IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF CARBON, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Year: 1859

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Augustin Jacquelain, of Paris, in the French
Empire, Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF CARBON, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Augustin Jacquelain at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th November 1859.
I, AUGUSTIN JACQUELAIN, of Paris, in the French Empire, Chemist, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF CARBON, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists in the employment of the tars and heavy oils
distilled from coal schist, or peat for the manufacture of carbon therefrom,
by raising them to a boiling point, and extracting the carburets of hydrogen
contained therein. Essential oils, alcohols, ethers, and all organic volatilizable
substances may be treated in a similar manner with the same result. The
tar or organic material is placed in a cast-iron reservoir, from which it is led
through a tube to a boiler provided with a discharge tap. The vapours
generated in this boiler are led into a horizontal earthen retort, heated to an
intense red heat. This retort is placed in communication with two upright
cast-iron reservoirs. The deposits in the retort are removed by means of a
rake or draw iron. A tube is connected to the second reservoir, by which

page_text: the gas, as well as such carbon as may have escaped decomposition by the
heat, and the volatile products are led off to be utilized as a medium for
heating the retorts, if desired.
To improve carbon produced in gas retorts, I reduce it to small pieces, and
steep it in concentrated hydrofluoric acid, in order to extract the silicious
matters and earthy silicates with which it is impregnated, and then wash and
dry it. Again, I take carbon from the gas retorts, reduce it to a fine powder,
make it into a stiff paste with any of the carburet of hydrogen, known as
heavy oil of coal, schist or peat, mould it under heavy pressure, and heat it
gently. I then place it in the apparatus before described, where the mass
becomes aggregated and hardened under the influence of the carburet of
hydrogen in a state of vapor.
To prepare a hard carbon, I sometimes take pulverized coal, previously
purified of the greater part of its earthy substances; then, by washing in a
solution of hydrochloric acid, and in water, and drying, and afterwards
decomposing, as in the gas retorts, I obtain a hard carbon.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Augustin Jacquelain in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 11th May 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, AUGUSTIN
JACQUELAIN, of Paris, in the French Empire, Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-third year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Augustin Jacquelain, Her special licence that I, the said
Augustin Jacquelain, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Augustin Jacquélain, 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
inake, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CARBON, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Augustin
Jacquelain, my 'executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly

page_text: 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 Augustin Jacquelain, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the follow-
ing statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
that is to say:-
This Invention consists in the employment of the tars and heavy oils distilled
from coal schist or peat for the manufacture of carbon therefrom, by raising.
them to a boiling point and extracting the carburets of hydrogen contained
therein. Essential oils, alcohols, ethers, and all organic volatilizable substances
may be treated in a similar manner with the same result. The tar or organio
material is placed in a cast-iron reservoir, from which it is led through a tube
to a boiler provided with a discharge tap. The vapours generated in this
boiler are led into a horizontal earthen retort heated to an intense red heat.
This retort is placed in communication with two upright cast-iron reservoirs.
The deposits in the retort are removed by means of a rake or draw-iron. A
tube is connected to the second reservoir, by which the gas as well as such
carbon as may have escaped decomposition by the heat and the volatile
products, are led off to be utilised as a medium for heating the retorts, if
desired.
To improve carbon produced in gas retorts, I reduce it to small pieces and
steep it in concentrated hydrofluoric acid, in order to extract the silicious
matters and earthy silicates with which it is impregnated, and then wash and
dry it. Again, I take carbon from the gas retorts, reduce it to a fine powder,
make it into a stiff paste with any of the carburets of hydrogen, known as
heavy oil of coal, schist or peat, mould it under heavy pressure, and heat it
gently; I then place it in the apparatus before described, where the mass
becomes aggregated and hardened under the influence of the carburet of
hydrogen in a state of vapor.
To prepare a hard carbon, I sometimes take pulverized coal previously
purified of the greater part of its earthy substances, then by washing in a solu-
tion of hydrochloric acid and in water, and drying and afterwards decomposing,
as in the gas retorts, I obtain a hard carbon.
The accompanying Drawings illustrate the manner in which I carry my
Invention into effect. The organic matters, which are placed in a cast iron or
other metal reservoir z, are led into a horizontal cast iron or other tube i by

