IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MEASURING GAS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MEASURING GAS."-A com-
munication from Mr. Alfred Nobel. of St. Petersburg.
Sealed the 19th January 1858, and dated the 29th September 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th September 1857.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MEASURING GAS,"
to be as follows:-
The distinctive character of this Invention of improved apparatus for
measuring gas is described by my foreign correspondent as consisting in
ascertaining the quantity of gas by the progressive augmentation or diminution
of certain substances when exposed to the current of the gas itself.
The object of the Invention may be effected, 1st, by partially or wholly
saturating the gas with the vapor of some liquid, such as water or alcohol,
naphtha, or some hydrocarbon; 2nd, by absorbing the vapor of water contained
in the gas by means of some hygroscopic substance, such as chloride of

page_text: calcium, sulphuric acid, &c.; 3rd, or, by the chemical reaction of a portion
of the gas upon certain substances, such as chlorine, with which illuminating
gas combines, and forms a liquid known under the name of "Dutch drops."
Each of these processes will require an apparatus specially adapted for the
particular process, but as some of the arrangements will be common to all,
I will merely explain the apparatus which will be required for effecting the
intended object by the plan first mentioned.
This apparatus consists of a vessel made of metal, glass, or any other suitable
material, and of any convenient shape. This vessel is partially filled with the
liquid with which the gas is to be saturated, and from the upper part of the
vessel are suspended a number of strings or threads of some fibrous material,
which will by its capillarity absorb and draw up a quantity of the liquid, and
present an extensive evaporating surface to the action of the gas in its passage
through the apparatus. A given and accurately ascertained small proportion
only of the gas need pass through the apparatus, and this only is allowed to
obtain access to the interior or absorbing part, while the greater portion of the
gas is made to pass through free. The gas in passing through will absorb and
carry off a certain quantity of the liquid, and it is by accurately measuring or
weighing the quantity that remains in the vessel that the amount of gas that
has passed through is ascertained. It is scarcely necessary to remark that
a dial and index may be adapted to the apparatus to indicate the alterations
of the level of the liquid in the absorbing vessel, and consequently the
amount of gas that has passed through the meter.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th March 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and, fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others..

page_text: as I, the said William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MEASURING GAS," being a communication from
Mr. Alfred Nobel, of St. Petersburg; upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause
the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The distinctive character of this Invention of "Improved Apparatus for
Measuring Gas" is described by my foreign correspondent as consisting in
calculating the quantity of gas that has passed through a pipe or vessel of
given dimensions by ascertaining the progressive augmentation or diminution
of certain substances when exposed to the current of the gas itself.
The object of the Invention may be effected, first, by partially or wholly
saturating the gas with the vapour of some liquid such as water or alcohol,
naphtha, or some hydrocarbon; second, by absorbing the vapor of water con-
tained in the gas by means of some hygroscopic substance such as chloride
of calcium, sulphuric acid, or other suitable substance; third, by the chemical
reaction of a portion of the gas upon certain substances, such as chlorine,
with which illuminating gas combines and forms a liquid known under the
name of "Dutch drops."
Each of these processes will require an apparatus specially adapted for the
particular process intended to be employed, but as some of the arrangements
will be common to all, I will merely explain the apparatus which will be
required for effecting the intended object by the plan first mentioned, and
which is considered by the Inventor to be the most simple, and at the same
time the most certain in its operation.
This apparatus consists of a vessel made of metal, glass, or any other
suitable material and of any convenient shape. This vessel is partially filled

page_text: with the liquid with which the gas is to be saturated, and from the upper
part of the vessel are suspended a number of strings or threads of some
fibrous material, which will by its capillarity absorb and draw up a quantity
of the liquid and present an extensive evaporating surface to the action of the
gas in its passage through the apparatus. A given and accurately ascertained
small proportion only of the gas need pass through the apparatus, and this
only is allowed to obtain access to the interior or absorbing part, while the
greater portion of the gas is made to pass through free. The gas in passing
through will absorb and carry off a certain quantity of the liquid, and it is
by accurately measuring or weighing the quantity that remains in the vessel
that the amount of gas that has passed through is ascertained.
It is scarcely necessary to remark that a dial and index may be adapted to
the apparatus to indicate the alterations of the level of the liquid in the
absorbing vessel, and consequently the amount of gas that has passed through
the meter.
In order, however, that the nature of the Invention may be better under-
stood, I have in the accompanying Drawings represented the arrangement
of apparatus which I prefer for carrying the same into effect according to the
first method, Fig. 1, Sheet I., being a vertical section, Fig. 2, a side elevation,
and Fig. 3, a plan or birds'-eye view of the apparatus.
The apparatus consists of a vessel 6, made of metal, glass, or other suitable
material, into which is fitted a pipe a; this pipe a is connected with the pipe
through which the gas to be measured passes. The bottom of the vessel b
contains the liquid with which the gas is to be saturated, and in this liquid
are immersed threads c of cotton or other porous or absorbent material, which
by their capillary action present a large surface of the liquid to the current
of gas. The pipe a has two openings, one at each end, and to which are
alapted the pipes d and e, the former serving for the admission of a portion
of gas into the vessel b, and the latter allowing of its escape into the other
end of the tube a, after having been saturated with the liquid to the required
degree. For this purpose the vessel 6 is divided into two parts at its upper
part by a partition or diaphragm g, situated between the pipes d and e. The
gas is by means of this partition or diaphragm forced to descend towards the
surface of the liquid. The small pipe d has an opening at its lower part, to
which is adapted the neck of a bottle-shaped vessel f; this vessel is filled with
mercury, and a rod of glass or metal is placed in the neck of the vessel, so
as to be capable of rising and falling freely, by reason of the expansion or
contraction of the mercury, by the action of varying degrees of temperature,

