IMPROVE- MENTS IN DISTILLING HYDROCARBONS FROM COAL SHALE AND OTHER BITUMINOUS SUBSTANCES, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE
Year: 1863

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Andrew Craig at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 12th November
1868.
I, ANDREW CRAIG, of Rock Ferry, Birkenhead, in the County of Chester,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN DISTILLING HYDROCARBONS FROM COAL SHALE AND OTHER BITUMINOUS
SUBSTANCES, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in distilling off the bydrocarbons from an extended
surface of coal shale and other bituminous substances in such a manner that
the hydrocarbons are made to pass simultaneously, and in the most direct
manner, from all parts of such extended surface into a receptacle maintained
at a low temperature by the application of a cooling medium, such as cold
water or air, in which receptacle the hydrocarbons are consequently condensed,
the object being to conduct such hydrocarbons as rapidly as possible from the
heated receptacle containing the bituminous substances, and to condense them
rapidly into the liquid form, in order to preserve them from the deteriorating
effect which continued exposure to heat has upon them.
may
In carrying my Invention into practice various arrangements of apparatus
be employed; the arrangement which I prefer to employ is as follows:-
I construct an annular retort, into which the bituminous substance is placed,
the outer surface or wall of such retort being heated to the requisite degree
for carrying on the process of distillation by any suitable arrangement of
furnaces and flues, whilst the whole or greater part of the inner wall is
provided with a number of small openings, through which the volatilized

page_text: hydrocarbons pass into the central enclosed space; this space is maintained at
a low temperature by the introduction into it of pipes, through which cold
water or air is continuously circulating, and the condensation of the hydro-
carbons is thereby effected; they are conducted thence through one or more
pipes to any suitable purifying apparatus. Several such retorts may be
employed in combination, or they may be arranged separately, and they may
be placed in a vertical, inclined, or horizontal position.
In another arrangement I make use of the central space of the annular
retort as the heating flue, and I then make the before-mentioned small
openings in the outer wall of the retort instead of in the inner wall; the
outer wall is surrounded by a closed casing, the space between the retort and
the casing constituting the condenser, it being kept at a low temperature
either by the means before mentioned, or by causing cold water to flow over
the outer surface of the casing.
In another arrangement I form the retort of a narrow flat chamber, the
one flat side of the same being heated to the requisite degree, whilst the other
side is provided with a number of small apertures, as before described, through
which the volatilized hydrocarbons pass into a condensing chamber formed
immediately against the perforated side of the retort. One such condensing
chamber may conveniently be formed between two such flat retorts for
receiving the volatilized hydrocarbons from both.