IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PEAT FUEL
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Smith, of 27, Waterloo Road, in the
County of Dublin, Civil Engineer; for the Invention of "IM-
>>
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Smith at the
Once of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
12th April 1873.
I, WILLIAM SMITH, of 27, Waterloo Road, in the County of Dublin,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PEAT FUEL," to be as follows:-
In almost all methods of making peat in the wet way hitherto proposed
the peat when formed into bricks or blocks retain when leaving the
machine all and sometimes more than the proportion of water it con-
tained in the bog; by some methods a portion of the water is expressed,
but it has been found that the bricks thus deprived of a portion of the
water require as long if not a longer time to dry than in the natural
state, and in all these methods it is necessary to dry the bricks in frames
so as to separate each brick from the other until dry.

page_text: Now the object of my Invention is to partially dry the peat before
manufacturing it, so as to be able to clamp peat bricks or blocks soon
after being made and thus economize space and labour in handling.
First. I form the portion of bog to be operated on into beds thoroughly
drained, so that excepting during rain the surface is comparatively dry.
Second. I erect sheds varying in extent according to the daily manu-
facture at the rate of one acre of shedding to every ten tons of dry pcat
manufactured per day.
...ES,
The first part of the operation consists, in raking or harrowing with a
light harrow the surface of the beds, the rakings are left on the hos for
some hours varying with the state of the weather, but at
except during frost and when actually raining, one or more crops or
rakings can be gathered per day; when sufficiently dry I collect the
rakings which will then have lost a considerable portion of moisture.
The second part is the passing the rakings through a pug mill, dis-
integrator, or any other machine which will render them plastic, in
which state I pass it through a brick, tile, or other forming machine.
The bricks or tiles so formed are conveyed to a shed on frames and left
on the ground or on the frames for twenty-four hours, when they are
removed to the drying shed, and clamped in such a manner as to leave
a space between each brick to admit a current of air, cach day's mauu-
facture being thus clamped on that of the previous day. I am enabled
to clamp the bricks so made thus carly, the peat when pugged being in a
seni-plastic not a wet state, the preliminary drying on frames or on the
ground being morely for the purpose of setting the bricks so as to form
a thin external crust. The peat thus clamped is fit to stack in from
three to four weeks and it will improve in the stacks by keeping.

page_text: +
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Smith, IIer special licence that
I, the said William Smith, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Smith, my executors, adminis-
irators, 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
MANUFACTURE OF PEAT FUEL," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Smith, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly 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 Scal Patent Office within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
THE
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Smith, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
Le performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :—
The great difficulty in preparing peat for fuel is connected with the
drying thereof, it being practically impossible to dry peat by any
artificial means except in a state of powder which to be made com-
mercially valuable must be compressed by powerful machinery.
In almost all methods of treating peat in the wet way hitherto
proposed the peat when formed into bricks or blocks retains when
leaving the moulding machine all and sometimes more than the pro-
pation of water it contained in its natural state in the bog; by some
methods a portion of the water is pressed out but the pressing is very
costly and does not facilitate the after drying of the peat, and in all
these methods it is necessary to dry the bricks or blocks on frames so
as to separate each brick from the other until dry.

page_text: Now the object of my Invention is to partially dry the peat before
manufacturing it so as to be able to clamp the bricks or blocks of peat
soon after being made, and thus economize plant, space, and labour in
handling.
And first. I form the portion of bog to be operated on into beds
thoroughly drained, so that except during rain the surface may be
comparatively dry, and then I rake or harrow with a light harrow the
surface of the beds; the rakings remain on the beds for some time,
varying with the state of the weather, when sufficiently dry I collect the
rakings which will have lost a considerable portion of moisture.
Second. I pass the rakings through a pug mill, disintegrator, or any
other machine which will render the rakings plastic, and I then form
the plastic peat into bricks or tiles by any suitable brick, tile, or similar
machine. The bricks or files when made are conveyed to a shed on
frames and left on the ground or on the frames for twenty-four hours,
when they are removed to drying sheds and clamped in such a manner
that a space between each brick or tile shall be left to admit a current
of air, the produce of each day's manufacture being clamped on to that
of the previous day, for I am enabled to clamp the bricks or tiles so
made thus carly, the peat when pugged being in a semi-plastic and not
in a wet state, the preliminary drying on frames or on the ground being
merely for the purpose of setting the bricks or tiles so as to form a thin
external crust. The peat when thus clamped dries and is fit to be
stacked in from three to four weeks, and it will improve in the stack.
When passing the rakings through a pug mill, disintegrator, or other
machine, and before passing them into the forming machine, I sometimes
mix peat, charcoal, pitch, tar, iron-ore, lime, salt, or other materials or
combinations thereof with the rakings, according to the purpose for
which the peat fuel may be intended.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature and
object of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed or put in practice, I hereby declare that I claim the Inven-
tion of " Improvements in the Manufacture of Peat Fuel," as herein-
before set forth and described, in which Invention the following are
important points :—
First. Rendering plastic by pugging or such like suitable means the
partially dried rakings of bogs.
3

page_text: Second. Forming the rakings so rendered plastic into bricks, DIOCAS,
tiles, or other convenient forms.
Third. Mixing with the rakings when passing them through a pug
mill, disintegrator, or other machine, peat, charcoal, pitch, tar, iron ore,
lime, salt, or other materials or combinations thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Smith, have hercunto set
my hand and scal, this Ninth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Witness,
DAVID JOHNSTON,
Hotel Keeper,
Belleck.
W. SMITH. (.5.)