Improved Method and Apparatus for Making Carburetted Water Gas
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 4th May, 1897-Accepted, 17th July, 1897
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Method and Apparatus for Making Carburetted Water Gas
We, ALEXANDER CROMBIE HUMPHREYS and ARTHUR GRAHAM GLASGOW, trading
in partnership as Humphreys & Glasgow, of 9 Victoria Street, in the County of
London, and of 66, Broadway, in the City and State of New York, United States
of America, Engineers, 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:-
26
Our invention relates to the manufacture of carbureted water gas, and has for
its object a more perfect utilisation of the heat generated in the stages of tho
process known as
blowing up the generator," namely, that stage which consists
in forcing air into the fuel-bed contained in the generator for the purpose of
raising its temperature to a sufficient heat for the proper decomposition of steam.
In approved modern practice the potential heat, or a portion thereof, of the
gases passing off from the generator during the blowing up operation is stored by
secondary combustion of these gases in regenerative chambers, which chambers
are afterward utilised for vaporising oil during the time when water gas is issuing
from the generator, and for converting the oil vapors into fixed gas. In some
apparatus these regenerative chambers are utilised for superheating the steam.
which is forced into the generator as well as for fixing the gases.
We have ascertained that in the manufacture of carbureted water gas the blast
gases, as they leave the regenerative chambers used for carbureting and fixing the
gas, have still sufficient sensible and potential heat to impart a high temperature
to the air used in the blowing up operation, and that this heat can be utilized to
pronounced advantage by the methods hereinafter described, and of which an
essential feature is the provision of two independent or supplemental regenerative
chambers connected with the chambers used for carbureting and fixing the gas in
such way that the blast gases, after leaving the fixing chamber or chambers, will
traverse and impart heat to the said independent chambers. The independent
chambers, however, forming no part of the water gas conduit, and being connected
with the air blast apparatus and the generator in such a way that the air used in
blowing up the generator fire will traverse and be heated in the independent
regenerative chambers, preferably passing from the said independent chambers
through the fixing and carbureting chambers to the generator; this being rendered
practicable by reason of the fact that the temperature of the air is so high that it
will not tend to rob the fixing and carbureting chambers of an injurious amount
of heat, as would be the case if it were passed directly to them without preheating.
Our invention in detail, and the apparatus for carrying it into effect, will best
be understood as described in connection with the drawings in which the apparatus
is illustrated, and in which,
Figure 1 is a plan view of our new apparatus.
Figure 2 a sectional elevation thereof, the parts being represented as spread
out into a plane.
Figure 3 a front view of a valve arrangement which we have devised for the

page_text: convenient reversal of the steam, and opening and closing of the proper water gas
delivery pipes.
Figure 4 is a side elevation of the said valve arrangement, and
Figure 5a view illustrating a modification in the arrangement of the apparatus.
A is the generator, which, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, is provided with gas take-
off pipes E Eleading from the top and bottom of the generator to a common
delivery pipe E, and provided with valves F and F by which either branch can
be closed at will. The gas take-off pipes are duplicated, 'one pipe E³. in the con-
struction shown, leading to the carbureting chamber B, while the other leads to
the carbureting chamber B'. Each of the said carbureting chambers is connected
with a fixing chamber, indicated at C and C', connection being made by a con-
duit such as K or K. Of course any usual construction of carbureting and fixing
chamber can be employed. D and D indicate the supplemental or independent
regenerative chambers, which, as shown, connect with the fixing chambers C and
C through pipes L and L, // indicating valves in said conduits by which they can
be closed at will, though the presence of such valves is not essential, as will be
explained hereafter. G and G indicate steam pipes by which saturated steam
can be introduced either to the bottom or top of the generator. H and H' indicate
oil supply pipes leading into the carbureters B and B. I, I, I indicate connec-
tions from the air blast (not shown) to the various regenerative chambers, the air
being admitted therethrough where secondary combustion in such chambers is
desired. Obviously, these blast conduit branches may be lead off from the main
conduit at any point and, therefore, the air delivered through them may, if
desired, be preheated in the independent chambers D and D¹. JJ indicate the
air blast conduits leading to each of the chambers D and D¹. As shown, these
pipes enter the base of the chambers, but it may be advantageous, under certain
circumstances, to distribute the air at various points in the regenerative cham-
bers D and D so as to prevent the cooling down of one part of said chambers to too
great a degree. M and M indicate the two branches of the steam supply pipe
which lead into the two sets of regenerative chambers and which, as shown, enter
the heads of the fixing chambers C and C, at which points it is good practice to
introduce the steam for the purpose of superheating it before it enters the gener-
ator. The steam pipes, however, may be introduced into the chambers D and D',
for instance, at the points indicated in dotted lines at m and m', in which case the
valve can safely be dispensed with. N and N are the gas take-off pipes leading
from the fixing chambers C and to a common receptacle O, which, as shown,
is a seal box, U being the gas conduit leading therefrom. S and Sare valves
adapted to close the ends of the pipes N and N₁, and, as shown, secured to the ends
of the levers pivoted at R¹; the lever arm R being provided by which the levers,
carrving the valves, are actuated and their valves brought into operation, one pipe
being closed and the other pipe being opened, necessarily by the same motion.
