Specification of William Edward Newton : manufacture of coke.

  • Newton, William Edward.
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Specification of William Edward Newton : manufacture of coke. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Newton s Improvements in the Manufacture of Coke, §c. within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being there¬ unto had, will more fully and at large appear. NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :— In the distillation of the coal for the purpose of obtaining gas for illumi¬ nation, carbonate and hydrosulphate of ammonia are evolved, but are not usefully employed, the only products that are preserved being the carburetted hydrogen which comes over with the ammonia, and the coke which remains in the retort. In the ordinary process of manufacturing coke for locomotive engines and other purposes, where a superior quality of coke is required, all these gaseous products are wasted, as it has hitherto been found necessary to burn the coal in open coke opens or chambers which are only partially closed, an aperture being left to allow the smoke and gaseous products to escape, and air to support combustion is, during a certain portion of the operation, allowed to enter through small orifices provided for the purpose. By these means, which are well known, a dense coke of very superior quality is produced when the process is properly conducted, but the gaseous products which are evolved during the coking process are usually allowed to escape into the atmosphere, and are lost. As it is well known that the waste gaseous products evolved during the combus¬ tion of coal, or the manufacture of coke or coal gas for illumination, contain ammonia, carburetted hydrogen, and other valuable matters, various plans have been from time to time devised for obtaining and advantageously employing the ammonia and other gaseous products evolved during the combustion of coal and the manufacture of gas or coke; it has, however, been found that in the apparatus or processes hitherto employed for this purpose, although consider¬ able quantities of ammonia were obtained, yet the coke produced by the process was much inferior to that made in the ordinary open coke oven. This arose from the fact that in order more effectually to obtain the whole of the gaseous products the ovens or retorts were closed, and, by applying the heat below, a distilling operation was carried on; whereas a totally different process takes place in the ordinary open coke oven. As the coke is, for the reason before mentioned, greatly deteriorated in quality, the value of the process is diminished in a corresponding degree, and, in fact, commercially speaking, the process, as far as regards obtaining chemical products, such as 10 15 20 25 30 35