AN IMPROVED PREPARATION OF FUEL, AND THE APPLI- CATION OF THE SAME TO STEAM BOLLER PURPOSES
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Morgan, of Cwm Aman, near Llanelly, in
the County of Carmarthen, Gentleman, and Charles Ranken Vickerman,
of Kilgetty, near Saundersfoot, in the County of Pembroke, Gentleman,
for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PREPARATION OF FUEL, AND THE APPLI-
CATION OF THE SAME TO STEAM BOLLER PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Morgan and Charles
Ranken Vickerman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
their Petition, on the 5th March 1856.
We, CHARLES MORGAN, of Cwm Aman, near Llanelly, in the County of
Carmarthen, Gentleman, and CHARLES RANKEN VICKERMAN, of Kilgetty, near
Saundersfoot, in the County of Pembroke, Gentleman, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for AN IMPROVED PREPARATION OF FUEL, AND THE
APPLICATION OF THE SAME TO STEAM BOILER PURPOSES, to be as follows:-
The object of our Invention is to prepare a marketable fuel suitable for
steam boilers, particularly those which are constructed on the tubular prin-
ciple (as locomotive engine, boilers), in which it is a main object to prevent
the emission of smoke. For this purpose we take the class of hard coal
known as anthracite, and subject it to a baking or calcining operation in a

page_text: suitably constructed oven, whereby the gases and water contained in the coal
are driven off, and the coal is brought to such a state that when employed as
a fuel it will no longer decrepitate on the sudden application of heat, but will
burn steadily under the fiercest draughts.
We are thus enabled to provide a fuel possessing all the advantages of coke,
with the addition of greater hardness and solidity, while at the same time we
avoid the disadvantages hitherto attendant on the use of anthracite arising
from the choking of the flues with the dust, created by the decrepitation of
the fuel. The fuel, thus prepared, we propose to employ chiefly in locomotive
and marine engines.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Morgan and Charles Ranken Vickerman in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th September 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, CHARLES
MORGAN, of Cwm Aman, near Llanelly, in the County of Carmarthen, Gentle-
man, and CHARLES RANKEN VICKERMAN, of Kilgetty, near Saundersfoot, in
the County of Pembroke, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us,
the said Charles, Morgan and Charles Ranken Vickerman, Her special licence
that we, the said Charles Morgan and Charles Ranken Vickerman, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Charles
Morgan and Charles Ranken Vickerman, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all 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 "AN IMPROVED PREPARATION OF FUEL, AND THE APPLICATION OF THE
SAME TO STEAM BOILER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said Charles Morgan and Charles Ranken Vickerman, by an instrument
in writing under our hands and seals, or under the hand and seal of one of
us, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same

page_text: to be file 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 Charles Ranken Vickerman, on behalf
of myself and of the said Charles Morgan, do hereby declare the nature of our
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement (that is
to say)
The object of our Invention is to prepare an economical and efficient sub-
stitute for the spongy coke now used in steam boiler furnaces, where it is
important to prevent the emission of smoke.
It is well-known that in burning ordinary coke in locomotive engines, the
great draught created in the furnace by the blast of the used steam causes a
wasteful expenditure of the fuel. This does not occur to so great an extent
when bituminous coals are employed in locomotive engines, but the emission
of smoke and other causes have hitherto been a bar to their use.
To avoid this latter inconvenience it has been proposed to use the hard
stone coal known as "anthracite," but it has been found that when suddenly
heated it will decrepitate with violence, and choke up the furnace flues with
dust. Now, in order to avail ourselves of the advantages of this hard, com-
pact, and smokeless coal, and to render it fit for burning in the furnaces of
tubular boilers, (whether employed for marine or land purposes,) we propose to
subject anthracite to a charring or calcining operation, either in a suitably
constructed oven or retort, or by burning it in heaps without access of air, in
a manner similar to the burning of wood to convert it into charcoal, by which
operation the gases and water contained in the coal will be driven off, and the
coal will be brought to such a state that when employed as a fuel, it will no
longer decrepitate on the sudden application of heat thereto, but will burn
steadily under the fiercest draughts.
When using an oven or retort we do not limit ourselves to any peculiar
construction for effecting the charring. or calcining operation, but we propose
to use any of the well-known arrangements of coke oven which admit of being
economically heated, and of being quickly charged with anthracite, and drawn
when the operation is completed. In such oven or retort we prefer to
operate upon any given quantity of anthracite, in relation to the size or
capacity of such oven or retort, laying the coal at such a depth as admits
of its being quickly heated throughout. We now raise the temperature of
the charge to nearly that requisite for melting soft pig iron, and continue
this heat until the blue flame disappears, after which the explosive gases
and water contained in the coal will be found to have been driven off. The

page_text: heated anthracite is then discharged from the oven or retort and allowed to cool,
or water is poured over the same for the purpose of more quickly cooling it.
A fresh charge is then thrown in, and the charring or calcining operation is
repeated.
When charring or calcining the coal in the open air, we propose to build up
a kiln composed of fire bricks, and throw into the same any given quantity of
anthracite in relation to the size of the kiln, and we fire the heap at the bottom
by means of wood. After burning until the blue flame ceases and the red
flame appears, we then bank over with culm or small coal to prevent access of
air to the burning mass, and after. pouring water over it and leaving it to cool,
the charging operation or calcining will be completed.
!
By either of these means we are enabled to provide for locomotive and
marine engines, a fuel possessing all the advantages of coke with the addition
of greater hardness and solidity, while at the same time we avoid, the dis-
advantages hitherto, attendant on the use of anthracite arising; from the
decrepitation of, the fuel, and the choking of the flues with the dust..
Having now set forth the nature and object of our Invention of "An
Improved Preparation of Fuel, and the application of the same to Steam
Boiler Purposes," and explained, the manner of carrying the same into effect,
we wish it to be understood,, that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent, we claim,--
First, preparing anthracite coal for consumption in steam boiler and other
closed furnaces; by driving off by the application of heat the gases and watery
particles contained in the coal.
And, secondly, the use of the prepared fuel in the furnaces of marine and
land tabular boilers.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Ranken Vickerman, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fourth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
1"
CHA. RANKEN VICKERMAN. (L.S.)