The lever R is actuated through a rod Q by means of a lever P P pivoted at Pª.
The working arm P' of the lever being connected by a link T with a lever T
which, in turn, is connected with a cock or valve T3, by which steam coming from
the source of supply through a pipe M is turned either into the pipe M or the
vine M. and, obviously, by this arrangement, the reversal of the steam always
takes place simultaneously with the opening of the gas delivery pipe correspond-
ing to the position of the steam cock. Vand Vindicate take-off conduits for
blast gases leading from the base of the chambers D and D'.
In Fig. 5 we have illustrated two generators, marked A and A¹, connected by a
conduit at their bases, and with the carbureting chambers B and B', by means
of the pipes El E¹. At g and g' we have indicated pipes for saturated steam leading
into each of these generators and in this Figure, as well as Fig. 2, we have
indicated at a a cold blast conduit leading to the base of the generators.
The apparatus having been brought to a proper temperature throughout, in
any convenient way, as, for instance, by passing blast gases, first, through the
regenerating chambers on one side, and then through those on the other side, the

page_text: operation of manufacturing gas will be carried on as follows: First, assuming
that the chambers on the left hand side of Fig. 2 are those most highly heated.
the air will be forced into the chamber through the conduit J. Passing through
the said chamber, it will enter the chamber C by means of the pipe L, thenco pass
through the conduit K and chamber B, and thence through conduit E, either to
the top of the generator through pipe El, or to the bottom of the generator through
pipe E, as may be desired. In case the air enters the top of the generator, the
valve in the pipe through which it enters is of course opened, and the corres-
ponding valve F closed, while in the other set of take-off pipes the valve F is open
and the valve F1 closed, so that the air will pass down through the fuel in the
generator, and thence through pipes E and E at the right hand side of the draw-
ing. into the chamber B. Of course, by reversing the valves F and F the course
of the air will be upward through the fire and the delivery will be through the
pipes E and E3 at the right hand side. The blast gases will pass through the
chamber B, thence through conduit K to the chamber C, thence through con-
duit L to the chamber D' from which they escape through the take-off conduit V¹.
Secondary combustion in each of the chambers through which the blast gases are
passing is provided for by introducing air through the pipes I, I, and I. The
blast of air is then cut off and steam introduced into the head of the chamber C
through the pipe M or into the chamber D, as through the pipe m, in case no
valve is provided in the pipe L. The steam sweeping through the chambers C
and B becomes superheated and enters the generator as superheated steam. The
water gas formed in the generator by forcing the steam through the heated fuel
then passes through the chamber B₁ into which oil is also forced and the mixed
gases then pass to and are fixed in the chamber C from which they issue through
the pipe N and into the seal box 0, the valves S and S being in the position in-
dicated in Fig. 3. From the box the gas is passed through pipe U to any con-
venient storage tank. At the end of the gas making run we prefer to reverse the
steam by moving the lever P so as to cut off the steam from pipe M and admit it
in the pipe M this same motion closing the pipe N and opening the pipe N.
The steam then sweeps backward through the chambers C and B' to the gener-
ator and through it into the chambers B and C, and then through the pipe N to
the seal box and delivery pipe. This reversal of the gas which, of course, takes
place after the oil is cut off at the point H', sweeps the rich gas out of the cham-
hers C and B and forces a certain quantity of lean gas into and through the
chambers B and C, no oil being introduced at H at this time, and a layer of steam
intervening between the lean gas in the chamber C and the air in the chamber D.
in case steam is introduced at m, while of course the use of a valve makes an
absolute cut-off and prevents possibility of an explosive mixture. When the right
hand side of the apparatus has been filled with steam and the left hand side with
lean gas, the steam is cut off by an independent valve, such as indicated at M³,
and which must be employed, at any rate, so it will be seen that the reversal of
the steam valve controlled by the lever P P is to be made only once for each
change of direction.
Air is next introduced into the independent chamber D' through conduit J₁
and passed through the chambers C' and B' to the generator. The products of com-
bustion then passing through and being employed to heat the chambers B, C,
and D. Then steam is introduced through pipes M' or m¹, superheated in cham-
bers and B', passes through the generator, the water gas then passing through
and being carbureted and fixed in the chambers B and C, from the last of which
it passes through the pipe N to the seal box. After this run the steam is again
reversed by the lever PP, the apparatus swept out and then again the air is intro-
duced through the chamber D.
We have described in detail the above method of operation because it shows
clearly that our apparatus is entirely practicable and can be operated without
danger of the formation of explosive mixtures of gan and air. The sequence of
operations can be varied in wave which will be apparent to all skilled in the art,

page_text: and it will also be understood that by providing an independent blast, as a, and
steam conduits as G and G¹ we have in view particularly the proper trimming
and balance of the temperatures which sometimes render the use of these
appliances advisable.
