IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING OIL AND COKE FROM COAL AND SLACK
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Nicholas, of Aspull, near Wigan, in the County
of Lancaster, Oil Refiner, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING OIL AND COKE FROM COAL AND
SLACK."
Sealed the 18th August 1865, and dated the 22nd February 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Nicholas at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 22nd
February 1865.
I, JAMES NICHOLAS, of Aspull, near Wigan, in the County of Lancaster,
Oil Refiner, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-.
MENTS IN THE PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING OIL AND COKE FROM COAL AND
SLACK," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in a process and apparatus for producing oil and
coke of various kinds from coal and slack, which process admits of the con-
densable gaseous and aqueous vapors being condensed and collected in the
same form that they would be procured if the coal or slack were distilled simply
in order to produce oil.
The oven, chamber, or vessel in which the coal or slack is to be treated may
be of any shape or size, and should be capable of being made steam-tight, and

page_text: on its crown or top have two apertures, one communicating with a condenser
so arranged that the communication can be opened or shut at any time, the other
aperture leading to the air, and also being capable of having its communica-
tion closed or opened at pleasure; the oven, chamber, or vessel should have
a door for the purpose of charging and discharging, and should have draft
holes at the sides. The chamber, oven, or vessel is charged in the usual
manner (for making coke) with coal or slack, the draft holes and all apertures
are carefully closed, with the exception of the aperture leading to the con-
denser, which is left open; the coal or slack is then heated to a temperature
sufficiently high to disengage the oil and condensable products, which as they
are evolved pass to the condenser, when they are condensed in the ordinary
manner, and then leaves a mixture of coal oil and ammoniacal water; these
are separated the one from the other, and the oil if necessary may be purified.
If the mass in the oven is at once drawn out it will be a soft coke. If a
barder coke be wanted the aperture to the condenser is shut, and the other
aperture opened with a sufficient number of draft holes to produce proper
combustion, after the manner of ordinary coking ovens, and this combustion
is allowed to continue until coke of the required hardness is produced. By
these means I produce coke suitable for all purposes for which coke is re-
quired, and I collect and condense the gaseous and aqueous vapours. I thus
also, according to my Invention, convert soft coke into hard coke of great
purity, and obtain an additional quantity.
*SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Nicholas in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd August 1865.
то
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, JAMES
NICHOLAS, of Aspull, near Wigan, in the County of Lancaster, Oil Refiner,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand 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 James Nicholas, Her special licence that I, the said James
Nicholas, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said James Nicholas, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all

page_text: 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING OIL AND COKE FROM
COAL AND SLACK," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Nicholas, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under
my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 James Nicholas, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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, that is to say:
My Invention consists in a process of and apparatus for producing oil and
coke from coal and slack, which process admits of the condensible gaseous
and aqueous vapors being condensed and collected in the same form in which
they would be procured if the coal or slack were distilled simply in order to
procure oil. The oven, chamber, or vessel in which the coal or slack is to be
treated may be of any convenient shape or size, and should be capable of being
made steam-tight, and on its crown or top have two apertures, one com-
municating with a condenser, so arranged that the communication can be
opened or shut at any time, the other aperture leading to the air, and also
being capable of having its communication closed or opened at pleasure; the
oven, chamber, or vessel should have a deor for the purpose of charging and
discharging, and should have draft holes at the sides, or in other convenient
position. The chamber, oven, or vessel is charged in the usual manner for
making coke with coal or slack, the draft holes and all apertures are carefully
closed with the exception of the aperture leading to the condenser, which is
left open. The coal or slack is then heated to a femperature sufficiently high
to disengage the oil and condensible products, which as they are evolved pass
to the condenser, where they are condensed in the ordinary manner, and there
leave a mixture of cual oil and ammoniacal water; these are as usual
separated the one from the other, and the oil, if necessary, may be purified.
If the mass in the oven were at once drawn out it would be a soft coke; if a
harder coke be wanted the aperture to the condenser is shut, and the other
aperture opened, with a sufficient number of draft holes to produce proper
combustion after the manner of ordinary coking ovens, and this combustion is

page_text: Fig. 1 is a transverse section; Fig. 2 a sectional plan; Fig. 3 a back view,
and Fig. 4 a front view of a pair of chambers. or ovens arranged as I prefer
for carrying my Invention into effect.
a, a', are the ovens or chambers, the sides and crowns of which are built
of fire-brick or other suitable material, the floors thereof being formed as
shown of cast-iron plates a². The fronts of the ovens are capable of being
closed by iron doors a³, the inner surfaces of which are lined with fire-brick
in order to protect them from the direct action of the fire. These doors when
required are pressed firmly against the fronts of the ovens or chambers by
screws acting thereon, as shown at Fig. 4; and in order to facilitate the
removal of the doors they are connected to chains passing over pulleys, and
having counterbalance weights fixed thereto. I have not thought it necessary
to show the chains and counterbalance weights as such are well understood.
Air holes or passages a* are formed in the doors a³, which are capable of
being opened or closed as desired. The ovens or chambers are each provided
with a pipe a leading to a suitable condenser, the pipes a being furnished
with valves (not shown in the Drawings, but which will be readily understood)
in order that communication may be opened or closed as desired between the
condenser and the ovens or chambers a, a¹. There are also flues a³, a, leading
from the chambers or ovens a, a¹, the flue as communicating with the vertical
flue a', whilst the flue a communicates with the vertical flue as, the flue a
leading the products of combustion from the oven or chamber a into the flues
or passages a³ under the oven a¹, and the flue as leading the products of com-
bustion from the oven or chamber a¹ into the flues or passages at under the
oven a. And in order that the plates a³, covering the passages a, a, into
which the products of combustion from the ovens or chambers a, a', first enter,
may be protected from the direct action of the flame and products of com-
bustion, I prefer to line them at those parts with fire-bricks or tiles a", as
shown in the Drawings. The products of combustion after traversing the flues

page_text: or passages a, a, and in their passage heating the ovens or chambers a, a¹;
pass away by the flue a to the chimney or shaft b. Dampers c are provided
in the vertical flues a', a³, in order that communication may be opened or
closed as required between the ovens or chambers a, a', and the passages a³, a¹..
The top of the pair of ovens or chambers a, a', is covered with sand, as shown
at d, in order to prevent waste of heat by radiation, and at the same time to
fill up any cracks in the crowns of the ovens or chambers a, a', which may be
caused by the heat acting thereon. The ovens or chambers a, a, are tied
together with stays and plates in every direction, as is well understood.
Although I have shown and described the air passages a* to be in the doors
and the pipes a' and flues a³, a", to emerge from the backs of the ovens or
chambers, I do not confine myself thereto, nor to the number of such pipes
and air passages, as they may be placed in other positions as may be found
convenient.
Having described the ovens or chambers constructed according to one part
of my Invention, I will now proceed to describe the manufacture of oil and
coke therein, according to another part of my Invention. I will suppose that
it is desired to start work with a pair of ovens or chambers which have not
been previously used. The ovens or chambers are charged with coal or slack
as when charging an ordinary coking oven; the valves in the pipes at having
been previously closed; the draft holes or passages a* in the doors a³, and the
dampers c in the flues a', as, will be opened, and coke will be produced in the
ovens a, a', as in ordinary coking ovens; the charge from one of the ovens
(suppose the oven a) will then be drawn, when that oven will be charged
with coal or slack as before; the valve in the pipe a' will now be opened,
and the damper c in the flue a', as also the air passages a* in the door of the
oven a closed; the products of combustion from the coke in the chamber a¹
will then pass by the flue as to the flue a³, and thence through the flues or
passages a under the oven a, whence, after heating the charge in the oven a;
they will pass away by the flue a¹ to the chimney or shaft b.
This position
of the dampers, valves, and air passages will be maintained until all the
condensible vapors have been driven off from the charge in the oven or
chamber a, which will be readily ascertained by the operator opening a plug
in the condenser in the usual manner when making oil from coal or slack;
the charge will then be drawn out from the oven or chamber a', and that
chamber will be again charged with coal or slack; the air passages in the
door of the chamber a', and the damper c in the flue as will then be closed,
whilst the valve in the pipe at of the chamber a¹ will be opened; the valve in
the pipe a of the chamber a being closed, and the damper c in the flue a'

page_text: with the air passages of the chamber or oven a opened, the products of
combustion from the charge in the chamber a will then pass to the flues or
passages a under the chamber a', thereby heating the charge in that chamber
and driving off the condensible vapors therefrom, whilst at the same time the
charge in the chamber a is undergoing the process of coking as in an ordinary
coking oven. The ovens or chambers will therefore alternately be working,
the one to produce oil whilst the other is producing coke, and at the same
time heating the charge in the chamber in which oil is being produced by the
products of combustion passing off from the chamber in which the operation of
coking is going on to the flues or passages under the chamber in which oil is
being produced. Should the heat given off from the oven or chamber in which
coke is being produced be found too great for the proper production of oil from
the charge in the other chamber, the operator will ascertain that fact by
permanent gas, in lieu of oil or condensible vapors, being given off from that
chamber, which will be readily ascertained by withdrawing a plug in the
condenser; he will then readily regulate the temperature by means of the air
passages and damper connected with the oven or chamber in which coke is
being produced. By continuing the combustion for a longer or shorter period
harder or softer coke may be produced as desired.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and the manner I
prefer to carry the same into effect, I would have it understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise details herein shown and described; but what I
claim is,
First, the obtaining oil from coal or slack by beating the same in a close
oven or chamber connected with a condenser, and afterwards admitting air to
the said oven or chamber to cause a sufficient combustion of the distilled coal
or slack to convert it into softer or harder coke as required.
I also claim the apparatus berein shown and described for producing oil
and coke from coal or slack.
In witness whereof, J, the said James Nicholas, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
JAMES NICHOLAS. (L.S.)