USRE12208E - Apparatus for the destructive distillation of wood - Google Patents

Description

REISSUED MAR. 22, 1904.

APPLICATION FILED 11110.24. 19oz.

' s sums-sum No. 12,208; REISSUED MAR. 22, 1904.

0. GILMER.

APPARATUS FOR THE DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF WOOD.

APPLICATION FILED p30. 24, 1902.-

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 OF VEST VIRGINIA.

To It u'hrmt it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE O. GILMER, residing at New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have made cer- 5 tain' new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for the Destructive Distillation of Wood, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My invention is an improved apparatus for use in producing turpentine, tar, wood-aloo- I he], and other products, including charcoal,

from fat pine;'and the invention hasfor its salient objects to provide a simple construction by which the vapors of different products, and particularly the turpentine-vapor, may be drawn from the retort without becoming contaminated with other vapors; to provide a construction by which the vapors are gener ated progressively'from the contents of the retort and are drawn from the latter in advance :0 of the progress of the heat; to provide acon-.

struction in which the lower part of the retort wherein the tar collects during the process is maintained cool enough to prevent overheating ot the tar; to provide a construction in which the outlet passage or pipe through'which 'the tar is withdrawn extends through amoderately-heated zone, whereby the tar ismaintained fluid until it reaches the receiving-receptacle; to'provide an improved construction and apparatus whereby all of the vapor and liquid products of distillation may be withdrawn through a single pipe communicating with the retort, and, finally and generally, to provide improved details of construction and arrangement in an apparatus of the character referred to.

The invention consists in certain novel constructions and combination of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

tion, partly in section, showing a battery of rctorts and theirfurnaces embodying my invention. In this figure the-still at the left \is shown in front'elevation, that in the middle in closed receptacle like In the drawings, Figure 1 is a front eleva-,

section on about line w 0001 Fig. 2, and,that-at the. right on about line 3/ y of Fig. 2.;1' Fig, 2- is a long tudinal section'drawn through one of the rotor-ts 0n-- abQut: line-220E Fig. .1, and.

keissued March22, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE O. GILMER, OF NEIV ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO ILLINOIS INVESTMENT COMPANY, A CORPORATION APPARATUS FOR THE DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF MO00- SPEOIFICATION forming part of Reissued Letters Patent No. 12,208, dated March 22, 1904.

I Original No. fi'l'iflm datoddm 25, L901. 24, 1902- Beriallio. 136,503.

In carrying outmy'invention'l employ a closed retort, within which the body of wood to be'treated is placed, and this retort'is subjected to externally-applied heat so controlled,

and applied thereto that the contents of the retort are heated progressively. In the process of dry distillation of wood the turpentine-v vapor is expelled at a lower temperature than the acid and creosotic vapors; and accordingly when the heat is applied progressively the turpentine-vapors are the first to be driven off. In carrying out my invention I take advantage of this fact and so construct and arrange the apparatus that the turpentine-vapors are withdrawn practically as fast as formed and withdrawn in such manner as to bedrawn away from or in advance of the heat as distinguished from drawing them off in such manner that they might pass through more highlyheated parts of the retort, and thus become contaminated with other vapors. I accomplish this by locating the vapor-outlet (which in the preferred construction shown in the present embodiment of'the invention constitutes the only outlet) in a part of the retort remote from that part of the retort to which the heat is first applied. In view of the fact that gases heated within a a retort tend always to rise to the highest portion thereof I take advantage of this fact and preferably apply the heat to the top of the retort," thereby securing a more perfect control of the progressive heating of the contents thereof. By this arrangement I am also enabled to locate the eduction-pipe at the bottom of the retort,so that it may serve the double function of conveying away both the vapors and the liquid products of distillation.

Moreover, by .-applying the heat to the top-of the retort the bottom thereof remains cool until the very last stages of the distillation or until the tar, which is the last of the products expelled, has been fully withdrawn.

' Having explained the general characteristics of myinvention, I will now describe the .length of the latter.

rect the liquid products toward that end. The

furnace C is arranged below the retort, the firebox thereof being located below the front end of the retort, and aprotecting-wall D extends above the furnace and rearwardly bel-owjthe retort'to a point near the rear end of the latter, so as to completely partition the space immediately below the retort from the combus-- tion-space'of the furnace. The partition D extends from the front to the rear end walls of the furnace and forms a dead-air space D below the retort, extending nearly the full The products of combustion pass from the furnace rearwardlybelow the wall D and enter at the rear end of said wall-fines E, of which Iprovide two, one

at each side of the apparatus, arranged to extend in a generally horizontal direction, their inlet ends E being turned. downwardly through the wall D and their outlet'ends E being turned upwardly and communicating with upwardly-extending flue-passages E in the walls of the furnace, which conduct the products of combustion to and discharge the same upon the top of the retort, at a point near the front end thereof, as will be more readily understood by reference to the several figures of the drawings.

Walls 1 are arranged to close the space on opposite sides of the retort above the flues E, these walls terminating at points near the front end of theretort and forming the fluepassages E, hereinbefore referred to. The

:front end of the retort and the lower half of the rear-end thereof are seated in the front wall of the furnace and a transverse partition-wall 3, respectively, so that said walls, in conjunction with the top wall of the furnace and the side walls 1, hereinbefore refer-redto,

.serve to confine the products-of combustion to the upper half of the retort.

In Fig. 1 the shaded portion, designated 2, represents the inner face of the back wall of the furnace, which is also designated by the .same numeral in Fig. 2, and the numeral 3 is applied to the front face of the'partit'iomwall, whichsupports the rear end of the retort. The part designated 4 in Figs. 2 and 3'is an extension wa'll, which forms a support for'the eduction-pipe Band incloses a ,space F", which;

constitutes the uptake flue orzoutlet of the furnace. In Fig. 2 the numeral 5 designates, the inner surface of the top wall'ofthe 'furnice, and the numeral 6 in Figs. 2 and 3 designates the inner-faces of the upright or's'ide 'x-walls, which form the vertical sides of the smoke-chamber F, into which the products of -combustion pass after circulating. back over this pipe I the tar oils, the creosote, ligneous' acids pass to suitable condensers.

.the top of the retort. The smoke-chamber F communicates with the outlet-flue F through a passage F, as best shown in Fig, 2.

The'vapor-discharge pipe B communicates with the bottom of the retort, at'a point near "the rear. end thereof, extending thence vertically downward a short distance and then horizontally out through the smoke-chamber F, the passage F, and the outlet-flue F", the end of said pipe being continued on. beyond the furnace to any suitable point and being provided at'a pointjust outside of the furnace with a controlling-cock '5. At a point preferably within the outlet-flue F a branch uptake-pipe H communicates with the eductionpipe B, this pipe H constituting the turpentine-vapor pipe and which is likewise provided with a controlling-cock h, by which it may be closed. Said pipe in leads to any suitable condenser, (not shown,) the turpentine-vapors being drawn off from the. retort by means of a pump, which is indicated at-J and is preferably a vacuum located in the distillery. At a point a short distance above theeduction-pipe B a pipe I is connected with the vapor-pipe H and preferably arranged to lead horizontally therefrom, said pipeI being likewise provided with a controlling cock or valve z'. Through and pyro- (Not shown.) By the several valves described I am able to control the discharge of the sevthe same to thedesired points.

In operation ofthe apparatus the retort is filled withwood and hermetically sealed. The fire is lighted in the furnace, and the products of combustion pass backwardly underthe protecting-Wall D, thence forward through the flues E,rand then up throu h flue-passages E to the chamber which inclhscsthe top of the retort, thus heating the contents of the retort at the top first. The turpentine-vapors are thefirst to be expelled, are drawn off through the eduction-pipe B by the exhaust action of the pump, and itfollows that said turpentine vapors flow downwardly through the cooler-parts of the retort and in a direction away, from the hotter portion thereof. Since the vapors which are detrimental to turpeneral products of distillation and to discharge heated to a temperature higher than that at which the turpentine-vapors are given off, it follows that the turpentine-vapors are thus drawn off beforetheyc'an become contami- .tine are not generated untilthe wood has been nated with other vapors, the turpentine-vapor being given off at approximately 321 Fahrenheit at the top of the retorhftlie' wood at that point will give off tar and creosote oils,

renheit: When the heat raches iw Fahuable.

oils, would become impregnated with them, and thus rendered impure and much less val- A steady heat'is maintained in the furnace until the heat has progresseddownwardly to the back of the retort and raised the entire contents of the latter to'a point above that at which the turpentine is given 4 off, by which time all of the turpentine-vapors will have been withdrawn. As soon as.

the turpentine in the wood has been extracted and creosotic and tarry vapors are given ofl the valve 72 is closed and the valve 2' is opened, whereupon the vapor is discharged through the pipe I to other condensers and is prevented from passing .to and contaminating the condensers for the turpentine. During the process the valve g may be opened as often as necessary to keep the eduction-pipe B free of the liquid tar. The heat is continued until all of the vapors have been driven out and until the tar has likewise been expelled through the eductionpipe B, leaving only the charcoal which remains at the end of the distillation.

