A New or Improved Method of and Apparatus for Treating Fuel.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Sept., 1899-Accepted, 4th Nov., 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (AMENDED).
A New or Improved Method of and Apparatus for Treating Fuel.
I, GEORGE CROYDON MARKS, of 18, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
London, W.C., Consulting Engineer and Chartered Patent Agent, (a commu-
nication from abroad by Joseph Hemingway, Chemist, of Spearfish, County of
Lawrence, South Dakota, United States of America), 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:-
My invention relates to means and process for making coke. The objects of
my invention are to hasten and cheapen the process of making coke; to improve
the quality of the product; to coke coal which heretofore it has been impracti-
cable to coke for commercial use; to utilize the heat produced in making the
coke, and to save the products of combustion for use, which in commercial prac-
tice heretofore have been lost.
In coke ovens and by processes heretofore used, it has not been practicable to
increase the temperature of the coke in the oven beyond that developed by the
coal in process of treatment. It has always been considered essential to guard
Air has been admitted to the coal
against the free admission of external air.
After a certain
in the oven, but only in limited quantities and with caution.
time it has been necessary to exclude air completely from the interior of the
oven, the reason being, of course, that the oxygen of the air would cause com-
bustion of the fuel within the coking chamber. This inability to raise the tem-
perature of the fuel in process of coking has made it impossible to take advan-
tage of the fact that a superior coke is formed with high initial temperature.
It has also been impracticable to coke certain coals with the processes hereto-
fore employed. My invention consists in the means for and process of intro-
ducing into the coking chamber containing coal a gas, which I heat and blast
into the chamber at a position above the surface of the fuel.
While I refer to coal as the material to be treated and describe the process
of my invention as one for coking coal, it will be understood that I do not limit
myself to the treatment of coal by my invention. I have found that it is
practical and advantageous, for instance, in the treatment of wood for the pro-
duction of charcoal. Generally, my invention will serve with any fuel from
which the volatile and liquid parts are to be driven off and in which the propor-
tion of carbon is to be increased.
I will describe my invention and the commercial application thereof more in
detail by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a simple form of apparatus
which I employ
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of another form of apparatus embodying
and for practicing the invention:
Figure 3 is a longitudinal section on line 3-3 of Figure 2.
Like parts are indicated by similar letters of reference in all the views.

page_text: The coking ovens a have valve walls b of fire brick. The ovens
are pro-
vided with openings c at the top for the escape of the products of combustion.
The oven shown in Figure 1 is provided with a plug d, which may be raised or
lowered by supporting mechanism e to adjust the size of the openings c. The
floors are supported upon checker-work g. This effects the heating of the
fuel in the coking chambers from the bottom of the ovens, as well as from the
top.
For convenience in removing the contents of the chamber, I preferably
slightly tilt the floor downward toward the discharge openings h, as indicated
in the form of apparatus shown in Figure 3. The furnace may be of simple
construction. A blower k, driven by a motor 7, forces air beneath the grate and
enables me to force the fire in this furnace.
In the apparatus shown in Figure 1, a bridge wall m compels the heated
gases from the burning fuel in the furnace to pass through the upper part of
the checker-work g interposed between the furnace and the oven." This fire-
brick checker-work becomes heated to a high incandescence and the blast of
gases, highly heated by contact with the burning fuel in the furnace i and with
the incandescent checker-work g, flows by the paths indicated by the arrows
through the flues nn, passing up into the interior of the coking chamber, above the
surface of the fuel as shown, and préferably arranged adjacent to its inner walls.
In the apparatus shown in Figures 2 and 3, upwardly-extending flues nn
arranged adjacent to the walls of the coking chambers are also provided, these
flues communicating directly with the checker-work beneath the chambers and
serving to convey the heated gas into the chambers between the fuel and the
outlets c, as is also the case with the structure shown in Figure 1. By means
of an opening (Figure 1) in the sides of the checker-work, I can; at will, admit
atmospheric air directly to the checker-work by opening a door covering the
said opening.
:
Referring to Figures 2 and 3, the opening to each of the chambers a is
scaled by a swinging door which may be wholly or partially closed, as desired.
