METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR GENERATING GAS FROM HYDROCARBONS
Year: 1884

page_text: .I ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 323 High Holborn in the county of Middlesex,
Engineer do hereby declare the nature of this invention for METHOD OF AND
MEANS FOR GENERATING GAS FROM HYDROCARBONS and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and' by the
following statement :-
The object of my invention is to utilize petroleum in the manufacture of iron and
other metals and for other purposes and to that end the nature of my invention
consists of a gas generator.
The several parts of the device will hereinafter be fully described reference being
had to the accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through the gas generator.
Figure 2 a section through one of the flues of the generator.
Figure 3 a section of the generator on line x. x.
Figure 4 a section of the retort or generator proper.
The other Figures show details.
Referring to the generator
Heretofore the practice has been to generate the vapor from petroleum by forcing
the steam through a body of petroleum or other hydrocarbon in the generating
chamber and then mix the vapor, with steam projected into the upper part of said
generating chamber, or mix the vapor generated as above noted with steam in an
outer chamber which surrounds the vapor generating chamber.
In practice it has been found that gas so generated is saturated with oil as the
steam becomes chilled to an extent from contact with the cold oil that it will not
heat the oil to a high vaporizing point or as has frequently been the case the oil
chills the steam to such an extent that it becomes condensed: In such a case if the
water is not noticed the generator becomes flooded and the water and oil passes to
the burner working great damage and waste of oil.
To overcome this defect the oil has been fed in a small stream into the top of
a generator provided with shelves.arranged in a staggering manner and upon which

page_text: the oil flows to the bottom of the generator and is met by a current of super heated
steam which takes up the lighter constituents of the oil and conveys them through
a vapor pipe which leads to the furnace and leaves the heavier constituents to pass
to the bottom of the generator where they accumulate and unless withdrawn compel
the superheated steam to pass through them before it can reach the oil passing over
the shelves.
Steam heated spheroidal receivers over the outer walls of which the oil passes
were substituted for the shelves with better results but without overcoming the
defects in the method which while theoretically different from the former method
above described is practically the same as there necessarily must be an accumulation
of heavy hydrocarbon at the bottom of the generator through which the super-
heated steam must pass before reaching the higher constituents which are thrown
off by the spheroidal receivers.
To overcome these defects is the object of my invention and I attain the result
desired by vaporizing the oil outside of the generators and forcing such vapor,
under pressure into the mixing chamber where it is met by a current of superheated
steam forced in the chamber under pressure.
It is immaterial so far as the construction of the mixing chamber is concerned by
what means I form my vapor provided that they are located outside the mixing
chamber and that sufficient pressure can be invoked to equalize the pressure of
superheated steam forced into said mixing chamber nor do I limit myself to any
-particular-form-of-mixing chamber in using the vapor generator except that the
former should be provided with a steam suppy pipe a vapor supply pipe-and-a-vapor-
exit pipe.
A. Represents the brick work having a fire chamber A³ Seated upon its walls by
means of a flange B₁, is a pot shaped jacket B. which encloses a second pot B°
supported by any suitable means, in this device however it is shown attached to
the cover B by means of bolts B8 passing through the flange B15. It will be
noticed that the walls of these jackets are imperforate from top to bottom and
that the pipes all enter from the top The object in so placing the pipes is as
follows: In the usual devices the steam pipes connected to the inner pot are passed
through the outer pot and owing to the inequalities of expansion of the inner and
outer pots caused by the heat to which they are subjected one or both of the pots
become cracked or broken, such cracks invariably starting from the holes drillod to
introduce the steam connection. This defect is obviated as before stated by
introducing the pipes through the cover B' which is provided with screw threaded
openings for the different pipes.
The space within the walls of jacket B' I call the mixing chamber B³ and that
between jackets B and B the annular steam space Bº.
1
At the top of the mixing chamber is a vapor pipe C which extends vertically
through the cover B and is connected with a horizontal pipe C¹. In the end of the
pipe C is a needle valve C" screw threaded in an internal collar c and projecting
into the conical opening in the internal collar chaving in front thereof a perforated
diaphragm c³. The upper part of this diaphragm is provided with an upwardly
and rearwardly inclined fan shaped groove the apex of which terminates at the
perforation co. The lower half may be dished back as shown in Figs: 5 and 6.
