IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF CARBONACEOUS MINERALS. AND IN APPARATUS FOR PREPARING AGGLOMERATED FUEL."
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Emile Vigouléte, of 5, Nelson Square, Com-
mercial Road, Peckham, in the County of Surrey, Analytical Chemist,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF CARBONACEOUS
MINERALS. AND IN APPARATUS FOR PREPARING AGGLOMERATED FUEL."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Emile Vigouléte
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 6th January 1865.
I, JOSEPH EMILE VIGOULÉTE, of 5, Nelson Square, Commercial Road,
Peckham, in the County of Surrey, Analytical Chemist, do hereby declare the.
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF CARBO-
NACEOUS MINERALS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR PREPARING AGGLOMERATED FUEL," to
be as follows:-
Whereas in conjunction with Gustave Maillard de Bayelt I obtained a
Patent for an improved method of compounding by agglomeration artificial
fuel, dated the 22nd September 1868, No. 2384, and also Provisional Pro-
tection for an improved method of compounding by agglomeration artificial
fuel, upon an application dated the 23rd November 1864, No. 2920.
The object of my present Invention is, firstly, the application of processes
embodied in those Patents along with other processes to minerals, such as

page_text: shale containing carbonaceous matter mixed with argillaceous, earthy, or
stony substances, so as to render their carbonaceous portions available for
fuel; and, secondly, the construction and arrangement of apparatus for
effecting the processes embodied in the said Patents upon combustible matters
so as to produce blocks of agglomerated fuel.
In applying the agglomerating processes to minerals containing carbo-
naceous matter, I first reduce the minerals to powder, and if they are already
rich in carbonaceous matter I add sufficient coal or other fuel dust to render
the mixture readily combustible, and I then agglomerate the mixture, leaving
therein the earthy or other incombustible ingredients, which being in small
quantity do not interfere greatly with the combustion. When the earthy or
other incombustible substances are present in large quantities, I separate
them as far as possible from the carbonaceous matter by sifting and washing
the pulverised mineral, and I then agglomerate the carbonaceous residue,
adding if necessary coal or other fuel dust before agglomeration.
The apparatus which I employ for agglomerating the dust of fuel is intended
to effect successively and continuously three operations, namely, mixing the
fuel dust with lime in a dry or nearly dry condition, pugging the mixture with
alkaline silicates in solution, and moulding the mixture into blocks convenient
for transport, and is arranged as follows:-At the upper part of the apparatus
I mount a hollow cylinder on bearings, so that it can be made to revolve on
an axis inclined to the horizon. Within this cylinder I place a roller free to
run upon the interior surface. I prefer to make the cylinder and the roller
corrugated, so as to extend their rubbing surfaces, and I fix a scraper against
the upper side of the cylinder. I introduce the substances to be mixed at
the upper end of the inclined cylinder, and as it revolves they are pulverised
and mingled in passing between the surfaces of the cylinder and the roller,
and are gradually advanced towards the lower end of the cylinder, whence
they are discharged into a pug mill. The pug mill is a hopper-shaped vesse!
in which two spindles are made to revolve in opposite directions.
spindle is furnished with arms, and scrapers are fixed to the sides of the
vessel, so arranged that the arms in their rotation pass through and between
them. Into this pug mill I introduce along with the mixed substances dis-
charged from the cylinder a supply of the silicate solution, which can be made
to flow continuously into the same in quantity regulated by a suitable valve
or stop-cock, and the whole is mixed and kneaded by the revolution of the
arms, and at the same time pressed downwards to the bottom of the pug
mill, where hollow moulds are presented successively for its reception.
Each
I arrange those moulds as follows:-On a horizontal axis fixed immoveably

page_text: below the pug mill I mount a cylindrical body, so that it can be made to
rotate on the fixed axis, and I give the bottom of the pug mill a cylindrical
form to fit this cylindrical body, leaving a hole in the said bottom corre-
sponding to the mould. In the periphery of the cylindrical body I form
several hollow moulds, which during rotation present themselves successively
at the hole in the bottom of the pug mill, and are filled with the ingredients
mixed therein. A portion of the periphery of the cylindrical body is covered
by a fixed cylindrical plate or guard. The bottom of each mould is made to
slide like a piston, and is fitted with a roller which bears against a cam fixed
on the fixed shaft. This cam is so shaped that while each mould passes
under the fixed guard plate, the piston bottom is pushed outwards, and thus
is made to compress into a. block the matter contained in the mould. When
the mould has passed the fixed guard plate the piston is pushed still farther
out so as to eject the block of matter entirely from the mould. The piston
is then drawn inwards so as to present the full depth of the mould to the
pug mill when it is carried round again to that portion of its revolution.
I connect all the parts of the apparatus by suitable gearing, and drive
them by suitable power, so that they act together, and the several operations
are performed successively and continuously on the matters supplied to the
apparatus.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Emile Vigouléte in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 5th July 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
EMILE VIGOULÉTE, of 5, Nelson Square, Commercial Road, Peckham, in the
County of Surrey, Analytical Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of January, in the year of our Lord One thou-
sand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph
Emile Vigouléte, Her special licence that I, the said Joseph Emile Vigouléte,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph
Emile Vigouléte my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and

