Year: 1888

page_text: I, JAMES MCMURRAY ROSE, residing at No. 161, Sheffield Street, in the City
and County of Alleghany and State of Pennsylvania, one of the United States of
America, Gas Engineer, 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 :-
My Invention relates to the manufacture of gas, its object being to provide a rapid
and economical process for producing a gas which is adapted for illuminating, fuel and
heating purposes.
To these ends my invention consists, generally stated, in raising a mass of carbon
to incandescence and heating by means of the waste products therefrom a mass of
lime-stone or other refractory material impregnated with a heavy hydro-carbon, and
then passing through said incandescent fuel and the heated impregnated material a
current or currents of steam; as will be more fully described in the specification and
set forth in the claims.
It also consists in certain improvements in the gas generating apparatus, as will
hereinafter be set forth.
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will describe the
same, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1, is a horizontal section of the apparatus.
Figure 2, is a vertical section of the same on line x, x, Figure 1, and
Figure 3, is a vertical section of the same on line y, y, Figure 1..
Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each of the Figures of the
drawings.
Arranged around a central boiler, a, are a number of gas generator chambers, b,
between each one of which, and alternating therewith are lime-stone or hydro-carbon
chambers, c, which communicate with the gas generator chambers and with the boiler,
in the manner hereinafter set forth. Each gas generator chamber, b, is provided
with grate bars, 61, and in the outer wall with a flue or passage, e, having lateral
off-shoots, e', leading into the chamber, through which an air blast may be forced
into the chamber to raise the mass of fuel to incandescence. The roof of the
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page_text: generator chamber has therein a charging port, f, closed by a block, f', and
the lower part of the chamber is provided with a stoking hole, g, and ash-pit
door, g', and leading from the upper part of the chamber into the lime-stone
chamber, just below or into the mass of lime-stone of refractory material, is a
flue h, (Figure 3) through which the products of combustion from the gas generator
chamber pass.
Each hydro-carbon chamber, c, is provided with grate bars, c¹, to support the lime-
stone or other material and in the upper part of the chamber with a gas flue,, leading
to the gas storage tanks, or to the purifying box, and a flue, i, closed by a damper, k,
leading into the chamber, 4, which communicates by the flues, a', to the chamber, a²,
at the bottom of the flue boiler, a, through which the products of combustion pass
after heating the mass of impregnated lime-stone, or other material in the hydro-
carbon chamber, into the boiler and generate steam in the same.
For the purpose
of withdrawing the material which is charged into the hydro-carbon chamber, the
latter is provided with a stoke hole e², opposite the grate bars. Steam pipes, m, convey
steam from the boiler a, to the generator chamber, , just below the grate bars and
pipes, m¹, to the hydro-carbon chambers just above or below the grate bars and into
the upper part of the same.
In carrying out the process of making gas, which forms the subject matter of this
application, a quantity of blocks or pieces of lime-stone, dolomite, slag, or some porous
refractory material are coated or impregnated with a heavy hydro-carbon, such as
asphaltum, coal-tar, etc., and the material thus produced charged into the lime-stone
or hydro-carbon chamber, b, through a port in the roof thereof until the chamber is
about half filled, thus forming a mass of refractory material, impregnated with a
heavy hydro-carbon, and the said chamber is then sealed by suitable means to prevent
access of air thereto. At the same time the gas generator chambers are filled with
coke, coal or other suitable carbon, and when the charging is completed the fuel is
ignited and the blast turned on in the air blast flue, e, which rapidly causes the fuel
to become incandescent, and the products of combustion therefrom passing over
through the flue, h, into and through the mass of impregnated refractory material,
heating the same, the hydro-carbon chamber being closed so that no air is admitted
to support combustion and thus burn the hydro-carbon with which the lime-stone or
other material is impregnated. These products of combustion after passing through
the mass of material in the hydro-carbon chamber pass through the flue, i, into the
chamber,, and thence into the boiler, a, to generate steam.
When the fuel in the generator chamber has reached the proper degree of incan-
descence the air blast is turned off and the damper, &, lowered to close the flue leading
into the boiler from the hydro-carbon chamber, after which steam is turned on in the
pipes, m, m', the steam from the former coming in contact with the incandescent
carbon is decomposed and hydrogen and carbonic oxide formed, which gases pass over
into the hydro-carbon chamber, c, through the mass of material therein, some of the
carbonic oxide uniting with the oxygen released by the decomposition of the steam
which enters the hydro-carbon chamber below the mass of impregnated material,
to form a carbonic acid and the hot gases thus formed passing through the heavy
hydro-carbon causes the latter to form with the nascent hydrogen, hydro-carbons
principally of the ethylene and paraffin series, which mingle with the carbonic oxide,
hydrogen and other gases in the upper part of the hydro-carbon chamber.
Any carbon bisulphide which may have been formed in the fuel generator chamber
is broken up by the high temperature of the lime, hydro-carbon and sulphuretted
hydrogen formed, which may be subsequently removed by passing the gas through
a purifying box.
During the heating of the lime-stone or hydro-carbon chamber and the impregnated
material therein by the products of combustion passing therethrough, the heat causes
some of the hydro-carbon to be distilled which, as the upper walls of the lime-stone
chamber are at a comparatively low temperature deposit thereon more or less carbon
as do the products of combustion passing through the chamber to a slight extent. To
take up this deposited carbon and still further enrich the gas in hydrogen, and reduce

