Improvements in and in connection with Gas Burners for Incandescent Lighting and for Heating Purposes.
Year: 1898

page_text: Improvements in and in connection with Gas Burners for
Incandescent Lighting and for Heating Purposes.
I, CHARLES AUGUSTE FERRON, Architect, of 5, Rue d'Odessa, Paris, in the
Republic of France, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
The object of this invention is to effect private as well as public lighting, as
also domestic heating, by a novel process which consists in making more perfect
the combustion taking place at gas burners or jets, and increasing the degree
of incandescence by feeding them with a preliminary mixture of combustible
gas and air, the two fluids being mixed at the same pressure, in any suitable
proportion, and circulated in a special manner hereinafter described.
In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 is a vertical section of a known contriv-
ance by means of which the pressure of the air may be increased and the air
stored under a bell, from which it is drawn off under the desired constant
pressure, to the mixer, which will be described. Any other compressing appara-
tus may be employed.
In the interior of the casing a, which contains a certain quantity of water, 18
a compressing ventilator, actuated by a counter-weight p, which can be wound
up, without extinguishing the jets or burners. The drawn up and compressed
air is conducted by means of a pipe b, to the vessel e below the regulating bell cl
from whence it is conveyed towards the mixer, through the pipe d. By means of
a similar, but distinct, apparatus the pressure of the gas could be increased
likewise.
When the gas is under the ordinary pressure of the general town supply
system, the mean of which pressure is usually 0060 m. the air is compressed
and forced back at this pressure, but if it be desired to use the gas at a greater
pressure P, than would be obtained by an apparatus similar or the same as that
shown in Fig. 1, the air would be likewise compressed and forced back at the
same pressure P, then mixed with the said gas, as will be explained, and in
such a manner as to obtain a very great, and at the same time a perfectly
uniform lighting or heating power.
As the pressure in a town supply system is subject to variation, the mean
pressure may be rendered as invariable as possible by causing the gas to be
circulated into the particular gas supply system that is in question through one
of the numerous pressure regulators in use.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section through the axis of a burner e furnished with an
incandescent mantle u, the said section being made transversely to the two

page_text: pipes g
h which convey respectively the gas and air to the mixing chamber A
both being at the same pressure.
The gas which comes through the pipe g, under the town supply pressure, or
is carried to a greater pressure, is circulated by means of a cock j, and a short
pipe k, running from it and connected with the junction pipe k, at the lower
cylindrical part of the preliminary mixing chamber A, thence it ascends through
a gauge into the annular zone r. The gauge is formed of a thin plate finely
perforated, through the centre of which the tube m passes, which tube conveys
the air circulated through the cock n communicating with the air-pipe h. The
air circulated through the cock n enters into the mixing chamber A through
a conical ajutage q, the outlet aperture of which is proportioned to the sum
of the small apertures with which the gauge is perforated, for producing the
mixture in the proportion desired.
The gas which comes through the annular spacer, and the air which comes
through the orifice o, are mixed in the upper and inverted funnel-shaped part
of the mixing chamber, and from there, the mixture of the two fluids passes
into the chambers of the burner c, or into that of a heating burner whence it
emerges through the fine perforations of the plate t and ignites in the surrounding
air, like an ordinary gas jet, but in much better conditions for effecting a com-
plete combustion of the gas and a powerful incandescent effect in the mantle.
The glass chimney or globe with which the mantle u is sometimes surrounded
in order to diminish the glare, or for protecting the mantle, rests on a ring
of asbestos or other non-conducting material which lies on the top of the open
work support, across which the ordinary afflux of ambient air passes, this air
participating, as a contribution thereto, in the perfect combustion which, is
obtained at the burners.
The preliminary mixing chamber A, may be placed either immediately below,
or at the side of a burner, or of a group of burners (Fig. 3) or may be placed
at the head of a single conduit, rigid or flexible, and more or less elongated;
through which the preliminary mixture circulates and on which would bo
installed a certain number of ordinary burners; that is to say not having each
a separate preliminary mixing chamber, the mixture being supplied to the burners
from a chamber common to all. In this case, the regulation of the quantity
discharged by, and the action of, the burners must be assured by means of the
arrangement shown in elevation (Fig. 4) where the mixing chamber, of sufficient
capacity, is continued by the tube I serving as a feeder to the desired number of
ordinary burners, the total quantity discharged from which is proportionate to
the quantity discharged by or the productive capacity of the mixer A.
This being arranged, if the consumer desires, at any given time, to diminish
the consumption, by extinguishing a certain number of burners, with the aid
of the auxiliary cocks 1, 3, and preventing the burners in use from increasing
their normal expenditure, he will only need to close, to a certain extent, the
cocks and n, so as to reduce the common pressure, in the mixer A and in the
pipe 1 which is a continuation of it; and in order that the consumer may not
have any hesitation and be exposed to the liability of mistake, the key of each
of these cocks j and n is furnished with a pointer z or z¹ and a corresponding
dial or y¹, on which is marked as many numbered divisions as the mixing
chamber supplies burners, in the total and normally, when the cocks j and n
are entirely open. In this way, if two, three, or four burners be extinguished
it is sufficient to put the pointer, with which the handle of each cock is furnished,
at the number 2, 3, 4 of the corresponding dial, in order that the quantity
discharged by each of the burners remaining alight, shall remain regulated to
the normal anterior quantity.
The arrangement of the two cocks, each furnished with a dial (Fig. 4) may
be reduced to the simplest form (Fig. 5), suitable for example to a kitchen
stove and a simple cock with continuation of a mixing chamber, preceding a
burner or burners, and the key of which is perforated with two openings, the one

