AN IMPROVEMENT, IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS, AND ALSO OF A CHARRED PRODUCT
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Thomas Way, of Holles Street, Cavendish
Square, in the, County of Middlesex, and John Manwaring Paine, of
Farnham, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Thomas Way and
John Manwaring Paine at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,,
with their Petition, on the 28th February 1854.
We, JOHN THOMAS WAY, of Holles Street,, Cavendish Square, in the.
County of Middlesex, and JOHN MANWARING PAINE, of Farnham, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT, IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS, AND ALSO OF A CHARRED PRODUCT," to
be as follows:
This. Invention consists of distilling a compound matter, consisting of a stone
or earth (largely composed of soluble silica, found in Surrey, and probably in
other places), and tar or fat or oil, or other organic matter, and thereby
obtaining gas; for the purposes of light and heat, and a charred product suitable.
for making filters, and for decolorizing and deodorizing purposes.
Y

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, file
by the said John Thomas Way and John Manwaring Paine in the Grea
Seal Patent Office on the 24th August 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOH
THOMAS WAY; of Holles Street, Cavendish Square, in the County of Mid
dlesex, and JOHN MANWARING PAINE, of Farnham, in the County of Surrey
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us
the said John Thomas Way and John Manwaring Paine, Her special licence
that we, the said John Thomas Way and John Manwaring Paine, our execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said John Thomas
Way and John Manwaring Paine, 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
IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS, AND ALSO OF A CHARRED PRODUCT,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Thomas Way and
John Manwaring Paine, 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 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 John Thomas Way, on behalf of myself
and the said John Manwaring Paine, do hereby declare the nature of the
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 thereof
(that is to say)-
This Invention consists of distilling a compound matter consisting of a stone
or earth (largely composed of soluble silica, found in Surrey, and probably in
other places), and tar or fat or oil, or other organic matter, and thereby

page_text: obtaining gas, for the purposes of light and heat, and a charred product suitable
for making filters, and for decolorizing and deodorizing purposes.
But before we proceed to describe the nature of our said improvements,
we will, for the better understanding thereof, state what we mean by "soluble
silica."
By this term we intend to specify that peculiar form or condition of silica
or silex which is found to be readily soluble in solutions of caustic potash or
soda, when boiled with these solutions in open vessels. This kind of silica is,
when artificially prepared, obtained by adding to solutions of silicate of potash
or soda a mineral or other acid, by which the silica is precipitated in the
gelatinous state. This soluble or gelatinous silica differs from the silex of sand,
flint, or quartz rock, inasmuch as these last-named substances are not practically
soluble in solutions of potash or soda when boiled with these solutions in open
vessels, and can only be dissolved by them when enclosed in vessels fitted with
steam-tight covers, by which pressure and a much higher temperature are
obtained. We may here state that we have discovered at the base of the
chalk hills in Surrey, and it will probably be found elsewhere, a stone or clay
which contains silica in the soluble state in large quantity, in some cases
amounting to as much as seventy per cent. of the dry stone or clay. Such
minerals are easily recognized by reducing them to a fine powder, boiling
the powder in caustic soda, and afterwards adding to the solution formed an
excess of hydrochloric acid which precipitates the silica.
The first part of the process consists in impregnating the earths or minerals
before mentioned with blood, tar, or any other animal, vegetable, or organic
substance, capable when strongly heated of yielding charcoal. Such substance
must be either liquid at ordinary temperatures, or must be capable of being
rendered liquid by means of water or other solvents, or by the application of
heat. For the manufacture of charcoal by this process in England, we prefer
the use of coal tar, as the cheapest substance that can be procured; but under
some circumstances, molasses or waste sugar, and other vegetable or animal
liquids, may be employed.
We will describe the mode in which we proceed when coal or gas tar is the
liquid employed.
Having selected the silica rock or earth, before described, containing a high
per-centage of silica, and as light and porous as possible, we dry it, either by
exposure to the air or by artificial heat. We then break it into pieces
sufficiently small that they may readily be penetrated throughout by the tar.
We have found, that when the tar is heated it will readily penetrate pieces of

page_text: silica rock of the size of a man's fist; but when the tar is cold, and especially
in cold weather, it is necessary to break the silica rock into pieces of the size
of a hazel nut, or smaller. By boiling the tar with the fragments of rock in it.
for a short time, a more rapid penetration is effected; or the silica rock, being
reduced to a coarse powder, may be mixed in any suitable way, as for instance,
by a machine such as is used in pugging clay, with the tar into a thick paste.
We find that the silica rock absorbs from one-third to one-half of its weight
of tar, and we use it in this proportion when mixing it with the powdered
rock.
.
When employing the rock in fragments, we find it convenient to use a wire
basket or frame, which by simple means can be raised or lowered into the
tar vessel, so that the rock, when saturated, can be drained from excess.: of
the tar.
The second part of our process consists in exposing the silica rock saturated
with tar or other liquid, as described, to a high temperature, in order that
inflammable gases may be produced, and that charcoal may be deposited in the
pores of the silica rock. This part of the operation must be conducted in
retorts of iron or clay, as in the manufacture of animal charcoal or of coal gas.
We have found that ordinary gas retorts answer the purpose perfectly well.
The retorts are first made red hot, and the charge of silica rock saturated
with tar is introduced in the same way as coal in the ordinary method. The
charge is withdrawn when it ceases to give off inflammable gases. We are
careful when drawing the charge of the silica charcoal to expose it for as short
a time as possible whilst red hot to the air, and for this reason we either cool
it rapidly by means of water, or receive it in iron boxes with close covers, by
which access of air is prevented. The gas produced from tar in the way
described is very pure, and requires less subsequent treatment than ordinary
cal gas to make it fit for the general purposes of giving light and heat. In
the process as described by us, a variable proportion of tar is distilled without
the production of charcoal or incondensible gas. This portion collects in the
hydraulic main, and may be used to saturate a fresh portion of silica rock.
When any other liquid is employed, the process is essentially the same; due
regard being had to the nature of that liquid.
The products of our process are inflammable gases, suitable for giving
light and heat, and a charcoal fit for deodorizing, disinfecting, and decolorizing
purposes.
We claim the use of the silica rock or earth before described, for the
purpose, when impregnated with tar or other animal, vegetable, or organic

page_text: substance, of the production by the aid of heat of inflammable gases, and of a
charcoal valuable for many purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Thomas Way, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
JNO. ALCOCK.
J. THOMAS WAY. (L.S.)