IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS HEATING APPARATUS, OR APPARATUS IN WHICH GAS IS BURNED ON THE BUNSEN PRINCIPLE
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Phillips Thompson, of the Firm of W. P.
Thompson and Co., Patent Agents, of G, Lord Street, Liverpool, in the County
of Lancaster, and 323, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting
Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS HEATING APPARATUS,
OR APPARATUS IN WHICH GAS IS BURNED ON THE BUNSEN PRINCIPLE." A
communication from abroad by Monsieur Joseph Couguet, of Bruxelles, in
the Kingdom of Belgium.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Phillips Thompson
"E
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd March 1880.
WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, of the Firm of W. P. Thompson and Co., Patent
Agents, of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, and 323, High
Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer. IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS
HEATING APPARATUS, OR APPARATUS IN WHICH GAS IS BURNED ON THE BUNSEN
PRINCIPLE." A communication from abroad by Monsieur Joseph Cougnet, of
Bruxelles, in the Kingdom of Belgium.
This Invention of Mr. Joseph Cougnet consists of a mode of and apparatus for
obtaining as near as possible the maximum of heat from the burning of gas in and
under varying conditions, namely,
By the division of a vein of gas by a current of air provoked automatically by
the drawing of the gas or thrown upon it by a blast, and the arrangement of
apparatus proper to effect a mixture of the gus and air of such character that the
mixture produces the maximum of heat.
1st. As a simple single jet the inventor brings up the gas through a number of
fine holes near together, over which a disc with corresponding holes is free to
rotate and regulate the size of aperture for gas, a tube supported on legs meeting
round the gas openings acts as the burner, the openings between the legs for the
admission of air.
•
2nd. When a ring or group of burners are wanted the inventor changes the gas
regulator before described to a gas nozzle placed horizontally or vertically pointing
towards a mixing tube supported on legs round the nozzle, and opening into a
chamber from which the ring or group of burner tubes proceed.

page_text: 3rd. In kitchen heaters where a grid is used on which the things to be leated
are supported the inventor brings his air through tubes through the hollow gas
dome. This latter has orifices upward for the escape of gas into a chamber placed
above fitting in the one on which the dome is placed, perforated metallic at
gauze
intervals tends to mix the currents passing through; and the burner consists of a
grid above or a wire gauze above that. If the former the apparatus resembles
exactly the present portable charcoal "cuisinière" used so much in French kitchens.
The great advantage of continuing it in this form is that cooks accustomed to the
"cuisinière" hardly notice the change.
4th. For heating rooms a similar apparatus as that described in part 2 is placed
in a chamber through which pipes pass from top to bottom, communicating at both
ends with the air of the room; these pipes are vertical till they reach the zone of
burners, then bend over them, and then rise up above them, increasing in size
conically upward till they escape at top. The effluent gases are deflected downward
and pass up in the outer casing, heating the latter, and thence through a chimney
armed with a stop valve to the outside of the building:
5th. Where intense heat is used the inventor forces air down a central nozzle
passing through a gas chamber; short pipes from the outer air also meet the
current near the nozzle, their ends being shaped to approximately the contour
of the current escaping from the central nozzle; these draw the air into the
continuation tube, which has a burnor supported on legs round it admitting air
as in part 1; it can be terminated by a gauze cap, or if small enough in diameter
remain open.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Phillips Thompson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd September 1880.
WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, of the Firm of W. P. Thompson and Co., Patent
Agents, of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, and 323, High
Holborn, in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN GAS
HEATING APPARATUS, OR APPARATUS IN WHICH GAS IS BURNED ON THE BUNSEN
PRINCIPLE" A communication from abroad by Monsieur Joseph Couguet, of
Bruxelles, in the Kingdom of Belgium.
The following is an exact translation of the Specification forwarded to me by
my foreign correspondent with Drawings, and orders to translate and file.
All my improvements in heating apparatus depend upon one and the same well
known principle, namely, that the maximum of heat that a jet of ordinary
illuminating gas can give when burning is obtained by mixing this gas at the
moment of coinbustion with a certain quantity of air. The flame produced under
these conditions is very hot, gives little light, and is of a characteristic blue
colour.
