IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OP GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING PURPOSES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Louis Antoine Victor Dubourg, of Leicester
Street, Leicester Square, in the County of Middlesex, Doctor of
Medicine, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OP GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING PURPOSES, AND IN THE APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Sealed the 22nd October 1869, and dated the 15th May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Louis Antoine Victor
Dubourg at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 15th May 1869.
I, LOUIS ANTOINE VICTOR DUBOURG, of Leicester Street, Leicester
Square, in the County of Middlesex, Doctor of Medicine, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING PURPOSES, AND IN THE APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists principally in an improved process for the
economical production of a brilliant gas from hydrogen (obtained by the
decomposition of water) with the addition of liquid hydrocarbons. The
apparatus employed for the purpose is of a very simple character,
occupies but small space, acts automatically, and requires but very little
attention.

page_text: The apparatus consists of two parts, comprising, first, the gas generator,
and, second, the carburettor. In the generator the gas is produced
automatically by the decomposition of water by means of the chemical
action of acids on metals. In the carburettor the gas arrives in a nascent
state, and by being made to bubble up though the liquid hydrocarbon
takes up the carbon vapour which gives it its illuminating power. The
generator is a vessel divided into an upper and lower compartment, the
upper one of which contains water and the lower one metallic zinc or
iron. These compartments are made to communicate together by means
of a pipe provided with a cock for the purpose of supplying water to
the lower compartment. The lower compartment is provided with a
perforated false bottom, on which the metallic zinc is placed. A small
vessel containing acid is placed above the generator, so that an uniform
quantity may be dropped into the water compartment. A constant but
regulated quantity of the acidulated water is allowed to run into the
lower part of the zinc compartment, and by acting on the metal the
water will be decomposed and will evolve the hydrogen, which will fill
the compartment and pass off through a pipe either direct to the
carburettor or to a purifier, and from thence to the carburettor, which
it will enter under considerable pressure.
The carburettor consists of a vessel in which there are two separate
compartments for holding the liquid hydrocarbon. One of these com-
municates by a tube with a well below, which is kept supplied with
the liquid into which the hydrogen gas bubbles from a rose head at the
end of the pipe. In bubbling up through the liquid the gas takes up a
portion of carbon and passes off to a second well which is supplied with
hydrocarbon liquid from the second compartment above. By this means
the gas becomes thoroughly carburetted, and ultimately passes off to
the burnors
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, 3
filed by the said Louis Antoine Victor Dubourg in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 15th November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
ANTOINE VICTOR DUBOURG, of Leicester Street, Leicester Square, in the
County of Middlesex, Doctor of Medicine, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters

page_text: Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-second year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Louis Antoine Victor Dubourg, Her special licence that I,
the said Louis Antoine Victor Dubourg, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Louis Antoine Victor Dubourg,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during
the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for “Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS FOR LIGHTING AND HEATING PURPOSES,
AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Louis Antoine Victor Dubourg, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Louis Antoine Victor Dubourg,
do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say) :-
:--
•
This Invention consists in an improved process and apparatus for, the
economical production of a brilliant gas from hydrogen (obtained by
the decomposition of water) with the addition of liquid hydrocarbons.
The apparatus employed for the purpose is of a very simple character,
occupies but small space, acts automatically, and requires but very little.
attention.
The apparatus consists of two parts, comprising, first, the gas generator:
with a purifier attached thereto, and, second, the carburetter for
imparting to the hydrogen gas the requisite amount of carbon to
convert it into an illuminating gas. In the generator the process is..
carried on automatically, and the gas is produced by the decomposition.
of water by means of the chemical action of acidulated water on metals,

