Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Aug., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 29th Apr., 1895-4ccepted, 1st June, 1895

page_text: fed into the destructor-gas-producer till the interior is very hot, then town refuse
either mixed with a portion of gas producing fuel or in separate doses according to
the quality of refuse treated and quantity of fuel required.
The combined refuse and fuel is then acted upon by steam and air and converted
into clinker with little labour and at the same time valuable gases produced which
pass through openings near the top of the destructor-gas-producer into pipes
leading to the hydraulic valves and after passing through the water seal they are
passed through pipes to the condenser, scrubber, purifier and gas holder.
The gas is then ready for use in gas engines for lighting, heating, the generation
of steam or other useful purposes.
The clinker is discharged at the bottom of the destructor-gas-producer into iron
wagons.
I thus treat town refuse more completely as I convert nearly the whole mineral
material into a solid clinker and at the same time convert the combustible material
into a useful gas.
There is no risk of offensive gases and substances creating nuisance, as the
gases are kept under control, and as the gases are stored in a gasholder they may
be utilized to suit convenience for electric lighting, pumping machinery or other
useful purposes.
CHARLES JONES,
By Harris & Mills,
23, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Method or Process of Treating and Utilizing
Town Refuse.
I, CHARLES JONES, of "Normanhurst," Ealing, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
Furnaces known as refuse destructors are generally employed for treating town
refuse. They are generally similar in construction to that described in the
Specification of Letters Patent granted to Alfred Fryer, No. 550 of 1876.
Owing to the difficulty in dealing with offensive gases and substances passed out
of such furnaces, I invented the improvements described in the Specification of
Letters Patent granted to me, No. 8690 of 1885, and those improvements have been
advantageously adopted.
There is however a risk of nuisance in the present system it not carefully
worked, the heat produced is not fully utilized, and there is no method of storing
power.
.
The object of this invention is :-
1st. To treat town refuse more completely.
2nd. To avoid the risk of nuisance.
3rd. To better utilize the power arising from the combustion of refuse.
4th. To produce means for storing the power when generated.
The principal features of this invention consist of a new process and apparatus
to be employed in the treatment of town refuse.
The process consists in the production of a valuable gas or gases from town
refuse and gas producing fuel, such as coal, coke, oil, wood, or any fuel which will
give a useful gas, the purification of the gases, so that they may be used in gas
engines or for other useful purposes, and the storage of the gases till they can be
conveniently used
Some town refuse, such as sewage sludge, contains very little carbonaceous

page_text: matter, and therefore that class of material would require more assistance to
produce a useful combustible gas than refuse collected from dwellings containing a
quantity of partly burnt coal. Therefore the quantity of fuel must be regulated
to suit the quality of refuse under treatment, and it may also be regulated to give
increased power by further enrichment to the gases.
The principal part of the apparatus consists of a destructor-gas-producer--
hydraulic gas valve-condenser, scrubber, purifier, and gas-holder.
The destructor-gas-producer (preferably vertical type) is provided with hopper
having two doors or valves to prevent the admission of large volumes of air when
feeding, and the sides have openings so that the refuse may be pronged when liable
to cake.
The lower part has one or more openings with door for discharge of clinker, and
is fitted with steam and air connections to allow steam and air to be forced into
the refuse and fuel.
The condenser. scrubber, purifier and gas holder may be constructed in any
known manner, and it is obvious that, if the gases do not require purification, for
some purposes my new process may be worked with destructor-gas producer,
bydraulic valve and gas holder only.
The method of working generally is as follows:-
Good fuel or selected refuse is fed into the destructor-gas producer till the
interior is very hot, then town refuse, either mixed with a portion of gas producing
fuel or in separate doses according to the quality of refuse treated and quantity of
fuel required.
The combined refuse and fuel is then acted upon by steam and air and converted
into clinker with little labor, and at the same time valuable gases produced, which
pass through openings near the top of the destructor-gas producer into pipes
leading to the hydraulic valves, and after passing through the water seal, they are
passed through pipes to the condenser, scrubber, purifier and gas holder.
The gas is then ready for use in gas engines, for lighting, heating, the generation
of steam, or other useful purposes.
The clinker is discharged at the bottom of the destructor-gas producer into iron
wagons.
thus treat town refuse more completely as I convert nearly the whole mineral
material into a solid clinker, and at the same time convert the combustible material
into a useful gas.
There is no risk of offensive gases and substances creating nuisance, as the gases
are kept under control, and as the gases are stored in a gas holder, they may be
utilized to suit convenience for electric lighting, pumping, machinery, or other
useful purposes.
I will now proceed, aided by the accompanying drawings, to describe more fully
the method employ in carrying my invention into effect.
Fig. 1 is partly an elevation and partly a vertical section of apparatus suitable
for carrying my invention into effect.
Fig. 2 is a plan of the same and Fig. 3 is a horizontal section of the destructor-
gas producer separately.
The
Any kind of town refuse, either that collected by dust carts from houses, earth
closets or middens, from cesspools or sewage sludge precipitated in settling tanks,
whether mixed with carbonaceous fuel or not, is passed into the feeding hopper a,
and when the hopper is charged with refuse the cover is placed in position,
thereby making an airtight joint round the top of the feeding hopper a.
cover is balanced by weight c upon a lever c'having a fulcrum at the bottom
of the feeding hopper a also has a cover e with conical top as shown; this cover e
is suspended by a chain from a rod e passing through a gland at e³ and supported
by levere having fulcrum at e. The cover e is balanced by the weight d, which
may also be regulated so as to retain its position against the weight of refuse
combined with that of the cover e. The levers, weights and covers above referred
to are supported upon bracket f.