It will be apparent that by passing the air directly from the independent cham-
bers and D to the generator, the main benefits of our invention would still be
obtained. We prefer to utilize the three regenerative chambers as the conduits
for the air on its way to the generator, because the air is heated thereby to a higher
degree and will not absord so much of the heat as to interfere with the proper
functions of the carbureting and fixing chambers. This is true also as to the steam 1
which, obviously, having been admitted, as through pipes m and m¹, to the
chambers D and D' could pass directly to the generator, but as with regard to the
air we prefer the construction shown where the apparatus is doubled as indicated
in the drawings.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said in- 1
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is:―
1. The combination with a water gas generator of two sets of carbureting and
fixing chambers, a water gas take-off leading from each of said sets, a supplemen-
tal regenerative chamber filled with refractory material also connected to each of 2
said sets, blast gas take-offs leading from each supplemental chamber, air blast
conduits leading into each of the supplemental chambers, steam conduits leading
to the generator, and valves arranged as described for reversing and alternating
the passage of air, blast gases, and water gas through the apparatus.
2. The combination with a water gas generator of two sets of carbureting and 2
fixing chambers, a water gas take-off leading from each of said sets, a supplemen-
tal regenerative chamber filled with refractory material also connected to each of
said sets blast gas take-offs leading from each supplemental chamber, air blast
conduits leading into each of the supplemental chambers, steam conduits leading
into a member of cach connected set of carbureting and fixing chambers, and 3
valves arranged as described for reversing and alternating the passage of air, steam,
blast gases, and water gas through the apparatus.
3. The combination with a water gas generator of two sets of carbureting and
fixing chambers, a water gas take-off leading from each of said sets, a supplemental
regenerative chamber filled with refractory material also connected to each of 3
said sets, blast gas take-offs leading from each supplemental chamber, air blast
conduits leading into each of the supplemental chambers, steam conduits leading
into a member of each connected set of carbureting and fixing chambers and valves
arranged as described for reversing and alternating the passage of air, steam,
blast gases and water gas through the apparatus.
4. The combination of a water gas generator with two sets of carbureting and
fixing chambers gas conduits as NN leading from each of said sets to a common
receptacle, steam conduits as M. M' leading into each set of said chambers, a
double valve as SS arranged to alternately open and close the conduits N N',
a cock or valve T adapted to alternately open and close the conduits M M to a 4
source of steam supply and a valve actuating device as lever Parranged to simul-
taneously actuate the valves S S and T and so as to at the same time reverse the
steam current, open the gas conduit in proper relation thereto, and close the other
gas conduit.
The method of making carbureted water gas which consists in forcing air 5
through a preheated regenerative chamber adapted to store heat and supple-
mental to the chambers used for carbureting and fixing the water gas and thence
into the generator, then drawing off the products of combustion through a set of
carbureting and fixing chambers and another supplemental preheated regenera-
tive chamber and using its actual and potential heat to heat said chambers, then a
cutting off the air blast and forcing steam into the generator, drawing off the

page_text: water gas through one of the chambers adapted for carbureting and fixing, and
forcing oil therein to carburet said gas, then cutting off the oil and steam and forc-
ing air through the second supplemental preheated regenerative chamber to the
generator, drawing off the products of combustion through the second set of cham-
bers adapted for carbureting and fixing gas and thence through the first mentioned
supplemental regenerative chamber, and thus continuing alternating the air blast
and the course of the water gas, and in all cases drawing off the carbureted gas
before it reaches the supplemental regenerative chambers in which air is heated.
6. The method of making carbureted water gas which consists in forcing air
through a preheated regenerative chamber adapted to store heat and independent
of the carbureting chambers, and thence through a preheated regenerative cham-
ber or chambers adapted for carbureting and fixing gas into the generator, drawing
off the products of combustion through a similar set of regenerative chambers and
utilizing the actual and potential heat thereof to heat said chambers, then cutting
off the air blast and forcing steam into the generator, then drawing off the water
gas through the portion of the other set of chambers adapted for carbureting and
fixing and injecting oil therein to carburet the gas, then cutting off the steam and
forcing air through the second set of chambers to the generator drawing off the
products of combustion through the first set, and thus continuing alternating the
air blast and in all cases drawing off carbureted gas before it reaches the chamber
into waich air is first introduced.
7. The method of making carbureted water gas which consists in forcing air
through a preheated regenerative chamber adapted to store heat and independent
of the carbureting chambers, and thence through a preheated regenerative cham-
ber or chambers adapted for carbureting and fixing gas into the generator,
drawing off the products of combustion through a similar set of regenerative
chambers and utilizing the actual and potential heat thereof to heat said chambers,
then cutting off the air blast and forcing steam through one set of chambers into
the generator, then drawing off the water gas through the portion of the other set
of chambers adapted for carbureting and fixing and injecting oil therein to car-
buret the gas, then cutting off the steam and forcing air through the second set
of chambers to the generator drawing off the products of combustion through the
first set and thus continuing alternating the air blast and steam and in all cases
drawing off carbureted gas before it reaches the chamber into which air is first
introduced.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.