a repetition of these processes, suc-
cessive portions of liquid may be continually forced up.
When the gas
fountain is not required to be at work, and gas may be flowing into the
induction pipe 21, all that is requisite to be observed (as is shewn by
Figure 4) is to close the cock 66 in the short pipe 67, and to open the cock
64 in the induction pipe 21 and the cock 65 in the eduction pipe 51, and this
will allow the gas to pass immediately through them and through their
respective pipes into the condenser 57 without entering the forcing vessel. In
the use of oil or any other fluid, or tallow, or other article capable of being
rendered fluid, as the material for producing the gas, it may be a necessary
caution to state that the regular supply of such fluid or article capable of being.
rendered fluid may be introduced into the retorts by means of forcing pumps,
or some other contrivance, whereby the pressure of the gas within the retorts
may be counteracted and overcome. But though these various combinations
of machinery or apparatus may be used as the means of applying our
Invention, the machinery or apparatus may be varied in any manner so as it
be contrived to accomplish the ends that we propose, viz:-First, the working
of a piston or pistons in a barrel or barrels by means of factitious gases, either
pure or mixed with vapours of various kinds, and by which a mechanical first
mover or power is produced capable of driving wheels or other machinery.
Secondly, the forcing of water or any other liquid by means of such gases
pressing thereon by their elastic power.
In witness whereof, the said Israel Gundry and Josiah Neave, parties
hereto, have hereunto set their hands and seals, this Twenty-first day
of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
ISRAEL (L.S.). GUNDRY.
JOSIAH (L.S.) NEAVE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-first day of April, in
the year of our Lord 1820, the aforesaid Israel Gundry and Josiah Neave
came before our said Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified;
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stampt
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-second day of April, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty.