US896292A - Process for distilling wood. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED AUG. 18, 1908.

T. B. GAUTIER. PROCESS FOR DISTILLING WOOD.

APPLIUATION FILED AUG. 23, 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

1' NVEN T0 flaw/f Al/orney No. 896,292. PATENTED AUG. 18, 1908. T. B. GAUTIER.

moms FOR DISTILLING WOOD.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 23, 1906. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

T0 VACUUM 'FVMP WITNESSES: [NVENTOR Alfarney UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS B. GAUTIER, OF ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO CLARENCE O. BURGER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PROCESS FOR DISTILLING- WOOD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 18, 1908.

Application filed August 23, 1906. Serial No. 331,763.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS B. GAUTIER, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of Annapolis, in the county of Anne Arundel and State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes for Distilling Wood, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in the distillation of wood, and the present invention has for its objects among others the provision of an improved process whereby a better product is obtained at a less cost, and a greater amount procured from a given quantity of wood.

I subject the wood to the action of uniform heat in a retort within which I maintain a vacuum in any suitable manner, and thus avoid all danger of burning the rosin and insuring a better product, in that the rosin, oil and turpentine comes off white. I use the wood in its natural state, without steaming or soaking in a liquid, and when my process is completed the wood is preserved in its natural shape and form, is practically kiln dried, and the pores are closed by the tar and a sort of lacquer so that its life is materially lengthened. Railroad ties thus treated will be found more serviceable and durable than those from which the oils etc. have not been extracted.

I employ a furnace, of any suitable description suited to the purpose, and from this furnace leads a pipe or conduit to the retort, which may be located at any desired distance, preferably at such a distance as not to be subjected to the direct heat or the flames from the furnace, so that the heat within the retort may be controlled and made uniform, it being designed to never have the heat greater than 380 Fahrenheit in the center of the retort, under ordinary conditions. With this flue or conduit is connected a stack provided with a damper by which the heat to the retort may be controlled. Within this conduit I arrange a coil having suitable connection with a source of cold water supply and as the water in this coil gets sufficiently heated steam is created, which, acting in conjunction with a nozzle leading from a tank of cold water, acts in the manner of an injector and serves to throw spray back into the conduit in opposition to the movement of the hot air and cooling the fumes of the combustion, this being an automatic means of accomplishing this purpose and insuring that the gases shall not heat the retort to too great a degree, to burn the fumes therein.

The retort is in communication with suitable means for maintaining a vacuum therein, such as a vacuum pump or other known and convenient means, which serves also to draw off the oil,fumes and turpentine, which are subsequently treated in the usual manner, the rosin being collected in the bottom of the retort where it is protected against burning by cement which is inclined upon its upper surface so as to conduct the rosin to the draw-0E pipe with a trap whereby it may be drawn off in the usual way.

The heat is made uniform around the retort, the gases being directed all around the same, and passing ofi to a stack, suitable dampers being provided whereby the heat may be shut off entirely when desired. With the furnace is connected a flue leading to the atmosphere and provided with a damper whereby the air may be admitted to the furnace, which latter thus constitutes a miX- ing chamber.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter. appear and the novel features thereof will be specifically defined by the appended claims.

The invention is clearly illustrated, in its preferred form, in the accompanying drawings, which, with the numerals of reference marked thereon, form a part of this specification, and in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view, with the retort in vertical section, illustrating one form of apparatus for carrying out my process. Fig. 2 is avertical cross section on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional detail on the axial line of the retort, at right angles to the line of section indicated by the line 33 in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail of the injector device. Fig. 5 is a top plan of the device shown in Fig. 4.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring now to the details of the drawings 1 designates a furnace of any'suitable character and shape, adapted to the purpose.

2 is a flue or conduit leading from the outer atmosphere to the interior of the combustion chamber of the furnace for introducing cold air into the combustion chamber, the said flue or conduit being provided with a damper 3 of any suitable character whereby the supply of cold air may be regulated or completely shut off as may be required.

4 is a retort of any suitable kind, properly supported, and within. which the wood to be treated is designed to be placed, in this instance being shown as provided with rails 5 upon which trucks 6 may be run. The wood is loaded upon the trucks and run into the retort and then the entrance to the latter is closed by the door 7 secured in place by the clamp 8 the ends of which engage means 9 on the brick-work of the retort, the clamp and door being held by the screw 10. This, however, is but one of the many means that may be em loyed for this purpose, the only requisite eing that the end shall be closed air tight.

