US1384878A - wingett - Google Patents

Description

J. N. WINGETT.

DISTILLATION FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 19, 1911. 1,384,878, Patented July 19, 1921.

8 SHEETS -SHEET I.

J. N. WINGETT.

DISTILLATION FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 19. 1917.

Patented July 19, 1921.

a SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Home

l. N. WINGETT.

DISTILLA'HON FURNACE.

APPLICATION mm JULY 19, 1911.

1,384,878. Patented July 19, 1921.

8 SHEE'IS SHEET 5- J. N. WENGETT.

DISTILLATION FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY I9. 1917.

1,384,878. Patented July 19, 1921.

8 SHEE'ISSHEET 6- John Al W/h Ue/Z 1-. N. WINGETT.

DISTILLATION FURNACE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 19, 1917. 1,384,878. Patented July 19, 1921.

8 SHEETS-SHEET B- M M /Z 720? 20 5 I l a 209 M //4 //4 X f V 2 zzxxa/z'x/ as; New; :2 203 a I \1 2/5 5 [Z a 2/3 avwwwo z UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN N. WINGETT, OF DENVER, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN SHALE REFINING COMPANY, OF DENVER, COLORADO, A CORPORATION OF ARIZONA.

DISTILLATION-FURNACE.

Application filed July 19,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN N. WINGETT, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city and county of Denver and State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Distillation-Furnaces; and I do declare the following to be a full. clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to improvements in furnaces adapted for the treatment of various materials for the purpose of removing certain elements in the form of vapor. The furnace is more especially adapted for the extraction of hydrocarbons and other vaporizable materials from any form of rock, ores, clays or any mineral substance of any character whatsoever, as well as for the extraction of hydrocarbons from any form of vegetable. animal or mineral substance.

The furnace is. however, primarily designed for the treatment of oil shale for the extraction of the oil therein.

()ne of the objects of the furnace is to provide a continuous and rapid separation of hydrocarbons from the various materials in which they are found, and to this end the furnace consists of a series of superposed units, whereby the material is subjected to treatment in the various units successively, the number of units being such that by the time the material has passed through the furnace or downwardly from the top to the bottom thereof, the hydrocarbons have been completely extracted in the form of vapor, the lighter varieties being first removed while the heavier are later extracted, the various grades being removed in the order of their lightness or volatility.

As it takes the material only about ten or fifteenminutes to pass through the furnace from top to bottom it may be assumed that within ten or fifteen minutes from the time the furnace is started and supplied with the material to be treated, the hydro carbon vapors will begin to pass off into the proper conduit, whence they are carried to any suitable condensing apparatus, the latter not being illustrated in the drawing; and from the time the hydrocarbons begin Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 19, 1921.

1917. Serial No. 181,528.

to leave the furnace, they will continue to pass off as long as the operation lasts.

Referring now to the specific construction of the furnace, it consists as illustrated in the drawing of an upright structure upon the top of which are mounted two receptacles adapted to contain the material to be treated. Where this material is oil shale the rock is ground or crushed to a suitable fineness, say forty mesh, and is fed alternately into the receptacles at the top of the structure, and while it is being fed from one receptacle to the furnace, the other receptacle is filling, and in this way the apparatus is continuously supplied with the material to be treated. The furnace part of the structure is arranged below the said receptacles and consists of vaporizing and combustion chambers arranged alternately, a vaporizing chamber being at the top or immediately below the said receptacles, a combustion chamber below the vaporizing chamber and so on for any desired number of units, avaporizing chamber and combustion chamber constituting a single unit as this term is to be understood in this specification. The vaporizing chamber contains a rotary hearth carrying a series of depending plows, said rotary hearth cooperating with a series of stationary plows supported above the hearth, the plows carried by the hearth extending downwardly therefrom and operating upon the material when it reaches the bottom of the vaporizing chamber. The material is fed to the top of the rotary hearth and gradually carried to the outer edge thereof by the stationary plows, during the rotary action of the hearth. This material then drops downwardly to the bottom of the chamber where it is acted on by the plows carried by the hearth, and gradually moved toward the center of the chamber where it passes downwardl to the next hearth. During the passage 0 the material through the vaporizing chamber it is acted upon by the heat radiated from the combustion chamber immediately below, and this treatment is kept up during the passage of the'material through the furnace, the lighter hydrocarbons being extracted in the uppermost vaporizing chamber and the other grades in the reverse order of their lightness are extracted successively during the passage of the material through the furnace.

