Improvements in and in Apparatus for Treating Wood to Obtain therefrom Charcoal and other Products.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Mar., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 14th Dec., 1899-Accepted, 3rd Feb.,
1800
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and in Apparatus for Treating Wood to Obtain
therefrom Charcoal and other Products.
I, WILLIAM HENRY PHILIPSON, of Greenodd, near Ulverston, in the County of
Lancaster, Charcoal Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:
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•
The object of this invention is to obtain economically, with little loss of
material, and with little or no external firing, charcoal and other products such
as tar, acetic acid, &c. from wood; and to provide apparatus whereby the process
can be carried out in a continuous manner.
For these purposes I employ a series of chambers into which the wood to he
treated is placed. The chambers are preferably of brick to withstand corrosion
and are arranged so that each chamber becomes consecutively the last, intermediate,
and first of the series. Air heated to a sufliciently high temperature is passed
into the first chamber, that is, the one in which the charring of the wood is most
nearly complete, such air being under a slight pressure and the products of com-
bustion or distillation are passed from thence through the series of chambers, the
finally escaping gases, containing a large quantity of carbonic oxide gas being, after
the useful products and water vapour have been separated therefrom, burnt in an
oven or superheater in order to heat the air which is supplied to the first chamber
of the series.
The tar is first separated from the gases by passing such gases through suitable
cooling pipes or their equivalent, care being taken that the temperature of the
gases is not so much reduced as that more than a relatively small proportion of
the aqueous vapour will be condensed in the acid absorbing chamber or tower. The
acetic acid is then separated from the gases by passing auch gases through, over,
or amongst line or limestone placed in a tower or on shelves in a chamber so as
to obtain the acetic acid directly as acetate of line. The other products which it
may be desirable to recover are recovered by any suitable means.
Suitable openings or doors are provided in the chambers for filling and emptying
and pipes or flues, valves, and connections are provided whereby the gases can be
led from the bottom of one chamber to the top of the next in succession. The
pipes, valves, and connections are arranged so that each chamber becomes in turn
the last, intermediate, and first of the series. When the materials in one chamber
are perfectly charred it is shut off from the series, the contents cooled by means of
steam or water, then emptied, the chamber is again filled with fresh material,
when it is made to be the last of the series.
1000

page_text: Improvements in and in Apparatus for Treating Wood to Obtain
therefrom Charcoal and other Products.
I, WILLIAM HENRY PHILIPSON, of Greenodd, near Ulverston, in the County of
Lancaster, Charcoal Manufacturer, 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:-
The object of this invention is to obtain economically with little loss of
material and with little or no external firing, charcoal and other products such
as tar, acetic acid &c. from wood; and to provide apparatus whereby the process
can be carried out in a continuous manner.
On the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a plan and Fig. 2 is a vertical section
on the line AA on Fig. 1 of apparatus suitable for carrying my invention into
practice. a, a, a, a³, are a series of chambers into which the wood to be treated
is placed through openings which can be closed by covers e or as may be found
convenient. The chambers are preferably of brick to withstand corrosion and
are enclosed by an outer wall d and packed between with any suitable non-con-
ducting material. ef are pipes or passages opening into the chamber near the
tops thereof and are pipes or passages into the chambers near the bottoms.
is an air supply pipe só arranged that connection can be made therefrom to any
of the pipes by an elbow or connecting pipe i. Another pipe is arranged so
that connection can be made thereto from any of the pipes by an elbow ¹ to
carry away the escaping gases. A are elbows or connecting pipes to connect the
pipe g of one chamber to the pipe e of the next. 7 are covers or valves to close
such of the pipes e, f, g, as are not in use. m is an air superheater or oven shown
to an enlarged scale by Figs. 3 and 4, which are vertical sections at right angles
to each other and consisting of a series of pipes m¹ connected to boxes at top and
bottom the top box being in communication with the pipe and the hotion box
with the pipe o through which air is supplied from a fan or blower. The pipes m¹
are heated by combustion of waste gases supplied by the pipe 2. q is a tower or
chamber in which lime or limestone is placed either on shelves or in bulk so as
to absorb acetic acid from the escaping gases entering by the pipe r. s are openings
through which the chambers a can be emptied. are doors for closing the open-
ings s.
The action is as follows. Air is forced by a fan or blower through pipe o
and superheated and being heated to a sufficiently high temperature is passed
by pipe elbow and pipe f into the first chamber a, that is the one in which
the charring of the wood is most nearly complete, and the products of combustion
or distillation are led from the bottom of chamber a by a pipe g, elbow and pipe e
to the top of chamber a; and from chamber in a similar way to the last
chamber from whence the escaping gases, containing a large quantity of carbonic
oxide gas pass by the elbow to the pipe which leads such gases to any suitable
cooling pipes or their equivalent by which the tar can he separated from the
gases, care being taken that the temperature of the gases is not so much reduced
as that more than a relatively small proportion of the aqueous vapour will be con-
densed in the acid absorbing chamber or tower 9. The gases after leaving the tar
separator enter by the pipe into the chamber and pass through, over or
amongst the lime therein, the acetic acid combining with such lime and forming
directly acetate of lime. The gases leave the chamber by a pipe which may
lead direct to the pipe P as shown or may first lead to other
apparatus in which any other products which it may be desirable to
recover from the gases are obtained in any usual manner. The waste gases

page_text: from the pipe p are as above described utilized in the superheater to heat the
primary air supply; thus no external firing of the chambers a is needed. The
chamber is being filled with wood, and when filled, and the wood in the
chamber a is properly charred the elbow is connected to pipe f of chamber a¹.
chamber as is connected to chamber by a elbow and pipe 9 of chamber is
connected by elbow j¹ to pipe j, thus each chamber in turn becomes the last, inter-
mediate, and first.of the series. The chamber a being disconnected from the series
the contents are cooled by means of steam or water and then emptied through the
openings the chamber is again filled with fresh material, and in its turn is con-
nected up so as to become the last of the series.
I do not confine myself to the particular arrangements above described as it
will be obvious variations may be made without departing from the nature of
the invention, for instance more than four chambers may be used, also the position
of the pipes or passages may be varied as found expedient: but
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:—
First. Obtaining charcoal and other products from wood by heating air in an
oven or saperheater, passing such heated air into a chamber, containing wood
partially charred, passing the products of combustion or distillation through or
amongst wood in several other chambers in series, passing the escaping gases
through appliances to separate the tar, and then to separate the acetic acid as
acetate of lime, and finally passing the waste gases to the superheater to be burnt
for heating the air supply, all substantially as set forth.
Second. The arrangement and combination of a series of chambers, connecting
pipes and passages for the gases, appliances for separating products from the gases,
and a superheater or oven for heating the air supply by the combustion of the waste
gases, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Dated the Thirteenth day of December 1899.