US1415846A - Furnace-retort - Google Patents

Description

C. HCSMITH.

FURNA EE RETORT.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 9. 1913.

, 1,415,846, Patented May 9,1922.

12 SHEETS--$HEET INVE/VTUR I BY W 2 4 #KFA ORME'IS.

C. H. SMITH.

FURNACE RETORT. v I 1 APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, I918. r 1,415,846,- Patented May 9,1922.

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v c. H. SMITH FURNACE HETORT.' APPLICATION HLED MAYQ. 19.18.

1,4.1 5,8464 Patented m9, 1922.

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C. H. SMITH; FURNACE HEIGHT. APPLICATION FILED IVIIWQ IQIS.

1,415,846; Patten '12 SHEETS-SIIEETIII Fig. 8; 2

- mI mrm ted May 9, 1922A C. H. SMITHn FURNACE RETORT. APPLICATION FILED MAY 9. 1918.

Patentedf May 12 SHEETS-SHEET J ATTORNEW.

c. H. SMITH.

FURNACE RETORT APPLICATION FILED MAY 9, 1918- 1,41 5,846. 7 Patented IfLay 9,1922.

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c. H. SMITH: v FURN'ACERETORT. APPLICATION H LED MAY 9, 19]!)- Patented May 9,1922.

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INVEN TUI? [m "mum UNITED STATES PATENT ormce.

CHARLES HOWARD SMITH, OF SHORT HILLS, NEW- JERSEY, ASSIGN'OR TO INTER- NATIONAL GOAL PRODUCTS CORPORATION, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, A UOR--.

roRA'rIo'N on VIRGINIA.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GrrAnLns HowAnn SMIT a citizen. of the United States, and

a resident of Short Hills, county of Essex,

and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Furnace-Retorts, of which the' following is a specification.

-The invention relates to acombined furnace and retort, frequently herein referred. to as a furnace retort. The furnace retort I which is the subject of the present invention has been particularly designed and oonstructed to effect a partial distillation or partial carbonization of coal in order to eliminate a part of the volatile hydrocar bons contained in the coal and in order to obtain a uniformly but partially distilled residue.

In the preferred embodiment of the in vention the retort is in the form of a longitudinally extending tubular member clgs ed at each end and has therein, means for m1x' ing and conveying the material that is charg'ed into the retort at one end, to wit, the charging end toward the other or dis charging end oi the retort. The retort is heated exteriorly and in such a manner that the coal or charge therein is uniformly but progressively heated as it moves along the retort; this uniform but progressive heating being dependent to a certain "extent upon the-manner in which the charge islmixed and conveyed along the retort One of the objects of the present inven tion is to construct the heating meansthatis exterior of the retort in sucha manner that the heat conditions in any transverse portion of the retort are underthe control of the operator; The major portion'pofitlie furnace-retort proper is of masonry and the mixing and conveying'means referred to preferably comprises parallel shafts havthereupon and arranged so that ing paddles the paddles on one shaftoverlap the paddles on the companion shaft as the shafts are rotated. These shafts and paddles are located within the retortand extend through the walls at the ends of the retort or at the ends of the furnace-retort, dependent upon which way the construction is considered.

FURNACE RETORT.

Specification 01 Letters Patent. Pgrlgentgfl Kay 9, 1922,, Application filed May 9; 1918. Serial No. 233,422.

An. object of the present invention is to provide a construction whereby the weight and thrust of these shafts are not borne or received by said end walls but so that ing members mounted or supported on the exterior of or independent of the end walls of the furnace-retort proper.

According to the present invention there is also provided. means between the shaft construetion-and it will here be remarked that the shaft construction may be broadly construed to include not only the shafts but the bearing members therefor whereby any openings in the end Walls throug which the shaft construction passes are sealed against the entrance of air to the means is also constructed so that the seal or air-tight joint is maintained under nary 111g conditions of expansion andi'contraction.

Another object er the invention is to provide a furnace-retortconstruction that will facilitate building and repairing and that will also Jermit an' 'inspeetion. of the terior oft e furnace-retort...

Another object o-tithe'inventionis toi pro vide aconstnuction wherein the several parts can be readily assembled into a" complete operativewholes In ajfnrntace for treating coal it is advantageons in" many respects toemploy a recuperator for heating the ail-to support.

combustion. recu icrator is a device whereby ontgoing hot product-s tr combustion or Waste can be employed to effect a heating? oil the incoming air to sup port combustion by an interchange or trans ference of heat through walls of the re cuperator that serve to separate the passage- Ways through which the outgoing gases flow T fromthe passageways through which the in" coming air flows.

According to one phase of the present invention the recuperator constitutes a lower portion oil or foundation tor the 'liursaid weight and thrust are borne by bearas j nace-retort proper and there are provided ducts or passageways in the masonry construction of said furnace-retort pro'per whereby the hot incoming air received from the recuperator can pass to the combustion tion of the retort can be controlled.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a construction whereby furnace-retorts can be built in batteries and according to one phase of the present invention such a construction is facilitated by allowing expansion joints or spaces between adjacent side walls of adjacent furnacevretorts roper. v The invention relates to the features of construction above referred to as well as to other features, all of which are hereinafter clearly described and set forth in the ap ended claims. s showing a specific embodiment of the invention reference is made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and in which drawings,

Figure 1 is a vertical transverse view of a portion of'a battery of furnace-retorts each aving a recuperator. In this view there is shown incross-section a furnace-retort proper supported by a recuperator construction below it. This figure is a view taken as on the plane indicated by the lines 11 of Fi ure 2, 3, 4 or 5. 4

igure 2 is a view taken substantially on the line 2 abc d2 of Figures 1 and 8 looking in the direction of the arrows. It is not, however, an exact view taken on this line for the reason that there is included in Figure 2 the piping which leads, from the upper interior portion of the retort and which piping is at one side of the place where the section is taken. It will be noted that in Figure 2 the parts are shown on a smaller scale than in either Figure 1, or in Fi ures 3 to 9 inclusive.

,igure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken as on the plane indicated by the line 33 of Figures 1 and 4. All parts which are shown on this plane are in section, with the exception of the companion parallel shafts, the paddles carried thereby, the bear; ing members for the shafts, and the driving mechanisms for actuating the shafts.

Figure 4 is a vertical, longitudinal, transverse view taken as on the plane indicated by the line 4-4 of Figures 1 and 5 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 5 is a horizontal, transverse, sectional view taken as on the plane indicated by the line 55 of Figures 1 and 2 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 6 is a complete view taken as on the planes indicated by' the broken line 6fg6 of Figure llooking in the direction of the arrows. In other words, the lefthand portion of Figure 6 is a view taken as on the line 6-f of Figure 1, or 66 of Figure 4 looking-in the direction of the arrows; while the right-hand half of the figure is a view taken as on the plane indicated by. the line g6 of Figure l or 6'-'6 of Figure 4 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 7 is a horizontal sectional view looking downwardly and is a view taken as ,on the plane indicated by the line 7-7 of Figure 4.

Figure 8 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken as on the plane indicated by the line 88 of Figure 2 looking in the direction of the arrows,

Figure 9 is an end view of.a discharge end portion of a battery of retorts.

Figure 10 is a view of the outer orexterior portion of a main end plate or main end plate casting. a

Figure 11 1s a view of the outer portion of a smallend plate casting used in conjunction with the main end in Figure 10.

Figure 12 is a sectional view of the main endplate casting and is a view taken as on plate casting shown the plane indicated by the line 22 of Figure 10 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 13 is a view partially in section of the assembled main end plate casting and the small end plate casting. A part of Figure 13 is a view taken as on the plane indicated by. the broken line 13pq13 (it Figure 10 looking in the direction of the arrows.