11 is a conduit leading from the combustion chamber of the furnace to the retortsurrounding jacket. This jacket 12 extends over the top of the retort and into this top portion the said conduit 11 communicates; by this means all danger of burning the product in the bottom of the retort is avoided. From the top the jacket extends down upon opposite sides as seen at 13 in Fig. 2, for about one half the height of the retort, where it is separated from the lower jacket 14 by the brick-work 15, it being understood that at the rear end of the retort the top and bottom fiues are extended so as to practically envelop said end,'the only interruption being that caused by the brick-work which separates the said top andbottom flues or jackets. The top jacket communicates at the end with the lower jacket by the flues 16 as seen in Fig. 3; by this means it will be seen that the retort is enveloped on all sides by the jacket which receives the products of combustion from the furnace so that it is kept uniformly heated. From the lower jacket the products of combustion pass into a stack 16 through the passage 17 as seen best in Fig. 2.

In the bottom of the retort beneath the tracks I provide the cement bottom 18 which is inclined upon its upper face so as to cause the rosin collected in the bottom of the retort to flow into the outlet pipe 19 provided with a trap 20 and a suitable valve or shut-off 21, all as clearly shown in Fig. 1. This cement work serves to keep the rosin from being burned by the heat in the lower conduit.

22 are thermometers in the retort and extended through stufiing boxes as shown, so that the temperature within the retort may be readily ascertained.

The stack 23 connected with and leading from the conduit 11 is provided with a suitable damper 23 as indicated in Fig. 1.

24 is a vacuum pump of any well known or approved form of construction, a description of which it is not necessary to give here. A

pipe 25 connects the same with a coupling 26 from which lead a plurality of pipes communicating with the interior of the retort whereby the fumes from the wood, such as wood alcohol, turpentine and oil, are drawn out as fast as they are extracted from the wood, and from the vacuum pump they are forced through suitable piping 27 into a condenser 28 of known construction, from whence they are later removed and treated in the usual manner. This vacuum pump not only draws off the distillate fumes, but serves to at all times maintain a vacuum within the retort. This increases the speed and capacity of the process. It also obviates all danger of burning of the products, insuring a much larger yield from a given amount of wood, as high as forty-five gallons to the cord. It also increases the quality and value of the product by reason of its white color, obtained by being extracted in a vacuum, besides not destroying the fiber of the wood and leaving it in condition for any use to which it might have been put before being subjected to my treatment. The wood after treatment is practically kiln dried and the pores hermetically sealed.

Within the conduit 11 at a suitable distance from the retort I place a coil 34 and this coil 34 is connected by pipe 35 with a supply tank 36 (see Fig. 5) by which water may be supplied to the coil. This coil has one end extended in the form of a pipe 37 which leads toward the furnace as seen best in Fig. 4, while another tank 38, having suitable supply pipe 39 and ball cock valve 40, has a pipe 41 leading therefrom and its free end terminating adjacent to the end of the pipe 37 as seen best in the enlarged view, Fig. 4, constitutes an injector by means of which as steam is generated in the coil 34, the steam passing out over the end of the pipe 41 makes a spray of water which automatically cools the fumes of combustion passing through the conduit 1]. and at the same time the cold fumes serves to cool the coil 34 and the generation of steam is stopped for the time being until it again warms up when the same operation is repeated, the automatic cooling of the combustion fumes being assured.

42 is a damper in the conduit 11 adjacent the coil 34 by which the passage of the products of combustion to the retort may be entirely shut off when desired.

43 is a thermometer disposed within the coil as seen best in Fig. 4 by which the temperature of the water therein may be readily ascertained.

The operation will be readily understood from the foregoing description when taken in connection with the annexed drawings, and, briefly stated, is as follows:The wood having been placed in the retort and the door securely fastened so as to make it perfectly tight, and the fire in the furnace having been started, the damper 3 in the conduit 2 is uaqzuz closed, as are also the damper 23 in the stack 23 and the damper 42 opened. The products of combustion from the furnace pass through the conduit 11 into the top conduit over the retort and down and around the same and out the stack till the retort is heated to the desired temperature. I When the fumes commence to pass from the wood the vacuum pump is started and the vacuum is disclosed, as the same will form the subjectmatter of a separate application.

What is claimed as new is The process of obtaining turpentine and rosin from turpentine-bearing -woods, which consists in exposing the Wood in its natural state, placed in a retort under an exhaust, to a temperature (never exceeding 380 Fah.) only sufiicient to disengage the turpentine and oils resembling it and the rosin, injecting a cooling medium into and in opposition to the movement of the heating medium to prevent excess of temperature in the retort, conducting the turpentine away from the retort, and then discharging the retort.

Signed by me at Washington District of Columbia this 22d day of Aug. 1906.

THOMAS B. GAUTIER.

Witnesses:

ROBERT A. BOSWELL, E. H. BOND.

Images