US1528600A

US1528600A - Distillation of fuels

Info

Publication number: US1528600A
Application number: US724657A
Authority: US
Inventors: Bowater Norman James
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1924-07-07
Filing date: 1924-07-07
Publication date: 1925-03-03
Anticipated expiration: 1942-03-03

Description

Mar. 3. 1925. 1,528,600

N. J. BOWATER DIS'I'ILLATION OF FUELS & 7 Filed July '7. 1924 M717? SPRAY SUPER/I54 TEIF Patented Mar. 3, 1925.

UNITED STATES NORMAN JAMES BOWATER, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

DISTILLATION OF FUELS.

Application filed July 7,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, NORMAN JAMES Bo- WATER, a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at London, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relatin to the Distillation of Fuels, of which the ollowing is a specification.

The present invention relates to an improved method of and apparatus for the.

distillation of carbonaceous fuels, shale and the like in which the fuel is heated by being brought into direct contact with superheated, low pressure steam in the presence of other gases, the distillation being accomplished by means of the sensible heat thereof.

In the aforesaid process it is impossible toutilize the latent heat of the steam within the retort itself for the distillation process. Consequently in order to maintain the efficiency of the process, it is of the greatest importance to recover the said latent heat.

According to the present invention the gas and steam leaving the retort or other distillation apparatus is cooled by means of water. This water condenses the volatile tars and oils as well as the steam and in so doing, takes up their latent heat as well as their remaining available sensible heat. The water thus heated is then passed through a known saturating means through which a quantity of a suitable gas is also passed in direct contact with but countercurrent-wise to the thus heated water and thus becomes saturated to such a temperature that it takes up the necessary quantity of water vapour, which when superheated to the necessary temperature, suffices for the distillation of the fuels and the like in ,the retort or other distillation apparatus.

The efliciency of the process may further be increased by recovering and utilizin the sensible heat of the fuels and the li e as they leave the retort or other distillation apparatus.

The invention also includes apparatus comprising in combination a distillation apparat'us retort, a superheater for raising the steam and other gases resent, to the necessary temperature for istilling the fuel or like material, a cooler for cooling the gas and condensing the steam and distillates by means of water, a saturator for saturating with water vapour the gas by means of the 1924. Serial No. 724,657.

hot water from the cooler, means for circulating the Water from said cooler to said saturator and from said saturator back to said cooler and means for causing the gas to pass through the saturator and the gas and steam from said saturator, through the superheater and through the retort to the cooler, as well as means to take up the sensible heat of the fuel or like material before it leaves the retort.

In order more clearly to understand the invention reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which show by way of example a diagrammatic representation of a plant suitable for carrying out the invention.

In said drawings:

R is the distilling apparatus such as a retort or the like. A is the cooler, B the saturator, O the superheater, and F a jacketed discharging apparatus.

The gas employed for taking up the necessary quantity of Water vapour in the saturator B is a portion of the gas distilled from the fuel leaving through the outlet E. The requisite quantity of this gas is passed through pipe G to the saturator B by means of a fan or other suitable means not shown. It is therein saturated by the water entering through the conduit from settling tank which water has been heated by cooling the gases and condensing the tars, oils and steam issuing from the retort B through the paratus F for recovering the sensible heat of the fuel or the like before the latter leaves the retort B. This sensible heat may also be recovered in the form of steam b suitably quenching the carbonized fueli From said jacketed apparatus F the gas and steam is then passed through the conduit K to a suitable superheater C in which the gas and steam are superheated to the requisite temperature before their admission to the retort R by way of the conduit L.

After passing through the retort R- and distilling the volatile constituents of the fuel or the like material contained therein, the mixture of gas and steam, the volatile products to other with'the gas distilled from the fue pass through the pipe I direct ly into the cooler A where they are cooled and the steam and volatile products condensed by cooled water discharged by the pump D from the saturator B to the top of the cooler A-by Way of conduit M. The

condensed volatiles pass from the cooler A along with the hot water through the pipe N into a settling tank 0 in which-they are separated from each other prior to the hot water passing again into the saturator by way of the conduit H, while the remaining gas passes from the cooler A through the outlet E to the usual stripping plant not shown.

It will be clear that a quantity of gas employed to take up the water vapour for the distillation process once it has been obtained may be used for this urpose over and over again and consequent y it does not further reduce the quantity of gas available from the distillation of the fuel.

I claim:

1. The process for the distillation of carbonaceous substances, which comprises heating said carbonaceous substances by passing a superheated mixture of steam and other gases into direct contact with said carbonaceous substances, recovering the latent heat of the steam after distillation by bringing the said steam and other gases to ether with the volatiles resulting from the istillation, into direct contact with water, thereby cooling said gases and condensing the steam and volatiles, and bringing the water resulting from the condensatlon and cooling :5 into direct contact with the gases to be used for the, distillation, thereby saturating said gases with steam. j I

2. The process for the distillation of carbonaceous substances which comprises heating said carbonaceous substances by assing a superheated mixture of-steamand other gases into direct contact with said carbonaceous substances recovering the latent heat of the steam after distillation by. bringing the said steam and other gases together with the volatiles resultin from the distillation, into direct contact wlth water, thereby cooling said gases and condensing the steam and volatiles, bringing the water resulting from the condensation and cooling into direct contact with the gases to be used for the distillation, thereby saturating said gases with steam, and recovering the sensible heat of the carbonized carbonaceous substance.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

NORMAN JAMES BQWATER.