Improved Process and Apparatus for Making Carburetted Water Gas.
Year: 1897

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Process and Apparatus for Making Carburetted Water Gas.
We, ALEXANDER CROMBIE HUMPHREYS and ARTHUR GRAHAM GLASGOW, trading in
partnership as Humphreys & Glasgow, of 9 Victoria Street, in the County of
London, and of 66, Broadway, in the City and State of New York, United States
of America, Engineers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained,
in and by the following statement:—
Our invention relates to the manufacture of carbureted water gas, and has for its
object to provide an apparatus and method of manufacturing such gas which will
enable us to utilise the heat generated in the blowing up stage of the process more
thoroughly than has heretofore been practicable.
The desirability of preheating the air blast used to promote the combustion of fuel
in a water gas generator has been generally recognised, but the various plans that
have been devised for heating the air have failed to attain practical success, or to go
into general use. We have ascertained, however, that in the manufacture of carbu-
reted water gas the products of combustion given off from the generator during the
operation of blowing up contain, after passing through the carbureting and fixing
chambers, sufficient sensible and potential heat to impart to the air blast a tempera-
ture so high as to materially shorten the time required in blowing up the generator
and heating the regenerative chambers, and we have discovered that this waste heat
can be utilized for preheating air and superheating steam as well by providing, in
addition to the regenerative chambers used for carbureting and fixing the gases, two
supplemental regenerative chambers connected in series with the fixing chambers so
that the products of combustion will pass from the fixing chamber through either
supplemental chamber at will, said supplemental chambers being also independently
connected to a source of air supply and to the generator so that air can be forced
through either of them to the generator, steam pipes being also preferably provided
so that steam can be forced through either supplemental chamber to the generator.
Our method of operation will be best understood, as will also the details of the
apparatus, by describing them in connection with the drawings in which the apparatus
is illustrated, and in which,
Figure 1 is a plan view of our improved apparatus.
Figure 2 a front elevation on the irregular section line 1-2 of Fig 1.
Figure 3 a sectional elevation on the line 3-4 of Fig. 1.
Figure 4 a sectional elevation on the line 5-6 of Fig. 1.
Figure 5 a plan view of a modified form of apparatus.
Figure 6 a side elevation of the same.
Figure 7 a plan view of still another modification, and

page_text: A, in each view, is the water gas generator which we prefer to provide with a cold blast
connection, as indicated at a, (Figs. 1, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8) and also with saturated steam
connections as shown at G and G¹. The use of these connections being at times
desirable in trimming and adjusting the fire and heats throughout the apparatus.
B (Figs. 1 to 4) indicates a regenerative carbureting and fixing chamber connected by
conduit E with the generator. In Figs. 5 to 8 we show also a second regenerative
chamber C used as a fixing chamber, and as chamber B is then primarily a carbureting
chamber it may be smaller, as shown in those figures. K is a conduit connecting
chambers B and C, and N is a gas take-off conduit leading from the carbareting and
fixing chamber or chambers to a seal box O and thence through a conduit U to any
convenient place of use or storage. D and I are supplemental regenerative chambers
connected by conduits L and L with the carbureting and fixing chambers and having
a gas escape as V and V₁ are valves in pipes Land L¹. Wand Ware conduits
leading from chambers D and D¹ to the generator; w and w¹ valves in said conduits.
To keep such a heat in top as not to condense steam we will probably have to admit
blast in several points along the height of D D¹. J and J₁ are air blast conduits
leading into D and D¹ and I, 11, 12 are air blast conduits leading from a source of
supply to each of the regenerative chambers for the purpose of promoting combustion
of fuel gas during the blowing up operation. M and M are steam pipes leading into
chambers D and D. Han oil conduit leading into the carbureter. In Figs. 7 and 8
we have arranged the generator for a reversal at will of the direction in which the
steam passes through the fuel bed in which case the steam, when introduced at the
top, will be saturated unless specially preheated. E and E¹ are pipes leading from its
bottom and top to a conduit E2 which in turn leads to the chamber B, valves F
and F being provided for cutting off either take-off.
The operation carried on in this apparatus, assuming it to be preheated to operative
temperatures, consists in blowing up the generator by passing air from J into
supplemental chamber D, the heated blast. passing through conduit W to the
generator, valve w being of course open, and valve in conduit W closed. The
products of coinbustion from the generator pass through conduit E to and through
the carbureting and fixing chamber B, or B and C, to the other supplemental
regenerative chamber D, valve in pipe L being opened and the valve in pipe L
closed. The potential heat of the products of combustion is utilised by introducing
air in the various regenerative chambers through which the gases pass by conduits I,
12, 13, and we may say here that obviously the air so introduced may be a part of that
preheated in the supplemental regenerative chamber. The apparatus being sufficiently
hot, the air blast is cut off and steam is introduced, preferably through pipes M to the
supplemental chambers D, and having been superheated therein it enters the
generator from which the water gas passes to the carbureting and fixing chambers
where it is enriched by oil, the carbureted gas passing off through conduit N.
air is forced in from, say, conduit J', to supplemental chamber D', passing thence
heated to the generator while the products of combustion are led off through the
carbureting and fixing chamber or chambers to the chamber D, and escape thence by
flue V. Afterwards steam is forced through chamber D₁ to the generator, the gas
carbureted and fixed as before and the alternating operation continued indefinitely.
Or the sequence of operation may be manifestly varied, for instance, the steam may
be introduced into the chamber which has last been heated.
Then
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is,
1. In the manufacture of carbureted water gas for illuminating purposes, the
method which consists of passing the products of combustion produced in blowing
up the generator through one or more carbureting and fixing chambers, and thence
alternately through one of two internally heated supplemental regenerative chambers,
passing air through the one of the two supplemental regenerative chambers aforesaid
which is not being heated, and conducting it to the apparatus to maintain combustion

page_text: in the generator or elsewhere while the blowing up operation continues, shutting off
the air blast and passing steam to the generator to generate water gas and passing
said water gas through the carbureting and fixing chamber or chambers to enrich it
or to fix the enriching hydro-carbons in the usual way leading said gas off from
said chambers without passing through the supplemental regenerative chambers
connected therewith.
2. In the manufacture of carbureted water gas for illuminating purposes, the
method which consists of passing the products of combustion produced in blowing up
the generator through one or more carbureting and fixing chambers, and thence
alternately through one of two supplemental regenerative chambers, passing air
through the one of the two supplemental regenerative chambers aforesaid which is
not being heated and conducting it to the apparatus to maintain combustion in the
generator or elsewhere while the blowing up operation continues, shutting off the air
blast and passing steam through the recently heated supplemental regenerative
chambers to the generator to generate water gas and passing said water gas through
the carbureting and fixing chamber or chambers to enrich it or to fix the enriching
hydro-carbons, leading said enriched gas off from said chambers without passing it
through the supplemental regenerative chamber and then again blowing up the
generator by an air blast passing through the supplemental regenerative chamber
last heated and conducting the gases through the carbureting and fixing chambers to
the other supplemental regenerative chamber.
3. The combination of a water gas generator with one or more carbureting and
fixing chambers and with two supplemental regenerative chambers filled with
refractory checkerwork, said supplemental chambers being connected with the
carbureting and fixing chamber or chambers, as described, and so that the products
of combustion from the generator will traverse first the carbureting and fixing
chambers and then either of the supplemental chambers at will, and being connected
with the generator as described so that a supply of air or steam can be forced through
the supplemental chamber traversed by the products of combustion and in the same
direction into the generator, the carbureting and fixing chambers having an outlet
for water gas independent of their connections to the supplemental regenerative
chambers.
4. The combination with a water gas generator of one or more carbureting and
fixing chambers set back thereof and forming a conduit for gases therefrom, said
chambers having an outlet for the carbureted water gas, two supplemental regenerative
chambers filled with refractory checkerwork set one on each side of the generator,
conduits for blast gases leading from the final carbureting and fixing chamber to each
of the supplemental chambers, an outlet for blast gases in each of said supplemental
chambers, conduits leading from each supplemental chamber to the generator and
means for forcing air or steam into and through supplemental chamber opposite to
the one traversed by the blast gases to the generator.
D1 L
ALL
1007
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.