Improvements relating to the Manufacture of Gas, and to Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 30th Nov., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 31st July, 1895-Accepted, 14th Sept., 185
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements relating to the Manufacture of Gas, and to Apparatus
therefor.
We, JEAN MARTIN BOSSELAAR, and JULES FRANÇOIS MARIE VAN DEN
ELSHOUT, both of 47 Rue de Trèves, Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to the manufacture of gas and to apparatus therefor.
The industrial manufacture of lighting gas from hydrocarbons, especially
petroleum of commerce, has not been successful up to the present time by reason
of the inconveniences which result principally from the difficulty of effecting &
gasification, which has always been insufficient, and from the difficulty of extracting
from the gas the heavy and tarry products which it carries along and keeps in
suspension in a state of extreme division.
The insufficiency of the gasification is disastrous as regards the yield and
therefore the cost of the gas; and the proportion of heavy products which the
gas contains is a cause of obstruction not only of the burners but also of the gas
pipes.
In the manufacture of gas from mineral oils, and especially from petroleum, the
chief points to be considered are the production of the gas in the gas generator and
the condensation of the vapours carried away.
For obtaining a normal production of gas it is necessary for the vaporization to
take place instantaneously at a definite temperature which can vary only within
narrow limits, for an insufficient temperature leaves too great a proportion of
undecomposed vapours, and too high a temperature decomposes a portion of the
hydrocarbons which are deposited upon the walls of the retort in a carbonaceous
form impeding the progress of the operations and giving rise to a sensible loss of
lighting power.
An essential condition for the industrial production of gas is that on its arrival
in the retort each drop of petroleum encounters a wall uniformly heated to the
desired temperature; for it is not sufficient for the atmosphere of the retort to
have this temperature; it is necessary that there shall be contact between the
petroleum and a suitably heated wall.
If the petroleum arrives in the retort in the liquid state, unless it be drop by
drop, it causes rapidly a lowering of the temperature of the wall upon which the
jet of petroleum spreads, however thin it may be, and from that moment the
vaporization no longer takes place properly, and a large portion of the vapours
formed leave the retort before their dissociation and are condensed as soon as they
are brought to a lower temperature.
In order to obviate this great inconvenience we make use of special retorts the
walls of which are kept at a strictly constant temperature. These retorts are
different for industrial or large installations and for domestic or small installations.
The industrial apparatus comprises a retort which may be surrounded with
efractory materials maintaining it at a mean temperature that will not be subject
o changes by flames or too great an access of air during the operation.
This retort consists of two compartments arranged one above the other and,
xcept the heads of the retorts which are placed outside, it is entirely enclosed in
he furnace in order that all its uarts may be heated uniformly.

page_text: The lower compartment of the retort is an elongated rectangle of small height
and having its corners rounded.
As will hereinafter be explained this form is the most advantageous for
obtaining a uniform distribution of petroleum upon uniformly heated walls.
The upper compartment of the retort is cylindrical, and the two compartments
communicate with each other at their extremities opposite to the door of the
furnace through a vertical cylindrical tube which is in the interior of the furnace.
Into the lower compartment of the retort extends an iron or copper pipe
prolonged into the interior a length which may be varied according to the volume
of gas to be produced. This pipe may be simply open at its extremity but for a
considerable production of gas it is preferable to pierce the same at a certain
distance from its entrance into the retort with a number of holes arranged
principally at its upper part and at its lateral parts, leaving the bottom solid.
This pipe being heated by the atmosphere of the retort to a comparatively high
temperature effects the vaporization of the petroleum before it comes in contact
with the walls of the retort.
On leaving the pipe the vapours impinge against the red-hot walls of the retort;
the contact takes place upon a considerable surface without a sensible diminution
of temperature, and the dissociation is effected immediately at the desired
temperature which is from 800 to 900 degrees Centigrade.
The gas formed and a small quantity of vapours carried away escape with very
great rapidity through the vertical tube and impinge against the red-hot top of the
upper compartment of the retort, and they pass through the latter, turning the
whole of its length to the outlet orifice. The shock produced on the entrance of
the gas, and the friction of the latter on the walls of the upper compartment of
the retort complete the dissociation of all the vapours which may have been
carried away.