page_text: The refuse passes from the feeding hopper a into the body of the generator 9,
resting upon the fire bars u. The inside of the generator is lined with fire brick-
work, as shown at r, the outside casing w being of iron.
During the process the generator is blown by means of steam or air blast
through the nozzles k, and the refuse may be pronged through the upper nozzles k,
the steam jets being removed for such purpose, and, as the clinkers require removing,
the firebars are withdrawn, whereby the clinkers are caused to fall into the
wagon or into an ash pit.
Whilst the latter part of the process is performed, the generator is disconnected
from the gas supply by means of closing or partly closing valve and shutting off
the blast.
In some cases the lower part of generator is formed as an enclosed ashpit with
door having airtight joint, to do practically what is shown on the drawing where
the wagou top forms a door with joint round its edge at h', the ashpit being h².
The door would be found more convenient in a vertical position when the door
detail is adopted. When the wagon is used the joint may be made by means of
screws similar to a lifting jack or with a hydraulic ram underneath, as at j.
When in action the gases generated are passed out through the valve into the
pipe m, which may form a common main pipe from two or more generators. The gases
are then conveyed to a vessel n with the end of the inlet pipe below the water
level, so as to form a water seal: The gas then passes from the vessel n by the
pipe o into the condenser p, whence it passes into the scrubber g, thence through
the piper into the purifier s, and finally from the purifier s into the gasometer t
through a suitable connecting tube. The condenser p may be made in any of the
well known forms, also the scrubbery and purifier s. If the condenser has tubes
the gases will either pass round or through them and be condensed by contact
upon the colder surface, and thus a deal of the moisture contained in the gases is
taken out. The scrubber will then take ont some of the impurities and cleanse the
gases by the aid of coke, charcoal or similar substances, and afterwards the purifier
will, by the aid of oxide, further cleanse and purify the gases before they enter the
storage gas holder t.
It will be seen that some of the parts resemble those parts employed in the
process of making coal gas, and some parts of construction are similar to those used
in the process of making generator gas for steel making and other purposes, and
it is a combination of these parts which I modify and use in this new process of
treating town refuse.
It will be seen that I can regulate the quantity of gases produced and the
quality of these gases by the assistance of coke, coal, oil or other fuel, and that
have complete control over the gases, so that they cannot escape into the atmosphere
and create nuisance, and I have also a means of storing the power contained in refuse
in the form of a gas which may be used when required for driving gas engines or
when used for other purposes.
It will be evident that the dimensions of the gasometer employed will be in
accordance with the quantity of gas produced or of the amount required to be
stored.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is
CLAIM.
The improved method or process of treating and utilizing town refuse substantially
HARRIS & MILLS,
23, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents.