IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GENERATING AND PURIFYING GASES FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING PURPOSES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GENERATING AND PURIFYING GASES FOR LIGHTING
AND HEATING PURPOSES."-A communication from abroad by Xavier
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville
Clark at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 16th December 1871.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GENERATING AND
PURIFYING GASES FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING PURPOSES," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to apparatus for purifying hydrogen and
carburetted hydrogen gases, and for producing illuminating gas by
carburetting atmospheric air.

page_text: The purifying apparatus which serves to prevent condensation in the
pipes and burners may be varied in form and arrangement, being
applicable to gas generators generally, but is preferably employed in
combination with self-acting apparatus for producing gas for lighting
and heating purposes by carburetting air as herein-after described.
In order that the Invention, may be more fully understood I have
shown in the annexed Drawing, 1st, the combined gas generating and
purifying apparatus, and, 2ndly, two arrangements of the purifying
apparatus detached.
Figure 1 shows a central vertical section of the combined apparatus,
and Figure 2 a similar view of one arrangement of purifier, Figure 3
being a horizontal section of same.
The purifying apparatus consists of a casing A containing water at a low
temperature, which traverses the metallic tubes B, disposed transversely
or otherwise within an inner casing C. The tubes B communicate with
each other by means of the annular space D, comprised between the two
casings A, C. The inner cylinder C also contains absorbent matters E,
such as carded wool for example; F, pipe by which the gas is introduced
into chamber G at the lower part of the apparatus from any source.
The gas on rising in the cylinder is caused to traverse the absorbent
matters E, in order to deprive it of the denser vapors, which becoming
condensed descend into chamber G, whence they are drawn off by a
cock H. The gas is thus gradually purified as it rises in the apparatus
until it reaches the outlet pipe I, whereby it is conveyed to an apparatus
for raising the temperature, which has been reduced in its passage
through the refrigerator as above described.
This heating apparatus consists of a chamber J of spherical or other
form placed in a heating chamber K, or heated directly in any suitable
manner and provided with a pipe L for the escape of the gas.
Figure 4 shows another arrangement of the purifier, intended more
especially for application on the supply pipes leading to the burners.
This arrangement consists of a metallic chamber M, of circular or other
form, provided with a gas inlet pipe N and outlet O, which is screw-
threaded for uniting with one or more branch pipes conducting the gas
to the burners. The chamber N is fitted with some spongy material for
absorbing any humidity in the gas, the condensed matters passing into

page_text: the lower part r, provided with a draw-off pipe K. This system or
purifier possesses the further advantage that the gases which are not
sufficiently charged become super-carburetted by contact with the
products of condensation contained in the absorbent materials and in
the apparatus.
By means of the gas generating apparatus, Figure 1, herein-before
referred to, I effect the combination or mixture of the vapors of schist,
petroleum, or other matters capable of producing combustible gases or
vapors, with atmospheric air in regulated proportions, which is
introduced by the aid of the draught created by a jet of the vapors
employed. For this purpose I employ a peculiar arrangement of pipes
and valves which will be herein-after described.
A peculiar arrangement of the parts of the apparatus permits the latter
to work in an entirely automatic or self-acting manner, that is to say,
the burner which heats the boiler employed for vaporizing the schist and
petroleum is fed by gas generated in the apparatus itself, and also
permits the intensity of the heat from this burner to be decreased in
proportion as the reservoir of the apparatus fills with the generated
gas, and to increase in proportion as the said reservoir is emptied, so that
the said apparatus always supplies a steady and constant quality of gas,
and finally the air induction valve closes in a self-acting manner when the
reservoir is full. The reservoir of material or liquid for feeding the boiler
a, which produces the jet of vapor, is connected to the said boiler by a
pipe b, provided with a regulating cock c. This reservoir is placed at a
greater height than is necessary to counterbalance the pressure of vapor
which forms the jet, or said reservoir may only be partially filled with
liquid so as to leave a film of air at its upper part, which may be
compressed to any number of atmospheres. The vapor generated from
petroleum, schist, or other liquid or substance employed, escapes from
the boiler a under pressure through a pipe d, terminating in a nozzle
within a similar chamber f. This chamber is in communication with
a tube g open to the atmosphere, and with a second tube h of rather
larger diameter than tube d, with which it coincides in direction. Tube 9
is furnished with two valves, the one i operated by a lever to close it to
the atmosphere as herein-after explained, and the other j placed within
the chamber f. The framing of the apparatus is composed of two vertical
standards k, k, connected at the upper part by a cross piece l; m is a
casing which serves as a support for the boiler a, and confines the heat

page_text: abby g
uses for rynny, 90.
From the foregoing arrangement it will be seen that if the bell has
sufficient gas stored within it to serve for the supply, it remains stationary,
and if the supply of gas contained diminishes it falls, thereby uncovering
a greater number of apertures in tube b¹, and allowing a greater quantity
of gas to be supplied to the burner, the vaporization and consequent
formation of gas being thereby accelerated. The bell rises as the gas is
generated, the water closing the holes or apertures in the same proportion,
whereby less gas will be supplied to the burner so as to gradually lessen
the production or generation of gas in the apparatus.
Finally, when the bell is entirely filled, the holes or apertures pro-
vided in tube b¹ will all be immersed, and no more gas will be supplied
to the burner.
For greater security or safety I dispose upon one of the pipes o,
conjointly with the bell, a small tappet d', which when the latter rises to
the full extent acts on the lever of valve i, and closes the latter to
prevent the introduction of air through pipe g.
From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that the
apparatus has an automatic action.
Instead of making perforations in tube b¹, I may make a slot
throughout its length, the action being the same as before, said slot
being covered more or less by the water to allow of the admission of a
larger or smaller quantity of gas in a given length of time.
If desired the tube 6' may be dispensed with, and a cock or valve
substituted to be actuated by the motion of the bell, or the latter may
act on a flexible pipe for regulating the supply, or the tube b¹ may be
further arranged with a conical end fitting in a socket for regulating the
gas supply.
Instead of water other liquids or fluids not liable to freeze, such as
wine, alcohol, quicksilver, or glycerine, may be employed for preventing
the escape of gas.
By means of this improved apparatus the whole of the utilizable
properties may be extracted from light or volatile liquids by distillation,
and I thus avoid the intermittent action to which other apparatus are
liable, when operating in a cold state, as in these cases there always
remains a sediment containing matters which are utilizable by dis-
tillation.

page_text: The gas produced in the above manner may be employed for illuminating
light-houses, beacons, railway carriages, and otherwise, and for heating
steam boilers, cooking, and other heating purposes, by means of jets of
vapors of petroleum, schist, or other matters which on being projected
into a larger tube induce a a current of air for carburetting the latter in
the manner herein-before described.
The gas produced in the above manner may be employed for illuminating
light-houses, beacons, railway carriages, and otherwise, and for heating
steam boilers, cooking, and other heating purposes, by means of jets of
vapors of petroleum, schist, or other matters which on being projected
into a larger tube induce a a current of air for carburetting the latter in
the manner herein-before described.
The quantity of air admitted and to be mixed with a given quantity of
vapor is regulated by varying the position of the nozzle of injector d
with wound to the lexan air tube blonding to the holl
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th June 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Alexander Melville Clark,
Her special licence that, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Alexander Melville Clark, 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 "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR GENERATING AND
PURIFYING GASES FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING PURPOSES," a communication
to me from abroad by Xavier Moussard, of 13, Boulevart St. Martin,
Paris, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander
Melville Clark,, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the

page_text: said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):
--
This Invention relates to apparatus for purifying hydrogen and
carburetted hydrogen gases, and for producing illuminating gas by
carburetting atmospheric air.
The purifying apparatus which serves to prevent condensation in the
pipes and burners may be varied in form and arrangement, being
applicable to gas generators generally, but is preferably employed in
combination with self-acting apparatus for producing gas for lighting
and heating purposes by carburetting air as herein-after described.
In order that the Invention may be more fully understood, I have
shown in the annexed Drawings, 1st, the combined gas generating and
purifying apparatus, and 2ndly, two arrangements of the purifying
apparatus detached.
Figure 1 shows a central vertical section of the combined apparatus,
and Figure 2 a similar view of one arrangement of purifier, Figure 3
being a horizontal section of same.
The purifying apparatus consists of a casing A containing water
at a low temperature, which traverses the metallic tubes B, disposed
transversely or otherwise within an inner casing C. The tubes B com-
municate with each other by means of the annular space D comprised
between the two casings A, C. The inner cylinder C also contains
absorbent matters E, such as carded wool for example. F, pipe by
which the gas is introduced from any source into chamber G at the
lower part of the apparatus. The gas on rising in the cylinder is caused
to traverse the absorbent matters E, in order to deprive it of the denser
5 vapors, which becoming condensed descend into chamber G, whence
they are drawn off by a cock H. The gas is thus gradually purified as

page_text: it rises in the apparatus until it reaches the outlet pipe I, whereby it is
conveyed to an apparatus for raising the temperature, which has been
reduced in its passage through the refrigerator as above described.
This heating apparatus consists of a chamber J, of spherical or other
form placed in a heating chamber K, or heated directly in any suitable
manner, and provided with a pipe L for the escape of the gas.
Figure 4 shows another arrangement of the purifier, intended more
especially for application on the supply pipes leading to the burners.
This arrangement consists of a metallic chamber M, of circular or other
form, provided with a gas inlet pipe N and outlet O, which is screw-
threaded for uniting with one or more branch pipes conducting the gas
to the burners. The chamber M is filled with some spongy material
for absorbing any humidity in the gas, the condensed matters passing
into the lower part P provided with a draw-off pipe R. This system of
purifier possesses the further advantage that the gases which are not
sufficiently charged become supercarburetted by contact with the
products of condensation contained in the absorbent materials and in
the apparatus.
By means of the gas generating apparatus, Figure 1, herein-before
referred to, I effect the combination or mixture of the vapors of schist,
petroleum, or other matters capable of producing combustible gases or
vapors with atmospheric air in regulated proportions, which is introduced
by the aid of the draught created by a jet of the vapors employed. For
this purpose I employ an arrangement of pipes and valves which will be
herein-after described.
A peculiar arrangement of the parts of the apparatus permits the
latter to work in an entirely automatic or self-acting manner, that is to
say, the burner which heats the boiler employed for vaporizing the
schist and petroleum is fed by gas generated in the apparatus itself, and
also permits the intensity of the heat from this burner to be decreased in
proportion as the reservoir of the apparatus fills with the generated gas,
and to increase in proportion as the said reservoir is emptied, so that
the said apparatus always supplies a steady and constant quality of gas,
and finally the air induction valve closes in a self-acting manner when
the reservoir is full. The reservoir of material or liquid for feeding the
boiler a, which produces the jet of vapor, is connected to the said boiler
by a pipe 6 provided with a regulating cock c. This reservoir is placed at

page_text: a greater height than is necessary to counterbalance the pressure of
vapor which forms the jet, or said reservoir may only be partially
filled with liquid, so as to leave a film of air at its upper part which may
be compressed to any number of atmospheres. The vapors generated
from petroleum, schist, or other liquid or substance employed escapes
from the boiler a under pressure through a pipe d, terminating in a
nozzle within a similar chamber f. This chamber f is in communication
with a tube g open to the atmosphere and with a second tube / of rather
larger diameter than tube d with which it coincides in direction. Tube g
is furnished with two valves, the one i operated by a lever to close it to
the atmosphere as herein-after explained, and the other placed within
the chamber f. The framing of the apparatus is composed of two
vertical standards k, k, connected at the upper part by a cross piece /;
m is a casing which serves as a support for the boiler a, and confines the
heat from the burner to the sides of the boiler, to every part of which it
has free access; n is the chimney; o is a chamber filled with pumice
stone, coke, cotton waste, felt, or other absorbent. This chamber is
provided with diaphragms or curtains p which detain the gas and
prolong its circulation. q, r, are pipes in communication with chamber o.
The pipe q is connected to the cross piece through which piper passes
and forms an escape or eduction pipe for the gas generated; this pipe is
connected to pipe F which conducts the gases to the purifier, as shown
by the Drawings. 8 is a burner for heating the boiler a.
The waste heat may be utilized, as shown in in Figures 1 and 2, for
heating the chamber J of the gas superheater, which receives the gas
on their exit from the refrigerator, as herein-before described. t is a bell
chamber sustained in addition to the pressure of the gas by counter-
weights u, u. On this chamber t are mounted pipes v sliding tele-
scopically within other pipes x, firmly secured to the cross piece 7, the
space between being filled with water to prevent the escape of gas. y is
a tube connected to chamber t for conducting the gas to the burner.
This tube y slides telescopically within tube a¹ of the burner, both being
enclosed by an outer tube z. Tube a¹ is carried by the cross piece l,
and contains another tube 6' perforated throughout its length. is a
horizontal pipe connecting the pipes v, z, v, to maintain the same level
of water within each.

page_text: vaporized in boiler a, whence the vapor escapes by the tube d, through
the nozzle of which it is injected into chamber ƒ. The jet of vapor
passing into tube h induces a current of atmospheric air within tube g,
the air and vapor passing together through pipe q into chamber o filled
with absorbent material, whence the mixture of air and vapor escapes
through the outlet pipe r. The chamber o is provided with perforations
through which the gas enters the bell chamber t, which rises in pro-
portion as the gas is produced or generated; this bell t has also a water
joint to prevent leakage and wear. A small quantity of gas escapes
from the bell t through pipe y to supply the burner 8, passing out
through the perforations in pipe b¹ which are above the level of the
water, and thence into the annular space between this tube b¹ and the
outer one a¹ until it finally reaches burner 8.
From the foregoing arrangement it will be seen that if the bell has
sufficient gas stored within it to serve for the supply it remains stationary,
and if the supply of gas contained diminishes it falls, thereby uncovering
a greater number of apertures in tube ³, and allowing a greater quantity
of gas to be supplied to the burner, the vaporization and consequent
formation of gas being thereby accelerated. The bell rises as the gas
generated, the water closing the holes or apertures in the same pro-
portion, whereby less gas will be supplied to the burner so as to
gradually lessen the production or generation of gas in the apparatus.
is
Finally when the bell is entirely filled, the holes or apertures provided
in tube b' will all be immersed and no more gas will be supplied to the
burner.
For greater security or safety I dispose upon one of the pipes v,
conjointly with the bell, a small tappet d', which when the latter rises to
the full extent acts on the lever of valve i, and closes the latter to
prevent the introduction of air through pipe g.
From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that the
apparatus has an automatic action.
Instead of making perforations in tube b¹ I may make a slot through-
out its length, the action being the same as before, said slot being
covered more or less by the water to allow of the admission of a larger
or smaller quantity of gas in a given length of time.
If desired the tube b¹ may be dispensed with and a cock or valve

page_text: substituted, to be actuated by the motion of the bell, or the latter may
act on a flexible pipe for regulating the supply, or the tube 6¹ may be
further arranged with a conical end fitting in a socket for regulating the
gas supply.
Instead of water other liquids or fluids not liable to freeze, such as
wine, alcohol, quicksilver, or glycerine, may be employed for preventing
the escape of gas.
By means of this improved apparatus the whole of the utilizable
properties may be extracted from light or volatile liquids by distillation,
and I thus avoid the intermittent action to which other apparatus
are liable when operating in a cold state, as in these cases there
always remains a sediment containing matters which are utilizable by
distillation.
The gas produced in the above manner may be employed for
illuminating lighthouses, beacons, railway carriages, and otherwise, and
for heating steam boilers, cooking and other heating purposes, by means
of jets of vapors of petroleum, schist, or other matters, which on being
projected into a larger tube induce a current of air for carburetting the
latter in the manner herein-before described.
The quantity of air admitted and to be mixed with a given quantity
of vapor is regulated by varying the position of the nozzle of injector a
with regard to the larger air tube h leading to the bell.
The superheater J before referred to may be placed beneath the
boiler a, so that by reason of the higher temperature thus obtainable
the vapors may be decomposed and the gas produced in a permanent
state, that is to say, deprived of all heavy vapors (and therefore non-
condensable) whereby a maximum flow may be obtained.
Having described the nature of the Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
-
1st. The construction and use of improved apparatus for purifying
hydrogen and carburetted hydrogen gases, in which the gas is deprived
of the denser vapors by passing it through absorbent matters contained
in a refrigerator (which condensed vapors also serve if necessary to
supercarburet the poorer portions of the gas), the purified or super-
carburetted gas being then supplied for consumption with or without

page_text: being previously passed through a superheater, all as herein-before
described and shown in the Drawings.
2ndly. I claim the arrangement of purifier shown in Figure 3,
specially applicable to the supply pipes leading to the burners.
3rdly. I claim the combination and arrangement of parts shown in 5
Figure 1, constituting the improved apparatus for producing gas for
lighting and heating purposes by carburetting air, and also for purifying
the said gas, all as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of June, 1
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-two.