"
I. In speaking of this principle I have imagined a burner which I call the
Cougnet burner" and which is represented by Fig. 1. A represents the pipe
which brings the ordinary illuminating gas. The gas arrives at a series of holes o, o,
above which is a movable piece which is pierced with the same number of holes
o', o, similarly placed; this piece is milled on its circumference, so that by turning
it with the hand the upper holes may be made to form straight channels with the
lower ones, or partially close them up. When arrived in o' the gas mixes with the
atmospheric air. The tube B, which serves as the outlet for this mixture, is fixed
immovably upon the pipe A to which it is secured by two legs C, C¹. Over the
sides of these latter the air enters freely, drawn in by the current of gas, so that
in the chamber D the gas becomes intimately mixed with the air; this mixture
can at pleasure be rendered more or less rich in gas by turning slightly the
movable piece M, M. The mixture of air and gas is lighted at the upper part of
the tube B where it burns with a blue flame. Upon the tube B there may be
arranged an inverted cone made of copper resting upon three or four supports so
ns to leave sufficient space for the flame; upon this conc the matrass containing
metals to be dissolved in acids could be placed. The whole of this apparatus can
be constructed of copper, except the stand which it is more convenient to make of
cast-iron.
Whilst with Bunsen burners only a very small diameter can be given, the best
results are obtained with the burners of my Invention starting from one centimetre
up to three centimetres and a half in diameter. It will in fact be seen that by the
above arrangement I succeed in realizing a perfect mixture of air and gas.
11. When the substance to be heated presents a greater surface than that of the
burner which I have just described, I employ a burner with multiple flames based
upon the same principle. Figs. 2 and 3 represent it in elevation and in plan
respectively; A is always the pipe that conducts the gas to the burner; B, that
which contains the mixture of air and gas; and D, the chamber where this
mixture takes place. The pipe A terminates in a cone and thus only presents a
single orifice for the escape of gas. The air is drawn in by the current of gas and
enters over the whole circumference of this cone with the exception of the legs
C, C', which hold together the tubes A and B. The mixture instead of being burnt
at the end of the tube B, as in the preceding apparatus, passes into a circular box
or chamber G, whence it departs by any number of vertical tubes or burners E.

page_text: inserted through the convex cover of this chamber. By lighting this mixture at
the exterior extremities of these burners as many short blue flames are obtained
which produce a very intense heat. If between the bottom and the cover of the
chamber G and at the level of the bottoms of the vertical tubes perforated
metallic gauze be fixed in order to cause the mixture to separate up before
burning, the mixture will be more perfect, the flame shorter, and the temperature
higher. Further, by this means I get rid of those little explosions which occur
when the gas is turned off. This and the preceding apparatus are principally for
laboratory use.
III. When modifying slightly this last arrangement specially in order to adapt
it for domestic use, I was led to make an apparatus which I call a gas cooking-
stove, because in fact it can easily in kitchen fire-places be substituted for the
cast-iron grate without disturbing the customs resulting from the use of ordinary
fire-places. In the ordinary grato which I allow to remain in order that the fire-
place may serve at will both for heating with coal and gas, I introduce a burner
M, N, P, Q, which is represented by Figs. 4, 5, and 6, and which is held in position
by the flanges M, N. The gas enters by the lower central pipe A and passes into
the circular chamber or box G, convex above, concave below, and resting upon
three supports P, Q; this box is pierced with a certain number of openings R.
The gas escapes from the box through the holes S made in the convex or upper
part. Air also penetrates laterally between the legs C, C'. The mixture of air
and gas penetrates into the chamber G₁ where it meets successively two sheets of
perforated metallic gauze m, n, p, q, fixed horizontally upon the circumference of
the burner by means of a metallic ring; the first has holes larger than those of the
second. The mixture traverses both of these sheets becoming more and more
separated up, and then comes to a thick plate H, I, represented in section in
Fig. 4, and in plan in Fig. 5. This latter is pierced, as shown, with a series of
circular slots B, the sides of which slope upwards from the bottom f, g, so as only
to leave a narrow outlet k, l, at the top. The gas lighted on the top of this plate
produces a series of circular blue flames, which, owing to the sloping sides of the
slots produce a single flame, very short, of great extent, and very hot; its efficiency
may be still further increased by obliging it to pass through a third sheet of
perforated metallic gauze 7, 8, finer than the preceding one.
This apparatus may
be constructed exclusively of cast-iron.
