IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS AND COKE
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Thomas, of Caen, in the Empire of
France, Gas Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS AND COKE."
Sealed the 1st July 1853, and dated the 5th April 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Thomas at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 5th April 1853.
I, JOHN THOMAS, of Caen, in the Empire of France, Gas Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS AND COKE" to be as
follows:
I place my retorts in a vertical position, charge them at top, and
provide them with a discharge door or hole at bottom, from which to
withdraw the coke.
I also construct retorts with a central perforated pipe or tube, and
charge the coal round such pipe; the gas, as fast as it is formed, passes
away from the coal through the central perforated pipe. Or I divide
the retort in two parts by means of a perforated plate, and charge each
half alternately.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Thomas, in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 5th October 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
JOHN THOMAS, of Caen, in the Empire of France, Gas Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and fifty-three, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
.cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Thomas, Her special
licence that I, the said John Thomas, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Thomas, 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
APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS AND COKE," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said John Thomas, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascer
tain 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 John Thomas, 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
following statement thereof, reference being had to the drawings here-
unto annexed, that is to say:
My Invention consists of a new method of fixing or erecting and
working retorts for the destructive distillation of coal and other sub-
stances used for the production of illuminating gases and coke. The
retorts may be composed of clay or iron, or of clay and iron combined,

page_text: and they may be of any number, and of any shape, form, or length,
that may be most convenient. The arrangement represented in the
accompanying drawings will be found a convenient one for large works.
In this case the retorts are arranged in a vertical position in three
benches, each bench made up of twelve retorts, in two rows of six in a
row. The furnaces are at the bottom of the retorts, and extend
throughout the whole width of the benches, so as to insure a good and
regular heating. In order to obtain the greatest amount of economy
derivable from my arrangement, the two external benches of retorts
are provided with a furnace to each; and the bench between them is
without a furnace, but is heated by the spare heat from the bench on
either side of it, so that a bed of these settings is composed of a bench
with a furnace, and one without one, alternately. These retorts are
charged at the top by means of hoppers placed above them, the coals
being run into them down a shoot, and they are discharged at the
bottom, the coke being guided into the barrow or other receptacle by
means of a screen, which at the same time frees it from dust. The
retorts may be divided perpendicularly by a diaphragm of perforated
sheet iron, and charged on each side alternately when caking coal is
used. But I prefer to employ a perforated sheet-iron tube or pipe,
fixed in the centre of the retort, so as to leave an annular space to be
occupied by the coal. The gas will readily escape into the perforated
pipe, whilst the slight pressure to which the coke is subjected will pro-
duce an article much more dense, and consequently more valuable, than
that produced by any of the methods at present in use.
Figure 1, of the drawings annexed is a longitudinal section of a
setting of retorts, arranged according to my Invention. Figure 2, is a
cross section of the same; Figure 3, a plan; and Figure 4, an elevation.
The same letters refer to the same parts in each Figure. A, A, are
the retorts, which are represented as of an oval shape, 11 ft. 6 in. long,
18 in. x 10 in. wide at top, and 20 in. x 12 in. at bottom, although
any other form may be substituted. They are fixed perpendicularly, or
nearly so, and from being larger at bottom than top discharge the coke
with much ease. They are composed of clay, although iron may be
substituted, particularly in the setting without a furnace. B, B, are
the coal hoppers, from which the coals are discharged into the retorts by

page_text: means of the shoot L, which runs on an iron rod along the front of
the hoppers. C, C, are the ascension and dip pipes, so arranged that
one of the latter, by being divided longitudinally, serves for two of the
former. They are covered with a cap to facilitate cleaning them out,
and the joint is so made as to yield to the retort in case of shrinking
or otherwise. D. is the hydraulic main, placed under the coal
hoppers. E, E. are small conducting pipes, leading from hydraulic
main to large conducting pipe. F, is the large conducting pipe, leading
to condenser. G, G, are firing doors, through which the coke or other
fuel, in any quantity, may be shot into the furnaces; thus obviating the
necessity of frequently opening the fire doors, and effecting conse-
quently a saving of fuel. H, H, are clinkering doors, which are built
up of fire lumps, and taken down when required. I, are the air flues;
J, the coke screen; and K, K, the tar pipes, for conveying the tar from
the hydraulic main, which may be placed near the top of the retort
bed, instead of in the position shewn in the drawings. M, is the
clinkering floor. In the case of two beds running parallel in one
house, this floor would be continued from one to the other. N, is the
firing and charging floor, composed of fire tiles. An air space Q, of
4 or 5 inches, is left between this floor and the top of the retort bed,
for the purpose of keeping it cool. O, is a ventilating flue, for the
purpose of drawing off the heat and flame given out by the retorts
during the process of charging, and also for increasing the circulation
of air in the space Q. under the charging floor. P, is the horizontal
flue, leading from the furnaces to the chimney. R, R, are the furnaces,
which, together with the retorts, are carried on wrought-iron T bars,
and have a shallow sheet-iron ash-pan underneath, which is fixed in
such a manner that it can be pushed on one side when the bars require
attending to. The products of combustion, after passing from the
furnaces to near the top of the retorts, descend on the other side of
them, and then passing through the partition wall, heat one half of
the next setting, the other half being heated in like manner from the
setting on the other side of it. The partially exhausted heat from the
two benches containing furnaces, meets in the centre of the retorts at
top of the bench without a furnace, and then descending heats that
bench, and passes off to the chimney by the flue T, as shewn by the

page_text: arrows. By this arrangement each alternate setting of twelve, or other
number of retorts, is heated by the heat from the settings on each side
of it, thus economizing the fuel to its utmost extent.
In charging these retorts it is intended to remove and replace the
top lids by means of an iron crow bar, which is inserted into a loop on
the top of each of the lids, the bar being first passed through the ring
of a chain, which is suspended from the roof of the retort house, and
serves as a fulcrum to the bar, by means of which the lids are removed
and replaced as required. The bottom lid is secured at one side by a
hook, which takes into a staple or eye on the side of the mouth piece,
and on the other side it is temporarily supported by a catch, whilst
applying the cotter, as shewn in the Figures.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is,
First, the setting of retorts employed in the manufacture of gas and
coke, in a perpendicular or nearly perpendicular position, with a mouth
piece or door at top and bottom of them, and the furnace or fire
employed for heating the same so situated that the retorts form the
two sides of the furnace.
Second, the employment in retorts for the manufacture of gas and
coke of a perforated diaphragm, or a perforated pipe, for the purpose
before described.
And third, the arrangement of retorts employed in the manufacture
of gas and coke in such manner that every alternate bench of such
retorts shall be heated by the spare heat from the next adjoining
benches of retorts on each side, as before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Thomas, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this First day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three.
JOHN THOMAS. (L.S.)