Improvements in the Manufacture of Blocks or Briquettes of Fuel.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 2nd Sept., 1892
Complete Specification Left, 15th Mar., 1893—Accepted, 2nd Nov., 1893
I PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Blocks or Briquettes of Fuel.
I, THOMAS WILTON LEE, of Trafalgar Buildings, Northumberland Avenue, in
the County of London, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:
According to this invention small coal such as smudge or dant is converted into
cakes, blocks or briquettes by the addition of a binding mixture of finely ground
flour and powdered lime this mixture being added to and mixed with the coal and
the whole then subjected to the action of moist heat by direct application of steam
and immediately pressed into cakes blocks or briquettes of the desired form
and size.
Dated this 30th day of August 1892
THOS. WILTON LEE.
W. Lloyd Wise,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Applicant's Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Blocks or Briquettes of Fuel.
I, THOMAS WILTON LEE, of. Trafalgar Buildings, Northumberland Avenue, in
the County of London, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention has reference to improvements in the manufacture of cakes, blocks,
or briquettes of fuel.
According thereto small coal such as smudge, or dant or other like carbonaceous
inaterial is converted into cakes, blocks or briquettes by the addition of a binding
mixture of finely ground flour and powdered lime, this mixture being added to and
mixed with the coal and the whole then subjected to the action of moist heat by
direct application of steam and immediately pressed into cakes, blocks or briquettes
of the desired form and size.
In carrying out my invention I have obtained satisfactory results by mixing
together about 100 parts by weight of ground coal, 2 parts by weight of flour obtained
from damaged Indian corn that was unfit for use as food and therefore very cheap,
and 2 parts by weight of caustic lime. The flour and lime are mixed together and
then intimately mixed by any suitable means with the small coal which as usual in
briquette making, must be reduced to a fine powder before entering the briquette
moulding machine; the mixture is conveyed to and put into a hopper from which
it passes into the supply cylinder of a suitable briquette machine into which " "live"
steam enters. A mechanical stirrer passes through the centre of the cylinder and
agitates the mass which eventually falls into the moulding machine wherein it is
converted into briquettes in the ordinary manner. I have obtained satisfactory
results when using steam at pressures varying from about fifteen pounds to thirty
pounds on the square inch, the steam being introduced through two nozzles each
having an outlet of about one inch in diameter. As will be obvious, however, I do
not limit myself to the exact proportions of materials and steam pressures mentioned,
as the same can be varied to suit different classes of coal without departing from
the essential feature of my invention. In all cases, however, the proportion of
cementing material need only be small, so that the cost of the binding agent will
not be great, and it will add very little to the percentage of the non-combustible
matter present in the finished briquettes.

page_text: In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a side elevation; and
Fig. 2 is a part plan illustrating a suitable arrangement of plant for carrying out
my invention.
Figs. 3 and 4 are elevations at right angles to each other, and
Fig. 5 is a plan showing to a larger scale than Figs. 1 and 2, the vertical cylinder
or heater in which the intimate mixture of coal, flour and lime is treated with
steam. .
1 is a hopper into which the small coal smudge or dant to be formed into
briquettes is delivered from a railway waggon or other suitable source. of supply.
2 is a bucket conveyor by which this coal or coke is delivered into a shute 3 by
which it is discharged into a measuring vessel 4, into which the mixture of flour
and lime is also delivered from hoppers 5, 5* by a screw conveyor 6 and shute 7.
8 is a disintegrator or mixing apparatus by which the coal is ground to a fine
powder and intimately mixed with the flour and lime supplied from the vessel 4.
The resulting mixture passes into a hopper 9 from which it is raised by a bucket
elevator 10 and discharged into a vibrating screen 11 through which it falls into a
shute 12 by which it is conducted to a heater or cylinder 13 and thence in the
ordinary manner through an adjustable lateral opening 13ª, to a briquette moulding
machine 14 which may be of any suitable construction and. wherein-the-mixture is
converted into briquettes 15. 14 is the driving shaft of such machine. The
briquettes may be delivered on to an endless conveyor belt 16 by which they can
be led to any suitable place.
17, 17 are steam pipes for supplying steam to nozzles 17 arranged within and
near the lower part of the heater or cylinder 13, (Figs. 3, 4 and 5) whence the
steam issues so as to mix with and beat and moisten the mixture which is kept in
constant motion by a rotary agitator comprising arms 18 fixed to a shaft 18**
arranged within the heater or cylinder and driven by bevel gearing 18 as well
understood.
19 is a shute by which material that is too large to pass the screen 11 is returned
to a receptacle 20 and thence to the disintegrator to be further dealt with. 21 is a
driving shaft from which the several elevators, which are shown diagrammatically,
the disintegrator, the vibrating screen, the rotary agitator and the briquette
moulding machine are driven by pulleys and belting in a manner that will be
readily understood from the drawings without further description.
By my invention 1 am.enabled to produce in an economical manner hard 'blocks
or briquettes of fuel without the use of pitch and such like objectionable' agents.
Having since the date of my present application for Letters Patent discovered
that in carrying out the hereinabove described process of subjecting powdered
carbonaceous fuel with a cementing mixture composed of flour and lime to 'moisture
heat and compression, carbonaceous material other than small coal smudge or'dant'
or the like and cereal products other than flour, and caustic' alkalies other than
lime can be advantageously used; I have applied for other Letters 'Patent and
in the Specification thereof have described the mode of using such other
substances.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that I do not herein
make any claim in respect of the machinery or apparatus hereinabove described
and illustrated certain features whereof are included in the Specification of my.
above mentioned application for Letters Patent but what I claim is :-
1. Manufacturing blocks or briquettes of fuel by intimately mixing powdered
carbonaceous fuel such as small coal smudge or'dant with a binding agent composed

page_text: of flour and lime, subjecting the mixture to the direct action of steam, and com-
pressing the mixture whilst in a moist and heated condition into blocks or briquettes
substantially as described.
2. Blocks or briquettes of fuel produced as hereinabove described and referred
to in the preceding claim.
Dh 10th 1
1000
W. LLOYD WISE,
Per F. J. Brougham,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.