GB664057A - Improvements in or relating to the distillation of carbonaceous or cellulosic material - Google Patents

Abstract

664,057. Distilling shales, cellulosic materials, etc.; ; furnaces for destructive distillation; cooling discharged materials. HOLFORD PROCESSES, Ltd., HOLFORD, H. J., ADLAM & SONS, Ltd., G., and CHALLIS, A. J. May 18, 1949 [March 11, 1949], No. 6776/49. [Class 51 (ii) and 55 (i). Distillation apparatus for oil shales, oilbearing coals or cellulosic materials expanding under heat comprises a vertical retort shaft with an upper part of constant cross-sectional area and a lower part increasing in area, with a heating jacket round at least the lower part, with charging and discharging means at the top and bottom of the shaft and means for introducing fluid heating medium both up through the bottom of the shaft and into the jacket space opposite the lower part of the shaft. Crushed and screened shale is discharged from a conveyer 20 into hoppers 21 feeding a bank of retorts 22 each comprising a steel shaft 50 with a widened conical bottom portion surrounding firebrick work 51 providing a jacket 53, 54. Charging and discharging valves 64, 66 are interlinked by periodicallyoperated mechanism to effect delivery of batches of shale under the control of photosensitive level indicators. The spent shale after falling down baffles 75 and being quenched by sprays 76 is delivered by a water channel conveyer 24 over a settling pit which includes water filtering, oil separating and oil and water pump compartments. The oil separator is as described in Specification 238,750, [Class 46]. One portion of the distillation gases is supplied for combustion in the retort jackets and another through a nozzle 68 to which superheated steam is also supplied. By-product recovery apparatus comprises water-cooled condensers, a gas scrubber and ammonia recovery plant, and a tar fractionation unit. Gas for a steam boiler and superheater and the retorts may be supplemented by a supply from an auxiliary producer.