IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURing Gas
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry James Surmon, of Belvedere, in the
County of Kent, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURing Gas.”
Sealed the 30th December 1873, and dated the 14th October 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry James Surmon
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 14th October 1873.
I, HENRY JAMES SURMON, of Belvedere, in the County of Kent,
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
“IMPROVEMENTS in Apparatus for ManufacturingG Gas," to be as follows :—
My said Invention relates to apparatus of novel construction, whereby
I am enabled to effect the manufacture of gas for illuminating and
heating purposes in a very advantageous manner.
My improved apparatus is constructed as follows:-The stove or
furnace wherein the retort is placed is built of brickwork, and with a
solid flat bottom very close to the retort, which is preferably made of

page_text: iron; and by this means the destruction of the retort by the heat of
the furnace is in a great measure prevented. I construct the stove
with a flue at the back and with a double chamber, which causes the
flame to travel around the retort and ascend the flue; the latter is
provided with a regulator, consisting of three perforated plates, which
cause a strong draught, and may be revolved to act as a damper.
I use a T shaped retort, which is placed in the furnace or stove with
the vertical stem or branch upward; the said stem being provided with
a flange to receive the ascension pipe. The inside of this vertical stem
is provided with a series of bowls or chambers of various sizes, into 1
which the tar that rises with the gas from the retort enters, the same
being caused to return over the sides of the said bowls. By this
contrivance the tar, which in the ordinary apparatus for making gas
enters the hydraulic main, is compelled to return into the hottest part
of the retort, and is regenerated. I am therefore enabled to dispense 1
with the hydraulic main in my improved apparatus.
Inside the retort, at the bottom of the aforesaid stem or branch, I
fit a portable sliding frame constructed of angular iron bars, arranged
horizontally, and which by preventing the passing of the tar and
other matters with the gas to the said bowls prevent their corrosion.
2
The front of the said retort is provided with a mouth piece, which is
fitted with a cover formed with a V shaped or double face, whereby
when closed it is made perfectly tight in the said mouth piece without
luting. The said cover is constructed with two flanges or lugs
diametrically opposite each other, and the socket of the mouth piece, 2
wherein the cover is fitted, has correspondingly formed apertures, which
permit the said cover to be inserted into the said socket and then
slightly turned therein. Over the said mouth piece I place a clamp
bar or brace, which is fitted with a ratchet wheel, lever, and screw, or
other suitable mechanism, for securing the said cover in place.
3
My improved apparatus is provided with a purifyer, which has five
chambers; four of these chambers are partly filled with lime and
water, and each of them has a self-acting door fitted on hinges, and so
arranged that it is partially below the top of the lime and water. The
fifth chamber of the said purifyer is filled with small iron wire saturated 3
with sal ammoniac. It is also provided with two cocks, one of which
serves for the purpose of admitting air to the said chamber, while the

page_text: other serves as an outlet for the air, thereby reviving the properties of
the materials in the said chambers.
The above described iron wire and sal ammoniac will be found far
surperior to the oxide of iron commonly used in gas apparatus. The
said purifyer is connected by suitable pipes to the gas holder. The
latter is provided with a telescopic outlet pipe at the top instead of the
usual pipe at the bottom for conducting the gas to the service pipes.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said Henry James Surmon in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th April 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
JAMES SURMON, of Belvedere, in the County of Kent, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Henry James Surmon, Her
special licence that I, the said Henry James Surmon, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry James
Surmon, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time.
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING GAS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Henry James Surmon,
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 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 Henry James Surmon, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same

page_text: series of cups or bowls 6³ of various sizes and forms, some of which are
shewn in Figure 5; the tar that rises with the gas from the retort is
caught in these cups or bowls, and running down their sides falls back
into the retort. And by this contrivance the tar, which in the ordinary
apparatus for making gas enters the hydraulic main, is compelled to
return into the hottest part of the retort, and is therein regenerated.
I am therefore enabled to dispense with the hydraulic main in my
improved apparatus.
In some instances I fit inside the retort, at the bottom of the aforesaid
stem or branch b¹, a portable sliding frame constructed of angular iron
bars, arranged horizontally, and which by preventing the passing of
the tar and other matters with the gas to the said bowls protects them
from corrosion. The body or horizontal portion of the said retort may
be cylindrical, as shewn, or may have an oval or other suitable
transverse sectional form. The front of the said retort 6 is provided
with the mouth piece e, which is secured to the retort by bolts passed
through the flanges f, g, or by other suitable fastenings. The said mouth
piece is constructed with a flange e¹, in which is formed a circular V
shaped groove or channel e³. The cover h has a V shaped rib or
projection h¹ formed to enter and fit the said groove or channel. And
when the cover his in place on the mouth piece this groove and projec-
tion will make the joint perfectly tight without luting or cement.
Over the said mouth piece I place a clamp bar or brace i, which is
fitted with a lever j and screw k, or with a ratchet wheel, or other
suitable mechanism, for securing the cover h upon the mouth piece
and permitting the ready removal and replacing of the said cover.
My improved apparatus is provided with a purifier 1, constructed
with a series of chambers 1, 1, 1³, 1, 1³, which must be partly filled with
lime and water. Each of these chambers has a self-acting door m
supported on hinges, and so arranged that it is partially below the
surface of the lime and water. Inside the chamber I place an inner
chamber or compartment n, filled with a mass of small iron wire
saturated with sal ammoniac. The purifier is also provided with two
cocks o, p. The lower cock o serves the purpose of admitting air to
the said chamber, while the upper cock p serves as an outlet for the
same. These cocks afford the means for reviving the properties of the
materials in the said chambers, and therefore economize the working

page_text: Seventh. The apparatus for manufacturing gas, consisting of the
various parts above described, combined and operating as herein set
forth.
In witness whereof I, the said Henry James Surmon, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
Witness,
WM. ROBT. LAKE.
HENRY JAMES SURMON. (L.S.)