IMPROVE- MENTS IN DISTILLING, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Church, of Glasgow, in the County, of
Lanark, North Britain, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN DISTILLING, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Church at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th February 1871.
I, JAMES CHURCH, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DISTILLING, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR," to be as
follows, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its objects to obtain superior products, to
economise fuel and labor, and to accelerate the process of distilling
various solid and liquid substances, and consists of a systematic com-
bination of arrangements wherein gas or a mixture of gases such as
that obtained from coal or other carbonaceous matter in what are known *

page_text: as "
gas producers" is heated either by apparatus like that used for the
blast of a smelting, furnace, or by being passed alternately through
separate sets of flues heated by burning portions of the gas, and is then
passed through or across a descending column of the substances, whose
volatile constituents are evolved by the heat, of which the gas is the
vehicle, and are carried by the current of the gas forward to condensers.
The gas may be made to take the desired course by means of a chimney
draught, or by a fan or other blowing apparatus; it is, however, pre-
ferred to use steam jets for inducing the desired flow. In the condensers
the liquefiable vapors become separated from uncondensable gas, and
this last is made to circulate again through the apparatus, and may be
repeatedly reheated and reused as a medium for applying heat in the
distilling process. In some cases it may be advantageous for the same
column of the substance that is being distilled to be acted upon by
currents of heated gas at two or even more distinct parts, such currents
being of the same or various temperatures. Saturated or superheated
steam may in some cases be used instead of gas, or a mixture of gas and
steam, as the vehicle for applying heat to the substances to be distilled.
In one modification of apparatus for carrying out the Invention the
gas producer is a fire-brick chamber with a bottom grate, the bars of
which are disposed stepways, and a regulated supply of air is blown in
through the grate by means of a steam jet. The gas leaves the producer
by a flue from the top, and may if necessary be subjected to any suitable
purifying process, it then passes through a series of pipes or casings to
be heated, these pipes or casings being arranged in stoves or flues heated
by ordinary fires, or as is preferred, and with a view to the more accurate
and convenient regulation of the temperature, by portions of the gases
themselves, admitted by branch pipes into the combustion spaces, and
supplied with air. The fire gases (or completely burned gases) thus
formed are thence led through the flues of a boiler for raising the steam
required for the various current inducing jets. From the heaters the
gas passes into one or more mains, from which branch pipes lead it to
the retorts or distilling vessels or chambers.
The retorts are, by preference, vertical, and in one modification of an
oblong horizontal section, and in this case gratings or perforated plates
are fitted at the two broad sides at the parts where the heated gas enters
and leaves the retort, and at those parts external chambers are formed in

page_text: connection with the pipes to give the gas access to and egress from the
gratings.
In another modification the retorts are of a circular or polygonal
horizontal section, and each is formed with an enlargement at the part
where the heated gas is to act on the substances in the retort, the
enlargement being fitted with a horizontal diaphragm having a central
opening through which the substances descend. The heated gas is
admitted into an annular space at one side of the diaphragm, and
acting on the substances and passing through the central opening passes
off from the other side of the diaphragm, carrying the volatile products
with it. Two or more of these retorts may be arranged with their
enlargements in communication with each other and with single inlet
and exit pipes. Either modification of retort may be constructed of
brickwork or iron, or partly of each material.
It is intended to apply the improved arrangements in obtaining oil
from shale or other carbonaceous mineral substances, but they are also
applicable for obtaining oil and other products from wood and other
vegetable substances, and for distilling crude oil or other liquid in the
process of refining them. When dealing with a liquid the retort is filled
with pieces of coke or other indifferent substance, and the liquid is
poured in slowly at the top, so that as it drips down over the coke it is
presented in thin films to the current of heated gas. When dealing
with a solid substance, such as shale, the shale by preference reduced
to small pieces is fed in at the top of each retort, and the retorts may,
if necessary, be fitted with covers, the shale being charged at intervals,
although the process is practically continuous. The residues are removed
from the bottoms of the retorts either through open outlets or through
troughs of water. The closing or keeping open of the tops and bottoms
of the retorts will depend on the pressure of the gas and on the per-
meability of the column of substances operated upon; but it is preferred
to maintain a pressure slightly above that of the atmosphere through-
out the apparatus, in order to prevent the entrance of air, and to control
the currents of gas in the various channels by means of jets of steam or
otherwise, so as to have the pressure a little higher at the side of the
retorts at which the gas enters than in the passages leading from the
retorts to the condensers.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said James Church in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd August 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
CHURCH, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of February, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said James Church, Her special licence that
I, the said James Church, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Church, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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, usc, exercise, and vend,
within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DISTILLING,
AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said James Church, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their; or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Church, 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 in writing, reference being had to the accompanying.
Drawings, that is to say :-
My said Invention has for its objects to obtain superior products, to
economise fuel and labor, and to accelerate the process of distilling
various solid and liquid substances, and consists of a systematic
combination of arrangements wherein gas or a mixture of gases, such as

