CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR CONSUMING GAS FOR THE PURPOSE OF PRODUCING LIGHT
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
ALEXANDER PHILLIP DE VAL MARINO; of Margaret Street, Cavendish Square,
in the County of Middlesex, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-second day of June, in the third year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said John
Alexander Philip de Val Marino, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said John Alexander Phillip de Val
Marino, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Alexander Phillip de Val Marino, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
GAS, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR CONSUMING GAS FOR THE PURPOSE
OF PRODUCING LIGHT;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
that I, the said John Alexander Phillip de Val Marino, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the

page_text: same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference
being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Alexander Phillip de Val Marino, do hereby declare that the nature
of my said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed,
are fully described and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof,
reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figure
and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
My Invention relates,-
First, to a mode of manufacturing gas for the purposes of light from coal
and other tar, and oils and other fatty matters, together with water. And,
Secondly, my Invention relates to an improved arrangement or construction
of apparatus or burner for consuming gas for the purposes of light.
And in order to give the best information of my power, I will describe
the apparatus used and the process pursued by me in carrying out my
Invention. And I would first remark, that it is well known that in con-
verting tar, oils, and other fatty matters into gas for the purposes of
light, owing to the excess of carbon it contains, and the consequent want of
bydrogen and oxygen, in converting such matters into gas for the
purpose of
light, much of the carbon contained therein cannot be beneficially employed,
but is, in fact, lost in the process of decomposition owing to the want of a
sufficient dose of hydrogen and oxygen in order to convert the whole of the
carbon into carburetted hydrogen; and in order to make up for such deficiency
of hydrogen and oxygen requisite for fully saturating the carbon contained
in tar or in any particular oil or fatty matty, recourse has been had to the
decomposition of water in order to supply such deficiency of hydrogen and
oxygen, but up to the present time such processes have not, I believe, been
successful, owing to the nature of the process pursued and the apparatus em-
ployed. Now the first part of my Invention has for its object a mode of decom-
posing tar, oils, and other fatty matters, and also water, whereby I am enabled
to obtain a more complete combination of the gases evolved, and consequently
a more beneficial result than heretofore has been accomplished; and such is
the nature of the apparatus and process that tar, oil, or fatty matter employed is
fully decomposed by being exposed to highly heated surfaces of coke or charcoal,
and the water is also fully decomposed in suitable vessel or vessels and acted
on by highly heated coke or charcoal or surfaces; the gas products of the water

page_text: are, when fully effected, brought into a highly heated retort or such like vessel
filled with coke or charcoal; wherein the decomposing of the tar, oils, or fatty
matters are going on, and by this process such is the chemical action and
reaction of the gases that the carbon contained in the tar, oils, or fatty matters
used becomes fully saturated, and thus may be obtained the whole, or very nearly
the whole, of the carbon in the state of carburetted hydrogen gas. It is well
known that different tars, oils, and other fatty matters evolve when decomposéd
different relative quantities of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, consequently
require the decomposition of more or less water to make up the deficiency by
supplying hydrogen and oxygen sufficient to saturate the excess of carbon, in
order, under the most favourable circumstances, to produce carburetted
hydrogen gas for the purpose of light; care must therefore be observed in
making carburetted hydrogen gas from tar or from particular oils, or from
other fatty matters, to ascertain how much water the same will require to have
decomposed. But as an analysis of all or most all of such matters is to be
found in most modern chemical works, it will not be necessary to enter more
at large into this subject further than to remark, that one atom of carburetted
hydrogen consists of two atoms of carbon and two atoms of hydrogen, one
atom of oxide of carbon consists of two atoms of carbon and one atom of
oxygen. And as water, when decomposed, produces twelve per cent. of
hydrogen and the rest oxygen, it follows that, having ascertained the quantity
of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen contained in the particular matter about to
be employed in the manufacture of gas, the quantity of water required to be
decomposed to make up the deficiency of hydrogen and oxygen will be imme-
diately known. And I would further remark, that in order to fully and most
beneficially perform my Invention it is of importance that the retorts or
apparatus employed should be kept at an uniform heat, that is, at a bright
white red heat.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
The Drawing, Figure 1, represents the section of three vertical retorts--
suitably arranged for performing my Invention, and the furnace is suitably

page_text: water is decomposed; b, the retort in which the tar or oil, or other fatty
matter is decomposed; and c is the retort into which the gases evolved in the
retorts a enter, and are further decomposed, the object being fully to decom-
pose the water before the products thereof come into the retort b to combine
with the products of the other retort; d is a vessel containing tar or oil, or
other fatty matter; and e is a vessel containing water; f. f, are two syphon
pipes which enter into the upper parts of the retorts a and b, and there are
cocks on the vessels d and e to regulate the supply. The nature of the retorts,
which are of cast iron, is clearly shewn in the Drawing, each retort having a
projecting or descending tube 9 connected at the lower end thereof, within
which the gratings, which are similar to fire bars, can be raised and lowered,
and the coke or charcoal in the retorts rest on these gratings, which allow of
the passage of any small ashes or dust of the coke. The arrows indicate the
direction of the gases in and from the respective retorts, and the pipes h, i,
connect the retorts a and c and b and c, as is clearly shewn in the Drawing;
and in using this apparatus the three retorts are filled from above with coke
or charcoal, and then the ends of the retorts are to be closed and all things
arranged, as shewn in the Drawing. I would here remark, that although I
prefer that the retort c should contain charcoal or coke, this is not absolutely
necessary, and it should be understood that I prefer the use of coke in conse-
quence of its cheapness, and the retorts are charged with fresh coke every
twenty-four hours, and I have found that I am thereby enabled to retain the
temperature required more readily. The retorts being at a good red white
heat, the tar or oil or fatty matty, and also the water, is to be permitted to
flow, observing that the water is allowed to drop in proportion to the require-
ment of the other matter employed, and as it is difficult to arrange apparatus
to perform this operation in the nicety, and as the syphon tubes might become
more or less stopped in working, the simplest and best practical means I am
acquainted with, for regulating the supply of water to the requirements of the
matter employed, is to have a lighted gas burner near the retort and within
sight of the workman; by this means he will from time to time be enabled to
observe whether the result of his working is according to the desired object, and
if he observes that the flame becomes more colored than is proper, it will indicate
that too little water is being supplied, and by this simple means the workman,
having once set it right, the working will go on correctly unless some impedi-
ment is offered to the supply of the matter employed or the water. j is the
gas pipe leading to the gasometer. For it should be understood that carbu-
rettel hydrogen gas thus manufactured will not require purifying, which is an

page_text: important advantage appertaining to this mode of working. It should be
stated that the matter I generally employ, and according to the cost of the
various matters above mentioned will, I believe, 'be most advantageous, is
coal tar. And I would further observe, that although I prefer the arrangement
of apparatus herein described for decomposing the matters and water employed,
I do not confine myself thereto, provided the mode and process of working
be retained as herein described.
I will now proceed to describe the second part of my Invention. Figure 3
shews an external view of a gas burner or apparatus for consuming gas,
constructed according to this part of my Invention, and Figure 4 is a section
thereof. On examining the Drawing, it will seen that the outer surface of the
upper part of the burner a is coned, as indicated from a¹ to a², in other respects
it is of the ordinary construction; and 6 is an outer cone, which is carried by
the gallery of the glass chimney, consequently the supply of air for the external
of the flame will pass between the burner a and the cone 6, and, owing to the
upper part of the burner being partly in the form of a cone, the air will rush
up in a direction to pass through the flame, and by this means effect a more
perfect combustion of gas supplied to such arrangement of apparatus. It should
be remarked, that I am aware that ordinary cylindrical burners have before
been used in combination with an external cone very similar to b. I do not
claim the using of such cone when uncombined with a coned figure of the
outer upper part of the burner, as above explained.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would remark that what I claim is,-
First, the mode herein described of manufacturing carburetted hydrogen
gas from tar, oil, or other fatty matters, by completely decomposing the water
before the products thereof are permitted to enter into that portion of the
apparatus wherein the tar, oil, or other fatty matter is decomposed, and
causing the conjoined or combined products to pass in contact with the heated
surfaces.
Secondly, I claim the mode of constructing the apparatus for consuming
gas as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Alexander Phillip de Val Marino,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine.
(L.S.) CTE DE VAL MARINO.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twentieth day of December,
in the year of our Lord 1839, the aforesaid John Alexander Phillip de Val
Marino (through the interpretation of Augustus Gougenheim, the said
Interpreter having sworn that he had interpreted the contents of this Speci-
fication to the said Val Marino, and that he would truly interpret the form
of acknowledgement 'about to be administered) came before our said Lady the
Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Twenty-first day of December, in the year of our Lord