page_text: and thereby acting as a throttle valve in the entrance of the small pipe d.
By this arrangement, the higher the temperature is in the apparatus, the less
will be the quantity of gas allowed to enter it, so that the apparatus f, f, may
be regarded as a regulator of the evaporation, which as is well known,
increases as the temperature is raised. The height of the level of the liquid
in the vessel 6 is regulated by means of the overflow pipe h.
i is the supply
pipe for the liquid; and k is a cock adapted to the bottom of the vessel 6 for
the purpose of emptying it when required.
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-As long as the gas is at rest
little or no evaporation takes place (if required it may be entirely prevented
by applying valves to the gas pipes, which would however be almost useless
and at the same time expensive), but on opening the cock of the pipe a a
portion of gas proportionate to the relative size of the pipes a and d will "pass
through the pipe d into the vessel b.
For instance, suppose the section of the pipe d to be one-tenth that of the
pipe a, there will, during the same space of time and at a certain temperature
pass through the former a given proportion only of the quantity that passes
through the latter. I say at a certain temperature because as the temperature
is raised, the valve f¹ of the regulator f will contract the passage for the "gas
through the small pipe d, and thus cause considerable variation in the relative
capacities of the said pipes a and d.
When once the rate of evaporation is known, the quantity of gas consumed
may be ascertained, first, by weighing the apparatus, or only the liquor
contained therein, or secondly, by measuring the liquor in glass vessels marked
with a suitable scale of degrees, shewing the quantity of liquor absorbed by
the gas.
The gradual fall of the level of the liquid by reason of its evaporation
permits also of the adaptation to the apparatus of an indicator which may
either consist of a dial and index or a graduated glass tube of any suitable
form.
The Figures in Sheet II. of the Drawings represent an arrangement of
apparatus with a dial indicator adapted thereto for this purpose. Fig. 1 is a
vertical section; Fig. 2, a front view; Fig. 3 a transverse section in the
line 1, 2, of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a horizontal section, taken in the line 3, 4, of
Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a similar section taken in the line 5, 6, of Fig. 1; and
Fig. 6 is a detached sectional view in the line 7, 8, of Fig. 1. Similar letters
of reference denote corresponding parts in all these Figures. e is the entrance.
orifice for the gas from the supply pipe a to the interior of the vessel b; and

page_text: h is the exit orifice. The valve f¹ of the regulator f tapers to a point and
enters more or less into the orifice e, according to the temperature of the gas,
and thereby regulates the quantity of gas to be submitted to the process of
saturation. The regulator f, f¹, may be set at any required height by means
of the adjusting screw g, which passes through the bottom of the apparatus.
Instead of a single diaphragm, as in the arrangemeut represented in Sheet I.
two diaphragms d, d, are interposed between the openings e and h in the
pipe a for the purpose of forcing the gas to descend upon the liquid and
cause its evaporation. A pipe i, which is provided with a valve at its lower
part is partially filled with liquid, and as the level of this liquid sinks in the
vessel 6 by reason of its evaporation, a float k, attached to the valve, falls
with it and allows a portion of the liquid contained in the pipe i to pass into
the vessel b. The quantity that will thus be supplied from the pipe i will be
equal to that lost by evaporation from the vessel b. The pipe i is also provided
with a float 1, which communicates by means of a cord passing over pullies m
with the wheels n and o; the shafts of these wheels respectively carry the
index hands 'p and r, to which their motion is transmitted. These hands may
be so arranged that the pointer shall indicate the number of revolutions
of the other pointer p. A second tube S, set parallel to the tube i, serves
to contain the counterweight s connected with the float l. The liquid is
introduced into the pipe i through an opening t above.
Having now described the nature of this Invention of "Improved Apparatus
for Measuring Gas," as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
and having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I would
observe in conclusion that I do not mean or intend to confine myself rigidly
to the precise arrangements of apparatus above shewn and described, as they
may be varied without departing from the nature and object of this Invention ;
but that which I consider to be new, and therefore desire to secure under
the above in part recited Letters Patent is, measuring the quantity of
illuminating gas which passes through a pipe to the burner to be consumed,
or of any other gas passing through a pipe,—
Firstly, by saturating the gas either wholly or partially with the vapor of
some liquid such as water or alcohol, and then measuring or weighing the
quantity of liquid absorbed by the gas.
Secondly, by extracting the water contained in the gas by means of some
bygroscopic or absorbent material, such as chloride of calcium, sulphuric acid,
or other suitable substance.
Thirdly, by the chymical reaction of a portion of the gas, to be measured

page_text: upon certain substances, capable of combining with the gas to be measured,
such, for instance, as chlorine, which combines with illuminating gas.
I also claim the arrangements of apparatus above shewn and described, or
any mere modification thereof, for the purpose of measuring illuminating or
other gas.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-ninth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
0 Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.s.)