Improved Method of Combining Air and Gas for Incandescent Lighting Purposes.
Year: 1895

page_text: This Print is in accordance with the Original Specification as it stands after
Amendment (under Section 11 of the Patents, &c., Act, 1883), as required by
the decision of the Chief Examiner of the 27th day of August 1896.
Date of Application, 18th June, 1895
Complete Specification Left, 18th Mar., 1896-Accepted, 18th Apr., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improved Method of Combining Air and Gas for Incandescent
Lighting Purposes.
I, HENRY GARDNER, of 166 Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, which has been commu-
nicated to me from abroad by The Society Francaise de L'Heliogene, Paris,
France, to be as follows:-
According to the usual manner of supplying air and gas in combined form for
producing the Buusen flame now employed for heating purposes, the air is
caused to commingle at the burner's mouth under the suction pressure of the gas
in passing through a contracted opening.
By the present invention, the air and gas are commingled and preserved within
the burner supply pipe, the mixture being created and formed by a suction
pressure of air which by a blower or pump is forced across or along the path of
the gas flow so that it be driven into the supply pipe to burn at the burner proper
with a blue flame and under air pressure having great power as to be specially
adapted for heating a metallized fringe, tissue, or plume to incandescence for high
illuminating purposes.
The burners may be of the usual batswing or other flat flame giving kind for
heating a fringe of radiant material secured to a wire stretched over and above
the flame and supported by horns standing outwardly and upwardly from a ring or
clip band from the burner, like a clothes line stretched between two props, there
being otherwise a clear passage from either side of the flame which according to
the present invention is an open naked flame.
D101 1
1005
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (AMENDED).
Improved Method of Combining Air and Gas for Incandescent.
Lighting Purposes.
:
I HENRY GARDNER of 166 Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention which has been commu-
nicated to me from abroad by The Society Francaise de L'Heliogene, Paris,
France, and in what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
:
. According to the usual manner of supplying air and gas in combined form for

page_text: producing the Bunsen flame now employed for heating purposes, the air is caused
to commingle at the burners mouth under the suction pressure of the gas in passing
through a contracted opening.
By the present invention the air and gas are commingled and preserved within
the burner supply pipe, the mixture being created and formed by a suction
pressure of air which by a blower or pump is forced across or along the path of
the gas flow so that it be driven into the supply pipe to burn at the burner proper
with a blue flame and under air pressure having great power as to be specially
adapted for heating a metallized fringe, tissue or plume to incandescence for high
illuminating purposes.
The burners may be of the usual batswing or other flat flame giving kind, for
heating a fringe of radiant material secured to a wire stretched over and above
the flame and supported by horns standing outwardly and upwardly from a ring or
clip band from the burner like a clothes line stretched between two props, there
being otherwise a clear passage from either side of the flame which according to
the present invention is an open naked flame.
Practice has demonstrated that in order to obtain a great luminous power by
means of illuminating gas it is necessary to have a complete combustion and to
utilise the heating power of this combustion in order to render a suitable refractory
body incandescent."
The process, which may be described as a classic one, consists in carrying to the
outlet orifice, that is to say to the part where the flame burns, an excess of air,
this is usually obtained by means of Bunsen burners or by the Mare ejectors on
Bunsens system.
In burners of this kind the air is drawn out by the gas itself assisted in most
cases by a chimney draft.
The burners will work all the better in proportion as the pressure of gas is
higher, but as soon as this falls below 20 millimetres of water the air draft
becomes imperfect and even difficult and the flame which normally should be an
oxidising one becomes a reducing one the incompletely burned carbon deposits
itself on the refractory mass while the calorics emitted diminish; there is no
longer any light emitted.
From the foregoing it follows therefore that in order to obtain incandescent
light; first the pressure of the gas must be at least equal to 20 millimetres of
water; second that all the burners must be either Bunsens or Mares or similar
to these.
Now in practice it is not always easy to find these two conditions complied
with as it is well known that
a large number of towns (and this may arise from
various causes) the pressure is below 20 millimetres of water; this difficulty may
be obviated by drawing the gas along the pipes by means of a suction meter and
by forcing it under a high pressure into the consumers pipes but in that case
besides the expenses of fitting up this arrangement the consumer is still forced to
purchase special burners.
It was in order to solve this question in a more practical manner from every
point of view that it has occured to the inventor to inject air under pressure into
the gas pipes in order to get a compound of air and gas in such given proportions
as that with ordinary burners, the gas will burn blue without however exceeding
the proportion of air which would render the compound explosive and that even
when the initial pressure of the gas is below 20 millimetres of water. So that
not only is there obtained incandescence without having to trouble about the
pressure from the gas works but also saves the large consumers to whose
advantage it would be to adopt this new system from the expense of special
burners (Bunsens or others).
In order to attain this result there is attached to the consumers pipes nearest
the meter and without otherwise touching the existing pipes an air receiver
under pressure produced by means of a fan, this air is forced by an injector into
the consumers pipes whereas the gas coming from the meter is carried to. the

page_text: ejecting chamber which becomes the gas chamber, so that it is the air which
comes out of the pipe and draws up the gas. The ejector should be arranged to
supply a compound of air and gas in the proportion of one part of gas to three
parts of air.
The annexed drawing shows an arrangement in which the object proposed is.
attained, the gas from the gas works on reaching the point A passes through the
meter B and being controlled by the cock b reaches the ejector chamber C the
air forced by pressure through the fan D also reaches the ejector through the pipe
and the compound passes into the pipe E. F. F. represent ordinary batswing
burners fitted with the De Mare eradiating plumes G supported by the horns F¹ Fi
C' is valve to avoid any. flow back into the meter.
The fan must be adapted to feed as many burners as can be lighted at the same
time in the place to be lit up and so as to give a pressure of 15 to 20 millimetres
of water to the compound of air and gas. If for instance we take an installation
of 100 burners consuming 85 litres of gas that is 8500 per hour, the fan must
supply 25 cubic metres of air under a pressure of 25 millimetres of water.
Air compressed in any way may be adopted and in this case it would be necessary
to add a pressure regulator, but it is preferred that a centrifugal fan be used
which as everyone knows possess the property of giving off air in proportion to.
the consumption.
The use of a ventilator of course necessitates the addition of a motor to drive.
it and it may be observed that the motive power ought to be very light because
illuminating gas possesses suction and is itself under pressure.
The invention does not consist in the use of any one of the appliances named,.
but in the use of air under low pressure in order to draw by means of any
ejector, lighting gas into an ordinary gas pipe in order to obtain by the compound
of air and gas an oxidising flame capable of rendering refractory bodies incan-
descent under various forms and without the addition of a Bunsen burner. It
being understood that the proportion of air is about three parts to one part of
gas and that the final pressure of the compound in the burner is about 20.
to 25 millimetres of water or more according to the burners used.
It being also understood that it is sufficient to add to batswing burners,
Manchester, Bergel or other systems an eradiating tissue of a form suitable for
rendering the flame luminous which is the result of the combustion of this.
compound.
I am aware of the inventions patented the 19th January 1894, No. 1238, and the
16th February 1895, No. 3425, and 1 make no claim to anything described and
claimed in the specifications of the aforesaid patents.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
ion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is
Forcing into special pipes under the desired pressure a compound of air and gas
n given proportions in order to obtain an oxidising flame with ordinary burners.
and with any initial gas pressure substantially as described.
Deted thie 18th day of Mouch 1000