IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OR SYSTEM OF AND IN APPARATUS FOR PREPARING PEAT FOR USE
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Edwards Corcoran, of Ottawa, in the Province of
Ontario, Canada, but temporarily at the Patent Office, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool,
in the County of Lancaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MODE OR SYSTEM OF AND IN APPARATUS FOR PREPARING PEAT FOR USE."
A communication from abroad by William Ely Wright, of Rome, County of
Oneida, in the State of New York.
Sealed the 19th March 1878, and dated the 15th January 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Edwards Corcoran at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 15th January 1878.
RICHARD EDWARDS CORCORAN, of Ottawa, in the Province of Ontario, Canada,
but temporarily at the Patent Office, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OR SYSTEM OF AND IN APPARATUS
FOR PREPARING PEAT FOR USE." A communication from abroad by William Ely
Wright, of Rome, County of Oneida, in the State of New York.
This Invention consists in an apparatus and entire process for preparing peat
from its original state in the bog.
I commence by damming off a portion of the bog, if very wet, and then in all
cases sinking a well in the same, into which all the water drains, and out of which
it is pumped or syphoned away.
Rails are laid on the ground below the peat, and wagons filled with peat by
hand are taken to an incline and are drawn up into the works preferably by a pulley
on the machinery, and emptied on to the upper floor, from thence it is shovelled
into a hopper, and examined at the same time for stones or other deleterious
matters; thence it passes into a pugmill armed with strong blades, so that if a
stone be embedded in the mass through negligence or design, it may, by stopping
the blades, throw the belt off instead injuring the machinery below. From this
it passes into the comminuting apparatus, which, like the pugmill, can be of any
of the numerous forms already well known. The communitor I prefer, however,
Prine 61

page_text: consists of two spirally-grooved rollers, between which the peat is ground and
squeezed out into a chamber at one end. From this it passes into a series of tubes,
usually eight in number, each having a central pointed mandril so as to cause the
peat to issue in the form of eight parallel tubes.. Beneath this are trays on rollers,
and on to these trays, following each other in succession, the peat passes from the
spouts of the comminutor.
The trays are of wire cloth, slats, or other porous or pervious material, and are
pushed forward in the process till full, when they are lifted up on to waggons,
the trays being piled up one over the other, with interspaces between, on open
frame waggons, or otherwise. These waggons, while piling is going on, stand on a
traverser or turntable waggon that runs on a line of rails at the end of a series of
chambers, kilns, and open shedding forming the drying and the storing apparatus.
The kilns are long and narrow so as to accomodate, preferably, two lines of rails
on a level with the traverser. The floors of these kilns are made of planks an inch
or so apart, or other perforated material so as to admit the hot air through the floor.
Beneath the floor, or to one side in each instance, is a reservoir or flue, into which
the hot air is carried from a hot air chamber round the boiler.
A series of diagonal joists or baffle plates are placed beneath the floor so as to
cause the heated air to be carried to the sides as well as the centre of the kiln.
At the other end of the kilns is another traverser similar to the first for removing
the waggons from the open shedding to one side of the kilns, into the kilns, or from
the kilns into the storehouse at the other side.
The waggons of wet peat trays are first brought to the open shedding, from
thence being gradually pushed forward during the course of a day or two, they
einerge at the other end of the rails, and are carried by the traverser to the kilns ;
through these they are placed, the entire kiln being filled at once.
When fully
dessicated they are passed into the store rooms at the end of the range kilns,
unloaded, and waggons and trays used again for a fresh lot of material.
The mode of heating and regulating the air in the chambers is peculiar. Besides
the hot air sent in from below cold air is blown in above, and shields or baffle
plates are hung over each waggon so as to prevent the air having a free passage
through. Some damp air is also drawn off from above by a fan passed in a pipe
through the furnace to heat it and injected below the furnace as a hot blast. At
the opposite end to where the hot and cold air enters there is a chimney shaft for
carrying off the damp air. The kilns are also heated in part by the smoke pipe
which runs through the kilns horizontally. There are also ventilators on the roof
or sides opened at will.
To economize everything I use the exhaust steam by leading it up the smoke pipe,
and I also introduce steam from the boiler into the comminutor jacket. I make
a portion of the front plate of the fire-box double so as to form a chamber for
heating the feed water which is pumped therein.
'

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Richard Edwards Corcoran in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th
May 1878.
RICHARD EDWARDS CORCORAN, of Ottawa, in the Province of Ontario, Canada,
but temporarily at the Patent Office, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OR SYSTEM OF AND IN APPARATUS
FOR PREPARING PEAT FOR USE." A communication from abroad by William Ely
Wright, of Rome, County of Oneida, in the State of New York.
This Invention consists in an apparatus for and entire process of preparing peat
from its original state in the bog to the condition of dried cakes of fuel.
It is best described by aid of the accompanying Drawings, in which Figure 1 is
.a transverse section; Figure 2, a longitudinal section; and Figure 3, a sectional
plan of works.
In these A, A, is the machine house containing boiler, engine, peat grinding
machines, blower and suction fans, car hauler, rail-track, turntable, car, et cetera ;
B, the kilns; C, the distributing chamber between the upper and lower floors of kilns ;
D, ventilating shafts; E, damper in ventilating shafts; F, smoke pipe from boilers;
G, one or more boilers; H, fire-place; I, hot-air chamber; J, steam engine; K, K, are
peat machines; these can be of any of the usual forms, but I prefer two spirally-grooved
and fluted rollers feeding into a chamber, out of which proceed a series of eight
nozzles, each armed with a central mandrel, round which the peat issues in the form
of a tube; L, L, are peat choppers, usually pugmills, consisting each of a cylinder
ending in a cone, in which a shaft armed with projecting blades or knives pointing
slightly downwards. One great use of this pugmill is that if a large stone or other
hard matter gets in, the belt is thrown off, and no harm done to machine K. M,
spouts from the upper room of machine house; N, a blower, which takes the hot
air from the hot air chamber I, and sends it into the reservoirs, from, which it may
be admitted into each or all of the distributing chambers C, and also, if desired,
into the peat machine K or choppers L; O, is the upper floor of the machine house;
P, a roller driven by the engine for drawing up the loaded peat cars from the bog
on to the upper floor; Q, turntable cars which carry the open frame cars R, R,
crosswards of the building, so that they can be placed in any of the tracks that may
be desired; S, a suction fan which draws the moisture from the kilns B and sends
it into the pipe A through the fire-place H, and under the grate-bars; T, a blower
which takes the cold air of the room and sends it into a reservoir j, from which it
may be admitted into each or all of the kilns B by opening the valves b.
The effect of the suction fan S may be regulated by the valves c, and the blower
N by the valves d; e, e, are a series of openings in the upper floor of the kilns
B to allow the heat from the chamber C to entre the ovens ; or instead of these the
floor can be made of perforated iron or other plates; f, f, are joists of the floor, and
they are supported by the blocks g, g, resting on the lower floor. The joists or
baffle plates ff, are placed diagonally so as to distribute the current of hot air
evenly under the floor.
At the near end of the ovens are placed ventilating shafts D, extending from the
kilns B out through the top of the building, and having at any suitable point
dampers E to regulate the state of the atmosphere inside the ovens.
In the operation of making peat by my process, the bog is first drained of water
as much as possible. This is effected by suitable drains leading to a well
located in the most convenient situation, and from which well the water is drawn
by a pump; then the raw peat is loaded on suitable cars and drawn up the inclined
track on to the floor O of the machine house A ; it is here deposited from the car and
examined on the floor, when all coarse roots, stones, general refuse, et cetera, are
taken out. The peat is then pushed into the spouts M, through which it goes to
the choppers L, and thence to the peat machines K, from which the ground peat,

page_text: falls in from four to eight streams on to trays h.
These streams are formed hollow
by a core placed in the centre of the discharge spouts. The taper shape of the
nozzle will condense the peat during its expulsion. The trays rest on the rollers i,
under the machines K. They are simple frames covered with wire cloth or slats,
and are filled and placed on the open frame cars R. These cars may be brought
over the various tracks, and the turntable cars Q into the drying sheds where they
remain for a day or two, and are then taken to the ovens B; here the peat
remains until sufficiently dried, when it is removed to the storehouse U.
If not found practicable to keep the pit clear of water while excavating, a
dam is formed around the pit enclosing sufficient area to serve for a length of
time.
A casing V of brick or any other material encloses the boilers and furnace at a
suitable distance to form a hot air chamber. From this the hot air is drawn by the
blower N, and forced into the reservoir k, from which, by opening the valves d, it
may be admitted into each or all of the distributing chambers C, and into other
parts of the building, as may be found desirable.
Inside the kilns are placed shields p, at convenient distances apart, reaching from
the roof, downwards, to the load of peat. A curtain or swinging part is attached
to the lower part of the shields to admit of the loads of peat passing under. The
object of these shields is to overcome the natural upward tendency of heat, and
force it down through the peat, thereby securing perfect circulation.
The smoke pipe F is placed horizontally through the kilns B, so that from the
exhaust steam from the engine, together with the smoke from the furnace, a large
amount of heat is saved and applied in the kilns.
The turntable cars Q are for the purpose of carrying the open frame cars R across
the building to any track desired. These turntable cars consist of a strong frame
mounted on wheels, and upon which a platform revolves horizontally about its
centre. Upon this platform are placed tracks on which the open frame cars run.
The open frame cars are made with high open frames so constructed that the trays
are kept apart. By this means free circulation of the air is obtained while the cars
are standing in the sheds, and free circulation of heat when in the kilns.
Ventilators m are placed in the roof of the kilns or elsewhere, as may be desired,
for the purpose of allowing free escape for the steam arising from the peat, and for
otherwise perfecting the ventilation within the kilns.
Another new feature in this connection is that the front plate of the boiler
furnace is made double, and thus constructed is used as a heater for the feed water
of the boilers.
Having now described my Invention, and the best mode known to me for
carrying it into effect, that what I believe to be new, and desire to claim under
the berein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
I. The mode of distributing the currents of air uniformly under the surface of
the perforated floor of a kiln or chamber by diagonal baffle boards or joists or their
mechanical equivalents, substantially as described.
II. The arrangement of sheds or buildings for drying and storing peat, substan-
tially as described.
III. The combination of natural with artificial drying influences in the order set
forth for the purpose of drying peat.
IV. The two exhaust blowers, as operating above and below the peat in the
drying room, in combination with the third blower, as arranged to promote and
intensify combustion.
V. The combination of the blower T, valve b, and reservoir J, the blower M,
reservoir k, valve d, exhaust steam pipe X, blower 8, pipe a, and valve c.
VI. In a peat manufactory, forming the front plate of the boiler furnace double
to constitute a feed-water heater.
VII. The entire process, manner, and arrangement of treating and handling the
substance of peat as it lies in the bog, and each and every step in said process till
completely ready for use as a fuel, substantially as herein-described. The said

page_text: steps being (a) working the bog and drawing up into manufactory; (b), manipu-
lating and depositing the peat on trays on wagons; (c), drying; (d), moving and
storing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Edwards Corcoran, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of March, in the year of our Lord
1878.
Witness,―
E. GARDNER COLTON,
Clerk to Wm. P. Thompson,
Patent Agent,
6, Lord St.,
Liverpool.
R. E. CORCORAN. (L.S.)