Improvements in or relating to the Production of Acetylene Gas.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Jan., 1897-Accepted, 10th Apr., 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Production of Acetylene Gas.
1, VICTOR DAIX, Civil and 'Mining Engineer, of 72 Rue Louis Blanc, Paris, in
the Republic of France 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 an apparatus working intermittently or continuously
for the production of acetylene gas in which the supply of water to calcium or
other carbide is regulated by water-syphons or mercury-cups in accordance with
the variations of the consumption of said gas ant in which the mass of the
carbide is divided so that only a small portion of fresh carbide is always in
contact with water and produces the maximum quantity of gas which is capable of
developing.
The accompanying drawings illustrate different constructions of the apparatus
according to the present invention. The same letters indicate the same parts
throughout the drawings, in which,
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of an apparatus for the intermittent production of
the acetylene, the water supply-device for which is constituted by a syphon which
is constructed so as to avoid the necessity of relaying it.
Fig. 2 is an elevation upon a smaller scale partly in section, of an apparatus for
an intermittent production of acetylene, the gas-holder being of a slightly different
construction from that shown in Fig. 1 and the water supplying device consisting
of a mercury cup to which water is supplied from a tank arranged above it.
Fig. 3 is an elevation of the arrangement of an apparatus for the continuous
preduction of acetylene comprising two gas generators each of which is suppliel
with water from a separate syphon.
Fig. 4 illustrates a mercury cup with two compartments suitable for supplying
water to a continuously working apparatus having two gas generators.
The apparatus according to the present invention consists of the following
parts:-
1. A gas-holder constituted by a movable bell e dipping into a water tank a.
The acetylene generated enters this bell by the pipe e and escapes from it through
the pipe s.
2. One, two or more gas generators G either fixed or mounted on wheels i and
constituted by a cylindrical or other shaped chamber k in which are arranged one
over the other vessels k¹ said vessels being of same or different capacity and each
of them being provided with outlets or utflow pipes z through which water when
it has filled one of them overflows into the vessel immediately below. A central
rod enables the circular or other shaped vessels k¹ to be held in place. The
chamber k is surrounded by a metallic shell whereby a chamber is formed to
contain water for washing and cooling the acetylene produced; to the upper edge
of this casing is secured by bolts m² a cover m (Figure 1) and under this cover
is fixed an airtight depending collar or flange m³ which extends partly into the
water in the chamber l. In the gas-generator Fig. 1 the cover m is provided with
a swan-necked shape pipe n through which water is supplied to the carbide
contained in the upper vessel whilst in the gas generator shown in Figure 2 the
water-inlet pipen passes through the shell and terminates above the upper
vessel k. Moreover the cover m extends into the water in the chamber / where
the gas is washed before escaping through the pipe e' which is wound helically
round the casing k of the water chamber as in Figure 1 or simply passes through

page_text: the cover m as in Fig. 2 and enters the gas holder c after having passed through
the hydraulic cock or water trap f which enables the gas-holder to be automatically
isolated whilst the gas generators are being charged.
3. Water supply regulating device attached by a bracket c' to the bell c of the
gas holder in the vertical movement of which the regulating device participates.
Said device is constituted, in case of an apparatus having an intermittent action,
by a syphon bor a mercury cup 6 in which is inserted a pipe p supplying water
from a tanko placed above the gas holder; in case of a continuously working
apparatus with two or more gas generators G, said device is constituted by two or
more syphons or mercury cups b. Each syphon consists of a pipe of the shape of
an inverted U with branches of equal length, the two ends of which are bent so as
to prevent the possibility of air entering the syphon after it has once been
removed. At 62 on the same level as the opening there is arranged a cock or a
simple discharge pipe. Each mercury cup 6 is provided with an overflow 62 and
into the mercury extends a pipe p connected by a flexible hose-pipe o with a
separate water tank o placed on such level that for a certain position of the bell c
the head under which the water flows out is sufficient to overcome the weight of
the mercury column in the pipe p.,
the
The branch b' of the syphon b, Fig. 1, is arranged in a projecting part a¹ on
tank a which communicates with the said tank a, so that the water from the
tank a flows through the cock 2 of the syphon into the funnel n¹ of the pipe n
whenever the point 6' is below the level of water in the tank a. The same takes
place when the bell c descends and thus lowers the mercury-cup b, Fig. 2, sufficiently
far so that the pressure of the water in the pipe p becomes greater than the weight
of the mercury column in the pipe p.
In the continuously working apparatus with two gas-generators Fig. 3, the
belle carries two syphons b which are attached to the vertical members of a
jointed parallelogram d or of a lever pivotted in the centre on a part c¹. The
syphons are arranged on different levels, the lower one being for the gas
generator G which is to act first. The difference of the levels of the two syphons
is calculated so that the water supplied by one syphon produces sufficient acetylene
to raise the bell before the upper syphon is plunged into the water and becomes
operative. The branch of each of the syphons enters into a separate
chamber gor h to which water is supplied by separate flexible pipes g' or '
arranged in a central chamber a' communicating at its top with the tank a.
pipes g, are attached to the vertical links of another jointed parallelogram
which is independent of the bell c and is prevented from altering its shape when
in its end-positions by a spring blade d. The vertical distance between the
funnels g and corresponds to the volume of water in the tank a required to
decompose all the carbide in the gas generator G.
These
To start the apparatus I incline the parallelogram d' so that the flexible pipe gl
corresponding to the lowest side admits water from the chamber a' to the lateral
chamber g from whence said water is taken by the syphon & corresponding to the
gas-generator which first becomes operative. From this movement the variations
in the consumption and the production of gas by causing the bell c to move
determine the flow of water through the cock into the pipe n of the gas-
generator G. As soon as the carbide charge in the gas-generator G is nearly
exhausted, the production of acetylene becomes smaller than the consumption, and
the bell e continues to descend so that the second syphon in its turn plunges into
the water in the lateral chamber h and supplies the second gas-generator G.
During the time that this generator is operative, the first generator may be
emptied, cleaned and recharged, and the parallelograins are turned by hand so that
the first syphon will come into operation after the second.
If a mercury cup is used as a regulating device one cup divided, say into two
compartments is suspended on the bell c (Fig. 4) and separate pipes p and pl are
introduced into the mercury of each of these cups. Said pipes p p¹ are connected
to separate raised water-tanks and extend into the mercury to different extents and

page_text: P
are attached to opposite arms of a balance lever or of a parallelogram. The tube
or pl which is immersed to a less depth in the mercury corresponds to the gas
generator which is operative, when the carbide in it is nearly exhausted the
production of the acetylene becomes smaller than the consumption, and the bell c
descends till the pressure of water on the tube p or pl is sufficiently strong to
overcome the weight of the column of mercury which is contained in the said
tube. From this moment the two gas generators work together during the time
that the first tank o is being completely emptied; as soon as it is perfectly empty,
only the second gas-generator works, and the exhausted gas-generator and the
tank o corresponding to it may be emptied, cleaned and recharged, whereupon
the balance lever r is turned and the original order of working of the gas generators
re-established.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. In apparatus for the production of acetylene gas by the action of water on
carbide of calcium or other carbide, the employment of a gas generator in which
the mass of the carbide to be decomposed is divided and placed in vessels arranged
in a central compartment and provided with overflows enabling the water from
the upper vessel to be discharged. into the vessel immediately below, said central
compartment being surrounded by a water chamber, in which the acetylene
produced is washed and cooled passing if desired through a tubular coil before
entering into the gas-holder to the bell of which is attached a device to regulate
the supply of water used for the decomposition of the carbide substantially as
described.
2. In apparatus for the production of acetylene gas operating intermittently the
use, for the purpose of supplying water, of a regulating device attached to and
operated by the movement of the bell of the gas-holder, and consisting of a syphon,
which is so constructed as to avoid the necessity of recharging it, which supplies
the water from the tank surrounding the gas-holder to the generator or of a
mercury cup into which the water supply pipe from a raised tank extends
substantially as described.
3. In apparatus for the production of acetylene gas operating continuously and
comprising two gas generators the use, for the purpose of automatic admission of
water into each gas-generator, of two syphons so constructed as to avoid the
necessity of recharging them or of two mercury cups attached to the ends of a
balance lever or of a jointed parallelogram attached by its centre to the bell of the
gas-holder, so that according to the variations of the position of this bell, the two
syphons or cups become successively operative as soon as one of the gas holders is
exhausted substantially as described.
4. The combination and arrangement of parts forming a complete apparatus for
the production of acetylene gas substantially as described and illustrated in Fig. 1
of the accompanying drawings.
5. The combination and arrangement of parts forming a complete acetylene gas
generator substantially as described and illustrated in Fig. 2 of the accompanying
drawings.
6. The combination and arrangement of parts forming a complete acetylene gas
generator having double syphon or double mercury cups substantially as described
and illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 11th day of January 1897
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.