CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDREW
KURTZ, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Manufacturing Chemist,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Twenty-seventh day of January, in the fifth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Andrew Kurtz, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Andrew Kurtz, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
and such others as I, the said Andrew Kurtz, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should agree with, and no other, from time to time and at
all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England and Wales and the
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL;" in which Letters Patent is con-
tained a proviso that I, the said Andrew Kurtz, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Andrew Kurtz, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly

page_text: described and ascertaimed in and by the following explananon there, that is
to say :-
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"My Improvements in the Manufacture of Artificial Fuel consist principally
in equallizing the strength or combustible quality of the various species of coal
by bringing the several varieties to one uniform standard, and thereby impart-
ing by artificial means the same powers of combustion in evaporative processes
to the inferior sorts of coal as possessed by the best known quality in its crude
or natural state." My improvements are effected by mixing with inferior
coals such proportionate quantities of coke (made from coals), rosin, and
napthtaline with pitch (made from gas tar) or other bituminous substance as
will equalize or counterbalance the combustible strength or evaporative power
of such inferior coal with that of the best coal known or found in England and
Wales. The proportionate quantities of superior combustible matters to be
added to the inferior coals in order to bring them up to the same standard of
evaporative power as the best English or Welsh coal, must, of course, depend
upon the inferiority of the coal to be improved, and as the British Govern-
ment standard for contracts for artificial fuel is that one pound of fuel shall
evaporate eight pounds of water, I take that as my standard, and the under-
mentioned. experiments will shew the manner and proportions in which the
addition of combustible matters must be made to inferior coal. I have found
that the evaporative power of coals is, as follows (by way of illustration):
One pound of anthracite coal will evaporate eight pounds of water; one
pound of best Welsh coals, 7 lbs. to 8 lbs. ; one pound of Liverpool coals
called Smith's coals, 7. lbs.; one pound of ordinary Liverpool coals, 4 to 6 lbs.;
Newcastle coals are similar in effect to Liverpool coals; so that it will be
readily perceived that where the best Welsh coals wants as it were 1 of superior
combustible matter, ordinary or inferior coals will require four or more parts,
and that the proportions must be suited and varied according to the ascertained
quality of the coal when in a natural state. And, secondly, my improvements
consist in the application and use of certain machinery or apparatus for the
purpose of preparing and mixing the component parts of such artificial fuel,
and forming or moulding the same into portable and convenient shapes or
bricks for use, as follows:-The natural coal is first to be ground small
between an ordinary pair of horizontal grinding stones or in a grinding mill,
and is afterwards to be submitted to a drying kiln or apparatus for the
purpose of expelling all moisture from the coal. This drying apparatus is to
be constructed with three chambers or compartments, say, twelve feet long by
nine feet wide and by six feet deep altogether. The flooring of these chambers
should be of plate iron, and somewhat dished or sunk in the middle, and also

