CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING GAS FOR ILLUMINATION, AND IN. THE APPA- BATUS FOR THE SAME
Year: 1830

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
Down, of Leicester, in the County of Leicester, Surgeon, send greeting.
WHEREAS His present most Excellent Majesty King William the Fourth,
by His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifth day of August, in the first year of His reign, did, for
Ilimself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James
Down, is especial licence that I, the said James Down, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Down, my
executors, administrators, or assigns, shall at any time. agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING GAS FOR ILLUMINATION, AND IN. THE APPA-
BATUS FOR THE SAME;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso,
obliging me, the said James Down, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the
same to be enrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Down, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention to consist,→

page_text: First, in making or generating gas for the purposes of illumination out of
certain portions of the residuum, which in the ordinary mode of conducting the
process is not available for these purposes, by passing crude or nascent gas
with its vapour of tar and ammonia through a long stratum of ignited
charcoal or coke, and thereby evolving an additional quantity of gas from the
impurities of the said nascent gas.
And, secondly, in an improved box or vessel contrived to contain a long
stratum of charcoal or coke in a state of ignition in a small compass.
And in further compliance with the said proviso, I, the said James Down,
do hereby describe the manner in which my said Invention is to be per-
formed by the following explanation thereof, reference being also had to
the Drawing annexed, and the letters marked thereon, that is to say:
I tako the impure gases produced by the usual modes of distillation from pit
coal, or any other substance from which gas can be procured in the ordinary
way, and pass them through an extended stratum of ignited charcoal or coke,
by means of the improved apparatus herein-after described; that is to say, I
provide a box or vessel of iron, or such other substance as will withstand the
action of heat, and furnish the same with divisions, as herein-after described,
which I nearly fill with charcoal or coke. This box or vessel may be
connected with the ordinary retorts, and by this means the necessary purity
will be obtained by the very process of generating it from the impurities of
the nascent gas without any special apparatus for that purpose.
The Drawing hereunto annexed represents the improved box aforesaid.
Figure 1 represents a front elevation of two iron retorts set in brickwork
with my improved apparatus connected thereto. a is the door of the furnace;
b, b, the mouths of the retorts, closed in the usual way; c, c, pipes for con-
ducting the cruile gás leading from the retorts to my improved apparatus,
shewn at A. Figure 2, letter A, is a longitudinal representation of the
apparatus; Figure 3 is a section of the same, also takeń longitudinally.
Figure 4 is a top view, and Figure 5 a front view. The improved box or
vessel is constructed of iron, and of a rectangular forin d, d, d, d, about six
feet long, two deep, and nine inches wide; its interior is divided into several
compartments by means of a series of iron plates or partitions e, e, e, e, e, e,
descending from the top to within a short distance of the bottom, and another
series of iron plates f, fffff, intervening, rising from the bottom to within
a few inches of the top, by which an extended passage is formed from end to
end of the box or vessel. Into these compartments the charcoal or coke is
introduced, filling the box or vessel nearly to the top, and when the charcoal
or coke is brought to a state of ignition by means of the fire in the furnace

page_text: and flue beneath the box or vessel, the gas in its crude state is allowed to
proceed from the retorts by the pipes c, c, passes through the ignited charcoal
or coke in the direction of the said passage, when a decomposition of the tar
and ammonia takes place, and an additional quantity of inflammable gas is
evolved therefrom in a pure state, that is, fit for use, while the length and
shape of the passage in my improved box insures the perfect exposure of
every portion of the crude or nascent gas to the action of the ignited material
therein contained.
.
In the common mode of making gas fit for illumination, as generally
practised, the gas is passed through a variety of processes and apparatus to
effect the different progressive degrees of purification required, while the
residuum containing much good gas is not converted into that material. In
my improved mode of making or generating gas for illumination, the gas in
its crudo and nascent state, with the tar and its vapour, the ammoniacal
liquor and its vapour, and also the sulphureous gas, is passed at once into the
said box or vessel, constructed and filled as aforesaid, and thereby sufficiently
purified, while it is evident that the external shape, general form, and dimen-
sions of this box or vessel may be arranged and adapted in its situation so as
best to suit the circumstances of the particular establishment where the gas
is to be generated and used.
The before described improved box, vessel, or apparatus with its passages
must be filled, as before stated, with charcoal or coke, and heated to a degree
of temperature sufficient to cause the enclosed charcoal or coke to be in a
constant state of ignition. The heat necessary to be applied to this box, vessel,
or apparatus must be limited to that of a good gas-making heat, for if it
should be urged to a higher temperature than this it will be injurious to the
box or vessel, and at the same time detrimental to the illuminating power of
the gas. The beating of this improved box, vessel, or apparatus may be
accomplished by setting it in the same furnace or bed with the retorts, and
connecting two or more retorts with it, as shewn in the Drawing; or the like
effect may be produced by embedding it in a distinct and separate furnace,
but I prefer the method before described. It is only necessary further to
state that when it is required to remove the charcoal or coke from the above
described improved box or vessel, for the purpose of replacing fresh materials
therein, it may be done by displacing the mouth-piece or top parts of the box
or vessel, and it will be obvious that whatever sized box may be resorted to
it must be so contrived and placed that its contents may be capable of being
removed at the pleasure of the operator.
Now, whereas I claim as my Invention, first, making or generating gas for

page_text: the purposes of illumination by passing crude or nascent gas through a long
stratum of ignited charcoal or coke, whereby I evolve an additional quantity
of gas from certain portions of the residuum, which in the modes hitherto
adopted are useless for those purposes, and whereby I do away with the
necessity of a separate purifying apparatus; and, secondly, the improved box
or vessel contrived to obtain that object by means of the extended stratum of
charcoal or coke herein-before described; and such my Invention being, to
the best of my knowledge and belief, entirely new, and never before used
within that part of His said Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland called England, His said Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare this to be my Specification of the same, and
that I do verily believe this my said Specification doth comply in all respects
fully and without reserve or disguise with the proviso in the said herein-before
in part recited Letters Patent contained, wherefore I do hereby claim to
maintain exclusive right and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Down, have hereunto set my
hand and scal, the Fifth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and thirty-one.
JAMES (L.S.) DOWN.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifth day of February, in the
first year of the reign of His Majesty King William the Fourth, the said
James Down came before our said Lord the King in Ilis Chancery, and
acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein con-
tained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument afore-
said was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-fifth
year of the reign of His lato Majesty King George the Third.