At its outlet from the upper compartment of the retort the
petroleum has been completely transformed into a fixed gas, with which are
mingled the vapours which cannot be gasified and which are condensed further on.
We may place only a single admission pipe for the petroleum in the lower
retort, but we may also employ several, which is the reason why we give to this
retort a transverse section which is wider than high. It is in fact better to have
several pipes for the petroleum each conducting into the retort only a very small
quantity, than to use a single pipe in which the first vaporization would be
incomplete.
These retorts are arranged horizontally in return-flue furnace in order to obtain
from the two compartments of the retort as uniform a heating as possible. The
flame comes in contact with the retort in its whole passage, and with the lower
part as well as with the upper part. Then the flame, returning in order to pass
to the chimney, heats a refractory wall which is above the upper compartment of
the retort and thus a greater amount of heat. The front wall of the furnace in
which the heads of the retort are placed, is formed with an independent portion
which it is sufficient to remove in order to withdrew the two compartments of
the retort at the same time without any need for interfering with the other parts
of the furnace.
From the front part of the upper compartment of the retort rises a vertical
pipe for the outlet of the gas and vapours. This pipe communicates as usual with
a horizontal or inclined pipe provided with a test cock and which terminates at
the upper part of a descending pipe which conducts the gas to a purifying and
condensing apparatus. This latter has a cylindrical sheet-metal casing closed
hermetically. Through the bottom of this apparatus passes a pipe which
determines the level of the water and whose lower part dips into a reservoir
designed for collecting the light products of condensation which may be removed
through a pipe provided for this purpose. The gas admission pipe dips two or
three centimetres into the liquid contained in the purifying and condensing
apparatus so that the gas will be obliged to bubble through the water before
leaving the apparatus.

page_text: From the condenser the gas passes to a vertical condensing column which may
be a simple empty pipe or a pipe containing obstructions or any fragments
multiplying the surfaces of contact. Then the gas passes into a second descending
column wherein the last condensable products are deposited, and it finally arrives
below the bell of the gas-holder and thence passes into the gas pipes.
We may of course mix with the water in the condenser any chemical substances
which may be deemed useful, and if the petroleum which we use contains
substances that are to be eliminated we may include in our apparatus any suitable
kind of purifier without in at all departing from the principle of our invention,
which consists in conducting into the retort, which has a definite form, only
petroleum previously transformed partially or wholly into vapours, which vapours
are brought in contact with the walls of the retort heated to a temperature
varying between 800 and 900 degrees Centigrade, then in washing the gas thus
produced and in condensing all the condensable substances which it may have
carried away.
Our improved apparatus operates as follows: The oil from the petroleum
reservoir passes through a siphon and a pipe into the admission pipe which is in
the first compartment of the retort; as soon as the petroleum is subjected to the
heat of the retort it becomes vaporized and is precipitated into the retort through
the apertures in the said pipe; the dissociation commences immediately and
continues in the second compartment of the retort; then the gas passes to the
purifier, to the gas holder and into the gas pipes.
The arrangement of the apparatus applied to domestic uses for the lighting of
private houses and other purposes of little importance is naturally more simple ;
the apparatus may be portable and its operation may be rendered automatic.
This apparatus may be mounted on feet preferably made of cast iron; a bell
having a volume proportional to the consumption dips into an annular basin
forming an hydraulic joint, and it is preferably guided by a tube closed at the base
and adapted to move telescopically in a corresponding tube held vertically at the
internal wall of the annular basin by arms.
By the side of the bell and at a suitable distance is placed the gas generator
with its heating feeding and purifying system. For obtaining a completely
automatic operation of the apparatus the heating takes place by the gas produced
in the apparatus itself; and in order to limit this consumption to a minimum the
gas generator is made in the form of a lens surrounded by a protecting casing and
heated by the flames from two Bunsen burners which envelop the same on all its
sides.
Other arrangements may naturally be employed; it is the quantity of gas to be
produced which in each particular case determines the number of lenses and the
number of heating burners. The petroleum must be conducted into these lenses in
very small quantities at a time, for this purpose we may employ the system herein-
before described, or else, when the quantity of gas to be produced is small we may
introduce the petroleum drop by drop through one or more devices which may
be branched upon the same pipe or upon separate pipes.
The feeders, two of which may for example be used for a lens with two heating
burners, are arranged so as to allow the petroleum to pass only drop by drop into
the leus. For this purpose we arrange above their orifices passing into the lens, to
which they are connected in any suitable manucr, regulating points adjustable by
screws and passing into the area of the passage in order to contract or enlarge it at
will.
These feeders are connected to the feed pipe provided with a general cock
which may be operated by the bell of the gas holder so as to be closed when the
latter is full and to be opened when the bell is nearly empty. The feed-pipe is
bent to the shape of a siphon forming a counter-pressure column for the gas in
formation in the lens.
By this as by the preceding arrangement the drops of petroleum which pass
into the lenses are vaporized at their entrance before encountering the red-hot
walls.

page_text: The gas formed in the lens passes through the discharge pipe at the centre of
the lens to the purifier desigued to deprive the gas of any tarry substances which
may have been carried away. For this purpose the discharge pipe dips to a certain
depth into the water which fills to a definite level the purifying cylinder in order to
wash and condense therein all the non-gasified parts which float, whilst the purified
gas rises into the free space of the purifier and passes from the latter to the bell
through a conduit.
The purifier is traversed vertically by an overflow pipe which serves for
removing the floating condensed products received in a receptacle which is closed
and removable for enabling it to be emptied after the operation has proceeded for
a certain time.
The gas which collects in the bell raises the latter in its hydraulic basin and is
withdrawn therefrom in order to flow into the gas pipe through another pipe, the
weight of the bell exerting for this purpose a sufficient pressure. If the production
were greater than the consumption the pressure in the bell would augment to an
abnormal extent and might cause accidents. We obviate this eventuality very
easily by automatically operating the cock for the feed of petroleum by the upward
and downward movement of the bell which carries for this purpose at its top an
arin to which is connected in any suitable manner the extremity of a lever
whose other extremity is suitably connected by a membrane to the handle of the
cock.
It will be easily understood that in case of an excess of production the bell as
it rises will close the feed cock, thus interrupting the production, whereas it will
open the same again in its downward movement and enable the operation of the
apparatus to continue.
This arrangement is particularly necessary when the apparatus is arranged for
the consumption of gas in proportion to its production, because we may then
employ a bell of very small size, and we may make the whole apparatus as
compact, as possible, that is to say the gas generator may be placed upon the same
foot as the bell and it may even be arranged above the latter upon a suitably
constructed frame.
Dated this 30th day of November 1891
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.
Improvements relating to the Manufacture of Gas, and to Apparatus
therefor.
We, JEAN MARTIN BOSSELAAR, and JULES FRANCOIS MARIE VAN DEN
ELSHOUT, both of 47 Rue de Trevès, Brussels, in the Kingdom of Belgium,
Manufacturers, 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 gas and to apparatus therefor.
The industrial manufacture of lighting gas from hydrocarbons, especially
petroleum of commerce, has not been successful up to the present time by reason of
the inconveniences which result principally from the difficulty of effecting a
gasification, which has always been insufficient and from the difficulty of extracting
from the gas the heavy and tarry products which it carries along and keeps in
suspension in a state of extreme division.
The insufficiency of the gasification is disastrous as regards the yield and
therefore the cost of the gas; and the proportion of heavy products which the

page_text: es contains is a cause of obstruction not only to the burners but also to the
as pipes.
In the manufacture of gas from mineral oils, and especially from petroleum,
the chief points to be considered are the production of the gas in the gas generator
and the condensation of the vapours carried away.
For obtaining a normal production of gas it is necessary for the vaporization t
take place instantaneously at a definite temperature which can vary only within
narrow limits, for an insufficient temperature leaves too great a proportion of
undecomposed vapours, and too high a temperature decomposes a portion of the
hydrocarbons which are deposited upon the walls of the retort in a carbonaceous
form impeding the progress of the operations and giving a sensible loss of lighting
power.
An essential condition for the industrial production of gas is that on its arrival
in the retort each drop of petroleum shall encounter a wall uniformly heated to the
desired temperature; for it is not sufficient for the atmosphere of the retort to
have this temperature, it is necessary that there shall be contact between the
petroleum and a suitably heated wall.
If the petroleum arrives in the retort in the liquid state, unless it be drop by
drop. it causes rapidly a lowering of the temperature of the wall upon which the
jet of petroleum spreads, however thin it may be, and from that moment the
vaporization no longer takes place properly, and a large portion of the vapours
formed leave the retort before their dissociation and are condensed as soon as they
are brought to a lower temperature.
In order to obviate this great inconvenience we make use of special retorts the
walls of which are kept at a strictly constant temperature. These retorts are
different for industrial or large installations and for domestic or small installatio.is.
In the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 represents an elevation of a domestic apparatus.
Figure 2 is a partial plan of the same.
Figure 3 shows a longitudinal section of the gas generator with its accessories to
an enlarged scale.
Figure 4 is a plan of this gas generator.
Figure 5 represents a plan of a gas-generator with a multiple feed.
Figure 6 is a vertical section of the purifier and condenser.
Figure 7 is a vertical section of an industrial apparatus for the production of gas
from petroleum, the gas holder being dispensed with.
Figure 8 shows a longitudinal section of the furnace and of the retort.
We will first describe the industrial apparatus represented in Figures 7 and 8 of
the drawings.
The retort C C may be surrounded with refractory materials maintaining it at a
mean temperature that will not be subject to changes by flames or too great an
access of air during the operation.
This retort consists of two compartments arranged one above the other and,
except the heads of the retorts which are placed outside, it is entirely enclosed in
the furnare in order that all its parts may be heated uniformly.
As shown in the drawing, the lower compartment C of the retort is an elongated
rectangle of small height and having its corners rounded.
As will be hereinafter explained this form is the most advantageous for
obtaining a uniform distribution of petroleum upon uniformly heated walls.
The upper compartment C' of the retort is cylindrical, and the two compartments
communicate with cach other at their extremities opposite to the door of the
furnace through a vertical cylindrical tube C" which is in the interior of the
furnace.
Into the lower compartment C of the retort passes an iron or copper pipe A
prolonged into the interior an extent which may be varied according to the
volume of gas to be produced. This pipe may be simply open at its extremity A',
but for a considerable production of gas it is preferable to pierce the same at a

page_text: certain distance from its entrance into the retort with a number of holes arranged
principally at its upper part and at its lateral parts, leaving the bottom solid.
This pipe being heated by the atmosphere of the retort to a comparatively high
temperature effects the vaporization of the petroleum before it comes in contact
with the walls of the retort.
On leaving the pipe the vapours impinge against the red-hot walls of the retort;
the contact takes place upon a considerable surface without a sensible diminution
of temperature, and the dissociation is effected immediately at the desired
temperature which is from 800 to 900 degrees Centigrade.
The gas formed and a small quantity of vapours carried away escape with very
great rapidity through the vertical tube C" and impinge against the red-hot top of
the upper compartment C¹ of the retort, and they pass through the latter, turning
the whole of its way to the outlet orifice D. The shock produced on the entrance
of the gas, and the friction of the latter on the walls of the upper compartment of
the retort complete the dissociation of all the vapours which may have been carried
away. At its outlet from the upper compartment of the retort the petroleum has
been completely transformed into a fixed gas, with which are mingled the vapours
which cannot be gasified and which are condensed further on.
We may place only a single admission pipe for the petroleum in the lower retort,
but we may also employ several, which is the reason why we give to this retort a
transverse section which is wider than high. It is in fact better to have several
pipes for the petroleum, each conducting into the retort only a very small quantity,
than to use a single pipe in which the first vaporization would be incomplete.
These retorts are arranged horizontally in return-flue furnace as shown in
Figure 8 in order to obtain from the two compartments of the retort as uniform a
heating as possible. The flame comes in contact with the retort in its whole
pas age and with the lower part as well as with the upper part. Then the flame,
returning in order to pass to the chimney, heats the refractory wall X which is
above the upper compartment of the retort and thus produces a greater amount of
heat. The front wall of the furnace Z, in which the heads of the retort are
placed, is formed with an independent portion which it is sufficient to remove in
order to withdraw the two compartments of the retort at the same time without
any need for interfering with the other parts of the furnace.
From the front part of the upper compartment C of the retort rises a vertical
pipe D for the outlet of the gas and vapours. This pipe communicates as usual
with a horizontal or inclined pipe D Figure 8 provided with a test cock (not
shown) and which terminates at the upper part of a descending pipe D which
conducts the gas to a purifying and condensing apparatus E. This latter has a
cylindrical sheet-metal casing closed hermetically. Through the bottom of this
apparatus passes a pipe K which determines the level of the water and whose
lower part dips into a reservoir K₁ designed for collecting the light products of
condensation which may be removed through a pipe K" provided for this purpose.
The gas admission pipe D dips two or three centimetres into the liquid contained
in the puritying and condensing apparatus so that the gas will be obliged to bubble
through the water before leaving the apparatus.
From the condenser E the gas passes to a vertical condensing column E which
may be either a simple entry pipe or a pipe containing obstructions or any
fragments multiplying the surfaces of contact. Then the gas passes into a second
descending column E" wherein the last condensable products are deposited, and
it finally arrives below the bell of the gas-holder and thence passes into the gas
pipes.
We may of course mix with the water in the condenser any chemical substances
which may be deemed useful, and if the petroleum which we use contains substances
that are to be eliminated we may include in our apparatus any suitable kind of
purifier without at all departing trom the principle of our invention, which consists
in conducting into the retort, which has a definite form, only petroleum previously
transformed partially or wholly into vapours, which vapours are brought in contact

page_text: with the walls of the retort heated to a temperature varying between 800 anl
900 degrees Centigrade, then in washing the gas thus produced and in conlensing
all the condensable substances which it may have carried away.
Our improved apparatus operates as follows: The oil from the petroleum
reservoir passes through the siphont and the pipe t' into the admission pipe A
which is in the first compartment C of the retort; as soon as the petroleum is
subjected to the heat of the retort it becomes vaporized and is precipitated into the
retort through the apertures in the pipe A; the dissociation commences immediately
and continues in the second compartment. C₁ of the retort; then the gas passes to
the purifier, to the gas holder and into the gas pipes.
Figures 1 to 4 of the drawings show the apparatus applied to domestic uses for
the lighting of private houses and other purposes of little importance. This
arrangement is naturally more simple, the apparatus may be portable and its
operation may be rendered automatic.
This apparatus may be mounted on feet P preferably made of cast iron; the
bell Chaving a volume proportional to the consumption dips into an annular
basin R forming an hydraulic joint, and it is preferably guided by a tube T closed
at the base and adapted to move telescopically in a corresponding tube T held
vertically at the internal wall of the annular basin by arms B.
By the side of the bell and at a suitable distance is placed the gas generator G
with its heating, feeding and purifying system. For obtaining a completely
automatic operation of the apparatus the heating takes place by the gas produce!
in the apparatus itself; and in order to limit this consumption to a minimum the
gas generator is made in the form of a lens G surrounded by a protecting casing
and heated by the flames from two Bunsen burners F which envelop the same on all
its sides, Figure 3.
Other arrangements may naturally be employed, it is the quantity of gas to be
produced which in each particular case determines the number of lenses and the
number of heating burners. The petroleum must be conducted into these lenses
in very small quantities at a time, for this purpose we may employ the system
hereinbefore described, or else, when the quantity of gas to be produced is small,
we may introduce the petroleum drop by drop through one or more devices repre-
sented in Figures 1 to 4, which may be brauched upon the same pipe or upon
separate pipes.
The feeders A, two of which are shown in the present example for a lens with
two heating burners, are arranged so as to allow the petroleum to pass only drop by
drop into the lens. For this purpose we arrange above their orifices passing into
the lens, to which they are connected in any suitable manner, regulating points p
adjustable by screws e and passing into the area of the passage in order to contract
or enlarge it at will. These feeders are connected to the feed pipe t provided with
a general cock R' which may be operated by the bell of the gas holder so as to be
closed when the latter is full and to be opened when the bell is nearly empty. The
feed pipe t is bent to the shape of a siphon forming a counter-pressure column for
the gas in formation in the lens.
By this as by the preceding arrangement the drops of petroleum which pass
into the lenses are vaporized at their entrance before encountering the red-hot
walls.
The gas formed in the lens passes through the discharge pipe D applied to the
centre of the lens to the purifier E designed to deprive the gas of any tarry sub-
stances which may have been carried away. For this purpose the discharge pipe D
dips to a certain depth into the water which fills to a definite level the purifying
cylinder in order to wash and condense therein all the non-gasified parts which
float, whilst the purified gas rises into the free space of the purifier and passes from
the latter to the bell through the conduit D¹.
The purifier is traversed vertically by an overflow pipe K Figure 6 which serves
for removing the floating condensed products received in a receptacle which is

page_text: closed and removable for enabling it to be emptied after the operation has proceede
for a certain time.
The gas which collects in the bell raises the latter in its hydraulic basin and is
withdrawn therefrom in order to flow into the gas pipe through another pipe D";
the weight of the bell exerting for this purpose a sufficient pressure.
If the pro-
duction were greater than the consumption the pressure in the bell would augment
to an abnormal extent and might cause accidents. We obviate this eventuality
very easily by automatically operating the cock for the feed of petroleum by the
upward and downward movement of the bell which carries for this purpose at its
top an arm H to which is connected in any suitable manner the extremity of a
lever L which turns at O and whose other extremity is suitably connected by a
membrane M to the handle of the cock R¹.
It will be easily understood that in case of an excess of production the bell as it
rises will close the feed cock R' thus interrupting the production, whereas it will
open the same again in its downward movement and enable the operation of the
apparatus to continue.
This arrangement is particularly necessary when the apparatus is arranged for
the consumption of gas in proportion to its production, because we may then
employ a bell of very small size, and we may make the whole apparatus as compact
as possible, that is to say the gas generator may be placed upon the same foot as
the bell and it may even be arranged above the latter upon a suitably constructed
frame.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:-
First. A process for gasifying hydrocarbons, especially of petroleum of commerce,
characterized by the feeding of petroleum into the gas generator, heated to a
sombre red heat, drop by drop or in the state of vapours and at intervals so that
the wall may be cleaned by the integral gasification of one drop before the fall of
the next, and by the passage of the gas formed into a condensing liquid depriving
it integrally of all non-gasified particles, for the purpose of obtaining a maximum
production and obviating the soiling of the gas generator and the obstruction of the
passages.
Second. An apparatus for gasifying petroleum by the before-mentioned process,
characterized by a gas generator heated to a sombre red and provided with teeders
designed for introducing the petroleum in drops and arranged so that the drops
from various feeders may not fall at the same place or spot, and by a purifier with
liquid which the gas traverses, yielding to it all non-gasified particles in order to
then pass to the bell.
Third. The arrangement of the feeders for introducing the petroleum in drops
into the gas generator, as set forth in the second ciaim, which consists in narrowing
the passage of the feeder by a cone penetrating longitudinally or transversely into
its orifice and being operated by an exterior screw, as described.
Fourth. For the manufacture of gas from oil a double retort, the lower com-
partment of which has the form of a rectangle, whose bases are close together as
compared with the lateral sides, and whose upper compartment is cylindrical, these
two compartments being connected by a vertical tube; the oil being conducted into
the lower compartment through a pipe which extends into the retort and which
may be pierced with a greater or smaller number of holes, substantially as and for
the purposes described and represented.
Fifth. For the manufacture of gas from oil a purifier and condenser with an
overflow pipe serving to collect the light products of condensation, the heavy pro-
ducts of condensation being deposited at the bottom of the purifier, substantially as
described and represented.
Sixth. For the manufacture of gas from oil a furnace having a horizontal

page_text: double retort with a return flue and a removable front wall for the removal of the
retorts, substantially as described and represented.
Seventh. For the manufacture of gas from oil the general arrangement of
apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described and represented in the drawings.
Dated this 31st day of July 1895.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicants.