IMPROVEMENTS IN. APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jacob Ben Jamin, of Leadenhall Street, in the City
of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN. APPARATUS FOR THE
MANUFACTURE OF GAS."— A communication from Henri Leprince, of Liège.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jacob Ben'Jamin at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st
June 1855..
:
I, JACOB BENJAMIN, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS" to be as
follows:-
The apparatus is adapted for the production of gas by the distillation of coal
and passing a current of steam through the retort during the operation. For
this purpose. I construct a retort divided into three compartments. The retort
may be of the D form, divided into two unequal portions (which may be
called A and B) by a longitudinal division, and having a cylindrical compart-
ment at the top, which may be called C. The compartment A communicates:
with B at the front end of the retort, and the compartment B communicates
with Cat the back end, so that there is a continuous passage from back to
front through A, returning to the back through B, and again returning to the
front through C. The retort is cast in one piece, and is fitted with a suitable
door or doors. At the back end of the compartment A is a syphon pipe, for
the introduction of a small quantity of water from a cistern, which is regulated
by a stop-cock. The compartment B is charged with coal in the 'ordinary.
manner; the front of the compartment C is connected to the hydraulic main
in the ordinary manner. The water which trickles into the compartment A is

page_text: converted into steam, which becomes heated by traversing this compartment,
and then enters the front of the compartment B, where the coal is undergoing
distillation. The steam mingles with the gases and tarry vapours during its
passage through this retort, and is partly decomposed, and the volume of gas
is increased. The decomposition is completed by the various products passing
through the third compartment C, whence they proceed into the hydraulic
main and through the ordinary purifiers into the gasometer.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jacob Ben Jamin in the Great Seal Patent Office on-the
21st December 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JACOB
BENJAMIN, of Leadenhall Street, in the City of London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred, and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself,. Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Jacob Ben Jamin, Her special license that I, the said Jacob Ben Jamin,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jacob
Ben Jamin, 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
APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS," (communicated to me by Henri
Leprince, of Liège, in Belgium), upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Jacob Ben Jamin, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should parti-
cularly describe and ascertain the nature of tlie 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 Jacob Ben Jamin, 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 accompanying Drawing, and to
the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:

page_text: Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing is a longitudinal section of a furnace
or oven, containing a' retort, constructed according to the Invention. Figure 2
is a transverse section of the same; Figure 3 is a front view of the same, with
the front lid or door removed; Figure 4 is a back view of the same; with a
portion of the brickwork removed to shew the retort: The same letters refer
to similar parts in each Figure:
The retort is divided into three compartments, A, B, and C. The mouth-
piece E is divided into two compartments, one of which corresponds to the
upper compartment C of the retort, while the other corresponds to and
embraces the two compartments A and B. The compartment B communicates
with C at the back end of the retort; thus, any gas or steam formed in or
introduced into the compartment A will pass along that compartment to the
mouth-piece E, and thence back through the compartment B, whence it will
áscend into the compartment C, and return to the mouth-piece, and pass up
the rising pipe F to the hydraulic main G. The three compartments thus form
one continuous passage. The mouth-piece E is provided with a single lid,
which closes the whole; or it may have a separate lid for each compartment.
The upper compartment does not require to be opened at each time of
charging the retort. A small lid is also employed to close the back end of
this compartment.
At the back end of the compartment A is a pipe H, the upper end of which'
is closed by a lid, while the lower part projects a little way into the retort; or
the pipe itself does not project into the retort, but it contains within it another
pipe, or a trough of sheet iron, or other suitable material, which projects a
little into the retort. I is a syphon pipe with a funnel at its upper end. This
pipe descends from the funnel, and then ascends, and again descends into the
pipe II; it serves for introducing water into the retort without allowing of the
escape of the gas or steam. K is a cistern containing water, and furnished
with a tap or cock L, which is adjusted so as to allow the water to drop or
trickle gradually into the retort. The retort is set in an oven or furnace in
the ordinary manner, and several retorts may be set in the same oven or
furnace, as commonly practised with the ordinary coal-gas retorts. The retorts
may be of iron or of fire clay.
The mode of employing the apparatus is as follows:-The furnace and retort
being previously heated, the compartment B is charged with coal in the ordinary
manner of charging coal-gas retorts. Some pieces of coke are placed in the com-
'partment A, and the cistern K is filled with water, which is allowed to drop or
trickle from the cock L through the pipes I and H into the compartment A.
The water is immediately converted into, steam, and partly decomposed by the

page_text: hot coke, and the steam and gases thus formed become highly heated in pass-
ing along the compartment A, whence they pass into the compartment B, and,
combine with or decompose the gases and tar and other vapours rising from
the coal. All these gases.
and vapours pass together through the third com-
partment: C; where they further decompose or combine with each other, and
they then pass up the rising pipe F to the hydraulic main G, and through the
purifiers to the gas holder in the ordinary manner. A great portion of the taṛ is
thus converted into illuminating gas, and the total quantity of gas thús obtained.
from a given weight of coal is much greater than by the ordinary process of
simple distillation.
When the charge of coal in the compartment B is.
exhausted and converted into coke, the large front lid is removed, and the
coke, is drawn out in the usual manner. A fresh charge of coal is introduced
into, B, and a few additional pieces of coke are thrown into the compartment
A..to replace that which has been consumed in decomposing the water. The
lid.is then replaced, and the operation proceeds as before. The cock L is
closed during the operation of discharging and charging, the retort.
introducing water through the pipe H, a current of steam from a boiler may
be introduced there, if preferred.
:
In lieu of
By constructing a retort in three compartments; as above described, I avoid
the difficulty which would arise in maintaining the joints or connections. if
three separate retorts were employed, owing to variations in the expansion and
contraction of the different retorts. The retort may have more than three
compartments if desired, but three are sufficient for the purpose.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner.
the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I claim is,―
Firstly, the constructing a retort for the manufacture of gas, with three.
compartments, communicating together, so as to form one continuous passage,
and having a lid or lids for charging and discharging, and a pipe adapted for
the introduction of water or steam, as herein-before described.
...Secondly,, the combination of a syphon pipe with a retort for the manufac-
ture of gas constructed with three compartments, communicating together, and
arranged in manner herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jacob Ben'Jamin, have hereunto set my
-hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of December, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
JACOB BENJAMIN,
(L.S.)