Im- PROVEMENTS IN COKING OVENS, IN COLLECTING AND UTILIZING THE PRODUCTS RESULTING FROM THE DISTILLATION OR CARBONIZATION OF COAL AND OTHER MATTERS PRODUCING COKE, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1862

page_text: LETT
ша
in the City of London, Patent Agent, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN COKING OVENS, IN COLLECTING AND UTILIZING THE PRODUCTS
RESULTING FROM THE DISTILLATION OR CARBONIZATION OF COAL AND OTHER
MATTERS PRODUCING COKE, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN." - A
communication from abroad by Charles Claude Philibert Nicolas
Pernolet, of 13, Rue de Trévise, Paris, France.
-
Sealed the 9th December 1862, and dated the 14th June 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 14th June 1862.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COKING OVENS, IN COLLECTING AND UTILIZING
THE PRODUCTS RESULTING FROM THE DISTILLATION OR CARBONIZATION OF COAL
AND OTHER MATTERS PRODUCING COKE, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN,"
(communicated to me from abroad by Charles Claude Philibert Nicolas
Pernolet, of 13, Rue de Trévise, Paris, France,) to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the construction and arrangement of coking ovens
and in the manufacture of coke suitable for metallurgical, railway, and other
purposes, of gas for burning and heating, of tar, and of the different oils
obtainable from it, of ammonia and ammoniacal salts from the distillation of
coal, anthracite, wood, peat, coke dust, and other combustible materials of
mineral or vegetable origin, whether treated separately or mixed with rich
coal resins or tars.

page_text: Seven chief ideas are comprised in this Invention. They consist, first,
in a particular arrangement of carbonizing or coking ovens capable of
manufacturing coke from all kinds of coal. Second, in the application to
this oven of a continuous exhaust, or draft for drawing off and collecting all
volatile products resulting from the distillation of combustible matters in the
condensation of such of those products as are capable of being liquified, and
in the preservation of each of such products so as to utilize them in
different ways. Third, in being enabled to produce in the ovens tars much
richer in oils than tars from gas works, which oils are utilized in various ways.
Fourth, in the application of gas produced in the ovens, whether to the heating
of the furnaces of the ovens themselves, or of other furnaces, or to the
reduction of oxidized ores, or to any other purpose for which hydrogen gas
can be employed; especially for lighting purposes, for which latter this gas is
particularly adapted, inasmuch as its lighting powers may be increased by the
addition of rich gases produced from coal by distillation in separate appa-
ratuses. Fifth, in pulverizing certain coals which would otherwise produce
coke without consistence of a bad appearance and ill adapted for locomotives,
whereas, after pulverization, coke.suitable for locomotives and other uses may
be produced, and that without washing being necessary. Sixth, in mixing rich
coal tar or resin with poor coal, anthracite, coke dust, peat, and other com-
bustible materials which do not by themselves produce good coke. Seventh,
in the employment of steam thrown on the coke when at its highest
temperature.
To recapitulate, the Invention consists, first, in the employment of coking
or carbonizing ovens constructed and arranged in such manner as to produce
simultaneously results only heretofore obtained separately and proportionally
less advantageously from all coals capable of yielding coke by any known
process. Second, in the employment of means whereby coke may be advan-
tageously produced from materials hitherto considered inapplicable for making
good coke. Third, in utilizing the whole of the products resulting from the
carbonization. Fourth, in the economical production of carburetted hydrogen
suitable for heating and lighting in larger and more durable apparatuses and
capable of being repaired more easily and at less cost than ordinary retorts.
Fifth, in the production of ordinary tars from coal, or of particular tars more
or less heavy or thick, according to the use or purposes to which they are
intended to be applied. Sixth, in the application of the gases obtained by
these processes to the heating of all kinds of furnaces.
Ovens constructed according to this Invention are equally suited for raw
coal as for washed coal; they are also applicable for the distillation of wood,

