A NEW MODE OF APPLYING CERTAIN MATERIALS HITHERTO UNUSED FOR THAT PURPOSE TO THE CONSTRUCTING OF RETORTS, AND IMPROVEMENTS IN OTHER PARTS OF GAS APPARATUS
Year: 1823

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
MALAM, of Wakefield, in the County of York, Engineer, send grecting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth did, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of that part of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland called England, bearing date at Westminster, the
Eighteenth day of August, One thousand eight hundred and twenty-three, in the
fourth year of His reign, give and grant unto me, the said John Malam,my exors,
adiňors, and assigns, His especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I the said John Malam, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, during the term of
years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and
also in all His Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of
"A NEW MODE OF APPLYING CERTAIN MATERIALS HITHERTO UNUSED FOR THAT
PURPOSE TO THE CONSTRUCTING OF RETORTS, AND IMPROVEMENTS IN OTHER PARTS
OF GAS APPARATUS;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a pro-
viso that if I, the said John Malam, shall not particularly describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and
cause the same to be inrolled in His Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent, that then the said Letters Patent, and all liberties and advan-
tages whatsoever thereby granted, shall utterly cease, determine, and become
void, as in and by the same, relation being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Malam, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and

page_text: the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by the Drawing hereunto annexed, and the following
description thereof (that is to say) :-
My "New Mode of Applying certain Materials hitherto Unused for that
Purpose to the Construction of Retorts," consists first,-in-the mode of construct-
ing the retorts; and secondly, in the combination of such materials which are
new in that particular application. Retorts have been commonly made of
fire clay in one piece at the kiln, and thence conveyed at considerable expence
and risk of breaking to the gasworks at a distance. This circumstance neces-
sarily limits there dimensions to a portable size. To obviate these incon-
veniences I purpose constructing my improved retorts and at the same time
fix them in the very furnace where they are to be used for the distillation of
the coal. By this contrivance I am enabled to make retorts of any form
or magnitude that may be found desirable, without the difficulty, expence,
and risk of injury in conveying them from the kiln to the gasworks. The
new materials of which these retorts are to be composed are pulverized fire
stone, (such as may be found in the neighbourhood of the Thorncliff Iron-
works, near Sheffield, Yorkshire,) of which I take about ten bushels; with
this I mix from 20 to 30 pounds of red lead; these are to be incorporated
together and formed into a paste with a sufficient quantity of bullock's blood,
and to this paste I now had about twenty bushels of the ordinary fire clay,
making the whole into a stiff consistency, fit for moulding. Having prepared
the clay and other material as above, I proceed to construct my retort within
the furnace in the following manner :-
Fig. 1 is a cross section of the improved furnace, which I claim under the
terms of other improvements on gas apparatus.
Fig. 2, a section taken lengthways through the middle of the furnace, the
same letters referring to the same parts in these two Figures.
The objects of my improved furnace are to economise fuel and to save the
labour of constant attention, in doing which I dispense with grate bars, and
deposit a quantity of coal in the furnace at once sufficient for about eight
hours' consumption. The coal is introduced through the door a to the bottom
of the furnace b, b, where it is to be ignited on the surface, and will burn
downwards after the coal is properly lighted (the door a may be closed, and
.currents of atmospheric air will pass through the latteral apertures c, c, c,
which are regulated by sliders. d, d, are arches of fire brick thrown over
the furnace to support the retort or retorts. Above and between these arches
the heat is intended to pass and envelope the retorts. Having formed the
furnace as high as the bed of the retort, and completed the upper side of the

page_text: arches d, d, I now make up the spaces between the arches with boards, so as
to produce an even surface; upon this as a bed I form the bottom part of
the retort e, e, by depositing a sufficient quantity of the above composition of
pulverized fire stone, clay, &c., and beat or press it down so as to produco
a compact substance of about five inches thick. Upon this I place a wooden
frame or hood of the curved or other shape of which I desire to form the
upper part of the retort, and upon this I deposit a sufficient quantity of the
same composition as before mentioned, beating or pressing it into a close
compact state, and of a uniform thickness. The upper part of the furnaco
may now be erected with its flue f, by which the retort will be closed in
ready for baking, the frame within being gradually withdrawn as the com-
position dries. To enable the front part of the retort to be properly baked
with the rest, it will be necessary to construct a tempory cavity of brickwork,
as shown by dots in Fig. 2, and to allow a flue to pass from the furnace
through this cavity, for the purpose of bringing the heat to act upon the
mouth of the retort. When the retort is sufficiently baked the tempory cavity
must be removed, and and the mouthpiece of the retort attached, the brick-
work being made good, as shewn in Fig. 2.
Having mentioned in the above explanation of my improvements several
matters which are common in the construction of retorts, I wish it to be
understood that my Invention, as regards the construction of retorts, consists
of the following points :-
1st, in the employment of pulverised iron stone, with a small quantity of red
lead mixed with bullock's blood for the purpose of uniting the stone with the
other materials when submitted to the action of the fire, by which means the
retorts will be less liable to crack, and rendered more durable than those
made of fire clay alone as heretofore.
2nd, in constructing, making, and baking the retorts in one piece within
the furnaces where they are to be employed, of any shape or capacity that may
be desirable.
My improvements on apparatus for purifying gas consists, in the first place,
of a particular arrangement of the several vessels employed for that purpose,
and the adaptation of a shifting valve, which applies to a combination of any
number of purifiers, from three upwards. Fig. 3 is a horizontal view of four
purifyers, with the shifting valve in the centre. Fig. 4, an elevation of the
same, one of the purifyers being shewn in section. Fig. 5 is a vertical section
of the shifting valve upon an enlarged scale, shewing the passages through
which the gas passes, and Fig. 6 is a horizontal section of the same, taken at
the dotted line Y, Z, in Fig. 5, the same letters referring respectively to
the same parts of the purifying apparatus in these four Figures. The object

page_text: of this arrangement of the purifying vessels is, that the gas may be permitted
to pass in succession through a series of three vessels, containing the purify-
ing materials in different states of saturation, the gas passing through the
vessel containing the purest material last; the fourth vessel, being at that time
out of action, is in a condition to be recharged with a fresh supply of the
purifying material. And when it may be found necessary to introduce the
gas to a fresh supply of the purifying material the operation will simply be
to raise the valve and turn it one quarter round, and afterward to lower it
again, by which means the passage of the gas will be shut off from that purifyer
which contains the material that has been longest under operation, and that
vessel fresh charged will now be brought into use, the gas passing through it
last. A, B, C, D, are four purifying vessels as above mentioned. E is the case
of the shifting valve, here placed in the centre, and F, F, F, Fig. 5 and 6, are its
internal partitions. The gas must be supposed to enter this apparatus at the
pipe a which leads from the retorts proceeding up the tube b, b (particularly
seen in the section Fig. 5), it enters the cavity e, e, of the shifting valve, and
passes thence through an opening into the compartment f of the shifting valve,
and through the pipe 9 into A, the first of the purifying vessels. The mode by
which the gas proceeds may now be best perceived by reference to the section
of the vessel A, shewn in Fig. 4. The gas entering this vessel by the pipe g,
rises through the several layers of the purifying materials placed on perforated
trays ranged one above another; after passing through the material in the
upper tray the gas descends by the passage h, and thence passes through the
pipe i into the compartment k of the shifting valve (seen by the horizontal
section Fig. 6) which encloses the mouths of the pipes i and l. The gas now
descends through the pipe into the second purifying vessel B, and after
passing through the purifier B proceeds by means of the pipe m into the
compartment n of the shifting valve which encloses the mouths of the pipes
n and o. The gas now descends by the pipe o into the purifyer C, and after
passing through it returns by the pipe p to the shifting valve into the com-
partment q. The gas now rises through the opening in the top of the
shifting valve into the case of the valve E, and thence descends by the tube s
through the pipe t to the gasometer. It will now be seen by the situation of
the partitions F, F, F, of the shifting valve shewn at Fig. 6 that the pipes
u and v communicating with the purifyer D are insulated, the compartment w
having no communication with that part of the shifting valve through which
the gas passes. The purifying material in the vessel A having become so
much saturated with sulphur and other matters as to render it no longer
capable of carrying on the purrifying process, the vessel D is now to be
prepared with fresh materials placed on trays, as described at A, Fig. 4. And

page_text: in order to cut off the gas from the vessel A and introduce it to the vessel D,
the shifting valve F must be raised by turning the handles of the screw x
until the lower hedges of the partitions of the valve F, F, F, are above the
mouths of the pipes g, i, l, m, o, h, u, v, which will be known by the guide y
having risen above the rib z on the side of the column, when the valve
may be turned one quarter round and again lowered, the guide y falling
into the rib of the next column, so that the compartment f of the shifting
valve will be removed from the pipe g and placed over the pipe l, the com-
partment w then covering the mouths of the pipes g and i, by which means
the course of the gas will now be through the vessels B, C, D, the vessel A
being out of operation. This vessel may now be cleared by taking off the
cover and fresh purifying materials introduced therein, as above, and when the
materials in the vessel B has become fully saturated, a similar operation of
shifting the valve will cutt off the vessel B and bring the vessels C, D, A,
into connection, and so on, the shifting valve being intended to turn always
in the same direction, by which means the gas in its most impure state will
pass first through that vessel where the purifying material has been longest
acted upon, and next upon the material in the second state of saturation, and
last upon the fresh material. The shifting valve and the covers of the purify-
ing vessels are rendered air-tight by means of water joints, as shewn in the
Drawing, but these objects may be effected by means of ground surfaces, or by
an elastic packing; I however prefer the water joints, as above described. I
have advised the use of four purifying vessels or more, as above shewn, which
are certainly desirable for the perfect and expeditious effecting of the purifying
process; but an apparatus consisting of only three vessels may be constructed
upon my plan, which, however, I should not recommend.
My further improvements on purifying apparatus consists in adapting the
principles last described upon a smaller scale in one machine.
Fig. 7 of the Drawings is an elevation of the machine, and Fig. 8 a vertical
section of the same. Fig. 9 is a top view, the covers being removed from two
of the compartments. Fig. 10 is a horizontal section of the same taken at
the dotted line Y, Z, in Fig. 8, the same letters referring to the same parts of
the machine in these four Figures. a, Fig. 10 is the pipe by which the gas
enters the machine from the retorts. This pipe rises above the surface of the
water in the fixed vessel A, A, and conducts the gas into the compartment b
of the moveable machine B, B. There the gas rises through the purifying
material placed in trays, as shewn in Fig. 8, and after passing the upper tray
proceed through the elongated aperture c and down the passage d, as parti-
cularly shewn in the section of a part of the partition at Fig. 11, taken across
in the dotted line W, X, of Fig. 10. The bottom of the passage d is enlarged

page_text: to enclose one end of the bent pipe e, e, through which the gas passes into the
next compartment f; here it rises through the purifying material, as before,
and descends by the next passage g into the bent pipe h, h, from whence it
proceeds into the third compartment i, and after passing through the purify-
ing material in that compartment as before, it descends through the com-
partment & into the pipe l, and thence to the gas holder. The compartment m
being insulated from the gas ways (having no pipes in it, can be opened to
introduce fresh purifying material. When the purifying material in the
compartment 6 has become so much saturated as to be no longer capable of
carrying on the process of purification, then the machine is to be raised and
turned one quarter round in order to remove the compartment 6 containing
the saturated material, and to bring into operation the compartment m with
the fresh material. The moveable machine B, B, containing the purifying
materials is supported upon the central tube n by means of the cross piece o
passing through a slot in the fixed guide tube j, and when the machine is to
be shifted the winch p must be turned, which, by means of the bevel geer q,
gives motion to the screw r, and raises the tube n, and with it the whole of the
machine B. The bottom edges of the partitions s, s, s, s, being now above
the mouths of the bent pipes a, e, e, h, h, and l, the machine may be turned
round one quarter, which will be indicated by one of the external guide
ribs t, t, t, coming into the latch u. And to prevent the escape of the gas
while the machine is so raised, the inner and outer cylindrical rims v, v, of the
machine B, B, are by their greater depth still immersed in the water, and by
producing a water joint prevents the escape of the gas. The machine is now
to be lowered to the bottom by turning the winch p the contrary way, when
the lower hedges of the divisional partitions 8, 8, s, will dip into the water, and
the gas will now pass through the compartments f, i, m, and the compartment b
will now, in the manner before described, occupy the former position of the
compartment m, and having become insulated the cover may be removed by
means of the jib crane w for the purpose of withdrawing the saturated
material and charging with fresh. The same operation is to be performed
whenever a fresh supply of material is requisite. Though I have described
this last purifying machine as having four compartments, yet I do not intend
to confine myself to that particular number, as a machine may be constructed
upon the same principle suited to a small apparatus with only three compart-
*ments, or even two may, under some circumstances, answer the purpose. The
materials employed by me in the above apparatus for purifying gas are, slacked
lime, potash, breeze, &c., &c., but I do not claim them, my Invention con-
sisting in the construction and arrangement of the apparatus for purifying gas,
as above described.

page_text: My improvements on gasometers consists in a mode of regulating their
ascent and descent so as to keep their sides at all times in an erect position.
Fig. 12 is a vertical section of a gasometer with its tank; and Fig. 13 a
plan or horizontal view of the same. I suspend the gasometer by means of
chains passing over pullies supported from three or more colums erected
near the edge of the tank, to the other end of which chains are attached
balance weights. In order to prevent the gasometer from hanging out of the
level as it rises and falls, I place three or more shafts a, a, a, with pinions at
their outer extremities working in racks b, b, b, secured to the columns, and
with bevel pinions at their inner extremities taking into a central bevel
wheel inclosed in a box c. By this arrangement, whenever the gasometer rises
or falls on one side, the rack in which the pinion acts causes the shaft to turn,
and by that means the central bevel wheel is also turned, which actuates
tho other shafts and causes the the opposite sides of the gasometer to rise and
fall equally.
Fig. 14 represents the rack and pinion upon an enlarged scale; and
Fig. 15 is a horizontal view of the same.
I have now described my Inventions, and the manner in which the same
are to be carried into effect, so that any competent mechanic connected
with gas works will fully understand the same, and which Inventions are,
to the best of my knowledge and belief, entirely new, and never before used in
this Kingdom.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Malam (party hereto), have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of February, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty four.
JOHN (L.S.) MALAM.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eighteenth day of February,
in the year of our Lord 1824, the aforesaid John Malam came before our
said Lord the King in His 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 Eighteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-four.