Improvements in and relating to Hot Air and like Engines.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Hot Air and like Engines.
I, THOMAS TOMLINSON, of Ballywaltrim Cottage, Bray, in the County of
Wicklow, Ireland, Civil and Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to hot air and like engines and comprises the improved
means hereinafter set forth for providing air under pressure for operating such
an engine.
By my invention I provide improved means whereby I am enabled to increase
the volume, without increasing the pressure, of air supplied under pressure by
adding to such air a suitable proportion of gas or gaseous vapour and igniting
the mixture in a closed vessel as hereinafter described.
According to my said invention, when, for instance, heavy petroleum oil or
refuse is employed to produce the gaseous vapour, I divide the whole flowing air
feed by means of suitably proportioned orifices into two portions. The smaller of
these portions, the function of which is the vaporization of the heavy oil and
which may therefore be called the vaporizing portion, I further subdivide in
the same manner into three portions.
All of these may be heated by any waste heat available, but one portion must
be so heated; and, initially at least, that portion must be heated by
some suitable means external to the apparatus as, for instance, by passing it
through a coil surrounding the flame of the ignition tube lamp in the usual
manner. This portion of the vaporizing air passes over or through oil supplied
as hereinafter described in suitable quantity, and which oil is generally heated
in the same manner as the air, the hot air carrying off the oil as vapour. The
resultant mixture of air and vaporized oil flows on and is joined by the second
portion of the vaporizing air which is sufficient to completely burn the oil. At
the point of junction of the two portions the mixture is fired electrically, or by
means of a bye-pass ignition tube or in any other convenient manner. The
resultant incandescent vapours still flowing on being joined by the third portion
of the vaporizing air, if necessary, and the whole of the vaporizing vapours
cooled to that temperature most suitable for the effective vaporization of the
main oil supply without the formation of tarry or other deleterious products.
The whole of the vaporizing air thus heated and expanded is then passed over or
through the main oil supply which is heated and supplied in suitable quantity,
and this oil is in its turn vaporized and carried off.
The other portion of the air feed, that is to say that portion not herein before
termed the vaporizing portion whose subdivisions have been already mentioned.
is similarly subdivided into two portions. The first of these portions, which is
sufficient for the complete combustion of the main oil feed, now joins the stream
of flowing vapours, and the mixture is ignited at the point of junction by a
small tongue of flame from the vaporizing flame by an ignition tube, electrically,
or in any other convenient manner. These ignited vapours are then joined by

page_text: the second or remaining portion of the air, which added air cools down the said
ignited vapours, (absorbing heat and expanding) to such a temperature as will
allow of the said vapours being stored for a short time in a reservoir, or carried
some distance in a pipe without excessive loss through radiation, or of their
being used in an engine whose cylinders are not water-jacketted.
If the engine, however, have its cylinders water-jacketted and be situated in
close proximity to the point of ignition, no cooling air will be required,
and, moreover, so long as the free ignition of the mixture be not interfered with,
it may be supplied as excess air along with the air supplied for the combustion
of the main oil supply.
It is obvious that the above mentioned division and subdivision of the air
feed may require to be varied as the quantity of the air feed dealt with varies,
so that division and subdivision by fixed orifices of the required relative areas
might not be found desirable. In this case I provide means for allowing of these
variations being made simultaneously, and preferably by the movement of one
lever or hand wheel, the relative division and subdivision being automatically
controlled by means of suitably shaped cones all of which, or as many thereof as
may be found desirable, are moved together, and which cones project more or
less through the fixed orifices so as to leave smaller or larger annular openings,
their relative areas being varied by the suitable shaping of the cones.
1
I provide, moreover, suitable means for admitting of the action of the above
mentioned arrangement being temporarily suspended or modified as may be
desired, for instance, when warming up the apparatus, or if it becomes necessary
to increase, decrease, or cut off one or other or both supplies of cooling air, or
if a change in the quality of the oil used should require an alteration in the
proportions of the air to be used for each purpose.
The oils used to heat up the vaporizing air and that which is subsequently
vaporized by the intensely hot air so provided, may be entirely different owing
to the much higher temperature of the vapour that can be used to vaporize in the
latter case, than would be possible without using a lamp or flame of inconvenient
dimensions in the first case. The main oil supply may thus consist of ordinary
paraffin, or even of less easily vaporized oils, or of any substance which will give
off, under intense heat, vapours which will combine chemically with the con-
stituents of atmospheric air without giving off vapours which would act harm-
fully on an engine cylinder. The oil supplied to the vaporizing air may be
advantageously of a class more easily vaporized, or in some cases even a spirit,
The air feed may be derived either from an air storage reservoir, from an air
pump driven off the main engine, or preferably from an air pump driven by an
independent engine. When the air pump is driven by an independent engine,
its engine can draw its supply of hot air from the apparatus and its speed may,
without difficulty, be so governed automatically that it will maintain any desired
pressure in the apparatus.
The oil feeds may be supplied by a Brayton oil pump having a branched
outlet, or by two such or other separate pumps in cases where different oils are
employed. The said pump or pumps being driven off the air pump shaft and
.delivering the desired quantity at each point.
In some cases I provide for drawing the oil feeds supply through suitable
orifices from reservoirs maintained under the same
pressure as that in the
apparatus, by the rush of air over the orifices practically as is effected in the
well known device for spraying scent.
It is desirable, more especially in the case of the vaporizing air, that after
picking up the main oil feed it does not drop or lose it by condensation for
which reason the combined vaporizing air and main oil feed should pass to a
hotter part of the apparatus and not to a colder part thereof. A simple way of
ensuring this condition is to pass the vaporizing air inside a tube of any suitable
material until it has taken up the main oil feed, when it is allowed to pass out-
side the said tube but within an outer casing back towards its hotter part.

page_text: This inner tube being subjected to equal pressures inside and out need not be
adapted to withstand pressure and may be constructed of any suitable material
capable of standing high temperatures without injury. The outer case may be
water-jacketted if found necessary.
At the start the small portion of the vaporizing air which passes over the
first oil feed and the oil feeds themselves must be beated by means of an external
lamp. When however, the air and oil feeds are running, air or vapour charged
with vaporized oil may be allowed to escape from the apparatus through a small
suitably placed orifice, the external lamp being then extinguished, and this oil-
charged vapour drawing its own supply of atmospheric air or being fed by com-
pressed air, as may be found most desirable, can be used instead. In this case
due care must be taken that the hood of the external lamp is kept sufficiently
hot to admit of the externally fed lamp being relighted at any moment if
desired.
It will be obvious that the exact order in which the division and subdivision
of the air is effected may be varied without departing from the spirit of my
invention. For instance the whole air feed might be first divided into two
parts, one part being the final cooling air whilst the other, the balance, (including
vaporizing air) is then divided and subdivided as described (omitting the final
cooling air). This would allow of variation of the amount of cooling air with-
out disturbing the proper distribution of the remainder.
Other modifications may likewise be made. For example oil vapour might be
used instead of heated oil for the first oil supply the vaporizing air being then
divided into two parts only.
A. F. SPOONER,
323, High Holborn, London,
Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Hot Air and like Engines.
I, THOMAS TOMLINSON, of Ballywaltrim Cottage, Bray, in the County of
Wicklow, Ireland, Civil and Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to hot air and like engines and comprises the improved
means hereinafter set forth for providing air under pressure for operating such
an engine.
By my invention I provide improved means whereby I am enabled to increase
the volume, without increasing the pressure, of air supplied under pressure by
adding to such air a suitable proportion of gas or gaseous vapour and igniting
the mixture in a closed vessel as hereinafter described.
According to my said invention, when, for instance, heavy petroleum oil or
refuse is employed to produce the gaseous vapour, I divide the whole flowing air
feed by means of suitably-proportioned orifices into two portions. The smaller of
these portions, the function of which is the vaporization of the heavy oil and
which may therefore be called the vaporizing portion, I further subdivide in
the same manner into three portions.
