AN IMPROVED METHOD IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING GASES FROM MINERAL OILS, AND EMPLOYING THE SAME FOR ILLUMINATING PURPOSES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Sim, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD
IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING GASES FROM MINERAL OILS,
AND EMPLOYING THE SAME FOR ILLUMINATING PURPOSES."
Sealed the 23rd June 1865, and dated the 5th February 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Sim at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th February
1865.
I, WILLIAM SIM, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD
OF AND IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING GASES PROM MINERAL OILS,
AND EMPLOYING THE SAME FOR ILLUMINATING PURPOSES," to be as follows, that
to say:-
This'. Invention relates chiefly to the employment of the gases produced by
vaporization of mineral oils for illuminating purposes so as to be used as
substitules for coal gas, and it is intended chiefly to employ these in lieu of.
the latter in places to which it is difficult and expensive to convey the coal
from which the gas is extracted.
One kind of apparatus for producing the gas, consists of a vessel to hold the
oil, from the bottom or sides of which a tube or tubes project, through which
[Price 8d.]

page_text: the oil is led by its gravitating power or otherwise, and in falling drops upon
a heated plate of metal, earthenware, or other suitable material contained in
an air-tight vessel; upon. coming into contact with the plate it is vaporized,
and the gas thus formed is drawn upward into a gasholder, from which it is
conveyed by pipes or ducts to places where it may require to be burnt, as coal
gas ordinarily is. Instead of vaporizing only a drop or drops of oil at a time.
a quantity of it may be placed in a suitable vessel or holder, and vaporized
by heat from a suitable fire, after which it is led away to a gasholder, and
thence to be burnt, as described in reference to the former modification.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Sim in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd
August 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
SIM, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign. did, for Herself. Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Sim. Her special license that I, the said William Sim, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I. the said William
Sim, my executors. administrators, or 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 "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND
IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR EXTRACTING GASES FROM MINERAL OILS, AND
EMPLOYING THE SAME FOR ILLUMINATING PURPOSE:," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Sim. by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, 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 immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Sim. do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,

page_text: figures marked thereon, that is to say:- i
My said Invention relates to the employment of the gases produced by the
vaporization of mineral oils for illuminating purposes, to be used as substitutes
for coal gas, and it is intended chiefly to employ these in lieu of the latter in
places whither it is difficult and expensive to carry the coal from which the
gas is extracted.
One kind of apparatus for producing the gas consists of a vessel to hold the
oil, from the bottom or sides of which a tube or tubes project, through which
the oil is led by its gravitating power or otherwise, and in falling drops, or is
projected upon a heated plate, retort, or vaporizer made of metal, earthen-
ware, or other suitable material: upon coming into contact with the heated
material it is vaporized, and the gas thus formed is carried through an
hydraulic main, washers, and purifiers into a gasholder. from which it is con-
veyed by pipes or ducts to places where it may require to be burnt, as coal
gas ordinarily is. Instead of vaporizing only a drop or drops of oil at a time,
a quantity of it may be placed in a suitable vessel or holder, and vaporized
by the heat from a suitable fire, after which it is led away to a gasholder, and
thence to be burnt, as described in reference to the former modification.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe one system, mode, or manner in or
under which the same is or may be used or practically carried into effect.
reference being had to the several Figures upon the explanatory Sheet of
Drawings which I have hereunto appended, and in which similar parts are
indicated by corresponding letters of reference, that is to say :-
Figure is a transverse section of the apparatus for converting the
hydrocarbon oils into gas, taken on the line A, A, Figure 2: Figure 2 is a
lengitudinal section on the line B. B. Fig. 1; Figures 3 and 4 are respectively
end and side elevations..
In all the Figures, the retort marked A is that in which the oil is first
converted into gas, the temperature of the retort A being only just sufficient to
vaporize the oil: the gaseous hydrocarbon vapour thus formed is at once'
conveyed to the second retort. B by means of the pipe C. and the second
retort B is raised to a much higher heat for the purpose of converting the
hydrocarbon vapour into a permanent gas: by means of this peculiar arrange-
ment of retorts, when crude oil is used, some portions of the oil, which would
be otherwise advantageously employed, are not distilled over. but remain in
the first retort, out of which they are extracted as required. The gas as soon
as made is conveyed by the pipe D to the hydraulic main E, and thence by

page_text: the pipe F to the washers and purifiers, not shown in the Drawings. Arranged
over the first retort A is the oil cistern G, in the bottom of which the tap or
cock H is fitted, through which the oil is dropped into the inbe 1, whence it
passes into the first retort A.
Under a second modification one retort may be used raised to a heat
sufficiently high to convert the oil at once into a permanent gas, the remaining
parts of the process being the same as in the preceding modification. When
using oils containing a large excess of carbon, a proportion of water or steam
is admitted into the retort at the hottest point when one only is used, but
when two retorts are employed the steam or water is admitted into the hottest
retort by a separate feed pipe so as to be instantly decomposed, and thereby
rendered capable of mixing with the excess of carbon; in this manner
economy of oil is effected, and the carbon is prevented from being deposited
in the retort. Another advantage derived from this last-mentioned process is
that the most inferior oils may be employed, thus rendering the production of
the gas at a cheaper rate, and a greater volume of gas for a given quantity
of oil. It is evident that the feed pipe C may be placed at the end or other
part of the retort convenient for the admission of the oil.
Under another method of carrying this Invention into practice, and when
using oils containing a high proportion of carbon, instead of using water to
produce the hydrogen required to form a burning mixture with the whole of
the free carbon, a portion of peat or wood, either combined or separately dried
to any required extent, may be placed in the retort, and the illuminating gases
produced from them allowed to commingle with the illuminating gases of
the oils, whilst the surplus hydrogen contained in the water of the peat or
wood, as well as the oxygen, mixes with the free carbon of the oils, thus the
whole of the free carbon of the oil is utilized.
Invention, and the manner
Having now described the nature of my said
in which the same is or may be used or practically carried into effect, I would
observe in conclusion that I do not claim to have invented any of the separate
parts of the apparatus herein-before described and referred to: but what I
consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
Firstly, the production of gas for illuminating purposes by the rapid
vaporization of mineral hydrocarbon oils, substantially as herein-before
described, or any mere modification thereof.
Secondly, the process of taking up the free carbon of the oils when
converted into a gas in the retort by the admission thereto of steam or water,
substantially as herein-before described.

page_text: Thirdly, the arrangement of two retorts at different temperatures for the
purpose of generating gas from oils, substantially as herein-before described,
or any mere modification thereof.
Fourthly, the production of gas for illuminating purposes from a mixture
of mineral oils, with peat or wood either combined or separately, as herein-
before described.
In witness whereof. I, the said William Sim, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-first day of July One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-five.
WILLIAM SIM. (L.S.)