IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BALLS OR BLOCKS OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL FOR HEATING OR BURNING PURPOSES ONLY
Year: 1873

page_text: En the Matter of Letters Patent granted to WILHELM Radeke,
late of 24, Buckingham Palace Road, in the County of Mid-
dlesex, but now of 28, Gracechurch Street, in the City of
London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF BALLS OR BLOCKS OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL FOR HEATING OR BURNING
PURPOSES ONLY," bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of May,
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, No. 1877.
DISCLAIMER AND MEMORANDUM OF ALTERATION proposed to be
filed by the Patentee, the said Wilhelm Radeke, in the Great
Seal Patent Office with the Specification to which the same relates
according to the Statute in that case made and provided.
WHEREAS since the date of the said Letters Patent, and that of the
filing of the said Specification thereof, I have been advised that certain
parts of the said Invention are not so new as at the time of filing of the
said Specification I verily believed them to be, therefore I desire to
disclaim some parts of the said Specification, and to alter the same con-
sistently with such disclaiming.

page_text: And I also desire to alter or amend certain slight inaccuracies, and
orthographical, logical, and grammatical errors which have been intro-
duced into the said Specification "per incuriam."
"
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Wilhelm Radeke, by and with the
leave of Her Majesty's Attorney-General, do hereby disclaim, alter, and
amend the said Specification by inserting in the first paragraph of the
said Specification the word "of" to stand between "therein" and "as
otherwise," so that it will read "of as otherwise necessary; and in the
eighth paragraph in lieu of the word "compounds" I substitute the
words "bye-products," so that it reads "and by the action of its bye-
products if any on the silicate in solution ;" and in the tenth paragraph
between the words containing a useful" I introduce the word
'similar," so that it reads "containing a similar useful; and in the
fourteenth paragraph near the end where it reads "a solution of lower
gravity may be used I alter by inserting the words "specific," and
"such, as for example, 1.300," so that it reads "a solution of lower specific
gravity, such as for example 1-300;" and in the seventeenth paragraph
I substitute the word "fluid" for "fluidum."
"
"
kr
""
And I also hereby alter and amend the said Specification by striking
out the paragraph preceding the claims beginning with the words
"having thus stated" down to the end of the said paragraph, and in
lieu thereof the said paragraph will read thus "having thus stated the
nature of my said Invention and the manner of performing the same, I
would have it understood that I do not claim in the manufacture of
artificial fuel the employment of soluble silicate either in solution of
high specific gravity or in a gelatinous state, with an addition thereto of
hot or cold water, nor the application in a heated state of a soluble
silicate in solution if of lower specific gravity, but what I claim is in the
manufacture by the aid of a soluble silicate in solution of balls or blocks
of artificial fuel for heating or burning purposes only.
And I also hereby further alter the said Specification by omitting the
fourth claim, and in order that the effect of the present Disclaimer and
Memorandum of Alteration may be clearly shown and understood I will
proceed to recite (omitting the preamble and testing clause) the said
Specification as proposed to be hereby amended.
"In the agglomeration of small coal or other carbonaceous
"matter by the aid of a soluble silicate in solution, by far the
"most desirable manner for the solidification of such matter, on

page_text: 66
"account of its simplicity and the entire dispensing therein of, as
"otherwise necessary, agglomerative agents, of admixtures of so
" obnoxious a nature as tar or pitch, there is experienced very
great difficulty in producing blocks or shapes which will readily
"and invariably dry and get hard enough for ordinary usage and
" for commercial purposes in general, when admixing the agglo-
"merative ingredients compounded in such proportions as would
"alone be consistent with the carbonaceous nature and quality
(as a combustible) of the fuel to be produced and likewise with
"account of its simplicity and the entire dispensing therein of, as
"otherwise necessary, agglomerative agents, of admixtures of so
" obnoxious a nature as tar or pitch, there is experienced very
"great difficulty in producing blocks or shapes which will readily
"and invariably dry and get hard enough for ordinary usage and
"for commercial purposes in general, when admixing the agglo-
"merative ingredients compounded in such proportions as would
" alone be consistent with the carbonaceous nature and quality
&
(as a combustible) of the fuel to be produced and likewise with
economy."
"The known or employed silicate processes do one and all
"labour, more or less, under this difficulty, and hence the reason
"why the several silicate processes for the agglomeration of small
coal, for which Patents have heretofore been obtained in England
" and abroad have proved themselves commercially useless and unfit
" for lucrative development.
"
$6
"The cohesion which it is sought to obtain in all those silicate
processes by forming as a basis a strong insoluble silicate after
"the carbonaceous matter has been compounded with a solution of
" soluble silicate, and respectively lime or cement is disturbed, or
" often and mostly entirely prevented by the formation of caustic
"soda or potash, which is necessarily set free by the action of lime
or cement on such soluble silicate in solution; the subsequent
"action of the carbonic acid gas of the air then causes the for-
“mation of carbonate of soda or of potash which crystallizes on the
"outsides of the blocks or shapes produced and decomposes their
hardness, or in the case when with a solution of soluble silicate,
"chalk, or fire-clay or other plastic clay is employed as an
"agglomerative agent, the drying and hardening is excessively
"slow and very unreliable, and from a similar action, as described,
"of the carbonic acid gas of the air on the compound the carbonate
" of soda or of potash appears in like manner, and to same effect.
<6
55
"I find that a thus uncombined caustic soda, or potash, or their
"carbonates in excess, or mixture of both within the fuel will con-
stantly conduct and attract moisture, and must thus decompose
the blocks of fuel, and that is the main reason for the want of
"hardness and the slow or impossible crystallization of the
"

page_text: "
ingredients compounded, on the regular undisturbed formation
"of which the agglomerative process and the subsequent drying
"and hardening of the fuel necessarily depends.
66
"Now by the present Invention I avail myself mainly of the very
cause of such decomposition of the fuel, videlicet, the formation
" therein of uncombined soda or potash by utilizing the same as an
agglomerative agent, that is to say, in such manner that I cause
"it to combine with an admixture of free available silica in a
" powdered state, thus causing the formation of an insoluble silicate
"which naturally adds to the hardness of the fuel and is proof
"against the influence of ordinary dampness.
" I overcome and avoid in this manner the difficulties and
" inconveniences stated, and I produce blocks or balls of artificial
" fuel which will dry readily and will harden thoroughly.
"
$6
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention I will
the same,
Λ
proceed to describe the manner of performing that is to say,-
" I combine a very finely divided silica in a soluble state, either
"obtained artificially or naturally, with a solution of silicate of
"soda or other soluble silicate, or a mixture of such silicates,
lime, clay, chalk, and small coal, coal dust, slack, coke dust, or other
"carbonaceous matter. The object of adding the finely divided
"silica, in a soluble state, to the compound is, when lime is
"admixed, that it may combine with the caustic soda set free by
"the action of the lime or other substance acting in like manner
"to lime on the solution of silicate of soda; and the soluble
"silicate is believed furthermore by its own action, and by the
"action of its bye products, if any, on the silicate in solution, to
"form in most cases a very acid insoluble silicate, consequently
"soluble silica; and in such case, by preference, natural silica
may sometimes be compounded by itself in larger proportions
"with the silicate in solution and the coal.
"
* Sometimes to improve the plasticity of the compound a small
quantity of hot or cold water is added.
The very fine powdered soluble silica may be employed in
"the state of an artificial produce, or it may be obtained naturally ;
as a latter the earth known as "brown Farnham," which is
66

page_text: $6
"found in the neighbourhood of Farnham, in the County of
"Surrey, in England, and elsewhere, containing on an average
mostly over 60% of available soluble silica, is well suited for this
purpose, or any substance containing a similar useful per centage
" of available soluble silica may be employed.
66
"
The lime employed may be in the state of quicklime, or it
may be hydrated or partly hydrated, or substances containing
"lime, such as Portland cement, or hydraulic cements, or
' hydraulic limes, or other substances capable of acting in like
manner to lime upon the solution of soluble silicate and reacting
on the soluble silica may be employed in the place of lime; the
more or less energetic' nature of such lime would in most
cases prescribe the proportion to be used thereof.
"
"
68
"
«
C
"The clay employed may be in the state of fire-clay or other
plastic clay, or sometimes in the state of dehydrated clay, or
"burnt clay, such as pounded red bricks, of good quality, or any
"substance capable of acting on the compound or aiding the
"agglomerative process in similar manner to plastic clay, or de-
"hydrated clay may be used in their place.
"As such chalk in a finely powdered dry state would be a sub-
"stitute, or it might be used in addition, but as neither chalk nor
"fine clay, or similar inert matter are necessarily by themselves
chemically acted upon by the solution of silicate, their addition
"
may not in all cases be essential. Either would serve to give
"substance to the compound, and on combustion of the fuel they
"would absorb the heat and radiate it out again; on those relative
"merits their addition must depend.
"E
66
"The solution of soluble silicate which I employ, and by
preference silicate of soda, I prefer to be of great density, such
as of a specific gravity of 1.700 or thereabouts, because as is well
"understood in the manufacture of silicate of soda a larger per-
centage of silicate of soda can be gotten into a solution of such
density than into a solution of lower gravity, the silicate of soda
" itself therein being stronger, because such solution can, as it ought
" to be, constituted of about 34% of soda to every 100% of silica.
"The same must apply to the possible substitution of gelatinous
waterglass; it should be strong and powerful. A solution of
"

page_text: "lower specific gravity, such as for example 1.300 may be used,
" but a corresponding advantage can scarcely be thereby obtained.
"The solution of silicate of soda should be free from impurities
"and where, as is sometimes the case, the soda used in its manu-
"facture is not free from impurities, especially if not free from
66
sulphuric acid, a solution of baryta or salts of lead should be
" added to the caustic soda in solution, until the precipitate caused
by its addition ceases.
"
"
An impure, not neutralized, solution of silicate of soda or other
" soluble silicate employed in the manufacture of artificial fuel
causes effloresence from the fuel, or what is commonly known as
salpetreing' or 'nitrification' on the outside of the blocks or
"shapes produced, which are by a strong formation of such
crystals prevented from hardening.
"
€6
"
86
'
"The water which I admix I prefer to be hot, soft or rain water,
"which has boiled, the object of its heated application being to
"allow of a more rapid action of the silicate in solution and its
more readily uniform admixture with the other ingredients, and
"where necessary also the setting free of any possible destructive
gases. The addition of water, hot or cold, affords a saving in the
manufacture, as it is absolutely necessary to introduce into the
compound so much fluid as would be requisite to thoroughly and
uniformly moisten all the ingredients compounded without how-
ever causing an efflorescence of fluid on compression, and such a
degree of moisture could otherwise be only obtained by larger
proportions of the solution of silicate, whilst again the easier
evaporation of the water facilitates furthermore the rapidity of
drying.
€6
"
€6
*
ઃઃ
"
66
€6
"If a lower specific gravity than 1.700 or thereabouts is used
such thinner solution should by preference be applied in a
"carefully heated (not evaporated) state instead of diluting it with
"water as before described. A strong powerfully constituted
66
*
gelatinous waterglass may be employed dissolved in water to the
consistency indicated, but when the solution of silicate, which-
soever is added in a heated state, the lime should be admixed in
"the mode secondly described hereafter, it being understood that
**