All of these may be, heated by any waste heat available, but one portion must
be so heated except when, as hereinafter stated, a spirit or light oil (such as
benzoline) vaporizable by air at ordinary temperature is used at the point of

page_text: first oil supply; and, initially at least, that portion, if heated, must be heated by
some suitable means external to the apparatus as, for instance, by passing it
through a coil surrounding the flame of the ignition tube lamp in the usual
manner. This portion of the vaporizing air passes over or through oil supplied
as hereinafter described in suitable quantity, and which oil is generally heated
in the same manner as the air, the hot air carrying off the oil as vapour. The
resultant mixture of air and vaporized oil flows on and is joined by the second
portion of the vaporizing air which is sufficient to completely burn the oil. At
the point of junction of the two portions the mixture is fired electrically, or by
means of a bye-pass ignition tube or in any other convenient manner. The
resultant incandescent vapours still flowing on being joined by the third portion
of the vaporizing air, if necessary, and the whole of the vaporizing vapours
cooled to that temperature most suitable for the effective vaporization of the
main oil supply without the formation of tarry or other deleterious products.
The whole of the vaporizing air thus heated and expanded is then passed over or
through the main oil supply which is heated and supplied in suitable quantity,
and this oil is in its turn vaporized and carried off.
The other portion of the air feed, that is to say that portion not herein before
termed the vaporizing portion whose subdivisions have been already mentioned,
is similarly subdivided into two portions. The first of these portions, which is
sufficient for the complete combustion of the main oil feed, now joins the stream
of flowing vapours and the mixture is ignited at the point of junction by a
small tongue of flame from the vaporizing flame by an ignition tube, electrically
or in any other convenient manner. These ignited vapours are then joined by
the second or remaining portion of the air, which added air cools down the said
ignited vapours, (absorbing heat and expanding) to such a temperature as will
allow of the said vapours being stored for a short time in a reservoir, or carried
some distance in a pipe without excessive loss through radiation, or of their
being used in an engine whose cylinders are not water-jacketted.
If the engine, however, have its cylinders water-jacketted and be situated in
close proximity to the point of ignition, little or no cooling air will be required,
and, moreover, so long as the free ignition of the mixture be not interfered with,
may be supplied as excess air along with the air supplied for the combustion
of the main oil supply.
it
I will now proceed to describe my invention more particularly with refer-
ence to the accompanying drawing which illustrates its application to an ordinary
compressed air engine without explosion and in which the high temperature
permissible in a water-jacketted cylinder is not practicable.
65
The drawing being diagrammatic, it has been assumed, for the sake of simpli-
city, that the oil is drawn up in proper quantity by the heated air upon the well
known scent spray" method; but it is to be understood that any method, by
which the oil is delivered in proper quantity proportional to the air supply at
the points where it is vaporized is available. It has also been assumed that oils
of different qualities are used at the first and second points of delivery; this is
to cover the case where, on account of using after the first ignition an oil (or
refuse) which is vaporizable with difficulty, it may be necessary or desirable to
use (at least at starting) a more easily vaporized oil at the first point. It has
also been assumed that electric ignition is used, but any form of ignition is avail-
able; and in particular, where the action of the apparatus is continuous, ignition
by heated surfaces will be available after the inner surfaces, or parts of them
specially prepared, have reached the requisite temperature.
In the diagram, the reservoirs from which the oils are drawn are shown at h
and j. Tubes h¹ and j¹ serve for conveying the oils from the reservoirs to the
orifices at the nozzles g g. The ignition points are shown at x and y and the
electric circuit is indicated by 2. The admission orifices b, c, d and e are
illustrated as being formed by the superposed conical parts or castings 7, 8, 9, 10,
11, 12, 13, 14 the interstices being filled with refractory material v.

page_text: In the arrangement illustrated, a suitable pump (driven either off the engine
shaft or by a separate engine drawing its supply from the same reservoir kas
that which supplies the main engine through the pipe m) compresses air into
the reservoir or drum through the pipe n. From this drum or reservoir (which
acts only as an absorber of the pulsation due to the action of the pump and which
may therefore be small or large according to the size and regularity of working
of the pump) air passes through the pipes or openings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6; the
orifices a, b, c, d and e being of such dimensions that suitable quantities of the
air supply flow through the pipes or openings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. That portion
of the air which flows through the pipe 1 is heated by passing it through the
coil w surrounding the flame of the lamp f and in its passage over the nozzle
it draws up, sprays, and vaporizes a suitable portion of oil from the reservoir h.