page_text: for the air, the other for the gas; in such a way that the quantity delivered
by the mixing chamber may be varied, and the constancy of the quantity dis-
charged through each of the burners in action be assured, whilst the other
burners fed from the same source have been extinguished.
From the foregoing it will be seen that the mixer A preceded by the two
cocks j and n, or a single cock with two-way key, is capable of application to
the feeding and regulation of the quantity discharged by any ordinary burner,
the heating and lighting power of which it increases, or to any series of ordinary
burners; and that the extinguishing cocks, with which each of the burners placed
on a general supply system is furnished is unfit for effecting a proper regulation.
1000
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents,
Improvements in and in connection with Gas Burners for
Incandescent Lighting and for Heating Purposes.
I, CHARLES AUGUSTE FERRON, Architect and Engineer, of 5, Rue d'Odessa,
Paris, in the Republic of France, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention for improvements in and in connection with gas burners for
incandescent lighting and for heating purposes relates to gas burners furnished
or unfurnished with Bunsen conduit pipes or arrangements and applies equally to
incandescent burners for lighting and to burners employed for purposes of
heating, especially in the household, in connection with kitchen stoves and box
irons.
The invention consists in adding to or mixing with the mixture of air and gas
which is formed at the mouth of a Bunsen conduit or simply adding to or
mixing with the gas supplied by the ordinary supply system,-air previously
compressed, and compressed preferably at a pressure perceptibly equal to that
of the mixture of air and gas, or to that of the gas alone, the compressing apparatus
being, more particularly a hydraulic compressing and winding ventilator, with
a reservoir for storing and regulating the pressure of this air, the compressing
ventilator being connected with the said reservoir by means of a discharge pipe
furnished with a cock.
In the accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings:-
:-
Fig. 1 is a vertical section through the axis, of a hydraulic compressing and
winding ventilator, of known construction, the working of which is assured by
the falling of a weight which is wound up with the assistance of the windlass
with which the compressor is furnished, as soon as the moving weight has reached
the lowest extremity of its course; and this without the lighting or the heating
being affected by the stoppage of the compressor during the re-winding.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section, through the axis of the apparatus which is the
complement of the compressor, and serves at the same time as a reservoir for
the compressed air and to regulate the pressure and discharge of the same.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the axis of an incandescent burner of
the Auer type, of jet, as generally known, furnished at the foot with a Bunsen
tube or arrangement, and to which kind of jet the improved means or process
is applied.

page_text: Fig. 4 is a vertical section of a burner, of the Auer type with two incandes-
cent jets there may be more than two-when the improvement is applied in
accordance with a slight variation or inversion; viz., the compressed air instead
of being introduced into the preliminary mixture formed by the Bunsen pipe,
(and which mixture is "poor" in air), by means of a central pipe, is brought
into contact with this mixture by a circumferential zone surrounding the central
conduit through which the mixture coming from the "Bunsen" passes.
Fig. 5 is an elevation, of a single incandescent jet, or of a branch formed of
several jets, not furnished with the Bunsen arrangement; but in which the
general conduit or supply system is always "fed" or traversed by a mixture of
gas and air which is regularly supplied, in the quantity desired, for producing
the greatest serviceable effect, and equal to the quantity of the said mixture
which has flowed out in a certain time, without the relation of its two constituent
parts being capable of varying according to the number of jets in action on the
said conduit or "fed" system, in relation to those which have been extinguished.
Figure 6 is an elevation of an incandescent jet, furnished at the foot, not with
the Bunsen arrangement but with a perfect mixture chamber, which more
advantageously replaces this arrangement; this chamber is "preceded" by two
cocks for lighting and extinguishing; the one which is for the gas, the other
for the air each of these cocks is itself "preceded" by a regulating cock with
square head, regulated, once for all and which can only be operated by a special
key.
Fig. 7 is a vertical section in which the improved process, or improved means
is applied to a kitchen stove, which may or may not likewise be furnished with
a Bunsen arrangement.
In order the better to show how the novel improvement is applied, and how
it affects the industrial result desired it suffices to refer to Fig. 3, in connection.
with the apparatus Fig. 1 and 2.
Supposing B the jet of an incandescent burner, with Bunsen conduit, which
effects a first imperfect mixture, "poor" in air; C the central conduit which
conducts generally to the jet B the imperfect mixture of gas and air formed by
the Bunsen A. In the passage of the central conduit C, I introduce a perfect
mixture chamber D, into the centre of which I insert a pipe E, an "abductor
of the compressed air, which pipe is surmounted by an additional piece F
perforated with a central hole opening in the centre and at the base of a conical
trunk extension G, which joins the upper part of the chamber D, with the
upper part of the central conduit C. A cock H circulates in the part E F, the
compressed air conveyed through the pipe I of the compressing apparatus, whilst
another cock H¹, circulates the gas in the "Bunsen" A. The degree of com-
pression of this air is generally regulated by the weight P and by the weight
of the bell Q, equilibriated to a certain degree by the spring s, in order that
this pressure may always be perceptibly equal to the pressure either of the
mixture or of the gas alone, at the moment and place of contact.
The air is introduced into the upper part of the chamber belonging to the
compressor T (Fig. 1) by the pipe k. Thence it penetrates through one of the
openings into the "Hy" m which in rotating carries it along until the opposite
opening opens into the part m¹, then separated from the compartment j by the
body of water. The air drawn in and compressed runs off by the orifice n and
the pipe o under the bell Q (Fig. 2) guided by the rod and balanced to a
čertain extent by the spiral springs 8. From there the air flows to the mixing
chambers D by the pipe a.
Instead of causing the compressed air to enter by the central conduit at the
point and the mixture by the chamber D, the reverse may be done as shown
in Fig. 4, which represents an arm with two jets, or more, each furnished with
a Bunsen arrangement A' or A". The first imperfect or poor" mixture passes
through C, the compressed air which enriches this mixture with air and is
conveyed by the pipe I¹ and circulated by the box J', passes through F Fand
"

page_text: by EE passes through D D and the perfect mixture is formed at v
whence it reaches the burner jets B¹ B₁
The perfect mixture between the gas and the air corresponds perceptibly to
550 of air for 1 of gas, and it may be applied as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, to a
jet or to an arm with two jets, or more, not furnished with the Bunsen arrange-
ment. g and a (Fig. 5), are always respectively the two distinct supply systems,
the one of gas, the other of air; and cd the corresponding circulating gauge
cocks, each being provided with a dial K K', showing as many divisions as there
are jets on the general mixture-conduit which is formed following the perfect
mixture chamber D). In order to secure to each of the jets in operation, fur-
nished with extinguishing cock, the same quantity of the same mixture,
whatever the number of jets extinguished of the total, it is sufficient to turn
the key of each of the circulating cocks c d one division from 0 for each extin-
guished jet. The keys of the cocks c d each furnished with a corresponding
indicator L L', may be operated from a single handle to the same extent through
the gear wheels ef h.
If instead of being connected to a central mixture-conduit, each of the jets.
referred to is connected by two small distinct branches, the one g¹ for gas, the
other a¹ for air (Fig. 6), to the distinct conduits of gas g and of air a each of
the jets being furnished with its perfect mixing chamber 1, in this case, the said
perfect mixture is regulated, once for all by means of the fixed regulating
cocks Rg Ra, which are arranged and contrived to "proportion" in the desired
relation, the respective quantities of gas and of air and the cocks rg, ra,
situated at the foot of each jet burner are then simply lighting and extinguishing
cocks. The regulating cocks Rg R a are not capable of being operated by an
ordinary key; they have a square head and a special key is necessary for opening
or closing them to a certain degree.
"
A kitchen cooking stove or any other household stove employed for heating
water or food or for ironing is improved in the same manner by the application
of the improved means, by reason of a better combustion being secured in the
jet burner or burners by means of the perfect mixture of air and of gas or of
the mixture precisely desired for avoiding fusion of the substances composing
the jet; and that always, whether the conduit which conveys the perfect mixture
to the said burner is furnished with a Bunsen arrangement or not. The distribu-
tion in the desired proportions of air and of gas for producing in a conduit or
general supply system, or at the foot of a jet burner, a perfect mixture, may
be effected by means of a two-way cock R2 with a single key, furnished with an
indicator M, one way" for the gas, the other for the air, the key of this cock
being perforated with two holes and in such a manner that in turning it and
causing its indicator to move along the dial fixed to the cock, the quantity but
not the mixing proportions is varied. If the jet burner, following the cock R2
was preceded by a Bunsen arrangement, the preliminary mixture of which would
come through the conduit gm, then two gauge cocks V and V1 would be arranged.
in advance of the cock R2 which would simply act as a lighting and extinguish-
ing cock, the gauging being determined once for all, as in the case of Fig. 6
by the said cocks and V, the perfect mixture being regulated by the afflux
of the compressed air conveyed by the cock gn to the air conduit of the cock R³.
It will be seen that this improved process or means consists in adding to or
mixing with, (by means of a distinct conduit of air), the mixture of gas and
ambient air which feeds an incandescent jet burner possessing a Bunsen arrange-
ment, or to or with the gas which feeds such a jet, not furnished with such an
arrangement, a quantity as desired of compressed air, easily regulated by fixed
gauge cocks, or by cocks with indicators the said air coming from a hydraulic
closed reservoir or bell chamber as in the case of gasometers, and which receives
this air from a compressor, and regulates the pressure of the same, so that this
pressure may be perceptibly equal to that of the gas, or of the preliminary.
mixture of gas and air; the said compressed air, being suitably circulated by

page_text: means of a conduit and the said gauge cocks or distributing cocks furnished
with indicators or dials forming with the preliminary mixture of air and gas
or with the gas alone, a more perfect definitive mixture, which considerably
improves the combustion in jot burners.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. For improving the combustion in incandescent burners provided with a
Bunsen arrangement, the chamber D placed in advance of the jet, in and above
which chamber at G the perfect mixture enters and is formed in the proportions
desired, being regulated by distributing cocks, this perfect mixture comprising
air compressed to the desired degree and conveyed by means of a special con-
duit a and the first imperfect mixture of gas and ambient air, produced by the
Bunsen arrangement.
2. For improving the combustion in incandescent jet burners, deprived of
a Bunsen, the chamber D, placed in advance of the jet or jets in and above which
at G the perfect mixture of gas and air is effected in the proportions desired.
and controlled by distributing cocks, the air being compressed to the desired
degree and conveyed by a special conduit a and the gas being supplied by its
conduit.
3. For improving the combustion in incandescent jet burners, deprived of a
Bunsen, the chamber I placed in advance of the jet in and above which at G
is effected in the proportions desired, regulated by distributing cocks, the perfect
mixture between air compressed to a desired degree and conducted by a special
conduit a and the gas furnished by the gas conduit; and in which the distri-
buting cocks are furnished with indicators or dials K and K¹ fixed to each of
them, and each having as many divisions as there are jets on the conduit, and
on which dials or indicators the indicating fingers L and L are capable of
moving with the key with which each of the cocks is turned, the two keys being
capable of being operated by one handle through three gear wheels ef h.
4. For improving the combustion in incandescent jet burners deprived of a
Bunsen, the chamber D placed in advance of the jet or jets, in and above which
at G is effected in the proportion desired, regulated by distributing cocks, the
perfect mixture between air compressed to a desired degree and conducted by
a special conduit a and the gas furnished by the gas conduit, and in which the
distributing cocks are replaced by gauge cocks Rg Ra operated by a special key.
5. For improving the combustion in incandescent jet burners, deprived of a
Bunsen, the chamber 1) placed in advance of the jet or jets in and above which
at G is effected in the desired proportion, controlled by distributing cocks, the
perfect mixture between the air compressed to a desired degree and conducted
by a special conduit a, and the gas supplied by the gas conduit, and the two-
way cock R2 with single key having two openings with indicator M moving
along the dial fixed to the box, one way for the air, the other for the gas.
6. For improving the combustion in incandescent jet burners, provided with
a Bunsen, the chamber D placed in advance of the jet, in and above which at G
is effected, in the proportion desired, regulated by distributing cocks, the perfect
mixture between air compressed to a desired degree and conducted by a special
conduit a and the gas furnished by the gas conduit: the gauge cocks V and V
regulating once for all the respective quantities of gas and air, the two-way
cock with single key R2, without dial or indicator, merely serving as lighting
and extinguishing cock.
7. For improving the combustion in incandescent jet burners, provided or
not with a Bunsen, the combination with a chamber D placed in advance of the
jet or jets, in and above which is effected, in the desired proportion, regulated by
distributing cocks, the perfect mixture between air compressed to a desired
degree and conducted by a special conduit a and the gas supplied by the ordinary

page_text: gas conduit; of a hydraulic compressor T with weight P for winding up, and
a regulating reservoir, connected by means of a communicating pipe o, furnished
with a cock o¹, the two last-named apparatus together enabling the weight to
be re-wound, without the lighting, kept going by the reserve supply of air under
the bell, being interrupted or affected.
WHEATLEY & MACKENZIE,
40, Chancery Lane, London, Agents.