IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Barker, of Ceylon Street, Battersea Park, in
the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL."
Sealed the 18th November 1864, and dated the 23rd July 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Barker at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 23rd July
1864.
I, DAVID BARKER, of Ceylon Street, Battersea Park, in the County of
Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to certain improvements in the treatment of coal,
coke, peat, and charcoal, the main object being to utilize those substances.
When in a state of powder or minute division coal of any description, whether
bituminous or non-bituminous as well as the other substances before
mentioned, may thus be used for the production of fuel, possessing all the
qualities of the articles employed when existing in a more marketable
condition. In order to produce cohesion between the particles or pieces of
the materials under treatment, they are mixed with a compound formed of
farinaceous matter, lime water or yeast, or water and a solution of potash,
such last-mentioned materials being combined in about the proportions of one
part of the farinaceous matter to four parts of lime water or yeast, or water
and one-thirtieth part of potash in solution, the mixture being then diluted
with water as may be desired. The coal or other material under treatment

page_text: having been mixed with the compound last described is formed into blocks
and subjected to the desired degree of pressure by means of any of the known
machinery or apparatus applicable to such purposes. Instead of the farina-
ceous matter being mixed with the other ingredients of the said compound in
the first instance, the coals or other substances of which the fuel is to be
formed may be washed or mixed with a compound of lime water or yeast, or
water and potash, and the farina mixed in a dry state with the coal or other
substance under treatment, pressure being then applied as before mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said David Barker in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 18th
January 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
BARKER, of Ceylon Street, Battersea Park, in the County of Surrey, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said David Barker, Her special licence that I, the said David Barker, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said David
Barker, 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 MANU-
FACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said David Barker, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said David Barker, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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, that is to say :-

page_text: My said Invention relates to certain improvements in the treatment of coal,
coke, peat, and charcoal, whereby those substances can be utilized when in a
state of powder or minute division. As the treatment of each of the above-
named materials is similar, or varies only in unimportant particulars, I will.
in the following description of my Invention refer to the treatment and pre-
paration of fuel formed of coal.
Coal of any description, whether bituminous or non-bituminous, may be
used for the manufacture of fuel in accordance with my said Invention, the-
result being the production of an article possessing all the qualities of the par-
ticular kind of coal employed when existing in a more marketable condition..
In order to obtain cohesion between the particles or pieces of coal of which
the fuel is formed, I adopt the following method of treatment:-I take one.
pound of farinaceous matter, and mix the same with about four pints of water, or,
by preference, with the like quantity of lime water containing a small quantity
of the common potash or soda of commerce; I then add about one-thirtieth
part by weight of potash or soda, and stir the mixture until it becomes a
mucilaginous substance. The compound thus formed I dilute by adding.
thereto a mixture of potash or soda and water, or lime water and potash or
soda, or yeast and water, either combined or separately, until the whole.
becomes of such consistency as will conveniently mix with the coal.
With regard to the employment of farinaceous substances in the preparation
of artificial fuel I am well aware that the same have been so used, but for.
the formation of the mucilage herein-before mentioned, I employ farina from
which the gluten has been removed, and which consists entirely, or almost
entirely of fecula or starch, the mucilage obtained being free from a tendency
to decompose. In practise I prefer potato farina or starch, which is well
suited for the purposes of my Invention, and is also to be obtained at a low
price. Farina from which the gluten has not been removed, as in the case of
ordinary flour, may indeed be employed for such purposes, but the presence
of the gluten is detrimental to the mucilage in consequence of its tendency to
decompose and to give off disagreable effluvia, thus rendering it necessary to
use a larger quantity of alkali in order to destroy the fermentative properties
of the gluten, whereby the cost of the manufacture of the fuel is materially
increased. The carbonaceous material having been thoroughly mixed and
incorporated with the substances before mentioned, is then formed into
blocks of any desired size and form, and subjected to the required degree of
pressure by means of any of the known machinery or apparatus applicable to
such purposes. Instead of the farinaceous substance employed being mixed
in the first instance with the other ingredients of which the mucilaginous

page_text: compound before mentioned is formed, the coal may be washed or mixed with
the lime water and alkaline solution, and the farina then combined in a dry
state with the coal while the latter is moist, pressure being then applied as
before mentioned.
In the process above described either cold or heated water may be employed.
If the latter is used the mucilage will be produced with a smaller quantity of
the alkali. As I have before remarked, the process of manufacture which I
have described, although herein-before detailed as being used in the treatment
of coal, is equally applicable to the formation of artificial fuel, of coke, peat,
and charcoal.
Having thus fully described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which it is to be performed, I would observe in conclusion,
that I do not, save as herein-after mentioned, claim the exclusive use for the
purposes aforesaid of the several substances herein-before mentioned as being
combined with the coal or other material of which the fuel is formed, sepa-
rately and apart from each other, but what I consider novel and original, and
therefore claim as constituting my said Invention, are,
Firstly. The use of fecula or starch, or farina from which the gluten has
been removed, for the purposes and in the manner herein-before-mentioned.
And, Secondly. The manufacture of artificial fuel by means of the combina-
tion and treatment of the several before mentioned substances, as herein-before
substantially set forth and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Barker, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
E. P. H. VAUGHAN,
54, Chancery Lane,
Agent for the Patentee.
DAVID BARKER. (L.S.)