IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN DISTILLING HYDROCARBONS
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Walton, of Weardale Villa, the Downs,.
Clapton, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS USED IN DISTILLING HYDROCARBONS."
Sealed the 7th November 1865, and dated the 16th May 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Walton at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 16th
May 1865.
I, GEORGE WALTON, of Weardale Villa, the Downs, Clapton, in the County
of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN DISTILLING HYDROCARBONS," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus used in
distilling bydrocarbons. For these purposes an upright retort is employed,
which it is preferred should be circular in its horizontal section, but other forms
may be used in carrying out my Invention. The upper end is conical, and in
the centre is an opening through which the coal, shale, or other substance is
introduced; this opening is closed or covered over when at work. From the
upper end of the retort an outlet passage or pipe proceeds to a condenser or
condensers. The lower end or bottom of the retort is inclined from back to
front, and at the sides towards the centre. In the front is an opening through

page_text: which the spent matters are delivered, and which when at work is closed by a
door. The retort is heated by a fire or furnace below the bottom, and the
products of combustion and heat pass in suitable flues all round the retort, so
as to heat all parts except the conical upper end. A rail or tramway is
formed above the retort to facilitate the passage of trucks, which discharge
their contents into and through the opening at the upper end of the retort.
From the upper end of the retort and in the interior thereof is suspended a
hollow cage or instrument of less diameter than the interior of the retort, and
which partially fills the retort, leaving a space all round between it and the
retort, into which space the coal, shale, or other substance is supplied. The
upper end of this cage is conical, so that the substances descending thereon
are deflected off to the sides in all directions. The lower parts of the cage
are made somewhat tapering from the widest diameter to the bottom or lower
end, which is somewhat above the bottom of the retort. This tapering is to
facilitate the discharging of the spent matters from the space around the cage.
The hydrocarbon products as they are distilled off pass into the interior of the
cage, which is composed of bars of cast iron or otherwise, so as to admit of
the passage of the vapours, but prevent the lumps or pieces from passing into
the interior of the cage.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed.
by the said George Walton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 16th
November 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
WALTON, of Weardale Villa,, the Downs, Clapton, in the County of Middlesex,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent bearing date the Sixteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said George Walton, Her special licence that I, the said George Walton,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
George Walton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVE-

page_text: MENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN DISTILLING HYDROCARBONS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said George Walton, executors or adminis-
trators, 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 George Walton, 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, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in apparatus used. in
distilling hydrocarbons. For these purposes an upright retort is employed,
which it is preferred should be circular in its horizontal section, but other
forms may be used in carrying out my Invention. The upper end is conical,
and in the centre is an opening through which the coal, shale, or other
substance is introduced, this opening is closed or covered over when at work.
From the upper end of the retort an outlet passage or pipe proceeds to a
condenser or condensers. The lower end or bottom of the retort is inclined
from back to front, and at the sides towards the centre, In the front is an
opening, through which the spent matters are delivered, and which when at
work is closed by a door. The retort is heated by a fire or furnace below the
bottom, and the products of combustion and heat pass in suitable flues all
round the retort, so as to heat all parts except the conical upper end. A rail
or tramway is formed above the retort to facilitate the passage of trucks.
which discharge their contents into and through the opening at the upper end
of the retort. From the upper end of the retort and in the interior thereof is
suspended a hollow cage or instrument of less diameter than the interior of
the retort, and which partially fills the retort, leaving a space all round
between it and the retort, into which space the coal, shale, or other substance
is supplied. The upper end of this cage or tube is conical, so that the
substances descending thereon are deflected off to the sides in all directions.
The lower parts of the cage or tube are made somewhat tapering from the
widest diameter of the upper part to the bottom or lower end, which is some-
what above the bottom of the retort. This tapering is to facilitate the
discharging of the spent matters from the space around the cage. The hydro-
carbon products as they are distilled off pass into the interior of the cage,
which is composed of bars of cast iron or otherwise, so as to admit of the

page_text: passage of the vapours, but prevent the lumps or pieces from passing into the
interior of the cage.
In the Drawings hereunto annexed I have shown a retort for distilling
bydrocarbons constructed as above described.
Figure 1 is a side view, Figure 2 is a plan, and Figure 3 is a vertical
section of the retort.
The retort is formed with an inclined bottom A, as shown; this inclined
bottom may be formed only to incline from the back to the front of the retort,
as shown in the Drawing, or may incline both from back to front, and also
from the sides to the centre, as above mentioned; B is the vertical perforated
tube or cage, to facilitate the escape of the vapour, and also to regulate the
thickness of the materials to be operated upon in the retorts; D is the filling
or charging door; E is the discharging door; F is the outlet to convey the
vapour to the condenser ; 9, 9, 9, 9, are four wrought-iron stays for suspending
the perforated tube in its proper position.
My mode of procedure in working the retort is as follows:-I first fill the
retort with the necessary quantity of material through the door D, applying
fire in any convenient way to the exterior of the retort until all the volatile
vapours and gases are driven off; when this is completed I take off the door E
and withdraw the coke into a waggon placed underneath for that purpose, or
on to the ground.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the
forming upright retorts used in distilling bydrocarbons with an inclined
bottom, as above described, to facilitate the discharging the spent matters
from the retort.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Walton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
G. WALTON. (L.S.)