IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUSES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Malam, of Clapham Road, in the County of
Surrey, Gas Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUSES
FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS."
Sealed the 1st April 1859, and dated the 6th October 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Malam at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th
October 1858.
I, WILLIAM MALAM, of Clapham Road, in the County of Surrey, Gas
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUSES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in a new arrangement of apparatuses for the manu-
facture of gas from oils and grease alone or combined with gas from coal or
other like carbonaceous materials. Over a fire protected by fire lumps, I
place two retorts, into which oil is fed through gauge tubes from above; above
these retorts in a suitable chamber, I place coke, and over this chamber I fit
a vessel containing fat or grease. Flues from the furnace at the bottom of the
apparatus surround the coke chamber and grease vessel. The gas generated
from the fat or grease is made to descend and mix with that from the oil, and
is passed through one or more strata of cleansing material. Instead of coke,
ordinary coal may be placed in the coke chamber, when it becomes an ordinary
retort, and the gas generated from the coal may be mixed or not with that
from the oil and grease.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Malam in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th April 1859.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MALAM, of Clapham Road, in the County of Surrey, Gas Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Malam, Her special licence that I, the said William Malam,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Malam, 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
APPARATUSES FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Malam, 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 Malam, do hereby declare the
nature of my 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists in a new arrangement of apparatuses for the manu-
facture of gas from oils and grease alone or combined with gas from coal or
other like carbonaceous materials. Over a fire protected by fire lumps, I
place two retorts, into which oil is fed through gauge tubes from above. Over
these retorts in a suitable chamber I place coke, and above this chamber I
fit a vessel containing fat or grease. Flues from the furnace at the bottom of
the apparatus surround the coke chamber and grease vessel.
The gas
generated from the fat or grease is made to descend and mix with that from
the oil, and is passed through one or more strata of cleansing material.

page_text: Instead of coke ordinary coal may be placed in the coke chamber, when it
becomes an ordinary retort, and the gas generated from the coal may be
mixed or not with that from the oil and grease.
The manner in which I carry my Invention into effect is fully set forth in
the accompanying Drawings.
Figure 1 is an elevation of one of my gas apparatuses complete. A, A, are two
double retorts set in the exterior cast-iron frame A¹, A¹; B is a three-chamber
retort; C, C, are sight holes in the covers to the mouths of the retorts; D is
the furnace door, which has a second or smaller door E formed in the centre
thereof. This door E is made for the sake of convenience, and to prevent
the necessity of opening the larger door D, except when the furnace requires
cleaning. F, F, are doors through which fuel is supplied to the furnace while
the apparatus is at work; G is a door to the ash-pit; H, H, are tubes of
glass, iron, or other suitable material, the upper ends of which terminate in
cups or receivers a, a, for the reception of fatty or oily liquids which I employ
for the manufacture of gas; b, b, are stop-cocks; c, c, are graduated gauges
to shew the pressure in the apparatus. A sectional elevation of one of these
gauges is given at Figure 2. Figure 3 is a plan of the apparatus through
the line g, h, of Figure 1, but on a somewhat smaller scale; Figure 4 is
a sectional elevation of the same; Figure 5 is a plan through the line i, j, of
Figure 4; and Figure 6 is a plan through the line k, l, of the same Figure;
Figure 7 is a plan through the line m, n, of Figure 1; and Figure 8 is a
sectional elevation of the same. The feed tubes H, H, Figure 1, are screwed
or attached to the pipes A", A, Figure 4, which pass through the apparatus
to the chambers B, B; C, C, are other chambers above the chambers B, B;
P is a purifying retort. The oils or liquids are supplied to the cups a, a, and
pass through the feed tubes H, H, to the pipes A", A, (the quantity being
regulated by the cocks b, b,) to the chambers P, B, where the gas is generated
from the oily or fatty liquid employed. The gas then passes into the chambers
C¹, C', where it becomes partially purified, and finally leaves the apparatus by
passing through the purifying retort P to the pipe x, and thence to the gas
holder. The gas holder which I prefer to employ in connection with this
apparatus is that patented by me on the 31st January, 1854, No. 242, but
any other holder may
gas
be used. L, L, are fire-clay cases, formed either in
blocks or segments, and placed in the interior of the case A¹, A¹, a small air
space being left being left between the case A¹ and the blocks L. The three-
chamber retort B is also surrounded with a fire-clay case K, which is arched,
and serves as a support and protection to the retort. When these fire-clay
cases are once thoroughly heated a large fire is not necessary in the furnace,

page_text: as the heat retained by the clay will be found sufficient for the manufacture of
gas for several hours after the fire has become low. Figure 9 is a horizontal
section of my apparatus through the line o, p, of Figure 1; Figure 10 is a
side elevation of the same, partly in section; Figuré 11 is also a horizontal
section; and Figure 12 is a front sectional elevation of the apparatus without
the outlet pipe and feed tubes; Figure 13 is a plan through the line q, r, of
Figure 12; and Figure 14 is a plan through the line s, t, of the same Figure.
F, F, is an L retort, which is also protected by fire clay.. Grease or fat is
placed in the retort F¹, F¹, the vapours and gases from which descend and
pass into the pipes A", A, enter the chambers B, B, 'thence 'to the chambers
C, C, where they are subjected to the same action for their purification as
has been before described, and pass off to the gas holder through the.common
pipe x.
With this apparatus gas may be manufactured from oils alone or combined
with grease, or with gas from coal, or any other carbonaceous materials. Any
required number of feed tubes may be applied to the apparatus according. to
the number of lights to be supplied with gas.
And having now described, the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,
First, the general arrangement of apparatus for the manufacture of gas
from oils and grease alone or combined with gas from coal or other like
carbonaceous materials, as herein-before described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings.
Second, the employment of fire-clay linings and bridges for the protection
of the outer casing of the apparatus and the retorts, as herein-before described.
Third, the employment in apparatuses for generating gas from oily and
fatty substances of a three-chamber retort, as herein-before described...
And, fourth, the employment of feed tubes, gauges, and retorts for the
introduction to the apparatus of the oily and fatty liquids or substances from
which the gas is to be generated, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Malam, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of April, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-nine.