In front of this diaphragm the tube is contracted as at c'. Entering into the
space between the collar as c² and c is a superheated steam supply pipe D which
furnishes the steam for vaporizing the oil admitted to pipe C through pipe D'
above the diaphragm c³. The oil passing through this pipe passes down the fan
shaped groove to the perforation where the current of steam from supply pipo D
strikes and vaporizes the oil, and the force of the steam carries the vapor through
pipes C and C to the mixing chamber B³.
Owing to the fact that the pipe C¹ is outside the apparatus the vapor passing
through it would become chilled if some means were not provided for preventing
radiation. I accomplish this by enclosing pipe C¹ in a steam jacket C which is
connected to the main superheated steam supply pipe D' and the space between

page_text: pipe Cand the inner wall of jacket C should be equal to or larger than the
supply pipe D so that the steam will not become wiredrawn in passing from
pipe D2 to pipe D³.
The pipe D³ is joined to a T union forming part of the jacket C. The lower
end of this pipe projects through cover B into the annular steam space Bº.
The steam which enters this space envelopes jacket B and may be again heated
by fire in furnace A. and is withdrawn by means of a pipe D' which extends from
the bottom of the chamber B upwardly through the casing to an outlet pipe Do
having valve d which is closed when it is desired to force steam into the mixing
chamber.
The object of the pipe is to withdraw any water that may have accumulated in
the jacket and to furnish a means for the steam to escape when in operation.
Below the valve is a T union to which is connected a branch pipe De provided
with a valve d¹ which is closed when it is desired to flush the chamber B6 through.
the outlet D-A pipe D' is connected to the inner end of pipe D6 by means of a
union having a steam gauge d upon its upper end. The pipe D7 passes through
the cover B and may extend to near the bottom of the mixing chamber B³ but I
prefer to use an enlarged drum or cylinder DS having an opening dat its bottom
to permit the steam to pass into the mixing chamber.
The steam passing through this opening passes upwardly and meets the vapor
which is projected downwardly in said mixing chamber from pipe C The impact
of the two currents thoroughly mixes the vapor and steam and the mixture passes
through the vapor exit pipe D' which leads to the apparatus where it is burned.
Upon the drum Ds is arranged a spiral flange E, having its outer edge just clear
of the inside of the jacket B' to permit of its insertion-The flange is so constructed
that at any given point its outer edge is higher than the inner edge which is in
contact with the drum. The object of this spiral is to give the contending vapor
and superheated steam a whirling motion in the chamber so that they will readily
commingle.
The flange also serves occasionally for instance when starting the apparatus and
before all the parts have taken up the heat necessary for perfect action to catch
any oil that may drip from pipe C. This is rarely the case but if any should drip
it would owing to the inclined form of the spiral flange rest against the drum and
the heat therefrom would vaporize the oil before it had travelled the whole length
of the flange thus obviating the necessity for any drawing off pipe at the bottom
of the mixing chamber.
Upon each of the pipes D, D2 D° D° and D° are valves to control the flow through
said pipes. D and D' are each provided with a pressure regulating valve which
may be set at a certain pressure so that no matter what the pressure may be in the
super heater the pressure in the mixing chamber will be uniform and unvarying.
The oil supply pipe D' is also provided with a regulator valve by means of which
any amount of oil may be supplied for vaporization and is so arranged that it will
indicate the amount of oil passing through it and the quantity may be regulated at
pleasure.
This or a similar valve should be used as the supply of oil passing to the vaporizer
must be exactly known if the best result is to be produced. Furthermore as I only
use compared with other devices a small quantity of oil some means for reducing
the flow to the minimum must be used and this valve accomplishes that result.
Suspended in any suitable manner from and having its upper edges near the
under side of the cover is the cup shaped deflector D10 which breaks the current and
prevents the commingled vapors from passing directly to the pipe.
The operation of the device is as follows.-The parts being arranged as described
the superheated steam is admitted to the annular steam space B by opening cocks
d and d in pipes D³ and D. The current of steam passing through the space B6
flushes the latter of any water of condensation and relieves it of any dead air
which may have accumulated since the last fire. After the jackets have become
sufficiently heated the cock d is opened and the steam allowed to enter the mixing

page_text: chamber through pipes D° and D and drum D. Valve d' in steam pipe D is now
opened and a current of steam allowed to pass through the needle valve chamber
and force its way into Chamber B5 through pipes C and C and the cock d³ in
pipe D opened to allow the current to pass out.
