IMPROVEMENTS IN DISTILLING COAL SHALES AND OTHER SUBSTANCES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Young, of Limefield, in the County of
Mid Lothian, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN DISTILLING COAL SHALES AND OTHER SUBSTANCES, AND
IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Sealed the 21st August 1866, and dated the 1st March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Young at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st March 1866.
I, JAMES YOUNG, of Limefield, in the County of Mid Lothian, North
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN DISTILLING COAL SHALES AND OTHER SUBSTANCES, AND,
IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
-My improvements in the distillation of coals shales and other substances,
consist in the employment. of a retort placed either horizontally or at an
angle so constructed that it may be made to revolve, and containing a
screw or spiral, the-revolution causing the materials placed, at the top of
the retort to be guided or conveyed through it.by. the screw or spiral,
whilst the retort being heated effects the distillation of the materials. The
retort or distillatory apparatus.may be: constructed. of iron or other suitable

page_text: material supplied with suitable exit pipes through which the volatile
products of distillation pass off in order that such volatile products may be
collected and utilized.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Young in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st August 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
YOUNG, of Limefield, in the County of Mid Lothian, North Britain,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said James Young, Her special license that I, the
said James Young, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Young, my executors, adminis-
trators, or 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN DISTILLING COAL SHALES AND
OTHER SUBSTANCES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said James Young, by an instru-
ment in writing under my hand and seal, 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 James Young, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings and to
the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention of improvements in the distillation of coal shales and
other substances consists in the employment of a retort placed either
horizontally or at an angle so constructed that it may be made to revolve,

page_text: and containing a screw or spiral, the revolution causing the materials placed
at the end of the retort to be guided or conveyed through it by the screw
or spiral, whilst the retort being heated effects the distillation of the
materials. The retort or distillatory apparatus may be constructed of iron
or other suitable material supplied with suitable exit pipes through which
the volatile products of distillation pass off in order that such volatile pro-
ducts may be collected and utilized.
And in order that my said Invention (which is based upon another
Invention for which Letters Patent were granted unto me on or about the
15th day of February 1866, numbered 478), may be properly understood,
I shall now proceed to describe more particularly the system or manner
in or under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into
effect, reference being had for the sake of more complete elucidation to
the Figure upon the explanatory Sheet of Drawings which I have hereunto
appended, that is to say, the Figure on the annexed Sheet of Drawings
is a longitudinal section of a retort constructed in accordance with this
Invention, and which is to be used for the distillation of coal shales and
other substances.
In the arrangement which I have shown, and now proceed to specify,
the retort A is situated horizontally within the hot or firing chamber B,
and each end passes through opposite sides of this chamber; the openings
through which the ends of the retort pass being provided with metallic
rings C, fitting the circumference of the retort with sufficient closeness as
to allow of its free revolution therein, at the same time diminishing as
much as possible the escape of heat from or the ingress or cold air at
these points, as in the apparatus specified under the Letters Patent herein-
before referred to. The feeding end of the retort is fitted with a stuffing
box D for the reception of the curved passage E leading from the feeding
hopper F, and the discharging end is provided with a neck G which
revolves with the retort, and entering the stuffing box H in the exit piece
I the joint between the retort and exit piece. I dips below the level of
the water in the water lute K. At either end the retort is supported on
antifriction rollers Land M, and rotation is imparted to it by means of the
revolving tangent screw N, which gears into correspondingly formed teeth
on the edge of the stuffing box D. The feeding end of the retort is
furnished with the stirring bar O passing into the passage connecting the
retort A with the feeding hopper, as in the apparatus set forth in the
Specification of the Letters Patent, herein-before referred to.
it will now be evident that the apparatus to be used for the distillation

page_text: of coal shales and other substances is in the present case generally
similar to what I have specified under the above-recited Letters Patent,
and therefore need not be herein further referred to; the essential
difference then between the present Invention and that above referred to
consists in forming the retort with the internal spiral blade P, the use of
which is to facilitate the travel through the retort of the material being
distilled, as the retort itself revolves. The products arising from the
distillation are taken off through the pipe Q, and the refuse falls into the
water R, whence it is withdrawn by an attendant as required. It is evident
that the rate at which the materials under treatment will travel through the
retort depends upon two causes, the first of which is the rate at which
the retort itself revolves, and, second, the pitch of the spiral blade P, one
or both of which may be arranged according to the nature of the material
under treatment. The particular action of the spiral blade P is that as
the material under treatment passes from the feeding hopper into the
retort its weight causes it to lie continually on the lower side of the
retort, therefore as the latter revolves .the material is continually travelled
forward till it reaches the exit, at which point the products have all passed
off, and the refuse is discharged in the manner herein-before described;
the arrangement of the apparatus generally resulting in effecting a
continuous distillatory process.
.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner
in which the same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, I
would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in
part recited Letters Patent is, the employment of a revolving retort provided
with an internal spiral blade for facilitating the passage therethrough of
the materials under treatment, and combined with feeding and discharging
apparatus arranged so as to produce a continuous process in the manner
and for the purpose herein-before described, or any mere modification
thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Young, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-six.
JAMES YOUNG. (L.S.)