page_text: ligneous materials, and generally for all vegetable and animal matters yielding,
simultaneously by distillation solid, liquid, and gaseous products capable of.
being utilized. One distinctive feature in the Invention is that when
carbonizing coals on a large scale, say, from five to seven tons in an oven,. all.
the products accessory to the distillation, such as tars, ammoniacal waters; and,
gases for burning and heating, are without exception collected as well as the
coke. If these ovens are erected near towns and populous places the gas can.
be used for lighting the furnaces, for the ovens being heated by fuel most
easily and cheaply obtained. If the gas is not required for lighting it is used
for heating in the furnaces. In all cases the gases are not used until after
the accessory products, tars, oils, and ammoniacal waters have been separated
from them. When the ovens are used for the manufacture of coke only, a
gas holder which in other cases is required to contain the gas is dispensed
with, as well as the exhauster, and the exhaust will depend on the vacuum
produced by the partial, condensation of the volatilized products and on the
draft of the chimney. Where the manufacture takes place on a large scale
the exhaust should be effected; by preference, mechanically.
The coke ovens have doors or stoppers at each end which are raised and
lowered by a travelling windlass mounted on a truck running on rails. There
are registers in the flues of the furnace which are seen from the outside
through sight holes for regulating the circulation of the lighted gases from the
furnace. Fuel is fed into the ovens from the top from waggons which can be
tilted to discharge their load on one side or the other into funnels, from
whence it descends to the bed of the oven. The volatile matters produced
by the distillation of the fuel pass off through a pipe which may be closed by
a hydraulic stopper, whereby all communication with the atmosphere and
pipes for receiving the gas is intercepted when thé ovens are opened to be
filled or emptied. The first condensing apparatus is furnished with a central
tube through which air or even water is made to circulate to facilitate the
condensation of the volatile products. An inclined plane in a continuation of
or on a level with the base of the oven, and at the back end thereof, with walls
at the side, forms a frame on which the coke is received as it leaves the oven,
and where, after being drawn or discharged, it is covered with dust to smother
it without the necessity of wetting it. A scraper at the other end of the oven
drives or pushes the coke out on to the inclined plane and is worked by steam
power or otherwise. Steam is let into the ovens to purify the coke just before its
discharge. The coke is removed by waggons which are free to run on rails at
the end of the inclined plane. The volatile products are led from the first
condensing apparatus to refrigerators and exhausters which are worked by

page_text: steam power. There are taps for opening and closing communication with
the gas holder and the exhausters. When the gas is burnt in the furnaces it
is led thereto by a pipe from the gas holder which is provided with taps for
regulating its supply, there are also taps for shutting off the gas communica-
tion between the exhauster and gas holder and pipes for conveying it to the
furnaces after being deprived of tars and ammoniacal waters. Air is mixed
with gas on its entrance to the furnace, the air surrounds the gas at the same
time that it penetrates into the middle thereof by an orifice provided for that
purpose. The condensed matters escape to small reservoirs, from whence they
are pumped to larger warehousing reservoirs.
Several ovens are arranged side by side and other sets again opposite these.
A steam engine and boiler are placed upon a railway, and this is again capable
of transverse motion' on other rails to enable one steam engine and boiler to be
shifted to each oven in one set of ovens as well as to each oven in the
opposite set.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Archibald Brooman in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 13th December 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence, that I, the said Richard
Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 COKING OVENS, IN COLLECTING AND
UTILIZING THE PRODUCTS RESULTING FROM THE DISTILLATION OR CARBONIZATION OF
COAL AND OTHER MATTERS PRODUCING COKE, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN," (communicated to me from abroad by Charles Claude Philibert

page_text: Nicolas Pernolet, of 13, Rue de Trévise, Paris, France,.) upon the con-
'dition (amongst others) that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 Richard Archibald Brooman, 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 thereof, reference being had to. the Drawings. hereunto
annexed, that is to say:-
This Invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and working of
coking ovens in manner hereinafter described, whereby the following products
are obtained during the manufacture of coke :-First, coke suitable for
metallurgical, railway, and other purposes, in greater proportion. than when
manufactured in the ordinary manner; second, gas suitable for burning and
heating; third, tar, and different oils obtainable from it; and, fourth, ammonia
and ammoniacal salts.
The apparatus about to be described is not only applicable to ordinary coal,
but also to anthracite, coke dust, peat, wood, and other combustible materials
of vegetable or mineral origin, whether treated separately or mixed with rich
coal resins or tars. Nine chief features are comprised in this Invention. They
consist, first, in particular arrangements of carbonizing or coking ovens capable
of manufacturing coke from all kinds of coal; second, in the application to
these ovens of a continuous exhaust or draft for drawing off and collecting all
volatile products resulting from the distillation of combustible matters; third, in
a method of condensing such of those products as are capable of being liquified,
and in the preservation of each of such products so as to utilize them; fourth,
in the application of gas produced in the ovens, whether to the. heating i
the furnaces of the coking ovens themselves or of other furnaces, or to the
reduction of oxydized ores, or to any other purposes for which carburetted
hydrogenized can be employed, especially for lighting purposes; fifth, in pul-
verizing certain coals which would otherwise produce coke of a bad appearance
and ill-adapted for metallurgical and railway purposes, whereas, after pulveri-
zation of the coal, coke suitable for locomotives and other uses may be produced,
and that without washing being necessary; sixth, in mixing rich coal tar or
resin with poor coal, anthracite, coke dust, peat, and other combustible

page_text: materials which do not by themselves produce good coke; seventh, in the
employment of steam thrown on the coke when at its highest témperature for
desulphurizing it; eighth, in the employment of apparatus, as hereafter
described, for loading the apparatus with coal and for removing the coke,
whereby these operations are effected much more speedily and economically
than in the ordinary manner; ninth, in producing in the same ovens as those
used for the manufacture of coke, of common tar, such as that obtained from
gasworks, or other tars, richer in oils, and in utilizing them in various ways...
Ovens constructed according to this Invention are equally suited for raw
coal as for washed coal. The distillation is carried on on a large scale, say,
from six to 7 tons in an oven, and all the products accessory to the distillation,
such as tars, ammoniacal waters, and gases for burning and heating, as well as
the coke, being collected separately, each one may be utilized. If these ovens
are erected near towns and populous places the gas can be used for lighting,
or it may be employed in iron works, where a quick, pure, and regular fire is
required. If the gas is not required for lighting or heating it is burned in the
coking oven furnaces, in which case no other fuel would ordinarily be required.
When the ovens are used for the manufacture of coke only, a gas holder,
which in other cases is required to contain the gas, is dispensed with, as well
as the exhauster, and the exhaust will depend on the draught of the chimney
being increased by the vacuum produced by the partial condensation of the
volatized products.
The Drawings hereunto annexed illustrate the manner in which the Inven-
tion is carried into effect. The coke oven is shewn in longitudinal section at
Figure I., and in vertical sections at Figure II. H and H represent the
forms of oven particularly suitable for the carbonization of rich coal, while
that shown at H is more adapted to coal less bitumenous, or where it is
desired to mix with it a large proportion of combustible material, little or not
at all bitumenous. Figure III. is a horizontal section of the oven taken at
two different heights corresponding with the two forms shown at Figure II.,
but would agree with that illustrated at " supposing the breadth were equal
throughout. C, Figure I., is a truck running on the rails B, B', and con-
structed in such manner that its load of coal may be discharged at.will into
the openings D or D¹ formed at the top of the arch of the oven.
An ordinary
oven, as shewn at H' and H", requires six truck loads to fill it. c, c¹, are
hoppers placed over the apertures D and D' to guide the load into the.interior
A of the coke oven. The coal being thus introduced on to the bed s, s, of
the oven, Figures I., II., and III., it is spread evenly thereon by means of
metal tools introduced at the ends of the oven. The two doors d, d, are then

page_text: lowered by means of the windlasses G, G¹, running on the rails 9, 9'. The
hooks W, W, which connect the doors d, d¹, to the windlasses are discon
nected, the openings D and D¹ are closed, and all the joints are stopped with
sand or earth, so that no air may enter the oven. During the time occupied
for the removal of the coke and charging the oven with coal the fire,
place f, Figures I., and III., has not been extinguished; so soon, then, as the
mass of coal introduced into the oven is sufficiently heated the distillation
begins, the gases, steam, and tar become disengaged and issue by the orifice
E, Figure I.; they then traverse the passages F, F1, F2, Figure I. and III.,
and enter the condenser, Figure IV., where the gaseous product traverses the
compartments L, L', L", formed of thin metallic plates, smooth and close to
one another, by coming in contact with which it becomes gradually cooled.
The cooling is accelerated by a continuous flow of water falling from the
reservoir P into the chambers p and p³, from whence the water spreads on
each side so as to run down externally from top to bottom the whole extent of
the sides of the condenser. A light wooden casing V, V', Figure IV., sur-
rounds the condenser like a chimney and protects it from the action of the
sun, and at the same time affords a passage for a current of air which serves to
keep the water cool. Following the condenser, Figure IV., where the tar
and greater portion of the ammoniacal waters become deposited in the
troughs Z, Z, the gases and the ammoniacal vapours enter into the first
washer, Figure V., where they traverse from bottom upwards through fine
showers of ammoniacal water supplied continually by the pump n and reser-
voir N. The ammoniacal waters are thus enriched to any desired degree for
being afterwards advantageously treated. The current of gas thus purified
passes to the second washer, Figure VI., which is similar to the first, but is
supplied with water only, to complete the absorption of the ammoniacal
matters. After the tars, oils, and ammoniacal waters have been removed from
the gas the latter flows through the passages M, M1, M2, Figure III., towards
the ovens under the action of the draught of the chimney O, Figure I. The
combustible gases which reach the fire-place of the coke oven f, Figures I.
and III., become mixed with the air, which is precipitated through small holes
formed around and in the middle of the nozzle u. The mixture of the gas
with the air produces a flame which circulates through the flues a, a, a¹¹, a¹¹¹,
Figures I., II., III., and conveys heat all round the ovens.
From thence
the products of combustion pass to the chimney T, Figures I. and III.,
and thence to the chimney O. The ovens are divided into groups of ten,
each group having its separate chimney; V, V', are sight holes, fitted to the
lues a, a, a, a, Figure III., for examining whether the heat is equally

page_text: spread between the different ovens of a group and in the various flues of the
same oven. By means of the tap z, z, Figure III., the quantity of gas admitted
'to the fire-place of each oven is regulated. The quantity of air admitted around
and through the nozzle u is regulated by slide valves or otherwise, and the
distribution of the flames is regulated in the flues a, a, a, a, by means of
fire-brick registers k, k², Figures I. and III. After a certain time, which varies
'from two to three days, according to the nature of the distilled coal, the whole of
the charge is transformed into coke; if required, the desulphurization is effected.
For this purpose the steam discharger, Figure VII., is conveyed to the front
of the oven on the rails h, h', h¹¹, h; communication between the inside of
'the oven A and the general passage for the gas and vapours F, F1, F1, is inter-
cepted by closing the register r; a pipe between the boiler J and the door d
of the oven is added, and by opening a tap, steam is driven into the interior of
the oven as long as it is considered desirable. The two doors d, d', are then
raised, and after adjusting the discharger in front of the oven it is set in motion,
and pushes the coke before it out of the oven on to the inclined plane I, I',
Figures I. and III., between the walls i, i, where it is covered with coke dust
to smother it; the emptying occupies about four or five minutes. The dis-
charger is then withdrawn, the charging orifices D and D', Figure I., are
opened, and the oven is again charged, as before described, with six or seven
tons of coal, which takes about from fifteen to twenty minutes to accomplish;
the doors d, d¹, are lowered, the resin which may have become deposited is
removed, the orifices D, D', are closed, the register r opened, and the operation
commences afresh.
.
When the coke on the inclined planes I, I', is cool, it is placed in trucks
which convey it away on the rails t, t¹. Care must be taken that the following
operations are attended to during the process:-First, that all the joints are
kept tight with earth, so that no air may enter during the operation; second,
that a uniform heat is maintained throughout the ovens; third, that the con-
densers and washers are regularly supplied with water.
The form and shape of the ovens may be considerably varied without
departing from the Invention; thus, Figure VIII. shows an oven of a con-
struction similar to that used in the neighbourhood of Newcastle, with the plan
for carbonizing before described applied to it, and supposing the inside of the
oven to be rectangular, but it may be circular. Already in the oven shown at
Figures I., II, and III., the object has been- to reduce as much as possible
the first expence by only employing the smallest quantity of fire-brick and
metal necessary.
In the same view given at Figure 8, the economy in metal is
even-more considerable; there is no iren, for example, to the door X, which

page_text: is flat and of fire-brick, no windlass or steam discharger is employed, but the
coke is discharged in the ordinary way by hand. In this view the bed s, s,
instead of being formed of large square fire-bricks laid flat as in Figures I.,
and II. is formed of small bricks arched over the whole surface of the bed,
which is exposed to the action of the tools during the discharge. The saving;
of the expence in the, construction of the oven shown at Figure 8 does not,
however, compensate for the loss of heat which would accrue,, especially.
where the coal is poor. The tars may be removed at a much nearer level to
the bed s, s, Figures I., II., III., and VIII., if found desirable so to do. The;
impure coals are pulverized in any convenient way, or mixed with rich coal, or
even with resin or. tars, or with poor, coal before carbonization;. but. the pul-
verizing process is very efficacious; in order to give to the coke solidity and good;
appearance, and in order that coke made from even very poor coal may,,with-
out washing, be suitable for use in locomotives and furnaces generally without
leaving scoria on the grate, because, when the foreign matters are pulverized,<
the current of air carries them away, so that in this particular. case, the
pulverization replaces the washing without waste. Where the mixture of
coal to be formed into coke is composed of materials which do not carbonize
well alone, and would only produce incoherent products, the ovens constructed
according to this Invention will answer better than ordinary ovens, because
the bitumenous parts not being exposed to be burnt, a less quantity is required
to produce the agglomeration by carbonization in poor coal, anthracite, coke
dust, and other combustible materials incapable alone of being transformed
into solid coke.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim as the improve-
ments in coking ovens, in collecting and utilizing the products resulting from
the distillation or carbonization of coal and other matters producing coke, and
in apparatus employed therein,-
First, the construction, arrangement, and working of coking ovens for
manufacturing coke, substantially in manner herein-before described and illus-
trated in the accompanying Drawings.
Second, the application to coking ovens of a continuous exhaust or draft for
drawing off and collecting all volatile products resulting from the distillation of
combustible matters, as herein-before described.
Third, the method herein-before described of condensing such products as
are capable of being liquified, and preserving each of such products in manner
herein-before described.
Fourth, the employment of gas produced in coking ovens, whether to the

page_text: heating of the furnaces of such ovens or to the reduction of oxydized ores, or
to any other purposes for which carburetted hydrogen can be employed, and
especially for lighting as herein-before described.!
Fifth, pulverizing coals for the manufacture of coke, as herein-before
described.
Sixth, mixing rich coal tar or resin with poor coal, anthracite, coke dust,
peat, and other combustible materials, as herein-before described.
Seventh, throwing steam on coke when at its highest temperature, in order
to desulphurize it, as herein-before described.
Eighth, loading the ovens with coal and removing the coke therefrom in
and by the employment of apparatus constructed and acting substantially
in manner herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawings.
Ninth, the production of tars in coke ovens and utilizing them, as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of December, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-two.
K. A. BROOMAN. (L.S.)