MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR to
Year: 1884

page_text: I HENRY JOHN ROGERS of Lavington House Watford in the County of
Hertford Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my Invention for IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR to be as
follows:-
A series of coils or retorts are arranged with a boiler over or in close proximity
to a furnace heated by gas or otherwise the oil for the manufacture of gas in the
said coils or retorts being admitted with steam the steam oil & gas cocks being
automatically opened and closed and the residual products reused for the
manufacture of gas therefrom.
The object of this Invention is to simplify and cheapen the manufacture of gas
and render the generating and storing apparatus adaptable for villas and small
mansions as well as for towns villages factories ships and large establishments.
According to one of my methods I arrange a coil or coils of pipes or retorts in
any suitable position in the apparatus and surround the same with fire bricks
forming a hot chamber and beneath this chamber I fix a mixing box for gas and
air the air being drawn in by means of the pressuro of gas and forming therewith
an intense heating flame by which means the said coil or coils of pipes or retorts
are made red hot. Above or at the sides of these coils I place a copper or other
boiler filled with water or in some instances the boiler may overlap the coils and
form part of the said hot chamber.
I then conduct the steam from the said boiler, after superheating it by passing it
through the hot chamber, to an injector in the centre of the upper coil of pipes or
to the centre of one of them and to the said injector I lead a pipe from a tank
containing crude or refined petroleum shale or coal oil or other hydro-carbon oil
and I inject the oil by means of the steam into the top pipe which is the coolest of
all the pipes; in this pipe the oil which is thoroughly disintegrated by the steam is
vaporized and the carbon combining with the hydrogen of the steam forms a gas of
a very high illuminating power and at a very cheap rate and furthermore a gas
quite free from sulphur and carbonic acid. The gas thus made passes through a
cooler of any desired form and through a washer containing water no other
purification whatever being required. It is then conducted to a gasholder and is
ready for use.

page_text: To render the apparatus more automatic and so that the attendance should
be reduced to a minimum 1 arrange a tappet on the top of the gasholder frame
so that as soon as the holder rises it comes into communication with the tappet
which is connected by means of rods and levers with the levers of the oil & steam
and gas inlet cocks and these three cocks being immediately shut off by the rising
of the gasometer as aforesaid the generating process ceases but as the gas in the
holder is used and the holder again descends the lever in connection therewith
being weighted descends also and thereby opens again the gas, steam and oil inlet
cocks and the process of gas generating proceeds a small jet of ignited gas being
left in the mixing chamber ready for the reignition of the main supply thus
obviating the constant or even the frequent attendance of the person in charge. It
is obvious that the henting gas jets must be lighted under the retorts for some
time before gas is made after any prolonged cessation of the process the above
arrangement being adopted when the holder is very small and not of sufficient
capacity to keep the lights going for a single night. To start the apparatus and
fill the holder for the first time coal may be used under the retorts or coils or a
naptha generating apparatus used for the first supply of gas.
According to another arrangement instead of a coil of pipes forming a retort
I use a double retort one placed inside the other the oil and steam passing first to
the inner and cooler retort and then to the annular space formed between the two
retorts in which space the materials are converted into a permanent gas and treated
as previously described. Or coal or coke may be used instead of gas to heat the
retorts with the same result.
In the case of a large gasworks the tappet and lever arrangement may be dispensed
with and the various cocks shut off by hand. As it is almost impossible to carburize
the whole of the oil at one operation I separate the residual products consisting of
tar, water and oil by gravitation; I use the tar for ordinary purposes, the heavy
oils I mix with fresh oil and obtain a very high percentage of gas therefrom or I
pass it separately into the retorts and the water I pass into the boiler and obtain
from it saturated as it is with hydro carbons, a fair percentage of gas; thus by
economising every particle of material I can manufacture a gas of a very high
illuminating power and at an extremely moderate cost, a gas also that is perfectly
pure, quite permanent and not affected by either heat or cold.
Dated thie 4th day of January 1881

