New or Improved Method of Producing or Increasing the Efficiency of Motor Fluids.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Nov., 1892-Accepted, 17th Dec., 1892
COMPLETE DIECIFICATION..
New or Improved Method of Producing or Increasing the Efficiency
of Motor Fluids.
I, WILLIAM LAWRENCE SAUNDERS of the City of North Plainfield, County
of Somerset, State of New Jersey, United States of America, Civil Engineer,
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 has reference to a method for increasing the efficiency of com-
pressed air as a motor fluid, and has for its object to restore to the compressed air
the full measure of heat which it has lost through compression and transmission,
and furthermore, to so increase the temperature of the compressed air as applied to
an engine that, when it is expanded and exhausted in the cylinders and valves, its
temperature will not be reduced below the freezing point.
.
Various means have been devised for re-heating compressed air, principally with
a view of preventing its freezing in exhaust ports of engines. Such means have
been through external application of heat, by surrounding the air pipes with steam;
or hot water, or by passing the pipes through the flue of a furnace. Experiments
have also been made to this. end by passing compressed air through hot water for
the purpose of increasing its temperature, but, in all the devices previously
employed, the addition of heat is too expensive to materially reduce the cost of
compressed air. In all cases of external application of heat, if it is done thoroughly,
it must be done at considerable loss in caloric, inasmuch as a large part of the heat
is lost through the chimney, and besides, these devices involve coils of pipe which
add to the friction of transmission. This system of interual heating is subject to
none of these objections, in that every heat unit produces its best result in power
through its expansive effect upon the air..
:
ان
A form of apparatus embodying the invention is shown. in the accompanying
companying
drawings, in which :-
"
:
Figure 1 is a view showing an arrangement of apparatus adapted to carry out
this invention:
Figure 2 an enlarged sectional detail view showing more clearly how the heating
of the air may be effected: and
Figure 3 a diagrammatic view illustrating the application of the invention to a
number of different purposes for which it is adapted.
Figure 1 shows the air compressor.. 1, connected by a pipe B to one side of a
retort, drum or receiver A, suitably mounted and supported, and from the opposite
side of which extends a delivery pipe B', leading to the engine 2 to be driven.
The drum A is desirably located near to the engine or engines to be operated by
the heated air or gas. Figure 2 more clearly shows the receiver A, upon which is
mounted a tank or retort C, adapted to contain oil, gas, or any other suitable
inflammable fluid, and closed by a removable cap f. A burner D, preferably similar
in construction to a gasoline burner, is located in the lower part of the chamber of
the receiver, and with said burner connects the tube d, leading from the tank C,
said tube being adapted to supply oil to said burner in quantities controlled by the
valve e interposed in said tube. A second tube d¹ taps the air pipe B, and com-
municates with the upper part of tank C, the air pressure exerted within said tank
being controlled by a valve e'. F is an electric battery, from the poles of which
extend wires having their terminals, or a thin strip of filament attached
thereto, placed over the burner D. The character of the battery is immaterial so
long as it gives a spark or will heat the filament to incandescence above the burner D,
to start the flame when required.

page_text: In the air under pressure, there will be an overcharge of carbon, which will
readily unite with the carbon in' the oil, and, a spark being generated, the mixture
will readily ignite and produce a flame. This abundance of oxygen will maintain
a high combustion in the chamber A, converting a portion of the oxygen into
carbonic acid, which, together with the compressed air, is conveyed through pipe B
to the engine. The flow of oil and the intensity of combustion are regulated
by valve e.
The re-action which takes place in the compressed air chamber is represented
as follows:-
C + O₂ = CO₂..
Where C represents an atom of carbon which combines with two atoms of
oxygen, the result is the production of carbonic acid gas. This is accomplished
by no loss in volume through what might be termed burning of the air.
Thomas Box, in his treatise on heat, says: pages 66-67, paragraph 78':
"When oxygen and carbon combine, the volume of the carbonic acid gas formed
is nearly the same as that of the oxygen consumed. When, therefore, a combustible
contains carbon only, the volume of gas in the chimney is the same as that of
the air entering the fire, expanded, of course, to the volume due to the increased
temperature, the oxygen consumed having been replaced by the same volume of
carbonic acid gas. The nitrogen in the air is passive, passing through the fire
without chemical alteration."
:
It being established that a flame burning in compressed air does not reduce the
volume through. combustion, the increase of volume through expansion due to heat
will be readily understood by reference to the tabulated statement contained in the
work of Box, mentioned.
