IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederick Charles Danvers, of Grange Park,
Ealing, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
Sealed the 11th February 1878, and dated the 3rd September 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederick Charles
Danvers at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 3rd September 1872.
I, FREDERICK CHARLES DANVERS, of Grange Park, Ealing, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
artificial fuel.
In the manufacture of blocks of artificial fuel substances containing
starch or farina are sometimes used in order to cement together or aid in
cementing together the particles of small coal of which the blocks are
mainly formed. The farina is mixed with water, and then the coal

page_text: (mixed sometimes with more or less tar) is moistened with the mixture
and moulded; afterwards the blocks are passed into ovens, with the
double object of driving off the water, and of softening the pitch, of
which also a proportion is added to the coal to render the moulded fuel
impervious and unalterable when exposed to the weather.
Now I have found that a better result may be obtained without
passing the moulded blocks through ovens; but in place thereof I drive
off the moisture from the mixed materials by heat before they are
moulded. For this purpose, after mixing the coal and pitch with the
farina and water, and tar, when the latter is used, I pass the mixture
through heated retorts, and so dry the mixture to the point required, and
also soften the pitch; then I mould the materials before they get cold,
and no subsequent treatment of the blocks is requisite.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Frederick Charles Danvers in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 3rd March 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERICK
CHARLES DANVERS, of Grange Park, Ealing, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Third day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Frederick Charles Danvers, Her special license
that I, the said Frederick Charles Danvers, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Frederick Charles Danvers,
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
MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL," upon the condition (amongst others),

page_text: that I, the said Frederick Charles Danvers, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 Frederick Charles Danvers, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, that is to say :—
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of
artificial fuel.
In the manufacture of blocks of artificial fuel substances containing
starch or farina are sometimes used in order to cement together, or aid
in cementing together, the particles of small coal of which the blocks are
mainly formed. The farina is mixed with water, and then the coal
(mixed sometimes with more or less tar) is moistened with the mixture
and moulded. Afterwards the blocks are passed into ovens, with the
double object of driving off the water, and of softening the pitch, of
which also a proportion is added to the coal to render the moulded fuel
impervious and unalterable when exposed to the weather.
Now I have found that a better result may be obtained without.
passing the moulded blocks through ovens; but in place thereof I drive
off the moisture from the mixed materials by heat before they are
moulded. For this purpose, after mixing the coal and pitch with the
farina, water, and tar, when the latter is used, I pass the mixture through
heated retorts, and so dry the mixture to the point required, and also
soften the pitch; then I mould the materials before they get cold, and
no subsequent treatment of the blocks is requisite.
The drying may be assisted by the addition of a small quantity of
lime, cement, or such like material.
In order that my said Invention may be most fully understood, and
readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the method in which
I prefer to conduct the process.
With one ton of coal I mix the following ingredients :-7 to 8 lbs. of
farina, fecula, starch, or other similar material mixed with about 4 gallons

page_text: of water, about five per cent. of pitch (or less in proportion if tar also be
used), and about half a cubic foot of loose lime, chalk, fire-clay, or other
similar earthy. matter that will absorb moisture. These ingredients are
all mixed together. and with the coal, and passed through a heated
chamber, oven, retort, or other apparatus suitable for the purpose, and
exposed for from 20 to 30 minutes to a heat sufficient to expel the
moisture (say, exceeding 212 degrees Fahrenheit). It is then, whilst in
a heated state, passed into moulds and compressed into blocks in any
suitable press. These blocks require no further baking, but are ready
for use immediately they have become cold.
I do not confine myself to the above. proportions, but I find that they
make a good fuel.
What I claim is, the manufacture of artificial fuel from a mixture
containing small coal and farina, fecula, starch, or similar material,
together with water, by heating the mixture so as to expel moisture,
and then, whilst the mixture is in a heated state moulding it into blocks,
substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederick Charles Danvers, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of
February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-three.
TANY
FRED. CHAS. DANVERS. (L.8.).