Provision is made for removing the various grades of hydrocarbons from the several vaporizing chambers, these hydrocarbons being delivered, as illustrated in the drawing, to an upright conduit whence they may pass to any suitable condensing apparatus, as heretofore indicated, the r removal being facilitated by the introduction of currents of gas from a stand pipe arranged on the opposite side of the furnace from the hydrocarbon conduit, the gas 1n1ets being directly opposite the hydrocarbon outlets.

Provision is also made for delivering fuel to the various combustion chambers and for removing the products of combustion therefrom through a suitable stack.

Having briefly outlined my improvement, I will proceedto describe the same in detail reference being made to the accompanying drawing in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof. In this drawing:

Figure 1 is a central vertical section taken through the vaporizing and combustion chambers of the structure, the receptacles at the top being shown in elevation.

Fig. 2 is a similar section partly broken away, but shown on a considerably larger scale, one of the receptacles at the top being also shown in section.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken through one of the vaporizing chambers at right angles to the sections in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken through the furnace on the line 11, Fig. 1, the parts being shown on a somewhat larger scale with parts of the rotary hearth broken away to more clearly indicate its structure.

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the furnace viewed at right angles to Figs. 1 and 2 and partly broken away. In this view the structure is shown on a scale considerably larger than Fig. 1, but smaller than Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 I is a horizontal section taken through one of the vaporizing chambers, approximately on the line 66, Fig. 1, but on a larger scale.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary top plan view of a set of plows carried by the rotary hearth, the holder for the plows being partly broken away for clearncss of illustration, the structure being shown on'a much larger scale than in the other views.

Figs. 8 is an elevation of the furnace on approximately the same scale as Fig. 1, but viewed at right angles to the latter. In this view four complete units are illustrated, while the pipe system for the twyers is omitted.

Fig. 9 is a view illustrating automatic means for opening a valve in the conduit through which the hydrocarbons are removed, together with means for automatically cutting off the supply of the fuel to th furnace and stopping the motor. In this view provision is also made for operating an alarm.

Fig. 10 is a vertical section taken through one element of the structure shown inFig. 9, shown on a larger scale.

Fig. 11 is a horizontal section taken through one of the combustion chambers and illustrating the twyers.

Fig. 12 is a vertical section of the same.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designate a suitable base or foundation upon which the superstructure, consisting of the various furnace units, is mounted. Suitably supported upon this base is the lowermost combustion chamber 6, having top and bottom walls 7 and 8 composed of fire brick or other suitable refractory material, and inner and outer walls 9 and 10 composed of the same material. The top and bottom walls are suitably spaced to form a chamber of the desired capacity. As shown in the drawing, cooled bracing pipes 12 are arranged within this chamber, each brace consisting of two branches 13 and 14;, the coolin water entering the lower branch of the Iirace through a branch pipe 3, and passing out of the upper branch of the brace through abranch pipe 15. As shown in the drawing, there are four braces in each combustion chamber and they re ceive their supply of water from pipe mem bers 16 (see Fig. 5). The lower extremity of each member 16 is in communication with a horizontally arranged member 17, which is in communication at its opposite extremities with vertically disposed members 18 which are in communication through the medium of suitable valves 19 with the inlet branch pipes 1 1,.while the outlet branches 15 of the various braces are in communication with upright outlet pipe members 20, whose upper extremities are in communication with a horizontal pipe member 21, from which leads an upright member 22 for the escape of the cooling liquid after it has passed through the various braces of the structure. As illustrated in the drawing the piping just described and illustrated in Fig. 5, is duplicated in the front and rear of the furnace (see Fig. 4).

These braces support the top wall of the combustion chamber and also the bottom of the vaporizing chamber next above, thus preventing this structure from sagging in the center due to overheating for an extended period. By th employment of the braces any distortion of the structure due to the aforesaid causes will be obviated, while the braces themselves are maintained free from distortion by the cooling effect of the water circulating therethrough. These bracing members are adjustable to compensate for slight sagging by means of a nut 215 threaded on the pipe 15 and engaging the wall 11 1. The pipe 15 is rigidly connected to branch 11 and extends loosely through the wall. Movement of the nut 215 will cause the inner end of the brace to move up or down. Branch 13 has a lug 213 engaging lower flange 208 to brace the lower end of said branch.

The various combustion chambers employed in connection with the structure will all be designated by the same reference character, as they are substantially identical in structure and a description of one is a description of all. Each combustion chamber is provided with means for introducing fuel in suitable form. As shown in the drawing a burner 23 is connected with each combustion chamber and projects thereinto, as shown at 24. Every burner is connected as shown at 25 with a stand-pipe 26 from which the fuel supply is taken. As various forms of burners may be employed in connection with these chambers and as nothing is claimed in this application upon any particular burner construction, these burners will not be further described in detail.

Furthermore, each combustion chamber is provided with an outlet flue 27 for the products of combustion which are delivered to a stand pipe 28 constituting a stack for the furnace. Each flue 27 is provided with a damper 29 for regulating the draft.

Arranged above each combustion chamber 6 is a vaporizing chamber 30 which has a lining of fire clay or other suitable refractory material for its top, bottom and side walls. This lining may be designated in its entirety by the numeral 31. The bottom lining covers a metal plate 32 which is arran ed between the fire brick lining of the combustion chamber and the similar lining of the vaporizing chamber. Vithin this vaporizing chamber is mounted a rotary hearth 33, which, as shown in the drawing is composed of top and bottom layers 34 and 35 of highl refractory material, carrying a filling of re clay 36 or similar material. Each of these hearths 33 is secured, as shown at 37,to a hollow rotary shaft 38, the latter being connected for purposes of rotation, at the top and bottom with an interior shaft 39, the latter in turn carrying a gear 40 which meshes with a pinion 41 fast on an operating shaft 42 arranged at the bottom of the structure. Each of these hearths carries two sets of depending plows 43 which are connected with an arm 44, the plows being inclined to cause the material as the hearth rotates to work inwardly from the outside toward the center of the chamber where an o ening 45 is provided for the material un er'treatment to pass into an annular passage 46, from which itis delivered to a screw conveyer 47 which serves to remove it from the furnace, a series of blades 4 being connected with the lower end of a sleeve 48 surrounding and secured to the hollow shaft 38, for the purpose of removin the material from the bottom of the anntilar passage 46 and discharging it through an opening 49 into the casing 50 of the screw conveyer.

Each vaporizing chamber 30 is further provided with two sets of stationary plows 51, which extend downwardly from a supporting arm 52, which is suitably secured to the roof of the chamber. These plows are so positioned that as the material under treatment enters the top of the vaporizing chamber through an annular passage 53, it is carried outwardly as the hearth rotates and finally discharged into an outer passage 54, whence it drops to the bottom of the vaporizing chamber where it is acted on by the plows 43, as heretofore explained. The manner in which the plows carried by the rotary hearth act upon the material in the chamber, is well illustrated in Fig. 6 of the drawing in which the set of plows 43 at the right is shown in section, while the similar set at the left is shown in top plan view, the plow-carrying arm being uppermost.

