IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPARATUS FOR CARBURETTING GAS TO INCREASE ITS ILLUMINATING PROPERTIES
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Guy Wilson, of 71, Market Street, in the City of
Manchester, Mechanical Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPARATUS FOR CARBURETTING GAS TO INCREASE
ITS ILLUMINATING PROPERTIES." A communication from abroad by Bernhard
Liebich, of Gärlitz, in the Empire of Germany.
Sealed the 13th June 1878, and dated the 28th December 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Guy Wilson at the
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th December 1877.
JOHN GUY WILSON, of 71, Market Street, in the City of Manchester, Mechanical
Engineer and Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPARATUS FOR CAR-
BURETTING GAS TO INCREASE ITS ILLUMINATING PROPERTIES." A communica-.
tion from abroad by Bernhard Liebich, of Görlitz, in the Empire of Germany.
The object of this Invention is to so carburate coal gas as that its illuminating
power shall be constant and equal in intensity, and this with a cheaper carburetting
agent than has hitherto been practicable. Now this Invention consists in a novel
adaptation to the purpose of the principle involved in the ordinary bird's fountain,
wherein of necessity a bubble of air must enter the supply in order to exhaust a like'
quantity of liquid.
In performing the Invention I employ a chamber of any convenient form divided
into an upper and lower compartment. These compartments are in communication
through suitable pipes and openings, and the upper compartment is designed to act
as a reservoir, and to contain ordinary naptha, which is the carburetting agent I
prefer to employ on account of its cheapness, but purer and more expensive hydro-
carbons may be employed.
The upper compartment is in communication with the lower compartment, and
supplies the same with the required quantity of naptha on the principle of the
bird's fountain by means of a pipe, the lower extremity of which is kept sealed or
closed by being arranged to dip into the naptha lying at the bottom of such lower
Price Bd1

page_text: compartment. This lower compartment is further provided with a cylindrical par-
tition of wire gauze which supports a cotton or other fibrous web or covering
extending from the bottom to the top of the compartment, and which is thus kept
constantly saturated with the naptha by capilliary attraction.
The gas to be carburetted is led by means of an inlet pipe into the interior of the
cylindrical partition, and thence escapes through the fibrous material to an outlet
pipe leading to the burners. On its way however the gas has necessarily absorbed
a small quantity of the naptha, and this has again been reinstated by the sealed pipe
herein-before mentioned, allowing a bubble of gas to enter the upper compartment,
and thus to displace a like quantity of the naptha which has trickled down into the
lower compartment. A fresh quantity of the carburetting agent is thus constantly
being introduced into the carburetting chamber, and I am thereby enabled to car-
burate gas so as to give a constant illuminating power without any residium being
left, and this with a cheaper agent than has hitherto been practicable.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent and of
an Order of the Lord Chancellor filed by the said John Guy Wilson in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th July 1878.
JOHN GUY WILSON, of 71, Market Street, in the City of Manchester, Mechanical
Engineer and Patent Agent. "IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPARATUS FOR CAR-
A communica-
BURETTING GAS TO INCREASE ITS ILLUMINATING PROPERTIES."
tion from abroad by Bernhard Liebich, of Gorlitz, in the Empire of Germany.
The object of this Invention is to so carburate coal gas as that its illuminating
power shall be constant and equal in intensity, and this with a cheaper carburetting
agent than has hitherto been practicable. Now this Invention consists in a novel
adaptation to the purpose of the principle involved in the ordinary birds fountain,
wherein of necessity a bubble of air must enter the supply in order to exhaust a
like quantity of liquid.
In performing the Invention I employ a chamber of any convenient form
divided into an upper and lower compartment. These compartments are in
communication through suitable pipes and openings, and the upper compart-
ment is designed to act as a reservoir and to contain ordinary naptha, which
is the carburetting agent I prefer to employ on account of its cheapness, but purer
and more expensive hydrocarbons may be employed.
The upper compartment is in communication with the lower compartment, and
supplies the same with the required quantity of naptha, on the principle of the
birds fountain by means of a pipe, the lower extremity of which is kept sealed or
closed by being arranged to dip into the naptha lying at the bottom of such
lower compartment. This lower compartment is further provided with a cylin-
drical partition of wire gauze which supports a cotton or other fibrous web or
covering extending from the bottom to the top of the compartment, and which
is thus kept constantly saturated with the naptha by cappilliary attraction,

page_text: The gas to be carburetted is led by means of an inlet pipe into the interior of the
cylindrical partition, and thence escapes through the fibrous material to an outlet
pipe leading to the burners. On its way however the gas has necessarily absorbed
a small quantity of the naptha, and this has again been reinstated by the sealed pipe
herein-before mentioned, allowing a bubble of gas to enter the upper compartment,
and thus to displace a like quantity of the naptha which has trickled down into the
lower compartment. A fresh quantity of the carburetting agent is thus constantly
being introduced into the carburetting chamber, and I am thereby enabled to car-
burate gas so as to give a constant illuminating power without any residium being
left, and this with a cheaper agent than has hitherto be practicable.
On the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 represents a vertical section, and Fig. 2 a
horizontal section of the improved gas-carburetting apparatus, similar letters of
reference being used on both views to illustrate similar parts.
U is the upper compartment or reservoir for containing the supply of naptha or
other carburetting agent employed, and L is the lower compartment; these two com-
partments communicate together by the pipe "e," as illustrated, and this pipe "e" is
fitted at its lower extremity with a stop-cock H which is capable of being opened
and closed by the combination of levers l' and '; J is the inlet pipe for gas, and o
the outlet pipe, both extending downwards into the lower compartment; F is a
funnel affixed at the top of the filling pipe b, which extends downwards inside the
pipe C to the bottom of the lower compartment, and such pipe is also provided
inside the funnel with a screwed cap C. S is a hollow float to which is connected
a bent rod S¹ which extends upwards through the upper compartment and inside.
the pipe S, and at its upper extremity_terminates in a ball, which is capable of
rising and falling within the box S, g. This box S,g, is covered with a glass plate
which enables the position of the ball, and hence, of the float to be observed from
the outside, so as to give an indication of the height of the liquid lying at the
bottom of the lower compartment; D, c, is a perforated metallic cylinder covered on
both sides with cotton lamp wick or other suitable fibrous material; a is an air
pipe forming a communication between both compartments, and A, b, is an outlet
cock (affixed upon a pipe A, c, leading to the bottom of the lower compartment) for
withdrawing the naptha when required and which is most conveniently done by
means of an india-rubber pipe affixed to the cock A, b, and caused to act as a
sypbon.
The method of using this carburetting apparatus may be described as follows:-
The outlet pipe of the gas meter or other supply is connected to the inlet pipe J,
and the outlet pipe O is connected to the gas pipes leading to the place to be illu-
minated. The apparatus thus fixed must then be charged with the naptha or other
carburetting liquid, and for this purpose the stop-cock H is closed by the lever
and the screwed cap C removed from the funnel F, when some of the gas
burners should be lighted and the carburetting agent filled in through the
funnel F; such carburetter will then run through the pipe 6 and enter the
outer pipe C (which is closed at the bottom) through the opening f¹, and will
then rise therein until such liquid reaches the upper opening f, through which it
overflows into and eventually fills the upper compartment U; the gas meanwhile
escapes from such compartment through the air pipe a into the lower compartment L,
and thence finds its way to the burners. It will thus be apparent that in filling the
apparatus with the carburetting liquid some burners must be lighted, otherwise the
gas would escape unconsumed into the atmosphere.
The reservoir U being thus filled up to the level of the opening into the air pipe a
the liquid will then commence to descend through such air pipe into the lower com-
partment L, and beginning to accumulate therein will so cause the float S to rise
and thus indicate through the glass plate in the box S, g, that a sufficient quantity of
naptha has been introduced.
The cap C must now be replaced and the stop-cock H opened, when the naptha
descends through the pipe e into the lower compartment until the lower extremity
of the pipe e becomes sealed or closed with naptha, and in consequence will allow no

page_text: further flow of the liquid, upon the principle of the well-known bird's fountain.
The cotton lamp wick or other fibrous material which surrounds the perforated
cylinder D, c, and extends down into the carburetting liquid thus lying at the
bottom of such lower compartment will by capillary attraction suck up and become
saturated with the carburetting liquid, and in consequence the outlet of the cock H
will soon be opened afresh and thus permit a small quantity of gas to escape from
the compartment L up the pipe e to the upper compartment U, and thus displace a
like quantity of the carburetting liquid which will trickle down the pipe e until it
once more becomes fluid locked. Now it will be apparent that any gas entering the
apparatus through the inlet pipe J must necessarily pass through the fibrous material
surrounding the cylinder D, c, in order to escape by the pipe O, and that such
gas in so passing through the saturated wick is constantly absorbing a part of
the carburetting liquid and so becoming carburetted, whilst the liquid so absorbed
is supplied afresh from the upper compartment U in the manner herein-before
described. It thus results that the gas in passing through this carburetting appa-
ratus becomes mixed with an equal quantity and quality of the carburetting agent,
as owing to the peculiar construction and arrangement of this apparatus the gas is
not only obliged to absorb a small quantity of carburetted hydrogen before its place
can be supplied, but the intensity of the light is kept constant and equal during the
entire absorbtion of the whole contents of the naptha reservoir.
In conclusion, I would remark that this apparatus may be constructed in various
sizes, from ten to five hundred burners' capacity, the smaller sizes up to thirty
burners being by preference constructed of tin plates, with all the joints and con-
nections soldered, whilst the larger sizes are preferred to be constructed of sheet-iron
plates, tinned on the inner side in two parts, and joined together with flanges, as
illustrated on the Drawing:
It is also preferred that the pipe O should extend down a short distance into the
lower compartment, as illustrated, as experience teaches that it is better to draw off
the carburetted gas at that level.
Having thus particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said Inven-
tion, together with the best methods with which I am acquainted for carrying the
same into practical effect, I wish it to be understood that I claim,―
L.
First. The method of and apparatus for regulating the supply of the carburetting
agent upon the principle of the bird fountain, substantially as and for the purposes
described, and illustrated on the Drawing.
Second. The general construction and arrangement of apparatus for carburetting
gas, herein-before described and illustrated.
Third. The application to the purpose of the pipe e, stop-cock H, and combination
of levers for opening the same, as and for the purposes described and illustrated.
Fourth. The use and application of the pipes a, b, and c, and cock A, b, as and for
the purpose described, and illustrated on the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Guy Wilson, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-seventh day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
TATTN
WITT CON