Figure 14 is a sectional view of the 21889111 bled main and small end plate castings and some of the parts associated therewith. The section of the assembled end plate castings is a' view taken as on the planes indicated by the line 1l14 of Figure 10. In Figure 14 there is also shown an end of the paddle carrying shaft, an end of the bearing member which supports the shaft, and sealing means employed between the bearing member on the one hand and the main end plate casting on the other to prevent the inflow of air to the interior of the retort or to prevent the escape of gases from the interior of the retort.

Figure 15 is a sectional view of the main end plate casting shown in Figure 10 and Figure 19 isan assembledview of the metal parts that provide the discharge co11- duit construction. In this View there are shown an upper discharge casing or upper throat member, a rotary valve and casing' therefor, which valve casing is sometimes referred to as an intermediate discharge cas mg, a lower tapering throat member, or

lower discharge casing as it may be called, a door at the lower end of said tapering oasmg, parts for malntainlng the several casings an'dparts above referred to in essenc bled position, and also other mechanisms or means for-maintaining the discha' ge casing as a whole in position,

v Figure is a part sectional view and part exterior rear view of the d1scharge conduit construction shown in Figure 19.

Figures 21, 22 and 23 show, respectively,

an end or side view, a rear view, and a front valve casingvconstruction.

Referring now to th drawings in detail the furnace-retort isdesignated by 1 and comprises the retort Qand the furnace 3, all

of which'ma'y be considered as'having verti View of the intermediate discharge casing or cally and transversel extending end walls 4 and 5', vertically an, longitudinally extend ing side walls 6 and 7 that extend from end- -wall to end vwall andare connected thereto,

the base construction 8 that extends from end ,wall to end wall and from side wall to side wall, andthe roof construction 9 that extends fron end wall to end wall and from side fw'all to side wall. The end wall 4 may he referred to as the front or charging end, whilethe endwall '5 may bereferred to as the rear or discharging end wall.

The furnace-retort construction just def- 'scribedimay be termed the furnace. retort proper; The furnace-retort proper may be 1 supported in" any suitable manner; in the construction shown itis carried by a recuperator constructmnlO, which recuperator is'fprovidedfor raising the temperature of,

the air supply to the furnace by heat from the waste gases that leave the furnace. The

reeuperator has vertically and transversely extending and walls 11. and 12, and the end walls of the recuperator and the end walls I of the furhacemetort proper in effect become continuations of each other The recuperator also has vertically and longitudinally extending main side walls 13 and it and spaced tunnel side walls 15 and 16, the latter of which provide between them a longitudinally extending tunnel 17 large enough for an operator to enter, in order to control certain valves and dampers as will hereinafter appear. The recuperator also has vertically and longitudinally extending partitions or intermediate walls 18 that serve to separate a series of air ducts, as .r-l, from a series of waste gas ducts, as l3,

An inspection of the drawings will make it clear that these ducts are provided be tween. adjacentvertically and longitudinally to extending walls of the recuperator and are in part defined by means of horiaontally extending partitions or diaphragms, as 19, that cause the air or gases flowing through any set of ducts to take a sinuous path. The to sinuous path of the air flowing inwardly through the recuperator is indicated by the full line arrows (straight and curved) of Figure 4, while the path of the waste gases flowing outwardly through the recuperator so are lndl'cated by the broken curved arrows n the same figure;

From some points of view the recuperator may be considered a part of the furnace of the 'furnaceretort and. this view is more or less ustified from the fact that the recuperator masonry construction and the furnace construction merge into each other, and also in View of the fact that the recuperator has a an important partto play in the operation ,100

of the furnace.

From another point of view the recuperator may be considered as a distinct apparatus and in a way independent of the furnace, the function of the recuperator being to receive waste gases given off or discharged from thefurnaoe and conveyed to the recuperator and to employ these waste gases as a means for supplying heat that is trans ferred to air flowing inwardly through the lie recuperator on its way to the furnace of the furnace-retort. As far as the purposes of this case are concerned, however, it matters little wh ch view is talren- It will be here pointed out that where applicant refers to thdfurnace-retort he desires it to be understood that he does not imply a construction wherein, a recuperator must be used, as. the furnace-retort referred to herein may or may not. have a recuperator construction in connection therewith.

