IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FUEL
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEX-
ANDER SPEID LIVINGSTONE, of Swansea, in the County of Glamorgan, Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Eleventh day of
January, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one, the fifteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alexander Speid Livingstone, my exors, adññors, and assigns, Her special
licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Alexander
Speid Livingstone, my exors, adñiors, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alexander Speid Livingstone, my exors, adñors, or assigns, should at any
time agree with, and .no .others, from time to time and at all times during
the terms of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FUEL;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Alexander
Speid Livingstone, cause a particular description of the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alexander Speid Livingstone, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are parti-
cularly described and ascertained by this Specification thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed (that is to say):—
My said Invention consists,―
Firstly, of machinery for compressing or forming artificial fuel into blocks
or shapes.
Secondly, of a long oven or tube for drying blocks or pieces of fuel, the
oven and its flues being constructed in such manner that different parts of its
length may be heated to different degrees of temperature, for the purpose of
enabling me to pass the blocks or shapes through the various degrees of tem-
perature to which they may require to be exposed, in order to dry them in the
manner required.
Thirdly, the exposure of such blocks or pieces of fuel as aforesaid succes-
sively to the various degrees of temperature of such an oven as aforesaid, by
means of carriages moving slowly along the oven, so that the blocks or pieces
may be gradually heated to the required maximum degree for the purpose of
drying them, and the heat applied to them for this purpose be again gradually
diminished until they are withdrawn from the oven.
My said improved machinery for compressing or forming fuel into blocks
or shapes is shewn in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the said Drawings hereunto
annexed.
Figure 1 is an elevation of the machine; Figure 2 is an end view of the
same machine; Figure 3 is a plan of the machine; and Figure 4 is a section
of the same, as taken through the line L, M, Figure 3, similar parts in each
of these Figures being marked with similar letters. a, a, is the revolving
table; b, b, are the rollers; c, c, c, c, are arms, each of which projects from
the body of the roller, and is hung by the pin d; e, e, are the shafts which
carry the rollers, and are supported and kept in their places by the standards
ff, which are fitted with brasses, and secured by straps and cottars.
9, 9, is
a spur wheel acted upon by the screw pinion D, which receives its motion
from the steam engine. i, i, is an oblong pipe which conveys the small coal
from the pug mill to the table of the machine a, a, a. On this table, at an
angle with the rollers, are teeth 2, 2, which act into teeth on the roller, and
thus turn the table on the upper side, while the teeth on the under side of the
table, acting into the teeth of the under roller, is turned by it. X, X, is a
lever and counterbalance weight to enter the hole in the table, and lift up the
compressed block of fuel. The end of this lever acts into a series of inclined

page_text: planes in the inside of the revolving table. It will be seen by an inspection
of the Drawing that the dotted lines represent the position of the lever when
the block of fuel is raised to the upper surface of the table, and is ready to be
removed. The dotted lines Y, Y, represent the block of fuel between the
arms of the rollers.
In Figure 2 are shewn the friction rollers, which sustain the revolving
table a, a, and keep it in its proper place. m, m, is a short platform on
which the table slides, and serves as a bottom to the holes in the table, and
is placed immediately under the oblong pipe from the pug mill.
In Figure 3 I have shewn the holes or openings in the table into which
the materials for forming blocks of artificial fuel are to be forced, and those
holes or openings must be made of the size and shape necessary for forming
the blocks of the intended shapes and dimensions.
The arms
In Figure 4 will be seen more clearly the action of the arms.
