CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF GENERATING ILLUMINATING GAS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF GENERATING
ILLUMINATING GAS."-A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th July 1856.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF GENERATING
ILLUMINATING GAS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in the process of generating
illuminating gas from rosin, grease, oil, tar, and other substances containing
large proportions of carbon and bydrogen which are in a liquid state, or
become wholly or partially so on being subjected to heat.
The improvements consist, firstly, in mixing the rosin, grease, oil, tar, or
other substance from which gas is to be generated with some porous cellular
or coarsely divided substance or substances, which in themselves contain no gas,
and are slow conductors of heat, such mixture being introduced into the retort
in a separate vessel, constructed so that the contents expelled by heat are com-
pelled to escape near to or in contact with the perforated bottom of the retort,
where the heat is most intense, and that the contents remaining after the gas
is extracted may be easily withdrawn from the retort.
Another improvement consists in the combination with the gas-generating

page_text: retort, of a steam-generating retort, charged with pieces of brick, pumice-stone,
porous earth, or other porous material of similar character, upon which water
is dropped, and among which it is converted into steam of a low pressure and
high temperature, without being allowed to assume the globular or spheroidal
form; the said steam-generating retort communicating with the gas-generating
retort at or near the bottom, to supply steam to the retort, to assist in decom-
posing the vapours in the retort, and to carry off the permanent gas from the
retort rapidly, thereby preventing the deposition of carbon in the retort.
The manner in which the process of making gas is conducted in this apparatus
is as follows:-The rosin, grease, oil, tar, or other substance from which the gas
is to be produced, is mixed with about three or four times its volume of coarsely
divided charcoal, bricks, or other porous substances-not-hydrocarbon, and slow
conductors of heat. A suitable vessel, provided with a perforated false bottom,
is filled with the mixture. If the substance employed to produce the gas be
rosin, mineral pitch, or other substance that is solid at ordinary atmospheric
A fire is
temperatures, it should be coarsely powdered before being mixed.
made in the fire-place, and as soon as the bottom of the retort becomes of a
dull red heat the vessel, with its contents on the perforated bottom, is placed in
the retort, and the cover placed thereon; water is then allowed to drop through
a cock adapted to a syphon pipe into the steam generator, and gas is generated
and expelled from the retort through the neck and the cooler into the gasometer
without any further trouble. When all the gas has been extracted from the
matter contained in the first vessel, which occurs in the course of one or two
hours, as can be easily ascertained by opening a gauge cock attached to the
neck or other suitable part of the vessel, the cover is raised and the vessel
withdrawn, and another vessel, previously prepared in the same manner, is
introduced in its place, and the cover replaced, and the generating of gas
Proceeds as above described
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on 3
the 29th January 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters 3
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord;
Que thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,

page_text: .
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I.
the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and 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
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF GENERATING ILLUMINATING GAS," being
a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument 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 William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention of "Certain Improvements in the Process of Generating
Illuminating Gas" relates to improved means of generating gas from rosin,
grease, oil, tar, and other substances containing large proportions of carbon and
hydrogen which are in a liquid state, or become wholly or partially so on being
subjected to heat.
The improvements consist, firstly, in mixing the rosin, grease, oil, tar,
or other substance from which gas is to be generated, with some porous
cellular or coarsely divided substance or substances, which in themselves con-
tain no gas, and are slow conductors of heat; such mixture being introduced
into the retort in a separate vessel, constructed so that the contents when
expelled by heat are compelled to escape near to or in contact with the
perforated bottom of the retort, where the heat is most intense, and the
contents remaining after the gas is extracted may be easily withdrawn from
the retort.
Another improvement consists in the combination with the gas-generating
retort of a steam-generating retort, charged with pieces of brick, pumice-stone,
porous earth, or other porous material of similar character, upon which water
is dropped, and among which it is converted into steam of a low pressure and

page_text: high temperature, without being allowed to assume the globular or spheroidal
form, the said steam-generating retort communicating with the gas-generating
retort at or near the bottom, to supply steam to the retort, to assist in decom-
posing the vapours in the retort, and to carry off the permanent gas from the
retort rapidly, thereby preventing the deposition of carbon in the retort.
The Invention is illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1
is a side elevation of a complete gas-generating apparatus, with the Invention
applied; Fig: 2 is a central vertical section of the same; Fig. 3 is a central
vertical section of the decomposing retort; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the same;
Fig. 5 is a central vertical section of the vessel, to contain the material from
which the gas is to be generated; Fig. 6 is a plan viow of the perforated
bottom of the vessel, shewn in Fig. 5. In the above-mentioned Drawing, A
is a furnace of fire brick, encased by a thin shell of sheet or cast iron; A¹ is
the fire place; A2, the fire grate; A", the ash-pit; A', the fire-place door; B-
(Figs. 3 and 4) is the decomposing retort, which is of cast iron, and is repre-
sented as of an upright cylindrical form, but which may be of any other form
that is convenient. The retort opens at the top, which is fitted with a cover
C, the sides of which are received in a groove or gutter B³, made around the
mouth of the retort, to contain an alloy of bismuth, lead, and tin, in such
proportions as will ensure its fusion at a temperature of about two hun-
dred and twelve degrees Fahrenheit, the said groove or gutter being of
a depth proportionate to the pressure exerted by the gas within the
retort, so that the column of fused metal in the groove or gutter may
serve as a seal to the cover C of the retort. To prevent the oxydation
of the metals in the groove or gutter B³, the alloy is covered with a layer
of lamp black, or other such substance. The cover C must be of such
weight, proportioned to its superficial area, as to overbalance the pressure
exerted by the gas upon it. B³ is the neck of the retort, to which is to be
connected the pipe for conducting the gas to the cooler or purifier and gas-
holder. D is the steam generator, which is an upright cylindrical vessel,
attached to one side of the decomposing retort by being cast with it, or by
other means, and communicating with the retort through a passage a at the
bottom. It has a cover a¹, in which is secured a syphon pipe a. This steam
generator is filled with pieces of fire brick, pumice-stone, porous earth, or
other such refractory and porous matter, into which the water drops from the
syphon pipe a. D¹ is a vessel (containing water), provided with a cock a³,
and suspended above the syphon pipe a³, to supply water to the said pipe as
fast as may be required. E is an independent vessel, made of copper, sheet
iron, or thin cast iron, of similar form to the decomposing retort, but a. little

page_text: smaller in every direction. It is made open at its lower end, and with a
handle at its upper end, and its lower end is fitted with a movable per-
forated plate or bottom E', which is secured in its place by having three or
four notches in its edges, corresponding to as many catches 63 attached
to the side of the vessel, the notches serving to enable the plate to pass
the catches to insert it into the vessel, and the catches serving to support the
plate when it is turned a little, after insertion in the vessel, to throw the
notches out of their way. F is a movable cover, fitted to an opening in the
top of the furnace, which is large enough to admit through it the cover C of
the decomposing retort. F (Fig. 1) is a pipe which connects the space
between the cover C of the decomposing retort and the cover F, with
the chimney G, for the purpose, when the cover C is raised (after the charge
in the retort is exhausted), of conveying to the chimney any smoke, steam,
vapor, or gas remaining in the retort, and thus preventing the spreading of
the same into the apartment in which the apparatus is placed.
The manner in which the process of making gas is conducted in this
apparatus is as follows:-The rosin, grease, oil, tar, or other substance from
which the gas is to be produced, is mixed with about three or four times
its volume of coarsely divided charcoal, bricks, or other porous substances not
hydrocarbon, and slow conductors of heat. The vessel E is filled with the
mixture, and its perforated bottom E' is put in. If the substance employed
to produce the gas be rosin, mineral pitch, or other substance that is solid at
ordinary atmospheric temperatures, it should be coarsely powdered before being
mixed. A fire is made in the fire-place A', and as soon as the bottom of the
rotort becomes of a dull red heat the vessel E, with its contents, is placed in
the retort, and the cover C of the retort is placed in the groove B³; water is
then allowed to drop through the cock a³, and the syphon pipe a³, into the
steam generator D, and gas is generated and expelled from the retort through
the neck B and the cooler into the gasometer without any further trouble.
When all the gas has been extracted from the matter contained in the vessel
E, which occurs in the course of one or two hours, as can be easily ascer-
tained by opening a gauge cock attached to the neck B³, or other suitable
part of the vessel, the cover C is raised, and the vessel E withdrawn, and
another vessel, previously prepared in the same manner, is introduced in its
place; the cover C may then be replaced, and the generating of gas again
proceeds, as above described.
Many advantages are obtained by these arrangements for conducting the
gas-making process. In other gas apparatus, in which gas has been generated
from rosin, grease, &c., these substances are melted in a separate vessel apart

page_text: from the retort, from which vessel they are allowed to run into the retort,
which operation requires constant watching, and causes much waste of the
materials used, as a large proportion of the matter used is reduced to vapor,
and passes out of the retort undecomposed, and condenses along with the tar,
and cannot conveniently be used again, as it is apt to swell or foam and run
over the melting vessel when heated. With these arrangements the apparatus
requires much less room, and requires but little attention, as a new charge can
be put into the retort and this vessel closed in a few seconds. If rosin,
grease, or other such substance were introduced at once and singly into the
retort, it would run at once to the bottom of the retort, and either cool it or
foam, or pass out merely in the state of vapor, whilst by being mixed with
another substance, coarsely divided, and conducting heat but slowly, and placed
in a vessel perforated at its bottom, -as explained above, the rosin, grease, &c.,
melts slowly, and runs to the bottom gradually, where it is partially or wholly
decomposed and vaporized; it then rises outside of the vessel along the sides.
of the retort, where it meets the highly heated steam which enters the retort
from the steam generator D; this steam further decomposes the vapor, and
drives the permanent gas quickly out of the retort, thereby preventing the
deposition of carbon and consequent clogging of the retort, which would result
without such introduction of steam. The advantages of using a steam
generator containing porous substances are, that the water is prevented from
assuming the globular or spheroidal form, and the sudden evolution of an
undue pressure of steam is obviated, the object being to supply the steam at a
high temperature, but at a low pressure. The tar which condenses from the
gas generated in this apparatus may be used over again in the apparatus to
produce gas, by mixing it with the same porous or coarsely divided substances
(which are slow conductors of heat), and with a small proportion of oil or
grease, and thus all the gas capable of being extracted from the substance
used is obtained, and the great waste of the previously employed methods of
generation avoided.
When the apparatus is of so large dimensions that a single vessel E, con-
taining the material to be decomposed, could not be handled without difficulty,
then, instead of only one vessel, two or more smaller vessels may be put into
the retort.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of the Invention that has
been communicated to me as aforesaid, I claim as new, and desire to secure
by Letters Patent,―
First, mixing the material or materials from which the gas is to be gene-
rated with porous or coarsely divided substances which are slow conductors of

page_text: heat, and introducing the said mixture into the retort in a separate vessel with
a perforated bottom, so as to compel the contents expelled by the heat to
escape near to, or in contact with, the bottom of the retort where the heat is
most intense.
Second, I claim the combination with the gas-generating retort of the
steam-generating retort charged with porous substances, as herein described,
and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-ninth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFatt,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)