An inspection of Figure 1 will also make it clear that the recuperator construction 10 for each furnace embodies in effect two separate recuperators, one for the right-hand half of the furnace and the other for the left-hand half of the furnace. lt will also be observed that the recuperator main side walls 13 and 14 are the main side walls for recuperators on the opposite sides thereof when the retort-furnaces are built in batteries. The manner in which waste gases are brought to the recuperator and the manner in which the hot air is conveyed from the reeuperator to the furnace will hereinafter be described in detail.

From an inspection of-Figure 4 it will be noted that'the air leaving the recuperator is nearest to the gases just entering the recuperator with the result that the air can attain a higher'degree of heat than it is otherwise possible to attain. In other words, the incoming air flows in a counter direction to that in which the outgoing gases flow.

From what has preceded and from an inspect-ion of the drawings, and )articularly Figures 1, 4 and 6, it will be apparent that the recuperator construction provides a firm and solid foundation or support, for the furnace-retort proper. The base construction 8,

the side walls 6 and 7, and end walls 4 and 5 all merge 1nto each other with the result that there is a continuous masonry construction that is supported upon the recuperator con struction 10. The retort 2 of the furnaceretort l is provided between the end walls 4 and 5 and within a tubular inner wall construction 20 which .extends longitudinally from end wall to end wall, thereby providing what is herein referred to as a longitudinally extending retort or retort chamber. The tabular inner wall construc- :tion 20is in crosssection a modified cylinder and more specifically it is of inverted heart shape. This inner wall construction 20 is supported intermediate its ends and at many places throughout its lengthby vertically and transversely extending partitions '01 dia phragms 21. .The roof construction 9 hereto fore referred to extends horizontally, both longitudinally and transversely, from end wall 4 to end wall 5 and from side wall 6 to side wall 7 and in effect becomes a part of the same masonry construction which defines the'walls and base portion ofthe furnace 3. The combustion chamber C is provided on the exterior of the tubular inner wall construction 20 between the latter on the one hand and the base construction 8, the side walls 6 and 7 and the roof 9 on the other hand. This combustion chamber C as a whole is divided into what may be considered two smaller combustion chambers by means of vertically and longitudinally extending partitions 22 and 23. One of these smaller combustion chambers designated by '24 is located at the left-hand side of the furnace while the other smaller'combustion chamber designated by 25 is located at the right-hand side of the furnace.

It will be observed that the vertically and longitudinally extending partition 22 extends from'the base construction 8 to the under exterior portion of the tubular inner wall construction 20 and the vertically and longitudinally extending partition 23: extends from the upper exterior portion of the tubular inner wall construction 20 to the under side of the roof construction 9. The vertically and transversely extending partitions previously referred to'subdivide the smaller combustion'chambers 24 and 25 into what are hereinafter referred to as combustion fines, 26 and 27 respectively. The combustion fiues 26 and 27 collectively constitute the combustion chamber C of thefurnace 3.

' Referring now to Figures 4 and (3, 28 designates a passageway leading from the upper portion of the recuperator 10 to a relatively large horizontally and longitudinally extending main duct or conduit 29 from which there branches small horizontally and transversely extending ducts or passageways 3' corresponding in number to the combustion flues at the particular side of the furnace upon which the conduit 29'is located. These small branch ducts or passageways 30each controlled by a damper'32 that is operable from within the tunnel 17 (see Figures 1 and 2) lead to corresponding upwardly extending ducts or passageways,.as 31 (see Figures 1 and 2), each of which passageways 31 leads to the lower portion of a combustion flue corresponding thereto and in this way a regulated amount of air for supporting combustion is supplied to the combustion flues at each side of the furnace.

