IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING Illuminating Gas
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Henry Spencer, of the City and State
of New York, United States of America, for the Invention of
“IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING
Illuminating Gas.”
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Henry Spencer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 26th May 1873.
I, WILLIAM HENRY SPENCER, of the City and State of New York,
United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANU-
FACTURING ILLUMINATING GAS," to be as follows:-
These improvements relate to the manufacture of illuminating gas
from petroleum or coal by a double decomposition. The gas from
petroleum or coal being rich in carbon and deficient in hydrogen is not
adapted to giving an economical brilliant light free from smoke.

page_text: therefore subject the same to a decomposition by the action of super-
heated steam at a temperature sufficiently high to cause the oxygen of
the steam to combine with a portion of the excess of carbon, and
liberate the hydrogen, which mixes with the hydrocarbon gas and
increases the brilliancy of the gas and prevents smoke when burned.
In carrying out these improvements the apparatus will of necessity
be varied according to the character of the hydrocarbon under treat-
ment.
I generally employ a small gas holder counterweighted beyond
atmospheric pressure so as to tend to draw the gas from any usual gas
making retorts. A second set of retorts is provided with steam super-
heating tubes and commingling chambers, and steam in regulated
quantities passes through the tubes, and is superheated to such a tempe-
rature that upon coming into contact with the rich gas the decomposition
aforesaid is effected in a retort, through which the gas and steam pass in
combination.
In order to supply the proper proportion of rich gas a pump or forcing
apparatus is used between the small gas holder and the mixing retorts,
and an equalizer or regulator made of a small balanced holder is used
between the forcing apparatus and the retorts to cause an equal and
uniform flow of gas. A pipe and cock between the forcing apparatus
and the main conveying the gas to the main gas holder serves to
introduce whatever additional proportion of rich gas may be required to
make the gas of the required illuminating power.
In some cases a condensing apparatus will be employed to remove any

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Henry Spencer, Her special licence that
I, the said William Henry Spencer, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Henry Spencer, my execu-
tors, 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 Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE PROCESS OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING ILLUMINATING GAS," upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Henry Spencer
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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Henry Spencer, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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 made to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that
is to say):
My method of manufacture consists in introducing petroleum or other
liquid hydrocarbons in the form of a liquid or vapor directly into a red
hot retort, the temperature of which shall be sufficient not only to
vaporize but to decompose the liquid. The gas so formed is of a
permanent nature, and of very high illuminating power. If desired it
may be made and stored in any suitable receptacle until required for
the second part of the operation, which consists in taking the rich or
olefiant gas, as described above, either from the holder in which it has
been stored or in a heated state as it comes from the decomposing
retorts, and conveying the same, mixed with steam, at its ordinary
temperatures or dried to a degree approximating 400 Fah. to a second
retort or series of retorts, where the combined rich gas and aqueous

page_text: vapors are heated to a degree sufficient to decompose the former. This
decomposition changes the rich or olefiant gas (of general constitu-
tion CH) to light carbureted hydrogen C2 H3 and the equivalent of
carbon being eliminated at a high temperature and in a state of minute
subdivision readily becomes incandescent, and in turn decomposes a
portion of the aqueous vapor.
I claim for my process the following advantages:-I avoid carrying
an excessive heat by reason of the hydrocarbon being actually decom-
posed before coming in contact with the steam.
In some of the processes heretofore used the vapors are decomposed
in the presence of steam, thereby rendering a large quantity of its
heat latent, and requiring either an excessive heat or a very slow
manipulation to restore the temperature necessary for the second decom-
position of the rich gas, as described.
From the fact that the rich gas alone is decomposed in the presence
of steam the carbon is not only finely divided but the adjacent steam is
not cooled to nearly the extent that it is by the first change of the
hydrocarbon from the liquid or vaporous form to the gaseous form. The
carbon therefore readily becomes incandescent, which is essential to the
decomposition of the steam or aqueous vapor.
In the Drawing Fig. 1 is an elevation of the apparatus used in the
aforesaid processes; Fig. 2 is a plan of the same; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal
section of the superheating retort; Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the
same; Fig. 5 is an elevation of the pump governor and connecting
pipes. The parts shown in the last three Figures are in larger size than
in Figs. 1 and 2.
A and B, Figs. 1 and 2, represent two arches constructed preferably,
though not necessarily to correspond with ordinary coal gas arches.
The arch B is designed for the retorts producing a rich gas, the material
used being preferably petroleum or any liquid hydrocarbon which yields
a product rich in carbon but deficient in hydrogen.
In practice, where a liquid hydrocarbon is used, I find it convenient
to employ a retort having both ends open and extending through the
back wall of the furnace, the inlet of said retort being on the opposite
side from the stand pipe, as shown. C, Figs. 1 and 2, is a gas holder
conveniently made to contain five per cent. of a day's production. This