Passing onwards, this mixture of heated air and vapour of oil meets the portion
of the vaporizing air which flows through the pipe or opening 2, and issues from
the annular opening b. This is sufficient to supply the extra air necessary for
the combustion of the oil vapour present. The resulting mixture of vaporized
oil and the air necessary for its combustion is ignited by the spark x.
products of combustion, caused by the ignition, at an extremely high tempera-
ture, still passing onwards, meet the third portion of the vaporizing air which
flows through the pipe 3 and issues from the annular opening c. This is suffi-
cient in quantity and will be heated to a sufficiently high temperature when
mixed with and heated by the products of combustion, to efficiently vaporize
the principal oil supply (which it draws from the reservoir) without the forma-
tion of deleterious products. The mixture of products of combustion, air, and
vaporized oil still flowing onwards meets the main air supply which flows through
the pipe 4 and issues from the annular orifice d, and which is sufficient to
supply the extra oxygen required for the combustion of the oil supply taken up
by the vaporizing air. The mixed products of combustion, air and vaporized oil
are ignited at the point y and burnt in presence of such excess of air, added.
through the pipe 5 and annular orifice e, as shall keep the temperature from
rising above the point at which it can be economically stored or conveyed to a
distance and utilized in an ordinary compressed air engine.
The
It is obvious that in lieu of the drum or reservoir I may employ a series of
pipes containing air compressed to and stored at a very high pressure, to be
admitted to the engine through a reducing valve. In this case it is clear that
my apparatus placed upon the pipe leading from the storage reservoir to the motor
will be the means of substantially increasing the work done by the com-
pressed air.
PP represent a possible arrangement of valves for the purpose of modifying
the air-flow through the system. The pipe 6 leading to the chamber q surround-
ing the flame ignited at y forms a bye-pass line of supply for the purpose of
heating the air, flowing through the orifice ", without the aid of an external
lamp as f, after starting and when, and so long as, the apparatus remains in
action. Of course the pipe leading from the chamber to the orifice a must be
efficiently covered to prevent loss of heat by radiation."
The line of pipes ris for the purpose of placing the oil reservoirs under the
general air pressure of the system.
It is obvious that the flame produced at y may be used to heat the air entering
by pipe 5 and issuing from orifice e so that it may vaporize another and larger
quantity of oil and to, this mixture may be added air sufficient for combustion
and be again ignited and heat extra air which may in turn vaporize a still
larger quantity of oil to which resulting mixture sufficient air for combustion
may in turn be added and the whole ignited, and so on with the object of dealing
with very large quantities of air and oil by vaporization and combustion in
successive stages.
It will be obvious that the exact order in which the division and subdivision
of the air is effected may be varied without departing from the spirit of my

page_text: invention. For instance the whole air feed might be first divided into two
parts one part being the final cooling air whilst the other, the balance, (including
vaporizing air) is then divided and subdivided as described (omitting the final
cooling air). This would allow of variation of the amount of cooling air with-
out disturbing the proper distribution of the remainder.
Other modifications may likewise be made. For example oil vapour might be
used instead of heated oil for the first oil supply the vaporizing air being then
divided into two parts only.
It is also obvious that, while for the purpose of explanation the quantities of
air feed flowing through the pipes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 are taken as those just necessary
for the particular purposes required at the various stages, there is no necessity
in practice for strict adherence to such division. In particular it is desirable
(for the sake of keeping the temperature at all points of the apparatus as low
as possible) that the quantities supplied for combustion (as through pipes 2
and 4) should be much larger than the quantities actually necessary at these
points the quantities supplied for cooling (as through pipes 3 and 5) being
correspondingly reduced or possibly suppressed-care being taken that the
ignitions (as at and y) are not thereby made uncertain.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. In a hot air or like engine, the combination, with an initial or one
vaporization, of means serving respectively (a) to ignite the initial or one
mixture, () to admit thereto a portion of the vaporizing air for the purpose
of vaporizing a second or following part of the oil supply, and (c) to admit the
main air supply and (d) to ignite the resultant mixture in a reservoir exterior
to the main engine, substantially as set forth.
2. The construction, arrangement, and combination of parts constituting the
improved hot air or like engine substantially as set forth and as illustrated in
the accompanying drawing.
T
1000
A. F. SPOONER,
323, High Holborn, London,
Agent for the Applicant.