Also arranged within each vaporizing chamber and cooperating with the rotary hearth and the plows, are two drags (see Fig. 3) which are mounted upon the hearth and extend downwardly therefrom, while two similar drags 255 extend downwardly from the roof of the chamber. As shown in the drawing each drag is composed of a supporting rod or shaft 56 which forms a support for a bottom blade or bar 57 which is connected with the rod 56 by arms 58 whose upper extremities terminate in sleeves 59 which are loose on the rod, whereby the blade or bar 57 drags so to speak upon the material on top of the hearth and on the bottom of the chamber, and serves to level said material by filling up the trenches or furrows formed by the plows. From this it will be understood that the material, as it is worked by the plows from the center of the vaporizing chamber to the outer portion thereof and from the outside of the chamber inwardly toward the central discharge opening. is continuously stirred, whereby the vapors formed by the action of the heat radiated from the combustion chamber, are released and allowed to pass out of the chamber through a nozzle 60 into a stand pipe 61 from which they may be carried to condensing apparatus of any suitable character, as heretofore indicated.

As illustrated in the drawing, each of the rotary hearths is provided with a series of metal rings 62, being connected and spaced by radial arms 63 which are indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 4 of the drawing, the radial arms being secured to the hub 64 of the rotary hearth.

Provision is made for facilitating the removal of the vaporized products from the chambers 30 through the medium of blasts of gas of suitable character which may be taken from a stand pipe 264: (see Figs. 5 and 8), which is connected with each vaporizing chamber by a branch pipe 65 provided with a controlling valve 66. Suitable gas may be introduced to the stand pipe 26 1 under any desired pressure, and by the regulation of the valve 66 this gas may be introduced into the vaporizing chambers directly opposite the outlet nozzle 60 for the vaporized products. Furthermore, the conduit 61 which receives the vapors from the said chambers, may be and preferably is connected with vacuum or suction apparatus (not shown) of any desired character which will further facilitate the removal of the vapors and their introduction into the condensing apparatus (not shown).

Each rotary hearth, as illustrated in the drawing, is thickest at the center and tapers toward its periphery, whereby the passage of the material from the center to the outside of the chamber is facilitated, since the incline is downwardly. Hence, it will be understood that the stationary plows, or those which depend from the roof or top of the chamber, are of unequal length. In other words, these plows increase in length from the innermost to the outermost, in order to act equally upon the material for the purpose stated.

Mounted above the superposed combustion and vaporizing chambers are two receptacles 68 which are substantially identical in structure and arranged to be alternately employed for supplying the furnace with the material to be treated. Each receptacle has a hopper-shaped bottom 69 and an opening 7 0, through which the material 71 passes into the casing 72 of a screw-conveyer 73, which serves to carry the material inwardly to a chamber 76 whence it passes downwardly through an opening 75 to the uppermost rotary hearth 33. The screw conveyer 7 3 is provided with a relatively long stem 76 which extends outwardly and is journaled in a support 7 7 connected with the bottom of the corresponding receptacle 68. To the outer extremity of this stem is secured a sprocket wheel 78 which is connected by means of a chain 7 9 with a similar sprocket 80 fast on a shaft 81, which is journaled in the wall of the receptacle 68 and extends through the upper portion of the latter, its inner extremity being equipped with a pinion 82 which meshes with a gear 83 fast on the upper extremity of the shaft 39. Hence, it will be understood, as'this shaft is rotated through the medium of the mechanism heretofore described, the screw conveyer will be operated to supply the furnace with material.

It will be understood that but one receptacle is operated at a time for supplying the furnace. Hence, but one screw conveyer need be in operation at any one time, but as both are connected with the gear 83, provision must be made for the idle movement of one of the shafts 81. This may be accomplished by loosely mounting each of. the sprockets 80 upon its shaft 81 and employing a clutch 84 which is splined on the shaft and adapted to be shifted to cooperate with a corresponding clutch face formed on the adjacent face of the sprocket 80. Hence, when the clutch is in engagement with the clutch face of one sprocket it will be dis connected from the corresponding clutch face of the other sprocket, thus allowing one shaft to turn idly for the purpose stated.

hen the material is fed from one receptacle to the screw conveyer and thence to the uppermost vaporizing chamber, the opening at the inner extremity of the corresponding screw conveyer is closed by a valve 85 which is provided with a stem 86 extending upwardly through the top of the receptacle and threaded into a nut 186 mounted on a support 87. This nut is provided with a hand wheel 88 for convenience of manipulation. In order to facilitate the operation of the valves of these receptacles, the struc- .ture is provided with a platform 89 which is supported by the receptacles 68 and is surrounded by a railing 90. An additional railing 91 is also arranged upon a lower platform 92 at the base of the receptacles. This platform also serves to enable the operator or person in charge of the furnace to look after the mechanism thereof. Suitable provision, as a ladder structure (not shown), will be provided to enable the operator to reach these platforms and descend therefrom as circumstances may require.