page_text: Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF CARBONACEOUS MINERALS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR
PREPARING AGGLOMERATED FUEL," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Joseph Emile Vigouléte, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their bands and seals, should par-
ticularly 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 Joseph Emile Vigouléte, 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 thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thercon, that is to say :-
Whereas in conjunction with Gustave Maillard de Bayelt I obtained a
Patent for an improved method of compounding by agglomeration artificial
fuel, dated the 22 September 1863, No. 2334, and also a Patent for an
improved method of compounding by agglomeration artificial fuel, dated the
23 November 1864, No. 2920.
The object of my present Invention is, firstly, the application of processes
embodied in those Patents along with other processes to minerals, such as
shale containing carbonaceous matter mixed with argillaceous, earthy, or
stony substances, so as to render their carbonaceous portions available for
fuel; and, secondly, the construction and arrangement of apparatus for
effecting the processes embodied in the said Patents upon combustible matters
so as to produce blocks of agglomerated fuel.
In applying the agglomerating processes to minerals containing carbo-
naceous matter, I first reduce the minerals to powder, and if they are already
rich in carbonaceous matter I add sufficient coal or other fuel dust to render the
mixture readily combustible, and I then agglomerate the mixture, leaving
therein the earthy or other incombustible ingredients, which being in small
quantity do not interfere greatly with the combustion. When the earthy or
other incombustible substances are present in large quantities I separate
them as far as possible from the carbonaceous matter by sifting and washing
the pulverised mineral, and I then agglomerate the carbonaceous residue,
adding if necessary, coal or other fuel dust before agglomeration.
The apparatus which I employ for agglomerating the dust of fuel is intended
to effect successively and continuously three operations, namely, mixing the
fuel dust with lime in a dry or nearly dry condition, pugging the mixture

page_text: with alkaline silicates in solution, and moulding the mixture into blocks
convenient for transport.
Figure I. of the accompanying Drawing is a longitudinal section, and
Figure 2 is a transverse section of so much of my apparatus as it is necessary
to describe particularly.
a is a hollow cylinder mounted on rollers 6 or other suitable bearings, so that
it can be made to revolve with its axis inclined to the horizon; b¹ is a diagonal
strut supporting the framework of the rollers b, the lower end of which can be
secured at different heights to the main frame of the apparatus c so as to vary
the inclination of the cylinder a. Within the cylinder a I place a roller a¹;
free to run on its interior surface, and I prefer to make the cylinder and the
roller corrugated. The roller a¹ is prevented from moving forwards by a
bolt & secured at one end to the framing, and passing through the hollowed
centre of the roller a', with a broad plate at its farther end; d' is a scraper.
The substances to be mixed are introduced at the higher end of the cylinder,
and when it is made to revolve, they are pulverised and mingled in passing
between the surfaces of the roller and the cylinder, and are gradually advanced
to the lower end of the cylinder, whence they are discharged into a pug
mill e.
This is a hopper-shaped vessel, in which two spindles f, f, are made
to revolve in opposite directions. Each of these spindles is furnished with
arms g, and scrapers 9 are fixed against the sides, so that the arms g in
rotating pass through and between them; h is a pipe with a stop-cock or
regulating valve, by which the silicate solution is conducted from any con-
venient reservoir to the pug mill, wherein it is mixed with the substances
discharged from the cylinder a by the rotation of the arms g, the whole being
at the same time pressed downwards to the bottom of the pug mill so as to
fill moulds hereafter to be described. k is a horizontal axis fixed in the
framing c, and is a cylindrical body mounted on the axis k, so that it can
freely turn; the bottom of the pug mill e is fitted to the surface of b, and
open to that surface; m, m, are moulds or cavities formed in the periphery
of 1, which during rotation present themselves successively at the bottom of the
pug mill, and are filled with the ingredients mixed therein; n is a fixed guard
covering a portion of the surface of l. The bottom o of each of the moulds m
is made to slide like a piston, and is fitted with a roller p, which bears against
a cam 9 fixed on the shaft k. Each pair of opposite pistons o is connected
together by a slotted sliding frame o¹, on which are mounted rollers r, working
in slots formed in the sides of . When the body is caused to rotate in the
direction of the arrow, the slots in it sides bearing against the rollers r, carry
the sliding frames o' round the cam 1, which is so shaped as to push each

page_text: piston o outwards, while the mould m passes under the fixed guard n, and
thus to compress the material contained in the mould. When the mould has
passed the guard n, the piston is pushed still farther outwards so as to eject
the material formed into a block m²; the piston is then drawn inwards, so that
when the mould comes again under the pug mill, it presents its full depth to
receive a new charge of material. In order to drive the apparatus I apply
suitable power by a strap to the fast and loose pullies s, s', which are mounted
on the shaft k, so as to turn freely thereon. t is a pinion fixed to the fast
pulleys and gearing into a toothed wheel u, which is fixed on the spindle f¹;
vis a pinion also fixed on f', which gears into a corresponding pinion fixed
on the other spindle f; the pinion v also gears into cogs w fixed round the
periphery of 7. The spindle f¹ prolonged has fixed on it a pulley a, from
which a band is lead by guide rollers y over the cylinder a. When motion is
imparted to the first pulleys it is thus communicated to all the moving parts
of the apparatus.
I do not confine myself to the particular details herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Emile Vigouléte, have hereunto
set my hand and seal this Fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
J. E. VIGOULETE. (L.S.)