page_text: means of a copper or other tube y, which is furnished with a tap v therein, to
enter into a state of vapor. This reservoir may be heated, particularly when
the heavy oils highly charged with naphtha or simply naphtha are introduced.
The vapours pass by a valve m into two horizontal earthen retorts C, C, which
are heated to about the temperature of 1,000 to 1,200 degrees centigrade.
The cast-iron head at the back of the retorts is in communication with a large
bent pipe g, through which the bydrogen gas, the carbon, and volatile products
which may have escaped the action of the heat are-led under the grating of or
otherwise into the furnace.
pure
carbon
The substances which I prefer to employ for the manufacture of
are those carburets of hydrogen which are volatilised during the decomposition
of coal schist or peat, and of which the point of ebullition is very high. The
distilled products which are produced by the carbonization of combustible
materials, such as tar, heavy oils, and naphtha, are the only products that can
be economically utilized, because they contain no saline or earthy matters, and
because the difficulty with which they are decomposed allows a part of the un-
decomposed carburets to unite the particles of lamp black resulting from that
portion of the carburets of hydrogen which has been greatly affected by the
heat. I make the vessel which contains the ingredients, by preference, of a
cylindrical form. In order that the retorts shall resist a very great tempera-
ture they must be made perfectly refractory, similar to those used in the
melting of glass for bottles; they should be smooth on the interior, in order to
lessen the adhesion of the carbon which becomes deposited there; and for this
purpose
I sometimes coat the interior surface with a paste composed of lamp
black and heavy oil. The retorts are heated by surrounding them with coke.
The temperature most suitable for the production of carbon is, as before stated,
about 1,000 or 1,200 degrees centigrade, and it is essentially important. that
the temperature be maintained as high as possible, and that the carburets of
hydrogen be volatilized quickly. In fact, a too tardy ebullition produces lamp
black plus bydrogen; a too energetic ebullition cools the retorts, and causes
lamp black only to be produced. The hydrogen gas, the non-decomposed
vapours, and the uncondensed lamp black are led into the furnace.
Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of that description of furnace which I prefer
to employ for the purposes of my Invention, taken on the line J, K, of
Figure 2; Figure 2 is a vertical section on the line A, B, D, E; Figure 3, a
vertical section on the line H, I; and Figure 4, a vertical section on the.
line F, G, of Figure 1. The furnace is double, and contains two retorts C,
cach heated by the fire ; each fire has two sets of grate bars a, a, two doors s
for cleaning, two dampers 7, 7, to regulate the draft, and two openings c, c, at

page_text: the
upper part for charging. The products of combustion pass off by a flue d,
in communication with a central flue e, from whence the products may pass
directly into the chimney g; or they may be first passed through the flue h, in
which a tube i is placed containing the oil to be distilled; f,f, are dampers,
fitted in the flue h. The oil to be distilled is placed in a closed reservoir z, and
is led by the tube y into the tube i. This tube is fitted with a cap at each end,
for the purpose of cleaning. The products of distillation pass into the vapour
reservoir J, from whence they are distributed right and left into each of the
retorts by a tube l, furnished with a valve m. The tube / enters the cast-iron
head n of the retort C, which is closed by a plate o; this plate carries a hinged
diaphragm p, to allow the interior of the furnace to be seen while at work. At
back, the retort carries a cast-iron head, to which a tube q is fixed, through
which the gases pass to the under part of the fire to be burnt. The tube g is
provided with diaphragms to allow of cleaning, and of the lamp black which
becomes deposited there being removed.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
First, the manufacture of carbon from tars and heavy oils distilled from coal
schist, peat, or other organic volatilizable substances, in manner herein-before
described.
Second, the means herein-before described for improving carbon produced
in gas and other retorts.
Third, the construction of an apparatus and furnace for the manufacture of
carbon, as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Augustin Jacquelain, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Thirtieth day of April, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty.
30 Witness,
AUGUSTIN JACQUELAIN. (L.S.)
CH. ARMENGAUD, Je,
Ing Civil, Boulev* de Strasbourg, No. 23,
à Paris.