AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING LIGHT ESSENCES BY THE DISTILLATION OF COAL, WOOD, TURF, OIL AND OTHER SIMILAR SUBSTANCES
Year: 1883

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Narcisse Alfred Hélouis at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 30th October 1883.
NARCISSE ALFRED HELOUÏS of Boulevard Saint Denis N° 1 at Paris, Chemist
Engineer "AN IMPROVED PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING LIGHT ESSENCES BY THE
DISTILLATION OF COAL, WOOD, TURF, OIL AND OTHER SIMILAR SUBSTANCES
"
When organic bodies are submitted to the immediate action of a high tempe.
rature they tend to resolve into their constituent elements.
Hydrocarburets for example are reduced into carbon more or less condensed and
into free hydrogen, this latter being mixed with the 4 fundamental carburets :-

page_text: .
Submitted to a bright red heat it combines with hydrogen and realizes the
synthesis of ethylene, dimethyle and formene.
Submitted to the action of a dull read heat it condenses, that is to say, combines
with itself to form benzine C¹² Hº.
Then combining with each carburet which it engenders it produces successively
benzine, styrolene, naphthaline, anthracene &c, this work being effected by the sole
action of its chemical affinities.
The following table expresses the mechanism of these various formations :—
synthesis of ethylene, dimethyle and formene.
Submitted to the action of a dull read heat it condenses, that is to say, combines
with itself to form benzine C¹² Hº.
Then combining with each carburet which it engenders it produces successively
benzine, styrolene, naphthaline, anthracene &c, this work being effected by the sole
action of its chemical affinities.
The following table expresses the mechanism of these various formations :—
(1). 3 (CH) = 'C'¹ H*
Acetylene. Benzine.
(2)_C* H* + C" Hª = C¹ Hª
Acetylene. Benzine. Styrolene.
C120 H10
Acetylene. Styrolene. Hyduret of Naphthaline.
(3) C* H* + CH® H*
=
(4)
C20 H10 ====
C20 H + H*
Hyduret of
Naphthaline
Naphthaline. Hydrogen.
(5) Ċ H* + C* H³
=
C24 H10
Acetylene. Naphthaline. Anthracene,
and so on. This indefinite train of progressive combinations is developed by the
prolonged action of heat on acetylene.
To summarize :-The 3 influences which constitute and characterize my process
have for result:-(1) To produce the permanent formation of acetylene (generator
of benzine). (2) To preserve the benzine from more complex combinations having
for result the production of condensed carburets which constitute heavy oils of less
commercial value.
To effect this object I arrange apparatus for distilling coal as follows:-Cast iron
vertical retorts are placed in a furnace or gasogene the temperature of which is
constant and never exceeds dull red. The coal is charged by upper openings and
the coke is di-charged by lower openings. The products of distillation escape in
the state of gas and vapor under pressure by tubes which communicate with barrels
and from these they flow to the different condensers and then to the ordinary gas-
holders. A steam jet extractor in the neighborhood of the retorts continuously
withdraws the gas from the gas holders and returns it (after a previous superheating
at bright red) to the retorts. The gas mixed with steam gives rise in traversing
the super-heating apparatus to the following reactions:-
1. Complete combustion of the lighting gas under the influence of the oxygen of
the water with production of acetylene.
2. Dishydrogenation of the formene, dimethyle and ethylene.

page_text: Here a fresh influenco comes into action. Under the ordinary conditions the
nascent vapors of benzine combine (at dull red) with the acetylene to form
styrolene.
C₁ H³ + C¹¹ H³ = CIG S
Acetylene. Bonzine. Styrolone.
and after this reaction would form successively the indefinite train of polyacetinelic
carburets more and more condensed.
Now the benzine is completely preserved from these reactions by the atmosphere
of nascent hydrogen with which it is diluted. Hydrogen, the chemical affinities of
which are so little pronounced in the normal conditions, becomes extremely active 10
in the nascent stato and under pressure. It is thus that it decomposes by
hydrogenation all the carburets rich in carbon such as styrolene, naphthaline,
anthracene, &c.
(1) Action of hydrogen on styrolene (at dull red)
CH+H² = CH+C* H*
Styrolene. Hydrogen. Benzino. Ethylene.
(Inverse reaction which limits the production of styrolene).
(2) Action of hydrogen on naphthaline (at bright red).
C20 HB + H³ = C¹³ ³ + 2 C* H*
Naphthaline. Hydrogen. Acetylene. Benzine.
:
(3) Action of hydrogen on anthracene (at bright red).
C9H10+2 H' =
2 (C¹ Hº) + C'H®*
Anthracene. Hydrogen. Benzine. Acetylene.
1
The importance of the action of hydrogen which forms with acetyline very nearly
the whole of the atmosphere of my retorts will thus be seen. Owing to its influence 2
the light carburets, that is to say, those saturated with hydrogen escape the complex
reactions, while the heavy carburets (that is to say, those more and more charged
with carbon) which tend to form or which are brought into my retorts with the
injected gases are almost immediately decomposed by hydrogenation into light
carburets (benzine) and into gas (acetylene).
In short the hydrogen in excess and under pressure in the nascent state preserves
from condensations the carburets of the benzenic series represented by the general
formula CH2-6 on which it acts only feebly and slowly at dull red.
The diluted light essences as they become formed by the gaseous current under
pressure thus escape the action of the heat.
3