Improvements in Gas Holders for Equalizing Intermittent Gas Production and other Purposes.
Year: 1899

page_text: Improvements in Gas Holders for Equalizing Intermittent Gas
Production and other Purposes.
I, ARTHUR GRAHAM GLASGOW, of 9, Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
In plant which produces gas intermittently, in order to practically equalize
the rate of subsequent treatment (as for example, purification and measurement)
and to avoid frequently stopping or adjusting the exhauster which drives the
gas forward to the main gas holder there is sometimes interposed in the gas
main, between the generator and the exhauster, an equalizing gas-holder or
reservoir in which gas accumulates during the period of production in order to
supply, the exhauster when gas making has ceased as, for instance, during the
time the generator is being blasted. With such an arrangement, there is the
danger, if the generator be shut off too long or the speed of the exhauster be too
great, that the exhauster will empty and tend to create a vacuum in the equalizing
holder and so cause its collapse.
Now the object of this invention is to obviate this danger, for which purpose I
provide a valve adapted to close the outlet pipe of the holder as soon as the
holder has descended, owing to the gas being exhausted, to a given position in
the tank. My invention may be carried out in various ways. Conveniently a
valve or lid may be attached to the crown of the holder or to the cover of the
manhole usually formed in the crown of the holder above the outlet pipe, the
valve or lid being faced or otherwise formed on its underside so as to rest upon
and make a tight joint with the open end of the outlet pipe when the holder has
descended to its given limit. The valve or lid may be attached to the holder by
one or more chains or the like, or it may be connected by a loose joint to a
telescopic rod, which is connected by another joint to the crown or man-hole
cover, or in any other manner that prevents the weight of the holder from being
upon the pipe.
In such cases a single pipe may serve as both the inlet to and the outlet from
the equalizing holder, as the valve or lid being loosely connected to the holder,
will be lifted from the closed pipe by the pressure of the incoming gas thereby
communicating this pressure to the entire area of the crown and causing the
holder to rise.
Although this invention is especially adapted to supplementary equalizing.
holders, it may be usefully applied to storage holders.
Dated this 5th day of May 1899..

page_text: Improvements in Gas Holders for Equalizing Intermittent Gas
Production and other Purposes.
I, ARTHUR GRAHAM GLASGOW, of 9, Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster,
Engineer, 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:
In plant which produces gas intermittently, in order to practically equalize
the rate of subsequent treatment (as for example, purification and measurement)
and to avoid frequently stopping or adjusting the exhauster which drives the
gas forward to the main gas holder there is sometimes interposed in the gas
main, between the generator and the exhauster, an equalizing gas-holder or
reservoir in which gas accumulates during the period of production in order to
supply the exhauster when gas making has ceased as, for instance, during the
time the generator is being blasted. With such an arrangement, there is the
danger, if the generator be shut off too long or the speed of the exhauster be too
great, that the exhauster will empty and tend to create a vacuum in the equalizing
holder and so cause its collapse.
Now the object of this invention is to obviate this danger, for which purpose I
provide a valve adapted to close the outlet pipe of the holder as soon as the
holder has descended, owing to the gas being exhausted, to a given position in
the tank. My invention may be carried out in various ways.
In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1 illustrates in section an equalizing gas
holder provided with a valve adapted to close the outlet therefrom when the
holder has descended to a given position according to this invention.
The holder 1 is contained in a tank 2 and is provided with a gas inlet pipe 3
which is in communication with the generator, and with a gas outlet pipe 4,
which is connected to the exhauster. 5 is a valve or lid provided with a central
eye whereby it is attached through a chain 5ª to the cover of the manhole usually
formed in the crown of the holder 1 above the outlet pipe 4. The valve or
lid 5 is faced or otherwise formed on its underside so as to rest upon and make a
tight joint with the open end of the outlet pipe, when the holder has descended
to a given position, and is provided with a weight 6 to ensure it seating properly
upon the pipe 4. The upper part of the pipe 4 may be made renewable, as shown.
Fig. 2 shows a modified arrangement wherein the valve or lid is connected by
three or more chains 5ª instead of by only one chain; or it may be attached in
any other manner that prevents the weight of the holder being upon the pipe,
and enables the valve to properly seat itself.
In some cases, a single pipe may serve as both the inlet to and the outlet from
the equalizing holder, since the valve or lid, being loosely connected to the
holder, will be lifted from the closed pipe by the pressure of the incoming gas,
whereupon this pressure will act upon the entire area of the crown and cause
the holder to rise.
In the event of the valve or lid 5 not making a tight joint, the exhauster might
so far reduce the pressure in the holder 1 as in the course of time to cause its
collapse. In order to prevent such an occurrence, there may be provided in
connection with the holder an arrangement whereby gas is automatically admitted
to the holder from the mains or elsewhere upon the pressure in the holder being
reduced below a predetermined pressure. Fig. 3 illustrates such a device in
which 7, 8 are a pair of vertical tubes communicating at their lower ends through
a tube 9; the tube 7 is connected by a tube 10 to, for example, the gas store or

page_text: distributing main and the tube 8 is connected by a pipe 11 with the holder, as
for example by the inlet pipe 3. 12 is a pipe the lower end of which is connected
to the tube 9, whilst its upper end is open to the atmosphere through a perforated
cap 12. This pipe 12 serves merely as a pressure indicator, and may be dispensed
with. The tubes 7, 8, 9 (and 12 when used) are partly filled with liquid, which
may conveniently be suitably coloured glycerine. On the pressure in the holder
being reduced to say, for example, two or three ounces below atmospheric pressure,
the liquid will be forced out of the pipes 7, 8 and 9 into the inlet pipe 3 by the
pressure of the gas in the tube 10, thereby allowing gas from the main to enter
the holder and thus prevent the pressure therein being further reduced. By
combining suitable scales with the tubes 7, 8 and 12 the device will serve as a
gauge for indicating the pressures in the holder and distributing main or vessel
with which the pipe 10 is connected. As will be understood, the device may be
located in any convenient part of the gas works, for instance, in the exhauster
room.
Although this invention is especially adapted to supplementary equalizing
holders, it may be usefully applied to storage holders and may be carried out in
various ways.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:―
1. In a gas holder for equalizing intermittent gas production or for other
purposes, the combination with the outlet of the holder of a valve adapted to.
close said outlet when the holder has descended to a given position in its tank,
substantially as described.
2. A gas holder provided with means for closing the outlet therefrom when
the holder has descended to a given position in its tank substantially as described,
with reference to Fig. 1 or to Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings, whether
said means have combined therewith, or not, a device for automatically admitting
gas to the holder as described with reference to Fig. 3 of the said drawings.
Dated this 18th day of January 1900.
For the Applicant,
W. LLOYD WISE,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, WC., Chartered Patent Agent.