Method of and Apparatus for Automatically and Continuously. Carburetting Air for Illuminating and Heating..
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Nov., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 17th July, 1896-Accepted, 29th Aug:, 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Method of and Apparatus for Automatically and Continuously.
Carburetting Air for Illuminating and Heating..
I, NAUM NOTKIN, of House Sinitzin, Serebrianits cheskoi Pereulok, Moskau,
Russia, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
:-
Carburated air, that is, 'air saturated with hydrocarbon vapours, forms, as is well
known, a combustible gas which can serve to replace ordinary coal gas for.
illuminating and heating purposes.
1
!
Up to the present time, however, such carburated air could not be practically.
used for household purposes, notwithstanding its 'advantages over coal gas, on
account of the complicated nature of the methods and apparatus heretofore.
proposed for this purpose; which apparatus requires special care and attention, and t
occupies much space.
...
For domestic purposes such lighting and heating apparatus require to..be,
firstly, easily transportable and without being connected to devices external to the
apparatus; secondly they must be capable of being attended to by servants or▸
unskilled persons; thirdly, they must act automatically and continuously, and.
fourthly, they must not be bulky, nor require special spaces for their installation.!
For fulfilling these conditions, and rendering the method of illumination and
'heating applicable with advantage to domestic purposes, it is necessary to be able;:
by a comparatively very small alteration of the existing types of lighting and
heating apparatus, to make them applicable for carburating air automatically+
and continuously.
་
In the course of experiments I have found that the specific gravity of carburated
air is increased not only by saturating the same with hydrocarbon vapours, but
also by the consequent cooling of the air. This cooling is the greater, the more
rapidly the air is made to pass through the carburating apparatus, as the more
rapidly the air passes in contact with hydrocarbon, the more rapidly. is thisi
volatilised and the greater is the reduction of temperature produced by such
volatilisation.
t
"
:
On the other hand, the more the medium is cooled; the greater will be the.
increase of the specific gravity of the air passing through, and consequently! the
more rapidly will it sink to the bottom of the carburator.
These observations led me to the construction of a carburating apparatus acting.
with a strong natural draught in a downward direction and which would operate
continuously without requiring accessory devices.
15.
I will describe my, invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 1 shews a diagrammatic section of one form of the carburating apparatus
it consists of a vessel a, which is divided by horizontal partitions 6 into compart-
ments c, c², c³, c &c. communicating with each other in a zig-zag manner, the upper.
chamber c communicating with the second one c' at the right hand side while this
communicates with at the left hand side, and so on, so that air entering the upper
end of the apparatus will be made to pass through the same in a zig-zag manner.>
The said chambers are filled with a loose or porous material, such as saw-dust,
cork dust, wood shavings, wadding, sponge, &c. The vessel has at top an
opening d serving for the introduction of an easily volatilisable liquid hydrocarbon

page_text: and for the inlet of the air, and which can be more or less closed by a stopper or
cap. At the bottom the vessel has an opening for the discharge of the carburated
air. When both openings d and e are open, the air entering the top chamber c and
mixing with the hydrocarbon vapour will be somewhat cooled and will consequently
become heavier, so that it will 'descend into the second chamber c', where it will be
still farther cooled and become correspondingly heavier, and in like manner it will
descend consecutively through the other compartments until it issues through the
bottom opening e in a perfectly carburated condition, and suitable for burning. Io
cases where the space does not allow of the apparatus having a large number of the
superposed chambers, I provide for an extended travel of the air by forming each
chamber as a spiral passage, as shewn in the sectional plan at Fig. 14, these
passages being so arranged that if the air travels through the uppermost passage in
the direction from the centre towards the outer end; then in entering the second
passage it is made to flow from the outer end towards the centre again, and''.
80 on.
.
The described carburator acts automatically and continuously and can be directly
employed for lighting or heating purposes, for which purpose it is only necessary |
to connect the discharge opening e with a gas burner, or with a pipe leading to a
burner.
:
The apparatus can however in addition be directly adapted to all existing types, 2
of illuminating and heating apparatus, the carburator being of course varied in
form to suit each apparatus. Thus for suspended lamps and table lamps, I arrange
such carburators above the burner, in the form of a shade, as indicated at,
Figures 2 and 2^.
'1
i
In this carburator there is formed a central opening of for carrying off the 2
combustion gases and for increasing the draught. In order to prevent the sides of
such opening and also the bottom of the carburator from becoming materially,
heated, I provide a shield or double bottom g¹ which is connected to a tube / passing
through the opening f so that between 9 and g¹ and between f and the external
air can circulate freely.
$
g
In the case of wall lamps and lanterns, as also for heating apparatus, I arrange
the carburator behind the burner, as shewn at Figs. 3 and 4, preferably in the
form of a flat upright box, or in the form of a cylinder.
The carburator can however also be arranged below the burner in the form of a
reservoir as shewn at Fig. 5.
In this case the carburator is provided with a central opening surrounding
which are two concentric tubes and h' having an annular space between them that,
is closed at bottom.
}
דן
:
3
The outer tube h. communicates with the bottom chamber e of the carburator by
means of two small branch tubes, through which the carburated air passes from the, 4
said chamber into the above mentioned annular space in which it rises to a certain
height.
As shewn at Fig. 5, there are provided at the lower end of the inner tube /
small holes through which the carburated air issues into the central passage f.
On lighting the lamp, the carburated air issuing through these holes is first
ignited, whereby the tube h, becomes heated, and the carburated air in the annular,
space between the tubes h and is made to rise up to the upper orifice, where it
is burnt.
=
Fig. 2B shews a plan of one of the horizontal partitions of the carburator shewn;
at Figs. 2, 24 and 5. The number of small holes formed on the one side of the, 5
partitions can of course be varied.
i
For regulating the supply of air, and the size of the flame, a regulating screw,
cap or plug such as is shewn at Fig. 6. is screwed into the opening d. This cop has
potches or slots in its sides, as shewn at Figs. 3, 4 and 6, so that according as it is
screwed more or less into the tubular opening of the vessel, the said notches are,
more or less closed and the admission of air to the carburator is more or less,
restricted.

page_text: The loose or porous material contained in the chambers of the carburator is
preferably saturated with commercial benzine of the specific gravity of 0.712, or
with a mixture of 4 parts of benzine with one part of petroleum of the specific
gravity of 0.825 so that the mixture will have a specific gravity of 0.735
at 15° C.
The advantages of my above described invention are:
1. The improved carburator operates automatically and continuously, without
any device outside the apparatus, that is, without any pump or compresser.
2. The carburator can be employed directly for lighting and heating purposes.
3. According to the form of the illuminating or heating apparatus, the
carburator can be arranged equally well at the top, the bottom or the side
thereof.
4. The regulating cap or plug enables the supply of air to the carburator 'as
also the supply of gas to the burner to be simultaneously and accurately
regulated.
Dated this 1st day of November 1895.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.
Method of and Apparatus for Automatically and Continuously
Carburetting Air for Illuminating and Heating.
1, NAUM NOTKIN, of House Sinitzin, Serebrianitscheskoi Pereulok, Moskau,
Russia, Gentleman, 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 :—
Carburetted air, that is, air saturated with hydrocarbon vapours, forms, as is
well known, a combustible gas which can serve. to replace ordinary coal gas for
illuminating and heating purposes.
Up to the present time, however, such carburetted air could not be practically
used for household purposes, notwithstanding its advantages over coal gas, on
account of the complicated nature of the methods and apparatus heretofore proposed
for this purpose, which apparatus requires special care and attention, and occupies
much space.
For domestic purposes such lighting and heating apparatus require to be,
firstly, easily transportable and without being connected to devices external to the
apparatus; secondly, they must be capable of being attended to by servants..
or unskilled persons; thirdly, they must act automatically and continuously,
and fourthly, they must not be bulky, nor require special spaces for their
installation.
For fulfilling these conditions, and rendering the method of illumination and
beating applicable with advantage to domestic purposes, it is necessary to be able,
by a comparatively very small alteration of the existing types of lighting and
heating apparatus, to make them applicable for carburetting air automatically and
continuously.
In the course of experiments I have found that the specific gravity of carburetted
air is.increased not only by saturating the same with hydrocarbon yapours, but also
by the consequent cooling of the air. This cooling is the greater; the more rapidly
the air is made to pass through the carburetting apparatus, as the more rapidly the
air passes in contact with hydrocarbon, the more rapidly is this volatilised and
the greater is the reduction of temperature produced by such volatilisation.
i
On the other hand, the more the medium is cooled, the greater will be the increase
of the specific gravity of the air passing through, and consequently the more
rapidly will it siuk to the bottom of the carburator.
101-

page_text: These observations led me to the construction of a carburetting apparatus acting
with a strong natural draught in a downward direction and which, would operate.
continuously without requiring accessory devices.
I will describe my invention with reference to the drawings accompanying my
Provisional Specification.
Fig. 1 shews a diagrammatic section of one form of the carburetting apparatus ;
it consists of a vessel a which is divided by horizontal partitions 5 into compart-
ments c, c¹, ², c³, &c., communicating with each other in a zigzag manner, the upper
chamber c communicating with the second one c' at the right hand side while this
communicates with at the left hand side, and so on, so that air entering the
upper end of the apparatus will be made to pass through the same in a zigzag
manner. The said chambers are filled with a loose or porous material, such as
sawdust, cork dust, wood shavings, wadding, sponge, &c. The vessel has at top an
opening d serving for the introduction of-an casily volatilisable liquid hydrocarbon
and for the inlet of the air, and which can be more or less closed by a stopper or
cap. At the bottom the vessel has an opening for the discharge of the carburetted
air.
When both openings d and e are open, the air entering the top chamber c and
mixing with the hydrocarbon vapour will be somewhat cooled and will consequently
become heavier, so that it will descend into the second chamber c', where it will be
still farther cooled and become correspondingly heavier, and in like manner it will
descend consecutively through the other compartments until it issues through the
bottom openinge in a perfectly carburetted condition, and suitable for burning.
In cases where the space does not allow of the apparatus having a large number of
the superposed chambers, I provide for an extended travel of the air by forming
each chamber as a spiral passage, as shewn in the sectional plan at Fig. 14, these
passages being so arranged that if the air travels through the uppermost passage
in the direction from the centre towards the outer end, then in entering the second
passage it is made to flow from the outer end towards the centre again, and
so on.
:
The described carburator acts automatically and continuously and can be directly
employed for lighting or beating purposes, for which purpose it is only necessary to
connect the discharge opening e with a gas burner, or with a pipe leading to a
burner. The apparatus can however in addition be directly adapted to all existing
types of illuminating and heating apparatus, the carburator being of course varied
in form to suit each apparatus.
"
Thus for suspended lamps and table lamps, I arrange such carburators above the
burner, in the form of a shade, as indicated at Figures 2 and 24.
In this carburator there is formed a central opening f for carrying off the
combustion gases and for increasing the draught. In order to prevent the sides of
such opening and also the bottom of the carburator from becoming materially
heated, I provide a shield or double bottom g¹ which is connected to a tube h
passing through the opening so that between g and g' and between fand h the
external air can circulate freely.
".
In the case of wall lamps and lanterns as also for heating apparatus I arrange
the carburator behind the burner, as shewn at Figs. 3 and 4, preferably in the form
of a flat upright box, or in the form of a cylinder.
The carburator can however also be arranged below the burner in the form of a
reservoir as shewn at Fig. 5.
In this case the carburator is provided with a central opening ƒ surrounding
which are two concentric tubes h and h¹ having an annular space between them
that is closed at bottom.
The outer tube h communicates with the bottom chamber c of the carburator by
means of two small branch tubes, through which the carburetted air passes from
the said chamber into the above mentioned anuular space in which it rises to a
certain height.
.
•
As shewn at Fig. 5, there are provided at the lower end of the inner tube h¹
small holes through which the carburetted air issues into the central passage f.

page_text: On lighting the lamp, the carburetted air issuing through these holes is first
ignited, whereby the tube h, becomes heated, and the carburetted air in the
annular space between the tubes h and h¹ is made to rise up to the upper orifice.
where it is burnt.
Fig. 2B shews a plan of one of the horizontal partitions of the carburator shewn
at Figs. 2, 24 and 5. The number of small holes formed on the one side of the
partitions can of course be varied.
For regulating the supply of air, and the size of the flame, a regulating screw
cap or plug such as is shewn at Fig. 6. is screwed into the opening d. This cap
has notches or slots in its sides, as shewn at Figs. 3, 4 and 6, so that according
as it is screwed more or less into the tubular opening of the vessel, the said notches
are more or less closed and the admission of air to the carburator is more or less.
restricted.
The loose or porous material contained in the chambers of the carburator is.
preferably saturated with commercial benzine of the specific gravity of 0.712, or
with a mixture of 4 parts of benzine with one part of petroleum of the specific
gravity of 0.825 so that the mixture will have a specific gravity of 0.735
at 15° C.
The advantages of my above described invention are:
1. The improved carburator operates automatically and continuously, without
any device outside the apparatus, that is, without any pump or compresser.
2. The carburator can be employed directly for lighting and heating purposes.
3. According to the form of the illuminating or heating apparatus, the carburator
can be arranged equally well at the top, the bottom or the side thereof.
4. The regulating cap or plug enables the supply of air to the carburator
as also the supply of gas to the burner to be simultaneously and accurately
regulated.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. Method of effecting the automatic and continuous carburetting of air for
illuminating and heating purposes, wherein the air is made to pass in a downward
direction through a receptacle charged with porous or loose material saturated
with hydrocarbon, such downward motion of the air being effected by the natural
increase of the density thereof without the use of mechanical means substantially
as described.
2. Apparatus for carrying out the method of carburetting air referred to in the
first claim, consisting in a receptacle divided by horizontal partitions into
superposed chambers which communicate with each other in such manner as to
form a zigzag channel through which the air is made to travel in a downward
direction and which is filled with a loose or porous material saturated with a light
fluid hydrocarbon, the air being made to enter such receptacle at the top and to.
pass from the bottom thereof to the burners, substantially as described.
3. The use for regulating the supply of air to the carburetting apparatus.
referred to in the preceding claim, of a screw stopper or cap having notches or
slots at the side which are more or less closed on screwing the stopper in or out.
substantially as described.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant..