IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE of GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING, AND IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henri Adrien Bonneville, of the British and
Foreign Patent Offices, 18, Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin, Paris,
France, and 6, Piccadilly, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE of
GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING, AND IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED
THEREWITH."-A communication from Armand Duchesne, residing.
at Seraing, in the Kingdom of Belgium, D.M.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henri Adrien
Bonneville at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 27th August 1875.
I, HENRI ADRIEN BONNEVILLE, of the British and Foreign Patent
5 Offices, 18, Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin, Paris, France, and 6, Piccadilly,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
GAS FOR LIGHTINg and Heating, AND IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH,”
55

page_text: communicated to me by Armand Duchesne, a person resident at Seraing,
in the Kingdom of Belgium, D:M., to be as follows:
The Invention relates to a new or improved process of manufacturing
gas for lighting and heating from hydrocarburets, and to an improved
retort and injector to carry the said process into effect.
The Invention consists substantially in causing the hydrocarburet
vapours to pass through a sufficiently heated metal bath. . For this
purpose the hydrocarburet is poured into a tank which is then her-
metically closed. The top and bottom of this tank are by means of
pipes connected with the retort in which the gas is made, so that the
pressure in the retort acts equally above and below the liquid in the
tank in such a manner that the droping of the liquid from the tank into
retort takes place only under the action-of gravity. The retort standing
vertically is filled up to a certain height with a suitable metal, lead for
.instance, into which plunges the inlet pipe of the hydrocarburet. This
droping upon metal red hot becomes vapour, and compresses the metal
to the lower end of the pipe. The vapours engendered escape through
apertures in this lower end, penetrate while ascending the mass of melted
metal, become decomposed, and reach the upper part of the retort,
from whence they flow through pipes into the apparatusses generally
used for manufacturing gas.
i
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henri Adrien Bonneville in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 26th February 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRI 2
ADRIEN BONNEVILLE, of the British and Foreign Patent Offices,.. 18,
Rue de la Chaussée d'Antin, Paris, France, and 6, Piccadilly, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send grecting.
WHEREAS Her most. Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of August, in the 3
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors; give and grant unto. me, the said. Henri Adrien Bonneville,

page_text: Her special license, that I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Henri, Adrien Bonneville, my executors, 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 MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR
LIGHTING AND HEATING, AND IN THE APPARATUS CONNECTED THEREWITH," com-
municated to me by Armand Duchesne, a person resident at Seraing, in
the Kingdom of Belgium, Doctor of Medicine, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, 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 immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :-
The Invention relates to a new or improved process of manufacturing
gas for lighting and heating from hydrocarburets, and to an improved
retort and injector to carry the said process into effect.
The Invention consists substantially in causing the hydrocarburet
vapours to pass through a sufficiently heated metal bath. For this
purpose the hydrocarburet is poured into a tank, which is then her-
.metically closed. The top and bottom of this tank are by means of
pipes connected with the retort in which the gas is made, so that the
pressure in the retort is equally felt above and below the liquid in the
tank in such a manner that the flowing of the liquid from the tank into
the retort takes place by the simple action of its own weight. The
retort standing vertically is filled up to a certain height with any
suitable metal, such as lead for instance, into which dips the inlet pipe
of the hydrocarburet. The latter in falling upon the red hot metal
becomes vapour, and compresses the metal to the lower end of the pipe,

page_text: The vapours engendered escape through apertures in this lower end,
penetrate while ascending the mass of melted metal, become decom-
posed, and reach the upper part of the retort, from whence they flow
through pipes into the apparatuses generally used for manufacturing
gas.
Having thus briefly described the said Invention, I will now proceed
to describe the same more particularly, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings,. of which Fig. 1 represents a sectional clevation
of the apparatus, Fig. 2 a plan view of the same, and Fig. 3 a sectional
elevation of the lower part of the retort.
In these Figures similar letters indicate corresponding parts.
A, C, Fig. 1, is the vertical cast-iron retort filled with the lead at i, j.
The hydrocarburet is introduced into the plunger tube B by the pipe h
by means of the injector hereafter described. The liquid drops on the
surface of the melted lead is reduced to vapour and compresses the
metal to the lower end of the plunger tube. This end, which is open,
is perforated on the circumference with holes or apertures designed to
divide the vapours which escape from it, and pass while ascending
through the mass of the red-hot melted lead. The vapours are decom-
posed and the gaseous products engendered are brought into the part
of the retort C, so as to be conducted from thence by the nozzle D into
the apparatuses generally used in the manufacture of gas.
The principal disadvantages of the different processes of manufacturing
gas in use up to the present time, which are all based on the flowing of
the vapours through horizontal or vertical retorts of various shapes are
the following:-The circumference of the gaseous current is found to
be overheated by contact with the cast iron, whilst the central current
is of too low a temperature to allow the decomposition to be complete.
On the one hand then a voluminous deposit of graphite is rapidly
formed in the inside of the retorts, which prevents the easy transmission
of heat; and on the other hand, a large quantity of coal tar is produced,
the result of which is that frequent and difficult cleansing is rendered
necessary, and that the quantity of gas produced is very poor.
In applying the above described process and apparatus all these
disadvantages are prevented. The decomposition operates under the
best possible conditions, that is to say, that the division of the vapours

page_text: is better, the operation is more regular, the quantity of gas produced is
larger, and the general result is more efficacious.
The advantages of the process are obvious, the retorts are not rusted,
their prolonged preservation is rendered certain, the decomposition of
the vapours is regular, the production of the coal tar is reduced to a
minimum, and the production of the gas is brought to a maximum; in
a word, large quantities of gas can be manufactured every hour by each
retort.
The injector shown, Fig. 1, consists, firstly, of an air-tight tank a,
which can support a higher pressure than that of the vapours in the
retort; secondly, of a thick glass tube designed to allow the worker
to control the flow of the liquid; and thirdly, of a safety valve c, which
would open if the pressure in the retort should happen accidentally to
exceed a certain limit. The liquid hydrocarburet is poured into the
tank a, which is then hermetically closed. The two cocks d, e, are then
opened, and the pressure is equalised above and below the liquid, the
flow of which will consequently take plaće by the simple action of its
own weight. This flowing shown through the glass pipe b is regulated
by a screw cock f.
Having thus described the nature of the said improvements, and the
manner of carrying them into effect, I would have it understood that I
do not confine myself. to the precise details. above enumerated, as these
may obviously be modified without departing from the principle of the
Invention; but what I claim as new and desire to secure by the said
Royal Letters Patent is,―
1. In the manufacture of the gas from the hydrocarburets the
flowing of the hydrocarburet vapours through any suitable 'melted
metal, whatever be the shape of the retort, substantially as above
described.
2. In the manufacture of the gas from the hydrocarburets the flowing
of the hydrocarburet vapours in layers more or less thin upon the surface
of a heated metal bath, as above specified.
3. In the manufacture of the gas the introduction of a suitable
metal bath in the retort to manufacture this gas, as herein-before
described.

page_text: 4. With reference to the apparatus the combination with the
retort-A, C, of-the-plunger tube-B, the tank-a, the glass-tube b,-the-safety-
valve c, and the cocks d, e, f, substantially as above described and
represented in the accompanying Drawings..
In witness whereof, I, the said Henri Adrien Bonneville, have
hereto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of
February, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seventy-six.