page_text: holder is kept counterweighted to the pressure of the atmosphere, or
more, thus forming a vacuum greater or less in character. The gas
from the bench B rises through the stand pipes b, b, and enters the
bydraulic main H through a seal, which is preferably made as small as
possible, and from the main H the gas passes by the pipe 3 to the gas
holder C.
By reason of the system of counterweighting mentioned above the
retorts are relieved of pressure and their leakage diminished, while the
deposition of free carbon and the formation of tar are likewise decreased.
D, Figs. 1, 2, and 5, represents a pump which is to be of any desired
character capable of taking the gas from the counterweighted holder C
and forcing it into the governor P, Figs. 1, 2, and 5. The pump D has
its suction and discharge pipes u, v, respectively connected by the
pipe F, in which a valve E is placed opening toward the suction, which
valve may be adjusted or weighted in any suitable manner to the end,
that by means of the valve f, Fig. 5, which is used as a throttle, the
supply of rich gas entering the governor P may be adjusted without
altering the speed of the pump, any surplus being forced back through
the valve E into the suction pipe.
The governor P may be made of any convenient capacity and
sufficiently weighted to deliver the proper amount of gas to each of the
retorts located in the bench A, its object being to afford an uniform and
steady feeding pressure, and to prevent the oscillation of the pump
being felt in any apparatus placed beyond the governor. The discharge
pipe of the governor delivers gas to the retorts L in the bench A.
These retorts may be of any desired number or size, and either arranged
as a continuous tube, into one extremity of which steam is admitted,
which after acquiring the heat of the furnace is mixed with the rich gas
at any convenient point, or they may preferably be made as shown in
Figs. 3 and 4, and in which the steam enters at m, traverses twice the
length of the furnace through passages K, and meets the gas at the
point n in the part L of the retort, a double decomposition taking place
during the passage of the gas and aqueous vapor from the point n to
the point of discharge o. These superheaters and retorts I prefer to
arrange in pairs, as shown in the cross section, and when thus arranged
six such pairs may be set in an ordinary coal gas arch, as shown in
Fig. 1.

page_text: From the retorts L the gas passes to the main M, and thence by the
stand pipe N and retort L³ to the conveying main I. At any convenient
point in the conveying main I, I introduce a pipe or jet o¹, Figs. 1 and
5, communicating directly with the governor P, by which jet, in case
the product of the bench A is below the standard candle power I can b
mix the same with rich gas in
any
desired proportion.
From the retorts L the gas passes to the main M, and thence by the
stand pipe N and retort L³ to the conveying main I. At any convenient
point in the conveying main I, I introduce a pipe or jet o¹, Figs. 1 and
5, communicating directly with the governor P, by which jet, in case
the product of the bench A is below the standard candle power I can
mix the same with rich gas in any desired proportion.
What I claim as my Invention, and desire to secure by Letters
Patent is,-
First. The combined processes of first decomposing liquid hydrocarbon
by direct heat and not in the presence of steam, and the subsequent 1
mixing of the rich gas so formed with aqueous vapor and subjecting the
mixture to a heat sufficient to effect the double decomposition herein-
before described.
Second. A counterweighted gas holder receiving the rich gas from the
retorts in combination with a forcing apparatus that passes a regulated 1
quantity of such gas through retorts and in contact with steam at a high
temperature, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Third. The combination of a regulator with a forcing apparatus, a gas
holder, and a retort for superheated steam, substantially as specified,
when said regulator is placed between the pump or forcing apparatus 2
and said retorts for the purposes set forth.
Fourth. In a gas apparatus, in which the rich gas is passed through a
retort with superheated steam, a connecting cock between the pipe from
the holder containing such rich gas and the conveying main to regulate
the illuminating power of the gas, substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Spencer, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of October,
1070
Witnesses,
HENRY A. STRONG, of Rochester, N.Y.
JOHN C. COWE,
"
"
W*. H. SPENCER. (L.S.)