IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF FUEL
Year: 1849

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY GREEN, of Basinghall Strect, in the City of London, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Fifth day of March, in the twelfth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Henry Green, Her especial license, full power, solo privilege and
authority, that I, the said William Henry Green, my exors, adñiors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said William Henry Green, my exors,
adiñiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PREPARATION OF FUEL,"
being a communication from a Foreigner residing abroad; in which said
Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said William Henry
Green, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and

page_text: immediately after the date of the said in part 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
William Henry Green, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
inarked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention of Improvements in the Preparation of Fuel refers,-
Firstly, to a mode of drying peat to be used as fuel. And,
Secondly, to the charring of peat in a manner that will admit of the
volatile oils and other volatilizable substances which it contains being driven
off without the great waste of carbon being experienced that follows from the
present mode of charring.
In Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 represents in vertical
section, and Fig. 2 in sectional plan, an improved construction of kiln or
drying shed for the peat. It consists of a rectangular brick building, with an
ordinary kind of ventilating roof. The floor of the shed is formed of iron
plates pierced with holes at certain parts to allow of heated air from below:
passing through them. Beneath this flooring are a series of serpentine or
winding flues or hot air passages A, A, built of bricks, and covered in with
tiles. In connection with these flues are (by preference) two fireplaces B, B,
and a common chimney C. Beneath these flues of the kiln or drying shed
free access of air at the ordinary temperature is allowed; and set in the tiles
which form the covering of the flues are a number of small wrought-iron
vertical pipes a, a, which form channels for conducting the air upwards into
the mass of peat which is piled upon the floor. When the flues are arranged
as shewn at Fig. 2, the peat which is cut from the bog in rectangular blocks
of uniform size, and has been partially dried in the open air, is piled up over
the flues with regularity, passages being left between each pile for the circula-
tion of air and the escape of the moisture from the peat; but when they cover
the whole surface of the floor the blocks of peat may be thrown in through a
trap door in the roof until the building is nearly full. In this latter case,
however, it will be necessary to apply an exhausting apparatus at the top of the
building (as shewn by red lines at Fig. 1) to cause the air to flow up through
the air pipes a, and distribute itself through the mass of peat, that it may carry
off the moisture therefrom. The drying is effected in the following manner:-
The fireplaces B, B, are charged with peat fuel, and the heated air and gases

page_text: arising from the combustion of the peat, traverse the flues A, A, heating all
the vertical pipes a which they encounter on their passage to the chimney. C.
These pipes (which as before stated) are the channels for conveying air to
the piles of peat, will impart heat to the air as it passes through them,
sufficient to act upon the peat and drive the moisture therefrom; the tempe-
rature to which the air that is to act upon the peat is raised should not exceed
one hundred and thirty degrees Fahrenheit. If an exhausting apparatus is
applied to the kiln or drying shed, it is now set in motion by any first mover,.
and as quickly as the evaporation takes place, the moisture is expelled from the
kiln. When the exhaust apparatus is not employed, the vapor rises and
passes off through the openings in the roof. The drying operation will
require to be kept up to from two to five days, according to the state of the
peat when placed in the kiln.. In fine weather, when the peat can have a
previous drying in the open air, the kiln drying may be effected in about
two days, but it is not desirable to drive out the moisture very quickly, as the
peat is liable to crack and fall to pieces; if, however, the operation is conducted
slowly, the peat will consolidate and be better suited for the ordinary purposes
of fuel, as well as for conversion into charcoal.
In Sheet II. of the Drawings, an improved arrangement and construction
of apparatus for charring peat in an economical an efficient manner is shown,
Fig. 1 being a front elevation partly in section, Fig. 2 a transverse section,
and Fig. 3 a plan or top view of the same. This apparatus consists of a
series of retorts A; set in pairs in suitable brickwork, and surrounded by flues
B, B, into which the heated gases from the several furnaces C are conducted
by the branch flues c, c, leading from the furnaces, and by these flues B the
heat is deflected upon the retorts which they respectively surround. At the
upper end of the flucs c sliding damper plates d, d, (one of which is shewn
detached at Fig. 4) are placed to allow of the attendant checking the passage
of the heated gases up these flues, and turning them into the flues c, c. The
retorts are tubes composed by preference of sheet iron, from one eighth to
three sixteenths of an inch thick, and having a D-shaped section; they are set
horizontally and parallel to each other in the brickwork, and both their ends
extend through the same, as shewn at Fig. 2. The ends of the retorts are
closed by outer doors a, a, of iron. These doors are each held in their places.
by means of a bar, the ends of which are inserted into lugs or cars on the ends
of the retorts; a screw passing through the middle of this bar is turned until it
abuts against the door, and binds it tight against the end of the retort. b, b,
are inner doors composed of fire clay, and forming with the outer doors a an
air packing, whereby the heat is confined within the brickwork of the furnace,

