IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR ILLUMINATING, HEATING, AND OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Amos Peirce Chamberlain, of Finsbury, in the County
of Middlesex, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF GAS FOR ILLUMINATING, HEATING, AND OTHER PURPOSES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Amos Peirce Chamberlain
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th December 1880.
AMOS PEIRCE CHAMBERLAIN, of Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR ILLUMINATING, HEATING,
AND OTHER PURPOSES."
This Invention relates to the manufacture of gas suitable for illuminating,
heating, and other purposes, and the improvements constituting the Invention have
especial reference to and consist in the use of heated air, or air which has been
treated as hereinafter described in the manufacture of gas, whether the latter as
hitherto produced be generated from coal in any usual manner and in any usual
apparatus, or from mineral or other oils, or other suitable gas producing liquids, or
other substances, as has been formerly done, in various arrangements of apparatus,
either alone or in combination with one of other agents, as has been previously
done, or with various auxiliary agents, as described in the Specification of certain
Letters Patent, No. 791/80, granted to me and bearing date the 23rd day of
February last, the especial objects in the use of air thus treated and of the inter-
mixture thereof with gas (however produced) being to enrich and effect the more
complete combustion of the carbon of the gas, and to produce the same of a
superior quality and more economically than bas hitherto been attainable.
In carrying my Invention into effect I proceed in the manufacture of gas either
from coal or from mineral or other oils, or other suitable gas producing liquids or
substances, either alone or in combination with various auxiliary agents, according
to any of the methods hitherto practiced, and with any of the usual apparatus; and
I subsequently admix the heated air or the air which has been heated and treated
according to my present Invention with the gas produced according to any of these
methods; and the way in which I at present prefer to heat or treat the air, and

page_text: admix the air thus treated with the said gas, is as follows:-I arrange the main
into which the gas passes from the retorts in the furnace as it is generated therein
as near to the furnace as is convenient, and adjacent thereto, and build it partly
within the wall thereof if possible, this main leading in the usual manner to the
washer or cooler on the way to the gas-holder, and I force or inject the air (pre-
ferably ordinary atmospheric air) into the main by the use of any suitable air
blower or other usual air forcing contrivance. Owing to the back pressure afforded
by the water of the washer or cooler, or by the purifier, the air ascends into the
retorts by a natural law of attraction and repulsion of heat and cold, and upon
becoming highly heated therein finds its way back to the main, which may be
directly heated by gas jets or otherwise for effecting the heating of or for aiding in
heating the air, and passes on following the path of the gas to and through the
washer and cooler or purifier, which deprives it of the capability of any subsequent
deleterious action upon animal or other life previous to its incorporation or inter-
mixture with the gas. I am, according to this method of procedure, enabled to
combine the air thus treated with the gas in whatever proportions I require, this
depending upon the intended use of the resultant gas, as I may first manufacture
any required number of cubic feet of gas, and then intermix therewith any required
number of cubic feet of the prepared air; but I do not limit myself to this method
of procedure, as the required treating of the air and subsequent admixture thereof
with gas may be otherwise effected.
According to another modification I effect the desired admixture of the heated
air and gas during the manufacture of the latter, and one way in which I can do
this is to generate the gas in some of the retorts, and simultaneously heat the air
in others thereof. According to this modification the admixture is or may be
effected before reaching the washer or purifier, the gas and the heated or prepared
air simultaneously finding their way into the main.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Amos Peirce Chamberlain in the Great Seal. Patent Office on the
10th June 1881.
_AMOS PEIRCE CHAMBERLAIN, of Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR ILLUMINATING, HEATING,
AND OTHER PURPOSES."
This Invention relates to the manufacture of gas for illuminating, heating, and
other purposes, and the improvements constituting the Invention have especial
reference to and consist in the use of air which is or has been heated and passed
through or otherwise similarly subjected to the influence of water in the manu-
facture of gas, whether the latter, as hitherto produced, be generated from coal in
any usual manner and in any usual apparatus, or from mineral or other oils or
other suitable gas-producing liquids or other substances, as has been formerly done,
in various arrangements of apparatus, either alone or in combination with one of
other agents, as has been previously done, or with various auxiliary agents, as
described in the Specification of certain Letters Patent, No. 791/80, granted to
me and bearing date the 23rd day of February last, the special objects in the com-
bination or intermixture of air heated and treated according to my present
improvements with gas (however produced) being to enrich the gas and cause it to
be of such a composition as that its light-yielding or its heat-yielding particles or
elements, depending upon its preparation and intended use, shall be utilized to a
greater degree than without such an intermixture has been hitherto possible, and
hence to ensure its maximum economical consumption or use in that, as regards
quantity, less will be required to effect a given result, and a given quantity will be
of a higher illuminating or heating power, the resultant gas being of a superior
quality and more economically produced than has hitherto been attainable.
According to one modification of carrying my Invention into effect I proceed in
the manufacture of gas either from coal, or from mineral or other oils, or other
suitable gas-producing liquids or substances, either alone or in combination with
various auxiliary agents, according to any of the methods hitherto practised and
with any of the usual apparatus, and I subsequently admix the air which has been
heated and treated according to my present Invention with the gas produced
according to any of these methods, and one way in which I heat and treat the air
and admix the air thus treated with the said gas is as follows:-I arrange the
main, into which the gas passes from the retorts in the furnace as it is generated
therein, as near to the furnace as is convenient and adjacent thereto, and build it
partly within the wall thereof if possible, this main leading in the usual manner
to the washer or cooler on the way to the gas-holder. I force or inject the air
(which I use for the purposes of my Invention, and which is preferably ordinary
atmospheric air) into the main by the use of any suitable air-blower or other usual
air forcing contrivance, and it gets a preliminary heating owing to the proximity
of the main to the furnace. Owing to the back pressure afforded by the water of
the washer and cooler or purifier the air ascends into the retorts, and upon becoming
highly heated therein again enters the main, which at the air-entering end may
be directly heated by gas-jets or otherwise for effecting the heating of, or for aiding
in heating or effecting the preliminary heating of, the air, and passes on, following
the path of the previously made gas to and through the water of the washer and
cooler or purifier, which deprives it of the capability of any subsequent deleterious
action upon animal or other life previous to its incorporation or intermixture with
the gas.
According to another modification I firstly, as hereinbefore described, or in any
equivalent manner, effect the heating and other treating of the air, and then
proceed with the manufacture of the gas, and then cause the desired intermixture
in the gas-holder or otherwise.

page_text: According to another modification I manufacture or produce the gas and
prepared air alternately, and intermix them in the gas-holder or otherwise as thus
produced.
According to another modification the gas and the prepared air may be simul-
taneously produced or manufactured, but in separate retorts, and being led into
different mains and intermixed after having been passed through separate washers
or purifiers.
I am according to these methods of procedure enabled to combine the air thus
treated with the gas in whatever proportions I require, as I may manufacture any
required number of cubic feet of gas or of the prepared air, and intermix therewith
any required number of cubic feet of the prepared air or of the gas, no specific
proportions being arbitrary, but depending upon the one hand upon the composition
of the gas with which the prepared air is to be intermixed, and upon the other hand
upon the intended use of the resultant gas whether required for illuminating,
heating, or other purposes, and being easily determined with this foreknowledge.
I do not however in any way limit myself to these methods of procedure, as the
required heating and passing of the heated air through or subjecting it in any
other way to the influence of water, and subsequent admixture thereof with the
gas, may be otherwise effected in very many ways for the purposes of the Invention
without departing from the principle or characteristic feature thereof.
According to another modification I effect an intermixture of heated air with
gas during the manufacture of the latter, and cause it to pass through or be
otherwise similarly subjected to the influence of water when in combination with
the gas, and one way in which I do this is to generate the gas in some of the
retorts, and simultaneously heat the air in others thereof, the gas and the equi-
valently heated air simultaneously escaping into the main, and there intermixing
before they reach and pass together through the washer or purifier.
I wish it to be distinctly understood that my present Invention does not comprise
or necessitate the use of any particular apparatus, as it may be carried into practical
effect in apparatus of various constructions as at present existing, or after being
in any convenient way suitably adapted to meet the requirements of my
Invention.
Having now described the nature and object of my said Invention, together
with the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried
into practical effect, I would remark in conclusion that what I claim as the
Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part recited Letters Patent is,―
The herein before described improvements in the manufacture of gas for
illuminating, heating, and other purposes, and which consist in the combination or
intermixture with gas, however produced and from whatever materials, subse-
quently to the manufacture thereof, of air which has been heated and passed
through or otherwise similarly subjected to the influence of water (the order in
which the gas and the heated and prepared air be manufactured or produced being
quite iminaterial), or during the manufacture of the gas, of air which has been
Leated, and which is caused to pass through or be otherwise similarly subjected to
the influence of water when in combination with the gas, substantially as and for
the purposes herein before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Amos Peirce Chamberlain, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this 9th day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty one.