IMPROVEMENTS IN METHODS OR MEANS FOR ENRICHING OR PURIFYING ILLUMINATING GAS, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR.
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Ireland, of Plymouth, in the County of Devon,
for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN METHODS OR MEANS FOR ENRICHING
OR PURIFYING ILLUMINATING GAS, AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR.
دو
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Ireland at the Office
"IMPROVEMENTS IN
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th August 1880.
JAMES IRELAND, of Plymouth, in the County of Devon.
METHODS OR MEANS FOR ENRICHING OR PURIFYING ILLUMINATING GAS, AND IN
APPARATUS THEREFOR."
This Invention was originally intended for the use and benefit of private con-
summers, but it can be applied by gas companies at their works before the gas is
passed into their main pipes for distribution among consumers.
The objects sought to be obtained by this Invention are to free the gas from all
noxious impurities, to increase the brilliancy of the flame, to regulate to a certain
extent its flow to the burner, and to decrease its cost to the consumer.
The Invention consists in passing coal gas through a combination of charcoal
and gasoline, naphthaline, or other product of the distillation of petroleum or
shale.
Almost any suitable material that admits readily the passage of the gas and
tends to purify the same may be used, such as sawdust, cotton wool, horsehair, or
cotton wicks; but I have found by experience that charcoal and the distilled
products before referred to give the best results.
The apparatus consists essentially of a cylindrical or other shaped vessel made of
tin or other suitable material of a size to suit the number of lights or burners in
use where it may be applied or adopted. In its height it is divided into compart-
ments by, preferably, metal partitions or shelves, which are perforated for about
one third of their superficial area, and so placed or fixed in the vessel that the
portions perforated shall be alternately over each other.
The mode of operation is as follows:-
The charcoal (broken or ground) is placed in the compartments upon the partitions
or shelves through apertures or holes in the side.

page_text: The fluid to be used in moistening the charcoal is poured in through an opening
in the top of the vessel, flowing through each compartment and percolating through
the perforated portions of the partitions to the bottom chamber (until the charcoal
has absorbed a sufficient quantity), when the surplus (if any) is withdrawn through
an opening at or near the bottom.
All the openings are closed by screwed caps or the like.
The gas may be conveyed from the registering meter by a pipe down the inside
of the vessel to the lowest chamber (or may enter direct through the side or bottom)
whence it rises through each successive layer of charcoal through the perforated
parts of the partitions to the top chamber, thence to be taken, purified, and enriched
for the use of the consumer by a suitable pipe or pipes.
The top and bottom chambers act as reservoirs or receivers of the gas, none of
the purifying material being placed in them.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said James Ireland in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 12th
February 1881.
JAMES IRELAND, of Plymouth, in the County of Devon. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
METHODS OR MEANS FOR ENRICHING OR PURIFYING ILLUMINATING GAS, AND IN
APPARATUS THEREFOR."
This Invention was originally intended for the use and benefit of private con-
sumers, but it can be applied by gas companies at their works before the gas is
passed into their main pipes for distribution among consumers.
The objects sought to be obtained by this Invention are to free the gas from all
noxious impurities, to increase the brilliancy of the flame, to regulate to a certain
extent its flow to the burner, and to decrease its cost to the consumer.
The Invention consists in passing coal gas through a combination of charcoal
and gasoline, naphthaline, or other product of the distillation of petroleum or
shale.
Almost any suitable material that admits readily the passage of the gas and
tends to purify the same may be used for holding the gasoline, such as sawdust,
cotton wool, horse hair, or cotton wicks, but I have found by experience that
charcoal and the distilled products before referred to give the best results.
The apparatus consists essentially of a cylindrical or other shaped vessel made of
tin or other suitable material of a size to suit the number of lights or burners in use
where it is applied.
In its height it is divided into compartments by, preferably, metal partitions or
shelves, which are perforated for about one third of their superficial area, and so
placed or fixed in the vessel that the portions perforated shall be alternately over
each other.
The mode of operation is as follows:-
The charcoal (broken or ground) is placed in the compartments upon the partitions
or shelves through apertures or holes in the side.
The gasoline by being absorbed by the charcoal or filtering medium loses its
explosive nature, and becomes really harmless; in fact, it is frequently possible to
cast one of these vessels upon the fire, when the contents will only burn away.
The common plan of passing the gas over the naked spirit is a very dangerous one,
and often results in disastrous explosions.
The fluid to be used in moistening the charcoal is poured in through an opening
in the top of the vessel, flowing through each compartment and percolating through
the perforated portions of the partitions to the bottom chamber (until the charcoal
has absorbed a sufficient quantity), when the surplus (if any) is withdrawn through
an opening at or near the bottom.
All the openings are closed by screwed caps or the like.
The gas may be conveyed from the registering meter by a pipe down the inside
of the vessel to the lowest chamber (or may enter direct through the side or bottom),
whence it rises through each successive layer of charcoal through the perforated
parts of the partitions to the top chamber, thence to be taken, purified, and enriched
for the use of the consumer by a suitable pipe or pipes.
The top and bottom chambers act as reservoirs or receivers of the gas, none of
the purifying material being placed in them.
Reference being now had to the accompanying Drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a
sectional elevation of one form of the apparatus, and Fig. 2 a plan of same. A is
the vessel or container; B, the partitions, perforated at B'; C, the charcoal, cotton
wool, or other vehicle for holding in suspension the gasoline or other enriching
agent; D, the supply pipe from main or meter, or other other gas supply (this pipe, as

page_text: previously stated, need not be arranged in the manner shown, as it could come in
through the side, etcetera); E and F are the bottom and top chambers, which
contain gas only, no charcoal being placed in them; G is the pipe by which the
purified gas is taken off for use; H are the plugs or doors for giving access to the
chambers containing the charcoal; I and K, the plugs or equivalent for supplying
and drawing off the gasoline.
The arrows indicate the direction of the gas, and it will be seen that owing to
the alternate arrangement of the perforations B' in the partitions B it has to
travel through a considerable portion of each chamber before it can escape to the
next.
The shape of the vessel A is immaterial so long as it meets the requirements
set forth; in the Drawing it is shown circular in plan, which is a cheap form to
Having now described my Invention, and the method of performing the same, I
wish it to be understood that I am aware that various plans have been adopted for
enriching coal gas by combining it with the vapor of hydrocarbon oils (as by
passing the gas over the naked spirit, or by heating the oils over the illuminating
flame itself, and combining the heated vapor with the coal gas before or at the
point of ignition), and that I do not broadly claim the principle of enriching coal
gas by such means, but that what I do claim and desire to protect under the
hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The hereindescribed method or process of enriching or purifying illumi-
nating gas by passing it through charcoal or other suitable filtering material
saturated with gasoline, naphthaline, or other like product of the distillation of
petroleum or shale, substantially as and for the purposes set forth and shown.
Second. As an apparatus for enriching or purifying illuminating gas, the vessel
or container A divided by partitions B (perforated in part) into chambers con-
taining a filtering material C saturated with the enriching agent, which is taken
up or absorbed by the illuminating gas in its passage through, substantially as and
for the purposes set forth and shown.
Third. In an apparatus for enriching or purifying illuminating gas, the herein-
described method of rendering the volatile oil or spirit employed as the enriching
agent inexplosive by mixing or combining it with a suitable vehicle such as charcoal,
substantially as and for the purposes set forth and shown.
İn witness whereof, I, the said James Ireland, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighth day of February, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty one.
JAMES IRELAND. (L.S.)