Improvements in the Manufacture of Coke, and in Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1897

page_text: Improvements in the Manufacture of Coke, and in Apparatus therefor.
I, JOHN BOWING, of Tilbury, in the County of Essex, Consulting Chemist, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
-
My invention relates to the manufacture of coke in the manner described in the
Complete Specification filed with my application No. 2071 of 1897 and to apparatus
therefor.
Plumbago retorts of the kind described in the said specification are expensive
to manufacture and after a time deteriorate as regards their heat conducting
qualities; furthermore such retorts are liable to be fractured or injured when
discharging the coke.
Retorts of iron or steel are not open to these objections but in practice the action
upon such retorts of the furnace gases at the high temperatures which I have to
employ rapidly causes the destruction of the latter.
According to my invention I transmit the heat to the retort by radiation and to
this end I enclose the retort in a chamber into which the furnace gases cannot
nenetrate. This chamber is formed by a wall (advantageously about 3 inches
thick) which for convenience I term a muffle, the said wall being surrounded
externally by a flue of uniform width and the sectional area of which measured
at right angles to the direction of flow of the furnace gases is the same or approxi-
mately the same as that of the throat or throats through which the gases enter
the flue measured in the same manner.
With this construction I find it is necessary to maintain a somewhat greater
temperature in the said flue than when the heated gases directly act upon the
retort. In practice I have found that to obtain the required temperature in the
retort a temperature of say 520° C must be maintained in the muffle chamber
which will necessitate a temperature of say 900° C in the flue.
The oven above described lias the advantage that slight variations of temperature
in the flue are less likely to be felt in the retort than is the case when the retort
is heated by conduction instead of by radiation.
The products of distillation which escape from the retort during the coking
operation are advantageously led into a closed condenser containing coal for future
treatment, whereby such coal is more or less enriched. I find it advantageous to
use as the condenser one or more of the bunkers in which the coal is stored.
By using a condenser in combination with a coking oven I obtain the further
advantage that the coal under treatment is converted into coke of better quality
than if the products of combustion escaped into the atmosphere or were drawn off
by an exhauster. I am not at present able to state definitely the cause of this
improvement in the quality of coke due to the discharge of the gases into the
closed condenser but I believe it to be due to the retardation of the flow of gases

page_text: which results, and consequently that it can be produced in other manners for
instance by using instead of coal a charge of sand or other means of checking the
escape of the gases from the retort.
Dated this 26th day of November 1897.
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, Loudon, Agents for the Applicant.
I, JOHN BOWING, of Tilbury, in the County of Essex, Consulting Chemist, 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;-
My invention relates to the manufacture of coke in the manner described in the
Complete Specification filed with my application No. 2071 of 1897 and to apparatus
therefor.
Plumbago retorts of the kind described in the said specification are expensive
to manufacture and after a time deteriorate as regards their heat conducting
qualities; furthermore such retorts are liable to be fractured or injured when
discharging the coke.
Retorts of iron or steel are not open to these objections but in practice the action
upon such retorts of the furnace gases at the high temperature which I have to
employ rapidly causes the destruction of the latter.
According to my invention I transmit the heat to the retort by radiation and to
this end I form around the retort a chamber or muttle into which the furnace gases
cannot penetrate.
The wall of this chamber or muffle (which is advantageously about 3 inches
thick) is surrounded externally by a flue of uniform width and the sectional area
of which measured at right angles to the direction of flow of the furnace gases
is the same or approximately the same as that of the throat or throats through
which the gases enter the flue ineasured in the same manner.
To enable my invention to be fully understood I will describe the same by refer-
ence to the accompanying drawings, in which:-
Figure 1 is a vertical section, and,
-
Figure 2 a horizontal section of my improved furnace.
a is the retort of iron or steel, b is the wall of the chamber or muffle which
surrounds the said retort and e is the outer wall of the furnace the said outer wall
being arranged at some distance from the muffle wall 6 so as to form the flue d.
This flue is of uniform width at all points around the outside of the said wall b
and has one or more inlets or throats c, e for the admission of the gases of com-
bustion from the furnace, the sectional area or united sectional areas of the said
throat or throats measured at right angles to the direction of flow of the gases
being the same or substantially the same as the sectional area of the flue around
the muffle measured in the same manner.
As shewn the retort is provided with a removable bottom pivoted upon a stud g
to permit of its being turned aside for discharging the retort and it is adapted to
be wedged up into the taper seat in the base-plate h and luted to hermetically
seal it. Any other suitable means for rendering the bottom f removable may,
however, be employed, for instance the removable bottom may be made to slide

page_text: as a drawer. At the top of the retort is a cover i having a tubular arm or elbow j
through which the products of distillation may escape.
The chamber or muttle around the retort is represented as being of square section
so that the distance between the retort and the wall of the muttle is not uniform
at all points; in practice, however, this has no effect upon the uniformity of the
heat transmitted through the walls of the retort as the muffle chamber is abso-
lutely closed so that no current can pass through it.
With this construction I find it is necessary to maintain a somewhat greater
temperature in the said flue than when the heated gases directly act upon the
retort. In practice I have found that to obtain the required temperature in the
retort a temperature of say 520° C must be maintained in the muffle chamber
which will necessitate a temperature of say 900° C in the flue.
The oven above described has the advantage that variations of temperature
in the flue are less likely to be felt in the retort than is the case when the retort
is heated by conduction instead of by radiation.
The products of distillation which escape from the retort during the coking
operation are advantageously lead into a closed condenser containing coal for future
treatment, whereby such coal is more or less enriched. I find it advantageous to
use as the condenser one or more of the bunkers in which the coal is stored.
By using a condenser in combination with the coking oven I obtain the further
advantage that the coal under treatment is converted into coke of better quality
than if the products of combustion escaped into the atmosphere or were drawn off
by an exhauster. Ι ani not able to state definitely the cause of this
improvement in the quality of coke due to the discharge of the gases into the
closed condenser but I believe it to be due to the retardation of the flow of gases
which results, and consequently that it can be produced in other manners for
instance by using instead of coal a charge of sand or other means of checking the
escape of the gases from the retort.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is;-
1. A coke oven wherein a vertical retort of iron or steel is surrounded by a
chamber or muffle, the wall forming which is in turn surrounded by a shallow Hue
of uniform width at all poinis and having a throat or throats through which the
furnace gases enter the said flue, the area or united sectional areas of the said
throat or throats measured at right angles to the direction of flow of the gases
being the same or substantially the same as the sectional area of the flue around
the retort measured in the same manner, substantially as described.
2. A coke oven constructed arranged and operating substantially as herein before
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
3. In the manufacture of coke in the manner described in the Specification
No. 2071 of 1897 herein before referred to, conveying the products of distillation
which escape from the retort during the coking operation into a closed condenser
which is preferably one of the bunkers in which coal for future treatment is
stored, substantially as, and for the purpose, described.
Dated the 10th day of Avost 1898
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.