US51913A - Improved tank for preparing peat - Google Patents

Description

A. BETTELEY. TANK PoR PREPARING FEAT.

No. 51,913. Patented Jan. 9, 1866.

1 ml'ffwm'g y et' the. water therewith combined.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT BETTELEY, OF BOSTGN, MASSACHUSETTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0.5!,91 3, dated January 9, 1866.

10 adac/10m 'it may concern:

De it. known that I, ALBERT BETTELEY, of oston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented anl Improved Tank ior Preparing Peat; and I do hereby declare that the following, taken in connection with the drawings which accompany and form part ot' this specification, is a description of my invention, su'iicient to ena-ble those skilled in the art to practice it..

In preparing peat for fuel'l the great difculty hitherto encountered has been to get rid rate' the water by artiiieial heat, though practicable, is not practicaion account of the eX- pense involved. Where it has been attempted to separate the solids from the iiuids'fonnd'in peat h v straining' processes experience has shown a great loss of valuable solid matter .from its passing oft' with the duid, part of the solid mat-ter being so iinely divided that it esca-pes easily through the tinest.\viregauze or sieve-cloth.

.0n the Sth day of August, 1865, a patent was granteii to me for the employment of atank which was to he filledv up with semiuid `peut as in its condition as taken from the bog, the peat being lett undisturbed, to allow the solid matter to separate from the water by the diii'erenee in their specitic gravities, the superincumbent water being subsequently drawn ofi' by any suitable means.

In my present invention I employa tank of this description, and place around the inner surface thereof a series of drain-tiles or other suitable water-comlueting and porous pipes, extending vertically from the top to and Ithrough the bottoni ot' the'tanlr, or through vits sides, or to a main watereonduetor at or near said bottom. rlhese pipes may also be erected in the interior of the tank; but I con sider it most practicable to only place them .against the sides ot' the vessel, in which posi'- tion they wiii be bestsupported Aby such sides.

1t will be oh'vons that the water percolating through the joints hetween the sections and through the porous material of the pipes will ireelyrun ott through the channels made by the pipes, and theoperation 'of drying the Y peat will be thereby greatly facilitated.l It is ner, and of suitable material to resist the pressure of the semi-fluid peat.

b b represent the drain or'water pipes,which may consist of drain-tile orother similar material through which water will percolate. These pipes are fastened-' to `and supported against the sides of the tank, and extend from the top to the bottom ofthe same, or part oi them may extend through'the sides.

In the preparation of the peat and the use of the tank I proceed as follows: As the crude peat is dug from the bog it has all large matters, such as roots, &c., removed therefrom. and then, by a raking or straining process, the decomposed matter is separated from the fibrous or undecom posed matter; or these'two portions of the peat maybe intermingled and the fibrous portion reduced by the action 0i' a suitable grinding-mill. At this stage the mat-y ter treated will be semi-fluid, no provision having been made or treatment adopted for getting rid of the water, and it can beelevated by a centrifugal pump or by an endless chain of bucket-s to the tops of the high tanks, in which l propose to separate the larger part of the uid from the. solid matter.

There should he several tanks, in size and number to correspond with the magnitude of the operations to be undertaken. The proposed use and operation of each tank is as foliows: The tank, being open at the top and clpsed water-tight elsewhere, is lied with the semi: fluid mass before mentioned, and then is left long enough, without disturbance, to allow the solid matter to separate from `the Huid by the .difference of their specific gravities and the percolating of the water into the drain-pipes, and its passage ol through them. By this action the peat will be freed from a large percentage of the water combined with it.

When in proper condition forremoval from the tank, a screw,c, at the bottom is rotated,

'je for discharging the prepared.l peat, substansuch rotation driving out the peat through an tially as set forth. opening, d, as will bc readily understood. v In witness whereof I have hereunto set my I claim- Y hand this 1st day of December, A. D. 1865. 1. The' construction .of thc tank with the e ALBERT BETTELEY. provision for separatin g of Vwater from thc peat., Witnesses: l substantially as set forth. F. GOULD,

2. Combining with a tank so made the screw B. GLEAso.

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