In the latter figures, I have shown a number of coking ovens or chambers a, in
each of which is also contained a boiler, in this instance a fire tube boiler,
though other boilers may be used, whereby the heat created in the coking pro-
cess may be utilized to create steam for any purpose. In order to save the pro-
ducts of combustion, I connect the outlets c. which preferably communicate
directly with the smoke boxes in front of the boilers, with a pipe g, leading to
a settling chamber and a gasometer s.
In order that the liquid and gaseous products may be separated, I surround
the pipe by a larger pipe, constituting a water jacket, the supply of water
to the latter pipe being controlled by a gate u, a second gate e being provided
for drawing off the water when it becomes too much heated to effect the desired
condensation. The water that is being heated in the boilers also serves to
decrease the temperature of the gases, whereby the condensation of the liquid
constituents is facilitated. The liquid products of combustion, after condensing,
settle to the bottom of the chamber r, from which they may be withdrawn at
the gate w.
The gas goes into the gasometer, having direct communication
with the chamber r. as indicated by the arrows.
Where a series of ovens are employed, as shown in Figure 2, I preferably
employ a fluer, having branches yy, communicating with the checker-work
beneath the ovens. In the branches are provided with cut-off dampers 2.
It will be seen that I am readily able to apply my invention to existing bec-
hive ovens and coking chambers. By means of my invention I have been able
to produce a superior quality of coke from coal which has heretofore been con-
sidered non-coking, and in a far shorter time than it has heretofore been pos-
sible to produce coke. I believe it to be new with me to accelerate and control
the process of coking by the application of a blast to the interior of the coking
oven above the fuel, and any means and process of accomplishing this is within

page_text: the spirit of my invention. I do not wish to be limited to the nature of the
gas employed in the blast, as air, as well as other gases, may be used; nor do I
wish to be limited to any particular degree of temperature at which the gas is
forced into the furnace.
Many modifications of this invention will suggest themselves, and I do not
limit myself herein to the precise details of construction shown.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be under-
stcod that I am aware that in the manufacture of coke it has previously been pro-
posed to heat gases in a furnace and force them when heated through the material
which is being coked and I make no claim to such invention but I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. The herein-described method of coking fuel, which consists in confining the
fuel within a chamber, heating a gas, forcing it under pressure into said oven
above the fuel, causing the combustive combination of said gas with the gases
emitted from the fuel in said chamber, and effecting the flow of the gases in
the oven through an opening in the top thereof.
2. The process of driving off volatile and fluid constituents of fuel, which
consists in confining the fuel in a chamber, driving air through a furnace and
then through a highly-heated medium, and then forcing the gases thus pro-
duced under pressure into the fuel chamber above the fuel, substantially as
described.
3. The improved process of coking and distilling fuel, characterized by the
introduction of a current of gas into the coking oven, condensing the products
of combustion and separating the liquid from the gaseous products, as described.
4. Mechanism for effectuating the process of the first claim herein, consist-
ing in a coking oven or ovens, a passage for gases leading to the oven or ovens
and opening between the charge therein and the outlet, a highly-heated medium
in said passage, a furnace for heating said gas, and a blower for forcing the gas
into the oven, substantially as described.
5. Mechanism for carrying out the process of the second claim herein, which
consists in a coking oven or ovens, a furnace, checkerwork interposed between
the furnace and the oven, a duct leading from said checker-work to a point in
the oven above the charge therein, and a blower for forcing a blast of gas from
the furnace through said checkerwork and duct.
6. Mechanism for effectuating the process of the third claim herein, consist-
ing in a coking oven or ovens, a passage for gases leading to the oven, a blower
for forcing gas into the oven, a cold jacketed eduction passage leading from
the top of the oven, a settling tank to which said passage conducts, and a gaso-
meter connected with said settling tank.
7. Mechanism for carrying out the process of the third claim herein, consist-
ing in a coking oven, or ovens, a furnace, a passage for heated gases leading
from said furnace to the oven and opening above the charge therein, a blower
for forcing air into the furnace, a steam boiler in the upper part of the oven
through the flues of which the gaseous contents thereof are forced to pass, a
cold-jacketed eduction passage leading from the top of the oven beyond the
boiler, a settling tank to which said passage conducts, and a gasometer connected
with said settling tank.
Dated this 5th day of September 1899.
MARKS & CLERK,
18. Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
13, Temple Street, Birmingham, and
25, Cross Street, Manchester, Agents.