Improvements in and in Apparatus for Impregnating or Charging Air with the Vapour of a Hydrocarbon or Hydrocarbons for Actuating Motive-power-engines and for Certain other Purposes.
Year: 1886

page_text: Date of Application, 9th Sept., 1886.
Complete Left, 9th June, 1887.
Complete Accepted, 12th July, 1887.
Improvements in and in Apparatus for Impregnating or Charging
Air with the Vapour of a Hydrocarbon or Hydrocarbons for
Actuating Motive-power-engines and for Certain other Purposes.
I JOHN FREDERIC SCHNELL of 69 William Street Ardwick in the County of
Lancaster, Mechanic, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
My invention relates to impregnating or charging air with the vapour of a hydro-
carbon or hydrocarbons for actuating motive-power-engines and for certain other
purposes and consists in arrangements of apparatus and materials by the employment
of which I am enabled to produce a mixture of air and the vapour of a hydrocarbon
or hydrocarbons which is better adapted for use in actuating motive-power-engines and
certain other purposes than any hitherto in use.
In carrying my invention into effect I employ a vessel or chamber divided into
upper and lower portions by means of a partition. I divide the lower portion of the
said vessel or chamber into compartments by means of a number of partitions. The
said compartments communicate with one another by means of openings situate in the
lower portions of such compartments.
I connect the upper part of each of such compartments by means of a pipe or pipes
to the lower portion of the next compartment or to the lower portion of another of the
said compartments and I connect the upper part of one or more of the said compart-
ments by means of an opening or openings with the upper part of one or more of the
compartments adjacent thereto.
I provide the upper portion of the chamber or vessel above mentioned with partitions
of wire-gauze or partitions provided with perforations and fill the space between the
said partitions with lime and napthaline; or with napthaline and pumice stone or
sponge; or with napthaline, lime, pumice-stone and sponge or with napthaline and lime
and pumice-stone or sponge.
I partially fill the lower portion of the chamber or vessel above mentioned with a
suitable liquid hydrocarbon or liquid hydrocarbons. I fill some of the compartments
of the lower portion of the vessel or chamber above mentioned wholly or partially

page_text: with sponge and I also wholly or partially fill one or more of the said compart-
ments with cotton or other suitable fibre, the sponge serving to bring the air
passing through the apparatus into intimate contact wih the hydrocarbon or
hydrocarbons contained in the lower portion of the said vessel or chamber, and
the cotton or other suitable fibre acting as a filter to the air and the vapour of
the hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons passing through the apparatus.
The air to be charged or impregnated with the vapour of the suitable liquid hydro-
carbon or hydrocarbons I supply at a suitable pressure to the first of the compartments
above mentioned by means of a pipe the lower end of which dips into the liquid hydro-
carbon or hydrocarbons at the bottom of the said compartment. The air aforesaid is
caused by means of the pipes and partitions above mentioned to pass through the
liquid hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons contained in the lower portion of each of the
compartments into which the lower portion of the vessel or chamber aforesaid is divided
and from the last of the said compartments the said air is conducted by means of a
pipe and caused to pass through the lime and napthaline; or napthaline and pumice
stone or sponge; or napthaline, line, pumice stone and sponge; or napthaline and
lime and pumice stone or sponge before mentioned after which the air now impregnated
or charged with the vapour of the hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons may be employed for
actuating motive-power-engines or for any other purpose or purposes for which it may
be suitable.
In order that the vessel or chamber before referred to may be charged with the
liquid hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons before mentioned I provide such vessel or chamber
with an opening or openings closed by any suitable means which opening or openings
leads or lead to a chamber in which I place sponge or other material to act as a filter
to the liquid hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons supplied to the vessel or chamber above
referred to.
In order to prevent as far as possible any liquid hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons from
being carried in suspension by the air impregnated or charged with the vapour of the
said hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons I provide the partition which divides the vessel
above referred to into upper and lower portions with an opening or openings through
which any liquid hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons carried in suspension by the air charged
with the vapour of the said hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons and deposited in the upper
portion of the vessel or chamber above mentioned may flow back into the lower portion
of the said vessel or chamber.