page_text: The gas arrives in the carburetter in a nascent state, and by being
made to bubble up through the liquid hydrocarbon contained therein
takes up the carbon vapour which gives it its illuminating power.
The generator is a vessel divided into an upper and lower compartment,
the upper one of which contains acidulated water and the lower one
metallic zinc or iron. These compartments are made to communicate
together by means of a pipe provided with a cock for the purpose of
supplying the water in suitable quantities to the lower compartment.
The lower compartment is provided with a perforated false bottom on
which the metallic zinc is placed. A small vessel containing sulphuric
or hydrochloric acid is placed above the generator, and is provided with
a cock so that an uniform quantity of acid may be supplied to the water
compartment. A constant but regulated quantity of the acidulated
water is allowed to run into the lower part of the zinc compartment,
and by acting on the metal the water will be decomposed, and will
evolve hydrogen gas, which will fill the compartment and pass off
through a pipe either direct to the carburetter or to a purifier, and
from thence to tho carburetter which it will enter under considerable
pressure.
The carburetter is a vessel which is divided into two parts, consisting
of separate compartments for holding the liquid hydrocarbon. The
upper one of these forms the reservoir, which communicates by a tube
with a well in the lower compartment below. In practice I find it
advantageous to divide the lower compartment into two chambers or
wells, both of which are kept supplied from the upper compartment
by suitable tubes with the liquid hydrocarbon, into which the hydrogen
gas bubbles from a rose head at the end of the pipe. In bubbling
up through the liquid in the first well or division of the lower com-
partment the gas takes up a portion of carbon and passes off to a
second well which is also supplied with hydrocarbon liquid from the
compartment above. By this means the gas becomes thoroughly
carburetted and ultimately passes off to the burners.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is an external elevation of the
apparatus complete; Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the generator, which
consists of a vessel divided by a horizontal diaphragm a into two parts
or chambers A and A'. A vessel 13 made of glass or porcelain forms a
reservoir for containing sulphuric or hydrochloric acid, which may be
run out therefrom into the generator A. This reservoir if made of glass

page_text: may be graduated, but if made of porcelain it may be provided with a
glass gauge or level to indicate the quantity of acid contained therein
and the speed with which it runs out. The upper compartment A of
the generator contains the acidulated water, and is kept supplied with
acid from the vessel B by means of the cock b, which allows a regulated
quantity of acid according to the supply of gas required to drip into
the funnel b', and run from thence into the chamber or compartment A,
from whence the acidulated water descends down the pipe a¹ into a
space in the lower compartment A' below the perforated plate c, ou
which is placed a quantity of pieces of zinc or iron. When liquid
contained in the lower part of the vessel A' is saturated with the
metallic salt it may from time to time be run out from the space below
the perforated plate through a cock j, and any sediment contained in
the space may be removed through the opening at bottom. The
upper chamber or compartment A may be emptied when desired through
the cock k. The lower chamber or compartment is supplied with the
metal (employed to effect the decomposition of the water) through the
man-hole l, which is closed by a circular plate or in any other con-
venient manner. Another opening m is made in the side of the
compartment A', and is fitted with a strong piece of glass so that light
may be admitted to the interior. The quantity of acidulated water
supplied to the lower compartment A' may be regulated by the cock a²
on the pipe a', and the acidulated water by acting on the metal in the
chamber A' will be decomposed, the oxygen combining with the metal,
and the hydrogen which will be given off in the gaseous form will rise
in the compartment and pass off through the pipe d and through a
moderator C placed thereon to the purifiers D.
Fig. 4 is a vertical section of these purifiers. is the pipe which brings
the gas to the purifiers, which are composed, first, of two cylinders g, g,
connected together at their lower parts by a junction pipe. These
cylinders are filled with chloride of calcium, which as the gas passes
through will absorb the moisture therein and dry the gas. The other
two cylinders h, h, are connected with the former by the bent pipe &³, and
are filled with wool, hair, sponge, or other absorbent material, which is
saturated with essence of turpentine, and as the gas passes through the
turpentine will eliminate therefrom the sulphuretted and arsenicated
hydrogen and other impurities. On the exit pipe d, Fig. 1, is placed a
regulating cock of peculiar construction, whereby the quantity of gas