page_text: "
6
liquid which is hot.
"Without confining myself to or limiting the process to any
given proportions I find that a useful composition is made up by
"about
" 100 parts by weight of small coal.
cr
2-2
"
"
lime or cement.
" 6—8 parts by weight of natural soluble silica ('brown Farnham.')
silicate of soda in solution, specific gravity
1.700.
"7-8
وو
> >
" Add thereto a small quantity of hot water and allowing such
" solution to get cold before admixture.
"One mode of compounding the ingredients is to intimately mix.
"the lime or cement and the finely powdered natural silica, to
mingle this mixture with the coal, and then add the solution of
"silicate which has previously been well dissolved in the water.
"
<
"When a uniform state of moisture is obtained the compound is
" fed into a press and subjected to a strong pressure, equal to about
one ton on the square inch, or somewhat higher. When so
"compressed the shapes produced are freed from the moulds, and
are allowed to dry by the action of the atmosphere, and I prefer
"to have that done in sheds or compartments of known construc-
"tion specially arranged and adapted for the drying and hardening
" of artificial fuel and facilitating spontaneous evaporation into and
"by the air. Before the fuel has been well dried it should not be
"exposed to dampness.
<E
" I sometimes prefer to compound the ingredients in a different
manner, that is to say,―
"I first intimately compound the small coal with the natural
"soluble silica in a very finely powdered state, and add a solution
" of silicate and hot water in the manner before stated. This
compound, and it may be in a large quantity, I store in any
convenient but dry place, where it may be more or less tightly
"rammed together, and it thus optionally kept for twelve hours
or for several days. After such lapse of time the lime or cement
" is added, but special care should be exercised that it be equally

page_text: "
<<
66
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that
"I do not claim in the manufacture of artificial fuel the employ-
"ment of soluble silicate, either in solution of high specific gravity
or in a gelatinous state with an addition thereto of hot or cold
"water, nor the application in a heated state of a soluble silicate
" in solution if of lower specific gravity, but what I claim is, in
"the manufacture by the aid of a soluble silicate in solution of
"balls or blocks of artificial fuel for heating or burning purposes
only
८८
65
«
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner of performing the same, I would have it understood that
I do not claim in the manufacture of artificial fuel the employ-
"ment of soluble silicate, either in solution of high specific gravity
or in a gelatinous state with an addition thereto of hot or cold
"water, nor the application in a heated state of a soluble silicate
" in solution if of lower specific gravity, but what I claim is, in
"the manufacture by the aid of a soluble silicate in solution of
"balls or blocks of artificial fuel for heating or burning purposes
only
"
"First. The manners substantially as herein described of
producing blocks or balls of artificial fuel or any modification
" thereof.
65
66
ck
"Second. The aid of a soluble silica in a powdered state, sub-
stantially as herein described."
"Third. The mode of mixing, that is to say, of firstly com-
pounding the carbonaceous matter with inert substances or chalk,
or with a soluble silica, or with both mixed together, and a
"solution of soluble silicate and the subsequent later addition
"thereto of lime or of lime and a powdered silica, substantially as
"herein described."
And I, the said Wilhelm Radeke, do hereby further declare that the
ve Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alteration are not, nor is any
t thereof, intended to extend the exclusive right granted by the said
ters Patent, and that these Presents shall not extend the said
lusive right in any way whatever.
In witness whereof, I, the said Wilhelm Radeke, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Third day of January, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.

page_text: which the same relates, the above-written Disclaimer and Memorandum
of Alteration, dated this Twenty-sixth day of February One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-four.

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Wilhelm Radeke, of No. 24, Buckingham Palace
Road, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BALLS OR BLOCKS OF ARTIFICIAL FUEL FOR
HEATING OR BURNING PURPOSES ONLY.
"
Sealed the 22nd August 1873, and dated the 24th May 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Wilhelm Radeke at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 24th May 1873.
I, WILHELM RADEKE, of No. 24, Buckingham Palace Road, in the
County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BALLS OR BLOCKS OF ARTIFICIAL
FUEL FOR HEATING OR BURNING PURPOSES ONLY," to be as follows:―
The object of my Invention is firstly to improve the manufacture of
balls or blocks of artificial fuel in general, and also to improve the
manufacture of balls or blocks of artificial fuel which will rapidly harden
thoroughly. For this purpose I combine very finely divided silica in a
soluble state, either obtained artificially or naturally, such as would, for

page_text: instance, be the earth which is found in the neighbourhood of Farnham,
with a solution of silicate of soda or potash (which has previously been
deprived of its impurities by the application of a solution of baryta, or salts
of baryta, or any salts of lead), lime, clay, chalk, and small coal, coal dust,
slack, or other carbonaceous matter. The object of putting the finely
divided silica in a soluble state into the compound is that it may combine
with the caustic soda set free by the action of the lime on the silicate
solution. The lime employed may be in the state of quicklime, or it
may be hydrated, or partially hydrated, or substances containing lime,
such as Portland cement, or hydraulic limes, or other substances capable
of acting in like manner to lime upon the solution of soluble silicate
may be employed in place of lime, and sometimes to increase the
plasticity of the compound a small quantity of cold or warm water may
be added. The compound should then be fed into moulds or forms
without delay, and after having been suitably compressed therein, be:
freed from the moulds or forms and allowed to set or harden by the
action of the atmosphere, and which it will do rapidly and thoroughly
in almost any state of atmosphere.
In endeavouring to perfect my Invention of improvements in the
manufacture of balls or blocks of artificial fuel by the use of soluble
silicate I have frequently experienced considerable difficulty in obtaining
soda free from impurities, particularly from sulphuric acid, which is apt
to prevent the compound from hardening thoroughly and to produce an
efflorescence from the fuel under variations of the atmosphere, and
therefore my object, by employing baryta, or salts of baryta, or any of
the salts of lead, is to neutralize such impurities and their effects. The
silicate in solution which I employ should be of a specific gravity of
1.700.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Wilhelm Radeke in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th November 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILHELM
RADEKE, late of 24, Buckingham Palace Road, in the County of
Middlesex, now of 28, Gracechurch Street, in the City of London, send
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the
thirty-sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Wilhelm Radeke, Her
special licence that I, the said Wilhelm Radeke, my executors.
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Wilhelm
Radeke, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BALLS OR BLOCKS OF ARTIFICIAL
FUEL FOR HEATING OR BURNING PURPOSES ONLY," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Wilhelm Radeke, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, 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 Wilhelm Radeke, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement :-
In the agglomeration of small coal or other carbonaceous matter by
the aid of a soluble silicate in solution, by far the most desirable manner
for the solidification of such matter, on account of its simplicity and the
entire dispensing therein (as, otherwise necessary, agglomerative agents)
of admixtures of so obnoxious a nature as tar or pitch, there is expe-
rienced very great difficulty in producing blocks or shapes which will
readily and invariably dry and get hard enough for ordinary usage and
for commercial purposes in general when admixing the agglomerative
ingredients compounded in such proporations as would alone be
consistent with the carbonaceous nature and quality (as a combustible)
of the fuel to be produced and likewise with economy. The known or
employed silicate processes do one and all labour more or less under this
difficulty, and hence the reason why the several silicate processes for the

page_text: agglomeration of small coal, for which Patents have heretofore becn
obtained in England and abroad, have proved themselves commercially
useless and unfit for lucrative development.
The cohesion which it is sought to obtain in all those silicate processes
by forming as a basis a strong insoluble silicate after the carbonaceous
matter has been compounded with a solution of soluble silicate, and
respectively lime or cement, is disturbed or often and mostly entirely
prevented by the formation of caustic soda or potash, which is necessarily
set free by the action of lime or cement on such soluble silicate in
solution, the subsequent action of the carbonic acid gas of the air then
causes the formation of carbonate of soda or of potash which crystallizes
on the outsides of the blocks or shapes produced and decomposes their
hardness. Or, in the case when, with a solution of soluble silicate, chalk
or fire-clay, or other plastic clay is employed as an agglomerative agent,
the drying and hardening is excessively slow and very unreliable, and
from a similar action, as described, of the carbonic acid gas of the air
on the compound, the carbonate of soda or of potash appears in like
manner and to same effect.
I find that a thus uncombined caustic soda or potash, or their
carbonates in excess, or mixture of both within the fuel, will constantly
conduct and attract moisture, and must thus decompose the blocks of
fuel, and that this is the main reason for the want of hardness and the
slow or impossible crystallization of the ingredients compounded on the
regular undisturbed formation of which the agglomerative process and
the subsequent drying and hardening of the fuel necessarily depends.
Now by the present Invention I avail myself mainly of the very cause
of such decomposition of the fuel, videlicet, the formation therein of
uncombined soda or potash by utilizing the same as an agglomerative
agent, that is to say, in such manner that I cause it to combine with an
admixture of free available silica in a powdered state, thus causing the
formation of an insoluble silicate, which naturally adds to the hardness
of the fuel, and is proof against the influences of ordinary dampness.
I overcome and avoid in this manner the difficulties and inconviences
stated, and I produce blocks or balls of artificial fuel which will dry
readily and will harden thoroughly.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention I will proceed to
describe the manner of performing the same, that is to sav.—

page_text: 1 combine a very finely divided silica in a soluble state, either obtained
artificially or naturally, with a solution of silicate of soda, or other
soluble silicate, or a mixture of such silicates, lime, clay, chalk, and
small coal, coal dust, slack, coke dust, or other carbonaceous matter.
5 The object of adding the finely divided silica in a soluble state to the
compound is, when lime is admixed, that it may combine with the
caustic soda set free by the action of the lime or other substance acting|
in like manner to lime on the solution of silicate of soda, and the
soluble silica is believed furthermore by its own action and by the action
of its compounds, if any, on the silicate in solution to form in most
cases a very acid insoluble silicate, consequently soluble silica, and in
such case by preference natural silica may sometimes be compounded
by itself in larger proportions with the silicate in solution and the
coal. Sometimes to improve the plasticity of the compound a small
quantity of hot or cold water is added. The very finely powdered
soluble silica may be employed in the state of an artificial produce
or it may be obtained naturally; as a latter the earth known as
"brown Farnham," which is found in the neighbourhood of Farnham,
in the county of Surrey, in England, and elsewhere, containing on an
average mostly over 60% of available soluble silica, is well suited
for this purpose, or any substance containing a useful per centage of
available soluble silica may be employed. The lime employed may be in
the state of quicklime, or it may be hydrated, or partly hydrated, or
substances containing lime such as Portland cement, or hydraulic
cements, or hydraulic limes, or other substances capable of acting in
like manner to lime upon the solution of soluble silicate and reacting on
the soluble silica may be employed in place of lime; the more or less
energetic" nature of such lime would in most cases prescribe the
proportion to be used thereof. The clay employed may be in the state
of fire-clay or other plastic clay, or sometimes in the state of dehydrated
clay or burnt clay, such as pounded "red" bricks of good quality, or
any substance capable of acting on the compound or aiding the
agglomerative process, in similar manner to plastic clay, or dehydrated
clay may be used in their place. As such chalk in a finely powdered dry
state would be a substitute, or it might be used in addition, but as neither
chalk nor fire-clay or similar inert matter are necessarily by themselves
chemically acted upon by the solution of silicate, their addition may not
in all cases be essential; either would serve to give substance to the
compound, and on combustion of the fuel they would absorb the heat

page_text: and radiate it out again; on those relative merits their addition must
depend.
The solution of soluble silicate which I employ, and by preference
silicate of soda, I prefer to be of great density, such as of a specific
gravity of 1-700, or thereabouts, because, as is well understood in the
manufacture of silicate of soda, a larger per centage of silicate of soda
can be gotten into a solution of such density than into a solution of
lower gravity, the silicate of soda itself therein being stronger because
such solution can, as it ought to, be constituted of about 34% of soda to
every 100% of silica. The same must apply to the possible substitution
of gelatinous water glass; it should be strong and powerful. A solution
of lower gravity may be used, but a corresponding advantage can scarcely
be thereby obtained.
The solution of silicate of soda should be free from impurities, and
where, as is sometimes the case, the soda used in its manufacture is not
free from impurities, especially if not free from sulphuric acid, a solution
of baryta or salts of lead should be added to the caustic soda in solution
until the precipitate caused by its addition ceases.
An impure not neutralized solution of silicate of soda or other soluble
silicate employed in the manufacture of artificial fuel causes efflorescence
<< nitri-
from the fuel, or what is commonly known as "salpetring" or
faction" on the outside of the blocks or shapes produced, which are by
a strong formation of such crystals prevented from hardening. The
water which I admix I prefer to be hot, soft, or rain water which has
boiled, the object of its heated application being to allow of a more
rapid action of the silicate in solution and its more readily uniform
admixture with the other ingredients, and where necessary also the
setting free of any possible destructive gases. The addition of water,
hot or cold, affords a saving in the manufacture, as it is absolutely
necessary to introduce into the compound so much fluid as would be
requisite to thoroughly and uniformly moisten all the ingredients com-
pounded, without however causing an efflorescence of fluidum on com-
pression; and such a degree of moisture could otherwise be only
obtained by larger proportions of the solution of silicate; whilst again, the
easier evaporation of the water facilitates furthermore the rapidity of
drying.
If a lower sp. gr. than 1.700, or thereabouts, is used, such thinner

page_text: more or less tightly rammed together, and it is thus, optionally, kept for
twelve hours or for several days. After such lapse of time the lime or
cement is added, but special care should be exercised that it be equally
admixed, and the compound is compressed and dried as before. The
object of this mode of manufacture is to obtain, first, a set or partly set
state of the insoluble silicate of soda, or other insoluble silicate or sili-
cates (as the case may be), the crystals forming the insoluble silicates of
lime and soda, when the lime or cement is added, finding their neuclei
more ready for their action and rapid formation.
This latter mode of manufacture is also well adapted when fire-clay
or inert matter is added to the compound, and in such case the clay and
soluble silica should previously have been intimately mixed, or the
soluble powdered silica may afterwards be added intimately mixed with
the lime.
When clay is added a very useful composition is about―
100 parts, by weight, of small coal in a dry state.
1 to 2
5
دو
6
دو
"
1급
2
"
"
6
8
"
"
"
دو
دو
وو
lime or cement (Portland).
natural soluble silica, finely powdered
("brown Farnham”).
fire-clay.
"
"
silicate of soda in solution, sp. gr. 1.700,
adding thereto water as stated.
If following the first described mode of manufacture, and adding clay,
the lime and natural silica are best intimately mixed together, and they
are so added to the clay, and this compound is then mingled with the
coal, adding the solution of silicate as before.
If a soluble silica, such as for instance Farnham earth, is compounded
by itself with a solution of silicate of soda and the coal, a useful com-
position would be about-
100 parts, by weight, of small coal in a dry state.
9 to 12
"
6
8
"
دو
23
"
soluble silica, finely powdered.
solution of silicate of soda, sp. gr. 1.700,
and hot water as described.
I do not confino myself to compound any of the enumerated, or any
such other not specially named, carbonaceous matter by itself, as such
substances might be used in mixture if desired.

page_text: Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is,
in the manufacture, by the aid of a soluble silicate in solution, of balls
or blocks of artificial fuel for heating or burning purposes only:-.
First. The manners, substantially as herein described, of producing
blocks or balls of artificial fuel, or any modification thereof.
Second. The aid of a soluble silica in a powdered state, substantially
as herein described.
Third. The mode of mixing, that is to say, of firstly compounding the
carbonaceous matter with inert substances, or chalk, or with a soluble
silica, or with both mixed together, and a solution of soluble silicate,
and the subsequent later addition thereto of lime, or of lime and a
powdered soluble silica, substantially as herein described.
Fourth. The employment of a dense solution of soluble silicate, or a
strongly constituted powerful gelatinous water glass, with an addition
thereto of hot or cold water, and the application in a heated state of a
soluble silicate in solution if of lower specific gravity, substantially as
herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Wilhelm Radeke, have hereunto.
set my hand and seal, this Twenth-second day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.