A NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS OF EXTRACTING THE OXYGEN OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR FROM THE NITROGEN FOR FOR THE FURPOSE OF UTILISING SAID OXYGEN FOR ILLUMINATING AND HEATING PURPOSES
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Herbert John Haddan, of the Firm of Herbert and
Company, Solicitors of Patents, of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster,
Civil Engineer, for an Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS OF
EXTRACTING THE OXYGEN OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR FROM THE NITROGEN FOR
LETTERS PATENT to Herbert John Haddan, of the Firm of Herbert and
Company, Solicitors of Patents, of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster,
Civil Engineer, for an Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED PROCESS OF
EXTRACTING THE OXYGEN OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR FROM THE NITROGEN FOR
THE FURPOSE OF UTILISING SAID OXYGEN FOR ILLUMINATING AND HEATING
PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by Edward Bingley Reynolds, of
Cleveland, State of Ohio, United States of America.
1
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Herbert John Haddan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th February 1881.
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of the Firm of Herbert and Company, Solicitors of
Patents, of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster, Civil Engineer. "A NEW
OR IMPROVED PROCESS OF EXTRACTING THE OXYGEN OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR FROM
THE NITROGEN FOR THE PURPOSE OF UTILIZING SAID OXYGEN FOR ILLUMINATING
AND HEATING PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by Edward Bingley
Reynolds, of Cleveland, State of Ohio, United States of America.
This Invention consists in a separation or liberation of the oxygen of the atmos-
phere by passing the air through a separating vessel containing a fibrous material,
saturated or moistened with naphtha, petroleum, or any of its products together
with broken charcoal, wherein the nitrogen is arrested and the oxygen set free to
pass on to the point of combustion or to be collected in receivers for subsequent
use.
Naphtha or gasoline being from 90 to 95 per cent. hydrogen and having a
natural affinity for the nitrogen of the atmosphere attracts and separates it from
the oxygen by reason of that affinity.
The peculiar function of the charcoal is to throw off a certain amount of the
heavier gas and to take up the lighter gas, that is, the nitrogen, the oxygen being
thereby set free and allowed to pass on.
The quantity of naphtha or gasoline and charcoal required by this process is so
exceedingly small that its diminution is scarcely perceptible.
•

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Herbert John Haddan in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd August 1881.
HERBERT JOHN HADDAN, of the Firm of Herbert and Company, Solicitors of
Patents, of 67, Strand, in the City of Westminster, Civil Engineer. "A NEW
OR IMPROVED PROCESS OF EXTRACTING THE OXYGEN OF ATMOSPHERIC AIR FROM
THE NITROGEN FOR THE PURPOSE OF UTILIZING SAID OXYGEN FOR ILLUMINATING
AND HEATING PURPOSES." A communication from abroad by Edward Bingley
Reynolds, of Cleveland, State of Ohio, United States of America.
Heretofore the object of experimentors and practitioners in the art of making
and treating gases for illuminating purposes has been to endeavour to enrich,
increase, and enhance their illuminating powers by the addition of some other
element or material by employing air in blasts or currents, and otherwise, by the
use of carburetors and similar devices, employing the air as an auxiliary aid or
helper in their various processes; these require an increased expenditure of material,
labor, and machinery. The nature of this Invention is in the practice of a theory
directly opposite to that of the above stated methods, that is, instead of employing
air as an auxiliary agent the inventor uses it as the principal element from which
is obtained an illuminant, possessing in itself alone all the necessary properties for
producing an exceedingly brilliant clear white light, and which may also be used
for heating purposes. The Invention consists in a separation or liberation of the
oxygen of the atmosphere by passing the air through a separating vessel containing
a fibrous material, saturated or moistened with naphtha, petroleum, or any of its
products together with broken charcoal, wherein the nitrogen is arrested and the
oxygen set free to pass on to the point of combustion or to be collected in receivers
for subsequent use. Naphtha or gasoline being from 90 to 95 per cent. hydrogen
and having a natural affinity for the nitrogen of the atmosphere, attracts and
separates it from the oxygen by reason of that affinity. The peculiar function of
the charcoal is to throw off a certain amount of the heavier gas and to take up the
lighter gas, that is, the nitrogen, the oxygen being thereby set free and allowed to
pass on, and the little hydrogen which may escape forms no obstruction to the flight
of the oxygen. The quantity of naphtha or gasoline and charcoal required by this
process is so exceedingly small that its diminution is scarcely perceptible. By this
process it will be noticed that instead of supplying any new material or substance,
or forming any new combination, the Inventor has discovered that the oxygen of
the common atmosphere may and can be disengaged from its coexistent element,
that is, the nitrogen, and utilized without any further treatment for immediate use
as a fuel for illuminating or heating purposes, or it may be stored in suitable air
tight receivers for future use. Thus a very common element always at hand and
inexhaustible is brought into use, which takes the place of coal-oil, coal-gas, or any
of the substances now used for obtaining light and heat. The great advantages of
this process is the immense saving in time, cost, and labor in preparing the element
and the boundless resource for obtaining it. To illustrate a means of obtaining
these great and, beneficial results reference is had to the accompanying Drawing,
in which Figure 1 represents a simple apparatus for carrying this Invention into
effect and applying it for immediate use; Fig. 2 represents a method of obtaining
oxygen and charging a receiver with the same. A, in Fig. 1, represents a tank
or vessel charged with compressed air; B is a closed vessel containing cotton or
any other fibrous material saturated with gasoline or any product of petroleum or
naphta, and a quantity of broken charcoal; C is a gas lamp having the ordinary
gas burners. The air vessel A is connected to vessel B by a pipe or hose D, and

page_text: the chamber B is connected by another pipe or hose E to the burner stand C. The
said vessels and stand C are provided with the necessary stop cocks F, G, H, I.
The air is permitted to pass from the tank A. to the separator B; from thence the
oxygen liberated from the nitrogen passes freely on to the burners, the pressure of
air in the vessel A supplying the impelling force. This will be kept up con-
tinuously as long as any pressure remains in said vessel A without any diminution
of the light for a very long time, as has been demonstrated by actual test with a
small apparatus containing only one pint of gasoline, and about the same quantity
of broken charcoal, which has been in use for 3 hours every evening during five
weeks, making a total of 105 hours without replenishing. A blower or air pump
may be substituted for the air vessel A with the same result. In Fig. 2 is
represented an air pump J for forcing the air and collecting the free oxygen in a.
gasometer K, from whence it may be taken and burned whenever desired.
Having described this Invention as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent, I claim,―
First. The process of separating oxygen from nitrogen by use of the magnetic
powers of liquid hydrogen, for purposes as herein before described.
Second. Extracting oxygen from the atmosphere by means substantially as
described, and burning the same without further treatment for illuminating and
heating purposes.
Third. The process of extracting oxygen from the atmosphere, which consists in
conveying air into and through a vessel packed with fibrous substance saturated
with naphta, petroleum, or any of its products covered with a layer of charcoal,
and conveying the oxygen thence to burners or storing the same in receivers,
substantially as and for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Herbert John Haddan, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty third day of August, A.D. 1881.