IMPROVEMENTS IN PRODUCTION OR MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR HEATING OR ILLUMINATING, AND IN THE RETORTS AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN BUCH MANUFACTURE
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Harbert, of Kidderminster, in the County of
Worcester, Gasfitter, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PRODUCTION OR MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR HEATING OR ILLUMINATING, AND IN
THE RETORTS AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN BUCH MANUFACTURE."
Sealed the 11th May 1866, and dated the 17th November 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Harbert at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th November 1865.
I, JAMES HARBERT, of Kidderminster, in the County of Worcester, Gas-
fitter, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE PRODUCTION OR MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR HEATING OR ILLUMINATING, AND
IN THE RETORTS AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE," to be as
follows:
The first part of my Invention relates to improvements in the production
or manufacture of gas for heating or illuminating purposes by the combi-
nation of certain materials from which several separate descriptions of gas
are obtained, which are afterwards mixed together in suitable proportions,
whereby a compound gas of highly illuminating quality is obtained at very
trifling cost compared with ordinary, carburetted hydrogen or common coal
[Price 8d.]

page_text: gas. For the purpose of carrying out this part of my Invention I manu-
facture, by preference, three descriptions of gas in separate retorts from a
combination of the following materials:-
First, I take equal quantities or thereabouts by weight of lime and soda
or other cheap alkali and mix them with sufficient water to cause the mixture
to assume the consistency of thick whitewash. This mixture is run into pans,
by preference made of cast iron, which are then placed in ordinary gas retorts
(or in such as will be herein-after described) raised and retained at a red heat
for about two hours or until it is ascertained that the whole of the gas has been
given off from the mixture.
The second description of gas which I employ in combination with other
gases, according to this part of my Invention is made from a mixture
of ordinary gas or other tar and oil, in the proportion of one
gallon of tar to one pint of pine or other.. cheap oil, such as petro-
leum or mineral oil, which materials are mixed together and supplied to
the retort (from a cistern placed above the retort) in suitable quantities from
time to time as required for conversion into gas.
The third description of gas which I employ in combination with those
previously described is produced from a mixture of lime taken from the lime
purifiers and a strong solution of soda or other alkali, in the proportion of
about two pecks of lime to about one quart of strong alkaline solution, these
materials are deposited in pans. which are placed in the retorts and retained
at a red heat until the whole of the gas is driven over.
The several gases
thus produced are conducted from their several retorts into an hydraulic
main common to all the retorts, ordinary coal gas being also conducted into.
the same main where the several gases mingle together in about equal
proportions, the quantity of common coal gas being by preference in
excess of either of the other gases. The mixed gases are conducted from
the hydraulic main to the condenser and through the lime or other purifiers
in the manner well known and practised, the gas being also passed through
a bed of coke and other materials as will be herein-after more particularly
described.
I will now describe the second part of my Invention which relates to
improvements in the construction of the retorts and in the condensers
employed in the manufacture of gas for heating and illuminating purposes.
My improved retorts are by preference formed of a flat oval section in two
longitudinal parts or halves, having transverse supports cast or formed thereon
at suitable distances apart to support and prevent the central part of the
retort from sinking or giving way when highly heated. The two halves

page_text: are formed, by preference, one with a rib and the other with a groove along
the edges, which come together so as to fit and thus form a joint to connect
the two parts, straps and bands of wrought iron being bolted or otherwise
fastened thereon to secure the parts together. The central supports thus
formed on the retorts according to my Invention are of considerable thick-
ness near the centre compared with those nearer the ends, and are of such
shape as to form bearings or supports for the upper series placed over them.
They may if desired be made of clay furnished with iron mouth-pieces.
The transverse supports form part of the arrangements of the flues when
the retorts are set and serve to conduct the heat and products of com-
bustion from the furnaces in a more uniform manner than heretofore in
ordinary gas retort settings, preventing the destructive effects of local
heating. These retorts may be arranged in series of three or five to obtain
the most advantageous results. Retorts thus constructed may be of con-
siderable length, and fitted with doors so as to be charged from each end if
desired. In order to prevent the explosion of retorts when drawing the
charge the back end is furnished with a pipe and stop-cock so that the gas
remaining in the retort can be burnt out by opening the cock and applying
a light before the end of the retort is removed. I conduct the gas from
each retort of a series from the front ends upwards through a bent pipe,
one end of which according to my improvements passes away into an
hydraulic main common to the whole series of retorts. The gas from the
hydraulic main is conducted into a condenser, which I prefer to construct
according to this part of my improvements in the following manner:-A
tank or vessel of suitable length is formed with a series of transverse
chambers or compartments into and through which the gas is conducted by
inlet and outlet pipes from one chamber to another in succession until it
has passed through the whole series. These chambers or compartments
are surrounded and covered with water which is caused to flow gently
through the tank or vessel to cool the chambers through which the gas is
conducted, currents of air may be substituted for the water, or employed in
combination therewith, if desired. By this means a very simple effective
form of condenser is produced. The gas after it leaves the condenser
passes through a bed formed of coke from which it passes through another
bed made of the residiuum from the lime previously used in the retorts,
and with fine ashes sifted from the furnaces, the gas then passes through the
ordinary lime purifiers to the gasholders.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Harbert in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 17th May 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HARBERT, of Kidderminster, in the County of Worcester, Gasfitter, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said James Harbert, Her special licence, that I, the said James
Harbert, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said James Harbert, 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 PRODUCTION OR MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR HEATING OR ILLUMINATING, AND
IN THE RETORTS AND APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN BUCH MANUFACTURE," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Harbert, 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 per-
formed, 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 James Harbert, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement thereof, that is to say:-
The first part of my Invention relates to improvements in the production
or manufacture of gas for heating or illuminating purposes by the combi-
nation of certain materials from which several separate descriptions of gas
are obtained, which are afterwards mixed together in suitable proportions,
whereby a compound gas of highly illuminating quality is obtained at very
trifling cost compared with ordinary carburetted hydrogen or common coal
gas. For the purpose of carrying out this part of my Invention I manu-

