Improvements in Acetylene Gas Generating Apparatus.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Dec., 1899-Accepted, 6th Jan., 1900
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Acetylene Gas Generating Apparatus.
I, ANDERS EDWARD ADOLFSSON, of 31A, Handtverkaregatan, Stockholm, in the
Kingdom of Sweden, Mechanical Engineer, 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:-
This invention relates to an acetylene-apparatus of the kind where granulated,
i.e. finely ground or pulverized, calcium-carbide is fed into water in small quan-
tities. The apparatus is so arranged that this process of feeding is controlled
by the consumption of gas, so that no more carbide is fed into the water than
is required for producing the quantity of gas wanted at every instant, no special
gas-reservoir being therefore needed.
In the accompanying drawing this apparatus is illustrated in Figure 1 in
a vertical section, in Figure 2 in a vertical longitudinal section through the
generator on line C-D of Figure 1 and in Figure 3 in a vertical longitudinal
section on line A-B of Figure 1 through the mechanism for actuating the
feeding-device.
The apparatus consists of a vessel which is divided by a vertical partition 26
into two chambers one of which, 1, is partially filled with water, and, as will
be further explained below, communicates with the other, the gas-reservoir 15
by means of a passage 16 terminating with its one end above the water-level.
This generator-chamber 1, also contains the carbide-magazine 2 and the feeding-
device and is rendered airtight at the top by a cover 6, or the said carbide-
magazine and feeding-device may (in large apparatus) be located above the cover,
in which case the feeding-device is in communication with the generator-chamber
through an aperture in the cover.
The feeding-device preferably consists of a drum 3 located at the bottom
aperture of the carbide-magazine, said drum being provided at the periphery
with longitudinal cells or compartments for receiving the carbide, which cells
have the shape of screw-threads of such a pitch that at least one of them is always
divided off by the bottom edge of an elastic side bearing 5, parallel to the axis
of the drum, and in contact with the drum, in order that the contents of such
a cell may be emptied not instantaneously, but gradually as the cell is rotated
past the bearing-surface. The partitions 7 between the cells of the feeding-
drum should be elastic so as to yield in case grains of carbide should enter
between them and the surrounding casing. To increase the amount of yield.
and thus to diminish the resistance to the rotation of the drum, the side-bearing 5
is like wise made yielding, and it is protected from the pressure of the carbide
above by means of a screen or guard 9. If the carbide is very fine-grained,
there may be substituted for such a feed drum or roll a cylindrical brush of the
kind used in cleaning out boiler-tubes, lamp-chimneys etc. In place of the drum 3
some other analogous feeding-device may of course be employed which is
gradually moved along past the feeding-aperture.
When very small quantities of finely divided carbide are dropped from a
small height into the water, the smallest grains will not possess sufficient weight
and velocity to penetrate through the surface of the water but will float on the

page_text: latter and be decomposed there, and by the hydrate of lime formed in the decom-
position, the surface of the water becomes then more difficult to penetrate for
the succeeding grains. The gas formed becomes enclosed in bubbles, resembling
soap-bubbles, which gather by degrees into a high heap of foam, an occurrence
which is very harmful in apparatus of small dimensions where the distance
from the water-level to the gas-outlet and carbide-magazine is very short and
where consequently the foam soon ascends not only to the gas-outlet, making the
latter dirty owing to the slime of lime accompanying it, but also to the carbide-
magazine, where it causes an extra gas-generation over which the regulating
devices have no control.
This disadvantage has been overcome in the present acetylene-apparatus.
When the carbide leaves the feed-drum or roll 3, it drops freely through the
discharge-opening 8 and is caught by the wheel 10 beneath. As illustrated in
the drawing, this wheel is provided at its circumference with a number of
chambers or pockets having walls on all sides and a bottom. The latter is formed
by a cylinder or ring 11 which may be made of any material though preferably
of sponge, felting, porous clay or the like which can absorb a large quantity
of water and retain it by its capillary action. This wheel dips in the water
to about half its height and is rotated from the shaft 12 of the feed-drum by
means of gears, a chain, or other suitable means of transmission, so that the
said chambers or pockets are plunged in succession under the surface of the
water to be subsequently raised above it. Accordingly they are always wet,
and in this bottom suflicient water is always absorbed for decomposition of the
dust-like grains while the larger ones are only partially attacked before being
carried below the water-surface by the wheel.
The wheel 10 is enclosed by a casing 27 which assists it in keeping water from
splashing up into the feeding-device and carbide-magazine at times when the
gas-apparatus is subjected to severe shaking. For the same purpose there is
also placed a cover or screen 13 above the surface of the water. In place of the
wheel mentioned an endless cloth, belt, chain or the like may be employed,
passing over wheels and provided with compartments which are fed along in
succession below the passage 8.
In all known acetylene-apparatus where carbide is fed into water the feeding-
organs operate intermittently, and for this reason the gas-generation likewise
takes place intermittently necessitating the use of an expansive gas-reservoir
for equalizing the variable pressure of the gas.
In the apparatus here described, on the other hand, such a reservoir is dis-
pensed with, the feeding organs being instead of such construction and being
given such a regular movement conforming to the consumption of gas, that the
feed of carbide as well as the generation of gas at all times correspond to the
demand.
To produce such a movement of the feeding-organs, a motor driven by the gas
generated is employed, said motor, being driven a uniform rotating movement
the velocity of which is easily governed by the pressure of the gas-reservoir.
This motor consists of a cell-wheel 14 located in the bottom part of the gas-
reservoir 15 and wholly enveloped by a liquid the specific gravity of which should
be as great as possible. The chamber where said wheel is located is in communi-
cation with the generator-chamber by means of the passage or channel 16 before
mentioned. The gas generated under pressure in the generating-vessel dis-
places the liquid in the passage and on passing through the hollow hub 17 of the
cell-wheel ascends into and fills the cells having their curved walls nearest to the
surface of the liquid.
While striving to ascend owing to its slight specific gravity in comparison
with the liquid the gas revolves the cell-wheel, this motion being transmitted to
the feed-drum or feed-roll by means of gears 18 and 19, a chain, cord or other
suitable means of transmission. In place of admitting the gas at the centre
of the wheel, it might equally well be introduced at the periphery provided that

