Improvements in Gas Governors.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Apr., 1890
Complete Specification Left, 17th Feb., 1891-Accepted, 21st Mar., 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Gas Governors.
I, CHARLES GRANTLEY BEECHEY, of 93, Newsham Drive, Tue Brook,
Liverpool, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention has special reference to gas governors which are placed between
the gas holders and the outlet or main from the gas works to the town or
district. As ordinarily constructed these governors consist of an inner chamber
in communication at bottom with the gas holder and having at top an outlet
with a conical or other valve, this valve being suspended from or attached to
the inside of a bell forming a communication between the outlet from the inner
chamber and an outer chamber to which the main or outlet to the town is
connected. The bell with the conical valve is suspended from a counterbalanced
beam. As the pressure from the holder increases or diminishes the bell and
valve rise or fall as the case may be, and the valve outlet is proportionately closed
or opened.
The object of the present invention is to automatically increase or decrease
the pressure of the gas at the outlet from the governor in proportion to the
quantity of gas delivered. For this purpose I place on the counterbalance end
of the beam a vessel, hereinafter called the counterbalance vessel, which is con-
nected by means of a flexible pipe to a water tank; consequently as the
counterbalance vessel rises or falls, the water will run out of or into it, and thus
vary its weight according to its position relatively to the tank.
The action is as follows: As the consumption of gas increases the bell will fall
as usual and open the cone or valve wider so as to allow more gas to pass. The
counterbalance vessel will consequently rise and the water will run out of it into
the tank and it will become lighter, and thus by diminishing the counterweight
to the bell increase the pressure at the outlet; in other words the pressure at
the outlet is increased or decreased in proportion to the increase or decrease of
the arca round the cone, that is in proportion to the quantity of gas delivered
at the outlet.
In order that this governor may act perfectly the cone should be so shaped that
cach inch or degree of fall will give an equal increase of area, or the same
object may be obtained by making the counterbalance vessel conical so that the
weight of water per inch shall vary in proportion to the variation in the area of
the conc.
A governor constructed as above described will work well so long as the inlet
pressure is constant and a given quantity of gas passes the cone in proportion to the
area of the passage it forms. In gas works, however, the inlet pressure is subject
to variation on account of the supply to the governor being changed from one
holder to another, and also because as the holder gradually empties and falls, the
pressure is reduced, especially with holders of the telescopic class. If a governor
constructed as above described were working with an inlet pressure of say four
inches of water, a certain quantity of gas would pass the space provided by the
cone; if, however, the inlet pressure were increased to eight inches, twice the
quantity of gas would pass unless the cone rose and reduced the area.
the cone would rise, the counterbalance vessel would fall, the water would run into
it and make it heavier and consequently take weight off the bell; the outlet
pressure would thus be reduced and therefore the pressure would not be in pro-
In order to
portion to the amount of gas delivered at the outlet of the governor.
obviate this I close the top of the counterbalance vessel and connect it with the
But as

page_text: inlet to the governor or with some point between the holder and the governor by
means of a flexible pipe; the effect of this is that as the inlet pressure increases
the pressure on the top of the water in the counterbalance vessel increases and so
tends to force the water out of it into the tank; but since, as already explained,
the cone will rise by the inlet pressure, and consequently the counterbalance vessel
descend, the head of water will be increased, and thus by properly proportioning
the capacity and movement of the counterbalance vessel it is clear that although
this vessel will fall the water will be prevented from coming into it by the increased
pressure acting on the top of the water, that is to say the closing of the cone due
to an increase of pressure at the inlet, will not cause the weight upon it to be
altered, because the increased inlet pressure will also act upon the water in the
counterbalance vessel and thus counteract the tendency of the water to flow into
this vessel; its weight will thus remain the same although its position relatively to
the water tank has been changed.
The arrangement above described can be reversed in its action by placing what
I have called the counterbalance vessel on the top of the bell, closing the top of
the tank and connecting this with the inlet pressure; in this case weight will be
actually added to the bell in order to increase the pressure, instead of weight being
taken off the counterbalance, which is the same thing.
Dated this 17th day of April 1890.
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agent.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Gas Governors.
I, CHARLES GRANTLEY BEECHEY, formerly of 93, Newsham Drive, Tue Brook,
Liverpool, but now of 7, Kremlin Drive, Stoneycroft, Liverpool, 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 has special reference to gas governors which are placed between
the gas holders and the outlet or main from the gasworks to the town or district.
As ordinarily constructed these governors consist of an inner chamber in communi-
.cation at bottom with the gas holder and having at top an outlet with a conical or
other valve, this valve being suspended from or attached to the inside of a bell
forming a communication between the outlet from the inner chamber and an outer
chamber to which the main or outlet to the town is connected. The bell with the
conical valve is suspended from a counterbalanced beam. As the pressure from
the holder increases or diminishes, the bell and valve rise or fall as the case may be,
and the valve outlet is proportionately closed or opened.
с
In the accompanying drawing which will serve to illustrate the present invention
a represents the ordinary inner chamber of a gas governor this chamber is in
communication at bottom with the inlet from the gas holder and it has at top an
outlet c with a valve d, this valve being suspended from the inside of the bell e
which forms a communication between the outlet c and the outer chamber ƒ to
which the main or outlet to the town is connected. The bell e with the valve d
is suspended from a counterbalanced beam h. The above parts are of ordinary
construction or arrangement.
The object of the present invention is to automatically increase or decrease the
pressure of the gas at the outlet g from the governor in proportion to the quantity
of gas delivered. For this purpose I place on the counterbalance end of the
beam a vessel such as shown at i and hereinafter called the counterbalance vessel,
which is connected by means of a flexible pipe k to a water tank l, consequently as
the counterbalance vessel irises or falls the water will run out of or into it and
thus vary its weight according to its position relatively to the tank l.