page_text: facture, by preference, three descriptions of gas in separate retorts from a
combination of the following materials:-
First, I take equal quantities or thereabouts by weight of lime and soda
or other cheap alkali and mix them with sufficient water to cause the mixture
to assume the consistency of thick whitewash. This mixture is run into pans,
by preference made of cast iron, which are then placed in ordinary gas retorts
(or in such retorts as will be herein-after described) raised and retained at a
red heat for about two hours, or until it is ascertained that the whole of the
gas has been given off from the mixture.
The second description of gas which I employ in combination with other
gases, according to this part of my Invention, is made from a mixture
of ordinary gas or other tar and oil, in the proportion of one
gallon of tar to one pint of pine or other cheap oil, such as petro-
leum or mineral oil, which materials are mixed together and supplied to
the retort by the pipe g' (from the cistern g placed above the retort) as shown
in Figure 4, Sheet 2 of the Drawings hereunto annexed, in suitable quantities
from time to time as required for conversion in gas.
The third description of gas which I employ in combination with those
previously described is produced from a mixture of lime taken from the lime
purifiers, and a strong solution of soda or other alkali, in the proportion of
about two pecks of lime to about one quart of the strong alkaline solution. These
materials are deposited in pans which are placed in the retorts, and retained
at a red heat until the whole of the gas is driven over. The several gases
thus produced are conducted from their several retorts into an hydraulic
main common to all the retorts, ordinary coal gas being also conducted into
the same main where the several gases mingle together in about equal
proportions, the quantity of common coal gas being by preference in
excess of either of the other gases. The mixed gases are conducted from
the hydraulic main to the condenser and through the lime or other purifiers
in the manner well known and practised, the gas being also passed through
a bed of coke and other materials as will be herein-after more particularly
described.
I will now describe the second part of my Invention which relates to
improvements in the construction of the retorts and in the condensers
employed in the manufacture of gas for heating and illuminating purposes.
My improved retorts are by preference formed of a flat oval section, as
shown in Figure 1, Sheet 1 of the Drawings hereunto annexed, and put
together in two longitudinal parts or halves a, a, having transverse supports
b, b, cast or formed thereon at suitable distances apart to support and

page_text: prevent the central part of the retort from sinking or giving way when
highly heated, or the supports b, b, may be cast separately either in. one or
in separate parts, as shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, Sheet 1 of the Drawings,
or they may be moulded from and made of fire-clay if desired. The two
halves a, a, of the retorts are formed, by preference, one with a rib and the
other with a groove along the edges, as shown, which come together so as
to fit, and thus form a joint to connect the two parts, straps and bands of
wrought iron, as shown at a, being bolted or otherwise fastened thereon to
secure the two parts together. The central supports b, b, thus formed on or
arranged to support the retorts according to my Invention are of con-
siderable thickness near the centre, as shown, compared with the supports
nearer the ends, and are of such shape as to form bearings or supports for
the upper series placed over them, as will be clearly seen on examining
Sheet of the. Drawings. The retorts a, a, may, if desired, be made of
clay furnished with iron mouth-pieces. The transverse supports b, b, form
part of the arrangements of the flues when the retorts are set, and serve to
conduct the heat and products of combustion from the furnaces in a more
uniform manner than heretofore in ordinary gas retort settings, preventing
the destructive effects of local heating. These retorts may be arranged in
series of three or five to obtain the most advantageous results. Retorts
thus constructed. may be of considerable length, and fitted with doors so as
to be charged from each end if desired. In order to prevent the explosion
of retorts when drawing the charge the back end is furnished with a pipe c
and stop-cock or cap c¹, as shown at Figure 4, so that the gas remaining in
the retort can be burnt out by opening the cock, or by removing the
cap c¹, and then applying a light before the end of the retort is removed.
I conduct the gas from each retort of a series from the front ends upwards
through a bent pipe d, one end of which, according to my improvements,
passes away into an hydraulic main e common to the whole series of
retorts.
The gas. from the hydraulic main is conducted into a condenser, which I
prefer to construct according to this part of my improvements in the
following manner:-Figure 5 is a plan, and Figure 6 a longitudinal section
of a condenser constructed according to this part of my Invention; a tank or
vessel, of suitable length is formed with a series of transverse chambers f
or compartments into and through which the gas is conducted by inlet and
outlet pipes, from one chamber to another in succession, until it has passed
through the whole series. These chambers or compartments are surrounded
and covered with water, which is caused to flow gently through the tank or

page_text: vessel to cool the chambers through which the gas is conducted. Currents
of air may be substituted for the water, or employed in combination there-
with, if desired, as shown at Figure 7, P, f, being air passages. By this
means a very simple and effective form of condenser is produced.
The gas
after it leaves the condenser passes through a bed formed of coke from
which it passes through another bed made of the residuum from the lime
previously used in the retorts, and with fine ashes sifted from the furnaces;
the gas then passes through the ordinary lime purifiers to the gas-
holders.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Harbert, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
JAMES HADREDT G
Witness,
15
J. G. TONGUE,
Patent Agent,
34, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, W.C.
JAMES HADREDT