page_text: the bulk of the carbonic acid formed in the lower part of the lime-stone chamber to
carbonic oxide, a supply of steam is admitted into the upper part of the lime-stone
chamber, and, as the free carbon and the gases in the upper part of the chamber are now
at a high heat, the steam is decomposed, and the oxygen released united with the hot
carbon and this carbonic acid to form carbonic oxide, the hydrogen mingling and
passing off with the other gases formed in the lime chamber through the outlet i, to
the purifying box or storage tanks. The flow of steam into the fuel or generator
chamber and into the hydro-carbon chamber is continued as long as the fuel and
material in the hydro-carbon chamber remains heated to a sufficient degree to effect
the decomposition of the steam, but as soon as the heat of these substances fall too
low the steam is turned off, the damper, k, raised and the air blast turned on in the
passage, e, which soon raises the temperature of the fuel and the material in the hydro-
carbon chamber to the proper temperature to commence the gas making step again.
When the hydro-carbon with which the material in the lime-stone chamber is impreg-
nated is exhausted, the lime-stone is withdrawn from the chamber and a new charge
of impregnated material is inserted.
As a series of these sets of gas making chambers are arranged around the boiler,
and as they do not act simultaneously, some' one set of chambers is always discharging
its products of combustion into the boiler, while another set is always discharging a
supply of gas into the storage tanks or reservoir so that the action of the apparatus is
continuous.
The gas which is obtained by this process contains more or less hydrogen and is
rich enough in light hydro-carbons, principally marsh gas, to insure that a long
heating flame will be obtained in burning it, and hence the gas is well adapted for fuel
purposes. As the asphaltum or coal-tar forms with the hydrogen a large percentage
of light hydro-carbons, a very large volume of gas is made very quickly at a com-
paratively low cost.
The above apparatus and the exact order in which the steps of the method are
described are not essential to my improved method of making gas, as any other
form of apparatus may be used, and instead of passing all the gases resulting
from the decomposition of steam in the generator chamber through the hydro-
carbon chamber, a part may pass off into the storage tanks directly from the
generator chamber.
Further, the hydro-carbon chamber may be heated in other ways than by the
products of combustion passing therethrough, and gas may be made in this chamber
alone. What is known as Neuchatel Lime-Stone or "Jura Lime-Stone," a'natural
hydro-carbon impregnated lime-stone may be used in the hydro-carbon chambor in
place of the artificially prepared material heretofore described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The improvement in the art of making gas, which consists in beating a mass of
coke or coal to incandescence, and passing the products of combustion therefrom
through a mass of limestone or porous refractory material, impregnated with a heavy
hydro-carbon, and then passing a current or currents of steam into the incandescent
fuel and the heated lime-stone, the gases arising from the steam decomposed by the
fuel passing through the lime-stone, and finally admitting a supply of steam between
the mass of lime-stone and the outlet for the gas, substantially as and for the purpose
set forth.
2. The improvement in the art of making gas, which consists in heating a mass
of coal or coke to incandescence and passing the products of combustion therefrom
through a mass of lime-stone or porous refractory material, impregnated with a
heavy hydro-carbon, and then passing through said incandescent fuel and heated
impregnated lime-stone a current or currents of steam, substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.

page_text: .
3. The improvement in the art of making gas, which consists in heating a mass
of coke or coal to incandescence, and heating by means of the waste products
therefrom a mass of lime-stone or other refractory material, impregnated with
a heavy hydro-carbon, and then passing through said incandescent fuel and
the heated lime-stone a current or currents of steam, substantially as and for the
purpose set forth..
4. The improvement in the art of making water gas, which consists in heating
a mass of lime-stone or other porous material, impregnated with a heavy hydro-
carbon, while excluded from the air, and then passing through the said material a
current of water gas and steam, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
5. In gas making apparatus, the combination with a central steam boiler, of a
series of sets of lime-stone chambers and generator chambers arranged around
the boiler, the lime-stone chamber of each set communicating with the flues
of the boiler, and the generator chamber being placed at the side of the
lime-stone chamber and communicating therewith, substantially as and for the
purpose set forth.