page_text: The action is as follows: As the consumption of gas increases, the bell e will fall
as usual and open the cone or valve d wider so as to allow more gas to pass. The
counterbalance vessel will consequently rise and the water will run out of it into.
the tank and it will become lighter and thus by diminishing the counterweight to
the bell e increase the pressure at the outlet g, in other words the pressure at the
outlet is increased or decreased in proportion to the increase or decrease of
the area round the cone or valve d that is in proportion to the quantity of gas
delivered at the outlet g.
In order that this governor may act perfectly the cone or valve d should be so.
shaped that each inch or degree of fall will give an equal increase of area, or the
same object may be obtained by making the counterbalance vessel i conical, so that
the weight of water per inch shall vary in proportion to the variation in the area of
the cone or valve d.
A governor constructed as above described will work well so long as the inlet
pressure is constant and a given quantity of gas passes the cone d in proportion to
the area of the passage it forms. In gas works however the inlet pressure subject
to variation on account of the supply to the governor being changed from one
holder to another, and also because as the holder gradually empties and falls the
pressure is reduced, especially with holders of the telescopic class. If a governor
constructed as above described were working with an inlet pressure of say four
inches of water, a certain quantity of gas would pass the space provided by the
cone d; if however the inlet pressure were increased to eight inches twice the
quantity of gas would pass unless the cone d rose and reduced the area.
But as
the cone would rise the counterbalance vessel i would fall; the water would run
into it and make it heavier and consequently take weight off the bell e; the outlet
pressure would thus be reduced and therefore the pressure would not be in pro-
portion to the amount of gas delivered at the outlet of the governor. In order to
obviate this I close the top of the counterbalance vessel i and connect it with the
inlet to the governor (or with some point between the holder and the governor)
by means of a flexible pipe m; the effect of this is that as the inlet pressure
increases the pressure on the top of the water in the counterbalance vessel i
increases and so tends to force the water out of it into the tank !, but since as.
already explained the cone d will rise by the inlet pressure and consequently the
counterbalance vessel descend, the head of water will be increased, and thus by
properly proportioning the capacity and movement of the counterbalance vessel i
it is clear that although this vessel will fall the water will be prevented from
coming into it by the increased pressure acting on the top of the water, that is to
say the closing of the cone d due to an increase of pressure at the inlet b, will not
cause the weight upon it to be altered, because the increased inlet pressure will
also act upon the water in the counterbalance vessel i and thus counteract the
tendency of the water to flow into this vessel; its weight will thus remain the same
although its position relatively to the water tank has been changed.
The arrangement above described can be reversed in its action by placing what
I have called the counterbalance vessel on the top of the bell e as shown in dotted
lines at closing the top of the tank see l', and connecting this with the inlet
pressure as indicated by the dotted pipe m'; in this case weight will be actually
added to the bell e in order to increase the pressure, instead of weight being taken
off the counterbalance which is the same thing. With this modification the bell e
should be counterbalanced in the ordinary manner.
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. In a gas governor of the kind herein referred to, a counterbalance in the form
of a water vessel in communication at the lower part with a fixed tank and at the
upper part with the gas inlet to the governor, substantially as hereinbefore
described, whereby the water vessel will rise and fall in accordance with the greater

page_text: or less extent of the valve opening, and the water will proportionately flow out of
or into the water vessel, and by the change of weight govern the pressure at the
outlet, so long as the gas inlet pressure remains constant, but when the gas inlet
pressure varies and correspondingly varies the valve opening and the height of the
water vessel, this variation is compensated for by the corresponding change of
pressure upon the water in the water vessel, and the consequent regulation of the
amount of water therein as hereinbefore set forth.
2. The modified construction hereinbefore described in which the water vessel is
placed on the bell and the tank is put in communication with the gas inlet to the
governor.
3. Constructing gas governors as hereinbefore described.
h
Dated 18 dow
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agent.
J. C. MEWBURN,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Patent Agent.