Improvements in the Manufacture or Production of Carburetted Hydrogen for Illuminating Purposes, and Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Dec., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 12th Sept., 1892-Accepted, 10th Mar., 1893
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture or Production of Carburetted
Hydrogen for Illuminating Purposes, and Apparatus therefor.
I, VIVIAN BYAM LEWES, of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich in the County
of Kent, Professor of Chemistry, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to
be as follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in the manufacture or production of
hydrogen and its carburation for illuminating purposes and apparatus therefor and
has for its object to effect such manufacture or production in a more efficient manner
than heretofore, and to produce hydrogen containing only a very small and practically
harmless percentage of carbon monoxide.
For this purpose steam at a high temperature from a superheater is passed
through a chamber or chambers containing iron through which products of
combustion from an adjacent furnace have previously been passed to heat the said iron
and the temperature of which is maintained by the incandescent fuel in the furnace.
Simultaneously with the passage of steam through the heated iron a portion of the
steam from the superheater, or from any other convenient source, is caused to pass
through an injector or injectors in connection with the said furnace and to spray oil
into the same, while steam is also admitted directly to the furnace below the said
injectors. The gaseous products generated in the furnace mingle with the hydrogen
resulting from the action of the steam on the iron and pass therewith through a
fixing chamber maintained at a constant temperature.
An arrangement of my apparatus comprises a generator having an outer casing
that encloses the furnace and the chamber or chambers for the iron, and is suitably
connected with a fixing and superheating arrangement.
The outer casing may be lined with suitable refractory material such as fire brick
and is provided with vertical partitions of refractory material extending to within
a short distance of the top; the space between these partitions serves as the furnace,
and the spaces at each side serve as chambers to contain iron or a suitable compound
or compounds of iron as described in the Specification of my Patent No. 20752 of
1890 which the carbon monoxide in the products of combustion from the furnace
will readily reduce to the metallic state.
The fixing is effected in an iron retort through which the gas to be fixed is passed
and which contains in its wall or is surrounded by a steam superheating coil-like
chamber or a coil, either cast in the wall or embedded in a thick mass of iron or
other suitable material to prevent its being burnt. The retort and superheating
chamber or coil are located in a suitable furnace or combustion chamber charged
with fuel and hereinafter referred to as the superheater furnace to distinguish it
from the first mentioned furnace.
The mode of working and the action of the apparatus are as follows:-
Carbonaceous fuel is raised to incandescence in the furnace by a blast of air from
a suitable blower. The products of combustion largely consisting of carbon
monoxide and nitrogen are led down through the chambers containing iron or
compound or compounds thereof, and are then conducted to the superheater
furnace the combustion in which is supplemented by the combustion of any unused
carbon monoxide in the said products. By this means the furnace, the iron, the
fixing retort and the steam superheater are heated to the required temperature.
The air blast having been cut off and the proper connections opened, steam under
pressure is driven through the superheater and conducted to the generator where
part passes into the chambers containing the heated iron and is thereby decomposed

page_text: thus liberating hydrogen, part of the steam through the injectors into the
incandescent fuel in the furnace spraying in at the same time oil which has been fed
from above to the injectors, whilst a small quantity of steam is admitted below the
injectors to the fuel chamber.
By injecting the oil into the fuel it is "cracked" to gas, any carbon, pitch,
or the like, merely adding to the fuel, whilst "overcracking" is prevented_by
the simultaneous generation of water-gas from the steam used in injecting. The
lower steam jet also forming water gas, sweeps up any oil and drives the
oil gas out of the fuel. The carburetted water gas so formed meets at the top
of the generator the flow of hydrogen generated, passes with the water gas to the
fixing retort, and this being kept at a constant high temperature uniformly fixes
these gases, and the resulting gas owing to the dilution by hydrogen and the
interactions between carbon monoxide and the nascent hydrocarbons in the
generator contains but a small and practically harmless percentage of carbon
monoxide as before stated.
This action continues until the temperature of the generator has fallen below
the required point when steam is shut off and the connections are adjusted as
before for the passage of the blast, any traces of hydrocarbon remaining in the
furnace, assisting the carbon monoxide to reduce to the metallic state the iron
that has been oxidised by the steam, ready to repeat the foregoing operations.
Dated this 10th day of December 1891.
W. LLOYD WISE,
Per F. J. Brougham,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture or Production of Carburetted
Hydrogen for Illuminating Purposes, and Apparatus therefor.
I, VIVIAN BYAM LEWES, of the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, in the
County of Kent, Professor of Chemistry, 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 relates to improvements in the manufacture or production of
hydrogen and its carburation for illuminating purposes and apparatus therefor.
For this purpose steam at a high temperature from a superheater is passed
through a chamber or chambers containing iron through which products of com-
bustion from an adjacent furnace have previously been passed to heat the said iron
and the temperature of which is maintained by the incandescent fuel in the
furnace. Simultaneously with the passage of steam through the heated iron,
a portion of the steam from the superheater, or from any other convenient source,
is caused to pass through an injector or injectors in connection with the said
furnace and to spray liquid hydrocarbons such as crude petroleum into the fuel
contained in the same, while steam is or may be also admitted directly to the
furnace below the said injectors. The gaseous products generated in the furnace
mingle with the hydrogen resulting from the action of the steam on the iron and
pass therewith through a fixing chamber maintained at a constant temperature.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a side elevation,
Fig. 2 an end elevation; and
Fig. 3 a plan of an arrangement of apparatus constructed according to this
invention.
1 is an outer casing lined with suitable material such as fire brick, and provided
with vertical partitions 2, 2ª of refractory material that may extend to within a

page_text: short distance of the top of the casing, or which may as shown, be provided with a
number of openings 3, for exit of gas. The space or chamber 4 between these
partitions is charged with fuel and serves as a gas generator or furnace, and the
spaces 5, 5* at each side thereof serve as hydrogen generating chambers to contain
iron, or a suitable compound or compounds of iron as described in the Specifications
of Letters Patent granted to me No. 20752 of 1890, and No. 4134 of 1891 and
which compound or compounds the carbon monoxide in the products of combustion
6 is an oil
from the gas generator 4 will readily reduce to the metallic state.
supply pipe provided with a cock 7 and with branches 6* 6b that are connected with
two injectors 8, 8" respectively. These injectors may advantageously be arranged
to discharge liquid hydrocarbon into the incandescent fuel in the chamber 4 at
points about mid-way in the height of the said chamber as shown. 9 is a super-
heated steam supply pipe provided with a cock 10. It is connected by branches 11
with the injectors 8, 8, by a branch 12 having a cock 12" with a nozzle at 13
located near the bottom of the chamber 4, and by lateral branches 14, 14 with
nozzles at 15, 15ª located near the bottoms of the chambers 5, 5º. 16 is a pipe
through which air can be blown into the bottom of the chamber 4 for the purpose
17 is an iron
of raising the fuel in the said chamber to a state of incandescence.
retort connected by a gas main 18, having a valve 19, with the chambers 4, 5
and 5, and through which the gases generated in the said chambers are passed for
the purpose of fixing them and producing a permanent gas. 20 is a steam super-
heating coil-like chamber or coil that may be cast in the wall of the retort or be
embedded in a thick mass of iron or other suitable material to prevent its being
burnt. This coil-like chamber or coil (hereinafter called a superheater) is con-
nected with a suitable steam generator, not shown, and with the steam supply
pipe 9. 21 is the outlet of the retort. The retort and superheater are located in
a suitable furnace or combustion chamber 22 charged with fuel, and hereinafter
referred to as the superheater furnace. This furnace is provided with an exit
flue 23. 24 is a pipe provided with a valve 25 and branches 24 and 24° for placing
the lower ends of the chambers 5, 5° in communication with the ash pit below the
fire-grate bars 22" in the superheater furnace 22.
The mode of working and the action of the apparatus are as follows:-
Carbonaceous fuel, as for example coke, is raised to incandescence in the furnace
chamber 4 by a blast of air supplied through the pipe 16 from a suitable blower.
The products of combustion, largely consisting of carbon monoxide and nitrogen,
pass through the openings 3 and are led down through the chambers 5, 5ª cou-
taining iron or compound or compounds thereof, and are then conducted by the
branches 24 24 and pipe 24 to the superheater furnace 22 the combustion in
which is supplemented by the combustion of any unused carbon monoxide in the
said. products. By this means the fuel in the chamber 4, the iron in the
chamber 5, 5*, the fixing retort 17 and the steam superheater 20 are heated to
the required temperature. The air blast having been cut off and the proper con-
nections opened, steam under pressure is allowed to flow through the superheater 20
and into the pipe 9 whence part passes through the branches 14 14ª into the
chambers 5, 5ª containing the heated iron and is thereby decomposed, thus
liberating hydrogen. Another part of the steam passes through the injectors 8, 8ª
into the incandescent fuel in the furnace chamber 4, spraying in at the same time
liquid hydrocarbons which have been fed through the hydrocarbon supply pipe 6
to the injectors.