IV. Another modification of my burner with multiple flames enables me to
apply it to the heating of rooms. I give it then the name of gas stove, it is
represented in Fig. 7; A is the pipe which brings the gas, it is arranged at the
bottom, behind, or at one side of the apparatus; B is the tube containing the
mixture of air and gas, and D, the chamber where the mixture takes place. As in
the burner with multiple flames, the pipe A is terminated by a conical point,
besides a tap for turning the gas on or off, it has a screw thread cut on it in order
to allow of the orifice o penetrating more or less into the interior of the chamber D
closed by the legs C, C₁, which hold the two pipes together. The apparatus can
thus be regulated for a fixed pressure, that is to say, for a given pressure of gas in
pipe A, and for a given orifice o, a greater or less quantity of air can be introduced,
and a fixed tenperature obtained with great accuracy. The pipe B. is prolonged
into an almost complete circle, from which spring a series of tubes E, at the
extremities of which the gas is lighted. In principle then, this arrangement
scarcely differs at all from the burner with multiple flames. In order to apply it
to the heating of rooms, I have had to investigate how the heat of flammes produced
in this way can be utilized in an efficacious, healthy, and economical manner.
From the sanitary point of view, it is necessary to prevent the air taken in to
form the combustible mixture from returning back again into the chamber to be
heated. It must then be liberated in the chimney, without being able to come
back into the room, so that there shall be complete separation between the heated
air and the burnt air. 1 realize this end by making my stove of a cylindrical

page_text: envelope of sheet iron, the burner occupying the lower part. In the interior of
this envelope, I arrange in a circle a certain number of air tubes inade of sheet
iron (generally four or six), and I also place one in the centre. These tubes open
freely above and below, they are simply fitted into two sheets of sheet-iron
R, S, T, U, fixed at a few centimetres distance from the top and bottom ends of the
apparatus. The tubes arranged in a circle are composed first, of a vertical
portion K, H, close to the wall of the apparatus, they are slightly widened out at
the base to facilitate the entrance of air; secondly, of a cylindrical portion H, I,
inclined towards the centre of the apparatus ending in a sheet of iron V, W, pierced
in order to give passage to the gascous currents; thirdly, of a conical portion I, L,
widening out towards the top. Each of these tubes is placed in a vertical plane
with a burner E, and consequently with the very hot blue flame springing from
this burner, the flame just touching the inclined portion H, I, of the tube. The
central tube, which is vertical throughout its whole length, has no other purpose
but to occupy the circular space remaining free between all the other tubes. The
products of the combustion, guided by the cylindrical envelope a, b, c, d, lick the
whole vertical part I, L, of the tubes are then stopped by the plate R, S; then
guided afresh by a second conical envelope e, f, g, h, they redescend into the
space comprized between the two envelopes as far as the plate e, h, placed about
halfway down the apparatus; then they ascend again between this envelope and
the exterior envelope of the apparatus to be finally discharged by the chimney X.
The chimney is provided with a stop valve which is opened to light the stove, and
prevent by the current of air which is thus provoked, the consequences of the
slight explosion which is caused at that moment. When the stove is lit this
valve is closed, it being made so as not to hermetically stop up the chimney;
the annular space left between the closed valve and the chimney pipe is sufficient
for the evacuation of the products of combustion, but not such as could provoke a
current of air, which is upucessary and would induce a useless waste of gas.
As to the air of the room it will be seen that it enters cold by the openings K
of the tubes, it becomes heated when rising in these, and escapes at an elevated
temperature by the openings L in order to reach the upper parts of the room.
There is thus produced a circulation of hot air in the room without the possibility
of mixture between the air destined for respiration and the products of combustion.
If one examines the nature of the gases which escape from the chimney X it
will be found that they consist essentially of carbonic oxide, carbonic acid, nitrogen
and vapour of water; the first three escape by the chimney of the room, the
vapour of water condenses in consequence of the low temperature of the gases,
which have lost the greater part of their heat during their long course in the
stove. It can be collected in a siphon closed by a tap, and which need only be
emptied once a day; for this reason, it is advantageous to give this chimney a
slight inclination towards the outside.
This stove posseses then the great advantage of being essentially sanitary, no
soot is deposited upon the tubes II, L, which is a proof that the combustion is
complete; no carbonic oxide is discharged into the room, the vapour of water
causes no inconvenience, as with other systems, since it condenses in the chimney.
This systein of heating is economical the consumption of gas being reduced to a
minimum by the ease with which one can regulate it at pleasure, and because the
combustion may be considered as complete. Further, the stove may be constructed
as simply, or at as great cost as may be desired. The portions Q, T, U, P, and
M, N, S, R, which form the bottom and top of the apparatus, permit of whatever
kind of ornamentation may be desired, and of the employment of any inetal, copper,
nickel, et cetera. The front can also be ornamented by using for this purpose the
door which can be solid or formed of a mirror, or of glass tubes and a plate
indicating the system.
