AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND OF AND APPARATUS FOR COKING COAL
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William George Valentin, of the Royal College of
Chymistry, Government School of Mines, Oxford Street, in the County
of Middlesex, Chymist, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND
"
Sealed the 16th May 1862, and dated the 13th February 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William George Valentin
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his. Petition, on the
13th February 1862.
I, WILLIAM GEORGE. VALENTIN, of the Royal College of Chymistry, Govern-
ment School. of Mines, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex, Chymist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF
AND APPARATUS FOR COKING COAL," to be as follows:-
My Invention of an improved mode of and apparatus for coking coal
consists in submitting the coal to the coking operation in a close vessel or
retort of a peculiar kind, and also in heating the retort by means of the
combustible gas evolved from the coal during the ooking operation.
In carrying out my Invention, any convenient number of close chambers or
retorts. may be combined in, one set, of apparatus. These chambers are by
preference of a rectangular form, and are made long, narrow, and deep, say,
for example, four or five feet long, four feet deep, and two feet wide. They
are closed, at top and provided with a hopper or funnel through which they are

page_text: charged with coal. The bottom of the chamber is moveable, being made in
the form of a trap door, which when opened and let fall will allow the charge
after being properly coked to drop into an open space below. The coking
chambers are heated by the combustible gases evolved from the coal during
previous coking operations. All the coking chambers are surrounded by
narrow passages or flues, into which the combustible gases, together with a
suitable supply of atmospheric air to support combustion, are introduced
through burners communicating with a supply pipe. In order to prevent the
heat generated by the combustion of the gases from passing off too rapidly, a
number of partitions are placed in the flues, so as to make the heated vapours
pass in a serpentine direction along the flues. When the heated cokes are
discharged from the coking chambers or retorts in the space below, they are
quenched by means of hydrochloric acid gas, or by a dilute solution of bydro-
chloric acid. This will have the effect of taking up and carrying off a certain
portion of the sulphur contained in the coal. The gases and vapours evolved
during the coking operation, aro conveyed from the coking chambers to a
receiver and condenser, where the tar and other solid or liquid matters
inay be separated from the uncondensable gases, which are conducted to a gas
holder, so as to be ready for beating the retorts in the manner above men-
tioned, or for other purposes for which they may be usefully employed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William George Valentin in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th August 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GEORGE VALENTIN, of the Royal College of Chemistry, Government School of
Mines, Oxford Street, in the County of Middlesex, Chymist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
"Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, lid, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me
the said William George Valentin, Her special license that I, the said William
George Valentin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
1, the said William George Valentin, 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

page_text: Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man; an Invention for
"AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR COKING COAL," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William George Valentin, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, 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 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 William George Valentin, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures' marked thereon (that is to say) :-
My Invention of "An Improved Mode of and Apparatus for Coking Coal "
consists in submitting the coal to the coking operation in a close. vessel or
retort of a peculiar kind, and also in heating the retort by means of the com-
bustible gas evolved from the coal during the coking operation.
In carrying out my Invention any convenient number of close chambers or
retorts may be combined in one set of apparatus. These chambers are by
preference of a rectangular form, but may, if desired, be made of an elliptical
or other convenient shape. If rectangular, as shewn in the accompanying
Drawing, they should be made long, narrow, and deep; they are to be closed
at top, and provided with a hopper; or funnel, or other opening through
which they are to be charged with coal. The bottom of the chamber is
moveable, being made in the form of a trap or sliding door or other suitable
contrivance, which, when let fall or opened, will allow the charge after being
properly coked to drop into a vacant space below. The coking chambers are
heated by the combustible gases evolved from the coal during previous coking
operations, and which gases must be collected and stored for the purpose. All
the coking chambers are surrounded by narrow passages or flues, into which
the combustible gases, together with a suitable supply of atmospheric air to
support combustion, are introduced through suitable burners communicating
with a supply pipe connected with the gas reservoir. In order to prevent the
heat generated by the combustion of the gases from passing off too rapidly, a
number of partitions are placed in the flues, so as to make the heated vapors
in a serpentine, direction along the flues. When the heated cokes are
discharged from the coking chambers or retorts into the space below, they are
quenched by means of hydrochloric acid gas, or by a dilute solution of hydro-
chloric acid. This will have the effect of taking up and carrying off a certain
pass

page_text: portion of the sulphur contained in the coal. The gases and vapors evolved
during the coking operation are conducted by a suitable arrangement of pipes
from the coking chambers to a receiver and condenser, where the tar and
other solid or liquid matters may be separated from the incondensable gases,
which are conducted to a gas holder, so as to be ready for heating the retorts
or coking chambers in the manner above mentioned, or for other purposes
for which they may be usefully employed, as for lighting, heating, or other
purposes.
In the 'accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1, Sheet I., is a sectional elevation of
a coking apparatus constructed according to my Invention; Fig. 2 is a
sectional plan view of the same. The part shewn in section in Fig. 2 is taken
on the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1, and the part shewn in section in Fig. 1 is taken
on the line 3, 4, of Fig. 2, and 3, 4, of Fig. 3, which is a longitudinal vertical
section of the apparatus, taken in the line 5, 6, of Fig. 2, that is, longi-
tudinally through two of the coking chambers or retorts. Fig: 4 is a transverse
vertical section, taken in the line 7, 8, of Fig. 2, that is, through the side flues
and hot air channels, whereby the coking chambers or retorts are heated.
a, a, a, a, are the coking chambers or retorts, which it will be seen are made
long, deep, and narrow, and are charged with coal from above through the
hoppers b, b. The bottoms of the retorts or coking chambers are made
moveable, and are constructed either in the form of-trap doors, as seen at c, c,
and which may be let fall on their hinges, as indicated by the dotted lines in
Fig. 1, for the purpose of discharging the contents of the chambers a, a. Or
the lower open ends of the chambers or retorts a, a, may be closed by a
moveable plate c', lined with fire brick, and mounted on wheels, which run on
rails, as shewn at c¹, Figs. 1 and 3, and on an enlarged scale at Fig. 5,
Sheet II. This moveable plate or bottom c¹ may be drawn out by a chain
and windlass, or by the rack and pinion motion shewn in Fig. 3. The
contents of the chambers or retorts a, when sufficiently coked, are (by with-
drawing the moveable bottoms c or c¹) discharged into the vacant space
below. This space is closed by suitable doors d, so as to convert it into a
close chamber for the purpose herein-after mentioned. The chambers or
retorts a, a, are heated by combustible gases, which are supplied through
suitable burners f, f, to the heating flues or channels e, e, as shewn in the
enlarged sectional view, Fig. 6, Sheet II. These burners are constructed in
to the
such a manner that air to support combustion is supplied with the gases
heating flues e, e, through openings 9, 9, constructed of fire-brick, as seen best
in the enlarged sectional views, Figs. 5 and 6, Sheet II. These burners are
shewn detached and drawn full size at Figs. 8 and 9, Sheet II., and will be
d

page_text: hereafter more fully described. Fig. 7 is a plan view, representing a con-
venient method of arranging the burners when several coking chambers.or
retorts are combined in one apparatus. The burners belonging to the several
Chambers or retorts are adapted to branch pipes ff, which communicate
with a central supply pipe h. The gases and air from the burners f, f, aro
supplied to the flues e, e, where they are burned, while the incombustible gases
and the beated vapors pass in the direction indicated by the arrows down the
narrow flues e', e', and up the adjoining fluos e, 'e, in a serpentine direction, as
seen in Fig. 4, and from thence into the upward front flues e, es, Fig. 2, into
an arched horizontal flue e³, Figs. 1, 3, and 4, above the chambers or retorts a, a,
and ultimately into the longitudinal flue e, which terminates in the chimney
or stack e. It will be seen that by this arrangement of flues the heated gases
will have time to part with the principal portion of their caloric before reaching
the chimney or stack e. Fig. 8, Sheet II., is a vertical section drawn full
size of one of the burners; and Fig. 9 is a horizontal section of the same,
taken in the line 1, 1, of Fig. 8. The socket of the burner is screwed, and is
adapted in any convenient manner to the branch supply pipe f', f. The
burner itself is composed of a metal tube f, which is screwed into its socket
and is provided at its upper end with a perforated cap piece, through which
the combustible gases issue and pass up the chimney i, which is screwed into
a metal chamber j. This chamber is screwed on to the socket, and encloses
the burner f, and has a number of convergent holes made in it for the purpose
of admitting air to the interior, as indicated by the arrows in Fig. 8. The air
and gases commingle in the chamber; and chimney i, up which they pass, and
through the openings g, g, into the heating flues or channels e, e, Figs. 5 and 6,
where they are burned in the manner already described. During the coking
operation a considerable quantity of combustible gases is given off from the
coal in the chambers or retorts a, a, and these gases are drawn off from the
chambers or retorts a by the pipes k, k, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, and are conducted
to the bydraulic main 7, from whence they pass down the pipe m to the
condenser, purifier, or gas reservoirs or holders, so as to be ready for being
used for heating the coking chambers, as already described, as well as for
other heating purposes, and also for lighting. When the charge in any of the
chambers or retorts a has been sufficiently coked, the moveable bottoms c or c¹
are removed, and the incandescent coke is discharged into the chambers d
below, which are by preference to be made capacious enough to receive the
whole charge. The coke may then be quenched in the usual way by water or
by employing a dilute solution of hydrochloric acid, and this should be done
with the doors of the chamber d closed. By this means a large portion of

page_text: the sulphur contained; in, the coke will be removed, and as the air will be
prevented from coming into contact with the incandescent coke there will be
little or no loss of carbon from oxydation.
Having now described my Invention of "An Improved Mode of and
Apparatus for Coking Coal," and having explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent,.
as aforesaid, coking coal in close chambers or retorts_heated externally by the
-combustion of gases generated from similar previous coking operations, and
applied in the manner herein set forth.
I also claim the use of the vertical close chambers or retorts a in com-
bination with the external flues or heating channels supplied with combustible
gases and air from the burners f, as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William George Valentin, have, here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
W". GEO. VALENTIN. (L.S.)