A NEW MEANS OF PRO- DUCING GAS, BOTH AS TO APPARATUS AND MATERIALS FROM WHICH THEGAS IS.. PRODUCED
Year: 1847

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, STEPHEN
WHITE, late of Number 30, Winchester Row, New Road, in the Parish of
Mary-le-bone, in the County of Middlesex, and late a Clerk in the employ
of the Great Western Railway Company, but now of 2, Caroline Street,
Mornington Crescent, Camden Town, in the said County of Middlesex, Gas
Patentee, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria the First, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fifteenth day of April, in the tenth year of Her reign, did, for
Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Stephen
White, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole
privilege and authority, that I, the said Stephen White, my exors, admors,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Stephen White, my exors, admors,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and
Town of Berwick upon Tweed, my Invention of "A NEW MEANS OF PRO-
DUCING GAS, BOTH AS TO APPARATUS AND MATERIALS FROM WHICH THE GAS IS..
PRODUCED;" in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging
me, the said Stephen White, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, particularly to describe and ascertained the nature of my said Invention,

page_text: and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
enrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately next after the date of the said recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Stephen White, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are described and
ascertained in manner following (reference being had to the plan or Drawing
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon), that is
to say:-
My said Invention is applicable to the production of gas adapted for the
purpose of illumination, and consists, so far as it relates to the materials from
which such gas is produced, in decomposing water, by bringing it into contact,
in the manner herein-after described, with charcoal or coke or anthracite coal,
and small thin plates of iron, or small pieces of thin iron wire, or with charcoal
or coke or anthracite coal and lime, at a very high temperature, and thereby
producing, from such combination of materials so aerated, hydrogen gas and
oxyde of carbon gas mixed, and afterwards in combining such compound gas
with carburetted hydrogen gas (produced by bringing oil or fat or tar, or
certain other substances herein-after designated or described, in contact with
heated materials), so as to produce ultimately a compound. gas, composed of
hydrogen gas, oxide of carbon gas, and carburetted hydrogen gas mixed together,
which compound gas is fitted for the purpose of illumination.
And my said Invention of a new means of producing gas consists, so far as
it relates to the apparatus used, in certain particular apparatus herein-after
described in reference to the plan or Drawing hereto annexed. I will now
proceed to describe generally the whole apparatus used, and the process
followed by me in carrying my said Invention into effect.
Figure 1 on the plan hereto annexed is a front view of the whole apparatus;
Figure 2, a section taken through the centres of the three retorts herein-after
particularly described; and Figure 3 is a transverse section of the brickwork in
which the retorts are set, shewing an end view of the apparatus. " a," "b," " c," in
Figure 1 and Figure 2 of the Drawings hereto annexed, represent three cylinders
or retorts, all made of cast iron, placed perpendicularly and supported by the
brickwork "d," "d," Figures 1, 2, and 3, and by bars of iron placed longi-
tudinally, e," "e," "e," Figures 2 and 3, supporting the flanches or shoulders
at the lower ends of the cylinders or retorts. The cylinders or retorts "a"
and "b" are nearly filled to the top, as shewn in Figure 2, with charcoal or

page_text: coke or anthracite coal and iron plates or wires, which are intended for the
decomposition of water, the charcoal or coke or anthracite coal being broken
in small pieces and placed as shewn by the numerals 1, 1, in the retorts "a"
and "b," (see Figure 2,) and the iron plates or wires being contained in the
cylindrical colanders "f" "," Figure 2. The cylinders or retorts a" and
"b" are heated by means of furnaces "v," "v," in Figures 1 and 3, in the
construction and mode of firing of which there is no peculiarity. The heat
must, however, be raised, and during the process herein-after described, kept up
to such a degree as to maintain the charcoal or coke or anthracite coal and
the iron plates or wires contained in the retorts, at a white heat. The iron
plates used should, in order to operate to the greatest advantage, be thin, such
as pieces of hoop iron, and about three inches long; or if iron wires are used,
they should be of small diameter, say, about one-tenth of an inch, and from
two to three or four inches long. "g" is a vessel, from which water is supplied
in a small continued stream, regulated by the cocks "h" through the tube "i"
into the cylinder or retort "a," (see Figure 2). The water is conveyed through
the said pipe into the iron pan "j," and diffuses itself over and penetrates
to some depth into the mass of heated charcoal or coke or anthracite coal,
and iron plates or wires, by means of which it is converted into vapour,
and such vapour having no outlet at the upper end of the cylinder or retort,
(which is closed, as herein-after described,) penetrates and passes through the
whole body of charcoal or coke or anthracite coal and iron plates or wires
contained in the cylinder and colander, down to the bottom of the said
cylinder, where it is allowed to escape through the connecting tube "k," "k,"
Figures 1 and 2, into the next cylinder or retort "b," and to rise therein
through the charcoal or coke or anthracite coal and iron plates or wires
contained in the said cylinder or retort "b." The vapour disengaged from the
water in the retort "a," as aforesaid, becomes converted, by passing through the
contents of the two retorts in manner aforesaid, into a compound gas, composed
of hydrogen gas and oxide of carbon gas combined together, freed almost
entirely from the presence of carbonic acid gas, the effect of the iron plates
or wires being to absorb nearly all the carbonic acid gas contained in the gas
evolved by the decomposition of the water. The next stage of the process
is to allow the compound gas so produced to pass through the connecting
tube","Figures 1 and 2, connecting the upper end of the retort "b" with
that of the third retort "c" into the said retort "c," (see Figures 1 and 2,) in
which third retort the mixture of the hydrogen and oxyde of carbon gas with
the carburetted hydrogen gas takes place. The carburetted hydrogen gas is
produced in the said third retort in manner following, that is to say:-The

page_text: vessel "m," see Figure 2, contains either oil or fat or tallow or common tar,
or some other substance of a similar character, which when decomposed by a
high temperature gives out carburetted hydrogen in large quantities. I shall
describe the process as conducted with oils or fats or tar, which are the three
substances which I propose principally to use. The oil or fat or tar must be
kept in the vessel "m" in a liquid state, and will flow therefrom in a small
continued stream through the taps "n," thence into the pipe "o," into the
retort "c," where it falls on a small apparatus "p," (see Figure 2,) which I
call the disperser. This apparatus consists of a small brass pan, which has
iron wires fixed thereto, diverging from the centre of the pan towards the inner
circumference of the retort "c," shewn in Figure 2, and its use is properly to
diffuse and disperse the oil or fat or tar over a mass of small chains "2," "2,"
suspended in the cylinder or retort "c," (as shewn in the section of the said
retort in Figure 2,) by means of the iron bar "
," which hangs upon
"
9,
a hook fixed to the centre of the cover z of the retort "c." I prefer iron
for chains, but any other metal capable of sustaining a white red heat may be
used. The retort "c," and its contents, the chains "2," "2," are to be kept
during the process heated to a moderate red heat. The oil or fat or tar
dispersed by the disperser 'p," and falling upon the heated chains, becomes
decomposed, and gives out carburetted hydrogen gas, which mixes in the said
retort with the hydrogen and oxyde of carbon gas brought into the said retort
from the retort "b," and the compound gas thus produced passes away through
the pipe ""(see Figure 1) into the receiving box "S," placed under ground,
whence it passes up through the pipe "t" (Fig. 1) into the condenser "u,"
u," "," and thence directly into a gasometer, which may be of the
ordinary kind, without passing through any purifying process or apparatus,
as I find the gas produced as aforesaid sufficiently pure to dispense with
the ordinary purifying process. The use of the chains "2," "2," is, firstly,
to subdivide the drops of oil or fat or tar more minutely and completely
than is done in the ordinary process of making oil gas, whereby the
decomposition of the oil or fat or tar can be effected by a moderate red
heat instead of a white red heat, and in consequence more perfectly than
if the drops of oil or fat or tar were not so subdivided; and secondly, to
prevent to a great extent the formation of a coating or incrustation of
carbon on the heated surfaces to which the oil is exposed, an effect which
results from the deposits which take place during the decomposition of the
oil or fat or tar, and which does not take place to so great an extent,
and is more easily remedied when it does take place, where an apparatus
composed of such chains is used, than in the ordinary process of making oil

page_text: gas. The chains should, in order to produce the effects above described in the
most beneficial manner, neither hang parallel to each other nor be laid one
over the other in horizontal coils; but the most beneficial arrangement is that
shown in Figure 2, where it will be seen that the chains lie upon each other
in an oblique direction, forming, as it were, a series of cones of varying bases,
the apex being always a point on the centre line of the rod "q," from which
they are suspended. For this purpose, the rod "q," which is square, is fur-
nished all the way from the lower end to "3," see Figure 2, with short hooks
on its sides, each a little higher than the other, and the chains are hung from
such hooks, commencing with the shortest at the lower end of the rod "q."
The chains so hung will assume of themselves the position and arrangement
which I find most adapted for the purposes aforesaid, of subdividing the oil
or fat or tar, and moderating the formation upon them of an incrustation of
carbon, which is only trifling, and may be removed by introducing a small iron
rod or other convenient instrument at "z," retort "c," Figure 2, and passing
it downwards through the chains, when the carbon will crumble to pieces and
fall down through the bottom coverlid at "C," Figure "2," in retort "c," and
which coverlid is cemented with white and red lead. The chains should be
small, the links being about from half to three quarters of an inch across the
narrowest part. I have already mentioned that the cylinders or retorts "a"
and "b," and their contents, are to be kept during the process at a white heat, by
the fires placed in the furnaces "," "v," Figure 1; and the cylinder or retort
"
"
"
c," and its contents, at a moderate red heat, by the fire placed in the furnace
'w," Figure 1. The furnace work is built of fire bricks, and the fires flame
upwards and round the cylinders or retorts a," "b," "c," through the flues
surrounding same, as shewn at "x," ," Figure 3. The cylinders or retorts
are sufficiently supplied with droughts of air through the ash pits "v," u," ","
Figure 1, beneath the fire-places. The charcoal or coke or anthracite coal
contained in the cylinders "a" and "b" are replaced, as occasion requires,
through the openings "z," "z," (see Figure 2,) at the upper ends of the
cylinders or retorts, previous to and during the process herein-before described
of manufacturing gas. Those openings are closed by caps, cemented with
Stourbridge clay into the necks of the cylinders, and fastened down by means
of the clamps and screws shewn at G, H, I, Figure 2. A, Figure 1, is a small
lamp, leading from the tube "1," Figure 1, to test the hydrogen and oxyde of
carbon gas as it passes through the tube "1" into the cylinder or retort "c."
B, Figure 1, is a small jet, to test the compound gas produced as herein-
before described, before it passes into the gasometer. The Drawings hereto
annexed are on a scale of one and a half inch to the foot. If the cylinders

page_text: or retorts used are of much larger dimensions than those above mentioned,
two cylinders or retorts may be found sufficient; one for containing charcoal
or coke or anthracite coal and iron plates or wires, for producing the hydrogen
and oxyde of carbon gas; the other for containing the small iron chains, and
for producing the carburetted hydrogen gas. The two cylinders will then be
connected by means of a tube at the bottom of such two cylinders or retorts,
as shewn at "k," "k," Figure 1. If two cylinders or retorts only are used,
the one should always be three parts full of charcoal or coke or anthracite
coal and iron plates or wires; the other should be two-third parts full of the
small chains. "C," "C," Figure 2, are coverlids, at the lower ends of the
retorts "a" and "b," respectively, made to open, to remove any dross, if lime
be used, as after mentioned, out of the said retorts "a" and "b," and to re-fill
the cylindrical colanders "f," "f," as occasion requires; and such coverlids
must be cemented with Stourbridge clay when replaced. D, E, F, Figure 2,
represent the coverings of the tops of the cylinders or retorts, which are made
secure by means of the clamps and screws G, H, I, Figure 2, herein-before
already mentioned. J, K, L, Figure 1, are three chimnies, made of plate iron,
leading from the flues of brickwork, uniting in one chimney M, Figure 1.
N, N, N, Figure 1, are three fire regulators; O is a safety cock, to prevent
the return of the gas from the condenser to the retort; P, Figure 1, is a cock
to remove any collection out of the condenser, which might interfere with the
passage of the gas.
Note. I have described iron plates or wires, as used for filling the
colanders "," in the retorts "a" and "b," or in the single retort if but one
be used, for absorbing the carbonic acid gas from the hydrogen evolved by the
decomposition of the water, and thus producing hydrogen and oxyde of carbon
gas. Instead of such iron plates and wires, lime may be used to assist, with
the charcoal or coke or anthracite coal, in the process of producing such
hydrogen and oxyde of carbon gas; but it does not answer so well as iron
plates and wires; firstly, because the latter have a more perfect effect in
absorbing the carbonic acid gas; secondly, because the iron plates or wires,
after performing their offices in the retorts, form a valuable residuum as
protoxyde of iron, whereas the lime is not of any material use after performing
its office. I have also described the retorts "a" and "b" as heated by furnaces,
as shewn in the Drawing hereto annexed; but they may be heated by means
of the apparatus known as Daniell's galvanic battery, the positive and negative
wires being conducted into the retorts "a" and "b" to heat them, as shewn
by the dotted lines in Figure 2. The nature of the apparatus is so well
understood to practical chemists, and the mode of applying it so obvious, as to

page_text: require no further description. The retorts must of course be heated up to
the temperature directed before letting in the water and oil or fat or tar.
The proportion between the quantity of water and the quantity of oil or fat
or tar let into the apparatus while the process is going on, will vary according
to the quality of the material used for producing the carburetted hydrogen.
If such material contains too much carbon in proportion to its hydrogen, more
water will be required to produce the ultimate compound gas, and vice versa.
The test of the process going on properly in the retorts "a" and "b" will be
the inflammability of the gas issuing at the guage cock A. If the gas issuing
therefrom will not burn when a light is applied to it, the temperature of the
retorts "a" and "b" must be raised till it does burn; and whether the water
and oil are supplied in the proper portions must be ascertained by the quality
of the combustion of the gas issuing at the gauge cock B. If that gas
burns with a smoky light, or other indications of the presence of too much
carbon, the supply of water to the retort "a" will be increased. Subject to
these general rules and directions, it is obvious that in the regulation of the
process much must be left to the discretion of the person superintending the
same.
Having now described the apparatus and mode of operation used by me for
carrying into effect my new means of producing gas, it remains for me to
state what I claim as my Invention. And I hereby declare that I do not
claim generally the use of water as a material from which to produce gas, nor
the use of charcoal or coke or anthracite coal separately, as a material to be
used as the agent for decomposing water and producing hydrogen and oxyde
of carbon gas; that I claim and limit my claim to the following particulars,
that is to say:-I claim the method which I have described of producing
hydrogen gas and oxyde of carbon gas combined, freed or nearly freed from
the presence of carbonic acid gas, by passing the gas evolved by the decom-
position of water through a mass of material composed of charcoal, coke, or
anthracite coal and iron plates or iron wires or lime heated to a high tem-
perature, and of combining such compound gas as aforesaid with carburetted
hydrogen gas produced by the decomposition of oil or fat or tar, or such
other substances as herein-before designated. And I claim as that part of my
said Invention which relates to the apparatus employed, the colanders "f;"
the apparatus which I have described, in reference to Figure 2, as a disperser;
and the use of chains for the purposes described in reference to Figure 2 of
the plan hereto annexed. But I wish it to be observed, that although I have
described a particular mode of arranging the chains; which mode I have found
answer the purpose above described as intended, I do not mean to limit my