AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING ILLUMINATING GAS
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING
ILLUMINATING GAS."-A communication from abroad by William
Harkness, of Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America.
Scaled the 14th August 1874, and dated the 22nd June 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd June 1874.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS
FOR MAKING ILLUMINATING GAS," a communication, to be as follows:-
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 22nd June 1874.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS
FOR MAKING ILLUMINATING GAS," a communication, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a novel process and apparatus for manu,
facturing illuminating gas, the peculiarities of which I will proceed to
describe...

page_text: The object of the said Invention is the production of illuminating gas
by decomposing steam and uniting the resulting gas together with the
gases given off by red hot coal when the steam is passed through it with
hydrocarbon vapors by which a permanent or fixed gas of high illu-
minating power may be produced at a very cheap rate.
I use generators provided with a fire-grate, a smoke pipe having a
valve for closing the same, and a mouth above and below furnished with
lids. In combination with the said generators I arrange pipes provided
with suitable valves, and arranged to admit steam at the top or bottom
of the generator.
I also employ a removable vaporizer provided with a transverse
groove and longitudinal grooves. The oil as it is delivered falls into
the transverse groove or trough, whence it flows gradually along the
other grooves, of which there may be any number, and is thus vaporized
without coming in contact with the retort while in a liquid state.
I combine a steam boiler with one or more of the said generators con-
structed and arranged to heat the coal therein and pass the steam down-
ward through it, and with one or more retorts arranged to vaporize
a hydrocarbon and mingle and heat the vapors in the said retort.
I construct the retorts with a lid at each end so as to afford more
ready access to their interior, it not being necessary to remove them
from the furnace, though as previously stated other forms of retorts
may be used if desired. By so constructing and arranging the apparatus
that the steam is made to pass downward through the mass of incan-
descent coal in the generators I get much better results than can be
obtained by allowing it to pass either upward or horizontally through
the coal. As the natural tendency of the steam and the gases of com-
bustion is to rise, it follows that when admitted above the coal the steam
will fill the entire cross section of the generator, and as the volume
increases will pass down through the coal, filling the entire space until
it escapes below. By this method the steam is not only made to take
up all the oxide gas, but it is brought into direct contact with every
particle of hot coal, enveloping each and every piece of it on their
entire surfaces. Morcover as it fills the entire generator from top to
bottom, and will flow out at the bottom only as the volume is increased
at the top, a much larger quantity of steam is held in contact with the
hot coal and for a larger time, whereby it is more effectually decomposed
and takes with it more of the gases of combustion, thus producing the

page_text: When
desired result far more effectually than by any other means.
steam is admitted below and allowed to pass up through the coal it may
pass up along one side or at the centre only, and as it is heated still by
contact with the coal it will pass through very quickly and without
coming in contact with all the coal; so when it is passed through hori-
zontally it will flow along the upper side of the vessel and will not bo
brought into intimate contact with the entire mass of coal, hence this
passing of the steam downward through the coal I consider a very
important feature of my Invention. I take the gas from a retort that is
lower than the one immediately preceding it, by which means it is held
in the previous retort until forced out by the volume behind, thus
tending to retard its flow and hold it in the heated retort until the
different vapors are thoroughly mingled and chemically united, thus
rendering the product a fixed and permanent gas not liable to condense
at any ordinary temperature even in the coldest winter weather. The
gas thus produced is carbureted hydrocarbonic oxide of specific gravity
of 700, air being taken at 1000 as a standard. It is free from sulphur
and phosphorus and does not require to be washed or purified, but is
ready for use as it comes from the works. It does not gum up the
burners nor condense even at a low degree of temperature, but remains
a permanent fixed gas at all times ready for use, the same as the ordinary
illuminating gas. It can be made of any degree of richness desired up
to at least thirty candle power.
By this process I am enabled to produce a good illuminating gas at a
greatly reduced price.
Another advantage of the said process is that no carbon is formed in
the retorts, and hence there is not the usual delay required for cleaning
The vaporizer being detached can be removed from the retort
and a fresh one supplied whenever necessary.
them.
30 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 21st December 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
35 Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of Junc, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her
special licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Robert Lake, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might
make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Inven-
tion for "AN IMPROVED PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING ILLUMINATING
GAS," a communication to me from. abroad, by William Harkness, of
Providence, Rhode Island, United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to
be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawings forming a part of this Specification:-
This Invention relates to a novel process and apparatus for manu-
facturing illuminating gas, the peculiaritics of which I will proceed to
describe.
The object of the said Invention is the production of illuminating gas
by decomposing steam and uniting the resulting gas together with the
gases given off by red hot coal when the steam is passed through it with
bydrocarbon vapors by which a permanent or fixed gas of high illu-
minating power may be produced at a very cheap rate.
In the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of the
said apparatus complete; Figure 2 is a rear elevation of the same; and