As the steam pipes D and D2 are connected to the same superheater the tempe-
rature of the steam in both pipes will be the same but owing to the arrangement
.of valves the current through the needle valve can be introduced under greater
pressure than that through pipe D and its connections, therefore the currents
entering the mixing chamber through pipe C. will be projected forcibly into said
mixing chamber and will become commingled with the superheated steam arising
from bottom of drum.
Oil is now admitted through pipe D' and it trickles down the fan shaped groove
in the diaphragm c³ to its perforation where the blast of superheated steam
will strike and vaporize it. Now if no means were provided for keeping up the
heat the temperature of the vapor would become reduced and fall below the point
of the incoming steam (through the needle valve) and condensed water and par-
tially vaporized oil would pass into the mixing Chamber but by supplying heat at
the point and moment of vaporization to replace the heat absorbed by the vaporiza-
tion of the oil, this result is obviated and completely vaporized oil is fed into the
mixing chamber. This is produced by enclosing the pipe C in steam jacket C'
formed by enlarging the pipe D2. The heat from the superheated steam passing
_through_this_pipe_is_absorbed_by_the_vapor_and_the_temperature in the two pipes
equalized. The superheated steam passing through the space B° may lose some of
its heat in its circuitious route to the mixing chamber and when such is the case it
may be heated by a fire in the furnace.
The superheating steam in the space B is drawn from near the bottom by pipe
D' so that the steam forced in said space will diffuse itself over the whole outer
surface of jacket B. The steam conveyed through pipe D'. is passed through the
pipes D and D7 and drum D8 and out into the chamber B where it is whirled
upwardly to meet the descending and whirling current of vapor forced through
pipe C. The steam and vapor meeting in this manner will become thoroughly
mixed and produce a gas in which all the oil is thoroughly vaporized. This Gas
is then passed through pipe D' which leads to the apparatus where it is used.
If desired the spiral may be dispensed with and tarantula, jets attached to the
mouths of the vapor pipe C. and the drum D said jets will revolve by the pressure
of the vapor and superheated steam and will give. to each a whirling or gyratory
motion.
Having described the generator I will now proceed to describe the means for
superheating the steam applied to said generator and for superheating the steam
adimitted between its jackets. The generator is enclosed in a casing or furnace A
which may be of any desired shape and is provided with a mixing chamber A¹ and
a combustion chamber A2. The mixing chamber is divided into two parts a and a¹.
The part a is provided with a doorway a' for the admission of air. If desired the
walls of the chamber may be provided with apertures for the admission of air to
all sides of the gas supplier. The part a' is properly the mixing chamber and
consists of arches a springing from side to side of the chamber A¹.
These arches are formed of rows of five bricks separated from each other by
retaining bricks a³. The rows in the arch above the lower arch register with the
space between the rows in the top arch register with the spaces between the rows
in the second arch. In other words the rows in the several arches are arranged in
a staggering manner to one another.
The retaining brick as in the different arches are also arranged so as to "break
joint." That is to say the bricks shown in dotted lines in the second arch a' are
on substantially the same line as the space between the retaining brick in the lower,
or upper arch so that the currents of air and gas will be still further broken by the
deflection of the retaining bricks. The air and gas passing through these arches are
thoroughly commingled and burned at the top arch which forms the bottom of the

page_text: are
combustion chamber. The walls of this chamber are lined with fire brick and is of
octagonal shape to bring the corners of the chambers nearer the retort which is
seated in any desired manner in the top of the casing. In the corners
short cross flues or ports connecting the combustion chamber A' with the down
flues A³ which are connected in any desired manner to the flue A leading to a
chimney.
In all of these flues is a superheating drum A heated by the waste products of
combustion which pass downwardly around them.
These drums are provided with a supply pipe a² which opens or terminates near
the top or end of the drum opposite to that which it enters so that the steam will
pass to the exit pipe as in the path of the products of combustion. By this arrange-
ment the steam will constantly be absorbing heat until it passes out through said
pipe a. The drums may be connected together by pipes a so that the steam may
be passed from one drum to the other and thus be more completely rarefied and
superheated without reducing the pressure.