It is my intention to maintain the entire vaporizing chamber structure of the fur nace under vacuum in order to facilitate the removal of the vapors extracted from the material under treatment. It will be understood from the description already given that all of the vaporizing chambers are in communication with one another by way of annular passages surrounding the hollow shaft; and in order to maintain this vacuum I provide seals 93 and 94 at the top and bottom of the furnace. The seal 93 is composed of a cup 194 having an annular open-- ing containing a quantity of mercury 95. This cup is secured to a plate 96 formed integral with the base 97 upon which the receptacles 68 are mounted. A bushing 98 .is arranged between this cup and a tubular member 99 which extends upwardly from the uppermost rotary hearth around the upper portion of the hollow shaft 38. To the upper extremity of the hollow shaft is secured, as shown at 100, an inverted cup 101 which dips into the. mercury in the companion cup 194, thus forming a seal at the top of the vaporizing chamber structure of the furnace.

The seal 94 at the bottom, is composed of a cup 102 containing a quantity of mercury 103. This cup has an interior sleeve which fits closely around the adjacent portion of the shaft 39, this sleeve being connected with the body of the cup by a. web 104. This web is connected by means of suitable fastening devices as stud bolts 105 with the lower extremity of the hollow shaft 38. A depending member 106 extends into the mercur in the cup 102, this depending member bem secured, as shown at 107, to a base pla 108, forming a chamber 109 around the hollow shaft and forming the bottom of the annular passage 46 in which the rotary blades 4 are arranged. The lower extremity of the rotary sleeve 48 engages the base plate 108, but would not form a sufliciently ti ht joint to seal the vaporizing chambers su ciently to permit them to be maintained under vacuum, consequently the seal 94 is employed.

In order to cool the shaft structure of the furnace, the lower portion of the shaft 39 is formed hollow and a pipe 110 inserted therein through which water may be introduced into an annular space 111 between the shaft 39 and the hollow shaft 38, this water entering the space 111 through an opening 112. This water rises in the space 111 and enters an opening 113 in the upper extremity of the shaft 39 and, passes out at the upper extremity of the shaft from which it may be carried away by any suitable means.

The outer shell of the furnace is composed of a series of cylindrical sections 114, said sections being connected by suitable fastening devices 115, the metal plates 32 between the fire clay linings being also secured by these fastenings at 206. The central portions-of these plates are bolted to lugs on the tube 45 and 53 as shown in Fig. 2. An annular flange 208 on each plate spaces the fire clay lining of both the vaporizing and combustion chambers from the wall sections 114 to furnish insulating spaces 209.