page_text: I HENRY JOHN ROGERS of Watford in the County of Hertford Engineer do
hereby declare the nature of my Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF GAS AND IN APPARATUS THEREFOR and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
The object of this Invention is to simplify and cheapen the manufacture of gas
and render the generating and storing apparatus adaptable for villas and small
mansions as well as for towns, villages factories ships and large establishments.
According to one of my methods I arrange a coil or coils of pipes or retorts A A
placed in any suitable position in the apparatus and surround the same with
fire bricks forming a hot chamber and beneath this chamber I fix a nixing box B
for gas and air the air being drawn in by means of the pressure of gas and forming
therewith an intense heating flame by which means the said coil or coils of pipes
or retorts A are made red hot. Above or at the sides of these coils I place a copper
or other boiler C filled with water or, in some instances, the boiler C may overlap
the coils and form part of the said hot chamber as shewn in the Drawing.
1 then conduct the steam from the said boiler, after superheating it by passing
it through the hot chamber to an injector E in the centre of the upper coil of pipes
or to the centre of one of them; and to the said injector I lead a pipe F from a
tank G containing crude or refined petroleum shale or coal oil or other hydro-
carbon oil and I inject the oil by means of the steam into the top pipe which is the
coolest of all the pipes.
In this pipe the oil, which is thoroughly disintegrated by the steam is vaporized
and the carbon combining with the hydrogen of the steam forms a gas of a very
high illuminating power and at a very cheap rate and furthermore a gas quite free
from sulphur and carbonic acid; the gas thus made passes through a cooler H of
desired form and through a washer I containing water no other purification
whatever being required.
any
It is then conducted to a gasholder K and is ready for use.
To render the apparatus more automatic and so that the attendance should be
reduced to a minimum I arrange a tappet L on the top of the gasholder framo so
that as soon as the holder rises it comes into contact with the tappet which is
connected by means of rods M M and levers N N with the levers O. P. Q of the oil
and steam and gas inlet cocks and theso three cocks being immediately shut off by
the rising of the gasholder as aforesaid the generating process ceases but as the gas
in the holder is used and the holder again descends the lever in connection
therewith being weighted descends also and thereby opens again the steain
and oil inlet cocks and the process of gas-generating again proceeds a small jet of
ignited gas being left in the mixing chamber ready for the reignition of the main
supply thus obviating the constant or even the frequent attendance of the person
in charge. It is obvious that the heating gas jets must be lighted under the retorts
for some time before gas is made after any prolonged cessation of the process, the
above arrangement being adopted when the holder is small and not of sufficient
capacity to keep the lights running for any length of time.
gas,
To start the apparatus and fill the holder for the first time coal may be used
under the retorts or coils or a naptha generating apparatus used for the first supply
of gas.
According to another arrangement instead of a coil of pipes forming a retort
I use a double retort one placed inside the other the oil and steam passing first to

page_text: the inner and cooler retort and then to the annular space formed between the two
retorts in which space the materials are converted into a permanent gas and treated
as previously described.
Or coal or coke may be used instead of gas to heat the retorts with the same
result.
In the case of a large gasworks the tappet and lever arrangement may be
dispensed with and the various cocks shut off by hand.
As it is almost impossible to carburize the whole of the oil at one operation I
separate the residual products consisting of tar, water and oil by gravitation I use
the tar for ordinary purposes the heavy oils I mix with fresh oil and obtain a very
high percentage of gas therefrom or I pass them separately into the retorts after
artificially heating and the water I pass into the boiler and obtain from it,
saturated as it is with hydrocarbons, a fair percentage of gas thus by economizing
every particle of material I can manufacture a gas of a very high illuminating
power and at an extremely moderate cost, a gas also that is perfectly pure quite
permanent and not affected by either heat or cold.
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 combination of retorts with a boiler heated by gas or fuel for the
manufacture of gas substantially in and for the purpose herein set forth.
2. The tappet and lever arrangement for automatically shutting off and
restarting the supplies of oil, steam and gas substantially as and for the purpose
herein described.
3. The use of the residuals either separately or mixed with the original oil for
the purpose of cheapening the production of gas substantially as herein described.
Dated this 31 day of March 1884.