page_text: Figures 3, 4, and ɔ are scotions and detached parts snowing the internal
construction of the said apparatus.
In practising this Invention I proceed as follows:-
First. I provide a steam boiler A, which as represented in the
Drawings is of the upright form, but which may be of any other form
convenient for the purpose.
I also provide a bench of retorts C, as represented in the Drawings,
suitably set in a furnace, these retorts C being connected by tubes J, as
shown in Figure 4, and by dotted lines in Figure 1, in such a manner
that the vapors entering them are compelled to traverse the entire
length of them all successively. For the purpose of illustration I have
represented a series of three retorts C thus arranged, though it is obvious
that any desired number may be used, or that a single retort having
partitions arranged in it in such a manner as to cause the vapors to
travel to and fro therein may be used instead, the object being to subject
the vapors for a considerable time to an extended heating surface while
in the retorts.
ค
•
I also provide two or more decomposing furnaces or generators B,
which as shown in Figure 3 are made like ordinary cylinder stoves of
considerable height with a fire-grate m at their base and an ash-pit
underneath. Instead of being provided with ordinary doors these
generators B are provided at the bottom with a mouth-piece or lid b
like a gas retort, so constructed that it can be clamped and rendered
gas-tight, it being located below the grate m, as shown in Figure 3.
Another and similar lid a is arranged to close a mouth or opening near
the top, and in the smoke pipe R extending from the top I locate a
valve by which to close the pipe R, also thus rendering the generator B
steam-tight. Each of these generators is also provided with a safety
valve t, as shown in Figure 2. These generators are connected with
the retorts C by a pipe H which extends from their base along the back,
as shown in Figure 2, and from which a vertical pipe I leads to the rear
end of the first retort of the series, there being valves arranged as
represented in Figure 2, so that either generator B may be shut off from
communication with the retorts at will, the intention being to use them
alternately, as herein-after explained. The pipes H leading from the
generators B are provided with pet cocks s to clear them of the con-
densed steam, as shown in Figure 2. These generators B are connected

page_text: with the steam boiler A by a pipe /, Figures 1 and 2, the pipe having
one branch i entering the top of each generator, and another branch g
which enters the space under their grates; these branches are provided
with suitable cocks or valves by which to shut off or admit the steam
through either at will to cause the steam to enter the generators at top
or bottom, as may be desired.
I also provide a reservoir or tank F for containing the hydrocarbon
oil to be used, a pipe h serving to convey the oil to a syphon tube 7, as
shewn in Figure 2, which introduces it into the first retort C of the
series at its rear end near where the pipe I enters, as shown in Figures 2
and 4. Within this retort directly under the point where the oil is
delivered I place a vaporizer M, as shown in Figure 4. This vaporizer
is shewn detached in Figure 5, it consists of a plate having a transverse
groove or trough at one end, from which extends at right angles a
series of grooves 0.
The oil as it is delivered from the pipe falls into
the trough, whence it flows gradually along the grooves o, of which
there may be any number, and is thus vaporized without coming in
contact with the retort while in a liquid state. A stand pipe d extends
from the front end of the last retort C and connects with the hydraulic
main from which the main pipe E extends to the gasometer.
It is obvious that instead of the separate or detached boiler A a steam
boiler may be heated by the same furnace as the retorts, the boiler being
set above or alongside of the retorts as may be found most convenient
and practicable, and that in its details the said apparatus may be varied
more or less without affecting or changing its principle or mode of
operation.
The process of forming the gas according to this Invention is as
follows The generators B are partially or nearly filled with coal, a
fire being kindled and the draft opened; it is allowed to burn until the
mass of the coal is red hot, when the lower door or lid of the generator
is closed and rendered gas-tight by luting or otherwise. Steam is then
admitted from the boiler A through the pipe g into the base of the
generator B, and if the coal be of the proper temperature and condition
the steam thus admitted as it ascends through the incandescent mass
will be decomposed and converted into a gas or vapor that will burn at
the surface of the mass of coal. As soon as this is ascertained the
upper lid a is luted on, and the valve p in the smoke pipe closed. The

page_text: valve in the pipe g is shut, and that in the pipe i is opened, thus
admitting the steam from the boiler into the top of the generator B,
whence it is forced down through the mass of hot coal, and it passes out
at the bottom through the pipe H, and thence through the pipe I into
the first retort C where it comes in contact with the vaporized hydro-
carbon and unites with it, the gases all travelling together through the
heated retorts and passing out through the pipe & a permanent fixed
gas. While one generator B is being thus used the other is being
heated, and when the first has been run for about an hour the steam is
shut off from it and turned into the second one, the first being
replenished with coal and heated so as to be ready for use by the time
the second is exhausted, and thus the operation is rendered continuous.
By so constructing and arranging the apparatus that the steam is made
to pass downward through the mass of incandescent coal in the
generators B I get much better results than can be obtained by allowing
it to pass either upward or horizontally through the coal. As the
natural tendency of the steam and the gases of combustion is to rise, it
follows that when admitted above the coal the steam will fill the entire
cross section of the generator, and as the volume increases will pass
down through the coal, filling the entire space until it escapes below.
By this method the steam is not only made to take up all the oxide gas
but it is brought into direct contact with every particle of hot coal
enveloping each and every piece of it on all their surfaces. Moreover
as it fills the entire generator from top to bottom and will flow out at
the bottom only as the volume is increased at the top a much larger
quantity of steam is held in contact with the hot coal and for a longer
time, whereby it is more effectually decomposed and takes with it more
of the gases of combustion, thus producing the desired result far more
effectually than by any other means. When steam is admitted below
and allowed to pass up through the coal it may pass up along one side
or at the centre only, and as it is heated still by contact with the coal it
will pass through very quickly and without coming in contact with all
of the coal, so when it is passed through horizontally it will flow along
the upper side of the vessel and not be brought into intimate contact
with the entire mass of coal; hence this passing of the steam downward
through the coal is a very important feature of the said Invention. I
also take the gas from a retort that is lower than the one imme
diately preceding it, by which means it is held in the previous retort
until forced out by the volume behind, thus tending to retard its flow

page_text: and hold it in the heated retort until the different vapors are thoroughly
mingled and chemically united, thereby rendering the product a fixed
and permanent gas not liable to condense at any ordinary temperature
even in the coldest winter weather. The gas thus produced is carbureted
hydrocarbon oxide of a specific gravity of 700, air being taken at 1000
as a standard; it is free from sulphur and phosphorous and does not
require to be washed or purified, but is ready for use as it comes from
the works. It does not gum up the burners nor condense even at a low
degree of temperature but remains a permanent fixed gas at all times
ready for use the same as ordinary illuminating gas; it can be made of
any degree of richness desired up to at least thirty candle power. In
ordinary practice I use the steam at about forty pounds pressure, and
use about one and three-tenths gallons of oil to one thousand feet of
gas.
By this process I am enabled to produce a good illuminating gas at a
greatly reduced price.
Another advantage of the said process is that no carbon is formed in
the retorts, and hence there is not the usual delay required for cleaning
them. The vaporizer M being detached can be removed from the
retort and a fresh one supplied whenever necessary.
In practice I make the generators from five to seven feet high, and
from fourteen to twenty-five inches internal diameter, they being made
of cast iron and lined with fire-brick. The retorts C I construct with a
lid at each end to afford more ready access to their interior, it not being
necessary to remove them from the furnace, though as previously stated
other forms of retorts may be used if desired.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent, I wish it understood I am aware that various efforts have
been made to produce illuminating gas by the union of the gases of
decomposed steam and of hydrocarbon oils, also that steam has been
decomposed in one retort and then united with the gas produced from
hydrocarbon oil in another retort; therefore I do not claim the same
except in connection with the means and process above described, but I
claim,―
First. The generator B provided with a fire-grate m, a smoke pipe R

page_text: having a valve for closing the same, and mouths above and below pro-
vided with lids a and b, the whole constructed to operate as described.
Second. In combination with the generators B the pipes I and pro-
vided with suitable valves and arranged to admit steam at the top or
bottom of the generator, as set forth.
Third. The removable vaporizer M provided with the transverse
groove n and the longitudinal grooves o, as described.
Fourth. The combination in a gas apparatus of a steam boiler, one or
more generators B constructed and arranged to heat the coal therein
and pass the steam downward through it, and one or more retorts
arranged to vaporize a hydrocarbon and mingle and heat the vapors.
therein, as herein described.
Fifth. The herein described process of making illuminating gas, that
is to say, by passing steam downward through a generator containing
incandescent coal, and thence into a retort in which hydrocarbon oil is
vaporized, and then passing these mingled gases through heated retorts,
as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four.
Witness,
HY. JAS. NOONE.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)