IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING AND BURNING COMBUSTIBLE GASES FOR HEATING AND LIGHTING PURPOSES
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Frederic John Arnold, of No. 3, Adams Court, Old
Broad Street, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING AND BURNING COMBUSTIBLE GASES FOR HEATING
AND LIGHTING PURPOSES."-A communication from abroad by Thomas
T
Sealed the 16th August 1864, and dated the 19th February 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Frederic John Arnold
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
19th February 1864.
I, FREDERIC JOHN ARNOLD, of No. 8, Adams Court, Old Broad Street, in
the City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING AND BURNING COMBUSTIBLE GASES
FOR HEATING AND LIGHTING PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the construction of apparatus composed mainly
of two chambers situated the one above the other, in the lower of which
chambers steam is decomposed by being there made to pass through heated
coal, melted lead, or other substances that will readily combine with the oxgyen
of steam when heated to a high degree, whilst the hydrogen thus liberated is
made to pass into the upper chamber of the apparatus in which oil or liquid
hydrocarbons are being volatilized by the heat from the lower chamber. The
hydrogen is here made to combine with the carbonaceous gases thus produced,.
and the resulting combustible gases of great heating power are conducted to

page_text: burners situated beneath the apparatus, where by their combustion they pro-
duce the requisite beat or illuminating power for the purposes to which the
apparatus is to be applied, as also for heating the apparatus itself to the
requisite degree for effecting the above described decomposition of the steam
and volatilization of the oil or hydrocarbons.
The construction of the apparatus is capable of being variously modified for
carrying out the above described principles of action; in the arrangement
which I prefer to employ the apparatus consists of a box of wrought iron or
other suitable metal, divided into an upper and a lower chamber by means of a
diaphragm, the two chambers intercommunicating through one or more aper-
tures formed in the latter. The lower chamber is provided with a door that
may be closed in an air-tight manner, through which anthracite coal or other
suitable substance for decomposing the steam is introduced. The steam passes
in through a coil of pipes situated at the bottom of the lower chamber, the
inner end of which coil is perforated so that the steam has to pass through tho
whole length of the coil, thus becoming highly heated before it passes among
the coal or other substance by which it is to be decomposed. Or in place of
employing a coil of pipes a double bottom may be made to the lower chamber,
the space thus formed being provided with a number of partitions so arranged
that the steam has to pass through all divisions before arriving in one central
one provided with perforations for allowing it to pass into the chamber. The
bydrogen resulting from the decomposition of the steam passes into the upper
chamber through the before-mentioned apertures in the diaphragm, and the
upper chamber is connected by means of a pipe to the reservoir for supplying
the oil or liquid hydrocarbons to the same. The combined gases resulting
from the decomposition of the steam and the volatilization of the oil or hydro-
carbons are conveyed to the burners from the upper chamber through a central
tube passing through the lower chamber, which tube is enlarged at a short
distance below the lower chamber, and is connected to a number of radiating
tubes provided with burners, by preference made of the Argand form. An
opening is provided at the bottom of the enlarged portion of the central tube,
closed by a screwed plug, through which opening the tube may be cleared from
time to time from accumulations of carbonaceous deposits.
The upper
chamber is also provided with an opening closed in an air-tight manner for
the same purpose.
When steam cannot readily be procured, small quantities
of water are made to flow into the coil at the bottom of the lower chamber,
which water becomes converted into highly heated steam before passing
among the coal or other material
which it is to be decomposed; and in cases
where the apparatus is employed for heating steam boilers, the pipe for con-

page_text: veying the steam from the latter into the apparatus is provided with a branch,
through which water may be introduced before the steam is raised.
When the gas produced by this apparatus is intended for lighting purposes
instead of for heating, a portion only of the gas produced is burnt immediately
beneath the apparatus for beating the same to the required degree, and the
remainder is conveyed through pipes to wherever required. Or the apparatus
is heated by independent means, such as by an ordinary fire.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Frederic John Arnold in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 18th August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FREDERIC
JOHN, ARNOLD, of No. 3, Adams Court, Old Broad Street, in the City of
London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Frederic John Arnold, Her special licence that I, the said
Frederic John Arnold, my executors,. administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Frederic John Arnold, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING. AND
BURNING COMBUSTIBLE GASES FOR HEATING AND LIGHTING PURPOSES," a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Thomas Arnold, residing at New York, in the
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Frederic John Arnold, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands, and seals, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that J, the said Frederic John Arnold, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same. is.

page_text: to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing,
and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention consists in the construction of apparatus composed mainly of
two chambers situated the one above the other, in the lower of which cham-
bers steam is decomposed by being there made to pass through heated coal,
melted lead, or other substances that will readily combine with the oxygen of
steam when heated to a high degree, whilst the hydrogen thus liberated is
made to pass into the upper chamber of the apparatus, in which oil or liquid
hydrocarbons are being volatilized by the heat from the lower chamber. The
hydrogen is here made to combine with the carbonaceous gases thus produced,
and the resulting combustible gases of great heating power are conducted to
burners situated beneath the apparatus, where by their combustion they·
produce the requisite heat or illuminating power for the purposes to which the
apparatus is to be applied, as also for heating the apparatus itself to the
requisite degree for effecting the above-described decomposition of the steam
and volatilization of the oil or hydrocarbons.
The construction of the apparatus. is capable of being variously modified for
carrying out the above-described principles of action. In the arrangement
which I prefer to employ the apparatus consists of a box of wrought iron or
other suitable metal, divided into an upper and a lower chamber by means of
a diaphragm, the two chambers intercommunicating through one or more
apertures formed in the latter. The lower chamber is provided with a door
that may be closed in an air-tight manner, through which anthracite coal or
other suitable substance for decomposing the steam is introduced. The steam
passes in through a coil of pipes situated at the bottom of the lower chamber,
the inner end of which coil is perforated so that the steam has to pass through
the whole length of the coil, thus becoming highly heated before it passes"
among the coal or other substance by which it is to be decomposed. Or in
place of employing a coil of pipes a double bottom may be made to the lower
chamber, the space thus formed being provided with a number of partitions so
arranged that the steam has to pass through all divisions before arriving in
one central one provided with perforations for allowing it to pass- into the
chamber. The hydrogen resulting from the decomposition of the steam.
passes into the upper chamber through the before-mentioned apertures in the 8
diaphragm, and the upper chamber is connected by means of a pipe to the
reservoir for supplying the oil or liquid hydrocarbons to the same. The com-
bined gases resulting from the decomposition of the steam and the volatili-
zation of the oil or hydrocarbons are conveyed to the burners from the upper

page_text: chamber through a central tube passing through the lower chamber, which
tube is enlarged a short distance below the lower chamber, and is connected to
a number of radiating tubes provided with burners, by preference made of
the Argand form. An opening is provided at the bottom of the enlarged
portion of the central tube, closed by a screwed plug, through which opening.
the tube may be cleared from time to time from accumulations of carbonaceous
deposits. The upper chamber is also provided with an opening, closed in an
air-tight manner, for the same purpose. When steam cannot readily be
procured, small quantities of water are made to flow into the coil at the
bottom of the lower chamber, which water becomes converted into highly-
heated steam before passing among the coal or other material by which it is
to be decomposed; and in cases where the apparatus is employed for heating
steam boilers, the pipe for conveying the steam from the latter into the appa-
ratus is provided with a branch through which water may be introduced before
the steam is raised. When the gas produced by this apparatus is intended
for lighting purposes, instead of for heating, a portion only of the gas produced
is burnt immediately beneath the apparatus for heating the same to the
required degree, and the remainder is conveyed through pipes to wherever
required. Or the apparatus is heated by independent means, such as by an
ordinary fire.
Figure 1 on the accompanying Drawing shows a sectional elevation in
perspective of one arrangement of my improved apparatus.
A is a box, of wrought iron or other suitable metal, divided by the dia-
phragm B into the upper and lower chambers C and D, intercommunicating
through the aperture E; F is the coil of pipes at the bottom of the lower
chamber, into which coil the steam of water enters through the pipe G ; the
inner end of the coil F is perforated, as shewn in the plan of the same at
Figure 2, through which perforations the steam passes into the chamber D
after having become highly heated. The chamber D is filled through the
door H with anthracite coal or other suitable substance for decomposing the
steam, and on first starting such substance is introduced into the chamber D
in a highly heated state. The oil or liquid hydrocarbon passes from the
reservoir I through the pipe J into the upper chamber C, where, on becoming
volatilized by the heat from below, it combines with the hydrogen passing in
from the lower chamber through the aperture E, and the resulting combustible
gas of great heating power passes down the tube K into the radiating tubes
L, L, L, whence it issues through jets l, l, l, and is burnt; k is the plug closing
the end of the tube K, which plug may be removed for cleansing purposes;
and N is a door in the upper chamber C for the same purpose, closed in an.