Although I have above described one vessel or chamber as being employed and as
being divided into upper and lower portions by means of a partition I also propose in
some cases to use separate chambers or vessels in place of the upper and lower portions
of the vessel or chamber above referred to, which chambers or vessels I
connect in any convenient manner by means of a suitable pipe or suitable pipes.
propose to
In some cases I add to the liquid hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons before mentioned
common salt or saltpetre by means of which common salt or saltpetre the said liquid
hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons is or are rendered less liable to accidental explosion.
Dated this Eighth day of September 1886.
W. T. CHEETHAM,
Carlton Chambers,
18, St. Ann's Street, Manchester,
Agent to the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in and in Apparatus for Impregnating or Charging
Air with the Vapour of a Hydrocarbon or Hydrocarbons for
Actuating Motive-power-engines and for Certain other Purposes.
I JOHN FREDERIC SCHNELL of 69 William Street Ardwick in the County of
Lancaster Mechanic 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 impregnating or charging air with the vapour of a hydro-
carbon or hydrocarbons for actuating motive-power-engines and for certain other
purposes and consists in arrangements of apparatus and materials by the employment
of which I am enabled to produce a mixture of air and the vapour of a hydrocarbon or
hydrocarbons which is better adapted for use in actuating motive-power-engines and
certain other purposes than any hitherto in use.
In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1. is an end-view and Fig. 2. a plan showing an
apparatus constructed according to my invention.
Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinal section taken on the line A. B of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is
a vertical longitudinal section taken on the line CD of Fig. 2 and Fig. 5 is a vertical
longitudinal section taken on the line E F of Fig. 2.
In carrying my invention into effect I employ a vessel or chamber a divided into
upper and lower portions by means of a partition b. I divide the lower portion of the
vessel or chamber a into compartments c d e f g h j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x by means
of a number of partitions y z.
The compartments c d e f g h j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x communicate with one
another at their lower parts by means of openings 1. I connect the upper part of each of
the compartments c d e f g h j k l m n o p by means of a pipe 2 or a number of such
pipes to the lower part of the next compartment or to the lower portion of another of
the compartments and I connect the compartments r s t u v w x by means of
openings 3. I connect the compartment x by means of a pipe 4 to a chamber 5
forming part of the upper portion of the vessel or chamber a. I provide the chamber 5
with partitions 6 by which the chamber 5 is divided into compartments 7.
Openings 8 are formed in the partitions 6. I connect the compartments 7 and the
interior of the chamber 9 which forms the remainder of the upper portion of
the vessel or chamber a by means of a pipe 10 closed at one end 10ª and provide
the part of the pipe 10 which is situate within the chamber 9 with perforations 11.
I fill the space between the boundaries of the chamber 9 and the pipe 10 with lime.
and napthaline, or with napthaline and pumice stone or sponge or with napthaline
lime pumice stone and sponge or with napthaline and lime and pumice stone or sponge.
I fill some of the compartments c d e f g h j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x and 7 wholly or
partially with sponge and I also wholly or partially fill one or more of the compart-

page_text: ments r s t u v w x with cotton or other suitable fibre the sponge serving to bring the
air passing through the apparatus into intimate contact with the hydrocarbon or hydro-
carbons contained in the lower portion of the vessel or chamber a and the cotton or
other suitable fibre acting as a filter to the air and the vapour of the hydrocarbon or
hydrocarbons passing through the apparatus. The lower part of the vessel or chamber a
is filled with any suitable liquid hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons up to the level indicated
by the line G. H.
The air to be charged or impregnated with the vapour of the suitable liquid hydro-
carbon or hydrocarbons I supply at a suitable pressure to the compartment c by means
of a pipe 12 the end 12ª of which dips into the liquid hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons at
the bottom of the compartment c. The air aforesaid is caused by means of the pipes 2
and partitions y. z to pass through the hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons contained in the
lower portion of each of the compartments c d e f g hjklmnopq and is conducted
from the compartment q to the compartment r. The said air then passes by means of
the openings 3 formed in the partitions y to the compartment a from which it passes
by means of the pipe 4 to the first of a number of compartments 7 from the last one of
which it is conducted by means of the pipe 10 from which pipe 10 the air passes by
means of the perforations 11 into the chamber 9 and through the lime and napthaline
or napthaline and pumice stone or sponge, or napthaline lime pumice stone and sponge,
or napthaline and lime and pumice stone or sponge with which the chamber 9 may
be filled.