In Figures 1 and 2 there are shown a means for supplying fuel that is burned in the combustion chamber. The fuel supply is preferably gas received in the main supply pipe 33 and which flows therefrom through valve-controlled branch pipes 34 corresponding in number tot-he combustion flues. As the air supply is.under the control of the dampers 32 and the fuel supply is under the control of valves, as V, it will be manifest that the combustion which takes place within each flue can be regulated and under the control of the operator when within the tunnel 17. In order that the heat within the tunnel will not be excessive heat insulating brick 35 is provided in the tunnel side walls 15 and 16-. The products of combustion or waste gases pass from the upper portion of each combustion flue (see Figure 1') asthrough passageway 36 that is controlled by .a damper 37 and through passageway 38 likewise controlled by a damper 39. These two damper-controlled passage ways are provided. for each combustion fiue, as canbe seen-from an inspection of Figure 5. The passageway 36 opens into a common longitudinally extending conduit or sageway 40, while the passageway 38 opens into a branch conduit or passageway 41 that leads to said common longitudinally extendpas- , I ing passageway 40. There is a set ofthese and they are separated from each other so passageways at each side of the furnace pass horizontally and transversely through passageway 44, next downwardly through passageway 45, and thence to a horizontally and transversely extending header opening or conduit 46 (see particularly Figures 4,

(i and 7) from which they flow into the uppermost passageway 47 of the recup'erator 10. The'piping 48 shown clearly in Figure 2 and also indicated-in other fi ures is provided to conduct gaseous and iydrocarbon v vaporous products given off from-the'coal or charge being heated within the retort.

This piping leads .to a hydraulic main, the function of ,which is well 'known in the art. The upper portion of this piping 4e8is preferably of"metal,:.but the lower portion directly in the heat zone is preferably in the form of hollow blocks of high refractory material and can be constructed as shown in Figures 2, 5 and '8. Vhen a battery of furnace-retorts'is constructed theend walls become continuous, as shown in F igures 3 and 5. also be built continuous, as shown in Figure 1. In the operatingof the furnace it is means is shown in Figure 2.

well known that the masonry construction has a substantial.expansion when hlghly heated and in order that the interior portron of the retort will not become distorted, due to expansion, an expanslon 1011113 or expansion space 49 is-provided between adjacent 'side walls of adjacent furnaceretorts. This expansion joint or space is clearly shown in Figures 1, 3, 5 and'6. A break'or off-set is provided in the side walls of adjacent furnaces so asto facilitate the forming in said side walls vertically extending passageways 45. As the end walls and roof do not become so highly heated they can be made continuous, as has been previously described. The end walls 4 and 5and roof 9each have a layer of heat insulating brick 50 and .51 to minimize the radiation of heat. Each retort is provided with means for feeding oi charging coal thereto, which feeding or charging It comprises a hopper 52 and an enclosed worm or screwconveyer 53 which when rotated forces the coal into the interior of the retort and also seals the retort as against the entrance of air. This screw-eonvcyer can beoperated in any suitable manner. Within each retort there is means for mixing the coal or charge The roof construction can therein and for conveying the charge from the charging end of the retort toward the discharging end thereof. This mixing and.

conveying means comprises a pair of companion parallel shafts54 and55 each carrying thereupon paddles, as 56." These shafts are arranged so that the paddles on one it as the shafts rotate. The paddlesare shaped 'to effect not only the mixing or agitating just referred to but also to effect the desiredconveying or forward movement of the charge. The retort eonstructionalso in-- cludes end plates or end castings 57 and '58 through which the shafts extend. The

shaft overlap those on the companion shaft shafts are carried by suitable bearing members 59 and 60, which bearing members enter openings in said-end plates, as will be manifest from an inspectionof Figures 2, 3 and 14. ,The bearing members and-the shafts may be broadly considered a shaft construction that extends through said end. plates are larger than the 57 and 58; the openings in the end plates shaft construction therein. In other words, in the specific form of the invention shown the openings are larger than the portions of the bearing members therein.

