Improvements in the Process of and Apparatus for Carburetting Air.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Jan., 1896
Complete Specification Left, 12th Oct., 1896-Accepted, 13th Jan., 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Process of and Apparatus for Carburetting Air.
I, AUGUSTE DEVIS, of Charleroi, Bosquetville, Belgium, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to a carburetting apparatus by which petroleum or similar
mineral oil is reduced by atomization to a fine dust and mixed with air. Heating
furnaces and boilers are therefore dispensed with and no danger of explosion or
fire is to be feared. The gas produced possesses all the qualities of coal gas and
may be used for lighting and other purposes.
The carburetting apparatus consists of an atomizer in combination with two
bells plunging into water tanks. One of these bells is raised after each descent
by means of an hydraulic motor whereby air is sucked in by a valve provided at
the upper part of said bell and is forced through the atomizer in an intermittent
manner. The other bell, on the contrary, is intended for maintaining an uniform
pressure in the gas pipes and for receiving at each stroke a sufficient provision of
air to feed the gas pipes during the raising of the first mentioned bell. Conse-
quently the pressure with which the air. is forced into the atomizer is entirely
independent of the pressure existing in the gas pipes and is so calculated as to
produce the atomization of the liquid.
The hydraulic motor is entirely self acting and consists of two hydraulic
cylinders the pistons of which are connected by rods with the first mentioned bell,
in combination with an admission cock and a discharge cock, which cocks are
alternately opened and closed by the following mechanism :-
A rod is drawn downwards during the descent of the first mentioned bell by a
projection on the latter and pushes by means of an eccentric double hook a weighted
lever a little beyond the vertical. This weighted lever by falling down the other
side will strike against a pin projecting from a bell crank lever and thereby turn
the latter. Now the weighted lever is mounted loosely on the common axis of the
before mentioned admission and discharge cocks, whereas the bell crank lever is
firmly secured to the same so that this latter by turning will open the admission
cock and shut the discharge. Consequently water is admitted through a pipe
into the hydraulic cylinders and the bell connected therewith will ascend. During
this notion the rod which operates the eccentric double hook is also raised and
pushes with the said eccentric double hook the weighted lever beyond the vertical
line, which latter by falling back into the first position will strike against a second
pin on the bell crank lever and turn the latter in the other direction whereby the
admission cock is opened and the discharge cock is closed. The bell connected
with the hydraulic motor is now descending by its own weight and the air sucked
in through its valve is forced through a pipe into the atomizer. The admission
and discharge cocks are ordinary water cocks with screw threads of quick pitch
and the admission of 'yater is regulated so that the lifting of one bell takes about
the same time as the other bell would require to sink. The rod which operates the
weighted lever may, instead of being raised by the air sucking and forcing bell, be
raised during the descent of the other bell by means of a projection fixed thereto
and a two armed lever or suitable link work."
The atomizer consists of a receptacle situated under the water tank of the bell
connected with the hydraulic motor and divided into four compartiments by

page_text: partitions. Each compartment is again divided by a perforated plate or wire
gauze into two sections of which the upper one contains cotton fibres or other
thread like material, and the lower one a certain quantity of petroleum into which
plunges a box having a serrated edge and being divided by a wire cloth or
perforated plate so as to have the shape of a sieve closed on top. These latter
are connected by tubes with a battery in such a manner that the air current is
obliged to pass alternately through a sieve and a layer of cotton fibres. The
process is therefore as follows:→
The air passes through the tube into the first sieve atomizes the oil which
moistens or wets the same and traverses the layer of cotton which is intended to
retain the particles not sufficiently atomized in the shape of dew, until they are
entirely atomized. The air current then passes through a pipe into a second sieve
and atomizes a new portion of petroleum, and so on, and arrives finally in the
last compartment from whence the carburetted air enters through a pipe a second
receptacle situated under the water tank of the bell connected with the main gas
pipes. The inner arrangement of this atomizer corresponds exactly with that
already described with the only difference that the carburetted air is led from the
last compartment by a tube into the main gas pipe and the surplus through a pipe
into the last mentioned bell.
It may be observed that the sieve boxes may be also replaced by a network
of perforated tubes and that they may be arranged above each other instead of
horizontally.
In order to maintain the mineral oil at the same height in the different
compartments of the atomizer cocks are employed communicating with a
petroleum reservoir said cocks being opened by means of a float as soon as the
level falls.
The present apparatus has great capacity yet occupies but little space. In cases
where hydraulic pressure is not at hand the motive power may be obtained by a
small gas engine which is fed with carburetted air and forces the air into the
atomizers by means of an air pump or a ventilator.
Dated this 13th day of January 1896.
E. P. ALEXANDER & SON,
Chartered Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Filing Agents.
I, AUGUSTE DEVIS, of Charleroi, Bosquet ville, Belgium, 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:-
This invention relates to a carburetting apparatus by which petroleum or similar
mineral oil is reduced by atomization to a fine dust and mixed with air. Heating
furnaces and boilers are therefore dispensed with and no denger of explosion is to
be feared. The gas produced possesses all the qualities of coal gas and may be
used for lighting and other purposes.
The carburetting apparatus consists of an atomizer in combination with two
bells plunging into water tanks. One of these bells is raised after each descent
by means of an hydraulic motor whereby air is sucked in by a valve provided at
the upper part of said bell and is forced through the atomizer in an intermittent
The other bell, on the contrary, is intended for maintaining an uniform