In the case of common gasoline, which is found to be well adapted to the present
purpose, hydrogen is to be dealt with, the gasoline being hydrocarbon. The direct
influence of the hydrocarbon is to still further increase the volume of the resultant,
in that two atoms of hydrogen from the oil will. combine with one atom of oxygen
from the air, producing H,O or water. This water, on account of the high
temperature, will be in a state of vapour.
'
It is well understood by pneumatic engineers that thermal vapour is much more
susceptible to expansion through heat than dry air. It is not proposed in all cases
to use the air at a very high temperature, but in any case the gain in heating will
be important as effecting increased volume and reduced liability to freezing.
In carrying out the invention, it has been found that the method of internal
heating can be used for the generation of an inflammable gas suitable for heating
and cooking purposes,, and which can be piped to the point of consumption. The
reaction which takes place when the flame burns in atmospheric air is a combination
of carbon and oxygen. If that combination is complete, as in the case of the Bunsen
burner, CO, is produced or carbonic acid gas, but, where the supply of carbon
exceeds that of oxygen, CO is produced or carbonic oxide gas. Carbonic gas is not
inflammable, while carbonic oxide gas is. In the compressed air chamber A, the
supply of carbon and oxygen can relatively be controlled, so. that carbonic oxide
gas would be produced, which, going along with the oxygen in the air, would form
a very useful gas for heating or cooking as stated.
each atom of carbon is represented in the product which is contained in the pipe,
the production of this gas will be an economical one.
Inasmuch as the full value of
It will be understood, from the foregoing description of the combinations, nature,
and some of the results of the invention, that, by varying the amount of hydro-
carbon furnished to the burner in the chamber A, a resultant is produced which is
either inflammable or not, as desired, and it is intended to utilise such capability to
its fullest extent.
.
Where the supply of hydrocarbon to the retort or chamber A is such as to
produce carbonic acid gas, the same may be piped to heating stoves or the like, or
may be supplied to explosion engines, commonly known as gas engines, or to caloric

page_text: engines, and, with this end in view, a convenient means of securing a variety of
results from a single air compressing plant is indicated in the diagram, Figure 3, in
which the main air supply pipe B is bifurcated and the branches B'B' are furnished
with separate retorts A'A', each of which may be supplied with a proper quantity
of hydrocarbon to produce a resultant gas having the necessary qualifications for the
desired use.
The branch B', as indicated, supplies carbonic acid
engines, for example, a pumping engine 2, and a drilling engine 3, while the
branch B is arranged to be supplied with carbonic oxide gas, which may be
utilised for power or heat, as indicated by the stove 4, and gas engine 5 in
connection therewith.
gas to
any
kind of
It is well known that the exhaust from a drilling or other engine supplied with
heated carbonic acid gas would, in a confined space, so vitiate the atmosphere as to
render the same extremely unwholesome and the escaping carbonic gas is therefore
led off from confined spaces through an exhaust pipe communicating with the open
air or by passing the exhaust through, or combining the same with, substances or
agents which would neutralize the objectionable effects. The products of the
combustion of the carbonic oxide gas are disposed of in any usual or convenient
manner.
This improved method can be fully accomplished in a single chamber, but it must
be understood that, in some instances, as for example, when the air being treated is
under very high pressure, good results may be secured by employing a number of
retorts or chambers connected in series, supplying each with a flame and subjecting
the air successively to their action. The use of a number of retorts, each supplied
with a small flame, would reduce the possibility of explosion of the mixture, and
this is claimed as a modification of the method.
The invention is not confined to the use of any particular combustible, nor is it
limited to any special form of apparatus in which the heating or burning of the air
takes place.
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 method of increasing the efficiency of compressed air for use as a motive
power at a distance from the compressor, the same consisting in delivering
compressed air through the line pipe to a point near the point of consumption where
the heat of compression is dissipated, then applying heat to said cooled air by
direct contact therewith within the pipe, and then supplying the heated air to a
translating device or devices.
2. The method of increasing the efficiency of compressed air for use as a motive
power at a distance from the compressor, the same consisting in delivering
compressed air to a line pipe, conveying said air through the line pipe to a point
near the point of consumption, whereby the heat of compression is dissipated, then
bringing said cooled air in contact with a flame within the line pipe and then
supplying the heated air to a translating device or devices.
3. The method of producing motor fluid consisting in bringing air under pressure
in direct contact with a hydrocarbon flame and varying the supply of hydrocarbon
to produce carbonic acid, or carbonic oxide gas.
Dated this 14th day of November 1892
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.