IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA- MUN MANUFACTURE AND HOLDING OF GAS
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Malam, of Blackfriars Road, in the County
of Surrey, Gas Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPA-
MUN MANUFACTURE AND HOLDING OF GAS"
Sealed the 25th July 1854, and dated the 31st January 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Malam at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, ou the 31st
January 1854.
I, WILLIAM MALAM, of Blackfriars Road, in the County of Surrey, Gas
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE AND HOLDING OF GAS " to be as follows:-
I construct my retorts with one, two, or more ribs or ridges, rising from the
bottom of the inside thereof to about three inches, more or less, from the
surface. I make my condensers of a zig-zag, serpentine, or other than a
straight form, in order to obtain a greater extent of surface in a given space
than heretofore. In the apparatus for washing gas I cause the gas to pass
down into the liquid through a series of vertical pipes, and through a layer of
wire gauze or finely perforated plate; and by partitions in the washing vessel
I cause it to pass through as many sets or series as may be necessary. For
my gas holder, I sink to any required depth in the ground two concentric
cylinders or circles and fill them with liquid; I then take a gasometer of the

page_text: ordinary construction, except that I support the roof thereof with girders
placed outside instead of inside the top, and weight it with balance weights as
usual, if necessary, and allow it to rise and fall according to its contents within
the two cylinders sunk in the ground.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Malam in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st July 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MALAM, of Blackfriars Road, in the County of Surrey, Gas Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Malam, Her special licence that I, the said William Malam, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Malam, 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 Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE
MANUFACTURE AND HOLDING OF GAS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Malam, 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 Malam, 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 state-
ment thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is
to say:-
My Invention consists,―
First, in constructing gas retorts with one, two, or more ribs or ridges,
rising from the bottom of the inside thereof to about three inches, more or
less, from the surface.

page_text: Second, in constructing gas condensers of a zig-zag, serpentine, or other
than a straight form, in order to obtain a greater extent of surface in a given
space than heretofore.
Third, in constructing apparatus for washing gas, in such manner than the
gas is caused to pass down into the liquid through a series of vertical pipes,
and to ascend through a layer of wire gauze or finely perforated plate; and by
means of partitions in the washing vessel is further caused to pass through as
many sets or series as may be necessary.
And, fourth, in constructing gas holders, by sinking to any required depth
in the ground two concentric cylinders or circles, the space between which is
filled with liquid, and combining therewith a gasometer of the ordinary con-
struction (except that the roof thereof is supported by girders placed outside
instead of inside the top), and weighted with balance weights as usual, if
necessary, the gasometer rising and falling in the space between the two
cylinders sunk in the ground according to the quantity of gas contained in it.
Figure 1 of the Drawings annexed is a front sectional elevation, and Fig. 2,
a longitudinal section of a pair of gas retorts, constructed according to the
first part of my Invention, and set over a single furnace, which is the arrange-
ment I prefer to adopt. Figure 3 is a perspective view of one of my retorts,
a part of the side being broken away in order to shew the ribs in the interior
more distinctly. Figure 4 is a side elevation, and Figure 5 a front elevation
of a mouth-piece, which I prefer to use with my retorts. The retorts may be
composed of iron, clay, or other material ordinarily employed, and the ribs
may be either formed in one with the body of the retort, or they may be
formed separately and afterwards fitted thereto. This latter plan is specially
applicable to clay retorts, which I prefer to construct with ribs of cast iron.
The mouth of the retort is formed with a flange, as shewn, to enable the mouth-
piece to be bolted thereto, the mouth-piece having a corresponding flange as
shewn in Figure 4. The bottom of the mouth-piece A is inclined upwards,
about two inches from the flange to the front lid B, by which means any tar
that may be condensed in leaving the retort runs down the inclined floor, and
mixing with the charge in the retort becomes carbonized, thus increasing the
production of gas and reducing the difficulty and inconvenience of drawing
the charge. The lid B of the mouth-piece is furnished with a valve C, to
enable the charge to be stirred so as to promote the process of distillation.
Figure 6 is an elevation, partly in section, of a gas condenser constructed
according to the second part of my Invention; and Figure 7 is a plan view of
the hydraulic caps at the top of the condenser. The tubes or pipes are shewn
as being formed with angular bends, but they may also be formed with

page_text: curvilinear bends, or of any other similar construction that will give an equal
amount of surface. The upper box in which the ends of the pipes are fitted is
furnished with hydraulic caps to the pipes, so that access may be easily had to
them when required.
Figure 8 is an clevation, Figure 9 a sectional plan, and Figure 10 a vertical
section of a gas washing apparatus constructed according to the third part of
my
Invention. This apparatus is divided by the partitions D, D, into compart-
ments, in which are fitted vertical tubes E, E, with wire gauze or finely
perforated plates of metal F, F, placed horizontally at the lower extremities of
the tubes. The gas entering at the inlet pipe passes down the tubes in the
first compartment in small bodies, and then rises through the wire gauze (which
divides it into minute streams) into the second compartment, from whence it
again descends through the tubes, and rising through a similar wire gauze
to that before mentioned, passes to the outlet as indicated by the arrows in
Figure 10.
Figure 11 is a vertical section, Figure 12 a half ground plan, and Figure 13
a half top plan of a gas holder constructed according to the fourth part of my
Invention. The two concentric circles G, G, forming the tank are constructed
of metal, or of brick or other material, and are sunk in the ground which is
left at its original level at the centre of the holder, and either covered with
metal plates, or concrete to form the bottom of the holder. The gasometer H,
is to some extent of the common construction, but the top is supported by
stays I, I, outside, radiating from the centre to the circumference, and trussed
so as to give a slight camber to the top, so as to enable any water that might
settle on it if it were quite flat, to run off easily. The lower edge of the
gasometer is furnished with a strong wooden curb K, and friction rollers L, L,
are fitted to its upper angle, which run against guides M, M, placed at intervals
round the gasometer for the purpose of maintaining it in a vertical position
whilst rising and falling. Where the gasometer is of small dimensions no
balance weights are required, but they must be employed in all cases where the
size of the gasometer renders them necessary. Although I have described my
gas holder as being circular, it will be readily seen that it may be of any other
approved form; and the tank, instead of being sunk in the ground, may be built
on or raised above it, in either case making the floor of the holder on a level or
nearly so with the top of the tank.
Figure 14 is a perspective view of an arrangement of apparatus combining
the improvements described under the several heads of my Invention. In this
arrangement the gas holder N is supported on four columns; and the retorts
and their furnace O, the condenser P, and the washing apparatus Q, are placed

page_text: underneath the holder. The several parts of the apparatus are connected
together by the necessary pipe connections for conducting the gas from one to
the other of them.
This arrangement may be also adopted for the construction of portable
apparatus, the whole being mounted on wheels to admit of being removed from
place to place as required.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim as my
Invention is,
First, the construction of gas retorts with one, two, or more ribs or
ridges, rising from the inside of the bottom or floor thereof, as herein-before
described.
Second, the construction of gas condensers of a zig-zag, serpentine, or other
than a straight form, in order to obtain a greater extent of surface in a given
space than heretofore, as herein-before described.
Third, the construction of gas washing apparatus with internal tubes and
horizontal partitions of wire gauze, or perforated metal plate, as herein-before
described.
Fourth, the construction of gas holders by the employment of a tank com-
posed of two concentric circles, sunk in or built on or raised above the ground,
combined with a gasometer, the roof of which is supported by external stays,
such gasometer rising and falling in the space between the two concentric
circles aforesaid, as herein-before described.
And, fifth, the combination of the aforesaid several improvements in one
arrangement, either stationary or portable, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Malam, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four.