page_text: air-tight manner. The pipe G is provided with a branch G¹ connecting the
same with a steam boiler, and with a second branch G* connecting the samo
with a reservoir M for supplying water when the steam is not raised in the
boiler. Each of the pipes G1, G2, and J are provided with cocks or valves
9,9, j, for regulating the supply of steam, water, and oil to the apparatus.
This arrangement of my improved apparatus is intended for heating pur-
poses, such as for heating a steam boiler, instead of employing the ordinary
furnace, for which purpose the apparatus would be fixed in the fire-place of
the boiler in any convenient manner. Instead, however, of burning the whole
of the gas produced under the apparatus as shown, only a sufficient quantity
may be there burnt for heating the apparatus to the requisite degree, and the
remainder may be conducted through. a separate pipe from the chamber C to
wherever required for heating or lighting purposes, or the apparatus may be
arranged as shown in sectional elevation at Figure 3. In this, arrangement,
instead of the iron box or receptacle A being heated by the combustion of the
gases produced therein, it is placed inside a fire-brick furnace O and is heated
by means of the fire on the grate P of the latter. The flames pass round in
the flue Qand escape through the pipe R to the chimney. The box A con-
sists, as before, of an upper and lower chamber C and D divided by the
diaphragm B, and intercommunicating through the bent pipe E. Steam or
water is introduced through the pipe 9 into the space S below the false
bottom T, which space is divided by means of partitions in the manner shewn
in dotted lines in the sectional plan at Figure 4, so that the steam has to pass
backwards and forwards over the whole surface of the double bottom, as indi-
cated by the arrows, thus becoming highly heated before entering the middle
partition, and passing theuce into the chamber D through the small apertures
indicated; is the door; closed in an air-tight manner, through which the
chamber D is filled with any suitable material, such as anthracite coal, melted
lead, iron turnings, &c., for decomposing the steam by combining with the
oxygen of the same; J is the pipe for introducing the oil or liquid hydrocarbon
to be volatilized; and K is the pipe through which the combustible gases
resulting from the mixture of the hydrocarbons with the hydrogen from the
decomposed steam are conducted to wherever required for either lighting or
heating purposes; N is the aperture, closed in an air-tight manner, through
which the chamber C may be cleansed from time to time:
Having now described the nature of this Invention, and the best means
I am acquainted with of performing the same, I wish it to be understood that
I do not limit myself to the precise arrangements of the improved apparatus
as herein-before described with reference to the accompanying Drawing, as

page_text: these may be variously modified without departing from the nature of this
Invention, but what I claim is,-
Firstly, constructing apparatus for producing combustible gases for heating
or lighting purposes, consisting of an upper and lower chamber in close con-
tiguity, heated in any suitable manner, in the lower one of which chambers
steam is decomposed by being made to pass through highly heated substances
with which the oxygen of the steam combines, whilst the liberated bydrogen is
made to pass into the upper chamber, there to combine with carbonaceous
gases resulting from the volatilization of oil or liquid hydrocarbons introduced
into such upper chamber, and whence the resulting combustible gases are
conducted through one or more pipes either to burners situated below and
serving to heat the apparatus or to wherever required.
Secondly, the arrangement of apparatus for producing and burning com-
bustible gases as herein-before described with reference to the accompanying
Drawing.
set
In witness whereof, I, the said Frederic John Arnold, have hereunto
hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of August, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
my
FREDERIC JOHN ARNOLD. (L.S.)