CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GAS RETORTS
Year: 1838

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HOLME HEGINBOTHAM, of Stockport, in the County of Chester, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by IIer
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Thirty-first day of January, in the first year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said William
Holme Heginbotham, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and autho-
rity, that I, the said William Holme Heiginbotham, my executors, adminstra-
tors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said William Holme Heginbotham,
my executors, adminstrators, and assigns, should 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 England and
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "CERTAIN
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GAS RETORTS;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said William Holme Heginbotham,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be enrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and 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 Holme Heginbotham, hereby declare that the nature of the said

page_text: Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is par-
ticularly described and ascertained in the Drawings hereto annexed, and by
the following explanation thereof (that is to say):-
My improvements in the construction of gas retorts consist, firstly, in
the introduction of an apparatus into the body of the retort in ordinary
use for the distillation of coal, for the purpose of propelling the coal through
the retort and discharging the coke from the same after carbonization.
This apparatus is composed of a central shaft passing entirely through the
retort, around which shaft is formed a worm or screw, for the purpose of
dividing the interior of the retort into heliacal partitions or chambers, and thus
more effectually exposing the coal under process of decomposition to the action
of the heated surfaces of the retort. And, secondly, in the application of
rotary motion to this heliacal worm or creeper, in order to cause it to propel
the coal through the retort and keep it in constant motion, thus constituting a
self-acting gas generator capable of feeding and discharging itself without the
necessity of removing the mouthpiece of the retort, and exposing its interior
surface to the action of the atmosphere. This peculiar combination of appa-
ratus will be found to effect the most perfect decomposition of coal, and at the
same time to improve the quantity and quality of gas produced, as it will be
evident that the revolution of the worm shaft in the bed of the heated retort
(and of an uniform heat with it) passing progressively through the coal under
operation, and at the same time working or advancing it from one end of the
retort to the other, will effect a most perfect and rapid distillation, while the
gas evolved will become, as it were, filtered and improved, being freed from
tar while effecting its passage to the exit or ascending pipe at the discharging
end of the retort. Another considerable improvement is effected by the revo-
lution of the worm, as it will entirely prevent the interior of the casing or
retort from becoming incrusted with coke or other matter, to which they are
usually subject, thus rendering it more dureable, and it will always insure an
uniform regularity in the supply of coal simultaneously with the discharge
of coke, and also that no coke will remain in the retort after it has become
carbonized. I have attached to these improvements an apparatus to crush or
grind the coal prior to its introduction into the improved retort, as its peculiar
construction enables me to generate gas from pulverized coal, and con-
sequently to produce it at a much less cost.
In order that my improvements may be more definitely explained, I have
exhibited in the Drawing accompanying these Presents such representations as
are necessary to illustrate their application; in which Figure 1 is a side eleva-
tion of a gas retort with my improvements attached; Figure 2, a longitudinal

page_text: section, taken through the middle of the retort; Figure 3, a front elevation of
the same, representing two retorts in one bench or oven. In all these Figures
it will be observed that similar letters of reference are marked upon corre-
sponding parts of the apparatus. a, a, is a retort of the ordinary description
used for the generation of gas, which may be varied in length and diameter,
according to the judgment of the operator; this retort is furnished with cylin-
drical vessels of uniform diameter b, b, at each end, forming a receiving and
discharging chamber. c, c, c, c, is the heliacal worm or creeper, which passes
entirely through the centre of the retort bearing in gas-tight stuffing boxes at
each extremity; d, d, is the hopper, into the upper compartment of which small
coal or cannel is placed, being sufficiently broken to pass through the grating
e, e; this hopper is furnished with a valve or door f, for the purpose of dividing
the body of coal, and allowing that portion which occupies the lower compart-
ment of the hopper to be first introduced into the retort; the doorf may then
be slidden outwards, and the coal in the upper hopper will fall into that below,
and save the constant attendance of a man to charge the hopper. The small
coal now falling between the crushing-or grinding rollers is completely pul-
verized before it enters the retort to be carbonized. To the end of the worm
shaft c, c, there are a pair of loose and fast pullies, around the latter of which
is passed the driving strap g. which receives motion from ordinary line shafting
placed along the retort house, and causes the worm or creeper c, c, to revolve
slowly, and consequently to conduct the coal now under the process of carboni-
zation gradually along the retort, and thus expose every portion of it equally
to the action of heat; or it will bo evident that the worm c may be driven in
any other convenient manner. It will be seen that a constant and regular
supply of coal is kept up by the crushing rollers being made to revolve by means
of the toothed wheels h, h, and thus to deliver the small coal into the first coil
or compartment of the worm, while the reverse end of the worm is discharging
the coke after it has been completely carbonized from the last coil or compart-
ment, and so on, receiving and discharging bulk for bulk at every revolution.
There is a small plate or bar i, i, cast upon the interior of the door plate of the
retort at the discharge end, for the purpose of clearing the worm shaft from
the coke as it revolves, and thus assisting the delivery of the coke into the dis-
charge chamber b. The door or valve k at the bottom of this chamber may be
slidden outwards as desirable, and allow the coke to fall into the box or
receiver, l. This box has a loose bottom, around which is the trough m, m,
which is filled with water, in order to seal the joint and prevent the escape of
gas. The loose bottom is suspended upon hinges, so that it may fall and dis-
charge the coke after the chamber 1, 1, has become filled. On the upper side

page_text: of the discharge chamber b, b, is the exit or ascending pipe, which conducts the
gas as it is evolved to the hydraulic main, first passing through the box or
receiver n, n, to allow the deposit of such portion of tar or ammonia as may
escape with it, and this deposit may be drawn off and prevented from
returning into the retort by the syphon o.
Having now described my Invention of improvements in the construction of
gas retorts, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to
be distinctly understood, in conclusion, that I do not desire to claim the ex-
clusive use of any of the parts of which such apparatus may be composed
when separately considered, neither do I intend to confine myself to any of the
dimensions or peculiar forms of such apparatus as are shewn in the Drawings
annexed, as I have therein represented such views of an apparatus constructed
in the manner above proposed as are best calculated to carry my Invention
into effect; but I claim the novel introduction of the worm or creeper into
the body of gas retorts, and the application of such other apparatus to be used
in conjunction therewith, for the purposes and in the manner above described,
whether the retorts shall be of iron, fire clay, or other material, or whether
the worm or creeper shall be constructed hiliacally, spirally, or of any other
form.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Holme Heginbotham, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of July, in the
year
of Our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight
WILLIAM HOLME (L.S.) HEGINBOTHAM.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-sixth day of July, in the
second year. of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the said William
Holme Heginbotham, came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery,
and acknowledged the instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the instrument
aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in the fifty-
fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
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