AN IMPROVED APPARATUS POR MANUFACTURING ILLUMINATING GAS AND PRODUCING BONE BLACK AND OTHER VALUABLE RESIDUUM
Year: 1866

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by. John Israel Ensley at the Office,
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 11th August.
1866.
I, JOHN ISRAEL ENSLEY, of the City of New York, in the State of New
York and United States of America, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature
of the said. Invention for "AN IMPROVED APPARATUS POR MANUFACTURING
ILLUMINATING GAS AND PRODUCING BONE BLACK AND OTHER VALUABLE RESIDUUM,"
to be as follows:-
It is the object of my Invention to separate the gaseous and solid con-
stituents of various substances retaining the gaseous matter in a suitable.
apparatus to be utilized and producing bone black or other valuable residuum
from the same. A retort is provided having a fire chamber and smoke pipe
as usual; within this retort a chamber is situated, the said chamber being
closed except at its outer end. A set of cylinders is constructed, any one of
which fits the chamber in the retort, and is made open at one end to receive
the charge to be subjected to the heat. The said cylinders are provided
with perforations through which the gaseous matter evolved therein escapes.
When one of these cylinders is in place in the chamber the latter is closed by
a cover fitting in its mouth and held in place by a pressure screw resting in a
removable bearing or by some equivalent device; in this manner the chamber
in the retort is made gas-tight. A pipe extends from the said chamber and
conveys the gaseous matter to one of a series of purifying vessels resting in a
water tank; these vessels communicate with each other through short

page_text: pipes. Each of the said vessels is also provided with cocks extending through
the sides of the water tank to allow the escape of condensed water. A pipe
also extends from the final condensing chamber, through which the gas passes
into a gasometer of ordinary construction, whence it is distributed in the
ordinary manner. A short tube is connected to the lowest portion of this
pipe and opens into a tight barrel communicating with a suitable pump by
which the condensed water is drawn off; this pipe is also provided with a
stop-cock by which the flow of gas through the said pipe may be stopped and
the contents of the gasometer retained.
Two objects are effected by using this apparatus, firstly, the retention and
utilization of the gaseous matter evolved, and, secondly, the production of bone
black or other valuable residuum from the solid elements of the substance
acted on.
In an ordinary apparatus for producing bone black the gaseous
matter is driven off as. worthless. In the improved apparatus, herein described
all the gaseous elements are retained, purified, and are mixed where it is
desirable to produce a compound gas for illuminating; in this case the mixture
can be effected by simply first placing vegetable substance in the retort to
produce the requisite hydrogen and then animal matter to produce the carbon.
Three parts of vegetable to one of animal matter will produce the proper
proportions.
The apparatus is very effective for producing bone black, also for charring
wood and retaining its essential principles. The said apparatus is applicable
whenever it is desirable to treat either vegetable or animal matter to separate
the gaseous or liquid from the solid portions.