For safety purposes, the stand pipe or conduit 61 is provided above the uppermost nozzle 60 with a valve 116 which normally ongages a seat 117, against which the valve is held by a spiral spring 118 which surrounds the stem 119 of the valve, one extremity of the spring bearing against the valve piece while the other extremity engages a stop 120 secured within the pipe and; carrying spider arms 121; whose outer extremities are in direct contact with the pipeand fast therein. The stem 119 of this valve is freely sl-idable in the stop 120 and to its upper extremity is connected, as shown at 122, the inner slotted: extremity of a lever 12.3 which 619;! through an opening; 124 formed inanextem sion 125 of the main-stand. pipe or conduit 6'1, this extension being connected to the top of the pipe by bolts 126 which pass through perforations formed in the meeting flanges of the two connected members. This lever 123 is fulcrumed, as shown at 127, on ears 128 with which the extension 125 is provided. To the outer extremity of this lever is connected a weight 129 whose stem 130 is secured to the lever, as shown at 131. This lever carries an electrical contact 132 which is arranged in suitable proximity to a companion contact 133 mounted on a stationary arm 134 carried by the extension 125. When a vacuum is employed the spring 118 aids in holding the valve 116 on its seat, but the force of the vacuum actually controls it by drawing it into the seat when strong enough for proper operation of the machine. When the vacuum becomes too weak, the weight 129 controls and unseats the valve. Normally, or when the valve 116 is seated, these contacts 132 and 133 are separated, but in the event that pressure within the furnace of any considerable magnitude, or such as might prove dangerous should exist, or the vacuum when used becomes too weak, the valve will be unseated in which event the contact 132 will be brought into engagement with the contact 133 and close a circuit through a magnet 135 of the solenoid type. The core 136, or movable part of this solenoid, is connected at its upper extremity, as shown at 137, with a slotted end of an arm 138 which is connected, as shown at 139, with a. stem of a valve piece 140 which is arranged within the pipe 26 which supplies fuel to the furnace, the said valve being located between the source of supply and the inlets communieating with the combustion chambers. On the opposite side from the arm 138, is a second arm 141 which carries a weight 142 of suitable mass to normally balance the valve in the open position, or in position to allow the fuel to ass to the furnace through an opening 143. cu, however, the electrical circuit is closed through the coil 144 of the solenoid 135, the bar 136 will be raised and the valve piece 140 moved sufliciently to close the valve or cut off communication therethrough with the combustion chambers.

The lower extremity of the movable bar or core 136 is connected, as shown at 145, with an insulating part 146, the latter being connected with a metal contact 147 which extends into an insulating casing 148, the bar 147 being itself surrounded by insulation 149 which is movable with the bar. The lower extremity of the contact bar 147 is normally in engagement with acontact screw 150, which is threaded into the bottom of the insulating casing 148 and protrudes into the lower part of a chamber 151 formed 1n the inmilatiug casing and adapted to receive the bar 147 with its insulating covering 149. When the contact 147 is in engagement with the screw 150, the electrical circu t is closed througha motor (not shown) for operating the machine through the medium of the shaft 42 and the gearing connections heretofore described. But, as soon as the coil of the solenoid is energized and acts upon the bar 136 to lift the latter and close the valve 140, it also disengages the contact bar 147 from the screw 150 and breaks the circuit, thus stopping the motor. Again, as the con tact bar 147 is raised by the magnetic influence generated in the coils of the solenoid, a spring contact 152 which is secured to the bar 147 by a screw 153, is brought into engagement with the inner extrem ty of a contact screw 154, which is mounted on the insulating casing 148, thus closing a circuit 3 through an alarm, which as illustrated in the drawing consists of an ordinary bell 155, thus giving warning to the person in charge of the machine or anyone in the vicinity thereof.

Normally, or when the valve 116 is closed, the electric circuit in which the motor (not shown) is located, may be traced as follows: A conductor 156 may be said to have one extremity connected with a suitable source of current (not shown) while the other extremity leads to a contact screw 157 which is threaded into the contact bar 147. Hence, the current after leaving the conductor 156 will pass through the screw 157, throu h the contact bar 147 the screw 150, a con uctor 158, and thence through a rheostat 159, and finally through a conductor 160 to the motor (not shown). From the motor a conductor 1.61 leads to the other pole of the electrical source (not shown).

Now, in the event that the valve 116 is unseated, as heretofore described, whereby the two contact screws 132 and 133 are brought into engagement, the path of the current may be traced as follows: Commencing at a point 162 in the conductor 156, a conductor 163 leads to the contact screw 132 from which the current passes to and through the contact screw 133, a conductor 164, a resistance coil 165, a conductor 166 and thence to one terminal of the coil 144. From the op posite terminal of this coil a conductor 167 leadsto the conductor 161, whence the current passes to the opposite pole of the electrical source. As soon as this happens, the magnetic influence developed by the coil 144, acts to lift the bar 136, whereby it is disengaged [from the contact screw 150, thus breaking the motor circuit. As soon as this occurs the contact spring 152 is brought into engagement with the contact screw 154, and

the circuit is then completed through the electric bell 155. The path of the current will be as follows: From the main conductor 156 to the contact screw 157 ,thence through the contact bar 147, the screw 153, the contact spring 152, the screw 154, a conductor 168, a IiSiStance coil 169, to the bell and thence from the bell through a conductor 170 to the main conductor 161 and thence to the opposite pole of the electrical source (not shown). 7