page_text: and is more uniformly distributed through the retort. The inner doors b
fit against a lip or rib in the retorts, and they are kept in their vertical
position by a strut or bracket attached to them and resting on the bottom of the
retort. For every two retorts a furnace C is provided, and from the sides and
crown of the furnace a series of flues c, c*, lead off to the flues B, B, which
surround their respective retorts. The gases, after heating the retorts, pass off
by the flues B*, B*, into a general flue D, which conducts them off to the
chimney C. These flues B*, B*, are each provided with a damper for regu-
lating the escape of the heated gases from the flues B, and thereby giving the
attendant a command over the charring operation. In connection with each
retort are two vertical pipes E, E, which rise through the brickwork, and are
bent over at their upper end for the purpose of being connected to one of a
series of pipes F, which pipes are intended to carry off from the retorts the
volatile substances evolved from the peat, and convey them through a
common pipe G to a condenser H. Each of these pipes F is provided
with a stopcock e for cutting off the connection with the. pipe G, and. above
the stopcock is a jet for ascertaining the amount of gas being given off by
the peat. In the condenser H the tar and ammoniacal liquor resulting from
the process of distillation is deposited, but the gases are conducted. away by
the inclined pipe 1 to a gasometer:. This pipe is placed in a gutter down
which a stream of water. runs in an opposite direction to the passage of the
gases, for the purpose of cooling the same and condensing the aqueous par-
ticles escaping with the gases. The pipe I being on: an incline will. allow of
this liquor flowing back into the condenser II. These gases, which are very
inflammable, are conveyed from the gasometer to the several furnaces, and are
employed therein as fuel in combination with dried peat, which is used to
commence and keep up the distilling operation. The number of pairs of
retorts shewn in the Drawing are four, but it is obvious that a greater
or lesser number may be employed according to the extent of the operations
desired to be carried. on.
The following are the details of the mode of operating with this improved:
apparatus: The furnaces being charged with peat fuel (which: when burning will:
have no injurious effect upon the thin sheet-iron retorts), the fires are lighted,
and after about twelve hours, the retorts being by that time brought to the
proper degree of temperature, they are filled with a quantity of peat packed:
regularly in baskets made of loop iron, and of such a shape that they will fit
the retorts, their length being such that, say three baskets, will fill. a retort.
The top of the baskets ought not to exceed the sides of the retort in height..
There should be a double set of these baskets, so that when the retorts are

page_text: discharged at one end there may be other baskets in readiness to charge them
with at the other end. When the baskets of peat are placed in the retorts
the doors of the retorts are hermetically closed, and the temperature is raised
until a cherry red heat is obtained. This temperature is kept up until the
gases cease to be given off by the peat, or at least are very slowly evolved.
To ascertain this the attendant turns off the cock e in the pipe F, which is in
connection with the retort first filled, and turns on the gas jet. To this he
applies a light, and if the gas burns very feebly he knows that the charring is
completed. He then opens that retort and draws out the charcoal and places
it in an incandescent state in air-tight cases, wherein it is allowed to cool.
These cases must be provided with a two-way valve to allow of the escape of
heated air therefrom, and as the peat cools to allow air to flow in to fill up the
vacuum; and they may be mounted on wheels and made to run on railways
for the greater convenience of moving them. If the charcoal be required to
burn without flame then the process will have to be continued until the
inflammable gas almost entirely ceases to come over; but if the charcoal is
wanted to burn with a flame, the process will be completed when the gas
comes over in a moderate volume. It is important that the attendant should
give particular attention to this test of the progress of the operation, for after
the inflammable gases are evolved the waste of the charcoal quickly takes
place from great quantities of the carbon being carried off with the evolved
gases. The several retorts are opened and discharged at one end in succes-
sion, while the workman on the other side of the apparatus removes the
doors at his end of the retorts, and recharges the retorts in regular succession
with baskets of dried peat. When he has filled a retort he pushes the fire-
clay door up to its place and applies the outside iron door, luting it round
with clay, as is well understood. The workman at the other end does the
same when he has withdrawn the charged peat, and thus the operation is
made continuous. To effect a saving in the time of recharging the retorts it
has been found advisable to have a duplicate set of outer doors, which will
allow of the workmen applying cool doors and luting them up, instead of
waiting until the doors just removed have had time to cool.
Having now described the nature of the Invention of Improvements in the
Preparation of Fuel, as communicated to me by my Foreign Correspondent, I
wish it to be understood that I claim under the above in part recited Letters
Patent,-
First, the mode of supplying heated air to the drying house or kiln for
drying the peat and preparing it for fuel, as described with reference to.

page_text: Secondly, I claim the arrangement of apparatus for charring peat, as
described with reference to Sheet II. of the Drawings, whereby I am
enabled to ascertain the progress of the operation, to stop it at any required
stage of the charring process, and thus to effect a great economy in the
production of peat charcoal, as above mentioned.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Green, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fifth day of September, One thousand eight
hundred and forty-nine.