The same system of stove can be rendered portable by suppressing the chimney
and replacing it by a series of holes arranged in the circumference of the stove; but

page_text: it is evident that in this case, though it preserves its economical advantages, it ceases
to be distinguished from competing systeins as regards sanitary qualities.
Finally, it can easily be adapted for heating water for baths.
V. Yet another application of my fundamental principle has led me to design a
gas blow-pipe destined to produce high temperatures. It is based upon the simulta-
neous employment of a current of illuminating gas and a current of air, both at a
high pressure and mixed together so as to obtain the most complete combustion of the
gas possible. This gas blow-pipe is represented by Figs. 8, 9, 10, and 11. Fig. 8
shows the principal portion, consisting of a pipe V which receives a current of air
from a bellows, and a lateral pipe G receiving a current of illuminating gas. This
pipe G opens into an annular space C which surrounds the pipe V; this latter is
pointed at its extremity m, n, so as to expel the air in the form of a jet. Upon the
circumference of the surrounding cylinder are arranged four oblique tubes o, p, 0',p',
the oval openings o, p, of which are visible on the exterior of the apparatus; these
same tubes are cut off in the interior of the apparatus by inclined planes o¹, p', in
such a manner as to present their oval openings all round the circular orifice m, n,
of the central pipe. The obliquity of these inclined planes is not arbitrary; it in
calculated so that the narrowest part 2,2', shall coincide with the point of contrac-
tion of the gaseous stream, and so that the widest part o², o', shall correspond with
the place where this same stream is most expanded. By means of these oblique
tubes the external air is vigorously drawn in by the force of the central current.
The gas contained in the annular space C is divided up by the four tubes o, p, o¹, p
and arrives through the open spaces f,, left around these tubes at the extremity d,d',
where it is intimately mixed with the compressed air which escapes from the central
pipe and with the atmospheric air drawn in by the oblique tubes. Fig. 9 is a section
through the line A, A, of this first portion of the blow-pipe; it is intended to show
the details of construction. Upon the portion of the apparatus which I have just
described I fasten securely by friction a number of tubes of variable length and
diameter, according to the purposes in view. One of these tubes T is represented in
Fig. 10. It is held on to the principal piece by two legs C, C', which bulge outwards
very considerably. The air can thus flow towards the whole circumference of the
tube, with the exception of the slight space intercepted by the legs; it is drawn in
by the strong current which enters the tube T, escaping by the orifice d, d', of the
principal piece. At the extremity e, e', of the tube T the mixture which is thus
formed in the said tube is lighted; it develops when burning a very great heat, the
intensity of which is due to the intimate mixture between the gas and the air. The
flame produced darts forth with a forco as much greater as the blowing is more
energetic. Any kind of bellows, or an ordinary blacksmith's bellows, can serve to
produce the blast in the blow-pipe, but for laboratory use in localities where there
exists a head of water at suflicient pressure I recommend in preference the
employment of the bellows of my Invention.
This blow-pipe permits of realizing the highest temperatures, especially when
the heat has to be concentrated upon a single point, notably in the fusion of the
most difficult metals, such as platinum and substances considered pre-eminently
refractory, such as clay.
Figure 11 is a section of the pipe T through the line B, B; it is destined to show
the form of the two legs C, and to show how the air is drawn in upon the circum-
ference of the pipe T, with the exception of the portion occupied by these legs,
which on this account should not be any wider than the width necessary in order
to insure the solidity of the apparatus.
In all the Drawings the arrows in full lines show the direction of the currents of
air, and thoso in dotted lines show the direction of the currents of gas; those in
chain dots represent the mixture of air and gas.
Having now given an exact translation of the communication forwarded to me
by my foreign correspondent, together with the Drawings forwarded by him, I wish

page_text: it to be understood that what I believe to be new, and desire to protect under the
hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is,-
1st. The novel application, substantially as herein described, of the division of a
current of gas by a current of air, whether this current of air is caused by induction
through contact with the gas or forced by a fan or its equivalent.
2nd. The manufacture of the various forms of apparatus for heating hereinbefore
described, each taken as a whole, and arranged or constructed substantially as herein
described, so as to divide the gas by the air, cause the two to intimately mix, and
thus effect a practically perfect combustion of the gns.
In witness whereof, I, the snid William Phillips Thompson, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Seventeenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
WMD THOMPSON
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