IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ILLUMINATING GAS AND APPARATUS OR MECHANISM CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1874

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by James Lamont at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st January
1874.
I, JAMES LAMONT, of the City of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Plumber, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ILLUMINATING GAS AND
APPARATUS OR MECHANISM CONNECTED THEREWITH," to be as follows, that is to
say:―
This said Invention has for its object new or improved constructions
and arrangements of the parts of small and complete apparatus for the
manufacture of illuminating gas from cheap crude, mineral, and fish
oils, of a cheap, portable and self contained construction without
foundation, buildings, tanks, or other brickwork, for lighting private
houses, gentlemen's seats, farm houses, seminaries, churches, or small
public works in the country, or where these cannot be supplied from
large and public gas works, all in a more simple and economical manner
than has heretofore been effected or put into practice; and the nature of
these improvements consists in making the retort or gas producer in the
form of a shallow close cast-iron vessel, preferably nearly the size of and

page_text: so as to be sunk into and form the top of a close heating portable stove
(of the kind known as American stoves commonly used for cooking
and heating purposes) having a close ribbed fire-grate below with an
end or side door so as to feed in and burn dross or other cheap small
coal or cinder fuel from the large public gas works.
The retort is preferably jointed all round the top of the stove by a
flange and fire-clay or other equivalent having a top or end cover to the
retort, with or without a man-hole door, both firmly jointed gas-tight by
screw bolts and flanges and stucco or clay or other such equivalent to
prevent the escape of the oil or gas and yet admit of easy access at any
time desired, such as every few weeks, to clear out any solid carbon
which may accumulate in it. The oil is fed from a cistern above into a
filler at the top end of a small vertical conducting malleable iron pipe,
with a liquid dip bend at bottom for preventing the escape of the gas
back, or the entrance of air through this pipe which has its other lower
end jointed preferably to one end of the retort, so that the oil is fed and
regulated thereto by a tap on the oil vessel near the filler at the top of
said oil supply pipe, while the gas is led off by a larger malleable iron
pipe, jointed preferably at the top of the other end of the retort, and led
down to a water or liquid trap or overflow vessel at the lower part of the
gas cleaner or purifier, where the gas after rising through the liquid
passes through two or more perforated or wire gauze trays and a coating
of lime and oak sawdust or other equivalent purifier carried on them to
the top of this vessel, which is preferably of a cylindrical or square deep
shape with water luted cover, from below which the gas is led off by
a movable iron pipe up through the bottom of and into the gasometer
or receiver, which is preferably of the water luted tank class, formed of
sheet lead or zinc, preferably square, and balanced or counterweighted
to the desired extent by chains passed over pulleys at the top of two or
more standards secured to the sides of the wooden water trough or
vessel into which the lower open mouth of the gasometer works, as
the gas is drawn off, in proportion to the demand and supply of gas
produced.
The water tank may be coated inside with sheet lead or zinc and form
the foundation and framing to the gasholder, which might, when
preferred, be made of the ordinary close dry collapsing class formed of

page_text: the desired pressure to be given to the gas through the service pipes, led
off as usual by a stand pipe in the inside of the gas holder, all furnished
with the usual cocks or valves and water luted joints to prevent
explosion or fire communicating through the pipes from the retort in
any direction, and taps and gauges on the retort and liquid taps for the
drawing off of the liquids when the gauge shows an excess.
In winter when the crude oils are thick or frozen a part of the escaping
heat from the stove of the retort might be made to circulate below or
round the lower part of the supply cistern until the oil was able to run
or trickle into the filler of the supply pipe before referred to so as to
spread over the bottom of the red retort in a thin layer, and be quickly
distilled or converted into hydrocarbon gas of a very pure character,
requiring very little cleaning or refining; and although separate liquid
traps or hydraulic mains and condensers have not been described, not
being absolutely necessary for these improved simple portable gas
making apparatus yet still these might be added between the gas retort
and the purifier when desired.