Improvements in Feeding Fuel to Gas Producers and in the Generation of Combustible Gas.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Nov., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 26th Sept., 1892-Accepted, 29th Oct., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Feeding Fuel to Gas Producers and in the
Generation of Combustible Gas.
I, JAMES HARGREAVES of Farnworth in Widnes, in the County of Lancaster,
Chemical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
:-
Hitherto in the production of so called producer gas or water gas it has been
the practice to feed the solid fuel into the producer from above with the result that
the charge of fuel in the producer was with great difficulty kept in the required
condition for free and uniform and satisfactory evolution of combustible gas.
Many expedients have been employed for the purpose of obtaining a regular and
uniform evolution of gas such as feeding the fuel in finely divided condition all
over the upper surface of the charge and the employment of mechanical stirrers or
moving bottoms.
Now the object of my invention is to so feed the fuel to producers as to avoid
channelling and the formation of large solid blocks of fuel in the producer and
obtain the desired evolution of gas, and it consists essentially in feeding the fuel
into the producer from the bottom upwards, at a point preferably above and in
front of the nozzle or nozzles through which air and steam or air only are supplied
to support combustion, in such manner that the said fuel piles itself up into the body
of the said producer and the piled mass of coke serves to more fully saturate the
gas with carbonic oxide.
In combination with the above system of feeding solid fuel into producers I
measure the solid fuel and air fed into the producer so as to obtain the desired
quality of evolved gas.
Any suitable feeding and measuring appliances for solid fuel and air are used.
Dated this Twenty-fifth day of November 1891.
Per pro J. T. KING,
J. Johnson,
Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Feeding Fuel to Gas Producers and in the
Generation of Combustible Gas.
I, JAMES HARGREAVES of Farnworth-in-Widnes in the County of Lancaster,
Chemical 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:-
Hitherto in the production of so called producer gas or water gas it has been
the practice to feed the solid fuel into the producer from above with the result that
the charge of fuel in the producer was with great difficulty kept in the required
condition for free and uniforin and satisfactory evolution of combustible gas.
Many expedients have been employed for the purpose of obtaining a regular and
uniform evolution of gas such as feeding the fuel in finely divided condition all
over the upper surface of the charge and the employment of mechanical stirrers or
moving bottoms.
Now the object of my invention is to so feed the fuel to producers as to avoid
channelling and the formation of large solid blocks of fuel in the producer and
obtain the desired homogeneous evolution of gas.

page_text: My invention consists essentially in feeding the fuel into the producer from the
bottom upwards or in an upwards direction at a point preferably above and in front
of the nozzle or nozzles through which air and steam or air only are supplied to
support combustion, in such manner that the said fuel piles itself up into the body
of the said producer and the piled mass of coke serves to more fully saturate the
gas with carbonic oxide.
In combination with the above described system of feeding solid fuel into pro-
ducers I measure the solid fuel and air fed into the producer so as to obtain the
desired quality of evolved gas.
Any suitable feed and measuring appliances for solid fuel and air are used.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section, and Fig. 2 a horizontal section of a gas producer
constructed and fitted so as to enable my improvements to be carried into effect.
a are the walls of the producer. b outlet for combustible gases, c fuel undergoing
conversion into combustible gas. d nozzle through which air and steam are
admitted into the producer. e blower, steam jet, k driving shaft, 7 fuel hopper.
m reciprocating plunger for pushing measured quantities of fuel from the hopper !
into the feed nozzle n. 0 reciprocating plunger for pushing fuel in an upward
direction from the nozzle n into the mass c of the fuel in the producer, p, p², p² con-
nections from the plunger to the driving shaft k. q, q', connections from the
plunger m to the lever pl. The position of the link g may be varied to allow of
adjustment of the quantity of fuel fed at each reciprocation of the plunger m
from the hopper to the feed nozzle n. The feed plunger o is in front of and
above the level of the air and steam nozzle d and beneath the bulk of the fuel in
the producer so that the raw fuel is fed in from the bottom upwards instead of from
above, as the air and fuel are both caused to enter the producer by the motion of the
driving shaft the quantities of each are definite. It will be obvious that the
mechanism employed, and the construction of the producer, may be varied, and
the air and steam employed in generating the gas may be superheated by the heat
contained in the evolved gas without departing from my invention.
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
First. Feeding fuel to gas producers substantially as set forth.
Second. The combination of the iniproved system of feeding fuel with the
supply of measured quantities of air and fuel to gas producers, substantially as set
forth.
Third. The combination of the improved system of feeding fuel with the supply
of measured quantities of air and fuel and with steam to gas producers, substan-
tially as set forth.
Dated the 24th September 1892
Per pro J. T. KING,
J. Johnson.