In order that the vessel or chamber a before referred to may be charged with the
liquid hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons before mentioned, I provide such vessel or
chamber a with an opening closed by a cap 14 or by any other suitable means which
opening leads to a chamber 15. The lower part of the chamber 15 communicates with
the interior of the compartment c. I place sponge or other suitable material in the
chamber 15 to act as a filter to the liquid hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons supplied to the
vessel or chamber a.
In order to prevent as far as possible any liquid hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons from
being carried in suspension by the air impregnated or charged with the vapour of the
said hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons I forin small openings in the partition 19 which
separates the chamber 5 from the chamber 9 through which openings any liquid
hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons carried in suspension by the air charged with the vapour
of the said hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons and deposited in the chamber 9 may flow
back into the chamber 5.
In some cases I provide an opening closed by means of a cap 16 or by any other
suitable means which opening leads to a chamber 17 the lower part of which commu-
nicates with the interior of the chamber 5. I fill the chamber 17 with sponge cotton
or other suitable material to act as a filter. By means of the chamber 17 liquid
hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons may be supplied to the chamber 5 for further enriching
with the vapour of a hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons the air passing through the
chamber 5.
The air impregnated or charged with the vapour of the hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons
on or after issuing from the pipe 18 may be employed for actuating motive-power
engines or for any other purpose or purposes for which it may be suitable.
Although I have above-described one vessel or chamber a as being employed and as
being divided into upper and lower portions by means of a partition, I also > propose
in some cases to use separate chambers or vessels, in place of the upper and lower
portions of the vessel or chamber above referred to which chambers or vessels I
propose to connect in any convenient manner by means of a suitable pipe or suitable
pipes.
"
In some cases I add to the liquid hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons before mentioned
common salt or 'saltpetre" by means of which common salt or << saltpetre" the
said liquid hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons is or are rendered less liable to accidental
explosion.
An apparatus of the size shown in the drawing hereunto annexed is capable of

page_text: impregnating or charging with the vapour of a hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons thirty
cubic feet of air per hour for actuating motive-power-engines or for certain other
purposes.
I would have it understood that the apparatus constructed according to my invention
may be made of any required size and that the number form size and arrangement
of the compartments into which such apparatus is divided may be varied as may
be required.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The hereinbefore described apparatus to be employed in impregnating or charging
air with the vapour of a hydrocarbon or hydrocarbons for actuating motive-power-
engines and certain other purposes which apparatus consists in a vessel or chamber
such as a divided into upper and lower, parts by means of a partition such as b; the
lower part of which vessel or chamber is divided by means of partitions such as y z into
compartments communicating with or connected to one another substantially as here-
inbefore described of which compartments some are filled wholly or partially with
sponge and others wholly or partially with cotton or other suitable fibre and the upper
part of which vessel or chamber is divided into chambers such as 5 and 9 the chamber 5
being divided by partitions 6 into compartments 7 and the chamber 9 being filled with
lime and napthaline, or with napthaline and pumice stone or sponge, or with napthaline,
lime pumice stone and sponge, or with napthaline and lime and pumice stone or sponge,
the air to be impregnated or charged with the vapour of the hydrocarbon or hydro-
carbons placed in the lower part of the vessel or chamber a, being conducted by means
of the pipe 12 pipes 2 openings 3 pipe 4 openings pipe 10 perforations 11 and
pipe 18 through the apparatus which is constructed arranged and employed
substantially in the manner hereinbefore described in reference to and indicated in and
by the drawing hereunto annexed.
2. In an apparatus for impregnating or charging air with the vapour of a hydro-
carbon or hydrocarbons the employment of lime and napthaline, or napthaline and
pumice stone or sponge, or napthaline lime pumice stone and sponge, or napthaline
and lime and pumice stone or sponge, substantially in the manner hereinbefore
described in reference to and indicated in and by the drawing hereunto annexed.
Dated this Eighth day of June 1887.