Process for producing charcoal and apparatus therefor

Claim 1

IN THE MANUFACTURE OF CHARCOAL BY THE DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION OF WOOD WHEREIN WOOD PARTICLES ARE FIRST DRIED AND THEN HEATED TO A TEMPERATURE SUFFICIENT TO INITATE AN EXOTHERMIC DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION REACTION, THE COMTINUOUS METHOD COMPRISING FIRST HEATING AN ELONGATED RETORT HAVING A DRYING ZONE FOLLEWED BY A DISTILLING ZONE WHILE THE WOOD IS STATIONARY IN SAID ZONES UNTIL THE WOOD ADJACENT TO THE OUTLET END OF SAID DISTILLING ZONE IS AT FIRST PREDETERMINED TEMPERATURE ABOVE THAT ATTAINED BY THE EXOTHERMIC REACTION ALONE, THEN AGITATING AND ADVANCING THE WOOD ARTICLES CONTINUOUSLY THROUGH BOTH OF SAID ZONES AT A RATE CONTROLLED TO MAINTAIN THE TEMPERATURE OF THE WOOD PARTICLES ADJACENT TO THE JUNCTURE OF SAID ZONES AT A SECOND PREDETERMINED TEMPERATURE WHICH IS ABOVE THAT AT WHICH EXOTHERMIC DESTRUCTIVE DISTILLATION IS INITIATED AND CONTINUING THE HEATING OF SAID RETORT AT AN AMOUNT LESS THAN THE FIRST HEATING STEP TO A TEMPERATURE SUFFICIENT TO MAINTAIN THE WOOD PARTICLES ADJACENT TO THE