IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE HEAT OF CARBONACEOUS SUBSTANCES USED FOR ENRICHING COAL GAS
Year: 1881

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by William Robert Lake at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th April 1881. A communication
from abroad by Ludvig Tredholm, of Stockholm, Sweden.
"
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR REGULATING THE
HEAT OF CARBONACEOUS SUBSTANCES USED FOR ENRICHING COAL GAS."
A communication from abroad by Ludvig Tredholm, of Stockholm, Sweden.
This Invention relates to apparatus in which hydrocarbons or carbonaceous
substances are heated in suitable vessels provided with one or more heating plates
for the purpose of vaporizing the substance in the vessel, in order that the vapors
so produced may combine with coal gas passed through the said vessel, the
whole serving for the production of a strong light by the combustion of the
mixture of gas and vapor at a suitable burner or burners attached to the said
apparatus.
In order to more clearly explain my Invention, I will proceed to describe the
same as applied to the well known "Albo-carbon apparatus." In the latter the gas
passes through a vessel containing heated naphthaline, and mingles with the vapor
thereof, and the mixture so produced, when burnt, gives a much stronger light
than could be obtained from the gas alone. The vessel containing the naphthaline
is heated by its contact with a movable plate arranged directly over the burner
underneath the same, this plate being itself heated by the flame at the said burner.
But it is found that apparatus constructed in this manner require when in use
continuous attention, as the naphthaline is very liable to become overheated, and
then emits smoke and an objectionable smell, which are overcome either gradually
by moving the plate, or more rapidly by extinguishing the flame.
This Invention is designed to provide such an apparatus with simple and effective
devices, whereby the heat imparted to the vessel containing the naphthaline or
other substance used may be automatically regulated or controlled so as to prevent
the inconveniences above named.
In carrying the said Invention into practice, I construct an apparatus as follows,
hat is to say:-
I provide a suitable vessel or reservoir for containing the naphthaline; into this
eservoir and at the bottom thereof is fitted n
200 sunnle ning extending into the

page_text: reservoir nearly to the top thereof. I also provide an exit pipe so fitted into
the reservoir that its end also opens near the top of the said reservoir. The
exit pipe serves as an outlet for the gas when the latter is impregnated with the
naphthaline-vapor, and at the end of the said pipe I provide a burner of suitable
construction.
The reservoir has in its upper part an aperture serving for the introduction of
the naphthaline.
At the outside the reservoir is surrounded by a ring or hoop, from which a plate
extends over the burner. If there is more than one burner, the number of plates
will be increased accordingly.
In apparatus having only one burner, the said ring is open opposite the projecting
heating plate, and the ends are turned outward, thus forming small projections or
lugs which are attached to one or more supports secured to the reservoir, so that
the ring may move as on a hinge or pivot.
The said ring rests partly on a flange extending around the reservoir, and
partly on a projecting plate, the latter being the chief conductor of heat to the
reservoir.
In apparatus with two burners placed opposite to each other, or with a greater
number of burners placed radially around the reservoir, I may dispense with the
above named hinge or pivot arrangement, and in this case the heating plates are
slightly bent upwards and kept at a slight distance from the aforesaid projecting
plates, either by studs or other suitable means.
Where the power for effecting the regulation is to be applied, the ring is bent
upward so as to form an arch, or an arched or knee-piece is attached thereto. In
this arch or knee an adjusting screw is inserted, the purpose of which will presently
appear.
In proximity to the said arch or knee piece the reservoir is recessed so as to
afford space for the other parts of my improved regulating apparatus, which I will
now describe. A tube is provided which extends into the reservoir. This tube
contains an alloy which will melt at from 90° to 100° centigrade; or the said tube
is supplied with some other substance or substances which will expand quickly
under the influence of heat. At the upper end of this tube there is a thin box or
chamber, hermetically closed at the outside thereof, but open to the tube. The
adjusting screw above mentioned bears either directly upon the top of the said box,
or upon a pin or stud fixed thercon ; when the substance in the tube becomes heated
by reason of the rise of temperature in the reservoir, it expands, and the upper part
of the box or chamber on the tube is forced upward, and acts upon the adjusting
screw, thereby raising the ring and with it the arch or knee-piece; the ring is con-
sequently removed from direct contact with the reservoir, and the direct transmission
of heat to the reservoir ceases.
The aforesaid adjusting screw serves to regulate the extent of movement of the
heating plate or plates, which movement must be greater or less according to the
size of the flame, but the said screw must be always so adjusted that the heating
plate will at the proper times be automatically removed further from or brought
nearer to the flame, so as to ensure the proper regulation of the heat in the
reservoir.