From the foregoing description the use and operation of my'improved furnace will be readily understood. Assuming that the material to be treated is oil shale, for ex ample, this material is first ground or reduced in any suitable manner to the desired fineness, say 40 mesh approximately, although it must be understood that the particular mesh to which the material is re duced before passing it to this machine for treatment, will depend altogether on the kind of material and various other conditions which may be present, and, therefore, must be given consideration. This material it will be assumed is placed within the receptacle'68 located to the right in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the valve being open, as shown in Fig 2, to allow the material as it is acted on by the corresponding screw conveyor to pass into the chamber 74 and thence downwardly through the opening 75 to the top of the'upmost rotary hearth 33. By virtue of the fact that all of the rotary hearths 33. are connected with the central shaft structure composed of the parts 38 and 39, as this structure is rotated a corresponding movement will be imparted to all of the rotary hearths. Hence, it will be assumed that these hearths are inmotion. Hence, as the material is fed to the uppermost hearth, as the latter rotates, the material will be carried outwardlygthereon through the me dium of the stationary plows 51, which are so arranged as to gradually carry the material outwardly and discharge it beyond the periphery of the hearth, whence it passes downwardly to the bottom of the hearth, from which position it is gradually carried inwardly through the medium of the plows 44 carried by the rotary hearth and finally discharged through an annular opening 53, to the rotary hearth of the vaporizing chamher next below, where the operation heretofore described will be repeated, the material being successively subjected to the action of the heat radiated from the combustion chambers, until it has passed through the entire furnace, the residue or gangue being finally removed by the screw conveyer'50 which is arranged below the lowermost combustion chamber, as heretofore described. While the material is passing through each vaporizing chamber, it is alternately furrowed by the plows and leveled by the drags and during this plowing and leveling operation, the vapors produced by the action of the heat upon the material under treatment, are thrown off from the said material and pass from the vaporizing chamber through a nozzle 60 to theeonduit or stand pipe 61, as heretofore explained, lhe vapor is produced in the uppermost vaporizing chamber contains the li htest or most volatile portion of the hy rocarbon substance of the material, the action of the heat upon this material serving to produce an eruption, whereby the hydrocarbon in the form of vapor is removed from the material, in the various vaporizing chambers and removed therefrom in the reverse order of their volatility, that is to saythe lighter from the uppermost chamber, the next lighter grade from the chamber next below, and so on.

As these hydrocarbon vapors pass from the different vaporizing chambers, it is not necessary that they should all pass to a single stand pipe or conduit as illustrated in the drawing, since each grade may be separately removed and conducted to a condenser, whereby the various grades are kept separate from one another, thus avoiding the necessity for separating or refining the entire product in bulk as would be required where all of the grades pass into the same conduit and are delivered in bulk to the condenser.

In the event that there should be pressure in the vaporizing chamber structure of the system, I have made provision whereby this pressure may be relieved through the opening of the valve 116 in the stand pipe 61, and whereby the opening of this valve through the medium of suitable electrical connections, will close a cut-off valve in the fuel supply conduit, break the circuit of the motor for operating the shaft with which the rotary hearths are connected, and also close a circuit through an alarm bell, all of which has heretofore been explained in detail.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is A furnace comprising superposed vaporizing and combustion chambers alternately arranged, linings for said chambers, outer shells for said chambers, horizontal plates lying between the top and bottom walls of adjacent chambers, extending between the outer shells of adjacent chambers and spacing the shells from the linings to provide insulating spaces therebetwecn.

In testlmony whereof I affix m si nature.

JOHN N. Wl NG lETT.

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