Improvements in Hydrocarbon-engines.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 31st Aug., 1893-Accepted, 7th Oct., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Hydrocarbon-engines.
We, CARL SPIEL and ADOLF SPIEL, of Cannstatt, in the Kingdom of
Würtemberg, German Empire 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 :-
Our invention relates to hydrocarbon-engines, in which a liquid hydrocarbon is
used for the production of the explosive mixture, and in which the heat of the
combustion-gases is employed for vaporizing the said liquid hydrocarbon; and our
improvements in such engines relate, first, to the arrangement of a vaporizer
directly within the compression-chamber of the cylinder, second, to the configuration
of said vaporizer, and, third, to an arrangement of two inlets, one of which com-
municates with the compression-chamber and the other with the working-chamber
of the piston, the whole for the purpose of effecting a perfect automatic working of
the engine, without requiring any auxiliary flame or other source of heat for
vaporizing the hydrocarbon and for exploding the mixture.
Before entering into the details of the construction of our improved engine, and
the manner of working of the same, we wish to remark, that it has been long tried
to make a gas-motor, in which the heat of the products of combustion could be
used for vaporizing a liquid hydrocarbon, as well as for igniting the explosive
mixture formed thereafter. All trials, however, resulted, as far as known to us,
in a complete failure, the latter being due, as we have found by very extensive
experiments, to the arrangement of the vaporizer, as well as to the configuration
of the same, and, last not least, to the arrangement and manner of working of the
hydrocarbon-valve and the air-inlet.
The drawbacks experienced hitherto have been completely overcome by the
improved engine shown in the drawing, in which a is the working-cylinder, to the
rear of which is attached the removable compression-chamber b with the removable
vaporizer c. The latter is made very large, so as to fill out nearly the whole space
of the compression chamber, and affords, further, a large area of surface, so that
the vaporizer may rapidly take up, and accumulate, a great quantity of heat, and
may also give it rapidly off, replacing, however, in this latter case the lost
surface-heat out of the inner heat stored.
..
The vaporizer as shown in Fig. 1 consists of a number of rods, fixed to the
cover of the compression-chamber, and arranged in a bundle, a space being left
between every two of the rods, so that the intense heat of the exploding mixture
may act on the whole surface of each rod. The same effect may be had by the
modification represented in Fig. 4, in which a double spiral c' is employed; in the
whole, every configuration of the vaporizer may be used, provided the quantity
of mass as well as its area of surface be as large as allowed by the size of the
compression chamber.
The air necessary for diluting the hydrocarbon enters the cylinder through two
separated valves; the main part flowing through valve f and channel g, the other
part simultaneously through valve d and channel e. The spindles d' and of these
valves are arranged within the casings h and i respectively, the walls of which are
provided with openings for the entrance of the air. The influx of the latter may
be regulated by the circular slides k and I respectively.
The liquid hydrocarbon coming from any suitable reservoir, flows through pipe m
into a small chamber e' above the valve d, and is transported into channel e either
by the sucking of the working-piston, or by a special feed-pump (not shown in the
drawing); and the mixture of the air and the dispersed hydrocarbon is led against

page_text: or into the vaporizer c, or, with other words, on and among the rods or spirais
forming the same.
The vaporizer, which, as previously mentioned, is arranged directly within the
compression-chamber b, is still very hot from the foregoing explosion, the com-
bustion-gases of which have been driven out through the outlet-valve n and the
channel o. The strong mixture of the liquid hydrocarbon and air washing, on its
way from channel e to cylinder a, the hot rods c or spirals c', is vaporized there
completely, and the vapours, when having left the chamber b, become mixed with
and diluted by the air flowing into the cylinder through valve f.
We wish to call special attention to the contents of the foregoing paragraph,
as, first, the division of the air in two separated streams, second, the mixing of the
liquid hydrocarbon with only one of the said streams, and, third, the passing
of but this mixture into and through a vaporizer arranged directly within the
compression-chamber form points of highest importance, and, in fact from those
points, by the simultaneous employment of which the continually exact working of
our motor is effected.
If the liquid hydrocarbon would be squirted onto the hot vaporizer in an undiluted
state, it would simply be burnt there, and no combustible or explosible mixture
could be formed. If, on the other hand, the liquid hydrocarbon would be mixed
at once with the whole of the air, i.e. if all the air necessary for the production of
the explosible mixture would enter through channel e, this mixture would then be
ignited by far too early; the drawbacks resulting therefrom are clear without
further explanation.
Now the strong mixture entering the chamber 6 through channel e is vaporized,
and the heat given off by the vaporizer is continually replaced by its internal heat
stored; if, then, the working-cylinder is filled with the mixture of the vaporized
diluted hydrocarbon with the air flowing in through valve f, the piston is moved
back by the force of the fly-wheel, and the mixture is compressed, until at the end
of the stroke, the whole contents of the cylinder is contained within the com-
pression-chamber b, and every part of the vaporizer is surrounded by the mixture,
the latter having been heated not only by the vaporizer, but by the act of
compression, too.
In this moment of highest compression and greatest heat, the mixture becomes
ignited by the hot rods c or spirals c', and the piston is driven forwards in known
manner, whilst the intense heat of the explosion is again accumulated by the rods,
spirals or other, equivalent parts of the combined vaporizing- and igniting-body.
A part of this heat is also taken up by the walls of the compression-chamber,
the latter not being cooled, whilst the walls of the working-cylinder are cooled in
known manner.
In order to start the engine, it becomes necessary, as a matter of course, to use
an artificial source of heat for producing the first explosion or explosions, and this
may be effected either by removing the cover b with the vaporizer, and heating
the latter by a flame, or by employing a special ignition-tube p. If the engine has
been stopped but a few minutes ago, no outer flame is necessary for starting
the same anew, as the heat stored within the body c is still intense enough for
vaporizing the hydrocarbon, and igniting the explosive mixture.
We wish it to be understood, finally, that we do not confine ourselves to the
employment of our new arrangement in oil-motors with a single working-piston
only, but that we may use the same also in engines with a double or differential-
piston, or with two pistons, as all these kinds of motors may be worked according
to our invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
L
1. In a hydrocarbon-engine, the combination with the vaporizer, arranged within
haing conuented

page_text: with the inlet m for the hydrocarbon, and leading into the explosion-chamber,
channel g leading into the working-cylinder for the purpose as described.
2. In a hydrocarbon-engine, the combination with the vaporizer arranged within
the explosion-chamber b, and filling the same wholly or nearly wholly, of two air-
inlet-channels e and g, channel e heing connected with the inlet m for the hydro-
carbon and terminating into the rear part of the explosion-chamber, channel
terminating into the working-cylinder, for the purpose as described.
3. In a hydrocarbon-engine, the combination with the vaporizer c, arranged
within the explosion-chamber b, and consisting of a bundle of rods filling said
chamber wholly or nearly wholly, of two air-inlet-channels e and g, channel e being
connected with the inlet m for the hydrocarbon by means of chamber el above
valve d, and terminating into the rear part of the explosion-chamber, channel g
terminating into the working-cylinder, for the purpose as described.
4. In a hydrocarbon-engine, the combination with the vaporizer c', arranged
within the explosion-chamber, and consisting of one or more spirals filling said
chamber wholly or nearly wholly, of two air-inlet-channels e and g, channel e being
connected with the inlet m for the hydrocarbon by means of chamber e¹ above
valve d, and terminating into the rear part of the explosion-chamber, channel g
terminating into the working-cylinder, for the purpose as described.
DJ L
1000
By Geo. H. Rayner,
CARL SPIEL,
ADOLF SPIEL,
37, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicants.