Year: 1888

page_text: 1, PAUL SCHARF, of No. 3 Schwindgasse, in the City of Vienna and Austrian
Empire, 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 :-
The object of this invention is to convert the energy contained in gases directly into
electricity by means of the apparatus herein to be described.
All gaseous or vapourous bodies may be employed, two of which will produce an
electric current by their reaction in a suitable battery.
1 employ preferably either one gas of class a below enumerated, and one gas of
class b, or either one gas of class a or class b and a fluid.
The gases may be of one part a Hydrogen, Hydrogen gas, illuminating gas, or
hydro-carbons of any kind, or mixtures thereof, or of similar gases, provided that
they will give an electric current in a suitable battery by their reaction with another
gas. The gases of the other part may be Oxygen, Air, Chlorine or Fluorine,
or similar gases, pure or mixed, also provided that they will give an electric current
in a suitable battery by their reaction with another gas.
In the case of one gas being employed together with a fluid for the purpose afore-
said, such fluid may take the place of any gas of class a or class b. Any fluid may
be employed, which with a gaseous or vapourous body will by their reaction produce
an electric current in a suitable battery.
It must here be mentioned as specially important that the gases which I employ are
not to be produced in the battery or apparatus, but outside thereof by any of the
known and customary processes.
Two gases possessing the property before mentioned for instance, illuminating gas
of one part and oxygen or air of the other part, are produced or collected separately
and each of the two gases pressed into a separate receptacle or reservoir, where they

page_text: are retained under any desired pressure, which must be kept as constant as possible.
This pressure may be produced by any of the known apparatus, for instance, by force
pumps.
From these pressure reservoirs each of the two gases is conducted separately and
still under pressure to the hereinafter described battery. The pressure may be high
enough to cause the one or both gases to become fluid, but this is not absolutely
necessary to ensure success.
A battery serving the purposes before-named is shown in the annexed drawings in
which,
Fig. 1 shows a longitudinal vertical section,
Fig. 2 is an end view, and
Fig. 3 in section and view a single electrode with its contact.
The apparatus consists of a recoptacle A preferably of metal, and of any desired
form, preferably that of a cylinder as shown in the drawing. The receptacle A is
provided with bottom and cover A', A' by means of which it may, by screws or other-
wise, be closed hermetically.
The said receptacle A contains the electrodes C which with their intermediate packing
and insulating rings form the spaces or cells. The electrodes C are made of porous
carbon of any desired shape or form, but in this case they correspond with the dise
shaped form of the receptacle A. Each of the electrodes C is set in a metal ring d
which is, preferably as shown in Fig. 3 provided with a lug or projection d' through
a hole d of which conductor is passed. Ring d serves solely for the purpose of
producing a good contact for conducting the electricity and may, therefore, be
replaced by a piece of metal of any other shape, which is attached to the carbon and
connected with conductor l.
Oxydation of pieced by the reagents employed may be prevented by filling the
pores of carbon e near the connecting surface with any of the known materials for
this purpose, such, for instance, as paraffine.
In order to keep the electrodes cat proper distances from each other for forming
the spaces and cells an insulating ring e of rubber, papier mache or any other non-
conducting material is placed between each two of the said electrodes. These rings e
must be made to fit tightly into receptacle A so as to form an air and water tight
packing between each two of the electrodes.
After a number of experiments I have succeeded in finding a material which justs
the purpose, viz., Asbestos. This material combines the three qualities required,
namely, it is non-conducting, serves as a good packing and is not affected by gases or
the reagents employed.
I employ the asbestos in the form of rings pressed for the purpose into the proper
shape, or they may be cut from the asbestos sheets known in commerce. Electrodes c
which with their rings d are smaller in diameter than the interior of receptacle A are
also surrounded by insulating rings f, preferably of asbestos also, which said rings f
form joint with the intermediate rings e.
As shown in the drawings, a series of air-tight spaces or cells is formed by a
number of electrodes with their intermediate and insulating rings e, f. Every second
space w, that is the space between overy two cells is completely filled with a liquid
conductor, such as acidulated water for instance. These spaces w, instead of being
filled with the liquid conductor direct may contain porous non-conducting bodies in
the form of discs or plates which are kept saturated with the liquid conductor. All
the cells of even numbers, 2, 4, 6, 8, etc. contain the one gas, and those
numbered 1, 3, 5, 7, etc. contain the other gas.
All electrodes formning cells for the same kind of gas are connected by conductors,
the same as in any common battery. The gases and the acidulated water are con-
ducted to and from the battery in the following manner:
The cover, or end plate A¹, of receptacle A is provided with cight openings. Of
these openings y serves for the admission of the one gas (hydrogen for instance)
while g serves as the outlet for the same is the inlet for the other gas (oxygen for
instance) and the outlet for the same. is the inlet and the outlet of the
:
2

page_text: acidulated water. At K and K are the two binding posts for the positive and
negative poles. Corresponding with the described openings g, g, h, h² and i, all the
insulating and packing rings of the apparatus are provided with holes, which together
form the channel g², g, h, h³ etc., through which the gases pass into and out of tho
apparatus. Each of the insulating rings e is cut out or provided with a hole e¹ and e
in such manner that communication is established between each cell and space and
the channels g, g³, h³, h³ etc., so that the gases and the acidulated water may fill their
respective cells by one channel, and pass off by the other, each of the cells and spacos
being provided with an inlet opening e¹ and an outlet e³.
Each of the inlet and outlet openings of cover a¹ must be provided with a suitable
valve for regulating the passage of the gases and the acidulated water or other liquid
conductor.
It is unnecessary to describe such said regulating valves as their construction is
well known.
The electric connection between the electrodes is produced as follows:
Each alternative pair of electrodes is placed with the lugs of rings d opposite to
those of the other pair, so that the lugs d of all electrodes belonging to one kind of
gas will stand on one side, and all those belonging to the other kind of gas on the
other side.
Through the holes d² of each series of lugs and, as a matter of course, through all
the insulating rings, a metal rod is passed and through the lugs of each of the other
series another metal rod ', both rods terminating in the binding screw K, K³.
It will be evident that the rods must form an electric contact with each of the
rings & through which they pass. The pressure under which the liquid conductor
(acidulated water) is introduced into spaces w depends on the pressure under which
the gases are introduced.
The inlet and outlet of the water must also be regulated by suitable valves. The
apparatus described may be modified by connecting the porous electrodes with the gas
channels direct, and thus doing away with cells 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.
In this case the gas is pressed directly into the pores of the electrodes, which it
fills and passes as it does the cells before described. The gases may in this case, as
before indicated, be employed compressed into any fluid, water for instance, and in
this state be sent through the apparatus.
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. A gas battery consisting of a hermetically closed receptacle A, of any desired
size or form, in which porous electrodes c are arranged in such manner as to form, in
combination with suitable packings and insulations, air-tight cells 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and
intermediate spaces w, the cells serving for the separate reception of two different
gaseous or vaporous bodies under pressure, or one gaseous or vaporous and one liquid
body under pressure and the intermediate spaces w serving for the reception of a.
liquid conductor, substantially as described.
2. In gas batteries, porous electrodes arranged in such manner that one surface of
each electrode is in continuous contact with a gaseous or vaporous body under
pressure, while the other surface is in continuous contact with a conducting fluid,
substantially as described.
3. A modification of the gas batteries specified in claim 1, consisting of a hermeti-
cally closed receptacle of any desired form or size, in which porous electrodes are
arranged in such manner that with suitable packings and insulations they form
air-tight spaces;
the electrodes separated and alternately in direct contact with one of two
different gaseous or vapourous bodies under pressure, or of a gaseous or vapourous
body and a liquid body under pressure, the spaces between the electrodes filled with a
liquid conductor, substantially as described.
4. In gas batteries of the kind herein described, the employment of asbestos as
packing and insulating material.

page_text: 5. In gas batteries, channels or conduits for the admission and emission and the
passage of the gases formed by the superposition of holes in the packing and insulating
rings, each of the said rings provided with a slot hole or passage leading from the
aforesaid hole to the interior in such manner as to form a connecting passage between
the aforesaid channel and the interior of the cell or space formed by said ring, substan-
tially as described and shown.
6. In gas batteries the employment of gases compressed into any liquid and in this
form introduced under pressure into the battery substantially as described.
Dated this fifteenth day of Sentember 1888