page_text: the cells be given other shape, and in place of grouping the cells in the shape
of a wheel about a shaft, they might be attached to an endless belt, carried by
guide-rolls.
At the upper portion of the gas-reservoir 15 a pressure-equalizer 20 may be
arranged which in combination with the lever 21 also serves to govern the motion
of the motor-wheel. The said pressure equalizer consists of a vessel 22 com-
municating with the outer air by means of the pipe 23 but closed everywhere
else, so that its walls are acted on by the atmospheric pressure on the
one hand, and on the other hand by the pressure of the gas in the
reservoir. One wall consists of a flexible membrane 24 of rubber, leather or
other suitable material, pressed outward by a spring. When the production of
gas in the apparatus exceeds the consumption, the pressure in the reservoir
rises and consequently the membrane 24 is forced inward and pulling with it the
lever 21 attached to it forces the lower end of said lever against the cell-wheel,
thus checking its motion so that the feed of carbide is diminished, or completely
stopped if all consumption should cease, in which case the pressure obviously
rises still further.
The membrane described is vertical, in order that it may be influenced as
little as possible by shocks in the same plane. In place of the pressure--
equalizer 20 described, suitable bellows of any known construction may be used.
The feeding-device should preferably be located beneath the tight-closing
cover 6, as shown in the drawing, because by this means gas-tight packings at
the feeding-device are avoided. In the case when the carbide-magazine and
feeding-device are placed above said cover (which may be of advantage in large
apparatus), the passage or channel 16 must extend up through the cover 6, so
that the elements of the power-transmission may be connected with the shaft 12
of the feed drum on the outside of the apparatus, an extra-pipe for conducting
the gas into the cell-wheel being then evidently necessary.
It should be added that the two chambers 1 and 15 of course may be made
separate instead of being brought together as parts of one vessel, if only the
generator be in communication with the cell-wheel in such a manner that
the gas generated can act on the latter. It is this cell-wheel (or its
equivalent), set in motion by the gas generated and connected with the feeding-
device which forms the principal feature of the invention. The construction of
the other parts of the apparatus is of a more subordinate nature, although said
parts of course contribute each in a certain measure toward making the action
of the apparatus more perfect.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. An improved acetylene-apparatus with a rotatable feeding-drum or roll or
analogous device located at the bottom aperture of a carbide-magazine and above
a passage leading to a generator containing water, the shaft of which drum or
roll is connected with the shaft of a cell-wheel having cup- or scoop-shaped
vanes, or with an analogous endless conveyer provided with buckets, which cell-
wheel or conveyer is located in a liquid in a chamber provided with a gas-outlet
and communicating with the generator, and which scoops or buckets are so
placed that they will collect the gas produced in the generator and ascending
through the liquid in the aforesaid chamber, for the purpose that the gas, when
striving to force away the scoops or buckets and rise through the liquid, may
set the cell-wheel or cell-conveyer in motion which is transmitted to the feeding
drum or roll so as to cause the latter to feed carbide into the generator at the
same rate as the gas is delivered from the cell-wheel or conveyer.
2. In an acetylene apparatus of the kind claimed in the first preceding claiming
clause a feed-drum provided with longitudinal depressions in the shape of screw-
threads, against the periphery of which bears yieldingly a bearing-surface in

page_text: order that the carbide may but gradually be fed from said depressions into the
water-space of the generator, according as the feeding-drum is rotated.
3. In acetylene-apparatus of the kind claimed in the first preceding claiming
clause a feeding-drum or feed-roll composed of a cylindrical brush.
4. In acetylene-apparatus of the kind claimed in the first preceding claiming
clause a wheel placed in the generator below the passage leading from the feed-
ing-device said wheel partially submerging in the water, and provided on the
circumference thereof with compartments or pockets for receiving the carbide
fed down, and so connected with the feeding-device that it will be revolved
when the latter revolves.
5. In acetylene-apparatus of the kind claimed in the first preceding claiming
clause an endless carrier placed in the generator, below the passage leading
from the feeding-device and provided with a number of cells or compartments
for receiving the carbide fed down, one shaft of which carrier is so connected
with the feeding-device so that the carrier is turned simultaneously with said
feeding-device.
6. In acetylene-apparatus of the kind claimed in the fourth and fifth pre-
ceding claiming clauses a casing surrounding the wheel or endless carrier and the
bottom orifice of the passage and a guard or screen placed above the water-level
in the generator, for the purpose of preventing the water from splashing up into
the feeding-device and carbide-magazine when the apparatus is subjected to
sudden shaking.
7. In acetylene-apparatus of the kind claimed in the first preceding claiming
clause a vessel placed in a chamber occupied by a cell-wheel or cell-conveyer and
communicating with the open air and provided with an elastic or flexible wall' against
which bears one end of a two-armed lever the other end of which lever is located
close to the cell-wheel or cell-conveyer in order that the elastic wall, when the
pressure in the chamber becomes excessive, may be forced inward and the lever
be swung in such a manner that its end will press against the cell-wheel and act
as a brake on it substantially as herein described and illustrated in the accom-
panying drawings.
Daten this in day of November
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.