IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR LIGHTING PURPOSES, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John August Arnold Buchholz, of Ravenscourt Square,
Hammersmith, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR LIGHTING PURPOSES, AND
IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH."
ealed the 21st August 1877, and dated the 22nd February 1877
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John August Arnold Buchholz
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd February 1877.
"
JOHN AUGUST ARNOLD BUCHHOLZ, of Ravenscourt Square, Hammersmith, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
GAS FOR LIGHTING PURPOSES, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH."
The object of this Invention is to feed the gas-producing material into the retort
continuously, and not in periodical charges, as has hitherto been the practice, the
continuous feed being particularly desirable, if not indispensable, when the material
referred to is at all of a bulky nature, such as maize, rice husks, or other ligneous
substances for which the Invention is particularly adapted. Attempts in this
direction have failed principally on account of the difficulty of forming a safe joint
in those parts of the apparatus where the material is fed in continuously, or from
whence the coke has to be delivered.
The apparatus I have constructed for the above purpose consists of a cylindrical
vessel, as the retort proper, which is open at the top, and provided with a wide rim.
It is heated from an ordinary furnace by means of a fire-brick flue surrounding it in
a spiral or other suitable form.
A large flat dome-like cover, termed a collector, is secured to the flange of the
retort, with an overlap on one side, so as to cover a deep recess or well which is
provided for the deposit of coke; in it the gases collect as they rise from the
retort.
The feed pipe is provided with driving mechanism and water joint. On the
collector or cover bearing in a conical tube (conical for the easier delivery down-
wards) penetrate vertically through the collector and retort proper down to, say,
within six inches of the bottom of the latter, where it is supported by three forked

page_text: arms meeting below to form a pivot on which the tube rotates, this being driven by
a suitable bevil-wheel gear overhead.
Attached to the outside of the feed tube is a feed worm whose thread is not
normal to the axis, but inclined, and has to take up the gas distilling substance
fallen through from the foot of the tube, and gradually raise this along the inside of
the retort at the top of which what has now become coke is caught by a scraper
wing secured to the feed tube, and is carried round along the retort flange, and
then delivered into the well.
The well as a coke receiver formed in masonry on one side of the retort in
order to receive the coke. It is lined with sheet iron to prevent communication
with the flue through fissures in the brick-work, and has a lateral opening at the
foot for the removal of the coke, which removal may be accomplished automatically,
if desired, by a slowly revolving disc feeding an elevator outside the well, that may
in its turn be made to feed the furnace, or the coke can be removed by hand.
The well is deep enough to allow a constant head of coke of not less than three
feet, which then forms a joint against the egress of gas and the ingress of air.
Any convenient pump, as an exhauster, capable of sucking the gas from the retort,
and of developing the necessary pressure in the holder, can be used, the suction pipe
of which would have a throttle or other valve to close if necessary the communica-
tion with the retort.
I employ a shallow bason communicating in the centre from the convex side
through a pipe with the retort. It is covered over with a bladder, piece of leather,
or other pliable material impervious to gas.
In the centre of the diaphragm so formed, a connecting rod from the throttle-
valve crank is fastened, so that if the pressure within the retort exceeds the atmos-
pheric pressure, the throttle valve will be opened by the distention of the
diaphragm; while on the contrary, the retort pressure dropping below the atmospheric
pressure, the collapse of the bladder will close the valve.
A light steel or other spring is made to bear against the throttle valve or its
crank in order to close it directly the two pressures are equal.
Both exhauster and regulator may be fastened on the top of the collector. The
material to be converted is fed through the feed pipe, which it fills, drying in its
passage downwards, while the vapours thereby generated and so injurious inside
the retort, perculate upwards and escape into the open air.
Arrived at the foot of the pipe, it gradually mounts the worm, which owing to
the inclination of the thread, holds it up against the wall of the heated retort; the
gas here evolved gathers in the collector, from which it is pumped by the exhaustor,
while the coke becomes deposited in the well, from which it may be drawn by
hand or automatically, due regard being had to the head necessary to form the
joint.
From the above description it will readily be seen that the apparatus is so
designed that for the purpose of forming the joint where the feed and delivery take
place, the specific gravity of the gases is brought into play, as well as the resistance to
perculation offered by the loose aggregators of the material to be converted, and
that of the coke, while the pressure under which this resistance operates is regulated
through the exhaustor and the throttle valve, in conjunction with the regulator, by
the pressure developed inside the retort, and the natural and constant atmospheric
pressure outside.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said John August Arnold Buchholz in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd August 1877.
JOHN AUGUST ARNOLD BUCHHOLZ, of Ravenscourt Square, Hammersmith, in
the County of Middlesex, Engineer. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
65

page_text: GAS FOR LIGHTING PURPOSES, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH."
The object of this Invention is to feed the gas-producing material into the retort
continuously, and not in periodical charges, as has hitherto been the practice, the
continuous feed being particularly desirable if not indispensable, when the material
referred to is at all of a bulky nature, such as maize, rice husks, or other ligneous
substances for which the Invention is particularly adapted. Attempts in this
direction have failed principally on account of the difficulty of forming a safe joint
in those parts of the apparatus where the material is fed in continuously, or from
whence the coke has to be delivered.
The apparatus I have constructed for the above purpose consists of a cylindrical
vessel, as the retort proper, which is open at the top, and provided with a wide rim.
It is heated from an ordinary furnace by means of a fire-brick flue surrounding it
in a spiral or other suitable form.
A large flat dome-like cover, termed a collector, is secured to the flange of the
retort, with an overlap on one side, so as to cover a deep recess or well, which is
provided for the deposit of coke in it; the gases collect as they rise from the
retort.
The feed pipe is provided with driving mechanism and water joint. On the
collector or cover bearing is a conical tube (conical for the easier delivery down-
wards) penetrating vertically through the collector and retort proper, down to, say,
within six inches of the bottom of the latter, where it is supported by three forked
arms meeting below to form a pivot on which the tube rotates, this being driven
by a suitable bevil wheel gear overhead.
Attached to the outside of the feed tube is a feed worm whose thread is not
normal to the axis, but inclined, and has to take up the gas distilling substance
fallen through from the foot of the tube, and gradually raise this along the inside
of the retort, at the top of which what has now become coke is caught by a scraper
wing secured to the feed tube, and is carried round along the retort flange, and then
delivered into the well.
The well as a coke receiver is formed in masonry on one side of the retort in
order to receive the coke. It is lined with sheet iron to prevent communication
with the flue through fissures in the brickwork, and has a lateral opening at the
foot for the removal of the coke, which removal may be accomplished automatically,
if desired, by a slowly revolving disc feeding an elevator outside the well, that
may in its turn be made to feed the furnace, or the coke can be removed by
hand.
The well is deep enough to allow a constant head of coke of not less than
3 feet, which then forms a joint against the egress of gas and the ingress of air.
Any convenient pump, as an exhauster capable of sucking the gas from the retort,
and of developing the necessary pressure in the holder, can be used, the suction pipe
of which has a throttle or other valve to close if nesessary the communication with
the retort.
I employ a shallow bason communicating in the centre from the convex side
through a pipe with the retort. It is covered over with a bladder, piece of leather,
or other pliable material impervious to gas.
In the centre of the diaphragm so formed, a connecting rod from the throttle-
valve crank is fastened, so that if the pressure within the retort exceeds the atmos-
pheric pressure, the thottle valve will be opened by the distention of the diaphragm ;
while on the contrary, the retort pressure dropping below the atmospheric pressure,
the collapse of the bladder will close the valve.
A light steel or other spring is made to bear against the throttle valve or its.
crank in order to close it directly the two pressures are equal.
Both exhauster and regulator may be fastened on the top of the collector. The
material to be converted is fed through the feed pipe, which it fills, drying in its
passage downward, while the vapours thereby generated, and so injurious inside the
retort, percolate upwards and escape into the open air.

page_text: Arriving at the foot of the pipe, it gradually mounts the worm, which owing to
the inclination of the thread, holds it up against the wall of the heated retort; the
gas here evolved gathers in the collector, from which it is pumped by the exhauster,
while the coke becomes deposited in the well, from which it may be drawn by
hand or automatically, due regard being had to the head necessary to form the
joint.
From the above description it will readily be seen that the apparatus is so
designed that for the purpose of forming the joint where the feed and delivery take
place, the specific gravity of the gases is brought into play, as well as the resistance
to percolation offered by the loose aggregation of the material to be converted, and
that of the coke, while the pressure under which the resistance operates is regulated
through the exhauster and the throttle valve, in conjunction with the regulator, by
the pressure developed inside the retort, and the natural and constant atmospheric
pressure outside.
The Invention will be clearly understood by the annexed Drawings.
Figure 1 is a plan of an apparatus, and Figure 2 a transverse vertical section of same,
in which a lighting gas can be produced from rice husks, maize husks, and other
like ligneous body, as before explained.