This result is accomplished in the following manner. The steam from the boiler
passes by pipe a¹ and a to the first drum where it expands and escapes to the
second drum by a pipe of the same size as that by which it entered the first drum
and so on through all the drums to pipe which connects it with pipe D2 of the
retort. It will readily be seen that the pressure of the steam in pipe a will force
the steam out of the drum through pipe as at the same pressure as that by which
it entered said drum as the pressure caused by the increased heat of the steam is
compensated for by the expansion allowed for in the drum. In other words if the
drums were a mere continuation of and the same size as the pipes a' the pressure
caused by the expansion of the steam would be augmented to such an extent ns to
render it undesirable. Furthermore the steam could not be heated to as great an
extent in such a device as the pressure caused by the superheating would render
the steam incapable of absorbing a great heat for lack of room to expand in. By
my device the steam can be heated to an extent, only limited by the temperature
of the products of combustion and to such a point that the steam can be readily.
turned into its elemental constituents hydrogen and oxygen by passing it over hot
bricks a much desired result when the steam is used (in addition to vaporizing the
oil) as a vehicle for the carbonaceous vapor which is conveyed to a furnace and
burned.
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 In the art of making gas the method of generating gas from petroleum as and
for the purposes hereinabove set forth.
2nd In a gas generator the combination of two imperforated jackets one within
the other forming a steam space having inlet and outlet pipes which enter through
the cover of said jackets, said cover having supply and exhaust pipes opening into
the mixing chamber formned by said cover and the inner jacket, substantially as
described and for the purpose set forth.
3rd In a gas generator the combination of imperforate jackets B and B2
cover B pipes C D³ D D7 and D2 passing through said cover and a pipe Do
connecting pipes D* substantially as described.
4th In a gas generator the combination of a mixing chamber having a vapor
supply pipe and a vapor exhaust pipe a drum suspended within said mixing
chamber and connected with a steam supply pipe and having an opening connecting
its interior with the mixing chamber and a spiral interposed between the walls of
the jacket and drum and between the opening in said drum and vapor exhaust pipe
substantially as described.
5th In a gas generator the combination of two imperforate jackets one within the
other and forming a chamber and an exhaust pipe extending down through said
chamber below the bottom of the inner jacket for the purpose set forth.

page_text: 6th In a gas generator the combination of two imperforate jackets one within
the other a cover for said Jackets a steam supply pipe passing through said cover
into the space between the jackets an exhaust pipe extending through the cover
and between the jackets à pipe connected to said exhaust pipe and passing through
the cover to near the bottom of the mixing chamber and an exit pipe extending
through the cover from said mixing chamber for the purpose set forth.
7th In a gas generator the combination of two imperforate jackets one within
the other a cover for said jackets a steam supply pipe passing through said cover
and exhaust pipe extending through the cover and between the jackets a pipe
connection through said exhaust pipe and extending through the cover to near the
bottom of the mixing chamber a vapor supply pipe passing through the cover into
the mixing chamber and an exit pipe extending through said cover from said mixing
chamber substantially as described.
8th In a gas generator a steam supply pipe provided with a needle valve and
a diaphragm having a perforation and a fan shaped groove which terminates
at the perforation in combination with an oil supply pipe arranged substantially as
described to drop the oil in said groove for the purpose set forth.
9th In a generator the combination of a mixing chamber having a steam inlet
pipe, a vapor inlet pipe and an exhaust pipe a vapor generator outside of the
mixing chamber and consisting of a steam supply pipe an oil supply pipe opening
into the steam supply pipe a vapor pipe connected to the vapor inlet pipe of the
-mixing chamber-and-to-the-steam-supply-pipe-and-in-which-the-vapor-is-formed-by-
the commingling of the steam and oil and means substantially as described
heating the vapor in said vapor pipe at the moment of vaporization for the purpose
set forth.
for
10th In a gas generator the combination of a mixing chamber a steam supply
pipe having a needle valve an oil supply pipe in connection with the needle valve
a vapor pipe in which the oil and steam are commingled and which leads to the
mixing chamber and a steam jacket surrounding the vapor pipe and having an
outlet which leads to said mixing chamber, substantially as described and for the
purpose set forth.
Dated this 1st day of April 1884.