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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[August. 



that not a drop of water returned upon the compressed peat, or re- 

 entered the machine upon the pressure being removed. It was still 

 evident that greater rapidity in compression was wanted than could 

 be effected by sliding drawers, which required to be removed and re- 

 placed each time they were filled and emptied. 



For this purpose Lord Willoughby proposed that his next machine 

 should have two drawers, so comiected, that w hen the one was removed 

 the other would replace it, and the operation of the machine be unin- 

 terrupted. In order that they might be emptied with the utmost faci- 

 lity, after the peat had been compressed, they were hinged together, 

 so as to admit of being readily reversed. For the machine, thus im- 

 proved, a patent has been obtained by Lord Willoughby, extending to 

 England only; but he wishes it to be understood that any individual 

 is at liberty, upon a proper application, to avail himself of the inven- 

 tion gratuitously. 



It may be useful to add a few general remarks to the foregoing 

 description. In the selection of peat for compression, care must be 

 taken to obtain a black peat, free from fibre. Peat of the proper de- 

 scription has very much the appearance of blackened butter, and is 

 the only sort which will repay the expense of preparation. The peat 

 should be dug of the usual size, namely 8 inches by 3, and 3 deep, and 

 of a uniform shape, which is easily effected by a spade of a peculiar 

 construction. All attempts which have been made to compress peat 

 in large masses of various dimensions have invariably failed. In every 

 instance the water has been retained in the centre of the mass, and 

 expelled only from its surfaces. Even had the result of these trials 

 been different, the peat so prepared would be useless for general pur- 

 poses until cut into small pieces. Before compression, the peats must 

 lie placed to dry for five or six days under sheds, in the same manner 

 as bricks and tiles, and after compression must remain under cover 

 until perfectly free from moisture, when they will be fit for use. At 

 the recommendation of several friends, Lord Willoughby has attempted 

 to dry them in various ways by artificial heat, but without any satis- 

 factory resu't. The peat, when properly compressed, is reduced about 

 one-third in size, hard and compact, and nearly black in colour; it 

 varies slightly in density, sometimes floating, at others sinking in 

 water. As to its uses, it will be found an excellent substitute for coal. 

 It may be used in grates for domestic purposes, and has been tried 

 successfully in calcining lime. In an experiment with the steam engine 

 at St. Jolm's foundry, Perth, where one of the machines already de- 

 scribed was made, the ])eat was fomid to outlast an equal weight of 

 coal, in the proportion of 16 per cent., the engine being worked at its 

 ordinary rate. There is every reason to believe that it might be em- 

 ployed in the manufacture of gas, which it gives oft' in abundance, 

 burning with a clear white light. It may also be prepared by charring, 

 in the same manner as ordinary charcoal, by which its size is reduced 

 about one-half. When charred in this way, the slowiiess and difficulty 

 with which it burns renders it an extremely valuable fuel in many pro- 

 cesses of the arts : this value is increased by its freedom from sulphur, 

 and the comparatively small quantity of ashes which it leaves after 

 burning. For the working of steel in particular, its freedom from sul- 

 phur makes it greatly superior to charcoal. It has been applied to 

 this purpose by Messrs. Philp and Whicker, (late Savigny and Co.) 

 St. James's-street, who have used it with remarkable success in forging 

 razors and surgical instruments. The articles bear the stamp "forgtd 

 with peat" as well as the names of these gentlemen, by whom they are 

 highly recommended. The charred peat has also been employed in 

 the working of other metals, particularly in the soldering of thin brass, 

 with a most encouraging result. In conclusion, it may be mentioned, 

 that it is as serviceable in the kitchen as common charcoal, and occa- 

 sions no unp'.e;isant taste or smell. 



With the view of carrying Lord Willoughby's principle into opera- 

 tion, on a scale of greater magnitude than could be effected by manual 

 labour, he engaged Mr. James White, of Lambeth, to assist him in 

 adapting steam-engine power to his machine. Mr. White, foreseeing 

 some difficulties in the application of any of the former modes of 

 moving the piston, or the plate which compresses the peat, on a large 

 scale, advised the use of hydrostatic pressure. The following is Mr. 

 White's description of Lord Willoughby's machine, with the proposed 

 adaptation of hydrostatic pressure and steam power. 



" Fig. 7, is a general plan of this machine ; and fig. 8, an elevation. 

 In fig. 7, A is the steam engine boiler ; B, steam engine ; C, main shaft 

 of engine ; D, compressing pump ; E, exhausting pump ; F, hand gear 

 for reversing the motion of the sliding frames which contain the peats ; 

 G, air vessel ; and H, two cocks that open and shut alternately, the 

 use of which will be explained hereafter. I and I, are pipes attaching 

 the pumps, D and E, with the vessel J, from which four branch pipes, 

 K, K, K, K, convey the water to the four cylinders, L, L, L, L, and by 



the high compressure of the pump D, the pistons will be forced out of 

 them ; and the compressing plate, to which they are all secured, low- 

 mode of getting clear of the water at the top, and preventing its re- 

 turn upon the compressed peat, or into the machine when the pressure 

 was removed. To effect this, large conical holes in the piston were 

 filled with pieces of beechwood, through the pores of which the water 

 was expelled in an upward direction, and conveyed beyond the edges 

 of the drawer, through channels contrived for that purpose in the pis- 

 ton. The lower surface of the piston was covered with cloth in the 

 same maimer as the bottom of the sliding drawer. The result was 

 ered upon the top of the peat with a power equal to 500 tons, or more 

 if necessary. 



"The peat is to be placed in a sliding frame M, of which there are 

 two to the machine ; one of them being under compression, while the 

 other is being filled. This frame M contains 90 square pieces of peat, 

 as represented in the drawing. They are shown compressed ; for the 

 rollers, upon which the frame M runs, have been withdrawn, and left 

 it supported by centres at the ends only. It is now to be turned over 

 upon these centres, and the compressed peats will be emptied into a 

 railway carriage below, which is there to receive them, as shewn in 

 the elevation, fig. 8. The sliding frame is to be re-adjusted, and the 

 handle N to be pushed in, as represented at the other end of the ma- 

 chine ; this having been done, the small rollers that are fixed, and 

 centred to the parallel guides O, O, will be below it, and support it. 

 It may then be refilled with as much expedition as possible. 



" We shall now proceed to describe the mode of raising the pistons 

 and compressing plate, which have been forced down by the introduc- 

 tion of water into the cylinders L, L, L, L, by the compressing pump D. 



" The cocks H, are now to be reversed, and the exhausting pump E, 

 will withdraw the compressed water from the cylinders L, L, L, L, 

 and return it to the supply well, seen on the right of the elevation, fig. 

 8. This will cause a vacuum above the pistons. Hitherto it has on'.y 

 been pumping air to waste. At the same time the compressing pump 

 D will continue storing up its power into the air vessel G, by pumping 

 back the withdrawn water, and be ready for a second operation. If 

 we suppose the four pistons in the cylinders L, L, L, L, are each 10 

 inches diameter, and the water thus withdrawn, and the atmosphere 

 at liberty to act upon the under surface of the compressing plate, to 

 which the pistons are attached, there would be sufficient power to 

 raise the whole mass, were it not for the adhesion which takes place 

 between the under side of the compressing plate, and the upper sur- 

 face of the peat. A power equal to 20 tons is requisite to separate 

 them. To effect this object, the compressing plate has 8 regulating 

 screws, which come in contact with 8 steel bars when do^vn. There 

 are 4 on each side of the machine, marked P, P, P, P, in the elevation 

 fig. 8. The elasticity of these bars is calculated to overcome the re- 

 sistance of the atmospheric pressure, which causes the cohesion be- 

 tween the compressing plate and the peat, and the exhausting pumj) 

 E, to return the pistons and compressing plate to their original posi- 

 tion, on the admission of air through a valve in the compressing plate. 

 The handle F, of the hand-gear, is now to be reversed, which will 

 bring out the sliding frame, containing the peats that are under com- 

 pression, and the other sliding frame M, already described, being re- 

 filled, will replace it. This naving been done, the cocks H, will be 

 returned, and the highly compressed air, in the air vessel G, will force 

 the water, that has been pumped into it by the compressing pump D, 

 to the cylinders L, L, L, L, as presumed to have been the case in the 

 former instance. The second sliding frame M, being now out, the 

 handle N, is to be withdrawn; the frame will then swing upon its 

 centres, the railway carriage being in the position to receive the com- 

 pressed peats, and the sliding frame will be emptied as before. 



" The quantity of peats which may be thus compressed in one day, 

 may be estimated at 27,000, or 45 per minute, under a pressure of 400 

 pounds on the square inch, with a high pressure steam engine of six 

 horse power. When a greater or less degree of compression is wanted, 

 it can easily be erttjcted bv the weight W, on the lever of the safety 

 valve of the air vessel G ; but it ought to be mentioned, that loading 

 the valve beyond what the machine is calculated to bear, may cause a 

 fracture in some of its parts, or an explosion of the air vessel." 