page_text: pressure in the gas pipes and for receiving at each stroke a sufficient provision of
air to feed the gas pipes during the raising of the first mentioned bell. Conse-
quently the pressure with which the air is forced into the atomizer is entirely
independent of the pressure existing in the gas pipes and is so calculated as to
produce the atomization of the liquid.
The hydraulic motor is entirely self acting and consists of two hydraulic
cylinders m m Fig. 1 the pistons of which are connected by rods n with the first
mentioned bell in combination with an admission cock 7 and a discharge cocks,
Fig. 6, which cocks are alternately opened and closed by the following
mechanism :-
A rod v is drawn downwards during the descent of the bell by a projection w
on the latter and pushes by means of an eccentric double hook y y 1, Fig. 7, a
weighted lever u a little beyond the vertical. This weighted lever by falling
down the other side will strike against a pin 2 projecting from a bent lever z and
thereby turn the latter. Now the weighted lever u is mounted loosely on the
common axis of the admission and discharge cocks g s, whereas the bent lever z is
firmly secured to the same so that this latter by turning will open the admission
cock and shut the discharge s. Consequently water is admitted through a piper
into the hydraulic cylinders m m and the bell connected therewith will ascend.
During this motion the rod v which operates the eccentric double hook y 1 is also
raised and pushes with the said eccentric double hook y 1 the weighted lever u
beyond the vertical line, which latter by falling back into the first position will
strike against a second pin z 1 on the bent lever z and turn the latter in the other
dircction whereby the admission cock q is closed and the discharge cock s is opened.
The bell connected with the hydraulic motor is now descending by its own
weight and the air sucked in through its valve t is forced through a pipe into
the atomizer. The admission and discharge cocks qs are ordinary water cocks
with screw threads of quick pitch and the admission of water is regulated by a
cock Fig. 1 operated by a rod i and a bar i2 attached to the bell so that the
lifting of one bell takes about the same time as the other bell would require to
sink. The rod v which operates the weighted lever u may, instead of being
raised by the air sucking and forcing bell, be raised during the descent of the
other bell by means of a projection fixed thereto and a two armed lever or suitable
link work.
The atomizer consists of a receptacle a situated inside the water tank e (Figs. 2
and 4) of the bell f divided by two perforated plates or wire gauzes b b1 into
three sections of which the middle one c contains cotton fibres or other thread
like material, and the lower one a certain quantity of petroleum into which
plunges a box d 1 having a serrated edge and being divided by a wire cloth or
perforated plate so as to have the shape of a sieve closed on top. This latter
communicates with the tube in such a manner that the air current is obliged
to pass through the sieve d1 and the layer of cotton fibres c.
The process is
therefore as follows:-
The air passes through the tube into the sieve d1 atomizes the oil which
moistens or wets the same and traverses the layer of cotton which is intended to
retain the particles not sufficiently atomized in the shape of dew, until they are
entirely atomized. The air current then passes through a pipe g into a
gasometer 1 and from thence through a pipe g1 into a gas pressure regulator j
and into the main gas pipe; 1. The pipes and g 1 are provided with retaining
valves which are protected against the fluctuations of the water level by a
cylindrical jacket h Fig. 1 filled partly with water.
Figs. 3 and 5 show a modification of the atomizer in which the sieve box d 1 is
replaced by a series of small tubes d2 and x 2. The tubes d 2 communicate with
a space d containing petroleum and the tubes 2 with the space a 1 into which
enters the air pipex. The air by passing through the tubes 2 at each stroke of
the bell attracts at the same time the mineral oil through the tubes d2 and
reduces the same to a very fine dust.

page_text: In order to maintain the mineral oil at a uniform height in the atomizer, a
cock is employed communicating with a petroleum reservoir p (Fig. 9), said cock
being opened as soon as the level falls, by means of a float lodged in an enlarged
portion of the space d, Fig. 8.
The present apparatus has great capacity yet occupies but little space. In
cases where hydraulic pressure is not at hand, the motive power may be obtained
by a small gas engine which is fed with carburetted air and forces air into the
atomizer by means of an air pump or a ventilator.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. The process of carburetting air by means of petroleum or other mineral oil,
by forcing an intermittent current of air through a series of indentations or
perforations, tubes or injectors, plunging into the liquid, so that they act as
ejectors and atomize the liquid, layers of fibrous material serving to retain the
insufficiently atomized particles substantially as described.
2. An apparatus for carrying out the claimed process, consisting of an air
sucking and forcing bell which is raised by hydraulic cylinders m m and sucks
in air and which by descending, forces this air into an atomizer or carburetter a
which is lodged within or connected with a second bell f for the reception of the
-carburetted air, substantially as described and illustrated.
3. In combination with the carburetting apparatus claimed in the second claim,
the automatic distribution of the hydraulic motor consisting of a charged lever u
Figs. 6 and 7, which is raised beyond the vertical by means of an excentric double
hook y y 1 and a rod v operated by the bell I, and which by falling turns the key z
of the admission and discharge cocks q and s; said key being shaped like a bent
lever and provided with two projections = 1 and z 2, substantially as described and
illustrated.
4. The special construction of the atomizer consisting of a sieve box d1,
Figs. 2 and 4, having a serrated edge plunging into the liquid and communicating
with the air pipe x, and the modification of the same represented in Figs. 3 and 5
consisting of a series of small pipes x 2 communicating with the air space a 1 and
a series of pipes d 2 plunging into the mineral oil space d and joining their upper
ends, the outlet of the tubes a 2, so that the air jets passing through the latter
shall aspirate at the same time the oil from the tubes d 2 and atomize the same,
all substantially as described and illustrated.
5. The combination of the atomizer with a gasometer bell f1 and with a pressure
regulator j substantially as represented in Fig. 1 of the drawings.
Toted this 1011
E. P. ALEXANDER & SON,
Chartered Patent Agents,
19, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agents.