c, c, c, c, in the upper roller are suspended by the pins d, d, d, which allow
them to enter the holes in the revolving table perpendicularly, and also to
leave the table after the block is compressed in the same position, so that the
block shall present an even surface. When the arm leaves it, the arms fall
into their proper places by their gravity or weight. The under roller is some-
what different, as will be seen by an inspection of. the Figure. An abutment
n, n, n, n, to which the arms c, c, c, c, are kept by a spring 0, 0, 0, 0. This
spring acts on the arm leaving the block, and by its compression causes the
arm to release itself from the revolving table perpendicularly, and when clear
of the table and out of the hole forces the arm against its abutment, and so
on, each arm having its own spring; it will be clearly seen that the holes in
the table and the arms in the rollers must be accurately divided so that the
arms fall into the holes with ease. The materials of which the blocks of
artificial fuel are intended to be formed being first thoroughly incorporated
either in a pug mill or by any other convenient means, I allow the mixture or
compound to fall through the shoot i to the revolving table a, a, which, having
openings of the required size and shape, each of those openings will, as they
successively pass under the shoot, be filled with the requisite quantity of mate-
rial. As each of those openings by the revolution of the table is brought
between the rollers, the end of one of the projecting arms of each of the
rollers will pass into the opening in the table, the end of the upper arm press-
ing downwards, and the end of the lower arm pressing upwards, and the
material contained in the opening being thus compressed by the simultaneous
action of the arms and the rollers to which they are respectively attached:
Each of the blocks thus formed will, when the orifice containing it is brought

page_text: round to the lifting apparatus X, X, be forced up by that apparatus to the
upper side of the table, and is then to be removed from the machine. When
blocks or pieces of artificial fuel are exposed to high degrees of heat in
retorts, the outer surfaces of the pieces become partially charred, and by these
means the power of the fuel to evolve licat, when burnt, is diminished, and
the charred parts are apt to crumble and fall off, thus causing considerable
waste. These evils are prevented or greatly diminished by drying blocks or
pieces of fuel upon waggons or trucks passing through long ovens, according
to the second and third parts of my Invention.
The mode or modes of constructing long ovens or tubes according to the
second part of my Invention is shewn in Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the said
Drawings. When a large oven or tube is required, I prefer to make it as
shewn in Figures 5, 6, and 7.
Figure 5 shews a longitudinal section of such a large oven or tube, which
may be constructed of cast or malleable iron or brickwork; but I prefer cast
or wrought iron, as I'deem them to be more economical and stronger. p, p, p,
is an oval iron tube, the shorter diameter of which is about four feet six inches,
and the larger diameter about five feet six inches. The number of tons of fuel
to be made in a day in this oven will decide the necessary length of it. Thus,
if fifty tons a day are to be made, the oven will require to be made about
one hundred and fifty feet long; if one hundred tons a day, three hundred
fcet, and so on, according to the quantity of fuel to be dried. This tube is
set in brickwork or masonry, and surrounded with the flues r, r, r, r, having
fireplaces s at intervals about twenty feet apart from each other, and these
flues run into a common flue, at the end of which there is a chimney. In
Figures 5 and 6 breaks are made to shew that the full length of the oven or.
tube is not represented by either of those Figures. t, t, t, t, are rails on
which waggons or trucks may be moved. u, u, u, u, is an endless chain
passing through the entire length of the oven, and wound round the barrel
v, v, which barrel receives its motion from a shaft w of the steam engine; to
guide the chain pullies 3, 3, 3, 3, are placed at each end, which lead the
chain to the barrel, through the opening or culvert L, L. N, N, is a truck
on which blocks of fuel are to be placed before it enters the oven. The truck
first enters the chamber O, O, at the entrance end of the oven, and the length
of this chamber should be a little more than the length of the description of
waggon or truck intended to be used, in order to allow sufficient space for
attaching the truck to the chain u, u. P, P, is an inner door at the end of
this chamber, and opening into the oven. This door is to be kept shut when
the outer door of the chamber is opened to admit a truck, so as to prevent a

page_text: current of cold air entering the oven.
When the truck has been attached to
the chain, and. the outer door shut, the inner door is to be opened, and whilst
another truck is being loaded with blocks of fuel, the preceding truck will
have passed from the chamber into the oven, when the inner door is to be
again closed. The second truck is then to be run into the chamber attached
to the chain, and drawn into the oven in the same manner as before, and so
on, until the whole length of the oven is filled by a train of trucks; and in
order that as little power may be expended in drawing the train, the oven
The
may be lower at the drawing end than at the entrance end of the oven.
fires being lighted, they are to be regulated in such manner that the tempe-
rature at the entrance shall be from ninety degrees to one hundred degrees of
Fahrenheit's thermometer, gradually increasing until at the middle or nearer
to the drawing end of the oven it shall attain a temperature of about three
hundred and ninety degrees of the same thermometer, from which place to
the drawing end the heat should be allowed gradually to fall to about ninety
or one hundred degrees. The temperatures of the different parts of the oven
may be ascertained by thermometers placed at intervals along the whole
length of the oven, each of them being placed so as to have its bulb heated
to the same degree as the interior of the oven at the part where it is placed.
Figure 6 is an elevation of the same oven, shewing one of the furnace doors
and the door to enter the oven for the purpose of attaching the truck to the
chain, and the opening D¹, D', to allow the escape of any volatile or gaseous
matters. These may be collected by any of the usual methods for that pur-
pose and condensed, or may be allowed to enter the chimney, and thus escape
into the atmosphere. Figure 7 is an end view of the same oven, shewing one
half of the door R removed. These doors lean against the end of the tube,
and run on a rail by means of the pullies S, S, and their weight is balanced by
the counterweight A, A. When pieces of fuel are placed upon trucks or
waggons, for the purpose of being dried in this oven, the waggons are attached
to an endless chain which passes through the oven, and is put in motion by a
steam engine or other suitable power. The waggons during their progress
through the oven pass through the various temperatures ranging from ninety
degrees or one hundred degrees at the commencement, and gradually increas-
ing until it reaches three hundred and eighty to three hundred and ninety-five
degrees Fahrenheit; and then again gradually decreasing to the former tem-
perature, and as the waggons arrive at the drawing end of the oven, the fuel
is to be removed and allowed to cool, after which it is fit for use. The time
occupied in drying pieces of fuel will vary according to the sizes and forms of
the pieces and the materials of which it is formed; and I find that in drying

page_text: a piece of about fourteen pounds weight, and of the ordinary shape, about
twelve hours will be required for drying. It is evident that the speed of the
trucks passing along an oven must be regulated, so that the drying shall be
completed shortly after the truck shall have arrived at the hottest part of the
oven. By thus gradually applying heat for drying blocks of fuel, a sufficient
degree of hardness is given to the fuel throughout the entire thickness of the
blocks, and without deteriorating the quality of the fuel.
In Figures 8 and 9 I have shewn a mode of constructing an oven which
may be adopted for drying small pieces of fuel, such as I make of anthracite
coal dust, bituminous coal, and tar.
Figure 8 shews an end view of a series of tubes set in an oven similar to
those used in the manufacture of gas. I use two chains made with long links
of the length of the block of fuel. Between the links I fix a plate of malle-
able iron on which the block is placed, and motion is given to the chains, as
before described. A fire is placed every twenty feet of the length of the
tubes, and the temperature is regulated in manner herein-before described.
My Invention does not apply to the materials of which artificial fuels are
to be made; but I may observe, that in making artificial fuel to be compressed
and dried according to my Invention, I usually adopt a mixture of coal and
bituminous matter in the proportion of from eight to ten per cent. of tar and
ninety to ninety-two per cent. of small coals or coal dust, and from five to
seven per cent. water, and intimately blend them together by putting the
same into an ordinary pug or mortar mill, the arms of which by their revo-
lutions stir up and mix the compound. And if I wish to use anthracite or
stone coal dust, I mix with it, in the proportion of from thirty to fifty parts
bituminous coal, from seventy or fifty parts anthracite, from eight to ten parts
of tar, and from five to seven parts of water.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which it is to be performed, I declare that I claim,-
Firstly, the machinery for forming or compressing blocks or pieces of arti-
ficial fuel, in manner herein-before described.
Secondly, the construction of a long oven or tube for drying blocks or pieces
of artificial fuel, in manner herein-before described; and,
Thirdly, the drying blocks or pieces of artificial fuel by exposing them to
a temperature gradually rising to a maximum heat of about four hundred
degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer, in manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Speid Livingstone, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of July, in the year of
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
ALEXANDER (L.S.) SPEID LIVINGSTONE.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Eleventh day of July, in the
year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid Alexander Speid Livingstone came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged
the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and
specified, in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was
stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Eleventh day of July, in the year of our Lord One thousand