Patent GB-167736-A (GB)
Title: An improved process of and apparatus for making gas
IPC: C10C1/20
Filed: 1921-01-19
Abstract: 167,736. General Oil Gas Corporation, (Assignees of Dayton, W. C.). Aug. 9, 1920, [Convention date]. Carburetting; oil gas. - Relates to the manufacture of a fixed gas of predetermined calorific value involving the continuous mixing of a liquid hydrocarbon and a combustion-supporting gas in a constant proportion, causing the mixture to enter a retort wherein a partial combustion of the combustible in the mixture and the conversion of the products into a fixed gas takes place, the resultant gas being arranged to heat the incoming mixture and also the air passing to the oil and air mixing-device in its passage to the gas-holder. The apparatus illustrated in Fig. 1 comprises a masonry structure 1 included within a metallic casing 2, this structure providing a floor 3 and walls 4 of a chamber 5 having therein a set of two retorts 6, 6 and having a removable roof member 7, the whole structure being composed of refractory material 9, 21 and heat insulating material 10, 22. The chamber 5 is initially heated by a pilot burner 11, the burning products passing through springs 14 in the floor into the chamber 5, around the retorts 6, through openings 15 and passageways formed in the walls of the chamber to openings 17 and outlet pipe 19 to the stack. Peep holes 24 for observation purposes and openings 25 for the insertion of thermo-couples may be provided in the casing 2, these holes being normally closed. A second pilot burner 20 is provided in the furnace for initially heating the same by burning some of the first gas produced or gas produced from a. previous run; it may also be used continuously when a richer gas is desired. The mixture of oil and air for gas production is supplied from two mixing devices 67 through pipes 68 to the lower part of the retorts where partial combustion takes place, the products then passing upwardly through baffle members provided in the retorts through valves 106 to the header piping or heat-interchanging device 49, thence to a gas-holder. The retorts, Figs. 4 and 6, comprise a tubular portion 26, a throat portion 27, and a bulbous body portion 28 having relatively flat sides 29, 29<1> held in position in the furnace by two hook-shaped members 30. The bulbous portion is provided with baffle members or pins 83, and to prevent undue strains in the retort under the influence of heat they are arranged in rows and so that the pins in one row are all carried by one side and extend toward the other side but are not supported by the latter side. The gas, oil, and air pipes and valves in the apparatus are also arranged to allow for the removal and replacement of one retort without stopping the operation of gas production in the other. The header piping or heat-interchanging device 49 comprises a longitudinally extending pipe portion 49 closed at the ends by removable caps, both caps being provided with an opening, one for the passage of gas to the gas holder and the other for supplying gas to the pilot burner 20. Around this piping is arranged a coil 64, in which air passing from the air pump 66 and main air pipe 89 to the pipes 91 and mixing devices 67 is heated, and heat insulating material 63a. A groove 52 is provided at the lower interior portion of the header piping to facilitate the removal of any deposits in the pipe. Oil is supplied to the reservoirs 71, Fig. 12, of the main mixing devices 67 and the mixing-device. 69 of the pilot burner 11 from the tank 65 by a pump 80 and pipes 79, 83 respectively in excessive amounts, the level in the reservoirs being maintained constant by overflow pipes 76 leading back to the tank 65; and to maintain constant the proportion of gas and oil supplied to the mixing devices an air pressure is exerted on the surface of the oil by means of pipes 96, 97, 93, 99 corresponding to the pressure of air supplied to the nozzles 72 of each mixing device. In a modified apparatus shown diagramatically in Fig. 24, a plurality of sets as described above are operatively connected in a single installation in such a manner that any one or more of the sets can be shut down or started without affecting or being affected by the other set or sets, and instead of the retorts of a single unit being connected to a common header which acts as the heat-interchanging device, the header piping is actually a hydraulic main 205 and a heat-interchanging device 209 is provided with each retort embodying a vertically extending pipe between the hydraulic main and each mixing device 67.