It will be. seen that the constructionand arrangementof the heating devices enables me to discharge the heatupon the top of theretort only and .that the latter is so protected that it receives practically no heatexcept along its upper side, so that a downwardly-progressive heating of the contents of the retort is insured. The interposition of the horizontal.

wall D between the combustion-chamber of the furnace and the bottom of theretort and the body of dead air in the chamber above said horizontal partition enables .meto control the temperature in the retort and hold it at the proper degree to cause the wood to give off the turpentine or the tar-oils as desired.

The fact that the bottom of the retort remains relatively cool until the very last stages of the process insures that the native tar-oil will run out through the eduction-pipe instead of being burned up. The fact that the eductionpipe leads out through the smoke-chamber and outlet-passages of the furnace insures that the tar and pitch will be maintained in a sufficiently fluid condition-to flow freely, and

will, therefore, not chill and choke up the discharge-pipe. v

It will be obvious from the foregoing description that the details of construction and arrangement of the apparatus may be modifiedfwithout departing from the invention, and I do not, therefore, limit myself to such details except to the extent that they are made the subject of specific claims.

The novel process of the destructive distillation of wood which is herein described as carried out by the use of the apparatus forming the subject of the present application is made the subject of a divisonal application,

Serial No. 136,504, filed contemporaneously V herewith.

I claim as my invention.

1. In an apparatus for the destructive distillation of wood, the combination of a closed retort, means for locally applyingzheatexternally to a part only of said retort, to eflect the progressive heating of the contents of the latter, and an eduction vapor-passage com-- municating with the retort at a point remote from the part thereof to which the heat isap plied, whereby the vapors expelled are with drawn from the cooler portion of the retort.

2. In an apparatus for the destructive distillation of wood, the combination of a closed retort, means for locally applying transmitted heat to a part only of said retort, to effect the tion-pipe communicating with the lower part of the-retort. I 4. In an apparatus for the destructive distillation of wood, the combination of a closed elongated horizontally-disposedretort having its bottom inclined, toward one .end; means for circulating hot gases over the top of said retort; means protecting the sides and bottom of said retort from overheating, and an eduction-pipe communicating with the bottom of the retort and leading downwardly and outwardly therefrom.

5. In an apparatus for the destructive dis tillation of wood, the combination of a closed elongated horizontally-disposed retort having its bottom inclined toward one end; means for circulating hot gases over the top of said retort; means protecting the sides and bottom of said retort from overheating, and an eduction-pipe communicating with the bottom of the retort and leading downwardly and outwardly therefrom, said eduction-pipe beingarranged to extend through a dischafge-pasarranged to receive the products of combu stion from such protecting-wall at a point nearthe rear end of. the retort and extending thence forward to a point near the front of the re-, tort, and a casing provided with flues and pasfrom said flues and directing'the same 'to the I 2 5. "sages for receiving the products of combustion top of the retort, substantially as set forth.

7 In an apparatus for the destructive distillation of wood, the -retort for receiving the wood pro-t idedwith a discharge-pipe having the branch H, the ,branchI and the branch or discharge G," and-provided with the valves k;

21 and g for controlling the discharge of the products of distillation, substantially as set forth. a

8. An apparatus for the destructive distil- 'lation 'of wood comprising the retortfor reoeiving the wood, the furnace, a protectingpartition between the furnace and retort, flues extending between the partition and retort and arranged at their rear ends to receive the products of combustion from the furnace and to discharge the same to the retort at the for directing 5 front end of the latter, means such products substantially to the top of the retort,- and the tar andvapor discharge at the lower end'of the retort, substantially as described.

GEORGE oyei Mnn 'Witnesses:

JNo; F. C. VVALDO TIA. BEoK.

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