.A. is the masonry or brickwork structure in which a fire-place or furnace B is
arranged. C is a spiral flue leading to the chimney or uptako D, one wall of the
flue being formed by the vessel or retort E, in which the heating of the rice or
other husks takes place. This vessel has a step piece F at bottom for receiving the
pivot G of a cone-shaped feed pipe H, so that it may revolve in the vessel or retort
E, the cone feed pipe having three projecting arms I, I, I, to support it, and to leave
a clearance between the bottom of the cone and the bottom of the retort for the
free passage of the substance under treatment from the inside of the cone to the
outside of it, where the substance comes into contact with the spirally arranged
blades J, attached to the coned pipe to be lifted to the upper part of the retort,
and in the lifting to be turned over and over, and be continually brought into
contact with the heated sides of the retort for the expulsion of the gas, giving
properties from the substance by the scorching or burning thereof.
Above the retort is an enlarged chamber K for the reception. of the gas so made,
and also for the reception of the burnt or spent husks, now termed coke. The gas
as made or produced is withdrawn from the casing K through the pipe L by means
of a fan or exhaust M to a gasometer, to be stored for use, or to other appliance or
apparatus by which it can be purified, washed, or otherwise rendered useful for
lighting purposes should it not be suitable without some intermediate process.
The coke, as it is lifted by the blades to the bottom plate N of the vessel or casing K,
is scraped by the blade P to the shoot or well Q, the lower part of which is charged
with water as a < gas seal
to that part. The coke falls into this water, and
'accumulates above it to any desired height, a passage R being formed in the wall
of the well for the coke to exude by the superincumbent weight into receptacle S,
from which it can be removed by hand, or it inay be by a disc T to lead the coke into
a receiver, or it may be into the buckets of an elevator, such as is shown in dotted
lines, to lead the coke to the furnace end of the structure, where it can be mixed
with fresh fuel, or be thrown into the fire, as desired, to be comsumed. By this
means the refuse or coke from the gas retort is utilized to economize the fuel. U is
a gas seal appliance for containing water to prevent escape of gas that may arise
between the feed tube and the collar V on the top of the casing K. Above this
"seal" is a bevil toothed wheel W, attached to the cone pipe, the teeth being on
the under side to receive motion from the bevil pinion X, which is mounted upon
the shaft Y, fitted to rotate in standards Z, Z, on the casing K.. This shaft Y
carries a worm wheel a geared into by a worm b on a shaft a set at right angles,
and carries a belt pulley d, or it may be a hand wheel, if the gas making apparatus be
used for a mansion or other like purposes only, for which it is particularly applicable.
The bevil wheel W has its upper surface plain and coned towards the centre, so that
as it receives the husks or other substance from which the gas is to be produced,

page_text: the substance slides, or is fed to the centre to fall into the cone pipe H, which
becomes charged, and is kept full or nearly so, the quantity being taken by the
blades J, J, being in or about the same proportion as the top feed.
Connected with the pipe of the fan or exhaust M is a shallow bason e, on which
a skin or diaphragm is arranged, the face of it having a rod f affixed, whose
opposite end is connected to a throttle valve in the pipe L, so that should the
pressure of gas within the casing be in excess of the outer air, the diaphragm
becomes extended, and the throttle valve opened, more or less, in proportion, and
the withdrawal of the gas regulated.
Figure 3, a detached view, represents a conc-feed tube H, with an exterior
cone-shaped tube h, on the exterior of which the spiral blade J is fitted to raise the
husks to the top of the retort, as before explained. The space between these two
cone-shaped tubes H, h, is filled with some non-conductor of heat in order that the
husks shall not be heated by the retort before they reach, the bottom outlet, and are
within reach of the spiral blade; one or more curved blades i, i, can be arranged to
lead the husks into the path of the blade J.
The lifting blade J of the cone-feed pipe H varies in pitch in its height, viz., the
pitch of the lower curl or spiral of the blade is greater than that of the next curl or
spiral above, and so on throughout the height, so that, as the husks get reduced in
bulk by the heat of the retort, as they rise the upper curls or spirals of coke tend to
filter the gas before it enters the casing.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, I declare that I claim in connection with the manufacture
of gas from rice or maize husks and other ligneous substance,-
4
The use and the method of working an apparatus as herein described and shown
in the annexed Drawing Figures 1 and 2.
Secondly. I claim the appliances for and method of sealing by the substance
under operation, and by its refuse, against the escape of gas while the apparatus
is at work, as described and substantially as shown in the annexed Drawings.
Thirdly. I claim forming the feed tube of conical shape, said tube having one
or more spiral blades varying in pitch upon the exterior, as and for the purposes set
forth, when used in apparatus for manufacturing gas from rice, or maize husks, or
other ligneous body, as described.
Fourthly. I claim the two pipes (concentric), as and for the purposes described,
in connection with rice or other husks, gas producing mechanism, as set forth and
as shown in Figure 3 of the annexed Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John August Arnold Buchholz, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-seven.
J. A. ARNOLD BUCHHOLZ. (L.S.)