I have obtained satisfactory results by injecting hydrocarbons such as crude
petroleum, using steam at a pressure of about one hundred and twenty pounds to
the square inch, and heating it to a temperature of about 400° C.
By injecting the liquid hydrocarbons into the fuel, they are "cracked" to gas,
any carbon, pitch, or the like that may be produced, merely adding to the fuel,
whilst "overcracking" is prevented by the simultaneous generation of water-gas
from the steam used in injecting. Steam may from time to time be also injected

page_text: through the nozzle at 13 into the incandescent fuel at a point below that at which
the hydrocarbon is being cracked, and in case of overheating, or at the end of each
run, the hydrocarbon in the gas generator or chamber 4 will be washed or cleared
out by an uprush of water gas produced by the decomposition of the steam thus
injected. The carburetted gas produced as described in the chamber 4 meets, at
the top thereof, the currents of hydrogen generated in the chambers 5, 5ª and flows
therewith through the gas main 19 to the fixing retort 17, and this being kept at
an approximately constant high temperature of say about 1000° C., uniformly fixes
these gases so as to produce a permanent gas. The resulting gas, owing to the
dilution by hydrogen and the interactions between carbon monoxide and the
nascent hydrocarbons in the chamber 4, contains but a small and practically
harmless percentage of carbon monoxide as before stated. Where the presence of
carbon monoxide is not objectionable more steam may be admitted to the furnace
through the branch 12 and nozzle 13 at a point below that at which the oil or
hydrocarbon is being injected, and the production of pure hydrogen in the
chambers 5, 5ª may be reduced or dispensed with, producing the result described in
the Specification of my application for Patent No. 16258 of 1892.
The production of carburetted hydrogen continues until the temperature of the
fuel in the chamber 4 has fallen below the required point. The steam and oil are
then shut off and the various connections are adjusted as before for the passage of
an air blast as before, any traces of hydrocarbon remaining in the said chamber 4
assisting the carbon monoxide to reduce to the metallic state the iron that has been
oxidised in the chambers 5, 5ª by the steam, ready to repeat the foregoing
operations.
The relative quantities of the steam and oil admitted into the incandescent fuel
should be so regulated that the gas generated in the chamber 4 shall be of a brown
color. This may be determined by providing the gas main at 18 and 21ª with pet
cocks through which a small quantity of gas can be allowed to escape from time to
time. If the gas thus allowed to escape be white, it indicates that the oil is not
sufficiently cracked, and the proportion of steam should be reduced; if the gas be
black and "sooty "it indicates that the oil is being overcracked and the proportion
of steam should be increased.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that
having discovered since the date of my present application for Letters Patent
that a part of the process and apparatus used in carrying out my present inven-
tion can be advantageously used separately and apart from the other features of
my present invention I have applied for Letters Patent No. 16258 and in the
Specification thereof have described a new and useful method of employing the
following features considered separately and apart from the use thereof in con-
junction with production of hydrogen according to the process hereinabove
described namely (a) the manufacture or production of illuminating gas from
liquid hydrocarbons by injecting such hydrocarbons by means of steam into a
mass of red hot or incandescent fuel; (b) in the process just indicated under (a)
injecting steam from time to time as may be required into the incandescent fuel
at a point below that at which the liquid hydrocarbon is being cracked, so that
when desired the hydrocarbon gases in the gas generator can be removed by an
uprush of water gas produced by the decomposition of the steam thus injected,
and (c) the herein described oil cracking apparatus constructed separately and
apart from the herein described apparatus; and I claim as of my present
invention:-
:-
1. The herein described method of manufacturing or producing carburetted
hydrogen by cracking liquid hydrocarbons in the presence of water gas and red hot
or incandescent fuel and diluting the resulting gas to reduce the proportion of
carbon monoxide therein to the desired extent, by mixing it with hydrogen simul-

page_text: taneously produced in a separate generator by the action of steam on heated iron
as set forth.
2. The improved apparatus constructed, arranged and operating substantially as
described and shown for the manufacture or production of carburetted hydrogen in
the manner set forth.
Dated this 12th day of September 1892.
W. LLOYD WISE,
Per F. J. Brougham,
46, Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicant.