Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-05-27
FUEL AND LIGHT
To be Made from Crude
Petroleum.
A VERY IMPORTANT INVENTION.
The Process Perfected by Some Los
Angeles Men-The Machine
in Operation.

the results OF which are now for the nrst
time made public. In view of the fact
that the fuel question is the great under
lying element in all efforts at starting
manufacturing enterprises on this Coast,
the news that cheap method of making
gas from crude petroleum has been dis
covered, and is in successful operation,
will be read with unusual interest.
The inventor of the process, or rather
OF the apparatus by which the scheme ls
carried out, is Professor Delos Allen, OF
Chicago. He has been residing in Los
Angeles for about six months, ana dur
ing all of that time has been hard at
work in perfecting his machine. With
him was associated j. r. Thacker and
III. A. Barraclough. The apparatus was
built, and the experiments have been
carried on, in the barn back of Mr..
Thacker's house, at S31 Grand avenue.
For the past two months the gas has
been manufactured, and is now used for
lighting Mr.. Thacker's residence. The
machinery is crude, but effective; and
although a few improvements may yet
be introduced in the method, it is per.
feet success as it stands, and in constant
operation.
Experiments have been carried on for
q number of years, in various parts OF
America, in the manufacture of gas from
petroleum, but they have uniformly
failed, the reason being that where heat
was applied directly to the pipes through
which the petroleum was conducted,
although vapour was produced, the
res,dium was hard carbon, which clogged
the pipes. No mechanical device could
be arranged to get around this difficulty.
The essential feature of this system is
the application of more moderate and
perfectly equable heat in the form of
steam. With this arrangement the
residium after the vapor is extracted, fs
q soft liquid, which flows easily out OF
the pipes and is, of itself, valuable
article.
The concern in which the gas is made
looks on the outside like bakers brick
oven encased in iron. 1t is surmounted
with dome, also of brick, out OF which
is the boiler, where the steam used for
the heating of the petroleum, and also
Tor one or two mechanical purposes, is
consists of two stories. In the upper one
LILO fdpOI 10 SOucIdtcu IIOm p6bIUlcuul,
and in the lower compartment it is made
into gas. The entire structure is seven
feet in length and four feet high, by four
feet wide.
The heat is applied at the bottom of the
retort. At present the fuel used is crude
petroleum, sprayed by steam in the
usual manner. A part of the scheme,
however, is the use of the gas manu-
factured by the machine for fuel. AT
the rear end of the retort ls fue, which
conducts the flames into the upper COM
partment. Thence the heat ascends to
the boiler in the dome above.
The petroleum is brought into the
upper story of the retort in a two-inch
iron pipe. This pipe is jacketed after it
enters the retort with another, three
inches in diameter, which connects with
the boiler above. The space between is
filled with steam, which is superheated
by the fire below to temperature of
1000 degrees. These two tubes, one in
side of the other, make several turns in
the retort, forming a sort of worm or
coil. They are slightly inclined, 30 that
the force OF gravity will carry along the
liquid which is formed.
As soon as the petroleum enters the
retort and, in the jacketed pipe, is sub
jected to the heat of 200 degrees, it is
boiled, so to speak, and reduced to two
elements, a vapor from which the gas is
afterwards made, and a thick black
liquid, which is valuable for lubricating g
purposes. After passing through the re-
tort and making coil of three turns, the
pipe comes out at the back end of the
retort. The black liquid is drawn off
into we'll. 1t contains an element OF
parafine and of pure asphaltum, both OF
which are valuable substances.
Freed from extraneous substances, the
yapor is now conducted into the lower
part of the retort, where it is subjected to
q heat of $500 degrees in pipes of fire.
cIay five inches in diameter. These
pipes form q worm of five coils, very
much like the ones in the upper story of
the retort, where the petroleum first
enters. As they lie directly in the fame
of the fire, an enormous heat can be at
tanned. The effect of the heat is to
ssfx" the gas, as it is called-that is,
purify it and condense it.
This ends the distinctive work of this
particular process. For illuminating
purposes the gas is then put through a
condenser and washer, very much as it
is when manufactured by any other
method. This retort, which has been
briefly described, has capacity for
manufacturing about 20, 900 feet day.
The whole apparatus could be put into a
single room of 20 feet square, or smaller,
and could supply the fuel for large
mandatory.
The Illuminating gas which is made by
this process has been analysed by Prof
Schroeder of the University, and he pro-
nounces it to have twice the efficiency OF
the ordinary burning gas. A number OF
experts have examined the gas and
watched it burn. The unanimous YER
dict is that it is of the very finest quality.
It burns with clear white light very
much like an electric light, free from
sootiness or flicker. Prof. Schroeder in his
statement declares that it is CONNER
ciaIly "clean ;" without any cleaning pro-
cess except that Of passing through
water.
With this system, it is claimed, gas
both for fuel and for illuminating pur-
poses can be produced for about half the
cost of that of any other system. The
patent has been applied for, but no bust.
ness arrangements have been made of
any sort. Those concerned in the enter
prise are all Los Angeles men, and this
city will probably be the first to receive
any benefits which may come out of it.
if it has the effect, as seems
very probable, of cheapening fuel for
purposes, it will prove Of
Il 10 dnnfInn