In Figures 2 and 9 there is shown part of the plat orm construction that is employed as a support for the bearing members. The. platform construction for the bearing 1116111 bers 59 at the charging end of the furnace is designated by 61 and the platform construction for the bearing members 60 at the discharging end of the furrlace is designated by 62. These platforms support the bearing members so that the shafts are not in any way carried by the end walls of the furnace-retort; in other words, all weight or thrust of the shafts is carried by hearing members supported on the exterior of and independent of the end walls of the furnace-retort. The openingsin the end castings are sufficiently large to allow any expansion or contraction which may take place as the furnace-retcrts are put in oper ative or inoperative condition" The end plate construction is shown in Figures 10 to ldinclusive. A packing as 63, is provided around each. bearing member ofthe shaft construction and this packing cooperates with each bearing member and the end plate corresponding thereto in a manner to seal the space between said bearing member and the end plate. The packing means 63 comprises a gland 6 L, such as shown in Fig ures 2, i l, 17 and 18., and other suitable packing material, as 65, for example, asbeotos, indicated in Figures 52 and 14. The bearing members can be adjusted on the supporting means so that the ppsition of the paddles on each shaft relative to the interior portion of the retort can be regulated. The bearing int-archer 59 at the charging end of the furnace is the same, as far as adjustments are concerned, as the bearing member 60 at the discharging end thereof and a description of the means for securing an adjustment of either of the bearing members will apply to the other. Each bearing member rests upon a-bed-plate or foundation plate, as 66, which is secured in place by bolts 67. The bearing member, as 59, is secured in place on its corresponding-bedplate, as by means of bolts 68 which pass through a washer-member or washer-members 69, holes 70 in bed-plate 66, holes 71 in\the bearing member 59,'and washers 72.

The holes 70 and 71 are considerably larger than the bolts passing through them whereby a substantial horizontal adjustment of the bearing members over the bed-plate can be effected. The bed-plate 66 has at each side thereof an ear or lug, as 73, through each of which ears there passes an adjusting bolt, as 74. The bolts 74 extend in a horizontal direction and in a direction.

transverse of the axis of the shafts carried in the bearings. The bolts 74 can be relied 2 bolts 76 which pass through the bearing member, as 59, and engage the upper surface of the bed-plate 66. By properly turning the bolts 76 the adjustablebearing mem her can be raised or lowered. If desired shims or full filling plates can be inserted in any place remaining between the bearing member on the one hand and the bed-plate therefor on the other at the end of the vertical adjustment. justment is finished the bolts 68 are tightened and the bearing members are thereby firmly secured in the desired position. The

adjusting means just referred .to has been described in connection with the bearing and plate therefor at the discharge end of the retort and substantially the same construction is'employed for the bearing members at the charging end of the retort. The end plates through which the shafts extend and into Which the bearings for the shafts extend are, as previously stated, clearly shown in Figures 10 to 16, inclusive. The end plates at opposite ends of the furnace are substantially the same with the exception The inner ends of When the "ertical ad-' that the end plate at the charging end thereof requires an opening through which the coal passes as it is fed by the screwconveyer 53 heretofore described. Each end plate may be considered to have a vertically and transversely extending main or body member 77 which carries annular members 78 that extend inwardly toward the retort and that surround the bearings for the shaft. At the inner end of each of the annular members 78 there is a flange construction, as 79, a part of which flange construction is employed to hold the end plate in the masonry end walls and part of which serve to protect the inner ends of the bearing members from the heat within the retort. At-the outer or exposed side of the main or body member. 77 thereis provided a longitudinal y extending portion 80 that is in the form of a modified U and this modified U serves to connect a flange or face member 81 to the main or body member 77. The construction just described is frequently referred to as the main end-plate member or main end-plate casting.

