"A PROCESS FOR FORMING CARBONIC OXIDE FROM OXYHYDROGEN STR AND AN ADDADATIO FAR In
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Levi Stevens, of Washington City, District of
Columbia, but now sojourning in the City and County of San
Francisco, California, in the United States of America,. for the
Invention of "A PROCESS FOR FORMING CARBONIC OXIDE FROM OXYHYDROGEN
Sealed the 7th March 1873, and dated the 18th January 1873.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Levi Stevens at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 18th January 1873, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LEVI
STEVENS, of Washington City, District of Columbia, but now sojourning
in the City and County of San Francisco, California, in the United States
of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of "A PROCESS FOR FORMING CARBONIC
CLIDE FROM OXYHYDROGEN VAPOR OR STRAY AND AN ADDADATIO FAR Insta

page_text: THE SAME FOR HEATING PURPOSES," and have petitioned Her Majesty to
grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal
Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn Declaration that
I really believe myself to be the first and true Inventor thereof.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Levi Stevens, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal,
fully describes the nature of said Invention, and the manner in which
the same is to be performed, that is to say :-
:-
My Invention consists in the discovery of the conditions by which
carbonic oxide or protoxide of carbon is formed from oxyhydrogen
vapors or steam. And my Invention further consists in distilling
bituminous coal, asphaltum, pine wood, and in fact any substance that
will distil a carbon or hydrocarbon vapor or gas, which vapor or gas
I use in the disintegration of oxyhydrogen vapor or steam. And my
.Invention further consists in the application of carbonic oxide or
protoxide thus formed to steam boilers, furnaces, and all places where
heat is required. This is effected by the use of any suitable number of
retorts which are set so as to be heated by the same furnaces which
serve for the steam boilers. These retorts are charged with any suitable
or convenient substance which will produce a carbon or hydrocarbon
vapor by distillation and at the proper time superheated steam (from
an apparatus also heated by the furnaces) is let in at a temperature at
which the carbon is decomposed. Protoxide of carbon and free hydrogen
are thus evolved and the gases thus produced are led by suitable pipes
into the furnaces. Provision is also made for the introduction of oxygen
from the air for the complete combustion of the gases thus introduced.
Referring to the accompanying Drawings for a more complete
explanation of my Invention, Fig. 1 is a front view of my apparatus,
showing three boilers and five retorts with the connecting pipes; Fig. 2
is a side elevation of the apparatus; Fig. 3 is a transverse section
showing the interior arrangement of the boilers and retorts; Fig. 4 is a
longitudinal section of the apparatus; Fig. 5 is an enlarged section of a
retort and one of the stand pipes showing the stop valve; Fig. 6 is an
enlarged view of the superheater.
A, A, are two boilers set in masonry or otherwise suitably placed if
employed for marine purposes, and having fire-places B, B, connected
with the stack or chimney by flues; C is a central shell placed between
the boilers A and having a masonry setting D built up in its interior so

page_text: as to leave a water and steam space around the masonry, as shown in
Figs. 3 and 4. This masonry is so built as to form a fire-place or
furnace E, and the necessary fire-spaces and flues for heating the central
boiler C and the retorts F, F. These retorts are also supported by the
masonry D and may be of any
suitable size and number. In the present
case I have shown five. A superbeater G is so placed as also to be
heated by the furnace E, and a pipe H passes from the superheater
beneath the retorts, thence through the fire-spaces and up behind them
to the uppermost retort where it leads into its rear end and into each
of the other retorts. Stand pipes I connect each retort with the main J,
and cach of these pipes is provided with a stop valve K which prevents
the return of the gas from the main J whenever it is necessary to remove.
the contents of a retort. From the main smaller pipes L, L, lead into
the furnaces through an opening which is made large enough to admit
atmospheric air from the outside, the air being drawn in by the vacuum
created by the force of the discharge. Suitable regulating cocks are
provided for all the pipes so that the proper pressure can be maintained
in the retorts, superheater, and at the discharge openings, and by this
or a similar apparatus I am enabled to carry on my process, which is
as follows:-
:-
The boilers being provided with water, fires are built in each of the
furnaces until the retorts are of a bright red heat, the retorts F are then
charged with any of the forms of carbon or hydrocarbon most attainable
and which will produce the vapor by distillation. No steam will be
needed at first as the water in the coal will form plenty, but after about
fifteen minutes steam must be let into the superheater where it must
reach a temperature equal to that required to decompose the carbon,
that is from 600° to 1,600° Fahrenheit. From the superheater the
steam passes by the pipes before described to the retorts and is dis-
charged into them where decomposition ensues and results in the
production of carbonic oxide and hydrogen gas. These gases pass from
the retorts to the main J and are conducted by it to the discharge
pipe L.
These pipes lead the gases into the furnace at each side of the
doors, and oxygen enough from the air is carried in with them as
previously described (or by blast if desired) to cause a complete com-
bustion. When a coal is employed which will produce coke, it will be
found desirable and economical to employ the coke in the furnaces in
conjuction with the gases, the blast of air being in that case increased
so as to supply more oxygen in order to ensure perfect combustion, of

page_text: the coke. As the point of decomposition or formation of the required
gases will vary with the different kinds of material used the temperature
of the steam will have to be varied, but I believe that the limits above
mentioned will suffice. The heat generated by the gases produced by
the union of the superheated steam with the vapors or gas produced
by the distillation of hydrocarbons or carbonaceous matter is of a most
intense character, and it is therefore admirably adapted to the purposes
for which it is intended, either for ore reducing, smelting, reverberatory,
and other furnaces, or for the purpose more particularly described herein
of furnishing a heating medium for marine engines, and it will solve the
long sought problem of utilizing the hydrogen of water as a fuel.
Having thus described my Invention, what I claim as new and desire
to secure by Letters Patent is,-
First. The arrangement consisting of the boilers A, A, with their
furnaces, and the central boiler C with its furnace and retorts, or an
equivalent device, constructed to operate substantially as herein described.
Second. The retort F, arranged as shown, together with the super-
heater G with its connecting pipes, substantially as and for the purpose
described.
Third. In combination with the gas generator, the main J, and the
discharge pipes L, L, I claim the heating furnaces, the arrangement
being substantially such as herein described.
Fourth. The process herein described for volatilizing carbon and
uniting or combining it with superheated steam for heating purposes
substantially as shown.
In witness whereof, I, the said Levi Stevens, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
Witnesses.
JOHN L. BOONE.
THEO. GIDLEY.
LEVI STEVENS. (L.S.)