page_text: provided with a small aperture or opening, with a sliding door or cover to each,
between each compartment, and around these chambers there are flues heated
by the flame and air proceeding from the furnace or fireplace situate at one
end of the apparatus, and each flue is to be provided with a damper to regulate
the heat as required. The upper chamber or compartment is open at top, and
may be called the reservoirs, and in this the ground coal is to be placed after
being taken from the grinding apparatus, and heated or dried so that the
principal part of the moisture is evaporated, the sliding door is then to be
removed from the opening in the bottom of this reservoir, and the coal raked
or pushed down into the middle or drying chamber. In this chamber the
pulverized coal is also to be further dried and heated to about three hundred
degrees Fahrenheit, so that no moisture whatever remains, the sliding door is
next to be removed from the aperture in the bottom of this chamber also, and
the coal passed into the bottom or mixing chamber. The pulverized and dried
coal now lying in the lower chamber, the pitch or other auxiliary combustible
matter is to be supplied through a trough or other convenient means, and in
such proportions as have been previously ascertained and dependant upon the
quality of the coal under operation, and after being sufficiently mixed together
by raking or otherwise may be carried away in boxes or baskets to the next
process. The composition or artificial fuel now being in a plastic state
is in the next place to be put into a machine very similar in form and in the
mode of operation to an ordinary clay or pugmill as used by brickmakers.
The form of this apparatus is similar to a vat, say, of six feet diameter at top,
and eight or nine feet deep, and tapering downwards. This vat or chamber
is to be of cast iron and surrounded with a jacket or casing to act as a steam
chamber in order to keep the composition under operation in a continuous
heated state, and thus capable of being more efficiently worked. For this
purpose a steam pipe is supplied to the lower part of the casing of the pugmill
conveying the waste steam from the steam engine employed to work the whole
system of apparatus, and which steam is to be passed off at the upper part of
the vessel, the condensed water escaping below. The interior of this pugmill
is somewhat peculiar in its construction, and consists of a central upright
shaft being driven from gearing below in connection with a steam engine or
other moving power. Upon this shaft of about six inches in diameter at the
lower end, and tapering upwards to about four inches, are placed several pairs
of arms or agitators, say, about six pairs, about nine inches wide, and reaching
to within about an inch of the inside of the mill at the top and about six
inches at the bottom, each alternate pair being set or fixed at right angles
with the adjoining pair, and each arm placed at an angle of about twenty

page_text: degrees from the plane of the horizon, so as the shaft revolves these arms or
agitators will act as one continuous screw and keep forcing or conducting
the composition in the mill towards the bottom simultaneously with the mixing
and puggling process. A separate or independent arm is also fixed at the
lower end of the shaft and touching the bottom of the pugmill. This arm is
formed helically, and its outer end forces the composition or fuel in a con-
tinuous stream or course out of an aperture or mouth-piece formed at the
bottom of the mill. This aperture or trough may be shaped in any way, being
open at the top, and having the sides and bottom square, so as to shape or
form the plastic composition as it is being forced from the mill. Masses of this
compound are now to be taken from the opening at the bottom of the pugmill,
and whilst in a heated state to be thrown or cast into square boxes or frames
the depth of an ordinary brick, when the plastic material will flatten as it
cools and spread itself evenly until it is confined by the sides of the frame;
these frames may be large enough to contain a sufficient quantity to form one
hundred bricks or cakes of fuel. When the composition is sufficiently cooled,
but not allowed to harden, it may be cut into forms or bricks by means of a
cylinder having a series of rotary cutters placed thereon at given distances apart,
and projecting from the cylinder so as to pass through the entire depth of the
cake of fuel in the frames. This cylinder or series of cutters is to be passed
across the composition in the frames lengthwise, and will thus cut up the fuel into
lengths, and a similar series of rotary cutters must be passed over the frames
crosswise, and will thus form or cut the fuel into oblong squares or bricks.
I would here observe that the frames must be well moistened with a strong
solution of milk of line, and the cutters and cylinders must also be well
supplied with a similar solution from a saturated brush above, so that all sides
of the bricks or cakes of fuel shall be coated over with lime, and this will
prevent their adhering to each other when packed closely together for use. I
would also here remark that the hardness of the fuel may be varied, and its
capability of withstanding the effects of different climates may be modified by
a greater or lesser proportion of the pitch or other emollient materials.
Having now particularly described the nature of my improvements, and the
manner of carrying the same into practical effect, I desire it to be understood
that I claim as my Invention the manufacture of artificial fuel, firstly, by
bringing all natural coals to one uniform standard of combustible power or
effect by artificial means, that is, by adding such proportions of coke, rosin,
and napthaline with pitch to inferior coals as will equalize or counterbalance
the combustible strength of the best coals known or found in England and
Wales; and, secondly, the application and employment of the machinery or

page_text: apparatus herein described for the purpose of preparing, mixing, and pressing
or shaping such artificial fuel into convenient portions, shapes, or bricks
for use.
In witness whereof, I, the said Andrew Kurtz, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of July, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-two.