Illuminating, Heating, and Metallurgical Purposes from Liquid Hydro-carbons.
Year: 1887

page_text: Illuminating, Heating, and Metallurgical Purposes from Liquid
Hydro-carbons.
I KICHARD BENJAMIN AVERY of 1656 Broadway in the City of New York State
of New York United States of America Inventor, 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 following Statement and Drawings explain the construction of the apparatus
and the operation of the Invention in its several uses and Figure I is a perspective
view of the Apparatus as adopted to the manufacture of large volumes of gas showing
a steam jet exhaust attached but without the necessary steam generation & Oil
reservoir or (sometimes necessary) condenser.
Fig. II is a horizontal cross section of a part of the apparatus the enclosing furnace
walls & exhaust.
Fig. III is base of deflecting cone with edges of flange serrated or perforated
or both.
Fig. IV is a section of a Retort showing a cone in place.
Fig. V is an Injector used for delivering the superheated steam & oil into the head
of the first retort of the series.
Fig. VI is a horizontal section of the apparatus showing two retorts in place & one
of the Steam superheating pipes or retorts with enclosed cones.
Fig. VII is a cross section of two retorts showing connection by return bend.
Fig. VIII is another form of the apparatus as used for generating gas to be used
under stationary & marine boilers & in locomotives as fuel & the steam dome & oil
P71

page_text: tank are shown the gas burned under the boiler for generating steam being utilised
to manufacture more gas so that the operation may be automatic.
Fig. IX is a cross section of the firebox showing two retorts with the cones in place
& the discharge of the gas into the firebox as fast as generated.
Like letters refer to like parts wherever they may occur in the drawings.
This Invention relates to the manufacture of gas or gases from liquid hydro
carbons & steam for illuminating purposes on any scale desired to be used for fuel
when properly combined with atmospheric air.
In the drawings (Figs. 1 and 8) S is the pipe leading from the stationary boiler or
steam generator to the superheating retorts over the system of gas generators R
(Figs. 1. 2. 6. 7. & 8) O (figs. 1. 5. & 8) is the pipe conveying the Oil from the
Reservoir or tank to the Injector 1 (Figs. 1. 5. 8 & 9) where the jet of steam sprays
the oil into the first retort of the series.
E. (Figs. 1. 2. & 6) is the Exhaust used to prevent back pressure when gas is
forming more rapidly than it can be accommodated by natural flow through the
ordinary outlet pipe & to overcome the inclination of the retorts to work intermittently
in the generation of gas. To some extent these difficulties may be overcome by
pumping the oil from the main reservoir into a governing tank supplied with valve
and overflow pipe so as to return the Oil to the Reservoir whenever it reaches the
desired pressure under the propulsion of the force pump.
F. (Fig. 1) is the firedoor of furnace under the retort system.
A. (Fig. 1) is the door to ashpit A1 (Figs. 8 & 9) is the Air Chamber.
C. (Figs. 2. 3. 4. & 6) are the deflecting cones which may be of metal or fireclay
with serrated or perforated flanges and each riveted upon a rod or the first one
of the series riveted upon the rod & the succeeding ones kept the proper distance
apart by a section of gas pipe slipped over the rod between the cones.
The cones
should be slightly less in diameter than the interior diameter of the retort and
sufficiently close together to hold the gases in place until they have become cured or
fixed if the same are to be stored in a Holder or conveyed any considerable distance
in pipes. It will be found in practice that the sinaller the diameter of the retorts the
more comparative space may be left between the deflecting cones.
I. (Figs. 1. 5. 8. & 9.) is the Injector which I make by using a common T. &
inserting a pipe reduced to a point at the outlet of the superheated steam & inserted
into the Tjust beyond the point where the oil pipe enters. I govern the supply of
oil & steam respectively by means of valves attached to each. If the Oil is forced'
from the Reservoir by a force pump through a governing tank set to the proper
pressure no Injector will be absolutely necessary & in that case the oil may be forced
in a proper proportion through a pipe outside & surrounding the steam pipe. That
will most thoroughly atomize the steam at its first entrance into the retorts. With
pumps & governing tanks the Oil even in the smallest jet can be forced into the
retorts under greater pressure than the steam need be.
B. (Fig. 8) is a boiler whether stationary marine or locomotive.
D. (Fig. 8) is the steam dome attached to the Boiler & T. (Figs. 8 & 9) is the
oil tank.
S¹ (Figs. 1. 5 & 6.) are the superheated retorts supplied with deflecting cones to
obstruct the passage of steam without stopping it entirely & give the heat time to
become diffused throughout the steam thus greatly & rapidly increasing its
temperature.
It will be noticed that in figure 1 of the drawings I have shown a double furnace
with 4 sets of retorts two sets to each furnace. This is for economy in brick work
one stack accommodating both furnaces & economy in fuel as when thus constructed
little more fuel is necessary to generate double the amount of gas than would be
given if but one set of retorts was placed in the furnace. I am using 9 retorts in each
set & those of 3 inch diameter inside & I have been able to obtain better results with
wrought iron retorts about one fourth to an half inch in thickness than with cast iron
retorts of greater diameter & greater thickness. But as much depends upon the