page_text: required to pass from the generator through the purifiers to the burners
may be regulated according to their number. The details of this
is the
regulating cock are shewn at Figures 3, 3, 3, and 3. Fig. 3 represents
an elevation of the regulating cock with its external fittings.
gas tube on which the cock d' is fixed; e is a graduated toothed wheel
mounted on the spindle of the cock and actuated by means of a worm ƒ
which gears into the teeth on the periphery of the wheel. When the
wheel e is at zero the cock d' will be closed. Instead of the cone of the
cock having a circular hole made through it as usual a circular hole
is drilled into one side of the cone or plug, and an exit aperture is cut
through on the opposite side of the plug in the form of a narrow slit
which extends circumferentially oue-fifth round the cone or plug.
Fig. 3 is a top view of the cock shewing the slit 1 full open; Fig. 3° is
a view of the under side shewing the circular space 2 and the narrow
slit 1 communicating therewith; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the
cock. The narrow slit 1 which forms the exit passage through the cock
corresponds in position with the toothed circumference of the wheel e,
and as the latter is turned round by means of the worm the exit
aperture of the cock will be opened to a corresponding extent and will
allow the gas from behind to enter the circular hole 2, and pass from
thence to the long slit 1, and from thence to the gas supply pipe. The
gas after being dried and purified in the purifiers D passes from thence
through the pipe i to the carburetter E, Fig. 1, which is shewn detached
and in section at Figures 5 and 6. The plane of the section shown at
Fig. 6 is at right angles to that shewn at Fig. 5. The pipe of the
generator is connected with the pipe of the carburetter, and this
pipe is terminated by a rose or perforated bulb which is plunged into
the liquid hydrocarbon contained in the well The gas in a very
divided state bubbles up in the liquid in the well and takes up a portion
of the hydrocarbon contained therein; it then ascends in the chamber
and passes through a pipe o into the chamber above. This pipe is also
terminated by a rose head o', from which the gas escapes in a divided
state and bubbles up in the liquid hydrocarbon contained in the second
or upper well 2 and ascends from the chamber into the exit tube p to
the service pipes which conduct it to the burners. The upper part of
the carburetter forms the reservoir to contain a large quantity of the
hydrocarbon; it is divided into two compartments q, q', which are filled
through the apertures ",", above. The level of the liquid in the
reservoir can be ascertained by inspecting a glass gauge 8. The hydro-
.

page_text: carbon liquid is supplied from the reservoir above to the wells n, n',
through the down pipes t, t. Immediately the lower end of either of
these pipes becomes uncovered air or gas escapes up it and allows a
small quantity of liquid to descend. When it is desired to empty the
apparatus the liquid may be drawn off from the wells n and n' through
the screw plugs u, u. If the gas be required for heating purposes and
not for illumination it will not require to be carburretted, the supply of
liquid hydrocarbon to the wells n, n', may therefore be cut off by closing
the corks on the pipes t, t', and drawing the liquid from the wells n, n';
the gas will then pass through the carburetting apparatus without coming
into contact with the carburetting liquid.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in the Manu-
facture of Gas for Lighting and Heating Purposes, and in the Apparatus
employed therein," and having explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters
Patent as aforesaid, manufacturing carburetted hydrogen gas for lighting
and heating purposes by the decomposition of water, as herein set forth,
so as to give off free hydrogen which is carburetted by passing it when
in the nascent state through any suitable liquid hydrocarbon in the
manner herein set forth, the whole process being so arranged that it is
continuous and self-acting, as above shewn and described.
I also claim the construction and arrangement of apparatus herein set
forth for effecting the generation of the hydrogen gas, also for purifying
the same and passing it through the hydrocarbon liquid, the several
parts of the apparatus being provided with regulating cocks and valves,
and so constructed, combined, and arranged that the apparatus will be
self-acting and continue to give off the illuminating or heating gas so
long as it is consumed, but will stop the action of the apparatus when
the demand is cut off as herein set forth.
In witness whereof I, the said Louis Antoine Victor Dubourg, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
L. A. VICTOR DUBOURG, (L.S.)
Dr. Méd.