Improving Engines Actuated by the Explosion of a Mixture of Air with the Vapour of Petroleum or other Hydrocarbons, or of Tar, Creosote, or other Liquids, which He more or less Volatile, and forms an Explosive Mixture.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Jan., 1891
Complete Specification Left. 4th Nov.. 1891-Accepted, 5th Jan.,
1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improving Engines Actuated by the Explosion of a Mixture of Air
with the Vapour of Petroleum or other Hydrocarbons, or of Tar,
Creosote, or other Liquids, which when Heated are more or less
Volatile, and the Vapour of which when Mixed with Air forms
an Explosive Mixture.
I, ALEXANDER GRAY of The Mansion Frognal, N.W. Gentleman do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The invention consists in the use of hot air to simultaneously atomise and
vaporise the liquid.
The air is heated by any suitable means and is driven through an atomizer; the
liquid is thereby converted into spray, and more or less of the liquid is at the same
time vaporised by the heat of the hot air.
The spray, vapour & hot air are then drawn or forced into the cylinder of the
engine together with a further quantity of air and the mixture thus formed is
compressed and exploded.
Dated this 5th day of Tenu 1901
ALEXR. GRAY.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improving Engines Actuated by the Explosion of a Mixture of Air
with the Vapour of Petroleum or other Hydrocarbons, or of Tar,
Creosote, or other Liquids, which when Heated are more or less
Volatile, and the Vapour of which when Mixed with Air forms
an Explosive Mixture.
I, ALEXANDER GRAY, of The Mansion, Frognal, London, Gentleman, 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:-
The object of this invention is to improve motors driven by the combustion of an
explosive mixture of air with the vapour of petroleum or other liquid hydro-
carbons.
The improvement consists in the use of highly heated air to convert the liquid
into spray and to simultaneously convert it more or less into vapour; the mixture
of air, spray and vapour thus produced is mixed with a further quantity of air to
form an explosive mixture, which is compressed in the cylinder of the engine and
exploded by any suitable means.
The advantages of this improvement on the usual method of using cold air to
form the spray and then heating the spray by passing it through heated pipes or
chambers are the following:
1. The liquid is volatilised by the heat imparted by the air instead of by heated
metal surfaces, thus avoiding the charring of the heavier liquids which often
ensues when they are in contact with hot metal for some time.
2. The unvolatilised portion of the liquid is the residue of the particles of spray
from which the more volatile portions have been removed; it is consequently in a
state of very fine division which conduces to its perfect combustion.
3. The pipes or channels through which the spray passes into the cylinder are
short, direct, and expose but little surface on which the unvolatilised liquid may be
deposited and on which the most easily condensed portions of the vapour may be
condensed.

page_text: The air used to form the spray should be heated to from 400° to 600° F. or
even higher according to the class of liquid used.
Preferably I heat the air by the exhaust gases passing from the engine as herein-
after described but other means of heating the air may be adopted.
In the drawings annexed
Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of an engine fitted with an atomizer and air
heating appliance for supplying heated air to the same in this manner. The
main portions only of the engine are shewn as the engine may be of any
ordinary construction.
Figure 2 is an end view partly in section of the same.
Figure 3 is a vertical section on a larger scale of the atomiser and
Figure 4 is a horizontal section of the same.
N is the cylinder of the engine. N₁ a hollow stand on which it is mounted.
O (see Figure 2) is the exhaust passage from the cylinder N. P is the exhaust
valve opened in the ordinary manner at the required times by parts of the engine
not shewn in the drawing. R is a pipe by which the exhaust gases are led to a
pipe R' which is within the hollow stand. At the inner end of this pipe is a
vertical portion R². The upper end of this portion of the pipe is surrounded by an
annular chamber U. Around the upper end of this chamber is a flange to which
is secured a flange which is at the bottom of a closed chamber T. The top of the
vertical pipe R2 is connected to the lower end of a funnel shaped lining S (see
Sheet 1) which is within the chamber. The exhaust gases from the engine there-
fore pass up as shewn by the arrows in Figure 1 into the funnel S and from its
open top pass downwards between the funnel and the chamber T and through
openings in the bottom of the chamber to the annular chamber U from which they
pass into a pipe V by which they are conveyed away.
A is a coil of pipe within the funnel shaped lining S-its upper end is carried
out through the chamber T at A¹ (see Figure 2) its lower end is also carried
through the chamber and is attached to a pipe B which leads to the hollow
chamber C of an atomizer or spray producer. X is a cap covering the chamber T so
that air passing into the upper end of the coil at A¹ is taken from within this cap
and would therefore be to some extent heated.
From the chamber C the air passes through a number of small passages D to
the coned outlet F of the atomizer. As the air issues from the passages D it
impinges on the ends of nozzles E. These nozzles have liquid hydrocarbon supplied
to them through the pipes E' from a supply of liquid hydrocarbon which is always
kept at the same level, or by other suitable means.
The nozzles have a very fine bore and are tapered off at the end-the air
impinging upon them converts the oil issuing from them into spray and the heat of
the air vaporizes more or less of the oil.
The hot spray and vapour thus formed pass upwards through F where they are
mixed with a further small quantity of air passing through the holes G. On
issuing from F they pass into a coned passage H where they receive a further
admixture of air and the explosive mixture so formed passes through the valve L
and port M to the cylinder of the engine where after being compressed it is
exploded. If desired the hot spray and vapour before receiving this further
admixture of air might be still further heated by being passed through a heated
passage. I however prefer that they should at once receive this further admixture
of air as above described.
The coned passage H leads from a jacket H¹ by which the atomizer is surrounded.
Air is supplied to this jacket through a pipe H which passes from the interior of
the hollow stand N' on which the cylinder of the engine is mounted.
In the arrangement shewn in the drawing the air would be drawn through the
atomizer and into the cylinder by the action of the piston of the engine each time
that the valve L opened but if desired it might be forced into the cylinder by
pumps.
The supply of oil is regulated partly by the size of the nozzles E and partly by

page_text: the valve E and it is prevented from returning by the valve E³ during that period
of the revolution of the engine when no oil is passing through the atomizer.
The supply of hot air is regulated partly by the size of the holes D and partly
by a ferrule (not shewn) in the pipe B.
The supply of air through the jacket around the atomiser is regulated by the
cock H².
When starting the engine the coil is heated by a lamp placed under it. The
door Y is turned aside and the products of combustion pass from the lamp into
the chamber T and around the coil-when the coil is hot enough the lamp is
removed and the door Y closed-the engine is now started and the heat of the
coil is maintained by the exhaust gases from the engine passing through the
chamber T.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
:-
1. In motor engines driven by the combustion of an explosive mixture of air
with the vapour of petroleum or other liquid hydrocarbon; the production of the
explosive mixture by first highly heating air by passing it through pipes or
passages heated by the gases passing from the engine or in other ways and then
conducting such heated air to an atomizer or spray producer where it is employed
to convert the liquid hydrocarbon into spray and to more or less completely convert
it into vapour, the mixture of air, spray and vapour thus produced being then
mixed with a further quantity of air to form an explosive mixture which is
compressed in the explosive chamber of the cylinder of the engine and exploded.
2. An engine actuated by the explosion of a mixture of air with the vapour of
petroleum or other liquid hydrocarbon having the apparatus for supplying the
explosive mixture to the engine constructed substantially as herein before described
and illustrated in the drawing annexed.
Dated this 2nd day of November 1891.
ALEXR. GRAY.