In Figure 11 there is shown a small endplate casting member 82 secured in place by bolts which pass through openings 83 into threaded openings 84. the latter of which are in, the main end-plate casting. This small end-plate casting 82 completes the face oriflange of the end-plate construction, as it may be referred to. When the parts are all assembled the paddle carrying shafts (as 54 or'55) pass through the end plate casting, as through openings 85. as 59, pass through openings 86 into spaces 87 provided in the end-plate castings to receive portions of the bearing members;

An inspection of Figure 14 will make it clear that there is a pocket 88 provided in the end-plate casting around each bearing and between the main or body member 77 on the one hand and. the face members 81 and 82 on the other. In each of these pockets there are located the sealing means (33 which comprises the gland 64 and the packing 65 heretofore referred to. Each gland is forced toward and held in operative position by mean of adjusting orholding screws 90 that pass through threaded openings 91 and 92 in the face members 91 and -82 respectively. From an inspection of Figure 14 it Bearing members,

will also be noted that the bearing members and shafts can be moved in a direction transverse to that in which the shafts 54 and 55 extend without breaking the seal or joint that is provided between the bearing member. as 59. on the one hand and its corresponding end plate adjacent thereto on the other. The bearingmembers are hollow. as at 93, for cooling purposes. The shafting and bearing members therefor herein described may be broadly considered. as has been heretoforestated, as a shaft construction that extendsthrough the end plates and of the furnace is provided with an opening 1 00 through which the coal is fed by means of the screw-conveyer. in the manner here tofore described. Sight. holes sh are provided. at each side of the end plate. These sight holes are arranged so that the lower interior portion of the retort can be inspected when the holes are open. These holes are normally closed by a' cap 0 shown in Figure 1 1. The casing for the screwconveyer 53 can be normally clamped in place to the flange 7 that is at the end of the construction which provides the charging opening 00. The charging opening 00 and sight holes 3b are all located below the modified U-shaped member 80 of the casting and it will also be noted that the sight holes sh are located below the openings 85 through which the shaft construction extends.

The construction of the means which pro- .vide the discharge passageway leading from the interior of the retort will now be described. The discharge passageway is broadly designated 94: (see Figure 2) and an inspection of this figures taken in con junction with Figure 8. will make it clear that the upper portion of the discharge passageway is provided in a masonry construc tion and is sub-divided into two smaller passageways 95, The passageways 93 lead to a common passageway 96 provided in a verticallyextending tubular member 97 that constitutes a part of the upper discharge casing 98. This casing 98 also has a horizontally extending plate 99 that rests upoIrI-beams 100 that in turn rest upon masonry construction 101 which may 105 and con'iprr be considered to be apart of or an extension of the retort main side walls 13 am 14 heretofore described. The tubular member 97 extends in part above the upper edge of the plate 99, but most of the member 9? depends from the plate 99. These I-bearns provide the main support for the discharge casing construction clearly shown in Figures 2. 9, and 1.9 to 23 inclusive. The lower portion of the upper discharge casing 98 is provided with a flange 102 and it also has openings 103 carrying pipes 104 normally sealed. Through these openings the interior of the conduit can be inspected and bars can he inserted to hrealr up any coal residi'lc that may happen to collect or lodge therein. The intermediate discharge (dSlll is designated as or rotary valve 111 that normally seals the dischargepassageway when the valve occupies the position shown in Figures 2, 1 9 and 20.' lVhen the yalve is given substantially a quarterof a revolution (to a position adjacent-to the cover 107) it opens the passagewayand permits the material to pass from the upper discharge casing through the intermediate discharge casing 105 into the lower discharge casing 112. The ends of this valve are supported on shafts 113 which are keyed to the valve so that when the shafts are turned from the exterior, as by any suitable means, the valve will necessarily be turned. These shafts extend through bearings 11 1 that are provided n header members 115 that constitute a part of the intermediate discharge casing 105. The connections between the shafts 113 and the ngular movable valve 11 are such that tl' v permit the valve 111 to be readily removed from the casing when the cover 107 has been removed. The lower discharge casing is secured to the intermediatecasing by bolts which pass through openings in the flanges 116, 117 that are respectively provided on the lower portion of said intermediate casing and the upper portion of the lower discharge casing. The lower discharge casing is of suflicient size to provide what may be called a receiving chamber at the discharge end of the conduit and this casing, because of its tapering toward the delivery end thereof, is sometimes referred to herein as a tapering lower throat member. The discharge and of this lower tapering throat meinhcr is normally scaled by a door 118., carried on a hinge 119. that is normally clamped in closed position. By ineans'of the valve .111 on the one hand and door 118 on the other it will be manifest that material can be discharged from the retort without allowing the entrance of any substantial amount of air to the interior thereof. The -lower end of the discharge :asing construction as a whole is provided with a springsupporting means 120. as clearly shown in Figure 19. i

The platform constructions 01 and (3). can he made in any suitable manner to perform their desired function. lln lligurcs 52 and 9 and they are shown made of strrustural steel. its is usual in furnace constrimtious the side walls and end walls may be tied together as by vertically extending structural steel members and tie-rods, such as are clearly indicated in several figures of the drawings, as 2. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 9. In order to facilitate a full inspection of the interior of the retort for'the purposes of repair a manhole construction may be provided, as

valve'isclosed, it can be discharged from thedelivery end of the tapering throat member, as desired, The coal is heated within the retort to a temperature approximating from 800 degrees F. to 1200 degrees F. and it will be manifest that the temperature'within the combustion flues must at all times exceed said high temperature, if it is'desired to regulate the temperature in different parts of the furnace, and this is obtained by the damper control and fuelcontrol heretofore described. The tubular inner wall construction 20 should therefore be of material which will withstand the temperatures mentioned and which will also readilytransmit heat from the combustion chambers ,to the charge within the retort. One material which has been used for this purpose is carborundumbrick, but it will be understood that other materials can be used for this purpose.

Coal treated in a furnace such as is herein described will be uniformly and progressively distilled or carbonized and if the distilling operation is not carried out for a suflicient length of time to remove all of the hydrocarbon volatile matter fromthe coal there will result a partially distilled coal residue which is uniform in character, as far as distillation characteristics are concerned. The furnace herein described has been designed to effect a partial distillation of a high volatile bituminous coal but it will be understood that it is not limited to this particular purpose as it has a broad application and may be employed for the heat treatment of different kinds of coal having various characteristics.

The improvements herein set forth are not limited to the precise construction and arrangement shown and described for they may be embodied in various forms and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. WVhat- I claim is: .1. A furnace-retort provided with. a

3. A furnace-retort as set forth in claim 1, l

in which the longitudinally extending dividing partition in the lower portion of the combustion chamber, and the means for supplying fuel and for supplying air for supporting combustion are .so constructed that the combustion gases flow in close proximity to the aforesaid partition.

4. A furnace-retort as claimed in claim 1 and having a recuperator located below the furnace-retort proper, said recuperator being divided longitudinally into substantiallv' two recuperators by a central longitudinal tunnel in which devices are located for manually controlling the supply of fuel to the heated air of or from each of the recuperators, which fuel and heated air pass to the fines on each side of the vertical longitudinal partition. 5. A furnaceretort as claimed in claim 4, in which the furnace side wallsare supported' upon recuperator side walls, and a longitudinal furnace-retort and combustion chambers between the furnace-retort and the side walls, are supported above the recuperator strueture,'for the purpose specified.

6. A furnace-retort battery according to claim 1 provided with recuperatormain walls between adjacent recu1: erators, and two adjacent furnace side walls supported upon each recuperator main wall, and having furnace retorts and combustion chambers between each pair of adjacent furnace side walls.

7. A furnace-retort constructed so as to provide a longitudinally extending retort chamber within which there operates means for mixing or agitating coal therein and for simultaneously conveying the coal along the retort chambers, said furnace-retort also being constructed so as to provide a combustion chamber which is divided into combustion flues vertically and transversely extending partitions and by a vertically and longitudinally extending partition extending along the lower portion of the retort.

8. A furnace-retort constructed so as to provide a longitudinally extending retort chamber having means therein comprising a longitudinally extending paddle-shaft with paddles thereupon for mixing or agi tating coal therein and for conveying the coal from the charging end of the retort

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