page_text: "
that obtained from coal or other carbonaceous matter, in what are
known as <<
gas producers," or such as the somewhat similar "waste
gas of blast furnaces, is heated either by apparatus like that used for
the blast of a smelting furnace, or by being passed alternately through
separate sets of flues heated by separate fires or by burning portions
of the gas, and is then passed through or across a descending column
of the substances whose volatile constituents are evolved by the heat
of which the gas is the vehicle, and are carried by the current of the
gas forward to condensers. The gas may be made to take the desired
course by means of a chimney draught or by a fan or other blowing
apparatus; I however prefer to use steam jets for inducing the desired
flow. In the condensers tlic liquefiable vapors become separated from
uncondensable gas, and this last is made to circulate again through
the apparatus and may be repeatedly reheated and reused as a medium
for applying heat in the distilling process. In some cases it may
be advantageous for the same column of the substance that is being
distilled to be acted upon by currents of heated gas at two or even
more distinct parts, such currents being of the same or of various
temperatures. Saturated or superheated steam may in some cases be
used instead of gas, or a mixture of gas and steam, as the vehicle for
applying heat to the substances to be distilled.
And in order that my said Invention and the manner of performing
the same may be properly understood, I hereunto append two Sheets
of explanatory Drawings to be herein-after referred to, and representing
modifications of the improved apparatus for carrying out my Invention.
in these Drawings the same reference numerals are used to mark the
same or like parts whenever they are repeated.
Figures 1 and 2, on Sheet 1, of the Drawings are vertical sections
at right angles to each other, and Figure 3. is a horizontal section;
all of one modification of the apparatus. In this modification each
gas producer is a fire-brick chamber 1, with a bottom grate, the bars 2
of which are disposed stepways, the series slanting downwards and
inwards; and a regulated supply of air is blown in through the grate
by means of a jet from a steam pipe 3; the fuel is supplied by a
hopper and valve 4 at the top, and the gas leaves the chamber 1 by
a flue 5 from the upper part, and may if necessary be subjected to
any suitable purifying process. The flues 5 from the gas producers

page_text: or keeping open of the tops and bottoms of the retorts will depend
on the pressure of the gas and on the permeability of the column of
substances operated upon; but I prefer to maintain a pressure slightly
above that of the atmosphere throughout the apparatus in order to
prevent the entrance of air, and to control the currents of gas in the
various channels by means of jets of steam or otherwise so as to have
the pressure a little higher at the sides of the retorts at which the gas
enters than in the passage 16, 17, 18, leading from the retorts 12 to
the condensers.
Figure 4, on Sheet 2 of the Drawings, is a sectional plan; Figure 5
a sectional elevation, and Figure 6 an enlarged vertical section of a
modification of my improved-retorts in which they are of a circular or
polygonal horizontal section. Each retort 12 is formed with an enlarge-
ment 21 at the part where the heated gas is to act on the substances
in the retort, and which part is shown in horizontal section in the
middle part of Figure 4, whilst the upper part of that Figure is a plan
of the tops of the retorts, and the lower part a section below the
enlargements. The enlargement is formed or fitted with a horizontal
diaphragm 22, with cylindrical and conical parts and a central
opening 23, as will be easily understood from Figure 6. The heated
gas is admitted from the main 10 by a branch pipe 11 into an annular
space 24 at the upper side of the diaphragm 22, and acting on the
substances, and passing through the central opening. 23 passes off from
the other side of the diaphragm by a branch pipe 17 and the condenser
main 18, carrying the volatile products with it. Two or more of these
retorts may be arranged as shown with their enlargements in com-
munication with each other and with a single inlet pipe 11 to each pair
or connected set.
I intend to apply my improved arrangements in obtaining oil from
shalc or other carbonaceous mineral substances, but they are also
applicable for obtaining oil and other products from wood and other
vegetable substances, and for distilling crude oils or other liquids in the
processes of refining them.
When dealing with a liquid the retort is filled with pieces of coke or
other indifferent substance, and the liquid is poured in slowly at the top
so that as it drips down over the coke it is presented in thin films to the
current of heated gas.

page_text: Figure 7 (Sheet 2) is a vertical section of a modification of retort
suitable for distilling a liquid in the manner last herein-before described,
and also illustrating a modification of my arrangements, to which I have
hercin-before referred, and in which separate currents of the heated gas
are made to pass at different heights across the substances to be operated
upon. In this example the retort is closed, and the liquid is introduced
by a pipe 26, at the top, and dripping down over the coke is first operateḍ
upon at 27 by one current of heated gas, and then proceeding further
downwards is operated upon by a second current of heated gas at 28,
The temperature of the upper or first current may be such as to carry
off only the more volatile constituents of the oil or other liquid operated
upon, whilst the lower or second current may be of a higher temperature
so as to carry off the less volatile constituents. If the residue is liquid
it can pass off at the bottom by the siphon pipe 29, whilst solid residues
may be removed or the retort may be emptied by the doors 30.
The various passages, flues, or pipes in the several modifications of the
apparatus are to be fitted with stop or regulator valves or cocks so as to
give complete control over the currents passing through every part, and
wherever it may be found desirable the pipes conveying the hot gases
or the retorts or other parts are to be encased or embedded in non-
conducting material so as to avoid loss of heat by radiation.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I have to state that I do not
restrict myself to the precise details herein.described or delineated, and
that I do not claim to have invented every separate detail herein described
or delineated, but that what I believe to be novel and original, and claim
as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent is,―
1. Distilling by processes and by means of apparatus combined
together substantially in the manner herein-before described.
2. The passing of heated gaseous distilling media across a descending.
column of the substance to be distilled as herein-before described.
3. The constructing of vertical retorts with lateral inlets intermediately
between the top and bottom for the gascous distilling medium and with
similar lateral outlets for the distilling medium and products as herein.
before described.

page_text: 4. The heating of the distilling medium by burning a portion of itself
in such a way as to easily regulate the heat, and in the manner and by
arrangements of apparatus, substantially such as are herein described
and delineated.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Church, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of August, in the year of our
J
arrangements of apparatus, substantially such as are herein described
and delineated.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Church, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Church, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Second day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT,
Patent Agent,
Glasgow.
JAS. CHURCH. (L.S.)