page_text: degree of heat which the furnace will uniformly give & the pressure of steam I do
not give my own preference as a law. If retorts can be made of fire clay of proper
size & thickness there is no reason why they should not give more gratifying results
than either cast or wrought iron & have a much greater length of life. The retorts &
cones may be made of fireclay or iron & of any diameter or thickness found by
experience to be most economical.
I will now describe the operation of these several devices which are a part of the
same Invention or class of Inventions.
In generating gas for illuminating purposes I first fire my furnace until the retorts
are a bright cherry red or nearly at white heat. As soon as they begin to show heat
a small jet of steam is turned through the Superheaters & passed on through the
heating retorts. As soon as the retorts have arrived at the temperature indicated
above I turn on a jet of oil increasing or diminishing the amount of oil or the quantity
of steam as the results indicate to be necessary. If oil flows over in any appreciablo
quantity I know that I am using too much oil or the temperature of my retorts is too
low & the amount of oil used must be reduced. If I am making less than 10000 cubic
fect of gas per day I deem a condenser a useless appendage but if much more than
that per day I should adopt some one of the most simple & inexpensive Condensers.
I would combine an exhaust for the reasons heretofore given & for the additional that
an exhaust is the most convenient aid in supplying the air which is absolutely
necessary to render the gas made by this invention fit to give brilliant & smokeless
illumination in the ordinary gas jets & to dilute it in the holder for economical use as
fuel only. When I have made all the gas required & desire to cease I think it
advantageous to let a small jet of steam circulate through the retorts after the flow of
oil is stopped.
In figures 8 & 9 the system is shewn in operation furnishing fuel for generating
steam. The Gas here formed is a combination of fixed gas & condensable vapour.
Steam is necessary to start the manufacturing process. It may be supplied from
a supplemental boiler or it may be raised with wood or coal in the same fire box with
the generating retorts which are placed in coils one above the other connected
together by return bends on each side of the fire box and the two coils connected by
a pipe running from one to the other just in front of the bridge wall & at the rear of
the fire box. If steam is taken from a supplemental boiler I let steam circulate
through the retorts until they are hot enough to prevent condensation. The friction of
the steam in passing combined with the heat it transmits will raise the temperature
of the retorts above 212° Fahrenheit very quickly. Then I turn on oil & the steam &
hot retorts will vaporize much of it & force it through the Air Chamber "A" into the
firebox where it is ignited. The heat emitted is intense & very speedily the retorts
are cherry red & generating gas as rapidly as desired. If the air chamber is properly
constructed a sufficiency of air is carried in with gas to give perfect combustion
intense & economical heat always under the absolute control of the Engineer. The
heaviest oils may be used in this apparatus & even tar if kept limped with heat so as
to flow readily enough air must be introduced with the gas to bring it nearly to the
explosive point to obtain the best results & I should recommend combining
an arch
extending from the bridge wall front for a foot or more & a checker work of fire brick
beneath the arch into which the flame should be propelled to obtain as nearly entire
combustion of all the gases as possible before they pass into the boiler flues or under
the boiler. I am aware of Meeze's specification No. 1479 of 1887 but I do not claim
anything covered thereby.
Having thus particularly described & ascertained the nature of my said invention
& in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :-
(1) In apparatus for manufacturing gas and superheating steam the combination
of a series of retorts properly connected one with another combined with an exhaust

page_text: (2) In apparatus for the manufacture of gas the combination of an oil reservoir a
force pump & a governing tank fitted with overflow pipe a series of retorts fitted
with deflecting cones having perforated or serrated flanges an exhaust & condenser
substantially as & for the purpose specified.
EDMUND KIMBER,
15, Walbrook, London, E...,
Agent for the Applicant.